When I walked into the palace of the Queen Mother, the Queen Mother had just changed her clothes, was sorting out her clothes, and stood under the camellia tree in the courtyard.

Now it is said that this tree is a proof of the emperor's favor for the queen mother, so she planted it for her with her own hands, and she transplanted this tree from Luoyang to here, but she didn't expect this tree to grow more luxuriantly here.

I don't like this camellia tree in the Empress Dowager's palace very much, because, as the niece of the first emperor and empress, I know what happened between them. Maybe after twenty or thirty years, the people who know these things are almost dead, and this tree will be very convincing if it stands here again. But the Queen Mother liked this tree very much, and I asked for an after-the-law, and the Queen Mother beckoned me to pass.

So the two of us stood under the tree, and the Queen Mother looked sideways, looked at me, and then smiled, "Look at your confused look, I really don't know what's going on." ”

"The affairs of the harem are all in your hands, and the sons and daughters naturally don't know what happened." My voice is not high, this is what my aunt taught me, no matter what happens, don't be impatient first.

"Yes, these things have indeed been managed by this palace, but there are some things that you also need to know." The Queen Mother turned around and looked at me, her eyes sank, no longer as loving and completely alienated as before, but a cold gaze, which made my heart tighten, and I couldn't help but lower my head. ”

"In the past, this palace only used to be looking for an opportunity to fight back, and it has been reported that as soon as the palace opened from Luoyang, it was a matter of choosing a concubine for His Majesty. But after a few years, I found that you are really just lazy, taking care of your own one-third of an acre of land, acting as a faction and saying that it is the queen, and even the wife of everyone can't do it. "The Queen Mother hated me as a picture of iron but not steel, but I continued to disagree" My aunt told me from her own experience that even if you are generous and virtuous, you will not necessarily have a good death. ”

"Your aunt is generous and virtuous?" The Queen Mother couldn't help laughing, and didn't say anything, but just said to me, "So many things have happened, if you don't know it, it's really a big mistake." You think you can protect your child, but if one day, you find that you don't have a piece of driftwood around you, and you yourself are already in the ocean, so you can't blame anyone else. ”

I nodded, "I'm not here to see you, the Queen Mother." ”

"Let's go, let's come in and talk." With that, the Queen Mother led the way, and I entered her inner room.

The Queen Mother found a lot of things, and as soon as I came in, Xue Cui had already prepared everything and put it in front of my eyes. I picked up one at random, and it was a testimony about Yuelan's incident.

"Look" The Queen Mother seemed to be a little tired from standing in the courtyard, raised her legs and sat on the couch on the side, I looked at the paper on the paper, this is the testimony of the palace maid Yuan'er in the small garden in the west and the flower room.

Because of the heavy rain that night, she didn't worry about the bird's tongue wood that had just been taken out of the flower room during the day, so even if it was the third watch, she still braved the rain to get up and move the flowers, and saw Yuelan running from the path outside the West Garden to the queen, that is, my palace, and then I didn't see her come out again. Just after she finished moving the flowers, on the way from the flower house, on the way back to where she lived, she saw a woman in dark clothes and a cloak, carrying a lantern, from the Huayu Palace in the north, and also in the direction of my palace.

"Look at this time difference, when Yuelan comes out of my palace, she will definitely meet this woman wearing dark clothes and a cloak, that is to say, this woman is the last person Yuelan saw before she threw herself into the water. Then this person must be..."

"That's right, let's look at the testimony below." The Queen Mother nodded with satisfaction and let me continue to look down.

I turned a page, this is the testimony of Xi'er, the palace maid of the imperial dining room, because Xuecai people have to get up early to drink chicken soup, so Xi'er four watches just after a little bit, she got up and boiled the chicken soup, just in the imperial dining room The chicken killed is gone, so she went to the chicken coop in the backyard, caught two hens, and was ready to go back to kill, just like this, I saw a woman in black, walking on the bridge in front of her with a lantern, because the rain had stopped at that time, the woman still slipped on the bridge, almost fell, the next day, When Xi'er crossed the bridge to deliver chicken soup in the Xuecai Palace, she picked up a bead flower on the bridge, and thought that the woman in black fell when she slid it.

I picked up the beads on the table and took a closer look, this is a very ordinary thick bead that is not much bigger than a grain of rice, a bead hairpin strung on a golden butterfly, and the more decent palace maids have it, and the concubine wears less, after all, such a small bead, worn on the head, is also a joke.

"This Xi'er..."

