099 The Truth and the Illusion (2)

After Xiao Qingzi was dragged away, everyone waited in Purple Dream Hall.

Princess Xihe was moved back to the inner chamber, where Liu Yunmeng took care of her.

Not long after, Long Zhan returned with Di Xiao to report.

"Long Zhan, did you find anything?"

"Your Majesty, this was found in Xiao Qingzi's room." Long Zhan cupped his hands and offered up a jade pendant.

Though the pendant looked to be of excellent quality, even the Empress and Zhang Bitong were visibly startled.

The Emperor was also full of surprise. He asked, "Long Zhan, did you truly find this in Xiao Qingzi's quarters?"

"Yes. This humble general found it, and several other guards can testify."

Di Xiao and the others dropped to one knee and said in unison, "Your Majesty, we can bear witness."

The Emperor took the pendant directly into his hand and said with anger, "Summon Jiang Ye and Jiang Chen here at once."

"Your Majesty," Qiu Ronghai seemed about to try to dissuade him.

"Hurry up and go!"

"Y-yes, Your Majesty. This servant will go at once."

Qiu Ronghai hurried off with two eunuchs in tow. The rest of us went into Purple Dream Hall to wait.

At that point, I had already been cleared of suspicion, so I stood behind Zhang Bitong. The Emperor went in first to see Princess Xihe, and Lin Tanwei asked, "Please enlighten us, Your Majesty. What is so special about this pendant that His Majesty flew into such a rage upon seeing it?"

The Empress replied, "This pendant actually comes in a pair. It was a reward from the Emperor in the year when Noble Consort Xian gave birth to the sixth prince, Jiang Chen, and His Majesty was overjoyed. At that time, the fourth prince, Jiang Chen, was already three years old and deeply favored by the Emperor as well. So His Majesty bestowed a matched pair of jade pendants upon the two brothers. Yet one of them has now turned up in Xiao Qingzi's possession. This is truly..."

With that explanation, I finally understood.

The Emperor had grown furious because his first thought was that Xiao Qingzi must have been acting under Jiang Ye or Jiang Chen's orders.

The moment that thought crossed my mind, I was shocked.

Jiang Xuan noticed my strange expression and turned to look at me. I immediately composed myself and lowered my head slightly.

Soon, Jiang Ye and Jiang Chen were brought in. Qiu Ronghai reported to the Emperor inside, "Your Majesty, the two princes have been brought here."

Very quickly, the Emperor came out and took his seat on the high platform.

"Your son greets Father Emperor!" Jiang Chen and Jiang Ye immediately knelt.

"Mm. I have something to ask you. Back when Jiang Chen was born, I rewarded each of your brothers with a jade pendant. Now, I would like to see whether you still carry them on your person."

Jiang Ye and Jiang Chen exchanged a glance. Jiang Chen then answered calmly, "May I ask why Father Emperor suddenly wishes to see them?"

"I merely had a sudden thought. Surely you have not stopped wearing them?"

"My son has it on me." As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Chen straightened his back, removed a jade pendant from his waist, and presented it to the Emperor.

Qiu Ronghai stepped forward, took it, and offered it to the Emperor for inspection.

"Jiang Ye, where is yours?"

Jiang Ye said, "My son... my son did not bring it with me."

"Did not bring it, or cannot find it?" the Emperor asked.

Jiang Ye froze. "Your son begs Father Emperor's forgiveness. I was careless and lost the pendant. I have been searching everywhere for it."

"Lost it? I think you gave it to someone instead." The Emperor flung the pendant beside him toward Jiang Ye.

Jiang Ye looked at it and exclaimed at once, "Father Emperor, have you found my pendant?"

"Hmph. Do you know where this pendant was found? It was found in Xiao Qingzi's room. That damned eunuch dared to plot against Xihe. Was this your doing?"

Jiang Ye immediately said, "Father Emperor, I never ordered that servant to harm Xihe!"

"Still trying to deny it? During the archery and riding festival, Xihe spoke without thinking and angered you. And on the day Xihe fell into the water, she also crossed words with you. Did that happen or not?"

"Your son..."

"Father Emperor, although Xihe did say a few things that upset Fourth Brother that day, Fourth Brother never truly took offense at her. He soon left with me to visit Third Brother. Father Emperor, Fourth Brother would never do something like this to harm his own younger sister."

"Crown Prince, is that true? Did Jiang Ye come to your palace that day?"

Jiang Yun stepped forward and replied, "In reply to Father Emperor, yesterday my brother, the fourth, and the sixth indeed made an appointment to meet in the palace."

"And when Jiang Ye saw you, what was his mood like?"

"Fourth Brother he..." Jiang Yun hesitated and glanced at Jiang Ye.

"I am asking you a question. Answer honestly."

At the Emperor's roar, Jiang Yun said, "Yesterday, when Fourth Brother came to the palace, he was extremely angry. One of my maids accidentally knocked over a teacup, and Fourth Brother scolded her severely."

"Jiang Ye, just because your younger sister said a few words to you, you would become so narrow-minded and cruel as to try to kill her?"

"I did not! It must be that Xihe still bears a grudge and is determined to slander me before Father Emperor."

"Utter nonsense! Even now you refuse to repent. Qiu Ronghai, bring that dog of a Xiao Qingzi here. I see both witness and evidence before me. What more do you have to argue?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. This servant will go at once."

"Father Emperor, I think..." Jiang Yun still wanted to plead on Jiang Ye's behalf, when the Empress coughed lightly and said, "Yun'er, Mother knows you are concerned about your younger brother, but this matter is of great importance. You should simply await your father's judgment and not speak further."

"Mother..."

"Come over here. We will decide once Xiao Qingzi arrives."

