Upon learning that Consort Xian was staying at Qingshan Temple outside Jiangzhou City, Yu Hanjiang immediately summoned the Shadow Guard and surrounded Qingshan Temple.
At noon, the sun hung high in the sky, its rays exceptionally dazzling.
Qingshan Temple is surrounded by lush green bamboo and a clear spring. The sound of the flowing water brushes past your ears, and the rhythmic sound of the wooden fish being struck drifts from within the temple, making it feel like a secluded paradise.
Who would have thought that a scheming and ruthless woman lived here?
Yu Hanjiang waved his hand, and all the Shadow Guards immediately used their Lightness Skill to fly into the temple.
In the temple at the very front, a woman dressed in a simple blue robe and wearing a nun's hat was kneeling in front of the Buddhist Hall, holding a scripture in one hand and gently tapping a wooden fish with the other.
The footsteps behind her and the rustling wind around her seemed to have no effect on her.
She remained focused, softly reciting the scriptures, until a low, cold voice came from behind her: " Consort Xian, when you chant scriptures before the Buddha statue, have you ever thought about whether the souls of those you poisoned can truly rest in peace?"
The woman suddenly opened her eyes.
Those eyes were clear as water, as if they had truly seen through the illusions of the world.
Even though she is now without makeup and wearing only a coarse blue dress, her elegant and refined temperament is still undeniable. No wonder the late emperor was so fascinated by her that he disregarded her background and brought her back to the palace to make her a concubine.
The woman knelt before the Buddha statue and said without turning her head, "Amitabha, this humble nun has long since entered the Buddhist order. Please be careful with your words, benefactor. Worldly affairs should not disturb the tranquility of this Buddhist temple."
Yu Hanjiang sneered: "Is that so? Consort Xian has become a nun. The events of thirteen years ago have no witnesses or physical evidence, so it is naturally impossible to investigate. It's a pity that Consort Xian failed thirteen years ago, and she will fail again now."
He waved his hand and said calmly, "Bring Qi Fenghua up."
The Shadow Guards immediately brought Qi Fenghua over, and Long Sen personally escorted him.
Qi Fenghua's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. Consort Xian, who was always calm, finally changed her expression at this moment. She slowly stood up and turned around to look at Qi Fenghua in disbelief.
Yu Hanjiang said, " Consort Xian, do you know your grandson?"
Consort Xian and Qi Fenghua remained relatively silent.
Yu Hanjiang said, "You want to form an alliance with Zhao State to help your grandson ascend the throne. If I'm not mistaken, your true identity might be a Zhao State person, and a descendant of a famous doctor. You would extract materials from plants to make this colorless and odorless poison. Am I right?"
Consort Xian remained silent for a long time, then suddenly burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, all our efforts were in vain, what a 'all our efforts were in vain'!"
The laughter was sharp and shrill; where was the "gentle and virtuous" demeanor now?
A gust of wind blew by and knocked off her hat—she had actually been practicing with her hair still on, her long hair was blown into a mess by the wind, making her face look somewhat ferocious, and her features even slightly distorted.
After a long while, she stopped smiling and looked sharply at Qi Fenghua: "More trouble than you're worth!"
Qi Fenghua lowered her head in frustration.
Consort Xian coldly said, "I knew you'd mess this up the moment you secretly went back to the palace to find that bottle of medicine! You brainless idiot, you're not even half as good as your father! He may not have had any great ambitions, but at least he was smart. What about you? You fool!"
Qi Fenghua's face was deathly pale, and her whole body was trembling. She didn't dare to say a word in rebuttal.
Consort Xian laughed loudly, "I was originally a noble descendant of Zhao State, but I ended up in Great Qi State. That dog emperor forcibly took me back to the palace and made me his concubine. I couldn't even leave the palace for a moment! I've been plotting in Qi State for so many years. My son should have ascended the throne, and I should have been the Empress Dowager respected by everyone in Great Qi State! But every time, I failed... failed! How can I accept this?!"
She looked like she had gone mad, her eyes were bloodshot, and it was clear that Qi Fenghua's arrest had greatly affected her.
Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou exchanged a glance and immediately ordered their men to seize her.
The Shadow Guards quickly subdued her.
Consort Xian did not struggle; her face was pale, and she was clearly despondent.
Now, all the cases in Peach Eight Secret Chamber have finally been solved.
The assassin storyline isn't actually difficult. As long as you hurry up and lure Xiao Lou's younger brother out, the case will be easy to solve.
The poisoning case is very complicated, involving two separate cases.
Thirteen years ago, His Highness the Crown Prince was killed by a poisoned arrow, and the Empress and Consort Shu were subsequently poisoned and "died of illness." In reality, it was the Eighth Prince's mother, Consort Xian, who was originally from Zhao State, who orchestrated the whole affair.
However, despite all her scheming, she overlooked the fact that she had no idea about her own son.
She believed that all men, especially princes, coveted power. Who wouldn't want to sit on the supreme dragon throne? She planned everything for her son, so wouldn't he be extremely grateful to her and become even more filial and respectful to her as Empress Dowager after ascending the throne?
But when the time came, her son slapped her in the face by giving up his right to inherit the throne and passing it on to the young crown prince.
She simply couldn't control her son, who was pleasure-seeking and didn't want to be emperor.
After arriving in Jiangzhou, she decided to groom her eldest grandson, Qi Fenghua, hoping he would join forces with Zhao State to usurp the throne.
Unfortunately, all her efforts ultimately failed. Qi Fenghua inadvertently left a bottle of medicine at the Prince's residence. When she went to retrieve it, she ran into her sister Qi Yiyao and the eldest son of the Lin family, Lin Shaobo. She killed both of them to silence them, which led to a whole host of other incidents.
This is why he had two bottles of medicine in his arms—one of which was given to the Second Prince, and the other was taken from the Prince's residence.
Qi Fenghua was indeed not clever or cautious enough, and Eighth Prince had no intention of becoming emperor.
Consort Xian's greatest tragedy was that she was too focused on power, spending her days thinking about how to kill the Crown Prince and the Empress... She was an extremely controlling woman who didn't understand her son at all and never asked him what he was thinking.
Eighth Prince is a man of strong emotions, not a puppet she can manipulate at will.
Qi Fenghua, on the other hand, is utterly hopeless.
She was a brilliant strategist, but a failed mother.
...
The melodious tolling of bells echoed within Qingshan Temple. Consort Xian stared blankly at the serene temple. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes bloodshot, as if she had gone mad. Twice in a row, she had failed at the last hurdle; utterly despondent, she seemed to have aged several years in an instant.