Chapter 932: Chapter 884: Finale (10)_3

...

The disappearance of "Little Flower" did not affect Zhao Shuo’s plan to go to Fahua Temple for recuperation.

Prince Cheng, worried about his son’s frequent bouts of illness, personally escorted him.

However, to the outside world, it was said that due to many recent matters in the capital, the Princely Heir was going to Fahua Temple to pray for the people.

At present, Zhao Shuo is sitting in the carriage, with lanterns hanging from each corner of the carriage’s canopy, each lantern embossed with a large "Cheng" character.

With the household guards clearing the way ahead, the people stood aside.

Prince Cheng rode a black-maned horse, his face stern, looking straight ahead.

He has always had a virtuous reputation and is highly regarded among the people, so upon learning that Prince Cheng personally escorted the Princely Heir to Fahua Temple to pray, the public discussions were full of praise and approval.

After traveling not far, they saw a large crowd ahead, and the guards clearing the way rang their gongs to disperse the crowd. Upon seeing clearly the group blocking the road, their faces changed drastically, grabbing their gongs and running back.

Prince Cheng, seeing this, felt somewhat displeased, "On the main street, what kind of behavior is this, rushing about?"

The guard stammered, "Coffin, Prince, there are so many small coffins ahead."

Upon hearing the word "coffin," Prince Cheng’s eyelid twitched twice, his face grew particularly dark, "What coffins?"

As soon as he spoke, he heard a well-organized shout from ahead, "We ask the Prince to find the true culprit and help bring justice for our children, we ask the Prince to find the true culprit and help bring justice for our children——"

At the moment, on the main street, Prince Cheng couldn’t do anything excessive.

Being addressed by name, he had no choice but to move forward, only to see the originally wide street being blocked by a group of people kneeling on the ground, each with an un-painted small coffin behind them, judging by the size, at most a child under ten could fit.

A custom in Chu Country is that the coffin of a child who died young cannot be painted.

Prince Cheng stared, almost having guessed the situation, his face immediately froze.

Lying in the coffins are actually those ten or so children whose hearts were gouged out!

Running into this many coffins while sending his son to the temple, damn it, what bad luck!

Prince Cheng cursed inwardly and asked the man kneeling at the front, "You few, what are you doing?"

The man lifted his head, eyes filled with tears, "Prince, my son’s life was ended in a single night, his heart gouged out, and no murderer has been found, we implore the Prince to aid us..."

Prince Cheng cleared his throat lightly, "I have heard of this case; the Three Judicial Departments and the Jinyi Guard have already taken the case, and I believe a result will come soon."

Yet the man said, "I’ve heard that His Highness Prince Cheng is compassionate and loves the people as his own, the government office has failed to find the true culprit for so long, so we are living in fear every day, hoping the Prince could help our wronged children!"

After speaking, the man actually began to wail loudly in the street, and the crying attracted the surrounding women to shed tears, with more and more people focusing their eyes on Prince Cheng.

"Only five years old, so pitiful."

"What’s five years, I heard one just turned one month old."

"Oh my God, what kind of worse-than-animal person could lay such a heavy hand, even killing them a thousand times wouldn’t quench the anger!"

"Most likely it’s a soulless bastard dog, couldn’t stand others having children, killed them one after another."

"..."

With every curse from the people, Prince Cheng’s face grew darker, almost unable to maintain his composure.

At this moment, Zhao Shuo opened the curtain.

With Prince Cheng blocking him at the front, he couldn’t see clearly, so he asked, "Father, what happened?"

Prince Cheng turned his head, meeting Zhao Shuo’s gaze, responding calmly, "There’s a situation ahead, temporarily unable to pass, I’ve arranged for them to lead you via another route."

Saying so, he gave a glance to the Attendant Student, then whispered a command, "Tell the driver to turn around, don’t let the Princely Heir know what happened just now, to avoid shocking him."

The Attendant Student nodded, turned to relay some words to the driver, then walked to the window to tell Zhao Shuo, "Your Highness, there’s a collision ahead, the road is blocked, temporarily unable to pass, the Prince suggests we go around."

"Isn’t that mistaken?" Zhao Shuo doubted, "I clearly heard many people shouting for Father to find the true culprit, what true culprit?"

The Attendant Student forced a smile, "Your Highness, you misheard."

Zhao Shuo was not at ease, "I want to go down and check."

The Attendant Student was startled, "Your Highness?"

Prince Cheng, hearing the commotion, coldly glared at the coachman, "Why are you not moving, standing around doing nothing?"

The coachman turned pale with fright, hurriedly snapped the whip, turning the carriage towards another direction.

After Zhao Shuo left, Prince Cheng was surrounded by relentless cries for help.

These unruly folk, playing a hand of moral coercion.

He grasped the whip tightly; it seemed today he wouldn’t be able to leave without agreeing.

Taking a deep breath, Prince Cheng shouted loudly, "Everyone, don’t worry, since you seek aid from me, I certainly will not stand by, I will immediately go to the Ministry of Justice to push them to quickly catch the true culprit and give everyone an explanation."

Just then, Xie Zheng passed by in a sedan chair, heard this, and instructed the bearers to stop, opening the curtain and smiling at Prince Cheng, "The Prince worries for the people, willing to lend a hand to help investigate the case, for which I, on behalf of the Lord Minister, am incredibly grateful."

What position Xie Zheng held in the government office was unknown to Prince Cheng, but he recognized Xie Zheng’s face, wasn’t he the cousin of the Imperial Tutor Song Wei?

Originally intending to shift all responsibility to the Ministry of Justice, unexpectedly came Xie Zheng, who serves there, blocking all retreat, Prince Cheng had unspeakable discomfort, wanting to be furious, but being watched by so many people, had to suppress the sinking anger, forced a smile saying, "As a member of the Imperial Family, it is right to alleviate the people’s burdens."

Xie Zheng clasped his hands again, "I am hurrying to the government office for attendance, plus the road is blocked, so I won’t get off the sedan to pay respects to the Prince, farewell."

Those words carried some degree of disdain.

Even a minor Ministry of Justice official dares to ride over his head?

Prince Cheng felt increasingly stifled.

Inside the sedan, Xie Zheng gradually erased the fake smile from his face.

If it were in the past, he dared not offend such a noble as Prince Cheng, yet just when he was preparing to leave for the morning court, his third cousin Song Wei, who should have been mourning in Ningzhou, unexpectedly appeared.

Song Wei told him everything and asked him specifically to pass this way, finding a way to draw Prince Cheng into investigating the case of heart gouging.

Upon learning that so many children died at the hands of Prince Cheng, even Xie Zheng’s usually steadied temperament was burned away by rage.

He never expected that the outwardly virtuous Prince Cheng was actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.