CHAPTER 786: CHAPTER 790: LUCK BAG, NOW ONLINE (25)

Having escaped with his life, Chang Wenqing was badly frightened and fell ill after being released back to his residence.

When everyone thought everything had settled down, a complaint letter reached the Emperor’s divine ears.

"The concubine, Mrs. Qiao, accuses Madam Zhang of the Chang Residence of hiring assassins to commit murder."

Chang Zuo Jiao’s heart pounded with fear as she watched the Chang Residence’s gates being knocked open from the outside and a team of government officials burst in with imposing momentum.

"What are you doing..." Chang Zuo Jiao tried to invoke the name of the Second Prince, but before she could speak, the leader pushed her, causing her to stumble, showing no compassion or gentleness.

"You go there, you go this way, Mrs. Qiao says Chang Wenqing is privy to it, search his study."

The leader gave orders one by one.

Chang Zuo Jiao was filled with hatred, contemptible people looking down on others...

If her father had still held his previous status, these people would have been kowtowing and wouldn’t dare to be so cruel and heartless.

When she could later...

Chang Zuo Jiao silently made up her mind in her heart.

For the first time, she felt the power that came with influence; she’d been hesitating about the Second Prince but now her decision was firm.

Once the Chang Residence survived this crisis, she would never let go of those who humiliated and insulted her.

But Chang Zuo Jiao was hopeful, not yet aware that she might never get the chance.

Madam Zhang was dragged out of her bedroom and when Chang Wenqing, who was sick in bed, heard the noise outside, he spat out a mouthful of heart blood from anger and fainted.

The entire Chang Residence was in panic, and it took a great deal of effort for Chang Zuo Jiao to barely stabilize people’s hearts.

"Found it."

Suddenly, a resonant voice grew louder, and a government official held a fragrance bag in one hand and a sheepskin scroll rolled into a finger’s width in the other.

Upon close inspection, the fragrance bag had been deliberately destroyed, torn open, and the hole matched perfectly with the sheepskin scroll’s width.

Chang Zuo Jiao felt an uncomfortable shiver of dread, the ominous thoughts growing stronger, sweeping over her entire body.

Another official running from the opposite direction also shouted, "Found it."

Madam Zhang, forcibly brought to the courtyard, quickly lost the color in her face upon seeing what the official held, and, suddenly overwhelmed, fainted.

Chang Zuo Jiao was beside herself with rage, wishing she could immediately shake her fainted mother awake.

What on earth had she done?

Now, the Chang Residence was like a fragile boat tossed atop stormy waves, with no resilience left, easily capsized with the slightest misstep.

After the head official reviewed the items the officials found, his expression changed dramatically, and without another word, he quickly left with the government officials and guards.

He only left behind the words, "This matter is not something we can handle."

Before Chang Zuo Jiao had a chance to discover what had happened, she found out.

All because the entire Chang Residence was once again brought before the Holy Emperor.

That’s when Chang Zuo Jiao learned what her parents had done.

The evidence that Madam Zhang had hired murderers was irrefutable, and while the officials were searching the Chang Residence for evidence, they inadvertently uncovered a series of issues related to the Second Prince.

Unbelievably, the Second Prince was also involved in secret communication with the enemy state, and Chang Wenqing had hidden the sheepskin scroll detailing his secret correspondence with the Second Prince in the sachet given to him by Mrs. Qiao.

Mrs. Qiao was none other than Miss Li of Xiangzhang Court, their relationship deeply secretive. To prove her claims were true, Mrs. Qiao had described the sachet she gave to Chang Wenqing in great detail, merely saying, seeing the sachet would reveal the special relationship between them.

Hidden within the sachet was a poem with an acrostic hiding Miss Li’s name.

But no one expected that Chang Wenqing would hide something so important inside it.

"Injustice, this... this must be someone else framing me," cried Su Li.

The Second Prince also defended himself, "Father Emperor, please see clearly, your son could definitely not commit such a heinous act."

The Emperor said darkly, "Isn’t Chang Wenqing one of your men? You admitted it yourself."

"So these, you still dare to say they have nothing to do with you?"

Chang Zuojiao wished she could puncture her own ears; the Emperor did not hesitate in the slightest, stating the Second Prince’s crimes in front of everyone.

If the Emperor was determined to execute the Second Prince’s party on the spot, they might still have a way to live.

If not, their names would be in grave danger.

The Emperor wouldn’t have cared about their hearing potentially fatal words if he hadn’t planned on sparing their lives.

However, seeing how the Emperor dealt with the Eldest Prince, it was clear he still held some affection for his own blood.

So the unlucky ones would be them.

Chang Zuojiao’s heart couldn’t help but sink, and seeing Ms. Zhang’s terrified expression, she couldn’t bring herself to feel hate or sympathy.

Chang You was also fearful and anxious; when the two siblings looked into each other’s eyes, they both saw the same message.

...

Dengke Hall

"What happened after that?" Su Li asked casually as he earnestly ate his meal.

Xuanyuan Shier curled his lip and said, "What else could happen? The Emperor didn’t have the heart to kill the Second Prince, so he had to kill someone else instead, the people from the Chang Residence were secretly executed."

"But, the daughter of Chang Wenqing really did have some luck... there’s a new noble in the palace."

Xuanyuan Shier said with irony.

After saying that, he changed the subject with a bit of mockery, "My Second Brother always had ’for the country, for the people’ on his lips, who would have thought he was in close contact with the enemy nation."

Thinking back to when he discovered the Second Prince had promised the enemy that, upon his accession, he’d cede five cities along the border and present them with a hundred thousand taels of gold, Xuanyuan Shier felt his teeth itch with hatred.

Indeed, it was the Eldest Prince who had been framed, while the Second Prince was the true traitor.

But aside from himself, only the closest confidants among his own confidants knew this secret.

That didn’t include Chang Wenqing.

To be more precise, Chang Wenqing wasn’t one of his men.

The reason he acknowledged him in the first place was nothing more than an impulsive decision that ended up leading him into an irreversible disaster.

No matter how he explained it, the Emperor was not accepting it.

Did it matter that he had pleaded with the Emperor on behalf of Chang Wenqing before?

The Second Prince knew he had undoubtedly fallen into someone else’s trap.

It could be Lao San, Lao Si... or perhaps the Holy Emperor himself had deliberately led them into the snare.

"Now that’s settled, elder brother and Second brother can keep each other company, and they won’t be lonely in the future," Xuanyuan Shier laughed heartily, delighted in their misfortune.

"Hey, how did you manage to eat all the dishes again, are you a pig?" After Xuanyuan Shier finished laughing at his own pleasure, he looked down to see only a little leftover food in the dishes.

He wailed, "I’ve never been full when eating with you."

Su Li did not pay him any attention, contentedly picking his teeth and belching satisfiedly.

"Thud thud thud," the door was knocked upon, and the proprietor quietly asked through the door, "Master, Mrs. Qiao has come to express her gratitude for your help."

"Don’t see her, don’t see her~"

Su Li interjected, "Proprietor, take another hundred taels to Mrs. Qiao for me; she’s a pitiful person too."