Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress-Chapter 621 - 618: Logical_1

Seeing that Fu Ruoxi had already made up her mind and listened to his words, Bai Qingyan then said, "Uncle Ping, you first take General Fu to rest. Tomorrow morning, find a way to send General Fu out of the city. After settling General Fu, come back; I have something to instruct."

"Yes!"

Lu Ping responded and led Fu Ruoxi away.

Not long after, Lu Ping returned.

Bai Qingyan took a few steps towards Lu Ping and lowered his voice, saying, "Uncle Ping, before dawn, I need a corpse with a severed right arm, dressed in Fu Ruoxi’s clothes, and beheaded. Can Uncle Ping manage it?"

The young lady was going to fake Fu Ruoxi’s corpse; this was rather troublesome, as Fu Ruoxi had a severed right arm, and it had not been long since it was cut.

Lu Ping gritted his teeth; Fu Ruoxi would return on October 15, so they only needed to bluff through two days, and there was indeed a way. He cupped his fists and responded, "Young lady, rest assured. Lu Ping will get it done before dawn!"

After Lu Ping left, Qinghui Courtyard became quiet again, so quiet that only the sound of the wind remained.

Chun Tao looked at Bai Qingyan, who stood under the lantern in the corridor with furrowed brows, and spoke gently, "Young lady, sleep..."

"Hmm!" Bai Qingyan responded. It was time to sleep and gather strength; tomorrow... was the main event.

·

This night, not only did Bai Qingyan not sleep, but the Crown Prince, Master Tan, and Lu Jin also found it difficult to rest.

The Crown Prince and Master Tan had just received Fu Ruoxi’s testimony when a fire suddenly broke out at the Court of Judicial Review prison.

Lu Jin immediately realized that someone had come to kill Fu Ruoxi. While everyone was fully focused on dealing with the Hidden Guards who came to assassinate Fu Ruoxi and busy putting out the fire, Lu Jin ordered the prison guards who came to reinforce to first transfer Fu Ruoxi away, but later... Fu Ruoxi disappeared.

Besides the corpses of those dead warriors, Lu Jin discovered two more corpses of prison guards. After identification by the guards below, it was confirmed that these two were not guards of their Court of Judicial Review prison. Lu Jin was so shocked he almost fell.

The Crown Prince and Master Tan also looked serious, feeling that the Empress and King Xin’s people were simply capable of everything. They became even more cautious and immediately ordered a recount of the prison guards at the Court of Judicial Review.

"Since Fu Ruoxi’s testimony is already in hand, Your Highness doesn’t need to hesitate anymore... Just arrest King Xin," Master Tan decided without delay. "Then let the Patrol Camp search the entire city for Fu Ruoxi. We must see the person alive or the corpse dead!"

The Crown Prince, hidden behind his hands, tightened his grip. With a look of deep thought, he did not speak.

He wanted to completely overthrow the Empress and King Xin, but now he only had Fu Ruoxi’s testimony, without any physical evidence. If in the future King Xin and the Empress, after Father Emperor wakes up, claim Fu Ruoxi has falsely accused them, considering Father Emperor’s previous fondness for King Xin, he might still lift them up gently and put them down softly.

Moreover, regarding what Old Fang said about bribing the palace maid who once served the Empress, it ultimately concerns the royal bloodline. If Father Emperor investigates thoroughly and finds that it was the scheme of his Crown Prince’s residence...

The Crown Prince couldn’t help but shiver, for then, he would become the Crown Prince who framed his brother. There was a chance Father Emperor might depose him.

The Crown Prince understood his Father. Only if King Xin threatened his imperial authority would his Father want King Xin’s life.

Therefore, to ensure the Empress and King Xin never rise again, the Empress and King Xin must truly raise an army and force the palace, with irrefutable evidence.

It would be best if chaos ensued in Dadu City; once chaotic... Father Emperor would know that the Empress and King Xin truly wanted to rebel, and realize he was the good son.

Fortunately, there were still twenty thousand troops from Anping Camp outside the city gates, and the Patrol Camp commander, Fan Yuhuai, was his man.