"That's right, it's the maid of the imperial dining room who recently reported her violent death. You also said that she served Zhao'er's food and asked her not to die of illness again. The Queen Mother glanced at me lightly, that look was simply reprimanding my coldness, I knew about this stubble, I sighed and asked, "Since there is this testimony, does it mean that this palace maid is still alive?" ”

"Nature is alive. Someone put alum sand in this girl's diet, this thing is non-toxic, it is used to mix in lime to repair the cracks in the house, but when it is eaten in the stomach, it will stimulate the intestines, and finally the intestines will be blocked and die. It's just that this girl said that she was clever, she wore the pearl flower she picked up, walked around, and was targeted by the murderer, so she would kill her. Let's say that she is not clever, because she is a bricklayer who repairs the house, she has been exposed to this thing since she was a child, so she just put the soup to her mouth, and she smelled the smell of alum sand, so she didn't dare to eat it, and she didn't make a noise, and when she was in a trance, she met Xuecui, so she fell into my palace, and finally had this testimony. "The Queen Mother explained all this to me" After hearing these things, the palace felt that there was something wrong with this matter, so he paid attention to it, and let the royal dining room Bao Xi'er die violently, so that she was spared. ”

I heard the Queen Mother say this matter so clearly, I knew that I was closed to the news, and my eyes were blind to such a point, and said, "Therefore, this woman in black, from the maid of the flower room from the third watch to the fourth watch when Xi'er met her, this is close to an hour, and the trace appeared, so Yuelan was killed in this hour." Therefore, when she came from my palace and went back from the back of the imperial dining room on the bridge where she delivered food to the concubines, the place where she would pass was naturally the north bank of the liquid pool. She is the murderer" After my speculation and evidence, I came to the conclusion that Yuelan was killed by this woman in black.

"Yes, it is true" The Queen Mother also agreed with this statement.

"Then, the only clue now is that the woman in black returned to the harem through the path of food delivery, and this pearl flower that many people have." I shook the featureless bead flower in my hand, but because of a detail, I paused, "I recognize this bead flower." ”

"Oh?" The clues of the Queen Mother are also broken here, I must know this bead flower, and I came to the spirit again, I took the bead flower to the Queen Mother, "Niangniang, you see, there is a seal here, this is something from Shaohua Pavilion." "I pointed out to the Queen Mother a seal under the butterfly's wings, which was not as big as a grain of rice, and I thought she couldn't see it, but she saw this notch-like place at a glance." Because the beads fell and threw the jewels off. ”

"It was because the gem was dropped that this seal was revealed. This Shaohua Pavilion is the largest jewelry shop in Jinling. The jewelry is rich in patterns and good quality, and it is sought after by the nobles of Jinling. But in recent years, there are a lot of imitations of Shaohua Pavilion on the market, the production is rough, it is completely according to the original mold to not say, the quality is very poor, there is a noble girl and the ceremony, with the hairpin sideburns of Shaohua Pavilion, the hairpin is also broken, leading to the noble girl's home to find the door. Since then, Shaohua Pavilion will carve a secret check behind the jewelry produced by itself, as long as you have doubts about the jewelry in your hand, you can take the jewelry to Shaohua Pavilion, these secret tips are there, only the masters of Shaohua Pavilion know, it seems that the secret check of this bead flower is in this place. As I spoke, I pointed to the words "Shaohua Pavilion" in this small groove, and determined that this was a pearl flower from Shaohua Pavilion.

"If you know where it comes from, it's good." The Queen Mother looked at it, and sure enough, she saw the three words of Shaohua Pavilion, and said to Xue Cui on the side, "Go, go out of the palace to explore." ”

"Yes" Xue Cui took the hairpin into her sleeve and walked out.

"After talking for so long, let's have some tea." The Queen Mother pointed to the tea in her hand, I respectfully took it, took a few sips, and then picked up another book similar to an account book, "What is this?" ”

"Here is a list of maids in the womb of the concubine who lived nearby. Look at it," the Queen Mother asked me to take a look.

After I opened it, I saw that the details written in the front were the details of the Xiao Palace, so I told the Queen Mother about what I saw on the north bank of the liquid pool today.

"Are you suspicious of Xiao Zhaoyi?" The Queen Mother glanced at me unexpectedly.

"Erchen didn't dare. And whoever is committing murder outside will show his face so blatantly, and he will show such a recognizable face. It turned out that her name was Lan'er" I turned to the page with Lan'er's name written on it, this Lan'er is Xiao's dowry, her parents died, and she was the one who signed the death deed to enter the house, speaking of which, she should be the most loyal to Xiao.

"You mean, someone put on a special show for you?" The Queen Mother asked.

I nodded, "I think so." This Lan'er is very likely to be bought by the people behind the scenes, and the people behind the scenes also realized that the loss of Zhuhua would be a big deal, so they found Lan'er, a person with such a high degree of recognition, to come out and betray the master, so as to lead the suspicion to himself. ”

"Who was she throwing into the pool?" The Queen Mother asked.

