No one had expected this result. Even Feng Yuzhen and the Empress Dowager did not dare to believe it. It was just a small matter to frame Mo Xuetong, but how could it cause such a big commotion? If he had known this would happen, Feng Yuzhen would not have plotted against Mo Xuetong, nor provoke Feng Yuxuan and Feng Yuran at one time, which caused the matter to be brought to the imperial palace.
The crux of the matter was not whether Mo Xuetong was really having an affair with Feng Yuxuan.
As long as Feng Yuran believed that Mo Xuetong had an affair with Feng Yuxuan, then no matter how she tried to defend herself and how Feng Yuxuan tried to verify it, Feng Yuran could push the blame onto Feng Yuxuan. After this matter happened, Mo Xuetong would definitely die. Furthermore, she had made Feng Yuran a cuckold.
In this case, it was obviously that Feng Yuran would deal with Feng Yuxuan until he defeated him! Moreover, there was the matter about the maidservant Honghua.
However, no one had expected that something changed. What they found in Mo Xuetong’s room was not Feng Yuxuan’s robe that Mo Yufeng had hidden in, nor the “private letters” that Feng Yuxuan had written to Mo Xuetong. Then, the poison that Auntie Qing had asked the little maidservant Honghua to take did not take effect at the scheduled time of night.
The original plan was to discover King Chu’s private items in Mo Xuetong’s room in the day, and Honghua pushed the blame onto Mo Xuetong. How could the latter not investigate the matter in front of all the guests in the room? The maidservant would fall into Mo Xuetong’s hands. As this incident happened in the back courtyard, the front courtyard would definitely be in an uproar.
Feng Yuran was not a man who could tolerate suffering loss. With his arrogant character, he might rush to King Chu’s Manor and fight with Feng Yuxuan directly. After Mo Xuetong got the news, she wouldn’t have the mood to deal with these things. She had to quell Feng Yuran’s anger first. Then this matter wouldn’t be clear.
By the time everyone discovered that the maidservant Honghua had already died, Mo Xuetong and Feng Yuxuan would unable to give a convincing explanation for self-defense.
This was supposed to be a completely flawless plan. Who knew that something unforeseen had happened? They had failed to frame Mo Xuetong. Feng Yuran had indeed gone to find Feng Yuxuan. However, why did the Emperor decree an edict and order Feng Yuzhen to come to Qianqing Palace after the two of them entered the palace angrily?
When the Empress Dowager got the news and came from Cining Palace, she saw Feng Yuzhen being detained below the throne. Her crown was knocked off his head, and his embroidered robe was also taken off. He knelt there in a mess, and his face was pale.
“Your Majesty, what happened? What’s wrong with Zhen’er?” The Empress Dowager was so anxious that her face flushed. She could not be bothered to be polite and went straight to the point.
“Mother, you’re here. I was about to invite you. Please take a seat.” There were no outsiders in the imperial study. Only the lead eunuch, Liu Xi, was standing beside Emperor Zongwen. At the sight of the Empress Dowager, he immediately curtsied before retreated to the side with care.
The Empress Dowager cooled her anger and then relaxed when she saw that Emperor Zongwen’s expression was still calm. She sat down on a chair by the side and said, “Your Majesty, I heard that something happened to Zhen’er, so I came specially to take a look. Has anything big happened? I notice that Zhen’er’s crown even has been knocked down.”
Even though she had learned this matter before coming, the most important thing was still about Feng Yuzhen. The Empress Dowager hadn’t figured out what had happened yet! She looked at Emperor Zongwen with a glint in her eyes, really not understanding what Feng Yuzhen had done to make the Emperor so angry.
“Mother, I don’t understand why you are so worried about King Ning.” Emperor Zongwen did not answer her. Knitting his brows slightly, he looked at the Empress Dowager, his eyes dark and his face looking glum.
His question was so straightforward that the Empress Dowager did not understand what was going on. She could not help but put on an embarrassed look. Everyone in the palace knew that she had been protecting King Ning. She replied, “Your Majesty, what are you talking about? How can I not be worried about my own grandson? No matter if it is King Chu or King Yan, I will take them all to my heart.”
She quickly gave a dry laugh and hid it.
“Mother, do you really care about them?” Emperor Zongwen sneered. He reached out and picked up the file he had just read. Liu Xi hurriedly took it and handed it to the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager took it in confusion and opened it. When she saw the confession on it clearly, her hands spontaneously trembled. She would never have imagined that it was a confession that pointed directly at King Ning, Feng Yuzhen. The confession was from Auntie Qing, Mo Yufeng, Yu Feng, and the maidservant Honghua.
The maidservant claimed that Auntie Qing had asked her to put the robe and a few pieces of paper there.
Auntie Qing had contacted her aunt in the capital, and the latter had asked her to get in touch with Mo Yufeng in the Mo Manor so as to frame Mo Xuetong and Feng Yuxuan together. They had intentionally said that the two had an affair, and Auntie Qing had brought many people to Mo Xuetong’s Qingwei Garden on the day of the Mo Manor’s banquet. Then these people could be witnesses when she tried to slander Mo Xuetong and Feng Yuxuan.
Mo Yufeng’s confession was the same as Yu Feng’s. They both said that King Ning’s Manor had sent someone to contact them and asked them to harm Mo Xuetong. Furthermore, they promised that they would not treat the two of them shabbily after the matter was done—Mo Yufeng would get the entire Mo Manor and Yu Feng would climb to the high position that he wanted.
It could be said that these confessions all meant that King Ning, Feng Yuzhen, was the mastermind behind this incident. The Empress Dowager’s face paled and her fingers trembled after she read it. She was so frightened that she almost fainted. She remained calm and only managed to speak after a long while.
