CH 46

Ch 46 This little majesty is going to go crazy.

Three minutes past dawn, the palace gates opened. 

As soon as Xie Chaoyuan’s carriage entered, he bumped into the servant sent by Emperor Qianming to pass the message, and was called to the emperor’s place.

Xie Chaohui was also there, and Emperor Qianming had an ugly look. He directly asked the two of them to explain what happened last night.

Xie Chaoyuan kept silent with a gloomy face, Xie Chaohui explained in a low voice: “There was some misunderstanding between this son and sixth younger brother because of the fire in the mausoleum yesterday. The problem has been resolved, so I hope Royal Father does not fault anyone.”

Emperor Qianming didn’t let them go. The fire in his emperor’s mausoleum yesterday was already unlucky enough, and people were burned to death; he was angry when he thought of it: “Misunderstanding? In the middle of the night, you drew your swords at the gate of the mansion, letting everyone in the capital watch as a joke? This is a misunderstanding? What is going on, please explain the matter clearly to me!”

Without waiting for Xie Chaohui to say more, without passing through a word, Xie Chaorong had rushed to the palace early in the morning: “I know, I know why King Xing and King Ke are arguing!”

Xie Chaorong entered the door, looked at the two with pride, and greeted Emperor Qianming first.

Emperor Qianming swept his eyes away: “What do you know? Tell me!”

Xie Chaorong stood up and said viciously, “Because the person who burned to death in the fire yesterday was the crown prince! King Ke kidnapped him in the Dongshan hunting grounds that day and kept him imprisoned by his side. The matter was known by King Xing, and yesterday he specially set a fire in the Mausoleum Hall when offering sacrifices to the Empress, and burned the crown prince to death. Afterwards, King Ke went to settle the score!”

Qianming Emperor looked at Xie Chaorong with a madman’s expression on his face. The news of Xie Chaoling’s return last night had not yet been reported, so this idiot did not know that Xie Chaoling returned to the palace. He did not die, so how ridiculous was this in Emperor Qianming’s ears.

Emperor Qianming changed his mind, and instead of saying that Xie Chaoling was in the palace, he asked him, “You said that King Ke kidnapped the crown prince?”

“Yes!” Xie Chaorong said proudly, “I have witnesses for this matter!”

Bringing up the witness card, it turned out to be the food delivery guy in the kitchen of King Ke’s Mansion who helped Xie Chaoling send out news before. This person had clearly left the capital early on, but somehow he was found by Xie Chaorong.

The person knelt on the ground tremblingly and said that he had delivered a message for the person imprisoned by Xie Chaoyuan. Xie Chaoyuan said coldly: “That person is just a bodyguard next to the king. What does he have to do with the Crown Prince of the East Palace? You are a person of this King’s palace, yet you inexplicably sneaked away, and now you are joining King Xun in framing this king? What is your intention?” 

Xie Chaorong gritted his teeth and argued, “The jade pendant that the crown prince never left behind was on the person who was burned to death in the fire yesterday. Yesterday, someone present saw it with their own eyes!” 

The “person present” he said was the spy he put on Xie Chaohui’s place, and he was also summoned in for questioning. The person insisted that Xie Chaohui knew that the crownprince was in King Ke’s mansion, and it was expected that the crown prince would follow King Ke to pay respects to the empress, so he planned to set fire to the mausoleum to burn the person to death. 

“Everything said by this servant is true, and I am determined not to deceive Your Majesty.” The people kneeling on the ground were sweating profusely. 

Xie Chaoyuan’s response was a sneer. 

Xie Chaohui didn’t say anything. Emperor Qianming frowned deeply. Earlier he thought that Xie Chaorong was probably crazy, but now that he heard this and looked at the expressions of Xie Chaohui and Xie Chaoyuan, he had doubts. 

Until someone outside came in to report that His Royal Highness the crown prince came to pay his respects. 

Xie Chaorong was urging the emperor to question Xie Chaohui and Xie Chaoyuan when he heard this sentence and the shouting stopped abruptly. He suddenly turned his head to look in the direction of the door. Xie Chaohui’s expression was as usual, while Xie Chaoyuan’s originally slightly restrained black eyes raised up and met Xie Chaoling’s walking figure. The man was dressed in the crown prince’s regular clothes with red embroidered golden dragon patterns, his hair tied up in a bun, and no messy hair on his sideburns. This was what he should have looked like.

The four eyes met. Xie Chaoling’s eyes only stayed for a moment, then quickly slid away, and went forward to greet Emperor Qianming.

Xie Chaoyuan lowered his eyes to cover the darkness in his eyes, and leaned over to greet Xie Chaoling together with Xie Chaohui.

Xie Chaoling smiled gently: “Third brother and Sixth brother don’t need to be polite, there are no outsiders here.”

Xie Chaorong was the only one with his teeth gnashing loudly, his eyes full of disbelief, and he blurted out: “Why are you here?! You are not dead!”

