Chapter 227: Last Request

Last Request

At this very moment, all of Gong Wuyai's attention was on the Eight-Treasure Exquisite Fan in his hand, and he didn't even have the time to look at Nie Jinxuan. But afterward, as Gong Wuyai's words fell, Nie Jinxuan, Yin Fengzhan, and Yin Fenglian exchanged a look, and then Yin Fenglian took out a portrait from his robe and placed it before Gong Wuyai.

"Then Hall Master Gong, take a look, is that young man him?"

Yin Fenglian looked solemn. Hearing this, Gong Wuyai, who was busy playing with his 'new pet', frowned, but after a moment, he turned his eyes quickly and nodded.

"En! It's him!"

As he spoke, Gong Wuyai turned his gaze back to his 'new pet'. But hearing this, Nie Jinxuan and the others' eyes lit up instantly, and then Yin Fenglian asked again cautiously.

"Hall Master Gong is certain?"

"Tsk... Nonsense! If this seat says it is, then it is. That person has a red mole under his left eye, isn't it the same as this person? Do you think this seat has dementia?!"

It turned out that before, to avoid getting the wrong person, Nie Jinxuan had specially asked the Fifth Imperial Uncle, Yin Yanheng, to help draw a portrait of Prince Xiang from back then. So at this time, hearing Gong Wuyai be so certain, Nie Jinxuan's eyes flashed instantly, and she asked again:

"Then may I ask Hall Master Gong if you remember who the buyer was back then?"

Now it could be certain that someone had indeed bought Prince Xiang's mask from Gong Wuyai back then. And if this was the case, then as long as they asked who the buyer was back then, they would know who the mastermind behind swapping Prince Xiang's body was!

This was a crucial question. For a time, after Nie Jinxuan's words fell, Yin Fenglian beside her also tightened his nerves, and even Yin Fengzhan narrowed his eyes, looking at Gong Wuyai.

For a time, the eyes of the three people in the room were all on Gong Wuyai. But hearing this, Gong Wuyai became even more impatient, stood up without thinking, and said:

"Who else could it be? It was him himself!"

Saying this, Gong Wuyai stood up directly, and with a flash, disappeared before Nie Jinxuan and the others!

Gong Wuyai left! But at this very moment, the three people in the room were already stunned, unable to say a word!

It turned out that the one who made Prince Xiang's mask back then was Prince Xiang himself! Then that is to say, the one who swapped the body back then was Prince Xiang?!

But why would Prince Xiang do such a thing?! Or rather, does this mean that Prince Xiang was not dead at all back then?!

But if this was the case, the problem appeared again: why would Prince Xiang do such a thing? Remembering that Emperor Shuncheng said before that although he hated Prince Xiang to the bone, he did not take action against him. Could it be that Prince Xiang was afraid that Emperor Shuncheng would settle accounts with him later, so he took action first and used a fake death to leave?! Or could it be that there were other hidden reasons in this?!

For a time, thousands of thoughts flashed through the minds of Nie Jinxuan and the other two, but no one knew what the truth of that year was!

The matter seemed even more confusing. But just at this moment, just when the three were puzzled, Gong Wuyai, who had just left, flashed back like a ghost and said loudly:

"Oh, right! There is one more thing this seat forgot. Back then, he didn't just buy one mask from this seat, but two! As for the other one, this seat made it casually, and I can't remember it now!"

After speaking, Gong Wuyai did not wait for Nie Jinxuan and the others to speak, and disappeared without a trace like the wind!

In the large room, it was deathly silent.

The last sentence Gong Wuyai added once again made Nie Jinxuan, Yin Fenglian, and Yin Fengzhan fall into shock. Then after a long while, Yin Fenglian blinked his eyes and said in a low voice:

"Prince Xiang bought two masks from Gong Wuyai back then. One was his own, which is easier to understand, but why buy another one? What exactly is going on?"

Knowing too many secrets at once, even someone as shrewd as Yin Fenglian could not help but be somewhat confused! But at this time, Yin Fengzhan, who had been silent all along, narrowed his eyes instantly.

"Swapped onto his own face!"

"Uh... swapped onto his own face?! Could it be that Fourth Imperial Brother means that Prince Xiang used his own mask to escape back then, and then put on another mask to leave privately?"

Widening his eyes, Yin Fenglian was somewhat incredulous. At this time, Nie Jinxuan raised her gaze.

"I think it should be like this! Prince Xiang found a dead body, then swapped it with his own mask, and disguised the body to look like himself. In this way, when he was buried, everyone felt Prince Xiang was dead. But in reality, at this time, Prince Xiang had already put on another mask and gone far away!"

"It's just that the problem now is, why did Prince Xiang do such a thing back then?! And if Prince Xiang did not die more than twenty years ago, is he still alive now? And where is he?!"

Nie Jinxuan quickly found the key point of the problem. At this time, Yin Fenglian also calmed down.

"En, that makes sense! But these things are hard to investigate. After all, no one knows what the mask Prince Xiang wore back then looked like, so there is no way to investigate! And if we can't find Prince Xiang, then no one knows about the events of that year! Could it be that we have to ask Father Emperor? But I think Father Emperor probably doesn't know either!"

