Dongfang Heng's analysis was spot on, yet it caused Shen Lixue's slender body to tremble. Xiangxi was far on the border of Qingyan, so nothing major was likely to happen there. The first possibility could be ruled out, leaving only the second: someone was hunting down Dongfang Che, stabbing him all over, but not striking his vital points, forcing him to ride at full speed to the capital, where he bled to death. Truly cold-blooded and ruthless...
But what was their purpose in forcing Dongfang Che to come to the capital?
The emperor, empress, and crown prince witnessed the death of the fifth prince. They would be saddened and hate the mastermind behind it even more. They would not do anything else. What good would that do for the mastermind?
"What is this?" The coroner took out a piece of broken wooden tablet from the Fifth Prince's waist. The tablet was light blue and had some words engraved on it, but they were incomplete, just a few strokes and lines, and it was impossible to tell what was written.
The emperor's gaze darkened. He took the broken wooden plaque and examined it closely. It was a fragment of a piece of sandalwood, specifically the very center part. Judging from the wood, it was a mark worn by the royal guards to distinguish the guards from those in different princely residences. The characters on it, with their strokes, were the names of the princely residences. However, based on the structure of the characters, it was not the character 澈, 湛, 洵, or 珩, but rather the character 泓!
"Hong'er, what's going on?" The emperor's expression changed drastically, and he slammed the wooden plaque at Dongfang Hong: "How did the wooden plaque belonging to your manor's secret guards end up in Che'er's hands?"
After Dongfang Che was demoted, the emperor sent ten highly skilled guards to escort him to Xiangxi, but Dongfang Hong did not send any secret guards to escort him.
"This... Your subject does not know..." Dongfang Hong held the sandalwood tablet and examined it carefully. It was indeed the wooden tablet marking of his mansion's secret guards, but his secret guards had never had any conflict with Dongfang Che, nor had he sent anyone to monitor Dongfang Che. How could the wooden tablet have ended up in Dongfang Che's hands?
"Is Che'er's death related to you?" After pondering for a long time, the emperor finally asked the question that had been bothering him. Dongfang Che's death was too tragic, and as his father, the emperor felt heartbroken just watching it.
The Crown Prince was taken aback and knelt down: "Father, please investigate. My fifth brother and I are brothers born of the same mother. We have always loved and cared for each other. When he began to show his talent, I was happy for him. When he made a mistake and was demoted, I pleaded for him. How could I possibly harm him?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, I watched Hong'er grow up. He is kind-hearted and would never kill his own brother." The Empress's eyes were red and swollen, and she was heartbroken. She cried as she defended Dongfang Hong. Her youngest son had already been killed, and her eldest son could not be allowed to make any more mistakes.
"But how come Che'er has Hong'er's sandalwood token on him?" The emperor looked at the broken blue token, unable to let it go. That was a token that only the Crown Prince's secret guards could have.
“Father, the wooden plaques are inanimate, but people are alive. Someone with high martial arts skills could secretly steal the wooden plaques from the guards, crush them, and place them on my fifth brother to frame me.”
Dongfang Hong calmed down, a layer of cold sweat seeping from his forehead. His fifth brother had been seriously injured and forced back to the capital, all to frame him. His fifth brother was covered in blood and died in such a tragic way in front of them. His father and mother would be heartbroken and hate the murderer to the bone. If they found out that he was the real culprit, they would never let him off easily.
"Didn't you say that Che'er was still conscious when he came to the Holy King's Mansion? How could someone have secretly placed a wooden plaque on him?" The emperor frowned deeply. Dongfang Che's martial arts skills were much higher than those of the secret guards. When he was conscious, the secret guards would not have been able to get close to him, let alone put anything on him.
"Father, when my fifth brother appeared at the gate of the Holy King's Mansion, he was already delirious and not particularly lucid. He died from excessive blood loss, which shows that he was also half-conscious on the way. A skilled person could easily have hidden a wooden plaque on him..."
He and Dongfang Che were biological brothers. When Dongfang Che was at the height of his power, he never thought of killing him. Now that he had been demoted to a commoner, he posed no threat to him whatsoever, so killing him would be pointless.
The emperor's gaze sharpened, his eyelids darkening. What Hong'er said did make some sense, but there were many suspicious points about Che'er that he couldn't resolve...
The Crown Prince glanced at the Emperor's solemn expression and continued, "If Father does not believe me, you can ask Prince An. When my fifth brother saw me, he showed no hostility. On the contrary, he kept apologizing to me and reminding me to be careful. If I had really killed him, he would have been furious when he saw me and would not have been so polite."
The emperor raised his eyes and looked at Dongfang Heng: "Is what the Crown Prince said true?"
"Your Majesty, the Fifth Prince showed no hostility toward the Crown Prince after meeting him," Dongfang Heng said calmly, a cold, gleaming light flashing in his dark eyes.
The Emperor nodded. Prince An never participated in the struggles between the princes, did not belong to any faction, and would not help the Crown Prince deceive him. It seems that Hong'er really did not harm Che'er.
Watching the setting sun, he sighed softly. He didn't want Dongfang Hong to be the one who killed Dongfang Che. He had already lost one son, and he didn't want to lose another.
"Prince An, I have a question, and I would like to ask for your clarification!" A familiar voice suddenly rang out. Shen Lixue glanced to the side and saw Dongfang Zhan, dressed in a deep blue brocade robe, walking slowly over. His handsome face looked somewhat haggard, and a few wisps of blue beard were faintly visible on his smooth chin. However, he was in good spirits, and a faint smile filled his gentle eyes.
