At the beginning of the first month of the second year of Hongxi (the seventh year of Yongle), many government offices in Beijing suspended their offices.

There is no news of the Han rebels for the time being, and the ministers of the court estimate that the rebels will threaten the Jingshi in three months; There are also estimates of more than two months. The military department Shangshu Ruyu and others even exaggerated and said: The rebels will be in Zhili after half a month!

The important ministers of the court were very anxious at this time, but because there was no holy decree and a report from the palace, some yamen rested according to the rules. Anyway, most officials can't help at this time.

But Dali Siqing has not been idle, compared to the big things he did, the New Year's festival is also nothing. He really wants to find out what the truth is about such a serious mystery case! Xue Yan's hard work was also rewarded by the saints; The Holy Lord was very satisfied with Xue Yan's great reward, and urged Xue Yan many times to find out the truth as soon as possible without worry!

Xue Yan walked along the brick pavement towards the Chunhe Gate. The snow in Layue has gone, but the snow on the ground has not completely melted, and people walking on it make a subtle "quack" sound.

Inside the Chunwa Gate, there is the Chunwa Hall where the East Palace is located. It turns out that the owner of this place is already the current Ming Emperor, and he has long moved out of this place; Just after the New Year, the eunuch palace maid was not diligent in clearing the snow, and the embroidered hem of Xue Yan's red robe was glued with a little white snow.

Almost no foreign court ministers will come to the Chunhe Palace, and even the original East Palace officials and the place to meet the crown prince are in the Wenhua Hall in the south. Of course, Xue Yan is an exception, the Holy Lord has repeatedly issued several holy decrees recently, allowing Xue Yan to go anywhere and meet anyone!

Xue Yan walked to the Chunhe Gate, turned around and glanced at the eunuch Haitao and Tan Qing, the commander of the Jinyi Guard, and arched his hand and said, "There is a decree from the saint, so I will enter the door." The palace family has avoided it? ”

Haitao hugged his fists and said: "Xue Siqing just rest assured." ”

The real time of the death of the first emperor was not the day of the imperial court's mourning at all, but two days before. Among them, Xue Yan has been confirmed from three people: Shengshang, Haitao, and Tan Qing.

There are far more people in the know; There are also Empress Zhang, Yuan Hui, Guo Zi, the dead Jin Zhong, and the former officials of the East Palace. However, Xue Yan felt that the person with the motive to kill the monarch might have a lot of origin, so he only asked three necessary people; No one else has been alarmed yet.

The group entered the Chunhe Gate, but Xue Yan did not go to the "place where the crime occurred"; And first went to the Spring and Palace, where I often stayed when I was the crown prince.

Xue Yan walked into the main hall of the Chunhe Palace, paced in the main hall for a while, and his eyes stayed on the big chair directly north, behind a bookcase. Looking at the location, it is clear that the chair should be the place where the former crown prince used to sit.

Xue Yan walked to the side of the chair, thought about it, moved the chair, and moved another Taishi chair over. He sat down on his own.

Haitao and Tan Qing both stood silently on one side, did not stop Xue Yan, and the two of them did not say anything.

What kind of life the saint lived before he ascended the throne today, Xue Yan also heard a little. The discipline of the first emperor was indeed very severe; For a while, Imagami even reached the embarrassing situation of borrowing money everywhere to get by.

Xue Yan sat in this position and felt that this Spring and Harmony Hall gave people a very deep and silent feeling. He imagined what it would be like for a trembling prince to sit here, day after day, but precarious.

Most of the time, the crown prince does not deal with state affairs for so long; The point is that the crown prince thinks that the future will be longer...... What would the crown prince think when he sat here in such an environment and state of mind?

When speculating about the motives of all parties, Xue Yan secretly felt that the suspicion was not small! It is no wonder that the king of Han rebelled and blamed the crime of the death of the first emperor on the head of the "East Palace".

The first emperor died, and the person who could get the greatest benefit at the beginning was precisely Jinshang! The emperor died and the crown prince succeeded to the throne, the reason is as simple as that.

Of course, these are just Xue Yan's secret speculations. According to common sense, Jin Shang (Zhu Gaochi) was already the crown prince at that time, so he should not have to take the risk of doing such a big rebellion and intolerable thing

And the most unreasonable place is: if the killing of the monarch is done today, then the matter of Xue Yan's investigation of the case by the Holy Decree will not make sense at all......

Judging from the results, the King of Han also has some suspicions; Because the biggest beneficiary at the moment has become the king of Han. It's just that the Han King had to raise an army, and the risks and costs were very large, and it must be difficult to predict today's outcome. So Xue Yan didn't exclude King Han, but felt that it might be relatively small.

In addition, Xue Yan also quietly suspected the Empress Zhang! Even some of the former officials of the East Palace are also suspicious, and their motives are because the prince made mistakes, and the officials of the East Palace have been unlucky and even lost their lives! Xue Yan has been a criminal law official since the Hongwu period, and he has seen many strange cases, and there is nothing impossible in the world.

In addition to these people, Xue Yan also believes that there are at least two other kinds of people who have motives.

First, Concubine Guo, who is still locked up in Chunhe Palace. This is also the person who the Holy Lord and his henchmen are most suspicious!

Xue Yan now understands why Concubine Guo was imprisoned and the people of the Guo family were imprisoned.