Emperor Shuncheng had been ill for some time. Looking at that once imposing figure, now in such a state, Yin Fenglian, who had always been at odds with Emperor Shuncheng, also felt somewhat uncomfortable and restrained his usual rebelliousness.

And Yin Fenglian's opinion was also agreed with by Nie Jinxuan, so she nodded.

"Indeed. Searching for a needle in a haystack like this is simply not a way, and I don't think the Emperor told a lie before..."

"Then in that case, Prince Xiang's line is broken?"

"That's not necessarily true! At the very least, we know that Prince Xiang did not die back then. Another point is that Prince Xiang had an accident only after Noble Consort Ning died. In this way, the reason Prince Xiang faked his death back then should largely be related to Noble Consort Ning's death!"

"Uh... then what are you going to do?"

Having dealt with Nie Jinxuan for so long, Yin Fenglian knew some of Nie Jinxuan's ways of doing things. At this time, hearing this, Nie Jinxuan raised her head to look at Yin Fenglian and said word by word:

"Find Eunuch Gao and ask the last question!"

Back then, Emperor Shuncheng promised to let Gao Caiyong answer three questions on his behalf. Before, Nie Jinxuan had only asked two, and now Nie Jinxuan finally thought of the third... which was also the last question!

So that afternoon, after lunch, Nie Jinxuan and Yin Fengzhan went to Emperor Shuncheng's bedchamber. At this time, Emperor Shuncheng had just finished taking his medicine and was resting in the room. Hearing that the two of them had come, he let them in.

Immediately, Nie Jinxuan and Yin Fengzhan, led by a small eunuch, came to Emperor Shuncheng's bedchamber again. After entering the door, Emperor Shuncheng asked in a low voice directly:

"Is there news about Prince Xiang's matter?"

At this time, Emperor Shuncheng was leaning quietly on the soft couch, his momentum still there, but his complexion was still the same as before, with no improvement. While speaking, he looked at Nie Jinxuan and Yin Fengzhan before him, his eyes faintly revealing a touch of sharpness.

So, hearing this, Nie Jinxuan pursed her lips slightly and replied in a low voice:

"Reporting to Your Majesty, there are some clues."

"En, very good, then tell Us!"

"Yes!"

Responding respectfully, Nie Jinxuan paused, and then said word by word:

"Prince Xiang did not die back then!"

"What?!"

Nie Jinxuan tried to make her words as gentle as possible. But hearing this, Emperor Shuncheng still widened his eyes after a moment of shock.

Emperor Shuncheng's surprise was imaginable. Afterward, Nie Jinxuan told Emperor Shuncheng the conversation with Gong Wuyai yesterday, word for word!

Nie Jinxuan spoke in detail. But Emperor Shuncheng kept his eyes wide open, listening silently, and after Nie Jinxuan finished speaking, Emperor Shuncheng still did not come back to his senses for a long while.

The bedchamber was deathly silent. Afterward, who knows how much time passed, Emperor Shuncheng coughed violently several times and came back to his senses. After gradually calming down, he raised his eyes to look at Nie Jinxuan and said:

"You... are you certain this is true?"

"Yes! Anguo cannot say I have ten parts certainty, but at least eight parts!"

"Then where is Prince Xiang now?"

"Anguo does not know this yet!"

Shaking her head slightly, Nie Jinxuan looked at Emperor Shuncheng with a calm expression.

"Your Majesty, Prince Xiang's fake death back then is now impossible to investigate. After all, so many years have passed, and even Gong Wuyai has forgotten what the second mask he made for Prince Xiang back then looked like, so we naturally cannot investigate! It's just that there is one thing Anguo can be certain of, and that is that Prince Xiang's fake death back then was largely related to Noble Consort Ning's death!"

"Are you saying that Prince Xiang was afraid We would take revenge on him?"

"This is hard to say! After all, Anguo is not Prince Xiang, so I cannot know how he thought back then. But based on Prince Xiang's personality that Anguo heard from the data and from everyone's mouths, Prince Xiang was not afraid of Your Majesty, but had other reasons!"

Prince Xiang was an easy-going person, his character and conduct were one in a hundred; such a person should not be suspicious of everyone.

At this time, listening to Nie Jinxuan's words, looking at her calm expression, Emperor Shuncheng did not speak for a long while, then after a moment, he slowly stood up from the soft couch and walked slowly to the window.

With his hands behind his back, Emperor Shuncheng turned his back to Nie Jinxuan and Yin Fengzhan, and then said after a while:

"En, We know everything about the matter... However, you two came over today, I suppose it is not just to tell Us these things!"

"Your Majesty is wise, Anguo indeed has another matter!"

"Speak!"

"Yes!"

Lowering her eyes, Nie Jinxuan raised her head slowly and looked straight at Emperor Shuncheng's back.

"Before, Your Majesty promised Anguo that you would grant Anguo three questions. Before, Anguo only said two, and now Anguo wants to ask the third question..."

"What question?"

"Anguo wants to see Noble Consort Ning's body!"

Second update uploaded, see you tomorrow! (Monthly tickets, ah, monthly tickets~!!!) ===== CHAPTER 228 =====