bullyxtreme Chapter 201 A Trap for His Son
Chapter 201 A Trap for His Son
Xu Qinglan's betrayal was unexpected by everyone, and Xiao Yuan's original plans were greatly disrupted.
He truly hadn't expected his cheap cousin to be so stupid and so unable to distinguish between inside and outside the family.
No matter how much he and Xiao Ling disliked her, they would still ensure she lived a life of wealth and comfort for the sake of her godmother.
But she was foolish enough to side with the enemy.
Didn't she know that rootless duckweed would eventually fall to the bottom of the pond and rot in the mud?
What makes you, Xu Qinglan, worth trying to win over?
Amazing talent or vast wealth?
You're practically useless except as a dagger to stab me in the back; once you kill me, you're no longer of any use.
Have you ever thought about what will happen to you then?
Xu Qinglan's outrageous actions not only infuriated Xiao Yuan and Xiao Ling to the point of losing their appetite, but also made Ye Xiao, who received the news, grit his teeth in hatred.
He always thought Xu Qinglan was family.
Family members can have conflicts, differing opinions, and even fight each other to the point of never speaking to each other again.
However, we should unite against any external enemy.
Some families fight tooth and nail over inheritance, but if an outsider bullies one of them, the whole family immediately grabs weapons and attacks.
He simply couldn't understand why Xu Qinglan would harm them when her adoptive father had been feeding and caring for her.
Xu Qinglan's testimony and evidence brought the situation to a head. The old emperor was furious and imprisoned the crown prince's family in the deep palace. He also issued a warrant for a city-wide manhunt for Xiao Yuan.
The old emperor even began pressuring the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review to investigate Xiao Yuan's treason as soon as possible.
With a deadline set for solving the case, Xiao Yuan's planted agents could no longer blatantly turn a blind eye. In order to deliver on their promises, they tortured Ye Xiao.
Of course, it was just a few basic lashes, which looked brutal but didn't actually cause any serious injury.
The governor's office also suffered a calamity.
Although the assets were not seized, they were thoroughly searched. As for how many valuable items were damaged or lost during the search, that remains unknown.
Jiang Xinyu was glad that she had packed all the valuables from her dowry before leaving, but she was a little worried that her maids might meet with misfortune.
Xiao Yuan did not sit idly by and wait for his death. Soon, the body of "Lord Xiao" was found in the moat.
The physical characteristics match perfectly, except that the face is swollen and the features are a little blurry because the person had been in the river for several days.
However, after consulting with multiple people from the Eastern Depot and the imperial court, they all determined that it was indeed Chief Supervisor Xiao himself, and even the scars from his castration in his childhood were flawless.
Zhang Zhongyi naturally didn't believe that Xiao Yuan had died so simply, but he couldn't dissuade the old emperor from believing him.
This person even had his own bodyguards check it out, and everything from the clothes to the face to the scars to the body matched perfectly.
Even the time of his death was similar to the day he was kidnapped.
This made things even more complicated, and the Crown Prince made a new discovery.
After becoming frustrated and unsuccessful, the crown prince frequently drank heavily, which caused his hands to tremble, making it difficult for him to write such elegant characters.
The so-called correspondence between the Crown Prince and Xiao Yuan is likely forged.
The crown prince's eldest son also tearfully complained that his younger brother was still young and easily deceived, and that what he claimed to have seen with his own eyes might not be the truth.
The Crown Prince's interactions with Xiao Yuan were all passed down orally by designated individuals; there were no written correspondence or direct meetings between them.
He was quite certain that he hadn't said those words, but his young son, who was only a few years old, wouldn't deliberately frame him.
That can only mean that someone deliberately set a trap.
Once you have a point of doubt, it's relatively easy to trace back to the source. If he didn't say it, then someone else must have said it.
The fact that a letter he never wrote has appeared means that someone must have imitated his handwriting.
So what the youngest son supposedly heard might have been deliberately imitated by someone skilled in ventriloquism.
Although it was just a guess, it turned out to be correct by accident.
Many things leave traces, and the old emperor summoned the young prince again for a patient interrogation.