"Master Tan, now we only have Fu Ruoxi’s testimony in our hands, but no letters from the Empress to Fu Ruoxi. It’s not enough to prove Fu Ruoxi’s words are true. If we rashly arrest King Xin, I’m afraid Father Emperor will blame us after waking up." The Crown Prince frowned deeply, "Although King Xin has been demoted to a commoner, he is, after all, the Emperor’s legitimate son. In handling this matter... if I, being impolitic, could lead to criticism."

Master Tan’s brows twitched, just as he was about to speak when Quan Yu hurriedly entered from outside the Government Office of the Court of Judicial Review, bypassed the black lacquer pillars, and walked to the Crown Prince’s side. He covered his lips with one hand and informed the Crown Prince about Zhong Shaozhong meeting his old subordinates in the brothel.

Indeed, the Zhong family was rebelling.

The Crown Prince dared not delay and quickly informed Master Tan, "Master... Zhong Shaozhong is gathering former imperial guard members in the brothel, fearing that chaos will arise!"

Master Tan gripped Fu Ruoxi’s testimony tightly and said, "Your Highness, to prevent chaos in Dadu City, sending people to arrest Zhong Shaozhong and all his people is imperative!"

The Crown Prince, hearing Master Tan’s words, nodded repeatedly and ordered Quan Yu to command the Patrol Camp to go arrest them.

As long as they could catch Zhong Shaozhong and others in the act, neither the Empress nor King Xin could deny it.

·

Inside the brothel.

Zhong Shaozhong saw that all the trusted old subordinates had arrived and surprisingly lifted the hem of his clothes to kneel in front of his former subordinates.

Zhong Shaozhong’s old subordinates hurriedly followed suit and knelt, each one panic-stricken, "My lord! What does this mean, sir?"

"Everyone, Zhong Shaozhong invited you here today at the Empress’s request to ask you to rescue the Emperor!" Saying this, Zhong Shaozhong bowed to all his old subordinates with tears in his eyes, "To be frank, the outside world claims the Emperor is in a ritual bath and fast for forty-nine days to pray for the Jin Kingdom, but actually... it’s because the Emperor fell from his horse and has been in a coma ever since!"

The imperial guard commanders were shocked.

This kind of secret couldn’t stay quiet forever; some had already heard a bit about the Emperor’s fall.

Zhong Shaozhong gritted his teeth tightly, "This is the Crown Prince’s doing! The Crown Prince felt threatened by the fact that the Empress was pregnant again with a legitimate son and that the Emperor had summoned King Xin back to Dadu City. So he acted against the Emperor, intending to frame the Empress and King Xin, wanting to kill two birds with one stone. Besides eliminating the Empress and King Xin, he could also let the Emperor die... thus ascending the throne rightfully as the Crown Prince!"

"But... but something’s wrong! I heard the Crown Prince was still in Dengzhou when the Emperor fell off his horse..." said one of the imperial guard commanders.

"That’s the brilliance of the Crown Prince!" Zhong Shaozhong already had a strategy, seemingly shedding difficult tears, "The Crown Prince was far away in Dengzhou, so no one would suspect him. People would even suspect the Empress and King Xin attacked the Emperor, wanting to create chaos while the Crown Prince was not in Dadu City to support King Xin’s ascension!"

"But think about it, everyone!" Zhong Shaozhong clasped his fists and pointed toward the direction of the Imperial Palace, "Who stands to gain the most from the Emperor’s death! That’s the Crown Prince! The Emperor dies... and the Crown Prince’s ascension happens naturally!"

Zhong Shaozhong’s old subordinates furrowed their brows and looked at their peers, one of them speaking first: "My lord, I also heard that Fu Ruoxi was brought back this time for following the Empress’s order to assassinate the Crown Prince!"

Zhong Shaozhong looked solemnly at his old subordinates, "Fu Ruoxi assassinated the Crown Prince, if indeed by the Empress’s order, why hasn’t the Crown Prince produced any evidence yet?"