I shook my head, "I guess it's just two bags with stones, just to lure me in." Mother, otherwise, you continue to investigate in private, and I have already seen these things today, and asked people to go to the liquid pool to fish for those two bags, and there is nothing in the bags, so I should be suspicious, and I just didn't find Lan'er. Then send someone to monitor Lan'er, the more she is not discovered, the more anxious she becomes, those who do not splash dirty water on Xiao Shi will only want to lead Xiao Shi into the game as soon as possible, so we just need to watch the movement. After hearing this, the Queen Mother nodded and agreed with my approach.

But I sent people to fish in the pool for the whole day, and I didn't find any bags, and I even wondered if it would be another game. Just when I was puzzled, Xue Cui found out the news.

What Xue Cui gave me was a page torn from the account book of Shaohua Pavilion, and I looked at it fixedly, it was about this bead flower.

I looked at the number above, suddenly my eyes were dark, I have always known that the business of this Shaohua Pavilion is good, but this thick beads wear beads, although there are a lot of beads, fine and dense are also good-looking, but this is really not as good as the round beads, but still from the first one to now, has sold more than 300 pieces, which is almost a rich family in Jinling, each person has one.

The slave maid went to ask the steward of Shaohua Pavilion, and the steward said that the person who knew about this secret inspection must be someone who often buys Shaohua Pavilion jewelry. Niangniang has not been in Jinling for a few years, but she is very familiar with this Shaohua Pavilion. Xue Cui asked curiously.

I smiled, "I also want to buy jewelry in the pavilion, and when I was in the Eastern Capital, I also heard of its fame, so I bought it a few more times." ”

Naturally, I can only prevaricate in the past, Shaohua Pavilion jewelry has a secret test, it was Rong Tan who told me. Aunt Qi next to my mother, when I was buying jewelry for me, came to ask me what tricks I wanted, I asked Rong Tan who was drinking tea in my room, Rong Tan told me and Aunt Qi about this allusion, he has lived in Jinling for many years, and his mind is careful, these things, he is naturally worth it very clearly.

I asked Xuecui again, "Do you remember that shopkeeper, who bought these ladies who entered the palace?" ”

The style of this beaded flower, if you wear it after marriage, it does look childish, but if it is a girl in the boudoir, wearing such a beaded flower, it also looks fresh and refined.

The slave didn't dare to ask more, but during the investigation, she still got a clue. I heard that when Cao Meiren entered the palace, she liked the bead flower very much, this bead flower was the best style that Shaohua Pavilion bought that year, and she would definitely start it. "Xue Cui didn't get nothing.

"Yes, this Cao family, she is from Jinling, and her father and brother are both officials in Jinling. Well, it's definitely her. "I was a little arbitrary, but my instincts convinced me that I had to be right.

Xue Cui nodded and said that she would go back and tell the Queen Mother.

In the next few days, the Queen Mother's secret people observed the Cao family, but since the Cao family lost his son, he lived in a simple place, and every day in his own palace, he just ate fasting and recited the Buddha, and went out of the palace to go to the Fahua Pavilion in the palace to burn the copied scriptures. Because I really don't like to get up early every day, I avoid morning and dusk, so she usually never goes out of the palace.

Although I don't mean that this was done by the Cao family herself, the palace people under her are also very peaceful. Cao's began to eat vegetarian more than a year ago, there is a small kitchen in the palace, which is not mixed with the food of other concubines, and no one has seen the palace maids in her palace near the imperial dining room, although she returned to the palace room from the liquid pool, the small bridge behind the imperial dining room is the nearest road, but there is still a more hidden road than the small bridge, the palace where the Cao family is located, and the liquid pool is originally adjacent, if you want to kill Yuelan, there is always a closer place.

Just when I was puzzled, suddenly there was a commotion, I looked at Zhao'er who was sleeping next to me, and my anger rose, and I walked out of the inner room, and shouted at the noisy people outside, "What is the noise?" His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is still resting. ”

When I looked closely, it was the palace maid Fei'er next to the Cao family, who I was suspicious of, who pulled the tall horse and the big-headed Lan'er to my palace.

I thought to myself, this is too much of a coincidence. I was about to pass them on when they came.

First, the scarlet at the front knelt beside me, and then dragged Lan'er and knelt down together.

I only heard the scarlet said, "The slave maid is the big palace maid in the Cao Meiren Palace, these days the slave maid is often at the gate of our palace, see this maid sneaky, I want to do something bad, the slave maid calmed down to observe her, just now, the slave maid can be regarded as finding out what she is doing, she and another very eye-catching little palace maid, in the liquid pool behind our palace, cast two people, the slave maid can see clearly, it is two women, one of them, one of them is also..."

