Chapter 31: The Scapegoat Princess Sentenced to Death (31)

“There are too many coincidences; at some point, it ceases to be coincidence.”

Zhai Hongxia’s sudden remark struck like a final blow, causing the royal physician Wang’s face to turn pale and his demeanor to falter.

But in the next moment, a shift occurred.

Zhai Hongxia quickly continued: “I don’t think the royal physician Wang is the true mastermind behind this. Although everything sounds quite coincidental, I believe there might be another possibility.

That is, the person who cursed Prince Lu was actually present at the scene.

While Wang was performing acupuncture on Prince Lu, the one who cast the curse could very well have been nearby, not having left at all. It’s quite possible this person is a soft-hearted woman, acting out of a sense of feminine mercy—seeking only to take revenge on Prince Lu without wanting to implicate innocent parties.

When she realized that Wang might be punished by Prince Lu because of the curse she placed, and that Wang’s life could be at risk, she may have panicked.

Yet, for some unknown reason, she couldn’t kill Prince Lu directly or simply let the curse take his life outright.

So she added other curses instead.

She stuffed a pig’s tongue into Prince Lu’s mouth to seal it and made him unable to move. No, wait—perhaps it wasn’t that he couldn’t walk, but that he couldn’t write.

If Prince Lu hadn’t raged about killing Wang the royal physician, perhaps the situation would have been less severe, limited to some spots appearing on his body.

When you lay it out like this, doesn’t it seem quite reasonable?”

Someone who passed the imperial examination and rose to the position of county magistrate in his forties certainly was not foolish. Even lacking much crucial information, Zhai Hongxia boldly pieced together many truths from the information at hand.

“Could it be one of the maids from the prince’s residence?”

“Why not arrest them all and interrogate? Those who were present at the scene should be identifiable, as I still remember them.”

Whatever the case, having a direction was better than none.

Dong Huaide was in fairly good spirits as he spoke.

“We should question them and simultaneously investigate their backgrounds and family situations. But I cannot guarantee the culprit is among the maids who were present. Having such special abilities, like sorcery that can alter or conceal one’s form, is not impossible.”

Though they had ideas and a direction for investigation, Zhai Hongxia did not expect a swift resolution. Even if the culprit lacked intelligence or decisiveness, the use of sorcery or trickery could compensate for those shortcomings.

So he added a caveat—what today might be called a disclaimer.

At this moment, Dong Huaide did not rush to order the search for the maids who had appeared in Prince Lu’s bedchamber. Instead, on a sudden impulse, he asked:

“Since the mastermind might be soft-hearted and merciful, is it possible to hang those maids and whip them, then kill one every so often to force the culprit to reveal herself? If this works, wouldn’t it save us a lot of trouble?”

The room fell silent, everyone staring at him in shock.

They seemed to see him for the first time, and though they barely knew him, hearing such words made many realize this man was not worth trusting.

No, he wasn’t worth associating with at all.

Had he been infected by Prince Lu’s influence after only a few days at the residence?

Or was this simply his nature?

Zhai Hongxia’s face fell, expressing evident displeasure: “The maids in the prince’s residence are not mere private slaves. Even if they were, there is no justification for arbitrary beating or killing. Palace maids, once they reach a certain age, can leave the palace, but eunuchs are different.

Eunuchs are the true private slaves of the royal family.

How could such wanton disregard for life be allowed?”

The reality was quite different from his words. Whether palace maids, eunuchs, or maids in the prince’s household, all could be beaten or even killed without official inquiry, but legally speaking, palace maids had slightly more personal rights than eunuchs.

Unless a master favored them and kept them forcibly, palace maids could leave the palace when they came of age. Eunuchs, however, were usually cast out once they could no longer work. This was why they were so eager for money and to adopt heirs—hoping for someone to care for them in old age or to have the means for retirement.

Of course, this referred to ordinary eunuchs. Those with power might be tasked with guarding the late emperor’s tomb and enjoy royal sustenance until death—a secure position with an official post.

What Zhai Hongxia said was theoretically true: the maids were not slaves like eunuchs. But for this to be a reality, someone had to enforce the theory.

When Zhai Hongxia said eunuchs were different, true slaves of the royal family, Dong Huaide did not feel insulted. On the contrary, he felt proud. After all, adding “royal” to “slave” was like gilding the lily.

“Rest assured, who would dare punish Prince Lu?”

“But you’re not Prince Lu!”

The royal physician Wang, who had been frightened moments before, suddenly interjected with this sharp retort as he sat beside them.

Indeed, if Prince Lu orders someone in the residence to be beaten to death, no one would dare cause trouble. But Dong Huaide was only the steward of the prince’s household and had no orders from Prince Lu.

To act rashly would be lawless.

“Moreover, the mastermind may not even be here right now. Even if she is, she’s not foolish enough to sacrifice herself for someone else’s life.

Most importantly, if she were truly angered, I imagine she could transform us into creatures like Prince Lu’s current form, or make us suffer even worse fates—turning us into pigs or other beasts.

I doubt that would be difficult. What then should we do?”

Zhou Hui, who had just returned, interjected with these timely words. His intervention poured cold water over Dong Huaide, who had been flushed with anger after Wang’s sharp comment, quickly calming him and making him secretly fearful.

Indeed, if the culprit was avenging Prince Lu’s actions by turning his limbs into pig’s trotters, trying to lure her out by sacrificing the maids’ lives was tantamount to courting death.

Would the culprit ignore him just because he was a lowly eunuch?

Still, stubborn to the end, Dong Huaide retorted:

“By your logic, how then are we to find the mastermind? Should we simply find her without worrying about angering her? Ridiculous!”

“All right, regardless, I will not allow such methods you just proposed to find the culprit. Let’s wait for the search results before further discussion.”

Clearly, it was impossible to sever ties with Dong Huaide over a few words, so Zhai Hongxia fell silent after his statement. Others had nothing to add, and all waited quietly for the outcome.

Nearly an hour later, the searchers returned to report:

“My lord, we have searched everywhere we could. The alchemy room contained some prohibited items but no bones or pig remains. We have also uncovered two underground chambers and three secret rooms.

One underground chamber held over a hundred suits of armor and crossbows.

Another contained many ancient golden artifacts.

Of the three secret rooms, one was empty, one held two pregnant women who had starved to death and miscarried, and the last stored many prepared human hearts and similar items.

But no bones or pig remains were found.”

“We are still uncertain if there are undiscovered secret rooms or underground chambers. Aside from these, only Prince Lu’s bedchamber and the princess consort’s coffin remain unsearched.”