Compared with the hunger and cold in Pingzhou, the capital is a joyful scene. In the New Year, Emperor Liang usually held a New Year's banquet in Chengyuan Palace, and after the New Year, it was the thirtieth year of Emperor Liang's reign.

At the beginning of the lanterns, the singing and dancing were leveled, and several princes and civil and military officials above the fifth rank were seated in order. On the stage, the maids danced ethereally, the musicians played hard, and the inner supervisors shuttled back and forth like fish between the banquets. Emperor Liang sat down in the middle of the main hall, the left and right were accompanied by Concubine Jingjia and Concubine Min, the right hand side of Emperor Liang was the prince, King Xiang, and King Ling, and the left hand side was King Yu, King Zhuang, Princess Yunxuan. The New Year's Banquet is also a family banquet, so every year Emperor Liang will let all the princes and princesses attend.

After the dance, the prince stood up first, raised his glass with both hands and said: "Erchen wishes my father Emperor Long good health, and the society will be peaceful all over the world!" ”

"Okay, good......" Emperor Liang smiled and narrowed his eyes.

"The crown prince said the wishes of his sons, and even so, the ministers there will respect their fathers and emperors together!" King Xiang naturally would not be left behind on such an important occasion, and at the same time swept the corner of his eye over the corners of his eyes to several princes and princesses present.

"The fifth brother is right, the sons and daughters should also respect their father!" Princess Yunxuan first responded to King Xiang, and in this way, King Ling, King Yu and King Zhuang also stood up and toasted.

"Well, I am glad to see that your brothers are in harmony." Saying that, Emperor Liang raised a glass of wine in front of the table and was about to drink it, but this simple action Emperor Liang did not do well, and his hands couldn't stop shaking, if it wasn't close to Emperor Liang, ordinary people wouldn't be able to see it, but this detail did not escape the eyes of the prince, King Xiang and King Ling. Concubine Jingjia raised her hand to support Emperor Liang, and said angrily: "Your Majesty, let the concubines come, take care of the dragon's body." ”

On this night, not only was the palace lively, but the families of ordinary people were also gathered by relatives and friends, and they were happy, but everyone knew that there was a bloody incident in an inn in the city, and the fireworks on Chinese New Year's Eve covered the bloody scene, and people's laughter drowned out the screams.

On the first day of the new year, the capital has not yet fully woken up, and last night Jingzhao Yin Yandi, who had just received food from the emperor, was wearing clothes under the service of his wife, and he heard the government arrest the situation of the head field in a panic.

"What the hell is going on? The first day of the new year was so panicked! "Yan Di has always been steady, he has been sitting in Jing Zhaoyin for eight years, since he took office, although the capital is also turbulent, especially after last year's Beijing test fraud case, he still sits firmly in Jing Zhaoyin's position, last night he entered the palace as usual to participate in the New Year's banquet and was given food by Emperor Liang, what makes him even more proud is that his son Yan Keran is from Qingshan Academy, and now he has become the captain of the Imperial Forest Guard.

"My lord, something is wrong!"

There is an inn called Huiyou in the Shijing District, with a small door and a small face, although the location is also next to the most famous Silk Willow Lane in the capital, but the business has always been salty and light, and it has never attracted people's attention, but what I didn't expect was that its fame was due to the bloody case on Chinese New Year's Eve. When Tian Guo arrived at the scene, he saw that the shopkeeper and his wife had not recovered from the shock, their faces were like ashes and their expressions were in a trance. I guess I've never seen a murder scene before! Tian Guo thought so, and it was difficult to ask anything at the moment, so he took his work upstairs by himself.

The murder scene was in a room on the second floor of the inn closest to the north, and the door had been opened at this time, and at a glance, Tian was also stunned, he had never seen such a bloody scene in more than ten years: the room, doors and windows, walls, tables, chairs, and beds were all splashed with blood, and different parts of the human body were scattered in the small room, such as heads, stumps, and broken legs...... The smell of blood went straight to his nose, and even the man with many years of experience in autopsies couldn't help but gag, and Tian Guo tried his best to restrain himself so that he didn't vomit.

No wonder the shopkeeper and his wife are like dead people, this kind of scene is difficult to bear for anyone, who is the hand, what is the deep hatred to be so cruel? For a while, all kinds of questions poured into Tian Shi's mind, and he knew that something was wrong, this case was very tricky, and he had to report it to Lord Yan immediately.

"What?!" Yan Di was also surprised after listening to Tian Qian's narration, such a case occurred at the feet of the dignified imperial capital and the Son of Heaven, and it was on the first day of the new year. "Is there any news?"

