Card Room

Chapter 182 - Beacon in Troubled Times 32

After learning that Imperial Concubine Xian lived in Qingshan Temple outside Jiangzhou, Yu Hanjiang immediately summoned the shadow guards to surround Qingshan Temple.

At noon, the blazing sun hung in the air and the sunlight was particularly dazzling.

Qingshan Temple had a quiet environment. It was surrounded by green bamboo with a clear stream flowing. The sound of the stream filled the ears and there was also the regular sound of wooden fish being knocked together in the temple. It was a place that really seemed to stand aloof from worldly affairs.

Who would've imagined that murderous woman with a deep heart would live here?

Yu Hanjiang waved his hand and all the shadow guards flew into the temple.

In the front of the temple was a woman wearing a plain blue gown and a nun's headpiece on her head. She was kneeling in front of the Buddhist temple, holding scripture in one hand and knocking a wooden fish in the other.

The sound of footsteps and the rustling wind behind her didn't seem to affect her.

She was still attentively reading the scriptures until a cold voice came from behind her. "Concubine Xian, when you were chanting sutras to the Buddha statue, did you ever think about whether the souls of those poisoned by you can really rest in peace?"

The woman opened her eyes. These eyes were as clear as water, as if they truly rejected worldly affairs. She might not have any powder applied to her face and she was only wearing a rough blue dress but it was still difficult to hide her pure and refined temperament. No wonder why the late emperor was fascinated by her at the beginning, regardless of her life experience, and directly brought her back to the palace to be a concubine.

The woman kneeling in front of the Buddha statue spoke without turning her head. "Amitabha, I've taken refuge in religious life a long time ago. I'm asking you to please speak cautiously and to not disturb the peace of Buddha with ordinary affairs.

Yu Hanjiang sneered. "Is this true? Imperial Concubine Xian has already become a nun. The witnesses and physical evidence from 13 years ago are no longer available and it naturally can't be investigated. Unfortunately, you fell short 13 years ago and still fell short now."

He waved his hand and ordered, "Bring Qi Fenghua."

The shadow guards immediately brought Qi Fenghua over, Long Sen personally escorting him. Qi Fenghua's face was as dark as the bottom of the pot while the expression of the calm Imperial Concubine Xian finally changed. She slowly stood up and turned to Qi Fenghua with disbelief.

Yu Hanjiang asked, "Imperial Concubine Xian, don't you know your own grandson?"

Imperial Concubine Xian and Qi Fenghua were relatively silent.

Yu Hanjiang continued. "You wanted to form an alliance with the Zhao state to help your grandchild ascend to the throne. If I guessed correctly, your true identity is probably someone from the Zhao state. You are also a doctor who can extract materials from plants to make this colourless and odourless poison, am I right?"

The concubine was silent for a long time before she suddenly burst out laughing. "Hahaha, a loss, a good loss!"

Her laughter was sharp and shrill. Where was the previous gentle and kind look?

A gust of wind blew her hat off. She had been growing her hair and her long hair became messed up by the wind, making her entire face look a bit strange and even her facial features were slightly distorted.

After a long time, she stopped laughing and glared at Qi Fenghua with sharp eyes. "Incompetent with success and abundant with failure!"

Qi Fenghua bowed his head with chagrin.

Concubine Xian spoke coldly, "I guessed that this would be messed up by you the moment you secretly went back to the prince's mansion to grab that bottle of poison. This brainless thing, you're not even half as good as your father. He might not be ambitious but he is at least smart enough. You? You're an idiot!"

Qi Fenghua's face was white and his entire body trembled. He didn't dare say a word.

The concubine laughed. "I was a noble of Zhao and exiled to Qi. Then I was forcibly taken back to the palace by the dog emperor. I became his concubine and couldn't take one step away from the palace. I planned this for so many years. My son should've been on the throne and I should've been the empress dowager of Daqi! It is a pity that every time... it went wrong! How can I be convinced?"

Her eyes were bloodshot and she looked crazy. Obviously, Qi Fenghua's arrest had hit her greatly.

Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou looked at each other and immediately ordered someone to control her. The shadow guards soon brought her under control. Imperial Concubine Xian didn't struggle. She was pale and clearly felt dead in her heart.

Now all the cases in 8 of Hearts had finally been solved. The assassin plot line wasn't difficult. As long as they did it quickly and led out Xiao Lou's brother then it would be easy to solve the case. The poisoning case was very complex and involved two cases.

13 years ago, the crown prince was killed with a poisonous arrow and the empress and concubines poisoned to death. In fact, it was actually by the mother of the eighth prince, who was originally from Zhao.

She did her best in everything and only missed her son. She believed that all men pursued power, especially princes. Who didn't want to sit on the supreme dragon chair? She planned everything for her son and wouldn't her son feel thankful? After gaining the throne, he would be more filial to her and respect her as the empress dowager.

However, her son hit her in the face, giving up his right of inheritance and pushing the throne to the little prince. She had no control over a son who sought pleasure and didn't want to be the emperor.

After she came to Jiangzhou, she decided to train her eldest grandson Qi Fenghua, wanting her grandson to unite with Zhao to usurp the throne.

Unfortunately, it was still a loss in the end. Qi Fenghua left a bottle of medicine in the prince's mansion and wanted to take it out. As a result, he ran into his younger sister Qi Yiyao and Lin Shaobo, the oldest son of the Lin family. He killed the two of them in succession and caused many things.

This was why he had two bottles of medicine. One was for the second prince and one he had taken out of the prince's mansion for his own use. Qi Fenghua wasn't smart or cautious enough while the eighth prince had no intention of becoming emperor.

The greatest tragedy of Imperial Concubine Fei was that she paid too much attention to power, thinking all day about how to kill the crown prince and empress. She was a woman with a strong desire for control. She didn't know her son at all and never asked for his inner thoughts.

The eighth prince was a person with his own personality, not a puppet she could manipulate at will. Qi Fenghua was lacking and had an abundance of failures.

She was a powerful strategist but a failed mother.

A melodious bell rang through Qingshan Temple as the virtuous Concubine Xian looked blankly at the temple. Her hair was disordered and her eyes were red. Twice in a row, she fell short of success and she seemed to age several years in a flash.