Chapter 197
Chapter 197: The Grand Princess’s Smoke Screen
The Empress Dowager sat in Shoucheng Palace, her heart full of anxiety.
She had already sent out several groups of people.
Eunuch Wei had gone to Prince Yong’s manor to ask for news, but he came back together with Prince Chen.
“Imperial Mother, please do not worry. Sister-in-law has been found. Seventh Younger Brother has taken her back to the Prince’s manor. She has only some minor external injuries. He was afraid you would worry, so he specially asked me to come tell you,” Prince Chen said.
“You saw A’Ning? How is she?” the Empress Dowager asked.
“She was asleep. I did not see her face, since Seventh Younger Brother was holding her the whole time. Seventh Younger Brother called the imperial physician to take her pulse. He said she is not seriously hurt. I did not follow them inside,” Prince Chen replied.
The Empress Dowager seemed to relax. She then ordered Eunuch Wei: “Take three roots of hundred-year ginseng to Prince Yong’s manor for the Intended Consort.”
She added: “Tell the Intended Consort to rest and heal well. When she has fully recovered, she is to come into the palace so I can see her.”
Eunuch Wei answered and went out to carry out the order.
A palace maid brought in tea. Only now did the Empress Dowager have the mood to drink a sip. She took a drink and sighed softly.
“Imperial Mother, the people at Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple included Aunt, Cousin Pei Ying, and Wang Tang Yao of the Marquis of Jian Ning’s household. The rest were ordinary commoners. The number of dead and injured has not yet been counted. But Aunt and Cousin are both unharmed, and Vice Minister Wang of the Marquis of Jian Ning’s household has also been carried home. His injuries are more serious,” Prince Chen said.
The Empress Dowager’s expression grew slightly grim. “This matter is strange.”
“Sister-in-law’s maid said it was Aunt who invited Sister-in-law to Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple. That maid also said Aunt has sent invitations to Sister-in-law several times over these days,” Prince Chen added.
The Empress Dowager seemed a little unable to believe it. “Jia Hong?”
Madam Pei was refined and restrained, far less arrogant than women of other great clans. Her reputation was very good.
The Grand Princess and the Empress Dowager also had a good relationship. They had been at peace with each other for decades. In several political struggles, the Grand Princess had stood by the Empress Dowager’s side.
“I also feel this matter is very odd. No matter how much Aunt likes Seventh Sister-in-law, she should not be inviting her this often,” Prince Chen said.
“What is Jia Hong doing?” the Empress Dowager asked.
“Earlier, Huai Feng asked me to look into Cousin Pei Ying. He spent a year or two in Shaoyang, but his movements were unclear. No one knew what he was doing there or where he lived. And Seventh Sister-in-law, she lived in Shaoyang for three years,” Prince Chen said.
The Empress Dowager was stunned. “Does A’Ning know some secret of Pei Ying’s, and Jia Hong wants to kill her to silence her?”
“Imperial Mother, you are thinking too much. Cousin is not yet married,” Prince Chen said quickly.
At first, the Empress Dowager found it unbelievable. Then she slowly started to think it over.
“Could it be…” she murmured.
“I have been thinking about it the whole way here. It is all too coincidental. Could Aunt have done this? Sister-in-law’s maid said there was a person in short, tight clothes who wanted to make a move when the main hall began to shake. After that, that person disappeared,” Prince Chen said.
The Empress Dowager was silent for a long time.
She remembered that early the next morning after the Emperor issued the imperial edict to betroth Prince Yong, Jia Hong had come.
Jia Hong had been very surprised by the news.
The Empress Dowager could still picture her shocked and regretful face.
She had not taken it to heart at the time, because she had thought that as Grand Princess, Jia Hong only wanted to marry a young lady of the Pei family to Prince Yong.
Now, hearing what Prince Chen said, it seemed the Empress Dowager had not thought deeply enough at the start.
“To reach her goal and stop at nothing, that is exactly your Aunt’s way,” the Empress Dowager said coldly, her face sinking. “To kidnap A’Ning, she did not hesitate to use Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple and its innocent worshippers as the price.
“The more dead and injured there are, the less suspicious she looks. She even put herself and Pei Ying in danger to pretend she is also a victim.”
“Imperial Mother is wise. That is also the guess of your son and Seventh Younger Brother,” Prince Chen said.
