Fierce Consort

Chapter 166

Hearing his words, Senior Concubine Xu's heart leapt and she said in astonishment: "She was really the culprit in Cheng'er's case?"

Recently, something had happened in the Jin Prince Estate. The Jin Prince's eldest son Luo Cheng who was concubine born had died prematurely. It had happened in Lu Xiu Ling's pavilion and the cause was a poisoned cake. That poison had been too strong and there was no saving him. The Jin Prince was furious.

Although Luo Cheng wasn't birthed by the principal wife, he was innately bright, studious and ambitious.

Senior Concubine Xu was quite fond of this grandson. After finding out about this tragedy, she shed plenty of tears in heartache. Emperor Xi was also furious and ordered the Jin Prince to investigate things thoroughly. In the end, two of his rear court's concubines were implicated but the main perpetrator was never found.

In theory, since it happened in Lu Xiu Ling's pavilion she should have been the main suspect. However, she cried mournfully and argued that she couldn't have done something as stupid as poisoning someone in her own pavilion. It must have been someone framing her. This was truly reasonable and the matter was thus left unresolved.

Lu Xiu Ling had thought she had done things perfectly, but nothing was perfect. To put it plainly, she had merely taken advantage of the blindspot in everyone's assumptions. Everyone felt that no one would be dumb enough to make a move on their own turf. She used precisely this point to get rid of future problems for her own son. Actually, many things didn't require any evidence. Looking at who stood to benefit the most was sufficient to make things clear.

The Jin Prince truly didn't find any evidence. Those two concubines were innocent but he needed to find some scapegoats for Emperor Xi. However, he was already certain in his mind that it was done by Lu Xiu Ling.

Her schemes were too shallow in front of the Jin Prince and he could tell at a glance. The Jin Prince was vexed that as the hunter, he ended up being pecked blind by a wild goose. No one had expected the timid Lu Xiu Ling to do such a thing.

The Jin Prince laughed coldly, "If it weren't for this prince giving the Chengguo Duke some face, she'd definitely be done for!"

When Senior Concubine Xu heard this, she knew that Lu Xiu Ling was definitely involved.

But this matter was already over and it was no use in bringing it up. Lu Xiu Ling still had her uses.

Otherwise, the Jin Prince who was always cold towards her wouldn't have brought her back to the capital this time.

Both mother and son understood this reasoning. Sacrifices were necessary to accomplish great things. They could only say that child wasn't fated to be with them.

"Enough. It's sufficient that you are aware of this matter. You should still treat her well enough on the surface. This is the capital after all."

"Your son is naturally aware of this."

The two spoke a little more. In the end, the Jin Prince said quietly: "Mother concubine, is the information accurate? No matter how I look, royal father doesn't appear to be...."

"That mole was placed by your mother over twenty years ago. He delivered the information right before he died, it cannot be wrong. Your father, at most...." She held up three of her jade fingers.

It turned out that Senior Concubine Xu was also aware of this inside information. Otherwise, she wouldn't make so many moves and have the Jin Prince return to the capital so frequently.

The Jin Prince looked at his mother's hand and his heart was startled. He was both nervous and restless.
He couldn't help but mutter: "Then we must speed things up."