"Before the subordinates came to the government, they were still conducting autopsies, and at present, they can only preliminarily distinguish that the victims are two people, which should be ...... It's all men. Only an hour has passed since the incident, and Tian Guo has already told Yan Di everything he knows and guesses.

"Notify Dali Temple immediately!"

"The subordinates have already sent someone to inform them, and Dali Temple should have sent someone to the scene of the murder at this moment."

Yan Di felt that the case happened on Chinese New Year's Eve, and it was difficult to say that it was accidental, and he had to go to the scene in person. After putting on the official uniform, he met Yan Keran, who made an exception and returned home on annual leave.

"Father, where are you going?"

"There was a murder in the capital last night, it was at the Huiyou Inn, the scene was very bloody, I have to go and see!"

"I'll go with my father!"

Yan Di looked at the son in front of him and nodded.

The capital has always been the place where all kinds of news flow the fastest, and before a day, the Chinese New Year's Eve bloody case has been passed through the word of mouth of the people in Pingtou and has become the most concerned topic of conversation in the New Year. Naturally, the emperor's relatives, princes and generals also knew about the case. However, Emperor Liang, as the lord of a country, didn't know it, and was lying comfortably in the bedroom of the lady at the moment.

"Concubine Ai's incense today seems to be a little different from the past......" Emperor Liang said lazily with his eyes closed.

"Your Majesty's nose is really spiritual, the incense burned today is indeed not used by the concubines, but the benzoin that the prince gave to His Majesty a few days ago. It seems that His Majesty has a nose, but his memory is not good! Lady Ying said angrily.

"Oh?" Emperor Liang opened his eyes and said with a smile: "Then I really forgot, it's just you, dare to say that." ”

"That's not because Your Majesty is tolerant, so the concubine dared to say that."

"I just like your little temper!" Saying that, he rubbed the Yingshuren who was beating Emperor Liang's back, and was about to kiss her face, Yingshuren gently stopped her with her hand, and said: "Your Majesty, yesterday was to stay in the concubine's dormitory, and today is the first day of the new year. ”

"That's what I said, then help me up."

"The emperor has arrived!"

When Emperor Luan of Liang arrived at Zhanghan Palace, Concubine Jingjia and the crown prince, King Xiang, King Yu, King Ling, King Zhuang, and Princess Yunxuan were already waiting.

"Sons and daughters, please greet my father! Long live the father, long live, long live! ”

"Okay, okay, I know your intentions, and there are no outsiders today, so don't be so formal." Emperor Liang sat down slowly with the support of Concubine Jingjia, and at the same time waved his hand to let the princes and princesses sit down.

"Erchen recently heard that my father couldn't sleep at night, and I sent benzoin a few days ago, I wonder if my father is okay after using it?" The prince was the first to speak.

"Well, I used it, the benzoin effect is really good, I have slept much more steadily these days, the prince is very attentive!"

The prince's joy was beyond words, and he hurriedly said modestly: "The son's ability is limited, and he can't share his father's worries, so he can only do his best." ”

"The crown prince Hugh wants such words, you are the prince! In the future, this big beam of the world still needs you to inherit it, how can you say that your ability is limited! Obviously, Emperor Liang was a little displeased.

The crown prince wanted to be modest, but he didn't expect Emperor Liang to make a big fuss, so he had to hurriedly admit his mistake, "What my father said is that his son knows that he is wrong." The reason why Daliang can have today is because of his father, and his sons and ministers will do their best in the future, so that Daliang can enjoy peace forever! ”

"The prince is full of words, right?" King Ling was very unaccustomed to the prince's coy attitude, "My father is indeed exhausted for the sake of the Great Liang, but now that the strength of the Tang Dynasty and Xiliang is growing, and I am eyeing the Great Liang, how can it be said that I will enjoy peace forever?" My father has always taught us to be born in sorrow and die in peace, hasn't the prince forgotten his father's earnest teachings? ”

Seeing that King Ling led himself into such an unbearable situation, he was very angry, and because Emperor Liang was not allowed to attack, he had to pretend to be the tolerant attitude of the eldest brother, "Where did the seventh brother say, the teachings of the father, how dare you forget it?" The peaceful and prosperous world has always been the most desired by my father and the emperor and the people in the world, and I should take it as my own responsibility. ”

"The prince really has the world in mind, I wonder if the prince has heard of the Chinese New Year's Eve bloody case?" King Ling took the opportunity to bring out this case that had just happened for half a day.

The prince looked confused, but Emperor Liang asked first: "What Chinese New Year's Eve bloody case?" Yun Rui, you tell me more. ”

"Yes, Father. Erchen also met Lord Jingzhao Yin Yan before entering the palace today, and heard him talk about this matter, it was in an inn near Siliu Lane in Shijing District, there was a bloody case last night, blood was splashed all over the house, and the victim was also dismembered, the scene was very bloody! After all, it was in the inner palace, and King Ling did not say the details, but passed the scene in one stroke. But even so, it still caused a lot of panic, Concubine Jingjia and Princess Yunxuan both covered their mouths with their hands, their faces were full of horror, and several princes were also surprised, especially the crown prince was so shocked that he couldn't come back to his senses for a while.