"What doubts does Prince Zhan have? Please speak freely!" Dongfang Heng glanced at him, his tone indifferent. For many days, he had been staying in Prince Zhan's mansion, refusing to see any guests. Now that he had left the mansion, he was targeting him. Dongfang Zhan and he were truly irreconcilable enemies.
"Fifth Brother is Father Emperor's son. He should have gone to the palace to see Father Emperor after returning to the capital. Why did he come to the Holy Prince's Mansion to find Prince An?" Dongfang Zhan frowned slightly as he looked at the Fifth Prince's stiff corpse, seemingly puzzled by his actions.
The onlookers were all taken aback. Indeed, the Fifth Prince and Prince An did not usually have much interaction. Why did he come to the Holy Prince's Mansion instead of going to the palace for help when he was seriously injured?
“Perhaps the people chasing him are very close, and he didn’t have time to enter the palace, so he came to the Holy King’s Mansion to ask me for help.” Dongfang Heng’s calm voice was tinged with indifference and detachment.
"Xiangxi is in the southwest. The Fifth Prince would enter the city from the west or south. The Prince of Huai's Mansion, the General's Mansion, and even the Duke of Ye's Mansion are all in these two directions. If he was really being chased, why didn't he go to them for help? Why did he come all the way to the Holy Prince's Mansion instead of going to such lengths?"
Dongfang Zhan muttered to himself in confusion, his voice neither too loud nor too soft, loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.
Everyone frowned. Prince An was indeed the God of War of Qingyan, but this was Qingyan Capital, and it was in broad daylight. The villains dared not be too rampant. Even if someone was secretly chasing the Fifth Prince, he could be rescued as long as he entered the gates of the Duke of Ye's Mansion, the Prince of Huai's Mansion, or the General's Mansion.
He must have had a special purpose in coming to the Holy Prince's Mansion, which is far away from nearby. A person who is seriously injured, who has been riding a horse at full speed all the way, and who knows that he has lost too much blood and will not live much longer, must be trying to hint at something to others by coming to the Holy Prince's Mansion to find Prince An.
The Crown Prince just said that the Fifth Prince kept reminding him to be careful, but he didn't say what to be careful of. At that time, the Crown Prince and Prince An should have been standing together. Could it be that the Fifth Prince meant to say to be careful of Prince An?
Thinking of this, everyone's shocked gazes quietly turned to Dongfang Heng. Could it be that the Fifth Prince was trying to imply to others that it was Prince An who killed him?
Facing the horrified and suspicious gazes of the crowd, Dongfang Heng spoke softly and calmly: "Your Highness Zhan's intention is that I kill the Fifth Prince."
"I was merely speculating about the reason for my fifth brother's unusual behavior, and I did not mean to doubt Prince An. Prince An, please do not be suspicious." Dongfang Zhan smiled slightly, like a spring breeze in March, warming people's hearts. However, his gentle eyes reflected a sharp and cold light, making people shudder.
“I have no dealings with the Fifth Prince and have no conflict of interest, so why should I kill him? Judging from the Fifth Prince’s many wounds, that person’s martial arts are superior to his and could have killed him without anyone noticing. But that person did not kill him, but seriously injured him and let him return to the capital. Have you all thought about the reason behind this?”
Dongfang Heng's casual words piqued everyone's curiosity. Indeed, why not kill him instead of releasing him severely injured? It was very strange: "What's the reason?"
"Framing me." Dongfang Heng suddenly raised his eyelids, his sharp gaze like a blade, coldly shooting towards Dongfang Zhan:
"He framed the Fifth Prince's death on the Crown Prince or on me. The Fifth Prince knew of his scheme, which is why he bypassed the Prince of Huai's residence and the Duke of Ye's residence to come to the Holy Prince's residence to inform me. Unfortunately, he lost too much blood and died before he could say anything!"
These words caused an uproar. The Fifth Prince's innocent eyes and adorable demeanor came to the attention of everyone. Although he had been pretending for more than ten years, he was still kind-hearted. They completely believed him when he said that he knew someone was going to harm Prince An and had come to the Holy Prince's Mansion to inform him.
Who was that heartless bastard who made the Fifth Prince die such a tragic death?
What's even more despicable is that, not only did they harm the Fifth Prince, they also framed Prince An and the Crown Prince. Their hearts are too ruthless, as poisonous as a snake...
Dongfang Zhan's gaze darkened, and he smiled slightly, "Fifth brother is loyal and righteous. He came to the Holy Prince's Mansion to remind Prince An to be careful. I should not generalize and hold a grudge against him just because he plotted a rebellion on the high platform!"
Shen Lixue raised an eyebrow at Dongfang Zhan. His words were ostensibly praising Dongfang Che, but in reality, they were a reminder to the emperor that Dongfang Che had once tried to kill him. Even though he was already dead, he still wanted to sow discord between father and son. His intentions were truly malicious.
Looking at the emperor again, his face indeed darkened, and he said coldly, "I will order a thorough investigation into Che'er's death to find out the truth. You should stop making wild guesses."
"Yes." Dongfang Zhan, Dongfang Heng, and Dongfang Hong did not say anything more.
No matter how big a mistake the Fifth Prince made, he was still the Emperor's son. The Emperor would be somewhat saddened by his death, and judging from his appearance, he was in a very bad mood. If they started arguing again, the Emperor would be furious.
"Prepare the carriage and return to the palace." The emperor glanced at the Fifth Prince's corpse, sighed inwardly, flicked his sleeves, and strode forward, with the eunuchs and guards hurrying after him.
The Crown Prince helped the Empress, whose face was streaked with tears, to her feet and slowly walked toward the carriage in front. His eyelids drooped slightly. He had already guessed the real culprit who had killed his fifth brother. One day, he would find the evidence and tear that person to pieces.