"Xu Tingfu, what do you mean by asking? Gao'er is just a child, you are misleading him! Yuan Ziyan said dissatisfiedly.

"The old slave doesn't dare, the old slave just seeks truth from facts."

Xu Tingfu showed a touch of pride, Yang Guang was silent for a moment and asked, "Gao'er, was your Aunt Yan indoors or outdoors at that time?" ”

"There was no one in the yard at that time, I was too scared so I ran out, and when I ran to the door, I heard Aunt Yan calling me behind me, in fact, I don't know where Aunt Yan came from." Gao'er lowered her head and said in a low voice, and looked at Yuan Ziyan with a little guilt after speaking: "Aunt Yan, I'm sorry." ”

Yuan Ziyan sighed slightly, patted his little hand, and sighed: "Gao'er, what are you sorry for me, to tell the truth, you are a good boy." ”

Yuan Ziyan raised a pair of eyes full of grievances, "Your Majesty, whether you believe it or not, Ziyan will have to give up for herself." The princess is a ** concubine, and there are more than a dozen palace maids in her body, why are they missing at that hour, do you just have a chance to wait for me to start? ”

"Your Majesty, Yuan Ziyan had a motive to kill, and at the time of the incident, there was a personal witness from King Zhao that she was the only one nearby. As for the other palace people, maybe it was a coincidence, or there were other errands, the old slave suggested that Yuan Ziyan be taken into custody first and handed over to Dali Temple for review! Xu Tingfu arched his hand.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!" Yuan Ziyan immediately panicked, what kind of thing is Dali Temple, is there torture in it, will it be tortured? If Yang Guang forgets himself, won't he be unjustly killed in prison?

"Your Majesty, I definitely didn't kill anyone, I had an argument with the princess some time ago because she led everyone to fight with me, at that time, Yuwen Chengji was also present, he can testify for me!" Yuan Ziyan said with a crying voice.

It sounds very reasonable, but what is required to judge the case is evidence, although Yuan Ziyan has Li Shimin and Li Chunfeng to prove her alibi, but the three of them have a good personal relationship, which is difficult to convince, not to mention that Yang Gao's testimony is not too beneficial to her.

If this case is not convincing, then in the future, the concubines of the Hou court, including Empress Xiao, as well as the civil and military ministers, will not agree to allow a murder suspect like Yuan Ziyan to stay with Yang Guang, and the political trial is too unqualified.

"Your Majesty, can you let the minister ask a few words?" At the critical moment, Li Shimin stepped forward again.

"Okay." Yang Guang nodded.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" After Li Shimin bowed down, he came to Yang Gao, bent down, and asked in as soft a tone as possible: "May I ask Lord Zhao, just now you said that there was a little eunuch who informed Yuan Ziyan that he was arguing with the princess, have you ever seen this little eunuch before?" ”

Yang Gao recalled carefully, first nodded, and then shook his head, as if he was not too sure. Yuan Ziyan was a little anxious, and couldn't help asking, "Gao'er, have you seen it or not?" ”

"This little eunuch looks familiar, but there are many people in the palace, and I don't often go out and about, but I don't know where he is on an errand. At that time, because I was worried that Aunt Yan would be bullied, my father fell asleep again, and no one protected her, so I ran over without caring so much. Yang Gao said truthfully.

In an instant, Yuan Ziyan was moved to tears, this child is really well-behaved and sensible.

"Then, if you meet that little eunuch again, can you recognize it?" Li Shimin asked.

"Yes."

Yang Gao nodded confidently, and Yang Guang also added: "Gao'er still can't forget to read, let alone the person I just met." ”

Okay, Li Shimin turned around again, walked towards Xu Tingfu, arched his hand, and asked, "May I ask Father-in-law Xu, if I remember correctly, you also got a notice from a little eunuch, and then rushed to the princess's residence, right?" ”

"Yo, what, even I have to be interrogated?" Xu Tingfu squinted his eyes and said unhappily.

"Xu Tingfu, tell me the truth."

Yang Guang said a word, Xu Tingfu snorted, and hummed with his nose unwillingly, which can be regarded as an answer.

"As the head of the internal service, Father-in-law Xu should know who it is, why don't you call him and ask him in person?" Li Shimin asked with a smile.

"Look at what you said, this back court welcomes the send-off every year, I don't know how many faces to change, I can't remember so many people." Xu Tingfu said: "I generally know that this little eunuch serves at the princess's place, but I don't know much about what to do. ”

"Your Majesty, the minister has finished asking." Li Shimin said confidently.

Oh? Yang Guangzhi understood that this little eunuch was the key person in this case, but he still didn't understand it and asked: "Then according to your words, who is the murderer behind the scenes?" ”

"The minister doesn't know, but the minister can assert that the murderer will definitely not be the girl Ziyan, but a third person who killed the princess Niangniang, intending to frame her." Li Shimin said.

"Tell me your reasoning." Yang Guang hurriedly urged.