"Is there such a thing?!" Emperor Liang reigned for thirty years, and he personally interrogated about no more and no fewer cases, and it was the first time I heard of such a cruel case, "Last night was Chinese New Year's Eve, and there were people so arrogant in the capital of Yuan!" ”

"Father is angry, the dragon body is important, this case sounds appalling, Jing Zhaoyin will naturally deal with it." King Xiang hurriedly showed a look of concern.

"When Erchen entered the palace, he met Lord Yan and Shaoqing of Dali Temple." When King Ling said this, he casually glanced at King Xiang.

"For such a murderous case, Jing Zhaoyin and the master of Dali Temple are duty-bound. On the third day of the New Year's holiday, Lord Yan will definitely report to his father as soon as possible. Seeing that the atmosphere was a little depressing, King Zhuang hurriedly came out to ease up.

"Erchen also believes that there are Jing Zhaoyin and Dali Temple, and this case will definitely be solved!" King Ling seemed to be very concerned about this case.

"Your Majesty, today is the day of our family reunion, talk about yourself, don't be disturbed by this bloody case!" Concubine Jingjia watched King Ling expand this matter more and more, and looked for an opportunity to divert Emperor Liang's attention.

"Yes, father, my son-in-law doesn't want to hear about such bloody cases anymore." Princess Yunxuan echoed.

"What the concubine said is, don't mention this matter for the time being, Yun Rui, since you brought it up, this case will be handed over to you to deal with." Emperor Liang waved his hand.

"Yes, Erchen should do his best!" After receiving the order, King Ling peeked at the prince, and his eyes were full of slaughter, but the prince was still ignorant.

When Yan Di's father and son arrived at the scene, Dali Siqing and Shaoqing had already begun to investigate the scene of the murder.

"Qingyuan!" Yan Keran saw Mu Qingyuan squatting on the ground at a glance, and when he heard someone calling him, Mu Qingyuan looked back and saw his classmates, and his expression relaxed a lot, "You are here too?" ”

"I was going to Hanzhou to take office, but the emperor allowed me to leave after my annual leave, but I didn't expect to hear that there was a murder, so I asked my father to allow me to come over to see if I could help." Mu Qingyuan explained.

"I'm similar to you, so what did you find?"

"Look"

The scene of blood staining the ground and stumps scattered all over the ground still made both of them stand up hairs.

Mu Qingyuan pointed to the scene of the crime and analyzed: "You see, the room is not big, but the furnishings are still basically placed in the original position, the most terrible thing is the mutilated corpse, but the other corpse is only missing a leg, according to the innkeeper's record, there are two people living in this room, so the other limbs at the scene should belong to another person." ”

"That's true, I was shocked by this bloody scene just now, and I didn't even find such an obvious situation." Yan Keran looked at Mu Qingyuan with some admiration, but the latter did not respond, but instead approached the relatively complete corpse.

"Ke Ran, come and see, the clothes on the wound on the chest of this corpse are wet."

"What's so special about that?"

"Don't you think it's strange that the rest of his clothes are either dry or soaked in blood, but the wound on his chest seems to be soaked with water?"

"You kind of think you say that, but what does that mean?"

"I can't figure it out yet."

"Qingyuan, don't destroy the scene, leave the matter of examining the corpse to you!" Mu Jin reminded.

"Yes, Dad!"

"Let's go outside and have a look."

Yan Keran pulled Mu Qingyuan to a well in the backyard of the inn, this four-sided inn just surrounded an empty courtyard in the middle, there was a well in the middle of the yard, it had snowed a few days ago, and the ground was still covered with snow at this time.

"Qingyuan come and have a look!"

Mu Qingyuan followed the direction of Yan Keran's finger and saw that there was a cross-shaped cross mark left on the snow not far from the wellhead, which was very abrupt in the courtyard where there were almost no footprints.

"This ...... It looks like something was once placed here, and the snow was still very soft at that time, leaving traces. ”

Yan Keran measured the size with his fingers and said, "The longer side is the length of half an arm, and the shorter one is less than half the length of the long side." ”

"What do you think this could be an indentation?"

Yan Keran stood beside Mu Qingyuan, the two of them left the indentation a little distance, and began to look at the traces comprehensively, the more they looked, the more familiar they felt, but for a while, they couldn't remember what was similar in shape.

"Do you think this has anything to do with this murder?"

