20demayo Chapter 388 The Prince's Mystery: The Cannon Fodder Bride Forced into a Substitute Marquis'
Chapter 388 The Prince's Mystery: The Cannon Fodder Bride Forced into a Substitute Marquis'
The things Tang Jingfan did are enough to show that he had long been disloyal to Emperor Xinghe.
Considering the poison that Emperor Xinghe was poisoned with, and the second type of poison that Shen Huaizhi himself was poisoned with, Tang Jingfan was highly suspicious of being able to get close to both of them at the same time and know Shen Huaizhi's true identity.
Now that Tang Jingfan has openly brought Song Zhihua to the capital, his true purpose for coming here is highly suspicious.
If Tang Jingfan was the one who poisoned Emperor Xinghe, then it seems that his goals are not aligned with those of the Song family. Does this mean that Tang Jingfan and the Song family are not on the same page now?
Su Jinyue asked Shen Huaizhi, "Husband, should you remind Emperor Xinghe to be wary of Prince Jing?"
After pondering for a moment, Shen Huaizhi shook his head: "We are only speculating now, we have no evidence at all, and Emperor Xinghe may not believe it."
Moreover, if Prince Jing were to take any action at the birthday banquet, it would be too late to warn him now, and there was a risk of alerting him.
Prince Jing has been secretly building his network of connections for over a decade, and it's likely that Emperor Xinghe has people working for him. We cannot act rashly.
If anything unexpected happens, we'll just have to play it by ear...
Su Jinyue remained silent. Shen Huaizhi's concerns were valid. They had just recognized each other with Emperor Xinghe, and now they were questioning Prince Jing, who had followed Emperor Xinghe for more than ten years, about his disloyalty. Emperor Xinghe might not believe them.
Then we can only play it by ear. Hopefully, the preparations Emperor Xinghe made in advance will be enough to prevent Prince Jing from plotting against him.
As they were talking, the birthday banquet had already begun, and Prince Jing and Consort Hua had taken their seats.
Emperor Xinghe also appeared, accompanied by the Empress and several high-ranking concubines.
After everyone in the main hall paid their respects to Emperor Xinghe, the birthday banquet officially began.
Su Jinyue carefully observed Consort Hua, and after a long time, she realized that Consort Hua was indeed a master of disguise, or that she had a master of disguise by her side.
Consort Hua's appearance has been altered through makeup and some disguise techniques, making her and Song Zhihua look like two different people.
In addition, eighteen years have passed, and people's appearances will change. Even if there is some resemblance, Consort De is long dead in the eyes of the people in the capital, so others will naturally not think that she is Song Zhihua.
Besides paying attention to Emperor Xinghe's condition, Su Jinyue is now mainly concerned about Prince Jing and Song Zhihua.
She also deployed a small monitoring device to keep a close eye on Prince Jing and Song Zhihua's movements.
Soon, it was time to present the birthday gifts. First came the court officials and members of the royal family, and finally the princes and princesses.
Su Jinyue didn't pay much attention to the birthday gifts of the other people; she only focused on Prince Jing's birthday gift.
After Prince Jing toasted Emperor Xinghe, the birthday gifts he presented were merely some local specialties and jewelry from his fiefdom, which could only be described as conventional.
Su Jinyue and Shen Huaizhi's birthday gifts were sent ahead of schedule; Su Jinyue had prepared antidote pills and some effective healing medicines.
They don't have anything else at the moment, so this is all they can give.
Time quickly came for the princes and princesses to present their birthday gifts. The eldest prince stood up with a smug look on his face and first congratulated Emperor Xinghe on his birthday. He spoke at length before reluctantly having his gifts delivered.
Su Jinyue and Shen Huaizhi both looked tense. Su Jinyue keenly sensed that, apart from the relaxed court officials and their families, the remaining eunuchs and palace maids in the hall had secretly entered a state of alert.
The servant carrying the birthday gift stepped forward. The eldest prince was still boasting about how hard he had worked to obtain it. Emperor Xinghe also gave face to the eldest prince, Tang Ruibin, and was quite interested in going forward to see the eldest prince's birthday gift.
Just as Emperor Xinghe was about to approach, the servants carrying the birthday gifts moved!
He took a dagger from the box containing the birthday gifts and stabbed it straight at Emperor Xinghe.
Emperor Xinghe was prepared; he immediately retreated, and the guards and eunuchs around him stepped forward to stop the assassin.
When the eldest prince, Tang Ruibin, discovered the assassin, he was somewhat panicked, but he quickly calmed down and rushed towards Emperor Xinghe's location, shouting "Protect the Emperor!"
Although Tang Ruibin performed very hard, Su Jinyue still noticed the smugness in his eyes and his eagerness to show off.
After the assassin appeared in the main hall, the court officials and their families panicked. The timid ones fled outside the hall, while the bolder ones, who felt they had the ability, stayed and even took a few steps forward, hoping to save the emperor.
Shen Huaizhi pulled Su Jinyue along cautiously toward Emperor Xinghe. They were not worried about the assassination attempt by the Song family.
Putting aside the fact that the Song family's goal was not Emperor Xinghe, but to kill the eldest and second princes so that Emperor Xinghe would have no successor and would have no choice but to select the third prince.
Furthermore, thanks to their betrayal, Emperor Xinghe already knew and was aware of the Song family's movements. He had also laid a trap in the main hall, leaving the Song family with nowhere to run.
Su Jinyue and Shen Huaizhi were worried that there were other people behind the assassination attempt, such as Prince Jing, who was a destabilizing factor.
They must ensure the safety of Emperor Xinghe!
The assassination attempt by the Song family ended abruptly, with the hidden guards quickly subduing the assassins.
Seeing that the danger had passed, Emperor Xinghe waved for Xia Yuzhong, who had been blocking his way, to step back. He looked coldly at the assassins being escorted by the guards and asked, "Who are you, and why did you attempt to assassinate me?"
Seeing that his mission had failed, the leader of the assassins lost all will to live. He glared at Emperor Xinghe with hatred and said viciously, "You dog emperor, you persecute loyal and good people. Everyone has the right to kill you. We are doing this to rid the people of a scourge!"
Emperor Xinghe's expression was stern: "Harming loyal and virtuous people, eliminating scourges for the people? Bin'er, these people are all servants in your household, aren't they? What do you have to say about this?"
The eldest prince, Tang Ruibin, was still thinking of protecting the emperor and thus gaining his father's favor, but how could the assassination attempt have ended so quickly? He hadn't even had a chance to get close to Emperor Xinghe.
At this moment, Tang Ruibin's eyes were full of confusion, but upon hearing Emperor Xinghe's question, Tang Ruibin subconsciously defended himself.
"Father, I was unaware of this. I only wanted to present you with a birthday gift, but who knew that the person delivering the gift would be taken advantage of by villains who dared to assassinate you in the main hall!"
"Father, these people have nothing to do with me. Please, Father, understand!"
Tang Ruibin immediately knelt on the ground and confessed to Emperor Xinghe. When the Empress saw that her son had caused trouble, she quickly came out to plead for him.
“Your Majesty, Bin’er must have been deceived. He has always respected and loved you, his father. How could he be so bold as to deceive the emperor?”
For every person who pleads for mercy, there is someone who kicks someone when they're down; Consort Xian had a different opinion.
"However, the assassin came from the First Prince's residence after all. Your Majesty should investigate this matter thoroughly!"
Upon hearing Consort Xian's words, the Empress glared fiercely at her, and then tried to plead for her, but was stopped by Emperor Xinghe.
"Alright, I will investigate and find out the truth."
Emperor Xinghe impatiently interrupted their argument, for he already knew the reason.