Scarlet couldn't say anything, so I snapped, "What's wrong with one of them?" ”

"One of them, not dressed like an ordinary palace maid, is a married woman's hairstyle, her lower abdomen has risen slightly, and her clothes, clothes are full of blood."

I glanced at the hour, as if it was just dawn today, because I had not slept all night, so I heard the movement, as for Si'er, it was late at this time, and the clothes on my body were only draped, and I had not had time to put them on.

There is a pregnant woman in the palace, and she is already pregnant, isn't this the talented Qi family that His Majesty just sealed a few days ago.

Qi's family is a palace maid, there is no one in the family, yes, Your Majesty was favored overnight, Your Majesty refused to seal the position, until the woman found the Queen Mother, saying that she was already pregnant, and then hurriedly sealed a talented person, but only two days have passed, this, this...

I looked at the innocent Lan Er in front of me, and scolded loudly, "What a bold man, how dare you kill Your Majesty's concubine?" ”

"The slave and the maid don't dare, the slave and the maid are wronged. This sister said that there was no evidence, and asked the mother to send someone to find the place that this sister said, but if she found the body she said, it would not be too late to interrogate the slave and maid."

I saw that she was still prepared, so I ordered someone to go to the place where Fei'er said to retrieve the body, and then went to the Qi family's palace to see, sure enough, the Qi family and the personal palace maid who served her were gone, and the other palace people who served her said that this Qi family was withdrawn and didn't like to be served, they were sent out last night, and they haven't seen the Qi family until now.

The people in the palace fished in the liquid pool for another day, but they still found nothing, and this liquid pool was not much bigger, from the Cao family's palace to the north bank, all the people in the palace who knew how to be watery went down, but there was nothing.

Seeing that the sky is getting darker and darker, and the master and servant of the Qi family are indeed gone, I have confirmed that they have been killed, and the suspicion is jumping repeatedly on the two people who are kneeling in front of me, Scarlet and Lan'er, and the news that the Cao family and the Xiao family have gotten has come over.

His Majesty also heard that something like this had happened, and he also came.

I didn't think it was a way to drag it out like this, so I asked Scarlet, "When you came, the sky was just dawning, why did you get up so early and find Lan'er?" ”

"The slave maid has the habit of getting up early, and our mother gets up to worship the Buddha, the flowers sent by the flower room are not very fresh, the slave maid wants to go and ask for a few, but just out of the palace gate, through the back garden, I saw this Lan'er and another palace maid."

"You said there is another palace maid, but what about the other palace maid?" I asked.

"The palace maid was more clever, she was the first to find the slave, so she immediately ran away. And Lan'er was very conspicuous, the slave and maid recognized her at a glance, it was in our mother's backyard, the slave and maid shouted loudly, and did not call the guards, and the slave and maid chased her for a while, and finally caught her with the guards on the long street in front, and the guards could testify for the slave and maid, if she had no ghost in her heart, what would she run? ”

"She's right?" I asked the guards who had come with them.

The guard nodded, "The minions have just changed their guards in the morning, and they are patrolling all over the palace, and they just saw the palace maid behind them on the long street, and they were chasing the one in front, and the minions caught the palace maid." ”

"Lan'er, what are you running?" I raised my voice and scolded.

"Slave maid, slave maid saw Scarlet Er and another little palace maid with eyes, and she was throwing people into the pool, and the slave and maid could see clearly, it was Qi Cairen and her palace maid." Lan Er looked a little clumsy at this moment, and what she said had no credibility at all.

"Speak well when you can, if you are sent to the Criminal Division, it will not be as simple as letting you speak." His Majesty didn't believe what this Lan'er said.

"Lan'er, it's not the first time you've thrown something into the pool. The last time I saw you, I sent someone to fish for something in the water, just because I saw you and another palace maid throwing things into the pool on the north bank. You'd better tell the truth now, or you'll be tortured as Your Majesty said. ”

"Slaves and maids are wronged, slaves and maids are wronged. The slave and maid really saw it. Lan Er fell to the ground and cried loudly.

"You'd better explain things clearly, and don't bother your master." I glanced at Xiao Shi standing behind Lan Er, she has always been a good-natured person in my impression, and she treats people kindly, and her character in the boudoir is also very good. In short, she doesn't look like a vicious person, so I didn't think of her as a murderer.

"Slave maid, slave maid was instructed by Xiao Zhaoyi, on the long bridge one night, I met Qi Cai people who were walking, so I coaxed them to a secluded place, killed the two of them, and then in the morning, put them into the water, the slave and maid fell a big stone on them, the deepest part of this liquid pool is three meters, no matter how good the water is, no matter how good the water is, it is all Xiao Zhaoyi instructed the slave and maid to do, please Your Majesty and Niangniang to be clear, spare the slave and maid a way out."