Zhou Lian nodded hurriedly, "Of course I remember." ”

Seeing that Zhou Lian's dignified son had ended up like such a wolf, Zhou Ying felt a little sour in her heart, and said for a while: "With my understanding of the eldest brother, you are not a nosy person, why did you take the initiative to take this matter that day to report to your father?" ”

Zhou Lian was not annoyed, blushed a little, and then said: "I don't remember clearly, at that time, Master Zhang was unconscious, everyone had no idea, they were coaxing, I don't know why they all asked me to report to my father, I also wanted to take advantage of this to show my father, so I came over." ”

Zhou Ying said again: "My father did not reveal his whereabouts, how did the eldest brother know the whereabouts of his father and intercept his father at the door?" ”

Obviously, Zhou Lian understood the meaning of Zhou Ying's words, and his face turned pale, "It was also someone in the crowd who said this, saying that the father and emperor had not arrived today, and I thought that there was a private matter to do, and it should be done almost by noon, and if I go back, I might be able to meet it." Several people agreed, and I thought about it. I was in a hurry to leave, not even paying attention to who was the first to mention it. ”

Zhou Ying looked directly into Zhou Lian's eyes, and said with a straight face: "You may guarantee that what you said is true?" ”

Without waiting for Zhou Lian to speak, Zhou Ying added: "Brother Emperor, you have to think clearly before talking." Since you said that you were accompanying a group of officials to inspect the riverbank, and there was another incident in which the governor of Caoyun fainted and fell into the water, there are many people who want to remember this incident...... What the consequences will be, you should know what the consequences will be. ”

Zhou Lian took a deep breath, his eyes were still red, and his voice was still trembling, but his eyes were sincere and firm, and he said word by word: "I swear, everything I say is true." If there is a falsehood, let me be thundered and thundered, and I will not die well. ”

These resounding words smashed into the room and fell silent for an instant.

The emperor looked at Zhou Lian with complicated eyes, but Zhou Lian didn't know whether he had the intention or the intention, so he didn't look at his father who was sitting on the top.

Zhou Ying patted Zhou Lian's shoulder, stood up and said, "This is suspicion three." ”

Seeing that Xu Guifei frowned and wanted to speak, Zhou Ying said generously: "Of course, whether it is true or not still needs to be verified by Commander Ding." ”

Xu Guifei glanced at Zhou Ying, raised the teacup and took a sip of tea to cover up.

Zhou Ying just didn't see it, and continued: "Father, I don't mean that with these three doubts, you can prove that the eldest brother is innocent. But they do point out a possibility, that is, there is another person behind this matter, and the eldest brother is just designed to be guilty and used as a scapegoat. ”

The emperor was distressed about Zhou Ying's suffering, and he promised to punish the bad guys, so he specially called her to listen, but he didn't expect such a small move to bring such an unexpected gain, and he couldn't help but look at Zhou Ying with new eyes.

Zhou Ying was not surprised when she noticed the emperor's judgmental gaze, and only smiled slightly, "Father, what do you think?" ”

The emperor came back to his senses, and after a deep groan, he said: "Well, there is no hurry in the past two days. Commander Ding, you first investigate the suspicious points mentioned by the Seventh Princess. As for that Huang Bao, I will find out all his recent whereabouts and experiences. I want to see if he is loyal and courageous, or if he is a traitor to seek glory, or if he has simply suffered a righteous disaster. ”

Ding Tang took the order and glanced at Zhou Ying before leaving.

Zhou Ying didn't pay attention, and only thanked the emperor: "Thank you, father." ”

The Emperor waved his hand, "It's okay. He turned to look at Zhou Lian, feeling a little tricky, and said for a while, "Before the matter is clarified, you stay in the house first, and when the truth is clarified, if you are wronged, I will give you justice." ”

As for the result that Zhou Lian was not wronged, the emperor did not say it, but it is conceivable that it will not be very wonderful.

Zhou Lian knelt down in silence, kowtowed to the emperor, and was escorted down by Qiao Rong.

The boiled duck flew, of course Xu Guifei's face was not good, but now the case is in doubt, although she wants to take this opportunity to nail Zhou Lian to death, but she can't ignore the real murderer who murdered her son, so she can only stare at Zhou Ying aggrievedly.

This is not painful, Zhou Ying just didn't see it.

Ding Tang was very efficient, and within two days, he finished checking the news and reported it to the emperor again. This time, the emperor didn't bring Xu Guifei, but brought Zhou Ying, the princess, with him, as for why, most of the emperor saw that Zhou Ying raised doubts, and Zhou Ying was not surprised.

