The meals in the palace were all prepared in the Imperial Kitchen and these two kinds of food were not uncommon either. It wasn’t unthinkable to have someone deliberately replace the fruits that were served after dinner with the Xiao fruits.
Lin Qing clenched his fists tightly and the guard observed his expression before he asked tentatively, “Your Highness, do you want to report this matter to His Majesty for a detailed investigation?”
“Detailed investigation? How is this going to be investigated?” Lin Qing sneered, “There is no proof that the tiger belongs to anyone now that it is dead and I have already eaten the food. Arguing about this in front of Father Emperor and not being able to provide the evidence to support the claims are not only going to anger Father Emperor; even the entire palace is going to slander us.”
The guard hesitated,”Your Highness, you already know who the culprit is?”
Lin Qing looked at the gradually darkening sky outside the window as his tone remained low and deep, “Send a message to Mother Empress and ask her to have someone investigate the recent actions of Prime Minister Ruan and the Ruan Residence. Whatever it is, this Crown Prince will no longer sit back and remain lenient.”
Emperor Lin explained that his subordinates had started to investigate the incident of the Crown Prince’s encounter with the tiger. Although most people thought it was an accident, the parties involved were the Crown Prince and the Fifth Princess, so the matter definitely still needed to be checked out.
However, even after the investigation, nothing abnormal was found.
There were tigers in the mountains. A few years ago, Emperor Lin hunted one and the previous Emperor also encountered two bears in one of the past Summer Hunts, almost dying in the process—so it’s really not uncommon for these beasts to attack. In the end, despite a thorough investigation, the matter could only be said to happen due to the bad luck of the Crown Prince and Fifth Princess.
Except for Noble Consort Ruan and the relatives of the Prime Minister Ruan, no one knew that the tiger was actually raised by them.
Assassinating the Crown Prince was a huge crime that could wipe out the entire main family and their distant branches, but since ancient times, the road to winning the heirloom had always been extremely dangerous. Hence, the path to obtaining fortune and wealth would definitely come with some form of risks as well.
Therefore, it must be done but in a foolproof manner to ensure that there was not a trace of humanity’s tampering found in the ‘accident’.
Using the Summer Hunt as an excuse to trigger the wild tiger’s attack was the most unexpected way.
This ferocious tiger had been raised in the Prime Minister’s Residence for three years. In fact, the Eastern Palace and the Yunxi Palace each have their own insiders. The spy secretly collected the Crown Prince’s unwanted clothes and sent them out of the palace. Under the artificial training of man, the tiger became familiar with the smell of the Crown Prince from the clothes that belonged to it day after day. Hence, after being transported to the forest, it could accurately find out where and who the Crown Prince was.
In fact, they did not necessarily have to result in the death of the Crown Prince; a severed arm or a blind eye would have sufficed.
Once disabled, the Crown Prince would lose the qualifications of inheriting the throne.
But they never thought that this game that they had carefully arranged for many years could actually be ruined by a little girl!