The Crown Prince is Actually a Princess! SEASON 1

Chapter 43 Part 2 - "The Dead-end"

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"The deceased, Chang Qing, was around 47 years old.
His face was blue-black, his lips were purplish, his tongue was black...
There were no obvious injuries on his body.
He died of poisoning."
Shen Zhiyan inspected Chang Qing's body carefully and made a conclusion.

Then, he picked up the tea cup on the table in the Chang Qing's room, leaned it close to his nose and smelled it,

"It's arsenic."

To be cautious, he pierced a long silver needle into the throat of the deceased.
After a while, he took it out and the silver needle turned black.

"The arsenic caused the deceased to die of poison."
He took off his thin white gloves.

"Unexpectedly, so many things happened last night."

"Chang Qing turned out suspicious of being a complice of Xiao Yin, I will tell you slowly later.
By the way, Xiao Yin didn't receive the purification when entering the Palace."
Murong Ci's face was heavy.

"Really?"
He was quite shocked and immediately checked Xiao Yin's body, and then apologized,

"Your Royal Highness, I was negligent.
But how did Your Highness know...?"

"It was the Prince Regent who thought of this."

"This is very important."
Shen Zhiyan frowned and analyzed,

"Chang Qing adopted Xiao Yin, so it was impossible for him not to know whether he had a purification or not.
Chang Qing took poison and committed suicide, most likely to keep Xiao Yin's secret that he did not have a purification."

She nodded slowly,
"It is a serious crime for a servant to fail to purify their body when entering the Palace.
It is a serious crime to deceive the Emperor.
If a servant is found out, they'd be responsible of it and they'd be heavily sentenced to death.

However, this Prince feels it wasn't for Xiao Yin's death that Chang Qing committed suicide by taking poison.
The secret he wanted to keep was something else:
that must be related to Xiao Yin's life background."

Shen Zhiyan's elegant eyebrows flashed suddenly,
"So it seems that Xiao Yin's background was not that simple?"

Then, Murong Ci spoke out last night's discoveries and the analysis between her and Murong Yu,

"Do you think Chang Qing might have been the remnant of the King Rui's faction in the Palace?
Was Xiao Yin related to King Rui?

These kinds of mysteries....
The homicides...
is it possible that the remnants of King Rui's faction were still laying out in the dark and making moves?"

Hearing that these things might be related to King Rui, who had been gone for many years, Shen Zhiyan was shocked,

"The Regent's speculation is also reasonable.
Chang Qing was very likely to be the eyes and ears of King Rui in the palace.
Now that Chang Qing and Xiao Yin are both dead there's no other evidence, and this clue is also a dead path."

"King Rui and King Jing were defeated that year.
All suspected Palace staff were cleaned up. Only a few fish missed the net.
Apart from Chang Qing, only Manager Liu An might have known the situation from back then, but it is unlikely to gain any further clues directly from him."

"Chang Qing was deeply hidden in the Palace, so Liu An may have not known."

"But Xiao Yin has served Liu An for so many years, so how could Liu An not find out that Xiao Yin wasn't purified?
This Prince always felt that Liu An was not that simple and hid many secrets."

"Liu An has served Your Majesty and has been in charge of the Inner Court for so many years.
How could he have a foothold in the Palace without the ability and knowledge?
He must have seen and known so many different things and places for a long time."
Shen Zhiyan was wearing a light snow-colored robe, and the silver thread embroidered with patterns stretched out like flowing clouds.
He was elegant and clear, and added,

"Although Xiao Yin, Chang Qing and Liu An were inextricably linked to each other, Liu An's an old cunning fox, with his long sleeves involve deeply in the Palace and city matters, to the point he picked himself clean.
It is difficult to touch him from his current position."

Murong Ci knew how powerful he was. Without a conclusive evidence, there was no way to move Liu An.
Xiao Yin and Chang Qing committed suicide by taking poison, so they were unable to find out anything else, and they were in a dead end.

On top of that, those three silver-gray hairs had no direct connection with anyone at all...

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END of CHAPTER 43 PART 2
.....................to be continued