Apart from leaving the mark of the Crown Prince's Mansion on each spy's teeth as a precaution against defection, there was no other way for others to tell that this person was related to him, the Crown Prince.
As long as they didn't discover the mark on the spy's teeth...
Who could then pour the blame on him, Feng Jingye?
Without material evidence, did Ci Hui think he could convict the Crown Prince just by making up a few lies?
It was simply wishful thinking!
Thinking of this, Feng Jingye instantly calmed down.
"Mother, please don't be angry. Maybe it's because such things as brothers harming each other often happen in the Western Liang that they naturally blame Third Brother's death on me. In our Great Zhou, such things rarely occur!"
He said calmly and confidently.
Just as he finished speaking, a long cry of "Report—" came from outside.
Feng Linche had become immune to all the commotions. Hearing this sound, he didn't even frown. He waited until the messenger came and knelt in front of him before calmly asking, "What's going on this time?"
The messenger was from Princess Yunxi's entourage. Since the news came last night that Feng Jingxuan was still trapped in the fire, he had been sent by Zhuo Lingxiao to help put out the fire and rescue the people.
Now, even though Feng Jingxuan's body parts hadn't been completely found, he had discovered an astonishing secret!
"Has Third Highness's body been completely found?" Seeing that the messenger was her own subordinate, Princess Yunxi quickly stepped forward and asked.
The man shook his head and replied embarrassedly, "Third Highness's body was too badly fragmented. One leg and his abdomen were blown to pieces. Your servants tried their best and rummaged through all the stones, but still couldn't piece together Third Highness's body completely... Please, please forgive us, Princess..."
The man didn't dare to continue. Sweat was constantly pouring from his head.
Hearing this, Princess Yunxi and Concubine Yi both staggered. Tears streamed down their faces. The maids beside them quickly supported them tightly, and they barely managed to maintain their balance.
The guest room fell into silence for a moment.
Frowning, Feng Jingye scolded the messenger, "Since that's the case, why aren't you continuing the search up front? What are you doing here?"
Hearing this, the man gave Feng Jingye a deep look.
That one look instantly made Feng Jingye feel a sense of foreboding.
Then he turned to Feng Linche and replied firmly, "Your Majesty, when your servants were piecing together Third Highness's body, they also found two other incomplete corpses."
Remembering the three corpses covered with white cloth in front of the ruins of the fireworks room just now, Feng Linche frowned slightly and asked, "Have the identities of the other two corpses been confirmed?"
The messenger nodded and affirmed, "After being identified by the servants of the Third Prince's Mansion, judging from their clothing and the characteristics on their bodies, those two were both servants in the mansion."
"Nonsense! Those who were with Third Brother were naturally servants in the mansion! If not, that would be strange!" Feng Jingye was extremely nervous, but instead he spoke even louder.
But in this world, things always turned out the way you least wanted them to. The man suddenly looked at Feng Jingye meaningfully and continued, "Your Highness the Crown Prince is right. There really is something strange here!
One of the two had a very blurred face and was completely unrecognizable. It was a servant in the mansion who recognized his identity by his special broken finger. However, although his skull was broken, his chin and teeth were still relatively intact. On those teeth, there was clearly the mark of the Crown Prince's Mansion!"
As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar among the crowd.
"It's really the Crown Prince!"
"So, what the attendant beside Third Highness said just now was true? Third Highness entered the secret room in the fireworks room to interrogate the spy sent by the Crown Prince."
"Looking at it this way, it's very likely that the Crown Prince sent someone to start this fire... What a clever scheme to lead the enemy into a trap!"
Hearing these discussions, Feng Jingye was completely stunned.
How could it be such a coincidence! The skull was broken, but the teeth and chin were intact?
The fire last night was clearly so big, and the power of the fireworks was so fierce that even Feng Jingxuan's body couldn't be completely found. How could the teeth of a little spy be found intact?
It was as if heaven was out to destroy him, Feng Jingye!
At this moment, not only Feng Jingye, but even Queen Chu, who was usually smart and astute, completely lost the ability to defend herself in the face of such solid evidence.
Princess Yunxi gritted her teeth tightly. Her gaze fixed on Feng Jingye was like that of a person staring at a dead man.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, now that the evidence is here, what else do you have to say?" Her voice was cold and gloomy, as if coming from hell.
What could he say... He had no idea!
Now it seemed that heaven wanted him to be buried with that short - lived Feng Jingxuan!
"Your Highness the Crown Prince really lives up to his status. When acting, he's even more convincing than the famous actors in our Liang's Qiuyue Troupe. That confident look when he said, 'In our Great Zhou, such things as brothers harming each other rarely occur' almost made this prince believe him!"
Zhuo Lingxiao said in a sarcastic tone.
When Concubine Yi heard that Feng Jingxuan's body was too fragmented to be restored, she had already cried uncontrollably. With great difficulty, she regained her composure. Stumbling, she walked up to Feng Linche. In a hoarse voice from crying, she pleaded with Feng Linche word by word, "Your Majesty, please seek justice for Xuan'er!"
"Yes, Your Majesty. Now that the truth about Third Highness's death has been revealed, Your Majesty should avenge Third Highness properly." Zhuo Yi also spoke coldly.
Hearing this, Feng Jingye immediately panicked and waved his hands repeatedly, "I didn't do it. I'm innocent. Really, it wasn't me..."
Before his weak defense was finished, Feng Linche, who had been rubbing his forehead, suddenly stood up and walked step by step towards Feng Jingye.
"Slap!"
He forcefully slapped Feng Jingye across the face.
The great impact instantly made Feng Jingye turn his head to the side. Five finger marks clearly appeared on his face. He stood there stunned. It was only after a while that he felt a strong taste of blood welling up in his mouth.
"You wretch!"
Feng Linche roared with all his might.
At this moment, a glint of light quickly flashed in Queen Chu's eyes. Almost immediately, she stepped forward, pulled Feng Jingye down to kneel again, and said to Feng Linche, "Your Majesty, please calm down! It's all Ye'er's fault!
He shouldn't have, out of brotherly affection, privately sent someone to Third Brother's mansion so that he could help Third Brother at any time.
And he didn't explain things clearly to Third Brother, which made Third Brother suspicious. Third Brother entered the secret room for interrogation and unfortunately died in the fire.
In the end, this whole thing was caused by Ye'er. He never expected that just out of concern for his younger brother, sending a spy would lead to such a consequence..."
"Chu Tong, you're talking nonsense!" Concubine Yi finally couldn't stand it anymore and shouted loudly.
Only now did she truly realize that this Empress was so eloquent and her ability to distort the truth was truly beyond ordinary people.