Chapter 933: Chapter 885: Finale (11) Becoming the Bride

The incident on Changshun Street spiraled out of control, spreading into the Imperial City.

At that time, Zhao Xi was reviewing memorials in the Imperial Study Room. Hearing the report from Eunuch Sanbao, he paused with his vermillion pen in hand, "The parents of those children blocked Prince Cheng’s carriage with coffins?"

"I did not witness it myself," Eunuch Sanbao carefully considered his words, "but according to eyewitnesses, it seems to be the case."

Zhao Xi fell into deep thought.

Among those who blocked Prince Cheng’s carriage were ordinary citizens. If there was no one inciting them from behind, they would never dare to act so recklessly.

The Jinyi Guard has already gathered some evidence, roughly able to narrow down the suspects, and one of the suspects is Prince Cheng.

Zhao Xi had been wrestling with this issue for days.

This branch of the Imperial Family, being the nurturers of the Imperial Secret Guard, played a significant role in the court.

Although the court officials were unaware, the contribution of Prince Cheng’s branch in training the Hidden Guard was considerable.

Zhao Xi couldn’t fathom how to judge this case if the real culprit was indeed Prince Cheng.

Now, someone is taking the opportunity to push Prince Cheng into the limelight, are they indirectly telling him that the culprit is indeed Prince Cheng?

Zhao Xi stopped reviewing memorials and looked at Eunuch Sanbao, "What do you think of Prince Cheng?"

Eunuch Sanbao replied, "His Highness Prince Cheng is kind-hearted, and among the Imperial Family, he is only second to Prince Kang in reputation."

Zhao Xi repeatedly tasted the four words "kind-hearted" but said nothing more.

Later, he summoned several Sky Eagle Guards skilled in investigation, instructing them to target and secretly investigate Prince Cheng.

Zhao Xi had three groups of people: openly the Jinyi Guard, covertly the Imperial Secret Guard, and secretly the Sky Eagle Guard.

The Jinyi Guard was responsible for major investigation cases, ranging from royal family members and court officials to commoners on the streets. If involved in a case, the Jinyi Guard had the privilege to act first and report later.

The Imperial Secret Guard usually didn’t show up, but whenever the Emperor faced matters inconvenient to handle openly, the Hidden Guard acted on his behalf.

The Sky Eagle Guard originated from Yun Huai, differing from both the Jinyi Guard and the Hidden Guard. The Sky Eagle Guard was a secret stake, infiltrating all levels, from street beggars to small vendors and officials. They might be advisers in some mansions or Dancing Girls in the Music Bureau. Previously under Yun Huai, they didn’t dare penetrate too deeply. Now under Zhao Xi, they naturally needed to be utilized to the fullest. After Yanjing was captured, most Sky Eagle Guards were called back, with some infiltrating the Six Ministries. Now extracting a few skilled in espionage was not difficult.

...

Sending Zhao Shuo to Fahua Temple, Prince Cheng was forced to investigate the case with the Three Judicial Departments when he returned. He knew who the culprit was; assisting in the case was purely for show.

The dozen or so commoners who blocked Prince Cheng on Changshun Street were incited by Song Wei.

He had visited them one by one before entering Prince Cheng Mansion.

The reason for doing so was firstly to drag Prince Cheng down with him. As long as Prince Cheng was also involved in the investigation, he wouldn’t dare cause any more fatalities during this time.

The second intent, of course, was to inform Emperor Xuanjing of everything.

Song Wei himself couldn’t enter the palace to face the Emperor. He didn’t want Wanwan to take such a risk either, so he could only make a commotion. With over ten small coffins blocking Prince Cheng’s carriage, such a big fuss, once Emperor Xuanjing heard of it, he would certainly be suspicious. Emperor Xuanjing, being astute, would inevitably investigate thoroughly once suspicious, and by then, Prince Cheng could not escape his fate.

Having completed his mission, Song Wei, afraid of being exposed, couldn’t stay any longer in the Capital. Still in disguise, he took advantage of the dusk to go to the Changning Marquis Mansion to take Jinbao back to the inn to sleep, planning to leave the city for Ningzhou early the next morning.

Upon hearing this, Jinbao immediately pouted, tightly grasping Wen Wan’s sleeve, refusing to let go, hiding behind her, "Dad said he would take Mom home, now he’s only taking me, you’re a liar!"

Song Wei calmly looked at him, "Are you coming or not?"

"I’m not going. I want to be with Mom." Jinbao looked pitifully at his grandmother Zhao Xunyin.

Zhao Xunyin put down the embroidery frame in her hand, speaking softly for fear the servants outside might hear, "Third Son, why don’t you wait a few more days, let Jinbao play a bit longer? Once he’s had enough fun, he’ll naturally want to go back with you."

"I’ll never get enough!" Jinbao huffed, "I just want to stay by Mom’s side."

Song Wei said, "You need to study."

"I-I can study in the Capital too."

Song Wei raised an eyebrow, "The Song family is all in Ningzhou. Under what pretext will you stay in the Capital?"

Realizing his father’s point, Jinbao pretended to cry loudly, throwing himself at Zhao Xunyin, "Grandmother, they all don’t want me anymore. Does your family still need a grandson? Aside from eating and sleeping well, I’m very good at being a grandson."

This amused Zhao Xunyin, "My son isn’t even as big as you yet, how can there be a grandson as big as you?"

With that, she looked at Song Wei and Wen Wan, "Although Third Son needs to serve out three years before returning, the matter between you two needs a word to the elders of the Song and Lu families. Third Son, what do you say?"

