Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2736 Still Vigorous in Old Age 120.0
"Died young? It shouldn't be an accident, right?"

“Of course, in such an environment, how could it be an accident?” Xiao Fengqi sighed and continued, “Although the palace has blocked the news, my great-aunt is not an outsider. With such a big thing happening in the harem, it is impossible not to ask her to handle it. Not only was she asked, but several important officials from the North and South Courts were also summoned to the palace.”

"A high-ranking official entering the palace?" Shen Cha frowned slightly. "Inviting the old lady or members of the imperial family to the palace is understandable, but what about a high-ranking official?"

“It concerns the foundation of the nation, it concerns the successor.” Song Yaojia sighed and said, “From the very beginning, the late King of Liao never intended to make either of those two princes his heir to the throne, did he?”

“That’s for sure. That concubine was a substitute bride, and that alone has already made the late Prince of Liao very fond of her.” Xia Chen looked at Xiao Fengqi. “I just made a particularly bold guess. If it offended you, I hope you will forgive me, okay?”

"Seventh Brother, are you saying that these two princes might not be the late King's children?" Xiao Fengqi gently shook his head. "That's certain. They are. Although the late King didn't like their mother, the Yue family isn't nobody. They have some standing in the court, so they can't make a scene too ugly. Both of their daughters have already married into the palace. It wouldn't be right to keep neglecting the concubines."

"So it's to avoid giving others a reason to criticize you?"

"More or less, but no one knows the specifics of how it was done; that's their private matter." Xiao Fengqi shrugged. "When that little prince died, the late king's intention was to conduct a thorough investigation, to investigate everyone in the palace carefully, whether they were newcomers or veterans, to investigate them clearly and thoroughly. Once it was found that they were related to the little prince's death, they would be severely punished."

“Investigating so many people would require more manpower in the palace, and it’s impossible to allow them to conduct their own investigations, which is why we brought in a high-ranking official.”

“That’s right.” Xiao Fengqi nodded to Jin Miaomiao. “If we conduct a self-investigation, there will likely be instances of cover-ups, which the late king would not allow. Moreover, to prevent them from colluding, he arranged for each person to stay in a separate room, and their daily food and drink are delivered by special personnel.”

"Specialized personnel" refers to...

“The North and South Courtyards and the Xiao family.” Xiao Fengqi chuckled. “Although the late king was always wary of the Xiao family’s resurgence and was afraid of getting involved with them, and although my great-aunt always said that no Xiao family girl would enter the palace again, he was still worried. But every time something like this happened, he would think of the Xiao family and want their help. And as it turns out, my family is indeed very good at this kind of thing.”

"So you've found out?"

“Of course.” Xiao Fengqi nodded. “The two maids and the wet nurse that the concubine brought from her maiden home were responsible for carrying out the operation. After they were arrested, they kept saying that it was not the concubine’s idea, but the family’s idea, and that the concubine was unaware of it beforehand.”

"What does your family think? They don't know?" Xia Chen rolled his eyes. "Could you be any more evasive? Even ghosts wouldn't believe this."

“However, they are right about one thing: it is indeed their family’s idea.” Xiao Fengqi sighed. “They said that their family hopes to take advantage of the princess’s pregnancy to get rid of her and that bastard child, and then put pressure on the late king from the outside to make the concubine the principal wife. Then the two little princes and their precious grandsons can rightfully become the heirs.”

"An illegitimate child?" Shen Cha raised an eyebrow. "This little prince isn't just the princess's child, he's also the child of the late King of Liao. Aren't they afraid the late King of Liao will turn against them for saying that?"

"They probably didn't expect the maid and wet nurse to expose them so readily, even revealing what they had said in private." Xiao Fengqi shrugged helplessly. "The late king was naturally furious. He was certain once again that the purpose of the concubine and her family's substitute marriage was definitely not just to ruin the princess's happiness; they had another, much bigger goal."

"Is it...?" Shen Cha looked at Xiao Fengqi, "to become the second Xiao family?"

“Yes!” Xiao Fengqi nodded. “Although they denied everything during the interrogation and shifted all the blame to the two maids and the wet nurse, their guilty behavior proved it.”

"But they weren't punished at all afterward?"

"Besides the testimonies of the two maids and the wet nurse, there's no other evidence. Therefore, we can only charge them with lax household management, confining the entire household for six months, and dismissing all their family members who hold official positions in the court, barring them from future employment." Xiao Fengqi sighed. "The concubine and her two sons also suffered the consequences, being confined for three months and having their salaries reduced by three months." "That's a rather lenient sentence, isn't it?"

“Because there is no evidence, even if we wanted to punish her severely, there is no way to do so.” Xiao Fengqi spread his hands. “Moreover, the princess does not want things to get too ugly, after all, this is a family scandal. However, after this incident, she has completely severed ties with her family.”

"Now that all ties have been severed, they've interfered in Young Master Lan's childhood experiences without any remorse, haven't they?"

“Yes, sometimes, no one can say for sure whether what is done in the moment is good or bad.” Xiao Fengqi also said helplessly, “If the princess knew what would happen later, she probably wouldn’t have been so resolute.”

"Probably." Chu Han sighed. "They all killed their first child, so naturally they won't spare their later children. The princess is well aware of this. The only thing she didn't expect was that she would leave so early, leaving her young child to grow up all alone."

“Yes!” Xiao Fengqi glanced at Shen Cha, who seemed lost in thought. “What are you thinking about?”

"I'm wondering how they managed to do it? Considering how much the late King of Liao cared for his queen, it must have been two maids and a wet nurse."

"Hey!" Xia Chen snapped his fingers. "That's what I was thinking too. How did they manage to do that? With such tight security, they still managed to..." He shook his head slightly. "It's really unbelievable."

"At first, things weren't going well. The palaces of the princess and the concubine were quite far apart, and they didn't interact much. The princess wouldn't invite the concubine, and the concubine wouldn't come to pay her respects. It was always just lukewarm. The only time they met was during festivals or the New Year. They would exchange gifts just to save face, and that was about it."

"Yeah, how did they manage to get that kind of relationship?"

"Don't rush, let me explain slowly." Xiao Fengqi took a sip of tea and said, "When the princess first discovered she was pregnant, she didn't make a sound at all, not even the late king knew. It wasn't until about three months later that the late king found out his princess was pregnant, and he was overjoyed. However, he also knew that the palace was not peaceful and that many people were watching. Therefore, he placed his trusted confidants by the princess's side and often accompanied her."

"If the late king did this, I'm afraid he couldn't hide it from that concubine, could he?"

"Of course, the concubine found out very quickly, and it is said that she was furious."

"Of course she's going to throw a huge tantrum. She thought her child would inherit the throne, but things didn't go as planned." Xia Chen shrugged. "So, she started figuring out how to make her move?"

“It should be.” Xiao Fengqi nodded. “But this has not been confirmed. The only thing that can prove that the concubine had ulterior motives is that after the news of the princess’s pregnancy spread throughout the court, the concubine’s family members, whether the princess’s biological parents or her biological parents, came to the palace more frequently.”

"They certainly didn't come to see the princess, right?"

“That’s for sure.” Xiao Fengqi sneered. “They never even went to the princess’s palace. As soon as they entered the palace, they went to see the concubines and the two young princes. The ministers in charge of the trial at the time used this to conclude that they conspired to harm the princess and the young prince.”

"But they won't admit it, right?"

“Yes, we searched for a long time but couldn’t find any evidence.” Xiao Fengqi paused for a moment, then continued, “However, when Young Master Lan was investigating the cause of his mother’s death, he found the most crucial evidence.”