Ding Tang said: "Your Majesty, Huang Bao does have other doubts. ”

As soon as these words came out, both the emperor and Zhou Ying were instantly shocked, and the emperor asked, "What do you mean by this?" ”

Ding Tang replied: "The minister has checked Huang Bao's whereabouts, and after His Majesty entered the temporary palace, Huang Bao often bought things at a merchant at the back corner gate, and the sackcloth soap shoes were not worth much, but Huang Bao had to buy them every few days." On the day when the two highnesses were kidnapped, Huang Bao also bought things, and he only had a cup of tea, and he was always under the nose of the gatekeeper during this period. ”

The emperor frowned, "The merchant? ”

Ding Tang said: "The minister is indeed suspicious of the merchant, and the doorkeeper described the portrait. Ding Tang took out two pairs of small faces, handed them to Qiao Rong, and handed them to the emperor, "Your Majesty, please see, this merchant actually looks like six or seven people who are the connector mentioned in Cai Sanying's mouth." ”

The emperor had a bad premonition, "Where is this person now?" ”

Ding Tang replied: "This merchant had just served □□ when he was found, and although he was rescued by others, he only lived for half an hour. ”

The Emperor sighed, waved his hand, and said, "You go on." ”

Ding Tang said: "The minister has carefully checked, this merchant suddenly appeared with His Majesty Xià in Jinfu, and he has never been such a person before." And this person only sells in the back street, and after walking this street, no matter how much is left on the shelves, he will not sell again. After this merchant finishes trading, he will go to the major markets to hang out, and Mingde Fang goes the most. The minister asked Cai Sanying to identify that not long after the merchant's death this time, Cai Sanying was sure that the connector was the merchant. ”

And the origin of the two thousand taels of silver, the minister also found out. Huang Bao specially placed the silver in the drowning bucket to cover up the smell on it. Ding Tang glanced at the emperor and Zhou Ying, thoughtfully avoided how to identify the smell, and continued, "There is a smell of fat powder on the silver, there are no female dependents around the eldest prince, and the people who serve him are eunuchs. ”

"Ninety percent of the things on the shelves are rouge, gouache, oil, etc., which are used by women. If the merchant wants to hide the silver on the shelf, it will inevitably be stained with the smell of fat powder. And Huang Bao doesn't come out to buy things every day, so the silver must stay on the shelves for a long time. Ding Tang spread out little by little.

"If I remember correctly, it was Cai Sanying who asked for silver taels." The emperor made a gesture to stop, held his forehead and said, "The normal order should be that Huang Bao will hand over the silver taels to the merchant, and then the merchant will hand it over to Cai Sanying." ”

"That's exactly how the normal order should be." Ding Tang hesitated for a moment, but still said, "But the behavior of these two people who violated common sense is the same as Huang Bao's suicide at the right time, and there is an explanation, that is, to frame the eldest prince." ”

The emperor couldn't help but be silent, and asked for a while: "What happened when the eldest prince patrolled the estuary that day, is it consistent with what he said?" ”

Ding Tang lowered his head and said, "It's consistent." ”

The emperor's face remained unchanged, but his fingers clenched the armrest, and he asked, "Then who instigated the eldest prince to come and block the car?" ”

The lower Ding Tang's waist bent, the more respectful his voice became, "It was Zheng Qucheng, the county magistrate of Huayin County, who encouraged the eldest prince to report to His Majesty in person for the first time, and the second time he deduced that His Majesty was about to finish his work, and if the eldest prince was faster, he might be able to catch up with His Majesty." ”

The emperor frowned, his face a little confused, not angry, "Zheng Qucheng? How does it sound familiar? ”

Officials at the level of county orders, who are qualified to face the saints, whether they are appointed or dismissed, or return to Beijing to report on their work, will only have some dealings with the officials, unless there is a natural disaster in the county*, and the heavens hear it, how can the emperor know who a small county order is.

But the emperor recalled it, and he didn't remember what natural disasters there were in the Jinfu generation*, why did this Zheng Qucheng sound familiar?

Ding Tang wanted to speak and stopped, this time Qiao Rong relieved him, and whispered to the emperor: "Your Majesty, this Zheng Qucheng is the younger brother of the precious person." Seeing that the emperor's face was particularly puzzled, Qiao Rong said again, "The precious person is the biological mother of the second prince, who went seven years ago. ”

Only then did the emperor remember.

At that time, the precious person was the palace maid of Weiyang Palace, who was favored by the emperor for a day or two, and was pregnant with a dragon species, conceived in October, and gave birth to the only two princes in the palace. It's a pity that precious lives are thin, and I went in a few years. It was also when the funeral was held for the precious person, and the emperor found that the mother family of the second prince was really unbearable, and the short man was taller, and he promoted the younger brother of the precious person, Zheng Qucheng, as the county commander.

But the emperor left it behind and never remembered it again. And Zheng Qucheng is not too competitive, the performance appraisal has been mediocre, the officials saw that the emperor forgot this person, naturally they would not open the back door for him, seven years, Zheng Qucheng back and forth in the surrounding counties.

After the emperor knew Zheng Qucheng's identity, he couldn't help but think of the second prince who stayed in the capital to supervise the country, and his face was a little bad.

And Ding Tang seemed to make up his mind to make the emperor feel even worse, and said: "And the origin of Huang Bao, the minister has also found out some eyebrows in the past few days, Huang Bao entered the palace at the age of six, first worked in the imperial dining room for two years, and was transferred to the Jade Year Palace, serving the precious person for two years, after the death of the precious person, Huang Bao was transferred to the flower room, and only worked as an errand at the eldest prince five years ago." ”

The emperor's face suddenly became even worse.