Chapter 14 Dead End

Looking at Prince Fu kneeling in the hall, making impassioned remarks, Jiang Chen felt for the first time that this old man looked so pleasing.

Immediately, he waved his hand and agreed to the proposal of the imperial draft, and additionally rewarded him with a hundred taels of gold.

Although there were still hundreds of concubines in the harem, as an emperor, this number was still a bit small.

After the matter of the imperial draft was settled, Jiang Chen dealt with a few more government affairs and then announced the end of the court session.

Afterwards, Jiang Chen took the Chief Eunuch Feng Jin to the Exotic Beast Garden.

There, there was no disturbance from irrelevant people, making it very suitable for discussing secret matters.

"Your Majesty, this old servant personally led people to search Consort Mei's palace, but found nothing suspicious. The fire burned too much, and many furnishings in the palace were reduced to ashes, making it impossible to recognize their original appearance."

Jiang Chen sat in a gazebo, listening to Feng Jin's report, and couldn't help frowning, saying, "You couldn't find even a single clue?"

"Mei Ruoying raised so many assassins, there must have been weapons left behind in the palace, how could there be no trace at all?"

"And the last time Noble Consort Shu was poisoned, the source of the poison was strange, maybe it has something to do with this woman!"

Sensing Jiang Chen's displeasure, Feng Jin was somewhat apprehensive and was about to explain.

At this moment, Jing Yue stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, this subordinate is also following up on this matter. The person behind the scenes is cunning and has not left any traces. It is normal for Chief Eunuch Feng to have no clue for the time being. I hope you will be patient for a few more days and give this subordinate some time."

Hearing this, Jiang Chen sighed, and the irritability between his brows turned into helplessness.

He didn't mean to blame Feng Jin, but was just a little anxious.

After all, the boldness of the person behind the scenes was getting bigger and bigger each time. Before, they secretly poisoned the noble consort, and now they even directly broke into the imperial prison, trying to intercept and kill the current general, which had a sense of desperation.

Jiang Chen urgently wanted to change this passive situation of receiving moves, but he also knew that he couldn't be impatient. He frowned and said:

"Well, I know. By the way, how do you view Mei Ruoying's injury this time?"

Jing Yue pondered for a moment and said lightly, "Your Majesty, regardless of whether Consort Mei's injury is real or fake, we cannot touch her now."

Jiang Chen frowned even deeper: "Why?"

"Too much is as bad as too little. You have recently dealt with many officials, and the court is now in a state of panic. It is not appropriate to start another dispute in a short period of time."

"In addition, the Mei family has deep roots. Without actual evidence, the few assassins alone are not enough to convict Consort Mei. If you insist on punishing her, I am afraid that the Mei family will risk everything, which would outweigh the gains."

Jing Yue looked calm, and her words were well-organized.

Her calm appearance silently soothed Jiang Chen, allowing him to regain his usual composure.

He nodded and said, "Then let's wait for the news from the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice."

"Actually, I have also considered what you just said. It is indeed difficult to convict the Mei family without conclusive evidence."

"To deal with such a behemoth, we still have to be patient and uproot his roots little by little. This is the safest way and can minimize losses."

Jing Yue nodded, and the corner of her mouth curled into a faint arc.

At this time, Xu Mu stepped forward to report, "Your Majesty, Su Wen, Minister of the Dali Temple, requests an audience."

"Invite him in." Jiang Chen's spirit was shaken. Could it be that there were results from interrogating the assassins such as Xia Liu?

After a few breaths, Xu Mu led a civil official in a crimson robe, who was Su Wen.

He saw that his face was ashen, and he knelt down outside the gazebo, saying with difficulty, "Your Majesty, the assassin Xia Liu, and her accomplices… have all died from poison!"

Jiang Chen's face instantly darkened.

The death of Xia Liu and others meant that the only remaining clues had disappeared!

All their plans were now in vain, and there was no way to investigate Mei Ruoying along this line, to find the Mei family's weakness!

Su Wen lowered his head, not daring to look up at all.

Sweating all over, he explained, "Your Majesty, these people's wills were very firm. This subject rotated several executioners, and tried all kinds of torture, but failed to pry open the assassin's mouth!"

"Later, these people fell into a coma due to their serious injuries, so this subject suspended the interrogation. Later, later inexplicably, these people died from poison…"

"Useless!"

Jiang Chen slammed the table and scolded angrily.

"You can even let a duck that's already in your mouth fly away, Su Wen, you are really capable! Are you worthy of my trust?"

Su Wen's face was ashamed to the extreme, and he was speechless.

He had clearly placed those assassins under strict guard, and even the surrounding jailers had been screened three times to avoid any potential risks. Why did those people still die from poison?

"Your Majesty, this subject, this subject is incompetent!" Su Wen prostrated himself on the ground and begged for forgiveness.

Seeing his appearance, Jiang Chen couldn't bear to blame him any further, and sighed, "Forget it, these assassins are all specially trained death warriors. Maybe they took poison before the operation. When the time limit is reached, they will die from poison. It's not your fault."

Sensing that Jiang Chen meant to forgive him, Su Wen's eyes burst with light.

Gratefully, he said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your understanding!"

"Don't rush to thank me yet, I have another task to give you. If you mess this up as well, then go to the Ministry of Justice to plead guilty yourself!" Jiang Chen said with a serious face.

Su Wen's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly assured, "Your Majesty, rest assured, this subject will do his best to complete this task!"

"Good, you go find a few scholars who are good at cipher runes," Jiang Chen said.

Su Wen's eyes widened, what kind of request was this?

Jiang Chen saw his doubts, but did not intend to explain. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Aren't you going yet?"

"By the way, this matter must be kept secret, and no information must be leaked, otherwise I will only ask you!"

Su Wen came back to his senses and solemnly cupped his hands and said, "Yes, this subject will never reveal any information."

After Su Wen left.

Jiang Chen glanced at Feng Jin, signaling him to take out the note that Xiao Qinzi had handed over.

Now that the line of the assassin Xia Liu had been broken, he could only start with this note.

The controller of the assassins in the palace had to be dealt with, and the mysterious manor lord outside the palace also had to be eradicated. As long as he thought of these unstable factors, Jiang Chen had difficulty falling asleep at night.

Only by slaughtering all the enemies could he be at ease!

…

Evening.

Jiang Chen went to Huaqing Palace, which was Xu Jiaying's current residence.

After favoring her a few days ago, Jiang Chen had not come again, and had basically been with Noble Consort Shu.

Thinking about it, he had neglected her.

Now that Xu Changqing had been rehabilitated, and the disaster victims in the Wei River had been initially settled, both the inner palace and the outer court were considered calm, so he could come and see this little woman.

"I don't know what kind of wind is blowing today, that Your Majesty is willing to come to this concubine's Huaqing Palace? This concubine is really pleasantly surprised!"

Although she said so, Xu Jiaying's eyes revealed complete indifference.

Her delicate body also sat firmly on the stool, without any intention of coming out to greet him, which was completely the opposite of Noble Consort Shu's gentleness and virtuousness.

But Jiang Chen didn't care about her rudeness, and even found it quite interesting.

As the emperor, everyone who saw him was respectful.

Xu Jiaying's slightly unruly attitude was different from the others, arousing his desire to conquer…