Jiang Yun had no choice but to say, "Yes, Mother."

Because my body was still rather weak, I had been standing at the back and was beginning to lose my strength. Jiang Xuan suddenly rose to his feet. Zhang Bitong looked up and asked, "Xuan'er, what are you doing?"

"My legs are a little sore from sitting. I want to stand for a while."

"Very well."

Jiang Xuan moved behind Zhang Bitong and stood beside me. My body swayed slightly, and I felt as though I might collapse to one side. But at that very moment, my hand was suddenly taken.

I was startled and looked up at Jiang Xuan.

Yet Jiang Xuan stood there with no expression at all, while his wide sleeve happened to hide the hand with which he was gripping mine.

I had not expected Jiang Xuan to be so bold. If anyone saw us, it would lead to a dreadful scandal. In my panic, I tried to pull away, but Jiang Xuan held on tightly.

That grasp, however, gave me support and kept me from falling right then and there.

A surge of emotion welled up in me, and I almost did not want to leave the warmth of that hand. Perhaps I simply did not want to struggle anymore, for any sudden movement would only make matters worse if others noticed.

So I steadied myself and no longer tried to break free.

Just then, Qiu Ronghai came rushing over in panic and dropped to his knees. "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Xiao Qingzi could not withstand the torture and has already bitten through his tongue and taken his own life."

"What?" The Emperor rose in fury. "Xiao Qingzi is dead? Are you certain he killed himself by biting his tongue, and not that someone..."

"Your Majesty, I saw it with my own eyes. Perhaps he also killed himself out of fear of punishment. That dog knew he should not have harmed the princess, so he..."

"Father Emperor, now that Xiao Qingzi is dead, it can no longer prove that Fourth Brother directed him. Besides, Father Emperor, please trust Fourth Brother's character. He would never do such a thing to his own younger sister because of something like that. Father Emperor, the pendant was only lost by Fourth Brother and picked up by Xiao Qingzi." Jiang Chen seized the chance to plead for Jiang Ye.

"Yes, Father Emperor. That Xiao Qingzi was so greedy for money that he must have picked it up and deliberately said nothing. I beg Father Emperor to see clearly." Jiang Yun also spoke up for Jiang Ye.

The Emperor still gave no response, and Jiang Yun kept shooting looks at the Empress. The Empress rose somewhat unwillingly and said, "Your Majesty, the servant who plotted against Xihe has already paid with his life. A mere jade pendant cannot prove that it was the fourth prince. Why let the fault of a single servant damage the bonds between these princes and princesses?"

Only then did the Emperor say, "Long Zhan, I order you to investigate this matter thoroughly. As for Jiang Ye, I already punished you the last time at the imperial villa. Yet yesterday you still quarreled with Xihe and lost your temper. This is truly unworthy of a prince's dignity. From this moment, I sentence you to garrison Qingzhou for one year and cool that sharp temper of yours."

"Father Emperor, I am innocent. I truly did not..."

"Enough. I do not want to hear any more. After one year, I will see how you have changed. All of you, withdraw!"

"Yes!"

The whole group left Purple Dream Hall. After only a few steps, I finally could no longer support myself and collapsed against the palace wall.

Jiang Xuan was about to come help me, but at that moment Yun Qing called out, "Xiao Xiaozi, what's wrong?"

"I..."

Zhang Bitong turned back and said, "All right, Yunqing, help Xiao Xiaozi back. Xuan'er, come with me. Mother has something to say to you."

Jiang Xuan looked at me, and I shook my head at him.

Yun Qing said, "Your Highness, please return first. This servant will bring Xiao Xiaozi back."

"Mm."

After Jiang Xuan left with Zhang Bitong, Yun Qing came over and said, "Xiao Xiaozi, why not rest here for a moment? I will find two eunuchs to carry you back."

"Thank you, Auntie."

No sooner had Yun Qing gone than Long Zhan suddenly appeared before me. Without another word, he simply lifted me into his arms.

"Lord Long..." I panicked. If anyone were to see this, trouble would surely follow.

"Now that you are an innocent man, I am merely helping someone who is injured." With that, Long Zhan carried me onward.

I saw Di Xiao behind him, his long sword clenched tightly in his hand as he stared at me.

I lacked the strength to break free, and in any case I could not, so I had no choice but to let Long Zhan carry me back to Green Shade Palace.

Along the way, I said to him, "Lord Long, thank you for your help this time."

"I did nothing. It was the fourth prince."

"Lord Long need not hide it from me. If you had not revealed the matter of Xiao Qingzi, how could the fourth prince have known?"

Long Zhan paused in his steps before saying, "His Majesty suddenly ordered me to search for medicine, so I could only entrust this matter to the fourth prince. In the end, I did not really help you much."

"Lord Long is mistaken. First, if you had not told the fourth prince that Xiao Qingzi was suspicious, the fourth prince would not have been able to save me. Second, because the medicine you found saved Princess Xihe, it truly helped clear my false accusation. So, Lord Long has done me a great kindness. You are my lifesaver."

Long Zhan lowered his eyes and looked at me once before continuing forward.

As we neared Green Shade Palace, I said to him, "Lord Long, we are almost there. I can walk the rest of the way. If anyone sees this, it will be unfavorable to you."

"I have carried you all this way. Do you think I still care about that?"

"I care!"

Long Zhan's hands halted for a moment, then he said, "Then as you wish."

Just as Long Zhan was about to put me down, there was suddenly a sharp crash. Looking over, I saw Hong Xiu standing at the entrance of a nearby palace gate, a flowerpot smashed into pieces at her feet.

Hong Xiu?

Hong Xiu stared blankly at the two of us for a few moments, then suddenly turned and ran straight back into the palace.

She looked to be utterly heartbroken.