RPAGF Chapter 408 You are my real business
Chapter 408 You are my real business
Feng Ziheng frowned and said, "You mean, His Majesty's token is inferior to His Highness the Crown Prince's token?"
"This subordinate had no such intention," the Imperial Guard said, bowing. "This is an order from the Crown Prince, for the sake of the Emperor's safety. Please forgive me, sir."
Feng Ziheng sneered, "What if I insist on going in?"
He thought the Imperial Guards would strongly object, but to his surprise, they exchanged glances and simply lowered their eyes.
"If Your Excellency insists on entering the palace, we can do nothing about it, but Your Excellency will have to bear the consequences yourself."
Just as Feng Ziheng was wondering, a person rushed over from the side; it was a servant from the Duke's mansion.
"Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness's wife needs to speak with you."
The attendant looked anxious, so Feng Ziheng had no choice but to come over and ask.
"what's up?"
The attendant whispered, "Your Highness, just now, all the guards in the Duke's mansion have been replaced."
"What? Who switched it?"
As soon as Feng Ziheng finished speaking, he realized that if his father or brothers had changed, and there was no time to inform him, his wife would not have been in such a hurry to send someone to inform him.
It's only possible that the Duke's mansion has been taken over by someone.
He is the Crown Prince.
Feng Ziheng slightly clenched his fist. The Crown Prince held absolute power, openly preventing him from entering the palace, but not excessively so. He could go in, but he would have to think carefully about what he said.
He took a deep breath and waved to the servant: "Alright, go back and tell Madam I understand."
The servant left.
Feng Ziheng turned to get into the carriage, but the leading imperial guard was still shouting from behind.
"My lord, are you not going to the palace?"
Feng Ziheng turned around and gave him a sharp look, which frightened the man into silence.
The coachman asked, "Young Master, shall we return to the manor or...?"
Feng Ziheng hesitated for a moment before saying, "It's still early, let's go for a walk in the outskirts of the capital to relax."
They went to a pavilion on the outskirts of Beijing. Feng Ziheng sat in the pavilion, leaning against a pillar with his eyes closed.
The wind ruffled his hair and beard, giving him a somewhat lonely air.
Knowing he was in a bad mood, his attendants dared not speak and carefully stood by his side to serve him.
After an unknown amount of time, a sound came from not far away, followed by a joyful shout.
"Big brother, what are you doing here?"
Who else could it be but Feng Zizhou? Besides him, there was also his second sister.
The second sister knew that Feng Ziheng had never liked her, and the orphan didn't go forward, but bowed outside the pavilion.
Feng Ziheng opened his eyes and glanced at the two of them indifferently, saying, "Just relaxing. What are you two doing here?"
Feng Zizhou said, "We're investigating a case. There's one recently that..."
Feng Ziheng raised his hand to interrupt him, pointing at his second sister: "Show me the dossier."
The second sister ordered the clerk to bring over the dossier. She intended to hand it directly to Feng Zizhou, but seeing Feng Ziheng looking at her, she had no choice but to carry the unfinished dossier to the pavilion herself.
Feng Ziheng flipped through the documents for a while and asked, "How's the investigation going?"
"Brother, we..."
Feng Zizhou was about to speak when Feng Ziheng interrupted him.
"Shut up, let her talk."
Just like before, when Feng Ziheng was still at the Dali Temple, he was always so serious and unsmiling. He ignored her, but if she made a mistake, he would sternly point at the case file.
He said: How did you do this?
The second sister was filled with trepidation, and her voice unconsciously lowered a few decibels: "Sir, this case has been investigated and resolved, it is..."
"Stop." Feng Ziheng gestured for her to come closer, pointing to what was written in the case file. "Manslaughter? How did you arrive at this conclusion? Did the perpetrators collude? Is there any suspicion of conspiracy? The statements of the victims who didn't die may not be true. How can we be sure there wasn't surveillance? Is this the result of your two judgments?"
Feng Zizhou was dumbfounded. In their case, all the victims were dead. The criminals had been arrested and had no opportunity to collude. Moreover, the evidence against the criminals was conclusive, and even if they colluded, they would still face imprisonment.
Could it be that, as my brother said, another prisoner has escaped?
The second sister, however, realized what had happened and nervously grabbed the case file: "This... sir, it was our oversight. We will definitely review this case carefully when we get back."
Feng Ziheng sneered: "With your recklessness, how could His Highness Prince Ning entrust the case to you? It's laughable."
He got up angrily.
"I wanted to find a quiet place, but I can't find any. I'm going back to the mansion!"
After he left, Feng Zizhou grumbled, "What's wrong with my brother? He's in a bad mood today, and we just happened to run into him, so he's giving us a lecture?"
The second sister lowered her eyes and said, "No matter what the reason, we are fortunate to have met your eldest brother, otherwise this case would have become a miscarriage of justice."
“Where? I think…” Feng Zizhou was about to speak when his second sister glanced at him. His mind went blank, as if something had exploded.
His second sister reached out and pulled him back to his senses.
Upon returning, the second sister was extremely anxious. If she were to enter the palace now, she feared she would alert Feng Ziheng. However, Feng Ziheng's decision to find her indirectly, rather than entering the palace himself, must be due to inconvenience.
Why is it inconvenient?
The second sister suddenly remembered what Feng Ziheng had said about the victims being monitored.
In other words, Feng Ziheng and even the Feng family were under surveillance. The criminals were colluding with each other, meaning the Crown Prince and his cronies were working together, and their power had grown so great that even Feng Ziheng, a close advisor to the Emperor, was powerless to stop them.
They actually pinned their hopes on her, hoping she could enter the palace, inform the younger sister, and then get the seriously ill emperor to take action?
But what could she do?
The second sister was so anxious that tears were almost coming out of her eyes.
That evening, Prince Ning appeared in her boudoir again. This time, she disregarded her anger and quickly recounted what had happened during the day, anxiously asking questions.
"What should I do? Perhaps I should go to the palace first thing tomorrow morning?"
When Prince Ning saw that she hadn't changed out of her nightgown so late and had no intention of resting, he felt a pang of heartache.
"Mu Tong, you've been working too hard lately, busy with departmental affairs and also thinking about sending messages to the palace. Look how thin you've become."
The second sister said unhappily, "I'm talking to you about serious matters, why are you beating around the bush?"
“You are the one I really need to focus on,” Prince Ning said earnestly.
The second sister jumped up, not caring whether her voice was too loud and would attract the attention of the maids and servants. She angrily said, "Xiao Youchuan, what's wrong with you? Do you know what the Emperor will do if these things are not dealt with?"
Prince Ning looked at her: "At most, the world will change hands, so what? Are you worried about the world, or are you worried about... your sister?"
The second sister calmed down a bit and said, "That's my sister, of course I'm worried. It's not my place to worry about the world, but the Crown Prince's actions show that he's an impatient and arrogant person. If such a person becomes the master of the Great Zhou, can things really develop as we hope?"
She was unaware of the good or bad qualities of those in power, or even the emperor's suspicions, which led to her family being exiled for ten years.
Therefore, it would be a lie to say that I don't hate them.
However, after spending more than a year at the Dali Temple, she also sensed that at least the current emperor was protecting the people.
For example, the Emperor also attached great importance to the matter of the Dali Temple revising the laws.