Only then did they realize that the child had only heard from behind the artificial hill and had not seen his father's face.
Xiao Yuan is dead and the Crown Prince's family is imprisoned, while Zhang Zhongyi, who is supposedly seriously injured and has been barely clinging to life for many days, has not yet breathed his last.
The old emperor immediately became alert and increased surveillance of the Prime Minister's residence and the Second Prince's residence.
The Third Prince panicked immediately. To prevent Xu Qinglan from revealing him, he ordered someone to kill her with a packet of poison.
Upon hearing the news, Zhang Zhongyi cursed inwardly that a coward like a mouse could never accomplish anything great, but since he was now tied to him, he could only try to clean up his mess.
With Xu Qinglan's death, the old emperor became even more certain that Xiao Yuan had been wronged, and he also recalled the grudges and entanglements between the palace maid and Xiao Yuan.
Regardless of the reason, Xiao Yuan clearly refused to marry this woman. If this woman took the opportunity to frame Xiao Yuan out of love turned to hatred, it would be understandable.
However, those letters were not something a palace maid could forge; someone must have been using her as a front.
But now that everyone is dead and the clues have been cut off, the old emperor was so angry at losing Xiao Yuan's weapon that he smashed his teacup.
Taking the opportunity, Xiao Ling said to Ye Xiao that it would be better to release the kid and let him participate in solving the case.
This godson is naturally eager to avenge his godfather and find the murderer who framed Xiao Yuan as soon as possible.
The old emperor didn't care about Xiao Yuan as a person; what he cared about was that there was one less barrier in front of him.
Upon hearing from Xiao Ling that Xiao Yuan's godson was available, he immediately released the man and even reinstated him and He Zhang to their original positions, allowing them to participate in solving the case.
He can only remain at ease by sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight. Now that one tiger is dead, he has to quickly push another one up.
This time, Xiao Yuan's power was significantly reduced, and many members of the Crown Prince's faction were demoted or punished.
He couldn't quickly reinstate the promotion out of consideration for his reputation, but he felt vaguely uneasy.
He Zhang took Ye Xiao back to his home, and his eyes reddened when he saw the wounds on Ye Xiao's body.
But Xiao didn't have time to worry about himself; he just grabbed him and asked if his godfather was really gone.
Xiao Yuan originally wanted to tell He Zhang the truth, but when he thought about how the boy couldn't hold back when he met Twelve, he simply kept it from him as well.
Ye Shier's acting skills are a bit lacking; if he knew Ye Shier wasn't dead, he definitely wouldn't have been able to pull it off.
He Zhang is quite good at acting; he can fool Ye Xiao or anyone else without any problem.
But he felt sorry for Ye Xiao, and if that kid Twelve went crazy, this guy would definitely not be able to hold back and tell him the truth.
So... let's just go crazy together.
No one knows a son better than his father, and Governor Xiao's guess was spot on.
When Ye Xiao learned that his godfather had died, he sat slumped on the ground as if his soul had been ripped out. He Zhang hugged him and comforted him for a long time before he finally burst into tears.
He didn't care that his newly bandaged wound had burst open again, soaking his clothes. He rushed to the Eastern Depot like a madman, wanting to see his godfather's body.
He Zhang could only stay with him, though he was puzzled, he dared not show it.
After all, the corpse looked just like him, and the Grand Eunuch hadn't sent him any message, so he had no way of knowing whether the person was really dead.
Xiao Yuan had planned this all along, and the corpse was made to look extremely realistic. Combined with the decomposition caused by soaking in the river and the hot weather, even Ye Xiao was fooled.
Chen Kuo knew the truth and patted him on the shoulder to comfort him, but instead got punched in the face.
This person took over his adoptive father's position after his father's accident, so it's obvious that he betrayed his adoptive father.
Ye Xiao didn't care about anything at this moment. He grabbed a knife from the person next to him and started fighting with Chen Kuo.
His legs were barely able to walk and he wasn't very flexible. He had been confined for several days and was weak and still had injuries.
But his father was dead, and the belief in avenging his father consumed all his reason. Now he only wanted to kill this person to avenge his father.