Xia Chuli's idea was not difficult to implement. Since the python - robe was a gift from Li Yanqing, such a matter must be highly confidential, and naturally only a few people knew about it. To pin this blame on Xia Yonglin, all it took was a simple switch.
Shen Qingfeng was aware of King Xia Jie's prejudice against Xia Chuli, so he followed Xia Chuli's idea and began to plan accordingly.
During this process, something happened.
This incident was neither big nor small, and it happened to Xia Yanhe.
It is said that Xia Yanhe had been under house - arrest for a short period before. After he was released, he saw Xia Chuli being beaten thirty boards. Moreover, recently his elder brother Xia Yonglin had snatched the real power of the crown prince from Xia Chuli and started to review memorials. A series of events made him inevitably a bit arrogant.
At this time, there was a late - spring cold snap in Lige City. The one in the Shanhe Palace caught a cold. His already deteriorating body became seriously ill. The doctors in the imperial hospital brewed medicine day and night and sent it to the imperial bedroom. They knelt beside the dragon - bed to feed the king, but it was said that the king vomited out whatever he was fed.
With a powerful enemy outside, although the news in Lige City was blocked and no one knew the real physical condition of King Xia Jie, Qi Yan, as King Xia Jie's concubine, naturally knew about it. And naturally, she told this to her useless younger son Xia Yanhe.
This was no small matter. His elder brother was seizing power in the palace, and his father was seriously ill. Those in the palace who knew the truth began to secretly spread the word that Li Xia might experience a regime change soon. Xia Yanhe, who was already a bit complacent, became extremely arrogant. He originally wanted to take the opportunity to mock the “bed - ridden” Xia Chuli in the Eastern Palace, but was turned away. Full of anger, he was not willing to give up. He even ran out of the palace to have fun. The fun he had was extraordinary. He rushed directly to the Shifang Zhai, ordered twenty girls, and indulged in debauchery day and night for three days and three nights.
However, for all his madness, His Royal Highness the Prince of Yu did not forget to cause trouble. Qi Yan had told him to keep his mouth shut about this matter, but after drinking a few jars of wine, he completely forgot. While toasting and feasting, he spread the news that the current emperor was about to die. This was a big deal. All the twenty girls heard this. The Shifang Zhai was a place full of all kinds of people, and it was common for there to be eavesdroppers. So this matter spread throughout Lige City through his mouth.
It was a pity that after King Xia Jie was fed several pounds of medicine, his condition finally improved a bit. As soon as his eyes cleared up, he got up and heard Chen Qi say that the news of his impending death was spreading like wildfire in Lige City. Immediately, a breath got stuck in his chest, and he spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot.
Now, King Xia Jie, whose condition had finally taken a turn for the better, was so angry that he had to lie back in bed. The doctors in the imperial hospital, who had just had a moment of respite, became busy again. Bowl after bowl of medicine was sent into King Xia Jie's bedroom.
King Xia Jie, who was originally far from death, was really enraged this time, and he was forced a bit closer to the brink of death.
Since King Xia Jie was angry, he would surely order a strict investigation. As soon as the imperial edict was issued, the Sikou Tower took on this matter.
After Gu Mingde, the former administrator of the Sikou Tower, was bestowed death, Shen Shiqiu took the opportunity to insert a confidant to take over the mess of the Sikou Tower. However, there were still many eyes and ears of His Royal Highness the Prince of Cheng in the Sikou Tower. Although Shen Shiqiu had placed a high - ranking official, his foundation was not stable enough to completely incorporate the Sikou Tower into the crown prince's forces. But at least he had managed to pull the Sikou Tower out of the hands of the Prince of Cheng's faction.
The newly appointed secretary of the Sikou Tower was named Yue Qi. He was once Shen Shiqiu's apprentice and had been a guest in the Shen Mansion for a long time. After receiving the imperial edict, Yue Qi began to investigate the origin of the “rumor”. Unfortunately, due to the obstruction of Qi Shuhuan and Chen Qi, the investigation made little progress for a while.
