This is indeed a bit tricky.
Feng Linyuan narrowed his eyes slightly and stared at Bai Sheng and Zhuo Lingxiao.
Suddenly, he remembered that on the day of the fire, Zhuo Lingxiao had lured him out on the pretext of knowing the real owners of the five Song family shops, almost causing him to miss the chance to save Bai Zheng.
Now that he thought about it, the reason Zhuo Lingxiao knew about this must be related to that Li Xiaoming.
He just didn't expect that in order to deal with him, the Zhuo Yi father - son pair had set up such a huge scheme.
"You're talking nonsense!"
Feng Jingye trembled with anger.
Thinking that it was Bai Zheng who had caused this mess, he glared angrily at Bai Zheng again.
To outsiders, this look seemed like there was an internal rift between them.
"Your Highness, there's no need to be so angry." Bai Sheng kowtowed and replied firmly without any fear of Feng Jingye's anger. "Your Majesty, to find out if I'm lying, just summon the accountant and ask him!"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Princess Yunxi stepped forward and said to Feng Linche. "Since we already have a witness, we might as well summon him and interrogate him properly. We don't want to wrong Marquis Dingyuan and the Crown Prince!"
Although Princess Yunxi's words were about not wronging someone, judging from her venomous glances at Feng Jingye from time to time, it was obvious that was not her real intention.
At this point, Feng Linche was too lazy to argue. He raised his hand.
The eunuch beside him understood and sang in a long, thin voice, "Summon - Accountant Li Xiaoming to the palace!"
The Zhuo Lingxiao father - son pair had obviously made full preparations. Not long after the summoning order was issued, an eunuch led a young man who looked like an accountant into the palace.
The man was hunched over, taking small, cautious steps and closely following the leading eunuch. His eyes darted around from time to time.
Before he even reached the front, his legs went weak and he knelt down, stuttering, "This commoner, Li... Li... Li Xiaoming, pays homage to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty, long live, long live! Long live Your Majesty!"
As he shouted, he kowtowed several times without any rhythm.
"All right, all right."
Feng Linche showed a displeased expression and waved his hand.
The eunuch beside him quickly stepped forward and pulled him up.
As soon as this man appeared, Bai Zheng recognized him. He was indeed Li Xiaoming, the accountant of the dessert shop she had chosen back then.
Judging from this, he had been completely won over by Bai Sheng and had betrayed her.
Bai Zheng lowered her eyes and smiled self - deprecatingly. She never thought that she would misjudge someone one day.
Feng Linche felt a splitting headache. He couldn't help but support his forehead with one hand and press his temple. He asked, "Are you Li Xiaoming, the accountant in the shop opened by the wife of Marquis Dingyuan?"
"Yes..." Li Xiaoming replied in a rather low voice.
"Then do you know who the real murderer of the Third Prince is?" It was Princess Yunxi who asked this question. Unable to contain herself, she stepped forward and was the first to ask the question that everyone wanted to know.
Hearing this, Li Xiaoming looked up in shock. "What! The Third Prince?"
"The Third Prince has passed away," Zhuo Lingxiao explained in a deep voice.
Li Xiaoming was greatly shocked. Almost instinctively, he looked at Bai Zheng standing beside him and then at Feng Jingye. His face was full of surprise and doubt.
But it was precisely this seemingly instinctive reaction that deepened everyone's doubts.
Princess Yunxi's eyes darkened instantly. She shouted at Li Xiaoming, "So, who is the murderer!"
Li Xiaoming was startled. He trembled his lips. "I, I... This commoner..." but couldn't say a continuous sentence.
Seeing this, Bai Sheng stepped forward and comforted him in a low voice, "You don't need to be afraid. Just tell everything you know. This concerns the death of a prince. It's not something a commoner like you can conceal. Tell the real murderer, and His Majesty will surely make the decision for you. No one will be able to harm you."
After saying that, she gave Bai Zheng a meaningful look.
Bai Zheng just slightly raised her eyebrows and coldly watched them continue their act.
Li Xiaoming was obviously still very scared. He also timidly glanced at Bai Zheng and finally, as if making up his mind, lowered his head and said:
"Your Majesty, this commoner is the accountant of the shop of the Marquis's wife. On the day the shop was smashed, the Crown Prince was invited by my mistress into the teahouse next door. This commoner also entered the teahouse because I had some post - event matters to consult my mistress, and that's when I happened to hear the content of their discussion."
"What were they discussing?" Princess Yunxi asked eagerly.
Li Xiaoming pinched his sleeve and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"They, they were discussing... This commoner heard that the Crown Prince said that the Third Prince had an unquenchable ambition for the throne. Now that he had married Princess Yunxi, he was even more powerful. He would surely collude with Xiliang and threaten the Crown Prince's position.
The Marquis has a sworn feud with Xiliang and would surely not want to see the Great Zhou's territory invaded by the Xiliang people. Therefore, he asked my Marquis and the Marquis's wife to help him burn the Third Prince to death and completely extinguish the Xiliang people's thoughts.
He also promised that he would remember the Marquis's timely help. When the Crown Prince ascended the throne in the future, he would surely reuse the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion and revive the Changping Army!"
Li Xiaoming stammered through this long speech.
Feng Jingye's face instantly turned green.
And Feng Linche's face gradually stiffened. His already iron - blue complexion became even colder.
Everyone was in an uproar.
"The Crown Prince's words were both threatening and persuasive. No wonder the usually reclusive Marquis Dingyuan was persuaded..."
"Yes, I didn't believe it at first. Why would the Marquis kill the Third Prince for no reason? But if it was to deal with Xiliang, it all makes sense."
"The Crown Prince is good at psychological warfare and ruthless. He's really impressive! No wonder he's the son of the Queen Mother..."
...
The voices of the discussion grew louder and louder, seeping through every crack. Even though Feng Jingye didn't want to listen, he still heard it clearly.
He was angry, anxious, and scared. Seeing that his father seemed to have believed this statement, he broke out in a cold sweat.
"Father, your son didn't do it. Your son really didn't do it, Father!"
He almost pleaded fearfully.
It's not that he was timid. It was just that the information revealed in Li Xiaoming's words was too rich. Whether it was a prince colluding with a minister, brothers fighting against each other, pulling in Feng Linyuan, coveting the throne, or ruining the peace - making marriage... Each and every one of these things, if taken alone, would be enough to make Feng Linche fly into a rage and bloodbath the court.
He never thought that Bai Sheng would produce such a witness. If he couldn't completely clear his suspicion, then he, Feng Jingye, was finished!
Because of the excessive fear, Feng Jingye's body began to tremble uncontrollably.
The discussion among the crowd continued, as if they were watching Feng Jingye's joke.
"Slap!"