According to the minister's inference, this little eunuch had a very raw face, and should have been instructed by someone to secretly pay attention to the movements of the purple smoke girl, and when he got the news that he would definitely go out at night, he went to inform Zhao Wangye, so that Zhao Wangye happened to see the purple smoke girl and the princess in the same room, as His Majesty's most trusted witness. Then he went to inform Father-in-law Xu and arrested him on the spot. Li Shimin sneered after speaking, "It's just that the world is unpredictable, Miss Ziyan met me and Li Chunfeng in front of the gate of the princess's courtyard, causing Prince Zhao to find the dead body first, and Miss Ziyan arrived later." ”

"Quickly pass that eunuch!" Yang Guang frowned and gave an order, Xu Tingfu did not dare to slack off, and after several twists and turns, he also found out that the little eunuch's name was Xiao Shunzi, who was responsible for burning firewood in the princess's kitchen.

couldn't find the key person witness, which made the whole thing confusing, Yang Guang's face was very ugly, who had the audacity to kill the concubine and intend to kill others?

Of course, the more suspicious things are, the smaller Yuan Ziyan's suspicions are.

"Your Majesty, Li Gongzi's inference may be reasonable, but in fact it is very far-fetched, whether Yuan Ziyan killed the princess before Prince Zhao, or whether she herself said that she saw the princess's body afterwards, is just an inference, and there is no conclusive evidence. When Prince Zhao arrived, he had never seen the murder scene, but it could not be ruled out that Yuan Ziyan had killed the princess at that time. Xu Tingfu gritted his teeth and said.

"If it was really the Purple Smoke Girl who killed someone, of course she wanted to deal with the matter secretly, why did she implicate so many people during the period?" Li Shimin asked.

This?

Xu Tingfu was choked for a while, but he was unwilling to let Yuan Ziyan escape from responsibility, and defended: "Xu is Yuan Ziyan who wants to cover up and buy Xiao Shunzi!" Then, then he absconded with Xiao Shunzi, and it was possible to destroy his mouth together! ”

Hmph, Li Shimin showed a sneer, his voice was not loud, but the words were sound: "Father-in-law Xu, don't forget, you are the last person to see Xiao Shunzi, the purple smoke girl has no doppelganger skills, she has to stay at the scene, and at the same time she can send Xiao Shunzi away." ”

Everyone's eyes fell on Xu Tingfu, he was at odds with Yuan Ziyan on weekdays, and he had served the emperor in the palace for many years, and he had a wide range of contacts, so it was very easy to do this.

Xu Tingfu's forehead immediately sweated, pointed at Li Shimin, and said in a trembling voice: "Li Gongzi, what do you mean by this, you can't talk nonsense!" ”

"Father-in-law Xu, Shimin didn't say anything, but you, without any conclusive evidence, kept saying that the Purple Smoke Girl killed the princess, do you hope that the Purple Smoke Girl will encounter an accident so much?" Li Shimin asked rhetorically.

You! You! Xu Tingfu was very emotional, his body trembled, this is a murder charge, and then looked at Yang Guang, who was also looking at him with cold eyes, and almost fainted in front of him. If you sit still, you can only wait for death, and you have to fight back.

Xu Tingfu shook his spirits and mustered up the courage to say: "Your Majesty, no matter what, the princess is gone, Yuan Ziyan is the most suspicious, and this matter needs to be investigated in detail, and it cannot be dealt with hastily." If the old slave is also suspected, he is willing to be imprisoned together! ”

"Your Majesty, if the evidence that the minister and Li Chunfeng were with the Purple Smoke Girl at that time cannot be admitted, then the minister still has a person to prove that the Purple Smoke Girl is innocent." Li Shimin said loudly.

Oh? Everyone opened their eyes in surprise, who else could prove it? Yang Guang was also confused, raised his hand and signaled Li Shimin not to sell Guanzi, and continued.

"It's the princess herself!"

As soon as Li Shimin's voice fell, it caused a lot of commotion in the room, how could a dead person testify?

"Bold, the princess has already returned to heaven, why should you blaspheme her? Do you want to disturb the princess's soul? Xu Tingfu asked with a sharp voice.

"Hmph, the princess is really a place where the soul has no place to return!" Li Shimin glanced at Xu Tingfu with disdain and said, "Your Majesty, when the incident happened suddenly, the minister only glanced at it in a hurry, but he also found some clues. First of all, no matter why the princess's courtyard was empty at that time, but no one noticed that she was killed by a knife, this matter is still a little strange. ”

"If you say it, go on!" Yang Guang nodded.

"In addition, the princess Niangniang seems to have blood stains on her mouth and nose, and the minister boldly speculates that most of the Niangniang was poisoned or killed after being charmed." Li Shimin arched his hand.

"It's all your guess!" Xu Tingfu said sharply.

"Your Majesty, you have also commanded three armies, and you have seen countless dead people, so you should know that the deceased is still in a soft state within half an hour. But by the time I arrived, the princess's body was cold and stiff, her blood had clotted, and the hour of her death must have been more than an hour! And at that time, not only the minister and Li Chunfeng, but also many attendants around His Majesty should be able to prove that the purple smoke girl had alibi. Li Shimin said in a deep voice.

There was silence in the room, the more silent it was, the more it meant that what Li Shimin said made sense, or Yang Gao broke the situation first, shook Yang Guang's sleeve and said: "Father, Aunt Yan is kind and open-minded, how could she kill the princess?" Gao Er can also prove that there was no quarrel about Aunt Yan and Princess Niangniang at that time. ”