Peasant Woman's Decreed Life as a Wife

Chapter 1158: Chapter 1155: Investigation

The Qi family, upon hearing the news, was still angry, though Qi Rong remained outraged.

But the Qi family couldn’t act recklessly.

After all, the Huo family had taken a proper stance, Miss Huo of the Huo Family had not ended up with any good result, and most crucially, Qi Rong had been saved by Ye Muyu.

It was common knowledge in the court that Huo Zhengming was Chu Heng’s teacher.

With the Huo family extending a sincere apology so early on, the Qi family couldn’t well argue the point any further regardless of their anger.

At the Princess’ Mansion.

...

Gazing down at her subordinates, the Elder Princess’s face darkened, “Have you found no evidence yet?”

“Your Highness, when we caught Zhang Hao, he was already dead. He had been checking the corner of the lake, and we also discovered, Miss Huo’s ice skate shoes from that day are missing. But looking at the condition of the broken ice, it seems only that area was unstable.”

“And the ice seemed to have been sliced uniformly.”

That is to say, someone was wearing ice skate shoes that went against the rules and remained on thin ice, causing the accident, and Huo Kewen was the prime suspect.

“Who sent the Ice Knife shoes that Miss Huo was wearing initially?” The more the Elder Princess investigated, the more she felt someone had contrived the situation, and now her mood was already terrible.

“To respond to Your Highness, I delivered them,” a maidservant walked in and knelt down with a thud, her face deathly pale and trembling on the ground. She was a third-rank maid who had been switched out that day due to the number of guests and had luckily escaped.

Nanny Song explained in a whisper by the Elder Princess’s side.

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“Since you were the one who sent the Ice Knife shoes to Miss Huo, why didn’t you keep them safe? Who took the shoes away at that time?” the Elder Princess asked sternly.

The young maidservant lay on the ground, tears streaming down her face, choking out, “After Miss Huo and Miss Qi fell into the water and were rescued, they were immediately taken to the guest room for treatment. I was told to stay and care for the other young misses and ladies; I didn’t dare to follow. But I saw, when Miss Huo was brought up, she had only one Ice Knife shoe on her foot.”

Nanny Song was instantly shocked.

The Elder Princess promptly ordered, “Go, fish out the Ice Knife shoe from the pool.”

“Your Highness, Lord Chu is outside, requesting an audience,” just then, a servant relayed a message.

The Elder Princess was puzzled as to why Chu Heng would come at this time but, recalling their encounter at the palace that morning and knowing how favored he was by the Imperial Brother, she knew she must offer face.

Chu Heng was soon brought in.

After Chu Heng paid his respects, the Elder Princess looked at the young man before her and waved her hand casually, signaling him to rise and speak directly.

“Your Highness, the Emperor has sent me here to assist you with the investigation.”

“Imperial Brother sent you?” The Elder Princess was somewhat surprised. For such a matter, why would Chu Heng, an official of the Hanlin Academy, be involved? But thinking about it, as an imperial courtier, it made sense for him to undertake any task.

“What did Imperial Brother send you to do?” The Elder Princess was slightly taken aback but quickly returned to the main question.

Chu Heng bowed deeply, “In response to Your Highness, the Emperor has asked me to cooperate in the investigation of this case.”

“Such a trivial matter actually prompted the Emperor to speak personally?” The Elder Princess found it strange, but ultimately trusted her Imperial Brother. Seeing that Chu Heng did not respond, she did not pry further, “Do whatever you want; just ask for the Housekeeper of the Princess’ Mansion.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Chu Heng left the main hall; he didn’t wander aimlessly but went straight to the pond and also took the opportunity to ask for the testimonies of the people at the Princess’ Mansion.