On the fifth day of the third year of the first month of the third year of Da Chu Chenghe, the eastern capital of the east city, Tai'an Fang, Mao

In the middle of winter, the cold wind swept through the eastern capital of Chu State.

Xiao Chongguang stood in front of a carriage, lifted the curtain, and looked at the corpse of a middle-aged man curled up in the carriage in front of him.

He touched the terrible wound on his throat and said: "The deceased was pierced by a sword in the throat, and he was killed instantly, the murderer is very sophisticated, the murderer is not a master of martial arts training in the green forest, or the kind of assassin who is specially hired by his employer, and the time of death is probably the first ugly hour. ”

As Xiao Chongguang spoke, the young man standing behind him wrote it down in a small notebook, which will be used as a record for the analysis of the crime scene in the future.

The young man was dressed in black clothes and black armor, wearing a black gauze crown on his head, and a sword at his waist, as if he were a member of the government.

In addition to this young man, there were fifteen people dressed exactly the same around him - they were all guards of the forbidden army, the department in charge of the assassination case, and Xiao Chongguang was the head of the guard. Of course, there were also the servants of the Yamen in the capital and a group of onlookers from afar.

It turned out that in today's Yinshi, there was a night watchman who found a parked carriage on the side of the street at the east end of Tai'an Fangfang in the West City, although it was snowing, it was still vaguely recognizable. The watchman was very strange, so he went up with a lantern to check, and was not small to see, only to see a coachman with a bridle in his hand, covered in blood, dead on horseback.

The old man who beat the guard was so frightened that he ran to report to the official in a panic, and the Jingshi Yamen immediately sent someone to block the scene, and found that in addition to the coachman, there was also a purple-robed man in the car who was also stabbed to death.

The murder of the court officials was a big case, and Jingzhao Yin Guo Siyuan immediately reported it to the imperial court, and the emperor personally issued an order to order the forbidden army to investigate the case thoroughly.

The forbidden army is divided into three guards, the Inner Guard Mansion is in charge of the security in the palace, the Wuwei Mansion is in charge of the security of the imperial city outside the palace, and the Tiwei Mansion is responsible for guarding the safety of the twelve squares in the east and west of the imperial capital outside the imperial city.

Xiao Chongguang stood up, the orange warm sun illuminated his face, this was a young man of about twenty-seven or eighteen years old, although he was young, it was difficult to hide the vicissitudes and majesty of his body, and the tenacity in his eyes was even more than his peers.

He went to see the carriage and the body of the coachman, looked around, and then said: "The situation at that time should be that Lord Liu took a carriage from Tai'an Fang to Shengpingfang in Dongshi, where his mansion is located, the killer suddenly appeared from the entrance of the fang, jumped into the carriage, cut the neck of the horseman with a knife, and killed him on the spot, the murderer did not stop his hands and feet, immediately rushed into the car, killed Lord Liu Yuanzhen, after the assassination was successful, the murderer in order not to leave footprints and we identified the direction to leave, then climbed the street parapet, walked over the roof, you can send someone to check the surrounding roofs, although it snows, However, there are still traces of movement on the roof tiles. ”

Geng Hui, who was recording on the side, asked, "Xiao Tou'er, what is the motive for the killing?" Also, Lord Liu didn't stay at home honestly last night, what did he do in this Tai'an Fang? ”

"Who can tell this at a glance?" Xiao Chongguang glanced at him, "Liu Yuanzhen, as the middle prince of the imperial history, assists the imperial historian to supervise the affairs of hundreds of officials, and the relationship between the officials of the court and the Chinese government is complicated, and I don't know who he offended and caused such a murderous disaster?" Xiao Chongguang frowned slightly, "However, since the murderer can accurately know Liu Yuanzhen's whereabouts, he can definitely have nothing to do with the people in the court." As for who it is, and who knows where he went yesterday, I'm afraid I have to go to Liu's Mansion and Yushitai to investigate. ”

When Geng Hui heard this, his face suddenly turned pale and said: "Xiao Tou'er, you have to be cautious, the water in the imperial court is very muddy, but don't ask about any trouble, you know, the prime minister and the prime minister in this imperial history are ······."

Before Geng Hui finished speaking, Xiao Chongguang slapped him on the head with a "bang", and then pinched his shoulder and lowered his voice: "Say what should be said, and swallow back what shouldn't be said!" The emperor directly ordered me to supervise the case, and whoever stops or meddles in this matter is disobeying the order, you know? ”

Geng Hui nodded again and again: "My subordinates understand." ”

Xiao Chongguang let go of his hand and patted his face gently: "You are also a veteran who has been with me for three years, why are you still so unguarded." ”

Geng Hui said embarrassedly: "Xiao Tou'er, you also know that I have been handling some petty thieves since I joined the guard, and suddenly such a big case came, and it was related to the imperial court. Don't worry, boss, I will talk less and do more things in the future. ”

Geng Hui, the secretary of his hand, is only twenty years old, relatively small, the youngest in Tiwei, and he is also very obedient and sensible, so Xiao Chongguang has always asked him to make inquest records by his side.

At this time, a Tiwei guard ran over and saluted with his crossed hands: "Xiao Tou'er, the people from the Spiegel Division are here." ”

Xiao Chongguang snorted coldly: "The nosy man is here." ”

The Spiegel Division is the special supervision officials of the Chu Emperor, as well as the investigation and handling of secret cases and the protection of the imperial power, which is directly controlled by the Chu Emperor, and only obeys the orders of the Chu Emperor, does not involve or meddle in other affairs of the court, and has the right to act cheaply.

As he spoke, a man in Tsing Yi with a beard and a literati dress walked towards Xiao Chongguang with five guards wearing silver armor, silver helmets, black cloaks, and sharp knives at their waists.