The veins on Emperor Qianming’s forehead twitched violently, and Xie Chaoling looked over with a half-smile: “Second Brother, what do you mean by this? How come second brother is looking forward to my death?”

Xie Chaorong knew that he had said something wrong, so he rushed to Emperor Qianming and said, “Royal Father, this son did not lie! The crown prince was indeed at King Ke’s mansion before, and he returned to the palace only after King Xing set off the fire yesterday! His jade pendant was indeed dropped at the fire!”

“Fire?” Xie Chaoling looked puzzled, “How does second brother know that I escaped from the fire and that my jade pendant was indeed lost at that time.”

Before Xie Chaorong could say anything more, Xie Chaoling told the public again the story he had made up after falling off the cliff: “How could I not know that I was in Ke Palace these days? But I was indeed not in the East Palace, and escaped back to the palace yesterday by luck. Since the incident has escalated, there is nothing to hide, so I ask second brother to make it clear. Those palace guards who were chasing and killing me before, are they from the palace of King Xun?”

Xie Chaorong finally realized that Xie Chaoling was going to push the matter on him, and his eyes were about to split open: “You, you, you are all one group? You are forming a group to force this king!”

“Enough!”

Emperor Qianming couldn’t bear it anymore, and cut him off loudly: “King Xun! You explain clearly to me, did you do it?! You sent people everywhere to search for the prince, and when you found his trail, you didn’t tell me, but even set fire to the temple where he was hiding? The mausoleum was on fire yesterday, and you came here early this morning to tell me that it was King Xing who wanted to burn the prince to death, was it because you thought that the crown prince was already dead, so you deliberately set fire to the mausoleum and left the prince’s jade pendant, wanting to blame this crime on King Xing, and drag King Ke into the water?!”

“No! It’s really not Erchen! Erchen has never done it!” After being questioned by Emperor Qianming, Xie Chaorong panicked, knelt down and shouted injustice.

In fact, Emperor Qianming was right. Xie Chaorong really thought that the person who was burned to death in the fire yesterday was the crown prince, so he rushed to the palace early this morning to tell the emperor what happened, and wanted to let Xie Chaohui and Xie Chaoyuan die without a place to bury themselves. But he didn’t expect that Xie Chaoling was still alive and returned to the palace alive, and now he was biting him back, making up such an extremely absurd story to frame him in reverse.

And judging by their father’s expression, it was obvious that he believed in Xie Chaoling.

When Xie Chaorong was in a hurry, he began to speak indiscriminately: “Father, don’t be deceived by them! The crown prince has indeed been in the palace of King Ke for a long time, and King Ke brought him into the palace to participate in the palace banquet on New Year’s Eve. At that time, seventh brother also saw it! This son absolutely did not lie! The crown prince and King Ke have an absurd and unethical relationship and is one gang! They teamed up to frame this son! Royal Father, if you don’t believe me, you can ask seventh brother!”

“Second brother must be suffering from hysteria,” Xie Chaoling frowned, “Sixth brother and I are innocent. Saying such a thing, thi is too harsh, I hope that Royal Father will give justice to me and sixth younger brother.”

Emperor Qianming was so angry that he slapped the table, and sternly reprimanded Xie Chaorong: “Shut up! Don’t be full of nonsense here!”

“What I said is true, it is true! They have that kind of shady relationship!” Xie Chaorong gritted his teeth and lashed out.

Emperor Qianming turned to Xie Chaoling angrily: “You and King Ke…”

“I hope that Royal Father will give justice to this son and younger brother!” Xie Chaoling interrupted Emperor Qianming’s unfinished words in a deep voice, without any hint of guilt.

Xie Chaoyuan’s face turned darker. 

Emperor Qianming turned his gaze to him: “King Ke, tell me!” Xie Chaoyuan raised his eyes slowly, with no emotion in his black eyes, and looked at Xie Chaoling who was a few steps away. Xie Chaoling didn’t look at him, and didn’t even give him a side eye.

Xie Chaoyuan didn’t say a word. Suspicion had accumulated in Emperor Qianming’s eyes, and when he wanted to ask, he finally said in a deep voice: “Whatever the crown prince said, that’s what it is.”

Emperor Qianming frowned even more. Xie Chaorong jumped up and shouted loudly : “King Ke is clearly guilty! If the matter is false, why didn’t he just deny it?! Father, don’t be fooled by them! They are all lying to you! They are all lying to you!”

“I told you to shut up!” The emperor couldn’t take it anymore.

Wang Qing came in at the right time and reminded him in a low voice that His Highness the Fourth Highness and the Seventh Highness also came to pay their respects, and they were outside.

Emperor Qianming said angrily: “Call them in!”

As soon as Xie Chaorong saw Xie Chaoyi entering the door, he immediately jumped up and grabbed him as if he had caught a life-saving ring: “You come and tell the emperor! It is your people who told me about the crown prince being in the palace of King Ke. Make it clear to the emperor that on New Year’s Eve you did indeed see that the person next to King Ke was the crown prince!”

