Unlimited estates for rural beauty-Chapter 379 The Fate of the Retired Emperor (2)
He set down the gold, picked up several ordinary-looking but exquisitely made pearl ornaments. On the bottom edge, skewed to one side, was the stamp of the Imperial Household Department.
Upon seeing these, even a fool would know that the culprit was in the palace. Taking the items in hand, he walked over to the wall of the study and casually removed a treasured sword hanging there, storming out of the residence in a rage.
Feng Qing and Hua Wuying exchanged glances and promptly followed, leaving the study. The three mounted their horses and rushed straight to the Imperial Palace.
The guards at the palace gate, seeing Prince Mei’s furious approach, didn’t dare to step forward and quietly withdrew, taking a shortcut to the Imperial Study to inform Eunuch Shiyuan.
Having just received the report from the guarding guards, Shiyuan saw Prince Mei coming over with a murderous look from afar. He didn’t bother with anything else and hurried in to report to the Emperor.
"Your Majesty, Prince Mei, he..." He had only started speaking when Feng Qing kicked open the door blocked by eunuchs and marched straight into the grand hall.
Dugu Han’s brows knitted together as he looked at the intruders, anger flickering in his eyes, "Insolence! Sneaking into the depths of the palace at night, Dugu Chen, do you intend to rebel?"
With a ’smack’, the gold ingot and pearl ornaments were thrown onto the dragon-carved table, and he pressed his lips tightly, glaring furiously at Dugu Han.
Dugu Han picked up the items from the table, his brows furrowing slightly, "What do you mean by this?"
"Hmph, your Majesty is quite composed. Don’t these items look familiar to you?" he asked sarcastically, lips curling into a faint smirk.
"Nonsense, familiar with what? I’m not a girl of marriageable age. Speak plainly if you have something to say, there’s no need for such insinuations," retorting, he threw down the items in his hand, leaned back in his chair, and looked displeasedly at him.
"Do you dare say my son and daughter were not poisoned by someone you sent?" Seeing his unaffected demeanor, his anger soared, and he drew his treasured sword, pointing it angrily at Dugu Han.
"What?" Dugu Han stood up abruptly, his face a mix of shock and incredulity as he looked at Dugu Chen.
"Still not admitting it, truly incorrigible," seeing him feign ignorance, Dugu Chen’s anger became uncontrollable. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
"I didn’t do it, I have nothing to admit to," Dugu Han was genuinely puzzled and infuriated as he glared back at Dugu Chen. For a moment, the two glared at each other.
Dugu Chen looked at Dugu Han, who didn’t seem to be lying. After staring for a while, still seeing the same expression, he finally put down the sword and turned to look at the items on the table, "These pearl ornaments are all from the Imperial Household Department. How do you explain that these things suddenly appeared in a peasant woman’s home?"
Dugu Han was also doubtful. He truly hadn’t seen these pearl ornaments before, and such items seemed to be for gifting purposes, making it even less likely he’d have seen them.
"Younger brother, I truly haven’t seen them. Since these items are from the palace, then there must be a record of them. A simple inquiry will reveal to whom all these pearl ornaments were distributed."
Dugu Chen nodded, and Feng Qing went to check the records with Eunuch Shiyuan, while Dugu Chen sat down quietly. He glanced at the gold on the table and then spoke to Hua Wuying, "Check Yinya Pavilion."
"Yes, master," Hua Wuying looked up at his master before turning to leave.
In the large study room, Dugu Chen and Dugu Han stared at each other for a while before Dugu Chen stood up and approached Dugu Han, "I hope it’s not you, otherwise, I will make you regret it terribly."
He swirled his wide sleeve and left.
Two days later, Feng Qing and Hua Wuying both brought news that all clues pointed to a man named Fu Wei. Prince Mei ordered a secret search and capture of this person.
The spies from Prince Mei Residence in the Imperial Palace reported that a mysterious man frequently visited the Wangyou Palace, and his description matched the person they were secretly searching for. After hearing this, Dugu Chen scoffed, so it turned out, all of this had been orchestrated by someone from Wangyou Palace, which explained everything.
