pdf-ebookys Chapter 581: King Xian is assassinated
Chapter 581: King Xian is assassinated
It was the fourth day of the eleventh month again. This time, without Yuan Qi's reminder, Zhou Chang automatically remembered to go to the palace to celebrate Feng Suo's birthday.
Feng Suo was one year older and was clamoring for his ninth brother to take him out of the palace to play.
Zhou Chang was reluctant to take the child out of the palace as it would be troublesome and prone to accidents, so he decided to find a place in the Imperial Garden to make a scene.
The gifts I gave this year are similar to those of last year. The main reason is that I had already collected all the toys I could find on the market last year, so I really can’t pick out anything new this year.
He even used the excuse of buying birthday gifts to purchase bulk goods for the "plane customers". As for how much commission he could earn, Zhou Chang no longer cared.
As the saying goes, too many lice won't bite; too many debts won't worry; if you can't pay off a debt, just treat it as if it doesn't exist.
The Imperial Garden is very small, and Zhou Chang and Feng Shuo have visited it countless times.
The two were really bored, so they could only find a place in the pavilion. At most, they asked the palace servants to bring more food and chat while they ate.
Feng Shuo didn't care whether the gifts he received were valuable or not. He still played with the toys Zhou Chang gave him, and then asked someone to pick up the birthday gift that Yuan Jie had sent.
Last year it was one of a pair of golden bats, and this year it is a set of Go, with all 361 pieces made of agate.
As for agate, in Zhou Chang's opinion, it is not an expensive thing, but pure natural agate with clear black and white is extremely rare.
"When did you learn Go?" Zhou Chang looked at the agate stone left and right in the sunlight.
The viewpoint system prompted in my ears: "This agate Go set is worth three hundred thousand yuan in commission."
Zhou Chang was surprised and silently put down the chess piece. He pretended not to hear anything. He couldn't steal a child's birthday present.
Feng Shuo was also fiddling with the chess pieces out of boredom, not looking too happy: "Since Yuan Jie is here, I'll play along. But Brother Jiu, do you think Yuan Jie will come back?"
"Yes... maybe. But he should also observe mourning. Even if he doesn't come back, it's normal." Although Yuan Qi had promised in person to let Yuan Jie come back as a study companion when they were in Beiji, such a long time had passed and Zhou Chang had no news from the Yuan family, so he was unsure.
Feng Suo pouted, not satisfied with the answer: "I asked mother, Yuan Jie just came to the palace to accompany me to study, not to be an official, as long as he stayed for a hundred days, it would be fine. But in the letter he sent, there was no mention of coming back."
Without Yuan Jie as his study companion, Feng Shuo was like losing his only playmate, so he was more anxious than anyone else.
"Don't you need to observe mourning?" Zhou Chang didn't understand the rules of Lin State, but he was disappointed that he couldn't get any news about the Yuan family from Feng Suo.
Feng Suo was extremely bored and fiddled with the chess pieces: "Brother Jiu, how about we play a game of Go?"
"How could I?" Zhou Chang calculated the days silently in his mind. By now Yuan Qi should have escorted her father's ashes back to Danlu, and the burial should have been completed. So what was she doing now?
"Ah..." Feng Suo didn't seem like he really wanted to play chess.
Both of them were silent, each with their own thoughts.
After a moment's silence, Concubine Qin, Sun, came in, surrounded by a group of palace maids.
Zhou Chang was a little surprised. When he asked Feng Suo to come out just now, he had greeted Concubine Qin. It was just past noon, so why did Concubine Qin come to him in person?
As soon as Concubine Qin Sun entered the pavilion, she sent all the palace people away.
He was not in a hurry to sit down, but touched Feng Suo's head first: "How is it, we have played for two hours, are you happy?"
Feng Shuo was not interested, but nodded: "As long as Brother Jiu is around, I won't be bored."
Concubine Qin then smiled at Zhou Chang and said, "Your Highness Prince Yi, it is not appropriate for you to stay in the palace for too long at this time. It seems that half a day has passed. It is better to leave the palace early."
Feng Shuo grabbed Zhou Chang and said, "Why do you want Brother Jiu to leave so suddenly? Brother Jiu and I haven't had enough fun yet."
Sun smiled at her son more gently: "When will you have enough fun? I'm afraid even a few days and nights won't be enough. Because today is your birthday, you don't have to study. Will you not study tomorrow?"
Feng Suo pursed his lips and held back what he was about to say.
Zhou Chang wondered, did Concubine Qin come here specifically to drive Prince Yi out of the palace?
But I didn't understand for the moment, so I just asked directly: "What does Concubine Qin mean...I can't stay in the palace any longer?"
"It's not that we can't, but it's not appropriate to stay in the palace for too long at this time." Concubine Qin replied, and then looked at Feng Suo and coaxed, "Shuo'er, go to the koi pond over there first. There are a lot more carp this year."
Feng Suo knew that this was a deliberate attempt to get him out of the way, so he didn't ask any more questions. He agreed, picked out two toys from the ones Zhou Chang had given him, and went to the koi pond nearby accompanied by the eunuch.
Concubine Qin stood there and watched Feng Suo leave. Then she turned around and lowered her voice, "The incident involving Prince Duan caused a big stir a while ago, and implicated many court officials. Didn't Your Highness hear about it?"
"Of course I heard about it, but why was there no follow-up?" Zhou Chang had been waiting for the matter of Prince Duan to further develop.
Concubine Qin smiled coldly: "It's not that there is no follow-up, but that His Majesty suppressed the matter."
Zhou Chang had already expected this, but he did not expect that Emperor Lin would favor Prince Duan to this extent.
Concubine Qin seemed to be able to see Zhou Chang's thoughts, but she didn't reveal them: "Your Highness doesn't know the details. First, some court officials once again reported that Prince Duan had colluded with former Minister of Revenue Min Hang, and brought up the old matter of Prince Duan embezzling public funds and accepting bribes. This matter had already been exposed in the past, and this time, it was still forcibly suppressed by Duke Xu."
"Duke Xi does have this ability." Zhou Chang commented indifferently.
"Once this matter was settled, Prince Duan came out to testify again, saying that on the day of the assassination and arson in the Hunting Palace, he had originally gone to rescue the emperor, but was inexplicably locked in Your Majesty's study and could not get out. He implied that Prince Xian did it on purpose, causing his legs to be broken." Concubine Qin said quickly again.
The two stood in the pavilion without sitting down, and their eyes were always looking in the direction of the wind in the distance.
Zhou Chang finally heard someone other than Prince Duan's party mention this matter, and couldn't help but ask, "Did Prince Xian admit it?"
"How could Prince Xian admit it? Later, Prince Duan presented a personal testimony. The specific details are probably only known to Concubine Yi, Prince Duan, and Prince Xian." Concubine Qin paused here, "But it is said that although Prince Duan had a witness, he could not prove anything, at least the time did not match. As for Prince Xian, he also had a witness who could prove that he was chasing the assassin everywhere at that time, and it was impossible for him to deliberately trap Prince Duan in the imperial study."
Of course Zhou Chang knew that the witness from Prince Duan's side was the "Sixth Eunuch" who was expelled from the palace, but it was the first time he heard the statement that "the time doesn't match", and his heart skipped a beat.