According to the saint, Concubine Guo and Empress Zhang competed for favor and had a deep grudge; Concubine Guo's first child had a miscarriage, and she was blamed by the queen. Concubine Guo's motive is to be blinded by hatred, out of revenge, or to want her mother to rely on her son to defeat the current Empress Zhang...... Therefore, he wanted to poison the current prince Zhu Zhanji, but unexpectedly killed the first emperor by mistake!

Now in Xue Yan's opinion, if Concubine Guo really did this, of course she would be very stupid! However, these women, even if they are royal concubines, may not have much knowledge.

Second, the Jianwen Yu Party. After Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, the Qing Dynasty counted a lot of civil and military affairs of the Jianwen Dynasty, and it can be said that he had a deep blood feud with the Jianwen monarchs and ministers! Among them, there will inevitably be fish that have slipped through the net, infiltrating through the palace, looking for an opportunity to revenge!

But this kind of person has not been exposed so far, so people have no clue.

…… Xue Yan pondered for a while in the main hall of the Spring Harmony Hall, and then left the main hall; He asked Haitao to lead the way, and finally went to the "place where the crime occurred".

This is the experience he has gained over many years of adjudicating cases: first determine the cause of death of the victim; then clean up the victim's various personal connections, and speculate that there is a motive for the crime; At the same time, the place and process of the crime were carefully investigated, and those who had the opportunity to commit the crime were judged.

The time after the death of the first emperor is too long, and the section on "determining the cause of death" can no longer be done; The most critical person, on the day of the incident, the two medical officers who had personally diagnosed the pulse of the first emperor were wiped out in the vicissitudes of the first emperor's accession to the throne!

Haitao and others said that the medical officer was beheaded because he failed to treat the first emperor and deserved death. But Xue Yan could guess what was going on in his heart, but it was just inconvenient to say it.

At present, it can only be temporarily presumed that the cause of the emperor's death was that he was stabbed by a poisonous needle stained with the poison of a silver krait. Because the person who knows the inside story, when relaying the diagnosis of the two medical officers, the statement is consistent, and the credibility is relatively high; And in addition, Xue Yan did not have any way to prove the cause of death.

…… The place is by a pond in the Spring and Palace Palace. When Xue Yan came to the shore, he saw some willow trees planted by the pool, but at this time only bare branches remained; The surface of the pool has also frozen, and it has not melted to this day.

Xue Yan paced a few steps and saw a place by the pool where the masonry collapsed, so he pointed there and said, "It turns out that it is broken?" At that time, the eldest prince (Zhu Zhanji) and the eunuch Wang Gou'er were digging here? ”

Haitao nodded and said, "Exactly." ”

"At the time of the incident, Gonggong Hai was personally present?" Xue Yan asked.

Haitao made a reminiscence, and said after a moment: "When the slaves and maids came, the first emperor had been here for a while. At that time, the first emperor temporarily wanted to come to the East Palace, but he did not call anyone to report; After the first emperor arrived at the East Palace, the emperor (Gao Chi) came in a hurry, and the slaves and maids came later......"

Xue Yan buried his head and looked at it, and then asked: "When the eunuch Wang Gou'er went to dig in the mud, did Gonggong Hai see it with his own eyes?" Where are the others standing? ”

Haitao snorted hard and frowned, "That was the summer before last, our family...... The first emperor should be in this position; The emperor (Zhu Gaochi) and the slaves were in the north, because the emperor was in a hurry from the north. That's right! ”

Xue Yan nodded, and asked Haitao to stand in the "approximate position of the first emperor", and asked Tan Qing to stand a little to the north.

Then Xue Yan walked down from the collapsed gap, and he found a piece of masonry near the ice, and he stood there, and found that this was the only place where he could squat down and reach the water's edge. Then Xue Yan squatted on the stone, reached out and touched the ice, took out a piece of paper from his arms, and then stuffed it into his arms again.

After Xue Yan made some trivial movements, he returned to the shore and asked, "Do you know what I did just now?" ”

Haitao and Tan Qing both shook their heads and looked at Xue Yan with puzzled expressions.

Xue Yan said quietly: "I took a piece of jade pendant out of my arms......" He observed the expressions of the two of them, without questioning.

"Gonggong Hai, are you sure that the first emperor and the others are where you stand?" Xue Yan asked.

Haitao frowned and said: "The days are too long, but our family feels that I am not mistaken." ”

Xue Yan thought for a while: "Does anyone rely on the pond water station?" ”

Haitao shook his head without hesitation and said, "Our family can be sure, no!" At that time, the emperor and the emperor were both by the pool, we are slaves, we must not be very careful at this time? Beware of someone accidentally falling overboard! ”

At this time, Tan Qing asked: "Xue Siqing thinks that Wang Gou'er took advantage of the time to dig the mud?" ”

"It's possible." Xue Yan said, "The poison needle must be a premeditated arrangement, and someone has to do it." But it doesn't have to be Wang Highway 2, or it may be someone else put it in advance. Didn't you say that the eldest prince used to play with mud here in those days? ”

Tan Qing and Haitao both nodded in agreement.

"Concubine Guo is in Chunhe Palace? Can I see her? Xue Yan asked.

Haitao said: "Our family brought Xue Siqing over." ”

So the group of three left the pool, Xue Yan walked for a while, and looked back at the scene by the pool again.

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