Proud Feather

Chapter 98 Falsification
Master Lingxu was taken aback.

Huh? That's not what he meant! The princess reacted so quickly; she found the flaw in just a few words...

Chu Ling was immersed in joy.

Lin Wenyu said that Zhu Fan harbored resentment towards the Crown Prince because his younger brother died of illness and his mother committed suicide, which is why he decided to kill him.

However, according to Master Lingxu, Zhu Fan's mother and younger brother died after the Mid-Autumn Festival. It would take some time for news to travel from the north to the capital, wouldn't it? By that calculation, Zhu Fan wouldn't have received the news until the end of August at the earliest, by which time the Crown Prince would have already administered the poison.

The timing doesn't match! Either someone is giving Zhu Fan false information, or Zhu Fan didn't actually put the poison in the first place!
But what about the confession?

It took the emperor a while to come to his senses. He then asked the Taoist priest Lingxu, "Taoist priest, you haven't misremembered?"

Master Lingxu thought it over and nodded firmly: "The timing of the Mid-Autumn Festival should be correct, as the grand ceremony is always held during the Mid-Autumn Festival every year."

The emperor let out a long breath, his expression complex: "This case is indeed still unsolved. Lin Wenyu is really not suitable for prison duty."

Master Lingxu glanced at the table: "Your Majesty, wouldn't you like to look at the letter? Perhaps it can prove whether I have made a mistake."

Oh yes.

Chu Ling picked up the wooden hairpin and said, "It's so small! Like a child's toy."

The emperor pulled out the letter inside, his expression changing slightly.

After he finished reading, Chu Ling eagerly took it and scanned it quickly, becoming increasingly delighted. She exclaimed, "Father! This is the real proof! Since my elder brother couldn't exonerate Zhu Jingde immediately, he asked someone to make arrangements for Zhu's mother and son. Zhu Fan wrote a letter about this and even attached a token! This shows that she knew my elder brother went to rescue her mother and younger brother, and it's impossible that she harbored hatred towards him because of this!"

The emperor nodded slowly.

Zhu Fan's hopes for saving his mother and younger brother rested on the Crown Prince; he would never have poisoned them. Furthermore, the claim of a personal affair was pure speculation and utterly untenable.

"However, several pieces of previous evidence contradict this..."

Chu Ling quickly interjected, "That's right. First, the confession. If the letter is genuine, then the confession must be fake. But the handwriting on the confession is indeed Zhu Fan's, which is contradictory. Second, the maid's testimony. Since Zhu Fan knew her elder brother had helped her save her mother and younger brother, why would she cry to the maid? Finally, there's Zhu Fan's death. If this is the truth, what reason would Zhu Fan have to commit suicide? Did someone sneak into the Ministry of Justice and kill her, or…"

The emperor thought for a moment, then flew into a rage: "Lin Wenyu! That old bastard dared to deceive me on such a matter! I will never forgive him!"

As he spoke, he turned and shouted, "Sun Shouquan! Call everyone back! Lin Wenyu, Gao Mian, and several other prime ministers..."

"Father, please calm down!" Chu Ling quickly stopped him. "What is Minister Lin's reason for doing this? He must be protecting the real culprit! If we summon him now, we might alert him!"

The emperor's expression softened slightly as he looked at her: "A-Ling, you mean..."

Recalling Lin Wenyu's smug look, Chu Ling sneered: "Minister Lin's actions have one advantage: now everyone believes Zhu Fan is the murderer, so the real culprit will lower their guard! Father, I have an idea; we can turn the tables on him..."

After she finished speaking, she tugged at the emperor's sleeve, looked up, and pleaded, "Father, please?"

The emperor looked at his daughter, whose face was full of pleading, with an inscrutable gaze: "Ah Ling, you're getting better and better at handling things now."

Chu Ling knew she couldn't show her true colors yet, lest she attract the attention of the Prince Xin's faction. So she said, "Isn't this all thanks to Minister Lin? He's been putting on a show of being perfunctory lately, forcing me to rely on Minister Gao, while he's secretly investigating so many clues. Humph! Watch me do the same thing and get my revenge!"

Seeing her smug look, the emperor laughed: "You're really clever!"

"So Father Emperor agreed?" The Emperor nodded: "Of course I won't let your elder brother die unjustly. Today, I'll let you do as you please. If you fail, I'll clean up the mess for you."

Chu Ling was overjoyed: "Thank you, Father! I knew you loved me and my elder brother the most!"

The emperor patted her head and smiled without saying a word.
-
Chu Ling came out of the Funing Palace and waited in the imperial carriage for a while before Daoist Lingxu also came out of the palace.

"Taoist Master, shall we go to the East Palace together?" she asked, peeking out.

Master Lingxu bowed and said, "The princess has spoken, how could I dare disobey?"

Chu Ling chuckled and got out of the carriage, saying, "You should go back! The Daoist is a reclusive master, and even Father Emperor treated him with great courtesy. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to put on such airs."

Master Lingxu is the Grand Preceptor's eldest disciple and also the abbot of the Sanqing Temple. When the Grand Preceptor passes away, this position will naturally be his. The princess's words make a lot of sense, so the accompanying eunuchs respectfully acknowledged and removed the imperial carriage.

Chu Ling, accompanied by two or three trusted confidants, went to the East Palace with Daoist Lingxu.

The group walked through the long alleyway, where it was quiet all around. She said softly, "The Taoist priest has come at just the right time. If it had been a day later, my brother might have suffered this injustice."

Master Lingxu said calmly, "There is a destiny in the dark. The Crown Prince is a star descended from heaven, and Heaven does not want His Highness to die unjustly."

Chu Ling thought to herself, "You're just pretending! It would be a miracle if this had nothing to do with Xiao Yu!"
However, she couldn't say directly that she knew about their relationship, so she said, "Whether it's fate or not, in any case, the Taoist priest helped me a lot today."

Master Lingxu politely returned the greeting.

The two continued forward, and Chu Ling asked again, "Daoist Master, when did my elder brother ask you to do this?"

Master Lingxu replied, "Around the beginning of August, before the disciples of the temple go to the north."

"Brother, you have plenty of men under your command, why do you need to ask the Taoist priest for this favor?"

"Perhaps the Crown Prince is unable to use his own people," Master Lingxu replied calmly. "From what the princess just said, it seems the Crown Prince is doing something important, and we must not alert him."

"Is that so?" Chu Ling smiled and said, "Daoist is truly quick-witted, deducing the truth after only hearing a few words."

Master Lingxu smiled and brushed it off, but inwardly he was sweating bullets.

Having not been to the palace for a long time, he had no idea that the princess had become so difficult to deal with; a few questions from her made him feel guilty.

What he brought was genuine, but the Crown Prince had entrusted it not to him, but to Xiao Yu. The Xiao family was a powerful force in the north, so having him look after Zhu and her son was perfect.

Earlier, Chu Ling led a large group into the palace, and Xiao Yu judged that the situation was not good. He also learned that Zhu Fan had been arrested and taken to the Ministry of Justice, so he made some guesses. He asked his senior brother to go to the palace as soon as possible to see if he could find out any information.

As expected, Xiao Yu guessed almost correctly, and Master Lingxu took the opportunity to take out the prepared letter and token.

Before the princess could even read the letter, she discovered the discrepancy in the timing.

Thinking of his blind junior brother in the guest courtyard, and then looking at the princess before him, Master Lingxu couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Young people these days are something else!