Chapter 051 Investigation
Rong Que glanced at Liu Yisheng, lowered his eyelids and said, "It was you who rushed into the fire to rescue the Crown Princess regardless of your own life. I dare not take the credit for this."
Zhao Chunming was stunned for a moment, then he understood and patted Rong Que on the shoulder with a smile.
"Good boy, I will never treat you unfairly in the future!"
As he was talking, there was a commotion outside, and a soldier came in hurriedly, "Sir, Minglu is coming to the Crown Prince."
Zhao Chunming's heart suddenly trembled and he turned around to greet him.
Although Minglu was a servant, he had a special status because he followed Rongque. Zhao Chunming clasped his fists and said, "I have frightened the Crown Princess. I deserve death. Fortunately, I am not seriously injured. As soon as the sun rises tomorrow, I will personally go to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to apologize."
Ming Lu didn't even look at Zhao Chunming, "Where is the queen?"
Zhao Chunming hurriedly said, "The queen is resting in the tent. She is unconscious and has not woken up yet."
Ming Lu said nothing with a dark face, and walked away until he reached the door of the tent and saw the person lying inside. Then he gave the order, "Take the queen back to the palace."
The soldier in disguise beside him hurriedly and secretly tugged at Zhao Chunming's sleeve.
Zhao Chunming turned to look at him, and the soldier lowered his voice and said, "We can't let the Crown Princess go."
Zhao Chunming gave a suspicious look.
The soldier said in a low voice: "What happened to the queen here, if there is any accident when she returns, who will be responsible for whether this person is dead or alive?"
Zhao Chunming reacted immediately.
The Crown Princess is alive now, but if she dies after leaving the Xishan camp, the Crown Prince will directly put the blame on him, and he will have no way to defend himself.
"No, you can't take people away." Zhao Chunming's heart skipped a beat and he blurted out to stop them.
Minglu frowned and looked at him.
Zhao Chunming said, " The queen is still unconscious. The journey back home from here will be bumpy. If anything happens, who can take responsibility?"
Ming Lu snorted coldly, "Who can afford it? Who do you think can afford it now? Why didn't you think about it when the fire started? No, the Crown Princess can't stay. Who knows what dangers will come!"
Zhao Chunming said, "How could it be dangerous? No one expected the fire to start. Don't act rashly. Think carefully. The queen is unconscious now. Is it not suitable to move her? If you don't believe me, ask the military doctor. If you don't believe the doctors in the camp, you can send someone to invite the imperial physician. I am doing this for the queen's own good."
Minglu's expression slowed down slightly and he became hesitant.
Zhao Chunming struck while the iron was hot. "If you are afraid of accidents, then let your people guard here today, and invite the doctor who will treat the queen from the Imperial Hospital. If the imperial physician says that the queen is fine, you can leave with me, and I will definitely not stop you."
Ming Lu glanced at Zhao Chunming coldly and said, "You'd better not play tricks."
Zhao Chunming cried out, "What tricks can I play? I can't even make up for my crime."
Minglu ignored him, asked someone to go back and report, and he personally stood guard at the door of the tent.
Minglu was guarding here. Zhao Chunming accompanied him for a while and then left on the pretext of checking the situation in the camp.
"Take your men to keep an eye on them. If they just stay near this tent, that's fine. But if anyone runs around, report back immediately."
Zhao Chunming gave an order and sent someone to deliver the news to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.
The next morning, the news that the Crown Princess was nearly burned to death in the Xishan camp had spread throughout Kyoto.
In the Golden Palace during the morning court session, Rong Que stood tall and said, "I still ask your Majesty to thoroughly investigate the fire. I believe that this fire must have been man-made."
The Duke of Zhenguo wanted to stop it, but the person who was burned was the Crown Princess, and it would be unreasonable not to send someone to investigate, so he said: "I also think this matter is strange. How could a big fire start out of nowhere? The West Mountain Camp has always had backup water, and this time it burned for more than a quarter of an hour, which is really strange."
The emperor did not expect that the Duke of Zhenguo would agree with the prince.
The emperor stared at the two of them coldly for a moment, then said, "Let the Minister of Justice investigate personally. If it was an accident, then it's fine. But if someone deliberately murdered him, they will be severely punished!"
The Minister of Justice stepped out of the line and said, "I obey your orders."
The emperor looked at Rong Que's expression, paused, and said, "The crown prince will go too."
Rong Que immediately refused, "Father, it is not appropriate for me to go. It is sufficient to hand this matter over to the Ministry of Justice for review. I can trust you."
The emperor said, "What's inappropriate about that? The one who was burned was your Crown Princess."
Rong Que shook his head firmly, "I am not good at investigating or trying cases, so going there would only cause trouble for no reason. There is no need. Last night, I sent someone to the West Mountain Camp to guard the Crown Princess. I will just wait for her to get better and then bring her back."
Seeing his firm attitude, the emperor said nothing more.
After the morning court was over, the Minister of Justice went straight to the Xishan camp.
When he arrived, Su Qingqing had already woken up and was scolding Ming Lu, "I want to go back? Why should I go back? I almost got burned to death here, and the person who burned me to death has not been found yet. You want me to go back? If you want to go back, go back by yourself!"
After saying that, Su Qingqing turned to the Minister of Justice and said, "Check for me. Someone tried to murder me yesterday!"
Zhao Chunming thought that he had acted upright and said without any guilt, "Sir, please make sure to conduct a thorough investigation. If there is such a vicious person hiding in the Xishan Camp, he must be caught."
The Minister of Justice said nothing more and turned to investigate the case.
The situation last night was extremely easy to investigate. In just a quarter of an hour, the Minister of Justice returned to Zhao Chunming's tent with clues.
Su Qingqing sat in the main seat with a sullen face. Zhao Chunming sat below her. Seeing the Minister of Justice coming back, he stood up hurriedly and asked, "How is it?"
"There is indeed something wrong with what happened last night."
As soon as the Minister of Justice finished speaking, Zhao Chunming's heart trembled.
Have questions?
How is that possible!
"When a big fire broke out yesterday, the soldiers rushed to put it out, but many of them felt bloated and weak, their walking was unsteady, and their vision was blurred, which delayed the extinguishing of the fire. I have asked the imperial physician to diagnose them, and it is a sign of poisoning."
Zhao Chunming:!
Poisoning?
Su Qingqing slammed the table, "Who poisoned me?"
The Minister of Justice glanced at Su Qingqing and said, "We still don't know who poisoned her, but we have found out where the poison came from."
Zhao Chunming asked without thinking, "Where?"
"The mutton that the queen ate last night was tampered with."
Zhao Chunming nearly fell over.
The mutton was originally bought by the Crown Princess, but he only kept ten lamb legs and exchanged the rest for mutton.
His face turned pale instantly, and Zhao Chunming stumbled a step with his heart pounding. "Is there something wrong with the mutton or the mutton leg?"
The lamb leg that was not finished last night is still in the military kitchen and has not been processed yet.
Zhao Chunming stared at the Minister of Justice without blinking, and felt his heart was about to jump out of his throat.