Song Wei’s peaceful gaze rested on Wen Wan, "Wanwan made such a great sacrifice for me, it’s only right that everyone knows."

"Is that all?" Zhao Xunyin thought the sacrifices his daughter made were too great.

Song Wei barely hesitated, "The divorce document has taken effect, if you want to be a family again, only by completing the three letters and six etiquettes would you remarry her."

Zhao Xunyin didn’t expect him to say this and was stunned for a moment, listening to Song Wei continue, "Back when I married Wanwan, her biological parents were not around. When I’ve observed the three years of mourning, my father-in-law should return. By then, I’ll formally propose to the Lu Family, and marry Wanwan again."

Wen Wan almost thought she was dreaming, she blinked twice, "Third Son, what did you say?"

Song Wei smiled, "When I married you back then, I proposed to the Wen Family. Once the mourning period ends, I’ll propose to the Lu Family, only then will it count as giving you a complete marriage."

Wen Wan, having grown up so much, had never seen a couple get married twice. She was a bit embarrassed, "I’m already a mother of two children, isn’t it inappropriate to be a bride again?"

"It’s appropriate, it’s appropriate." Jinbao came over, hugging Wen Wan’s arm, "Jinbao wants to see mother become a bride."

Wen Wan blushed at her son’s words.

"After Third Son’s analysis, I think it’s a good idea." Zhao Xunyin very much agreed, "When he married you back then, he proposed to the Wen Family. Now, with the divorce document effective at the government, if you quietly got back together, outsiders would gossip. It’s better to propose openly and marry her again. Firstly, it dispels some rumors; secondly, it fulfills your father’s wish."

Thinking about becoming a bride again, Wen Wan’s cheeks turned a bit warm. She looked at Song Wei, feeling a flutter that took her back to their wedding year.

Not daring to look again, she quickly lowered her head.

Song Wei noticed the shyness in Wen Wan’s eyes but didn’t expose her; he just asked Jinbao, "Will you come with me now?"

Jinbao was still very conflicted and looked up at Wen Wan.

Wen Wan said, "Jinbao, be good, first go back with Dad. When his mourning period ends and he brings you back, Mother will stay with you every day, okay?"

"So, when I come back, can I see Mother with a bridal veil as a bride?" Jinbao hadn’t heard Mother agree to marry Father just now.

"Yes." Wen Wan felt embarrassed as she spoke.

Before Song Wei left, Wen Wan asked him, "About the Princely Heir of Prince Cheng, what do you plan to do?"

Song Wei replied, "I’ve already sent a message to Master Yun, planning to ask Sixteen for a dose of medicine that can make one forget the past."

...

The Sky Eagle Guard’s efficiency was exceptionally fast. In just a few days, they gathered evidence of Prince Cheng’s deliberate harm to children, using their hearts as medicinal ingredients.

Meanwhile, Zhao Xi also learned that Zhao Shuo, the Princely Heir of the Prince Cheng Mansion, was born with a heart condition.

Faced with such a result, Zhao Xi was quite troubled.

The Prince Cheng Mansion had merits towards the Imperial Family, but this "credit" was unseen and unknown to the officials.

Now, Prince Cheng took lives carelessly under the Emperor’s feet, one of the children being the great-grandson of Duke Lu. Duke Lu had already stated during the court meeting that he would pursue the matter to the end.

If Prince Cheng is not severely punished, it would be hard to explain to the victim’s families and Duke Lu.

However, if severely punished, it would mean the task of training Hidden Guards would be transferred to another branch of the Imperial Family. It is not a matter of words; carelessness could lead to those with ulterior motives using it, potentially threatening the country.

After two days of consideration, Zhao Xi decreed to strip Prince Cheng of his title, demoting him to a commoner, sending him to guard the Imperial Mausoleum in West Mountain. As for those children, Emperor Xuanjing ordered the Prince Cheng Mansion to pay for their lavish burials, and additionally, compensate each family with ten thousand taels of silver, also paid by the Prince Cheng Mansion.

For the Imperial Family, demoting a prince to a commoner was already a massive punishment.

After all, it wasn’t a crime of treason, not to the extent of exile.

Prince Cheng had already prepared for exposure while committing murder for medicine ingredients, but he didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.

At present, the Prince Cheng Mansion was in chaos just after receiving the decree stripping their title. Princess Cheng had cried her eyes out, but only Prince Cheng sat calmly by the window in the study on a Taishi Chair, his expression serene, contrasting sharply with the chaos outside.

Back then, Princess Yong’an asked him why he dared to kill for his son, yet not take monastic vows for him.

He was angry then, because he felt all he did was for the continuation of Prince Cheng’s line, all for benefit.

Yet, now stripped of his title, with no more qualifications to train Hidden Guards for the Imperial Family, he didn’t feel regretful at all. Instead, learning that Shuoshuo had forgotten the past and was living peacefully at Fahua Temple, he felt unprecedented relief.

Not wanting his wife to suffer with him, he wrote her a divorce letter, instructing people to pack all valuable items in the mansion, and send them along with Princess Cheng, oh, Mrs. Qin, back to her family home.

As he exited the city towards the Imperial Mausoleum, Eunuch Sanbao galloped in pursuit, handing him a secret decree.

It wasn’t until West Mountain that he opened it to read.

The secret decree stated that the base for training Hidden Guards would be transferred to the Imperial Mausoleum. He must do his utmost to train more outstanding Hidden Guards to atone for his crimes. As for Zhao Shuo, far away at Fahua Temple, Emperor Xuanjing would protect him as much as possible.

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