Unlimited estates for rural beauty-Chapter 517 The Forgotten Monarch of Bliss (2)
Dugu Chen snorted coldly, disdainfully curling his lips, "Marshal Li is not a subordinate of Dugu Kangze at all."
"...Then who is he?" Feng Xuxu was even more puzzled.
"Marshal Li’s real name is Li Qing, and he grew up with my mother as childhood sweethearts. They grew up together, and when he became of age, he followed his father, the old Marshal Li, to gain experience in the army. He became a minor deputy general. When he returned with his accomplishments, he found that the woman he loved had already married someone else. Heartbroken, he joined the army again to enhance his skills. After the old Marshal Li passed away, the Great Ancestor, recognizing Li Qing’s talent and the Li family’s loyalty and bravery, promoted Li Qing to Marshal. Upon learning of the Great Ancestor’s death, Marshal Li Qing, worried about my mother’s safety, led his personal troops and rushed back to the Capital City overnight. Upon entering the city and finding the streets empty, Li Qing sensed something was amiss and led his personal troops directly into the Imperial Palace, saving Dugu Kangze."
Feng Xuxu nodded gently, feeling that Marshal Li Qing was indeed a man of deep loyalty and feeling, "What happened to Li Qing after that?"
"He died on the road."
"Died... died?" 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
"Yes, he indeed died on the road. His body was transported back with his face black and blue, dead from poisoning."
"How... How could this happen?" Feng Xuxu couldn’t believe that Marshal Li was poisoned to death, a hero’s life ending just like that.
Dugu Chen gave a bitter smile, "I couldn’t believe it either, but that’s the reality. I was still young at the time, but I saw Marshal Li’s body and still remember it vividly to this day."
"Was the person who poisoned him found?"
"Yes, it was done by bandits. They descended from the mountains to rob Marshal Li Qing, and when they couldn’t defeat him, they resorted to poison. After Li Qing was poisoned, he fell and didn’t get up. Later, Marshal Li’s trusted followers killed some of the bandits. The remaining bandits, frightened, were captured during their escape. After interrogation, the bandits confessed that a masked man in black had offered tens of thousands of Silver to have the Marshal ambushed. Marshal Li’s followers had been searching for this man in the black mask, but, unfortunately, they never found any leads, and the matter eventually fell by the wayside."
"After Prince Dugu Kangze returned to his fiefdom, did the late Emperor make any moves?" Feng Xuxu always felt that there was something odd about Prince Dugu Kangze. Anyone from the Royal Family was shrewd, let alone one who had once aspired to the supreme imperial throne but found his father had died suddenly during his absence while his obscure brother ascended to the throne. She would not believe he held no resentment.
Dugu Chen’s brows knitted slightly, "I really don’t know. I was too young at that time to understand these things, and my memories of Prince Dugu Kangze are also rather vague. I remember him as a gentle and polite person."
Feng Xuxu sighed quietly to herself, lay back flat on the bed, and stared at the canopy, with lightly parted red lips, "Husband, you should really look into this Prince Dugu Kangze. He’s either content with his lot, living his own life, or brewing a grander scheme."
"Yes, I’ll send someone to look into it now."
Feng Xuxu slowly turned her head, watching his figure disappear behind the screen, then gently closed her eyes and thought carefully about what she had just heard. Although these events seemed unrelated at first, upon closer scrutiny, who was responsible for Li Qing’s death? The greatest suspect was Dugu Kangze, not because of his outstanding merit but rather out of fear that his legal wife might redevelop feelings for him, which could cause controversy. However, Dugu Kangze wouldn’t be foolish enough to kill Li Qing while his position as Emperor was still unstable. So, for whom would Li Qing’s death be most advantageous? Indeed, the princes had been executed by royal decree, so who else could benefit? At that moment, a name flashed into Feng Xuxu’s mind—that of Prince Dugu Kangze, a man already gravely ill, who had retreated to his fiefdom.
