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Chapter 519: Murmuring

The guards exchanged glances, and the leader nodded. One of the guards gripped the hilt of his knife and walked warily toward the prison cart. When he reached the air vent, he looked through the small window, which was no bigger than a fist, and met Lu Qing's gaze.

The guard was startled.

It's one thing if others don't recognize him, but those princes, even the third and fourth princes who haven't been summoned to the capital for many years, dare not forget each other's appearance, lest they accidentally offend the nobleman.

The person sitting in the prison cart was indeed the carefree Prince Lu Qing.

However, the carefree prince that people usually saw in the capital was either wearing court robes when attending court or when he was showing off in the capital. Although his attire was not particularly flamboyant or extravagant, it was at least brocade and fine clothes. From head to toe, they were made of the finest materials that were hard to come by, along with a gold-threaded crown and white jade hairpin.

Now, the carefree prince in the prison cart looks disheveled, dressed in cheap clothes, and is nowhere near his usual dignified appearance; he looks as wretched as can be.

The guard snapped out of his daze and immediately ran back. The deputy captain who had just sent him over to check nodded: "It really is the Prince of Xiaoyao..."

The deputy captain was taken aback, seemingly disbelieving the words. He quickly stepped forward and took another look. Seeing that it was indeed Lu Qing inside, he was surprised but quickly composed himself and ordered his guards, "Hurry up and invite Prince Xiaoyao out from inside!"

Upon hearing their superior's order, the guards immediately stepped forward and began to smash open the copper lock hanging on the prison cart door.

"My lord, this is unacceptable!" King Brahma's nephew hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, but dared not actually reach out to pull the palace guards. He paced anxiously and timidly to the side. "My uncle was the King of Brahma, personally appointed by His Majesty! He was perfectly fine, but suddenly died after the Prince of Xiaoyao and others entered the palace!"

How can you release the prisoner before the facts are clear?!

The constable almost pushed him over the head, but considering that this was Brahma's nephew, he didn't want to go too far and withdrew his hand in time.

"You yourself said that things haven't been clarified yet! So you're just keeping Prince Xiaoyao locked up in this dilapidated prison cart and treating him with such neglect. Aren't you afraid that once things are cleared up, Prince Xiaoyao will be innocent, and the Emperor will be furious and punish you?!" He retorted, using the words of the Brahma King's nephew.

Brahma's nephew was taken aback. It seemed that he had not considered this possibility at all along the way. Now that he was asked about it, he was at a loss for words.

Before they could react, the copper lock had already been broken open by several guards, and Lu Qing and the others were helped off the prison cart one by one.

Zhu Yu hadn't taken the prison van out during the day for a long time. Before, whenever they were allowed to get out of the van to relieve themselves in the surrounding area, it was always when it was almost dark, usually in places like the woods.

Her eyes couldn't adjust to the bright sunlight outside for a while, and it took her quite a while to open them properly.

Another group of guards, under the orders of the deputy commander, forcibly pried open the coffin of the Brahma King and found that it was indeed a corpse that was dead beyond any doubt, with absolutely no possibility of feigning death. There were no traces of anyone hiding inside or outside the coffin, so they came over to report to the deputy commander.

The deputy commander-in-chief realized that the matter was not so simple, and it was certainly not something that a mere deputy commander of the Palace Guard could decide on his own. He quickly sent someone in to report, while he and his men continued to block the palace gates.

"My lord, what are you doing..." King Brahma's nephew, seeing the situation, became anxious. "My uncle died under mysterious circumstances. We braved wind and rain to reach the capital of Jin Kingdom, all to beg His Majesty to uphold justice, seek justice for my uncle, and severely punish the culprits! You released the culprits without a word and then opened the coffin... Does this mean you don't respect our Brahma Kingdom? Are you going to treat the remains of our King Brahma Kingdom in such a way after his death?!"

Compared to the nobles who came and went in the palace every day, the palace guards naturally did not take King Brahma seriously.

Not just Brahma, but every king of Brahma is the same in their eyes.

After all, those people live in remote fiefdoms, and cannot even come to the capital without being summoned.

Besides, even if they came, so what? I've never heard of anyone who holds a position in the palace being able to rise through the ranks by relying on the favor of a prince from a thousand miles away.

But these words cannot actually be spoken.

While befriending feudal lords might not make one's career smoother, offending them would certainly cause trouble.

Then the head constable smiled at the prince's nephew, clasped his hands and said, "We were just doing our routine work. In order to ensure His Majesty's safety, we had to open the coffin for inspection. We had absolutely no intention of disrespecting King Brahma."

Furthermore, in any case, it's impossible for you to bring a coffin into the palace.

I have just instructed someone to go to the Legal Advisor of the Capital Prefecture and ask him to temporarily store the body of King Brahma in the Capital Prefecture's Cold Corpse Storage. There is an ice chamber there, which can ensure that the body does not decompose.

"Since you all wish to seek an explanation, and I believe His Majesty is wise and willing to help unravel the mystery, the safest approach is to first properly preserve Brahma's remains."

It must be said that although this deputy constable did not hold a high official position, he was someone who came and went in and out of the palace every day. He usually saw high-ranking officials of the court, so he spoke very tactfully and without any flaws. He seemed to be impartial to both sides and offend neither side.

And after he said that, Brahma's nephew couldn't express his dissatisfaction anymore. After all, how many heads did he have? How could he dare to bring his uncle's corpse directly into the palace and offend the sovereign of the world?

Let alone bringing a coffin and remains into the palace, even the attitude of the head guard at the gate right now made him feel uneasy.

The person who relayed the message earlier clearly stated that this Prince Xiaoyao had a noble background, but in reality, he was neither a true member of the royal family nor well-liked in the capital. He had always been absurd and irresponsible, incurring the resentment of the people in the capital, and even Emperor Jin was quite annoyed with him.

Therefore, they went to the capital to demand justice with good reason and evidence, and Emperor Jin would surely give them a satisfactory answer.

But... seeing that the palace guards all seemed to be biased towards the other side, treating the Prince of Xiaoyao with utmost respect, he was starting to have some doubts.

However, there's no turning back now. They've locked the person in the prison cart all the way to the palace gates, and it's too late to think about anything now. They can only steel themselves and continue with the original plan.