The Empress Dowager’s face looked very unpleasant. “I have indulged Jia Hong. Years ago she helped me twice. Because I remembered her service, I was too lenient with her and Madam Pei.”
“Imperial Mother, please do not be angry. For now, it is enough that we know the truth in our hearts. Zheng Qing is still at Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple, but I guess he will not be able to get any evidence. Aunt does things very cleanly,” Prince Chen said.
The Empress Dowager gripped the teacup hard. “She is lawless.”
“If Aunt dares to do this in the holy place of the Buddhist Order, she must have something to rely on. I heard there are many bones buried under Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple. Soon, whether court officials or you, no one will have the time to worry about her matters,” Prince Chen said.
“Bones?” The Empress Dowager was shocked. “Where did they come from?”
“I do not know. That must be investigated. I heard there are a lot,” Prince Chen replied.
The Empress Dowager could only fall silent.
First something had happened at Fahua Temple, and now Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple had a pit full of bones. The Empress Dowager was truly furious.
She believed in Buddha.
But among the three most flourishing temples in the capital, two were hiding filth and evil. It was truly frightening.
Prince Chen talked in Shoucheng Palace for quite a while.
He was slow and mild by nature. Whatever he said always carried some careful thought.
Just as he was about to leave, the Emperor arrived.
Of all his brothers, the Emperor was least wary of Prince Chen.
From childhood, Prince Chen had a good temper but was not weak. When the late emperor scolded the Crown Prince, Prince Chen would often step in to smooth things over.
He was the only prince who was publicly known to have “no ambition.”
“What happened at Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple? I heard Vice Minister Wang was badly injured,” the Emperor said.
Prince Chen briefly described what had happened at Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple again. He simply left out his and Xiao Huai Feng’s guesses and did not mention the Grand Princess Jia Hong at all.
“…There was even a mechanism beneath the altar in the main hall?” the Emperor asked.
“Yes. But after the great explosion, the mechanism was shaken and locked. It cannot be opened anymore.
“The explosion sank half of the main hall and blasted the empty corridor underneath. Prince Yong led men to dig for a long time but still could not break through.
“Luckily, that secret passage had another exit. It was a pavilion on the back hill of the temple. When the main hall exploded and the hidden chamber collapsed, that exit also caved in and opened.
“Vice Minister Wang also hid in the chamber during the explosion. Then he was caught in the cave-in, which is why he was so badly injured,” Prince Chen said.
The Emperor thought for a moment. “Vice Minister Wang was there too?”
“Yes,” Prince Chen answered.
“Every time something happens, he hints to me that it is the Luo family stirring up trouble, trying to destroy the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s household. Prince Yong’s Intended Consort also fell into that chamber. Could this have been man-made?” the Emperor asked.
Prince Chen replied: “Imperial Elder Brother, that is something you must ask Vice Minister Wang. I only heard some idle gossip. By the way, Aunt and Cousin Pei Ying were also there.”
The Empress Dowager then said: “The truth has not yet been found. It would be better to first investigate the explosion in the main hall and then look into the other matters. What does the Emperor think?”
“Imperial Mother is right. The court officials will most likely advise the same,” the Emperor said.
The Empress Dowager was very tired.
She told the Emperor and Prince Chen to go see to their duties. She wanted to rest.
“Third Brother, do the Marquis of Jian Ning’s household and the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s household have some old grudge?” the Emperor asked Prince Chen as they walked out of Shoucheng Palace.
Why did Wang Tang Yao have such deep hostility toward Luo Ning?
He had also been there at the moment between life and death. If he had not been injured, would Luo Ning now be dead in that ‘accident’?
If she died, where would the Emperor find another princess consort for Prince Yong who suited him so perfectly?
Letting Luo Ning become Princess Consort Yong was, in the Emperor’s view, a brilliant idea.
“There has been no dealing between the two families,” Prince Chen said.
“I ask you, and you still do not know,” the Emperor said.
This third brother of his was the one who cared least about worldly affairs.
Maybe other people knew more.
The Emperor even told the Empress to send someone to Prince Yong’s manor to visit Luo Ning. He wanted to know whether her injuries were serious and whether she might die.
“Send someone to Prince Yong’s manor to visit?” the Empress asked in surprise. “Not to the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s household?”
The Emperor said: “I heard she is resting and healing at the Prince’s manor and has not gone back yet.”
The Empress fell silent.
[Have they not even held the wedding yet?]