“Your Majesty, is there a misunderstanding? This… how, how could Zhen’er do such a thing? He… he has always been on good terms with King Chu and King Xuan. Was he framed up?”
Of course, the Empress Dowager knew the plot against Mo Xuetong. Furthermore, she was a direct planner and participant. Consort Xuan was a weak woman who was very good-looking. That day, in Cining Palace, when Princess Caifeng took out the box, the Empress Dowager had clearly seen the nervousness on Feng Yuxuan’s face.
She felt strange at that time. Mo Xuetong was Consort Xuan, but why did King Chu look so nervous and uneasy?
After that, one of the maidservants of King Chu’s Manor died, but the news she sent out shocked the Empress Dowager. However, she then was overjoyed. Even though the maidservant was dead, she had the “evidence” that Feng Yuxuan and Mo Xuetong had an affair. It was indeed heaven’s help. She had been thinking about how to defeat Feng Yuxuan. To her surprise, there would be a solution. How could the Empress Dowager not be happy?
Immediately, she asked someone to call King Ning over. The two of them discussed it together for more than half the night before they came up with a perfect plan.
The Empress Dowager had never doubted whether the so-called “evidence” that Yu Sirong left behind was true or not. However, judging from Feng Yuxuan’s nervous expression that day, she felt that it was true. Thus, she did not expect that the evidence that Yu Sirong left behind was fake. It was all made by her as she had intended to frame Mo Xuetong.
They took the things out from King Chu’s Manor, send them to the Yu Manor and asked Yu Feng to give them to Mo Yufeng. Then, Mo Yufeng and Auntie Qing found a way to hide the things among Mo Xuetong’s books. As for Mdm Yu and her daughter, as well as Auntie Qing, they would act according to the circumstances and pull out the “evidence” so that everyone could see them.
At the same time, Mo Yufeng took advantage of the opportunity to piss Feng Yuran off in the front yard. Then the latter would rush straight to King Chu’s Manor.
“Mother, King Ning is your grandson, and so are King Chu and King Xuan. Why didn’t you say anything when such a big matter has happened to the other two grandsons? On the contrary, you rushed over directly as soon as something happened to King Ning. Mother, you must be tired, coming all the way from Cining Palace.”
Emperor Zongwen gave a cold smile, looking extremely mocking.
He had always been very respectful to the Empress Dowager in front of others. This was the first time that he had sneered at her so coldly. There was even a hint of anger in the corners of his eyes and his eyes looked so deep dark that it was almost impossible to see through them.
The Empress Dowager was stunned and then started to think about the Emperor’s words. She could not figure out what he was up to and could only force a smile and say, “Your Majesty, I live far away and learned about this matter a little late. I heard that something had happened to these princes, so I came over. I saw King Ning kneeling outside alone and thus asked what happened.”
She was trying to explain why she did not do anything when King Chu and King Xuan came to Qianqing Palace, but as soon as something happened to King Ning, she ran over anxiously.
Emperor Zongwen obviously did not want to continue this topic. He looked away from the Empress Dowager and landed his eyes on the file in front of her. His mouth curved into a cold smile and said, “Mother, it is a serious crime that the criminal’s relatives of nine generations would be sentenced to death to harm my sons. If you don’t believe what Feng Yuzhen has committed a crime, you can get these people to prove it. I heard that even Yu Feng’s daughter had also gotten Feng Yuzhen’s hint that as long as she could successfully frame Consort Xuan, she could marry into King Ning’s Manor.”
“Your Majesty, it must be a joke. That woman made up this story because she is greedy for wealth. How could Zhen’er agree to marry such a mean and vicious woman? Hearing your words, I remember something. Is the Yu family that you mentioned the parents’ home of Mo Huawen’s late concubine? I heard that this family’s girls are vicious and mean. No matter what, Zhen’er would never say something like that to such a woman.”
The Empress Dowager hurriedly denied it as sweat trickled down her back. On the way here, she did not expect that Feng Yuzhen had angered the Emperor because of this matter. Hence, her argument was a little stiff. She had planned this together with Feng Yuzhen, but the latter did not ask the Empress Dowager about some details and made his own decision. Anyway, as long as the plan was successful, they didn’t have to mind these trifles.
However, the problem now was that the plan had failed and Feng Yuzhen had been exposed. Furthermore, there were so many people to testify against him. How could the Empress Dowager not be angry and anxious? She felt bummed and flustered.
“Mother, now that things have come to this, how do you think I should deal with Feng Yuzhen? He has tried to plot against my two sons. It’s not good enough for King Ning to plot against my three sons again,” the Emperor asked lightly.
“Your… Your Majesty, should you investigate again? Zhen’er… might really have been wronged.” The Empress Dowager could not figure out the situation and still wanted to defend Feng Yuzhen.
“Mother, do you mean that you want the Ministry of Justice to directly deal with the case and the three judiciaries to investigate this case together, and my evidence is invalid?” the Emperor uttered in an indifferent voice.
Everyone in the country would know this case if the three judiciaries dealt with it. The Empress Dowager’s forehead began to sweat as well. The evidence was irrefutable. As there was unimpeachable proof, so what if the three judiciaries tried the case? Even though some of them worked for her, they did not hold important positions, or they were old and weak and were about to retire.
Those people didn’t dare to overthrow the confessions the Emperor got. Moreover, these confessions were true!
If the whole country knew about this matter, the matter would be dealt with in accordance with the law, and she had to be impartial. Even if Feng Yuzhen had a hundred heads, it would not be enough to behead him. He had tried to harm two popular princes at one stroke. How could the officials think highly of Feng Yuzhen, a has-been prince?