"No matter how you find the clues, you should record them carefully, maybe it's the key to solving the case, or report to Dali Temple."

"Sure enough, there is Uncle Mu's demeanor, it seems that the position of Shaoqing of Dali Temple is a successor!"

"As the captain of the Imperial Palace Guard, I am still in the mood to joke at this kind of murder scene, and I am also admired, and I deserve to be the eldest son of Yan."

King Ling's style of acting has never been vigorous and resolute, but he is not dragging his feet either, and he came to Jingzhaoyin's mansion the next day after leaving the palace.

"Lord Yan" King Ling had no good impression of Jing Zhaoyin, who had always been upright and never chose to stand on the side, so he got straight to the point, "Let's talk about the clues found at the scene of the murder first." ”

"Yes," Yan Di began to give a detailed introduction to the clues he currently had in front of the Ling King, "On the one hand, the lower officials sent people to interrogate the couple, and on the other hand, they were also investigating the suspicious people who had appeared in Siliu Lane before Chinese New Year's Eve. After a thorough investigation of the inn's accommodation records, it was found that two people stayed in the room where the murder occurred, named Li Xi and Dong Bi, both from Pingzhou. His Royal Highness King Ling, this is the physical evidence found at the scene yesterday. ”

King Ling took the two copper nameplates presented by Yan Di is a nameplate made by Daliang to mark the identity of the military rank, made of brass, half the size of a palm, engraved with the name on the front, and engraved with the army placement and rank on the back, which can only be owned by people with the rank of lieutenant colonel or above in the Liang Army.

"Hean Army?"

"That's right, Xiaguan was also a little surprised yesterday, after all, the Ping'an Army is the prince's army, and it has been stationed in Anping County, fifty miles outside the capital, and the captain is also the lowest military rank that can have a title, according to the laws of the Great Liang, you are not allowed to enter Beijing without a decree during the New Year's Festival. If you want to continue the investigation, you must first report the matter to the emperor. ”

"Lord Yan is thoughtful, but the father has already handed over this case to the king with full powers, so there is no need for Lord Yan to bother to ask the emperor for an order, as long as Lord Yan fully cooperates with the king's investigation."

"Yes, Jing Zhaoyin will definitely try his best to assist His Royal Highness King Ling!"

Prince? The Heian Army? Thinking that the case might involve the East Palace, King Ling clenched the title card in his hand.

On the third day of the new year, in the prince's mansion, the prince was strolling in the garden and chatting with the princess. Suddenly, the old slave in charge of the prince's mansion hurried over.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, there is news from the palace!"

"Oh? If there is any news, let's hear it. ”

"Today, His Royal Highness King Ling entered the palace to ask for an order, and entered the Ping'an Army to investigate the Chinese New Year's Eve bloody case, and His Majesty has approved it."

"What? How did King Ling's investigation find out the head of the prince's subordinate army! ”

"According to King Ling, the military rank plates were found on the bodies of the two dead men, and they were engraved with the captains of the Heian Army, so King Ling hopes to enter the barracks to investigate and clear the suspicion of His Royal Highness the Prince."

"It's a good one to clear the suspicion, it's good if he doesn't bother to find fault, it's a nice word!"

"I heard that His Majesty also rewarded King Ling, saying that King Ling did not forget to share the emperor's worries during the New Year's Festival, and personally went to the army to investigate the case."

"So, King Ling has already set off?"

"Exactly!"

"I can act! If you want to check the prince's subordinate army, you don't even say hello in advance, the seventh child is ruthless enough, will you enter the palace to face the saint? Prepare a horse for the prince, and the prince will also enter the palace! At this time, the prince was so angry that he wanted to run to the palace immediately to reason.

"Your Highness, I can't help it!" It was the crown princess who spoke, "Since Your Majesty has given permission to His Royal Highness King Ling to investigate the case, what His Royal Highness should do is to cooperate, and it is absolutely not appropriate to enter the palace to argue at this time, otherwise the case has not yet begun to be investigated, His Royal Highness will obstruct it, what will happen in His Majesty's opinion?" ”

The crown princess's words made the prince suddenly realize, "That's right, otherwise my father would think that this prince is involved, Xiru, thanks to you, otherwise I would really be calculated by the seventh child!" ”

"Your Highness, at this time, in addition to making a cooperative gesture to show Your Majesty, you can't let King Ling investigate at will in the army, and you have to notify the army as soon as possible, so that people can take precautions as soon as possible. On the other hand, send someone to inform the concubine's father in case of emergency. "Compared with the recklessness of the crown prince, the crown princess is obviously more cautious and thoughtful.

"Makes sense! The old man immediately informed Zhou Xunliang and asked him to help King Ling investigate the case! The last few words were bitten out of the prince's mouth one by one.