ATPnovel Chapter 1659: 310: Yuan Feng Year 38 Chronicle (Part 2)
Chapter 1659: 310: Yuan Feng Year 38 Chronicle (Part 2)
Chapter 1659: Chapter 310: Yuan Feng Year 38 Chronicle (Part 2)How could such an innocent person die in prison?
Jiang Wang said, “Others say your father arrested the wrong person, leading him to commit suicide out of guilt. But Senior Wu Lie didn’t believe he would end his life out of guilt, nor believe he had caught the wrong person… So for all these years, you have never given up investigating the Tian family?”
“The clues about Wanling Frozen Snow now explain everything,” Lin Youxie said earnestly. “My father surely didn’t catch the wrong person back then; it was just that the evidence was snuffed out.”
Seeing Lin Youxie’s determined expression, Jiang Wang suddenly remembered that time overseas when Lin Youxie lost control of his emotions because he questioned whether Lin Youxie would ever mistakenly arrest someone…
It turns out there was such a story behind it.
Over the years, while Lin Kuang was denied, she worked tirelessly to solve cases without worrying about danger, merely to rebuild the reputation of the Green Badge Aristocracy… To never again “catch the wrong person.”
“I still don’t understand,” Jiang Wang said slowly. “Since you are sure that the Tian family has issues, why insist that the assassin is unrelated to the Da Ze Tian Clan?”
“After my father died, the case was shelved. Grandpa Wu tried multiple times to reopen the investigation but was rejected, so he resigned. During that time, he traveled incognito, visiting many places…”
Lin Youxie said, “Grandpa Wu discovered that the assassin who killed Concubine Lei was seen with He Fu in the same tavern before the incident. Of course, no one saw them interacting. But this is already a clue in itself.”
“Uncle He?” Jiang Wang said. “So did you confirm the current Queen as the true culprit at that time?”
“No.” Lin Youxie shook his head. “You don’t understand He Fu. This person is mediocre and doesn’t have the ability to orchestrate such a grand scheme. The only time the assassin appeared publicly was being seen with He Fu in the same tavern… It was clearly a setup. So at that moment, Grandpa Wu excluded the current Queen from the list of suspects.”
“Who would have thought?” Her expression was somewhat bitter. “Grandpa Wu initially suspected the current Queen because few people in the Imperial Palace could erase all traces. After analysis and investigation, he excluded her. Until this time, Feng Gu used suicide to emphasize to us… the mastermind is indeed the Queen.”
Jiang Wang murmured, “The assassin appearing with He Fu in the tavern perhaps was a diversion by the current Queen, using He Fu’s foolishness to make people think it was a setup to wash her own hands of suspicion.”
“Looking back now, such a possibility exists indeed…” Lin Youxie said, “But at that time, Grandpa Wu had to investigate alone…”
“The assassin who killed Concubine Lei was a nameless person without identity, impossible to trace back, and died on the spot, leaving no way to follow up.
But this itself is also a clue.
A killer who, before making a move, made no contact with anyone and left no trace in the world except for that one time at the tavern.
This is not something that ordinary forces can cultivate.
It must be the death squad raised by large aristocratic families or major sects.
While many such forces exist, when narrowed down to the Eastern Region, or even Qi Country, they are few.”
Jiang Wang added, “The Tian family is certainly one of them.”
“As is the Lei family.” Lin Youxie said.
Jiang Wang frowned deeply.
“The assassin sneaked in through Wu Ning Gate, and the Palace Guards on duty were executed afterward. Any clue they had should have been eliminated. But we found out that the head of the Palace Guards at that time was named Zhang. He had a two-year-old son who disappeared before the incident.”
Lin Youxie said, “We found this boy… He grew up in the Lei family and is now the Deputy Commander of the Lei family’s clan guards.”
It must be said that the efforts of Wu Lie and Lin Youxie over all these years did yield results.
Especially Wu Lie, who, without the backing of the Green Badge support, single-handedly discovered so much, certainly lives up to the title ‘a renowned detective.’
But Jiang Wang felt once again engulfed in confusion, “The Lei family wants to kill Concubine Lei? For what?”