Startled, Xie Chaoyi quickly shrank behind Xie Chaoqi, secretly scolding Xie Chaorong, an idiot. As expected, he is inadequate and is just a failure, he shouldn’t have counted on him!

But he put on a look of fear on his face, and cried: “Second brother, what are you talking about, how could my people say such things to you? I have never seen the crown prince, I don’t know what you are talking about?”

Xie Chaorong jumped into a rage: “Okay, you little b*stard! Even you want to cheat me!”

If Xie Chaoyi hadn’t dodged quickly, he would have been choked by Xie Chaorong, this guy seemed to be crazy.

Xie Chaoyi gritted his teeth secretly when he heard their father scolding his stupid elder brother loudly. He did tell Xie Chaorong the news of the crown prince on purpose. He thought that Xie Chaorong would turn the matter around and tell Xie Chaohui, and let Xie Chaohui go make a move, so he finally gained some brains, but he really overestimated his brainless brother. The crown prince was standing in front of them, it was obvious that Xie Chaorong messed up the matter, not only messed up, but also backfired it.

He would be stupid to admit that it was he who told Xie Chaorong.

From the beginning to the end, only Xie Chaoqi was not involved in this matter. He was surprised when he saw Xie Chaoling, and when he heard the dirty words from Xie Chaorong’s mouth, his eyes turned between Xie Chaoling and Xie Chaoyuan and immediately understood.

Their father might not be able to see it, but when he saw Xie Chaoyuan’s expression, he knew that what Xie Chaorong said was probably true.

Emperor Qianming was already furious, and he didn’t want to hear Xie Chaorong’s nonsense anymore, so he ordered someone to arrest him, and then drove out all the other sons, leaving only Xie Chaoling behind.

The hall finally quieted down. Seeing the emperor covering his heart and bending over with one hand on the imperial desk, gasping for breath, Xie Chaoling lowered his head and said softly, “Father calm down, your body is important.”

Emperor Qianming looked at him suspiciously: “Tell me the truth, what you said to me before, you really didn’t lie to me? You were indeed hunted and killed outside, and you just returned to the capital yesterday?”

Xie Chaoling knew that his father was suspicious, yet despite that, his expression remained calm: “I don’t dare to lie to my father, everything this son said is true. These few months, this son has been away, and I couldn’t even remember who I was. After I was chased and hid everywhere. I almost died. If it wasn’t for good luck, I may have given some people what they wanted and died outside.”

Xie Chaoling’s eyes were slightly red: “What’s more, I just found out that the place that was burned yesterday was  to my mother’s tablet in the back of the mausoleum hall. If things were really as King Xun said it was, that I deliberately joined together with King Xing and King Ke, why should I choose the mausoleum to do it?”

Emperor Qianming hesitated and asked: “King Ke, he with you…”

“I don’t know why King Xun said such things to damage the reputation of King Ke. Since the sunset yesterday until I returned to the palace, I have never seen King Ke, and I have not been hiding in King Ke’s mansion … It’s nonsense, I ask Royal Father to clear this injustice for me.”

Xie Chaoling’s words were flawless. Emperor Qianming looked at him deeply, Xie Chaoling always looked like that, and there was no sign of lying on his face.

Xie Chaoling had always been gentle and generous, knowing etiquette and keeping distance, just like the former crown prince. He would not do those absurd things that are despised by the world, he would not intentionally frame his brother into injustice, and he would not set fire to the mausoleum where his mother’s tablet was enshrined.

After a while, the emperor waved his hand, and finally said: “Where is King Xun? I will deal with him, but the family ugliness must not be publicized, so this matter should not be made into a big deal.”

Xie Chaoling thanked him and withdrew.

He only said yesterday that the people who chased him were the royal guards, and did not involve the families behind them. He knew that Xie Chaorong was stupid, but the people behind him were not stupid, and if there were too many people chasing and biting, this matter would not end.

Xie Chaorong was indeed stupid. As long as he could bear it and not jump out in a hurry today after an accident happened yesterday, or if he was not so narrow-minded and didn’t trust Zhao father and son because they might have the intention of being drawn by Xie Chaoyi and not discuss it with them, today would not be so hard to argue. He seeked a dead end by himself.

Family ugliness was family ugliness, after all, Xie Chaorong was completely unable to stand up this time.

On the palace road, Xie Chaoyuan hadn’t left, but had been waiting on the only way back from the emperor’s room back to the East Palace.

Xie Chaoling went back on the carriage, passed by Xie Chaoyuan, and did not stop. Xie Chaoling kept looking ahead, never even glancing at Xie Chaoyuan.

Wang Rang and the others crawled on the ground tremblingly. Even if they couldn’t see it, they could still feel the coldness around Xie Chaoyuan’s body.

This little majesty is going to go crazy.