Sogo squeezed out a smile and crossed his hands and said, "It's rare that Hu Zhangshi came to see Xiao Mou's case early this morning." ”

Hu Yingtang, the head of the Spiegel Division, chuckled and crossed his hands and said: "I came here this time to be ordered by He Sicheng to help Lord Xiao supervise the assassination of Liu Zhongcheng. ”

Xiao Chongguang said with a smile: "Is Hu Zhangshi in the wrong place, this case does not seem to be within the scope of the investigation and handling of the case by the Spiegel Division." ”

Hu Yingtang said: "One of the duties of the Spiegel Division is to supervise hundreds of officials, and now some officials in the DPRK and China have been assassinated, and it still happened in the eastern capital at the feet of the Son of Heaven, which is the negligence of my Spiegel Division, and I should bear this responsibility, and the Spiegel Division also has the duty of guarding, and now that His Majesty's safety is threatened, it is difficult for the Spiegel Division to stay out of the matter anyway." ”

Xiao Chongguang frowned deeply and said: "Lord Hu's words are inappropriate, if this supervision and guard position is all occupied by your Mingjing Division, then what is the use of Yushitai and our Praetorian Guard?" Could it be that Lord Hu is ridiculing us for not doing things well, and we can't do dry food? ”

When Hu Yingtang heard this, he pretended to be serious and said: "Lord Xiao's words are wrong, Hu didn't say so, in addition to supervising hundreds of officials, Yushitai also has to supervise the affairs of so many officials, where can they be busy." As for the guards, the Praetorian Guards and the Twelve Guards are to protect the Imperial City, and our Spiegel Division is dedicated to protecting the Emperor. Now that there is a problem in the official court, it will inevitably implicate the saint, shouldn't our Spiegel Division stand up to investigate and deal with this case and give His Majesty a peace? You can rest assured, our Spiegel Division has always abided by the rules, regarding our participation in this case, He Sicheng has already played, and Lord Xiao will receive the Holy Providence tomorrow morning. ”

Xiao Chongguang knew that the Spiegel Division was determined to participate in this matter, they had the emperor's support behind them, not to mention that he was just a chief of the guard, even the current prince was afraid of them, it was really hard to say anything, so he could only say coldly: "Please Lord Hu take care of himself." Then he turned around and left.

Geng Hui followed and asked in a low voice, "Xiao Tou'er, what kind of trouble did they come over to make trouble?" ”

Xiao Chongguang said with a blushing face: "I don't know, you don't inquire, anyway, it's not a good thing for the Spiegel Division to come, as long as you don't disturb me to handle the case." Ah Hui, you go and ask those messengers to carry the corpse back to the yamen's workshop, and the carriage as evidence for the investigation, and ask them to take it back with them. ”

"Whoa."

To the night of the East Capital East City Qingpingfang Cuiting Zhai

Sogo walked into the room facing the lake on the second floor, only to see Lu Yunsheng wearing a light blue fox fur robe, holding a white porcelain cup, sitting slightly drunk on the mat covered with mink, he knew that he had to take off his shoes when he entered the room, and he deliberately wore a pair of warm silk stockings, not far from the mat There was a copper stove full of charcoal for heating, and there was a low table in front of him, on which there was a wine jug, an empty cup, a plate of cut beef and two pairs of bamboo chopsticks, and there were five gauze lamps in the room, which made the room look very bright.

"I'm not here to drink, why are you dressed so seriously?" Lu Yunsheng said with a smile.

Lu Yunsheng is the deputy chief of the guard, eight feet tall, with a face like white jade, sword eyebrows, and looks like a scholar, but he is decisive in his work, thoughtful, and his ability to do things is no worse than Xiao Chongguang.

"When such a big thing happens, you're still in the mood to drink?"

Xiao Chongguang took off his boots and knelt on the mat, Yunsheng chuckled and poured wine for him: "I know everything today." Still angry? ”

Xiao Chongguang snorted coldly and said, "He Mingjing really regards himself as the 'governor of the capital', and he is monitoring our guards in the name of participating in solving the case." Do you remember the last imperial grain fire case? It was because they were in the way of the perpetrators that the perpetrators had absconded, so that the man had not been arrested until now, and His Majesty had severely blamed me for this matter. Now that this case is being mixed up again, I don't know when it will be over? With that, he took a sip of the wine in his cup.

Lu Yunsheng smiled and said: "The Spiegel Division is the eyes and ears of the emperor to supervise officials, and besides, we are handling cases in the imperial capital, so it is normal for them to intervene, and I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing." ”

"Oh?" Xiao Chongguang raised his eyebrows, "How do you say this?" ”

"The assassination of an official is already tricky, and it is difficult to solve the case without a brow. First of all, it is certain that Liu Yuanzhen was killed by a professional assassin, and the assassin was hired by his employer to do things and never ask why, so even if we find the murderer, I am afraid it will be difficult to find out who is behind the scenes. ”

Lu Yunsheng paused, drank a glass of wine, and then said: "Originally, this kind of thing was the sole responsibility of our Tiwei, but now there are Jingshi Yamen and Mingjing Division to jump into the fire pit together, in case the case cannot be solved by then, the emperor blames it, and they share some black pots, we Tiwei will not be able to receive less punishment, just like you said about the fire case, it is a big crime for the imperial grain to be burned, but Your Majesty just scolds you, which can be seen." I've heard that Spiegel has also been fined for several months for this incident. Therefore, whether this case can be solved or not, we will not suffer much loss. ”

When Xiao Chongguang heard this, he pondered for a moment and said slowly: "Although what you said makes sense, since this case has been taken over by our guards, it will definitely not be easily settled, and there is still an explanation." ”