Although Shen Qingfeng and Xia Chuli already knew from Liu Mei that Xia Yanhe was the one who spread the “rumor”, the Qi family was not to be trifled with. Although Xia Yanhe had caused a big problem, he was still a prince. Since Qi Shuhuan wanted to protect him, he would spare no effort. He told Qi Yan to quickly lock Xia Yanhe back in the Bian Palace and ordered him not to step out of the palace gate for the next few days. He also asked Qi Yan to whisper in King Xia Jie's ear every day, and he himself began to look for those brothel girls, planning to destroy the evidence.
Moreover, the Qi family was on good terms with the eunuch faction led by Chen Qi. With this inside - outside cooperation, they managed to confuse King Xia Jie. The king thought that the person who spread the “rumor” had not been caught yet. Even worse, because of Chen Qi's words “Only the assistant prime minister and the grand councilor knew about the king's illness in bed. The assistant prime minister had been staying at home and never went out, while the grand councilor was often seen going out of his mansion.”, King Xia Jie began to suspect the Shen family.
Shen Qingfeng and Xia Chuli discussed and decided to start with Xia Yanhe.
As the saying goes, stupid people never do smart things. During those three crazy days, Xia Yanhe was so drunk that he lost consciousness. He indulged in debauchery in the Shifang Zhai and had no idea of day or night.
Liu Mei had a plan. The girls sent to his room were specially instructed. One of them was extremely beautiful. Xia Yanhe was so infatuated that he groped her. Then the woman clung to Xia Yanhe and played with the jade pendant on his waist.
The origin of that jade pendant was no small matter. It was once personally bestowed on him by King Xia Jie. The jade pendant was exquisitely designed, with a “round outside and square inside” hollow structure. Inside the round hollow ball on the outside, there were small and large square gold pieces. To take them out, one had to slowly align the inner squares with the hollow shape of the ball and use skillful strength. Its design structure was so exquisite that it was said to be the only one in the world.
Seeing that she was having fun, Xia Yanhe told her about this. The woman thought this was a big deal and immediately told Liu Mei everything.
After hearing this, Liu Mei came up with an idea for the woman. While Xia Yanhe was dead drunk, she took out a small gold square from the hollow metal ball. When Shen Qingfeng found Liu Mei, she gave the small gold square to him.
With both the witness and the physical evidence, Shen Qingfeng was ready to take action.
Even if Qi Shuhuan thought he could collude with the eunuch Chen Qi to deceive King Xia Jie, Shen Qingfeng was never the kind of person who would let others step on him. Moreover, Qi Shuhuan had even shifted the blame of the leak to the Shen family. Shen Qingfeng simply could not tolerate this.
As soon as he got the news, Shen Qingfeng immediately sent people from the Tingfeng Pavilion to secretly protect those brothel girls and coordinated their testimonies.
Then he personally took the small gold square to the Sikou Tower and asked Yue Qi to immediately submit a memorial saying that they had found a clue. Then he told Yu Shuang and Xiangcheng to prepare a carriage. They directly pulled the twenty girls from the west city to the Bian Palace gate. Holding Yue Qi's memorial, they requested an audience with King Xia Jie.
When Qi Shuhuan heard that the Sikou Tower had found a clue, he immediately panicked. He quickly asked Chen Qi to lead people to block them at the Bian Palace gate. But Shen Qingfeng was determined. When the palace gate opened, he let the people from the Tingfeng Pavilion ride their horses in. The four - horse carriage broke through like a hot knife through butter, scaring Chen Qi into screaming. He quickly asked the imperial guards to stop them. But the people from the Tingfeng Pavilion were not to be underestimated. Following Shen Qingfeng's idea, they shouted the slogan “Investigate the rumor and relieve the king's worries” while charging and finally rushed all the way to the door of King Xia Jie's bedroom.