446 The night he never wanted to recall
Li Hua and Lóng Wei arrived at the palace. They had their lunch together, after which Lóng Wei left the manor saying he had important work to do. Li Hua knew that he wanted to be alone again, so she did not stop him.
Lóng Wei encountered Mingquan in the corridor, who smiled at him. “Can we have a conversation, Brother Lóng Wei?” Mingquan asked.
“Later, Brother. Currently, I want to go somewhere,” Lóng Wei replied and bowed his head a little before walking ahead. Mingquan turned to look and watched him going away. He decided to go and see Xiaoming as he had to inform him about something important.
Sun Fuguo opened the door of the Crown Prince’s chamber to Mingquan and he walked in. He bowed before Xiaoming and took the seat on the chair. “Your Royal Highness, I have found out something important about Minister Li Zixuan,” he stated and took out an envelope from the inner pocket of his upper robe.
Xiaoming took it from him and took out the folded paper from inside it. The paper was yellow and old. He started to read the document and looked at Mingquan. “Where did Brother Mingquan find this?” After finishing reading, he asked Mingquan.
“It was in the oldest record-keeping house of the kingdom. It was difficult to find, but an old servant who served in Minister Li’s house for more than thirty years has told me about it. Minister Li had a wife, but she died. The document has the date of his first wife,” Mingquan explained to Xiaoming.
“Does the Crown Prince want to investigate further in this?” Mingquan asked.
“Yes. Jin Yu’s mother might be the woman that Li Zixuan had mentioned in the document,” Xiaoming asserted. “Did the old servant tell Brother Mingquan if Li Zixuan had any child with his first wife?” He queried.
“Your Royal Highness, he said that the first wife of Li Zixuan died because of an illness,” Mingquan replied. “It may be a lie,” he added.
.....
“I also think the same. Thank you, Brother Mingquan. Now, I will look into this matter and reach the depth of the truth,” Xiaoming proclaimed.
“Do I need to look into the history of the other ministers?” Mingquan asked him.
“Currently that is not needed, Brother Mingquan,” Xiaoming said.
“Does the Crown Prince want my help in this? The Crown Princess may not be able to go out of the palace because of the order that His Majesty has given after the attack on Princess Consort Li Hua. The Crown Prince may need someone to help him in the investigation,” Mingquan suggested to Xiaoming.
“If Brother Mingquan is not busy with the other work, then I will be glad to take his help,” Xiaoming opined.
“I am not, Your Royal Highness.” Mingquan smiled at the Crown Prince. They had a conversation for a while before the Fourth Prince took his leave as he had to meet Xu Zifan regarding an important matter.
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Lóng Wei looked around the personal chamber of his mother. For a long time, he only gazed at the portrait of his mother. He had never thought that a day would come when he would feel guilty for not understanding his mother. He did not want to feel low because he took his mother’s life, but after the meeting with his maternal grandmother, he felt upset.
However, amidst those thoughts, he kept telling himself that he did nothing wrong.
He walked in and went to the bedchamber of his mother where he killed her that night. The night which he never wanted to recall. That night was still vivid for him. It seemed that it all happened yesterday.
He curled his fingers and fisted his palms. “You promised me that after you would leave my life, I would never have to think about the wrong you did to me. You could not either keep your promise with me,” he murmured as he looked around the chamber.
His eyes fell onto the study desk which was close to the window and the patio. He walked there while taking out the key from his pocket. The key that Yu Shin had handed him. When he asked his grandmother why she was giving him this now, her answer amused him.
Yu Jun wanted it to come to Lóng Wei’s hand when he would go to see Yu Shin willingly whenever she would ask him to. Such peculiar condition it was! He got on his knees and sat on the mattress around the floor desk.
Inserting the key in the keyhole of the drawer, he opened it. The lock opened and he pulled the drawer. The one thing that Lóng Wei could not understand if Qiu Zedong knew the truth, then why he did not try to open this floor desk. He must have tried to search for the reasons behind her death.
Lóng Wei’s eyes widened when he found out that the drawer was empty. He checked it well, but he did not find anything there. His mind suddenly turned blank because his grandmother had told him that he would find the last message from his mother after he opened that drawer.
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But it was empty!
He pushed in the drawer and quickly locked it. He stood up and for the first time, his heart beat in fear. A strange and unexplainable fear!
Who could take it away? What it could be about? Many questions popped up in his mind at that instant. He turned and left the chamber without getting anyone’s notice. He wanted to see his grandmother, Lady Yu Shin, again. Only she could answer what was in the message for him.
He descended the stairs in haste when he got hit by Tianjie, who was coming from the market after roaming around. He scolded Lóng Wei for not looking ahead and walking straight. But when he did not get any reply in return from Lóng Wei, he turned to look.
“Where is Brother Lóng Wei heading to in such a rush?” Tianjie mumbled and thought to go behind him.