Lin Youxie looked at him and merely asked, “What if she didn’t die?”
It was like a thunderbolt across the night sky!
If… Concubine Lei didn’t die?
No one would believe that a pregnant woman would orchestrate a dangerous assassination plot by herself.
So, what if she didn’t die?
Then that incident of the assassin appearing in the same tavern with He Fu would be enough to draw suspicion toward the current Queen.
That year was the 38th year of Yuan Feng.
Three years earlier, the incident of the deposed Crown Prince being confined in the Blue Stone Palace had just occurred, and Jiang Wuliang completely severed ties with the Imperial Throne, with no chance of recovery.
The current Crown Prince secured his position in the 36th year of Yuan Feng, a year after the deposed Crown Prince was confined to the Blue Stone Palace.
By the 38th year of Yuan Feng, when the assassination attempt on Concubine Lei happened, Jiang Wuhua had only been Crown Prince for two years; his position in the Eastern Palace was not stable… Not only then, even up to now, Jiang Wuhua’s position as Crown Prince cannot be said to be unshakable.
Otherwise, how did the Hua Ying Palace, Yangxin Palace, and Long Life Palace come to be later?
So, if at such a time, Concubine Lei survived an assassination attempt and barely saved her child?
How enraged would the Son of Heaven be?
Deposing the Queen, deposing the Crown Prince… seems justifiable.
Wouldn’t Concubine Lei have a chance to become Queen?
Wouldn’t Concubine Lei’s child have a chance to become the Crown Prince?
Of course, it is possible!
If Concubine Lei herself orchestrated the assassination, she could certainly erase all traces and provide the assassin the right opportunity inside the heavily guarded Imperial Palace.
Imagine what a daring plan this is!
With the Son of Heaven campaigning outside, Concubine Lei pregnant and about to give birth, at such a critical time, a shocking assassination happened in the Eastern Region, involving the reigning Queen…
If it failed, it would mean losing two lives. If discovered, ending up without a place to be buried would be a lighter consequence.
This is gambling with life for the throne!
“But Concubine Lei died in the end…” Jiang Wang said with an indescribable emotion.
“So why did Feng Gu determine the current Queen as the true culprit?” Lin Youxie said. “Because the Queen Concubine Lei wanted to frame is not someone who can be easily manipulated, nor is she someone Concubine Lei could scheme against. With a slight maneuver, she turned Concubine Lei’s faked death into a real death!”
Jiang Wang murmured, “For example, by secretly applying Wanling Frozen Snow on the assassin’s blade…”
“And the Tian family orchestrated the specifics of this,” Lin Youxie said wistfully. “It was only last night that I figured it all out.”
Exactly… exactly!
Much of Lin Youxie’s reconstruction of the case is speculative in nature. Very little can genuinely be called evidence, as most of it has been destroyed.
But Jiang Wang already believed it.
Because he had information Lin Youxie didn’t know—that Jiang Wuqi had also investigated the case from seventeen years ago and quickly reached a conclusion with his identity and resources far superior to Wu Lie’s, but in the end, chose silence.
Why the silence?
Only the reconstruction of the case by Lin Youxie today could explain it!
Because the entire assassination was designed by Concubine Lei herself.
Concubine Lei, in her boldness, designed the assassination, but due to her limited abilities, met an opponent far beyond her reach, who turned the tables on her. This ultimately led to her own death and to her child’s congenital cold poison!
In her final moments, Concubine Lei fought desperately that winter night, expending every effort to save her unborn child…
Her feelings at that time… were they despair, or guilt?
But regardless, her love for the child in her womb was not false.
Jiang Wuqi discovered the truth, yet he was unwilling, seventeen years later, to reproach his foolish mother! Even if uncovering this case could pull the Queen down and create an opportunity for him to compete for the position as heir.
The Son of Heaven later reminisced about Concubine Lei with nostalgia.
If the case were reopened, what would the Son of Heaven think? What would he say? How would he treat the Lei family?
So on the tombstone in that painting of all beings, there is only “The departed are gone.”
The person is already dead, what more can Jiang Wuqi say?
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