He opened his mouth, about to feebly defend himself with a "I didn't", but before the words could come out, Queen Chu had already stepped forward. She pushed Consort Yi hard and shielded Feng Jingye like a mother hen protecting her chicks. With the imposing aura of the empress, she shouted sternly.
"Absurd! Just based on the random blabbering of a servant, you're trying to wrong my Ye'er?
Let me tell you, as long as I'm here, you don't even think about it!
Ye'er's personality since childhood is clear not only to me but also to His Majesty. How could he possibly commit murder?"
Saying this, she simply pulled Feng Jingye forward and knelt in front of Feng Linche, who was also shocked and couldn't come to his senses for a long time. She kowtowed and said loudly.
"Your Majesty, Ye'er was granted the position of Crown Prince by you since childhood. He has survived so many open and hidden attacks to stand here safely. You know these things best!
Over the years, there have been countless people coveting Ye'er's position and trying to bring him down.
Regarding today's incident, if it's not this servant biting like a mad dog, then there must be someone secretly framing Ye'er, trying to sow discord between you and Ye'er and pull Ye'er down from the position of Crown Prince.
Your Majesty, you must discern clearly and clear Ye'er's name!"
Feng Linche rubbed his forehead, the veins on his temples throbbing. The surroundings were noisy, and all the voices were rushing towards him. He felt like his whole head was about to explode.
Princess Yunxi was not polite either. As soon as Queen Chu finished speaking, she replied forcefully, "Your Majesty the Queen. Ci Hui is the personal attendant of the Third Prince. Over the years, he has been in danger several times to protect the Third Prince. The Prince also told me that Ci Hui is trustworthy.
Now that the Third Prince is dead and Ci Hui has lost his master, who else could he be instructed by? It can't be that the Third Prince designed to sacrifice his own life just to bring down the Crown Prince!"
Hearing this, Queen Chu sneered. She knelt upright, not backing down in her words at all. "Princess Yunxi is still a young girl after all, innocent and unaware of the complexity of human nature. Just because you say Ci Hui is trustworthy, does it mean he really is? Couldn't he have been secretly bought off by someone else?
Moreover, even if Ci Hui is really trustworthy, there's still a possibility that after the death of the Third Prince, some scheming people deliberately deceived Ci Hui and framed Ye'er?"
After Queen Chu finished speaking, she gave a meaningful look at the people from Western Liang.
"What does Your Majesty the Queen mean by this!" Seeing her meaningful look, as if implying that the people from Western Liang were sowing discord, Princess Yunxi was immediately furious.
It was Zhuo Lingxiao, who realized that Ci Hui didn't point the finger at him, that was overjoyed. He comforted Princess Yunxi by patting her on the shoulder and said to Queen Chu, "Your Majesty the Queen is right. Human nature is complex. Who knows what kind of thoughts the Crown Prince, who seemed so affectionate towards his brothers before, actually had towards his own brother behind his back."
These words made Feng Jingye, who was kneeling beside them, angry. He immediately stood up and scolded Zhuo Lingxiao, "Young Master Zhuo, I respected you as a guest before and showed you courtesy. But now that you're slandering me like this, do you think there's no one in our Great Zhou to stop you from bullying us?"
Hearing this, Zhuo Lingxiao didn't get angry. Instead, he calmly dusted off his clothes and smiled, "What? I just said a few truths, and the Crown Prince is already angry?
Hehe, I haven't even said that the Third Prince was about to marry the legitimate princess of our Western Liang. The Crown Prince was afraid that the Third Prince would get the support of our Western Liang and threaten your position as the Crown Prince, so he had the intention to kill him..."
"Zhuo Lingxiao!" Feng Jingye was almost mad with anger.
Yes, he was indeed afraid that Feng Jingxuan would threaten his great cause, so he was determined to fight his third brother.
Even last night, when he heard that Feng Jingxuan was trapped in the brothel and couldn't get out, he secretly prayed that Feng Jingxuan would just burn to death.
After Feng Jingxuan really died, he was truly happy.
But he never thought of taking action himself!
Feng Jingye was so angry that his face turned ashen. He opened his mouth and gasped for breath, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.
Zhuo Lingxiao calmly picked his ears and smiled innocently, "Your Highness the Crown Prince doesn't need to shout so loudly. I can hear you."
Zhuo Yi hooked the corner of his lips and interjected in a deep voice, "Xiao'er, it's really embarrassing for someone to be publicly exposed for brutally murdering his own brother. It's normal for the Crown Prince to be angry. Don't make things difficult for His Highness."
Zhuo Lingxiao suppressed his smile and lowered his head obediently, "Father is right. I'll apologize to His Highness the Crown Prince now."
Then he turned to Feng Jingye, bowed and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have exposed your wound in public..."
"Shut up!"
Queen Chu was extremely angry.
She flung her wide sleeves and suddenly stood up. The beads on her phoenix crown jingled as they rose high and then hit her cheeks heavily.
But she seemed not to feel it at all. She just stared fixedly at the father and son of the Zhuo family, and her body was even straighter than before.
"Now there's no clear evidence at all. Just a single sentence from a servant with a head injury, and the Prince of Xuanning and Young Master Zhuo are pushing the death of the Third Prince entirely onto my son?
Well, let me tell you! I don't care about the laws of your Western Liang. In our Great Zhou, if we want to convict someone of a serious crime like murder, both human and material evidence are necessary. Unless the evidence is conclusive, this case cannot be considered solved.
Gentlemen, it's best to be cautious with your words when the matter is still undetermined. Moreover, our Crown Prince of the Great Zhou is not so easy to slander!"
Queen Chu said forcefully.
Hearing his mother's confident words defending him, Feng Jingye suddenly felt enlightened.
Everything happened so suddenly yesterday. There should have been very few people in the Third Prince's Mansion who knew that Feng Jingxuan had captured a spy.
If not, someone should have come out to identify him earlier. Why did Ci Hui only come here alone, dragging his sick body, after he woke up?
Moreover, even if there were many people who knew about Feng Jingxuan's interrogation of the spy, it didn't matter.
Since Feng Jingxuan was blown up while interrogating the spy, how could the people who were in the secret room of the brothel with him at that time, including the spy sent by himself, still be alive?
Even Feng Jingxuan's body couldn't be completely found. Could the spy still be intact?
Feng Jingye lowered his eyes and carefully recalled the background of the spy.
He had placed the spy in the Third Prince's Mansion two years ago. His background was very clean, and he hadn't been given any tasks usually, so he had always hidden himself deeply.