Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2757 Still Vigorous in Old Age 141.0
No one responded, but they all smiled and nodded at Jin Miaomiao, indicating that they had taken it to heart.

"It would be great if you could really remember it!" Jin Miaomiao looked at Shen Haolin, then at Shen Cha. "Especially the two of you, if something really happens, you'll be working day and night without stopping."

“Tell me about yourself too!” Shen Cha snorted. “When I start researching pharmacology, I don’t leave the house for days on end, and I don’t eat or sleep.”

Let's encourage each other.

"Look, look!" Song Yaojia sat to the side watching the two bicker, in a particularly good mood, and said with a smile, "They were thinking of lecturing us, but they didn't expect to be lectured instead, did they?"

Jin Miaomiao didn't speak, but made a gait to indicate that she would shut up and not continue the topic.

Shen Cha took a sip of tea, smiled when she saw Jin Miaomiao's action, and turned to look at Xiao Fengqi.

"and after?"

"what?"

Shen Cha put down the quilt, blinked, and said, "After the Regent left Jiangnan, he went back and investigated the traitors. Apart from some small families, the Rong family and the little prince can't escape either, right? They're completely unharmed?"

“It’s not that nothing happened, it’s just that nothing serious.” Xiao Fengqi sighed and said, “Aside from finding out that the Rong family contacted the two young princes to retaliate against the Xiao and Qi families, there is no other conclusive evidence.”

"They were all involved in the kidnapping, isn't that enough evidence? Or is someone covering for them?"

“It’s not that someone is protecting them, but that someone is willing to take the blame for them.” Xiao Fengqi spread his hands and said helplessly, “Both the Xiao family and the Qi family have people who have stepped forward to take the blame and produced evidence to prove that they are the real masterminds. Naturally, they have severed their ties with the Rong family and the two princes to ensure their innocence. So, we can only end it once and for all.”

“It’s understandable that someone from the Xiao family would step forward, but the Qi family…” Shen Cha turned to look at Qi Zhifeng, “The Qi family is small and has always been peaceful and harmonious. How could something like this happen?”

“It’s not internal to the Qi family, but their enemies. Grandfather Qi and Uncle Qi have many rivals in the court, and there are plenty who want to use Xiao Feng as leverage against them,” Xiao Fengqi sighed. “Although we know it’s the Rong family and those two princes’ revenge behind it, without concrete evidence, the late king and the regent can’t do anything to them; they can only let it slide.” He sighed softly, “At most, they’ll just punish them privately to make them behave.”

"But they're not honest at all?"

“It’s impossible to be honest, but when things are in the eye of the storm, you definitely have to keep a low profile.” Xiao Fengqi sneered. “About half a year after the kidnapping, the two princes and the Rong family launched a palace coup. It happened on the same night, and they sealed off the four gates of Linhuang Mansion. This time, the two princes led their private soldiers straight to the palace.” “Why did they choose that time to stage a palace coup?”

“Because at that time, the late king’s health was already much worse than before.” Xiao Fengqi sighed and said, “To be precise, in those six months, the late king suddenly became very weak. We didn’t know why before, but now that I think about it, his extreme weakness might have been because the two inside his body were fighting for control?” He wasn’t very sure and looked at Jin Miaomiao, “Probably?”

“Yes!” Jin Miaomiao nodded. “They are well aware of their own physical condition and are all trying to hold out for as long as possible. The result of their struggle is that their already fragile bodies are getting worse.” She sighed and said, “The Rong family and the two princes are probably planning to take advantage of people’s illness and kill them, choosing to make their move at this time, right?”

“Yes!” Xiao Fengqi nodded. “But they didn’t expect that both the late king and the regent had been prepared, and this preparation had already begun during the last siege of the regent’s palace.”

"So, they've fallen into the trap set by the King of Liao and the Regent? They didn't know it?"

“Of course she wouldn’t know. The inside man is gone.” Xiao Fengqi sneered and said, “Consort Rong is under house arrest, and everyone in her palace is under house arrest as well. Everyone and everything entering and leaving her palace is subject to strict inspection. The inspectors are all confidants of the late King and the Regent. It’s impossible for anyone to risk their life to pass on a message to her. So, even if she knew that the late King and the Regent were targeting the Rong family and her two sons, her message couldn’t get out.”

"That's true. Without news from the palace, they'd probably be completely blind."

“That’s right.” Xiao Fengqi raised an eyebrow and continued, “The Rong family head and the two princes led their troops into the palace, only to be caught like turtles in a jar. The Rong family head was killed on the spot, the two princes were captured alive, and their soldiers surrendered.”

"All your scheming and plotting has come to nothing in the end," Shen Cha sighed helplessly. "What was the point of falling from grace overnight, from being a high-ranking figure to being imprisoned?"

"Perhaps they just like this feeling!" Xiao Fengqi sneered. "After the two princes were imprisoned, all the dirty deeds they had done were finally exposed. Of course, the Regent, the Xiao family, and the Qi family were behind this, and the late king also tacitly approved it. Both my great-aunt and the Qi family's grandfather were petty and protective of their own, not to mention the late king and the Regent. All those scores they had accumulated before would have to be settled slowly. The earlier ones, like Consort Rong's forced marriage, and the later ones, like this palace coup, and of course, major events like the Sleeping Beauty and the Fox Cat Plan that involved the Xia, Liao, and Jin kingdoms, were all related to them. The evidence that couldn't be found before is now being exposed little by little."

"How did this get exposed?" Jin Miaomiao asked, puzzled. "Just now you said that if you couldn't find concrete evidence, you could only punish them privately. How come you have evidence in just six months?"

"When the wall falls, everyone pushes it down; when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. These two sayings are true at any time." Xia Chen gently tapped the table. "Moreover, the Rong family and the two royal mansions have already had their property confiscated. Their correspondence will become evidence, and their servants will also become witnesses."

"Not only that, but the supporters of the two little princes also switched sides to avoid being implicated."

“Evidence that couldn’t be found before will automatically come knocking on our door now.” Shen Cha nodded, took a sip of the warm water Merlin brought her, and said, “Whether it’s true or false, whether the matters are serious or not, they will all come at once.” She sighed helplessly, “The outcome is already decided, nothing else matters, and even without evidence, one can take the blame. After all, treason is the most serious crime, and everything else is just icing on the cake.”