Dingbei Hou's doctor brother

"What did you say?" The Queen stood up suddenly and looked at Lu Ziqing in astonishment. "Is it... the cause of Mu'er's death? What do you know? Tell me the truth."

Lu Ziqing said, "Your Majesty, the wet nurse who murdered Prince Chen Mu is dead, but the mastermind behind the incident is still at large. The wet nurse was just a pawn being manipulated."

The queen's body softened and she took a half step back, but she quickly reacted and asked anxiously, "Who is he? Tell me quickly."

"Queen."

The queen was a little too excited. Emperor Shengzhi greeted her and then looked at Lu Ziqing.

"This happened more than ten years ago. How did you find out?"

"Your Majesty, this matter is of grave importance. I dare not speak nonsense." Lu Ziqing said, "There are witnesses who can report this matter from beginning to end to Your Majesty."

At noon, the snow outside gradually stopped. Lang Si led his men into the Qianqing Palace. The snow stuck to his body had not melted yet. The man was wearing a long gray cloak, his face hidden under the hat.

He followed Gao Jian into the hall, kowtowed to Emperor Shengzhi in front of everyone, and then took off his hat.

Everyone was surprised, and Emperor Shengzhi called out to him, "Gou Dongxi? Aren't you already? What's going on?"

While the others were surprised, only Chen Jing was looking at Lu Ziqing.

Now, he finally figured out what Lu Ziqing meant when he said "the time has come" on New Year's Eve.

What had he known all along? Or were these two things part of his plan?

But, Lu Ziqing didn't participate in the affairs of the court, so why did he take the initiative to get involved? Why did he pull Chen Qi down?

Chen Jing felt that the man did not seem like someone who would actively get involved in a dispute just to assist him.

He looked at Lu Ziqing's cold face and felt unfamiliar for a moment.

"Your Majesty, I was saved by Imperial Physician Lu and was lucky enough to escape death. Now, I stand here to report to Your Majesty and the Empress the cause of Prince Chen Mu's death."

The queen sat beside him, her fingers clenched around the fabric as she listened to him.

"Back then, Prince Chen Mu indeed died because of his wet nurse's drunkenness. Her husband was lazy and a gambler, and he often beat her, so she often drank to drown her sorrows, which resulted in her child being born an idiot."

"In order to earn money to treat her child's illness, she took the risk of murdering the prince, and the person who instigated her was Consort Wan."

The whole room was shocked when these words came out. Chen Qi was the first to shout angrily, "Gou Dongxi, stop slandering me!"

The queen was struck by lightning, her heart sank, and she was shaking with anger. The freezing winter night suddenly flashed before her eyes.

Her Mu'er's whole body was red, as if burned by fire, and there were red spots on his little face and neck. He just closed his eyes quietly, and his crying could no longer be heard.

Over the past ten years, tears have soaked into countless days and nights, and the smile has been buried forever in that winter night along with that little body.

The queen's eyes were filled with hatred and tears welled up in her eyes. She looked at Gou Dongxi with sobs and asked him.

"How did you find out?"

"I am guilty," Gou Dongxi said. "I happened to see the wet nurse and the Imperial Noble Consort plotting. I was afraid of the Imperial Noble Consort's retaliation, so I thought it was better to avoid trouble than to make it worse, so I concealed it."

Emperor Shengzhi asked angrily, "Then why are you saying it now?"

Gou Dongxi also choked up. He paused and said, "I, the guilty minister, was greedy and vain, and I became jealous. In the murder of Imperial Physician Lu, the Imperial Concubine conspired with me to avenge her mother's family. Unexpectedly, after the conspiracy was exposed, she pushed all the blame onto me alone and bribed the jailer to kill me."

"Not only this matter, but also the unexplained escape of Xi Huai, the then Director of the Imperial Hospital, is also related to the Imperial Noble Consort."

At this point, Lu Ziqing's heart trembled, and his fingertips secretly pinched the fabric of his clothes. Chen Jing, standing beside him, could see clearly that his cold face began to tense slightly, and hatred flashed in his eyes.

His mind was in a mess, his eyes fixed on Lu Ziqing, he only heard Emperor Sheng Zhi slam the table and shout angrily.

"What else? Keep talking."

Gou Dongxi wiped away her tears. "When Xi Huai discovered this, the Imperial Concubine found the guilty minister. At that time, the guilty minister was unwilling to be inferior to him, so he accepted the jade pendant given by the Imperial Concubine and sent people to hunt him down in secret. However, he managed to escape by chance."

"So, when the late emperor was seriously ill, I sent people to search the entire capital but couldn't find him. Is that why?"

Emperor Shengzhi's eyes turned red, and he stood up slowly with a trembling body, speaking with gritted teeth.

"Because of you traitors, I lost my late emperor and my son. You have caused me so much pain."

He shed tears during his last roar.

Emperor Taizong cared deeply about the people's livelihood and was known as a kind and benevolent monarch by the people of the world. On the day of his death, it rained heavily, and the people of Jin'an City gathered together and cried bitterly in the rain.

Emperor Shengzhi ascended the throne hastily amidst the pain of losing his father, and the next day was his 20th birthday.

In his memory, his father was both a strict teacher and a kind father. If he were given a choice, he would not want the throne, but only want his father to live well.

There is no winner in this struggle. Everyone is just a broken body that has been turned into blood under the influence of intrigue and power.

The sky outside the Qianqing Palace was exceptionally bright, and the view was covered with snow. It was still cold, but Lu Ziqing felt warm from the bottom of his heart to every limb.

He stood in the snow, looking at the world around him, his brows raised and a smile appeared on his face, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

"You got your wish."

Lu Ziqing turned his head when he heard the voice and saw Chen Jing coming over. He immediately bowed and greeted him, then said, "Your Highness, the same."

Chen Jing seemed to smile. "You've resolved the knot that my mother had been holding for years. She never believed that a wet nurse would kill Mu'er for no reason. Then there was my father's misunderstanding of Envoy Xi, and Chen Qi's deliberate frame-up. All the things I once did for the country and the people were finally resolved because of you."

Lu Ziqing said: "Everything has its destiny. Everything follows nature. What is supposed to happen will happen, and what needs to be resolved will eventually be properly handled. I am just following the way of nature."

He walked slowly, and Chen Jing walked side by side with him. As they left Qianqing Gate, he asked him, "There's something I'm curious about."

"Your Highness, do you want to ask about King Zhao?" Lu Ziqing said.

Chen Jing hummed, "I believe Chen Qi can put the doll in the Prince's Mansion, but there is one thing. The Prince's Mansion is heavily guarded. How did that thing end up in his mansion? And in West City?"

He walked down the stairs and continued, "You haven't been in the capital long. Apart from Xiao Yan, I can't think of anyone else who could be colluding with you. Moreover, even if his people can help you with something, I don't believe he has the ability to transfer the things from the Crown Prince's Mansion to Chen Qi's Mansion. Even I can't do it myself."

"So, I'd love to know how you did it? Who are you?"