novelhk Chapter 225 On Madness
Chapter 225 On Madness
Inside the palace
Chen Xianlin sat upright in front of her dressing table, carefully examining herself in the bronze mirror. Holding a small, delicate eyebrow pencil, she gently drew her eyebrows.
At this moment, she was overjoyed, for Lin Wanwan was gone, and no one in the palace could rival her. Moreover, the imperial edict appointing her as Empress had been issued shortly after the Lin family's property was confiscated. Thinking of this, she couldn't suppress the smile on her lips.
Just then, a palace maid rushed in, bowed, and respectfully said, "Your Highness, Young Master Pei and Lord Chen are outside requesting an audience!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Xianlin stopped drawing her eyebrows, her brows furrowing slightly with a look of confusion. She asked softly, "Why are they here at this time? Do you know why?"
The palace maid quickly shook her head and replied, "Your Majesty, this servant does not know. However, this servant noticed that Lord Chen's expression seemed rather solemn, which I suppose is due to official business he just discussed with His Majesty."
Chen Xianlin pondered for a moment, then instructed, "Oh, I understand. Go and tell them to wait in the hall for a while. I will come to see them after I have finished getting ready."
The palace maid bowed again and replied, "Yes!" before turning and leaving.
Inside the hall
Pei Wenyu and Chen Tongyu were already waiting outside. Pei Wenyu had come to the palace today to inquire about the progress of Pei Wenxuan's case, as more than two months had passed and he still hadn't received any news.
Strangely enough, when Pei Wenyu investigated on his own, he received information that the person who killed Young Master Chen might be someone else. That person used to be Chen Xianlin's subordinate in the Chen family, but now the person has disappeared without a trace.
Deep down, Pei Wenyu was still unwilling to point the finger at Chen Xianlin.
After all, in Pei Wenyu's eyes, Chen Xianlin had no motive to harm her own brother, and he was at a loss for what to do.
Just then, Chen Tongyu also happened to enter the palace to inquire about the latest developments in the case. Every time Chen Tongyu went to the Commander of the Imperial Guards before, the Commander would make excuses to fob him off, so he planned to go to the palace to have Xue Huaiyu put pressure on the Commander.
Chen Tongyu didn't expect to run into Pei Wenyu in the palace. Chen Tongyu didn't give Pei Wenyu a friendly look, after all, Pei Wenxuan's suspicions hadn't been cleared yet.
When Pei Wenyu saw that Chen Tongyu had also arrived, he bowed and then asked if he wanted to visit his cousin, since his sister and cousin were close before her death, and he wanted to ask if his sister had contacted his cousin before the accident.
Pei Wenyu was an outsider, and it was not appropriate for him to meet the Imperial Concubine alone, so he thought of going with Chen Tongyu. Originally, Pei Wenyu also wanted to find a suitable time to ask her.
Since Chen Tongyu happened to be there, Pei Wenyu took the opportunity to ask to go along, so that going with Chen Tongyu would avoid gossip.
After hearing Pei Wenyu's request, Chen Tongyu originally intended to refuse directly, but then suddenly thought of something and asked, "Is there any progress on Miss Pei's matter?" From beginning to end, Chen Tongyu did not look at Pei Wenyu directly.
"Yes, Lord Chen!" Pei Wenyu replied indifferently.
Upon hearing this, Chen Tongyu's face instantly darkened. He frowned, and his tone became slightly angry as he questioned, "Since there has been progress, what does this matter have to do with the Imperial Concubine?"
Faced with Chen Tongyu's questioning, Pei Wenyu felt a surge of panic, and the words he wanted to say were stuck in his throat.
After a slight hesitation, he said, "I just have some things I need to confirm with Her Highness the Imperial Concubine in person. I had heard before that Her Highness the Imperial Concubine and my younger sister have been in frequent contact, so... that's why I did this."
Chen Tongyu snorted coldly, staring angrily at Pei Wenyu, and said sarcastically without any mercy, "So you've started to suspect your cousin?"
"I wouldn't dare! I was just confirming something, and I didn't mean to doubt my cousin!" Pei Wenyu hurriedly explained.
"I knew you wouldn't dare, hmph! Let's go!" Chen Tongyu snorted coldly, flicked his sleeve, and then turned and walked forward. Pei Wenyu saw this and quickly followed behind him.
The two then went to Chen Xianlin's place.
Chen Xianlin rushed over, and as she approached, she immediately saw her father and cousin sitting upright in the hall.
She paused for a moment, then quickly composed herself, replacing the slightly anxious look on her face with a gentle and charming smile. She walked closer and asked softly, "Father, cousin, what brings you both here today? Why have you come to see me together?"
“Your cousin needs to see you, and I also had some things to do, so I came along!” Chen Tongyu replied.
Upon hearing Chen Tongyu's words, Chen Xianlin turned her gaze to Pei Wenyu beside her and asked curiously, "Cousin, what is it that you are in such a hurry to see me?"
Pei Wenyu looked at Chen Xianlin with a slightly solemn expression and slowly said, "Cousin, it's actually about something concerning my younger sister. I want to know when was the last time my younger sister saw you?"
Chen Xianlin frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and then replied, "To be honest, we haven't seen each other since my cousin got married! However, we've kept in touch through letters. But..." At this point, Chen Xianlin hesitated, seemingly finding it difficult to speak.
Seeing this, Pei Wenyu quickly pressed, "Cousin, please speak freely."
Chen Xianlin took a deep breath and continued, "Cousin, as you know, since Wenxuan got married, there have been many rumors circulating outside. Some people even said that Wenxuan has gone mad. Have you heard about this?" After speaking, she looked at Pei Wenyu with an ambiguous gaze.
Pei Wenyu nodded, indicating that he had indeed heard about it. He naturally didn't believe the absurd claim that his younger sister could suffer from madness, and he had even suspected He Jinyu. However, so far, he hadn't found any clues directly pointing to He Jinyu.
Now, the only clue is the woman named "Hailan". Hailan was originally a maidservant who served Chen Xianlin in the Chen family mansion. Someone once saw her walking out of the young master's courtyard before Pei Wenxuan entered the young master's room.
Pei Wenyu wanted to know if this matter had anything to do with Chen Xianlin, or if someone had framed him.
“Cousin, do you also think that it might be my sister’s so-called madness that caused her to commit such a terrible mistake that day? But that’s utter nonsense! My sister has always been perfectly normal, how could she have any madness?”
“As for why my younger sister appeared in the young master’s room that day, I think someone must have deliberately framed her!” Pei Wenyu looked at Chen Xianlin in astonishment, seemingly not expecting her to have such a thought.
He was about to ask about Hailan, but he swallowed the words back and suddenly changed his mind, deciding not to bring it up now.
There had been rumors that Pei Wenxuan was mentally ill before, and since Pei Wenxuan was by the side when Young Master Chen died, there are now many rumors in the capital saying that Pei Wenxuan had a mental breakdown and killed Young Master Chen.