"Father, don't be anxious, it's been 16 years since she was buried, she was too young, and the remains were the size of a baby, and let you look for it......."

Li Hong's words were reasonable, and everyone moved their eyes back to the coffin, although Wu Zetian's face was two points pale, his eyes were still very firm, revealing a strong determination and determination, which made people simply not know whether to believe what they saw with their own eyes or to believe her.

After listening to Li Hong's instructions, the monks touched every inch inside and outside the coffin, and even lifted the coffin up to see if the remains fell into the sandwich between the coffin and the coffin, but still found nothing.

At this point, Wu Zetian finally couldn't sit still, Huo Di stood up, stepped forward quickly, and looked at the empty coffin in disbelief. Seeing that Wu Zetian's face was wrong, everyone guessed that this result should be beyond her expectations, and they looked at each other, not knowing how this matter would end.

Li Hong supported Li Zhi, who was trembling slightly, looked at the Empress Wu, who had never been so dazed, and then looked at Fan Ning, who was pale at the end of the crowd, and suddenly didn't know whether it was right or wrong that he had been insisting on pursuing the truth. If there were really no stable remains found in the coffin today, he was afraid that his mother, Xue Ne and Na Di Renjie would all have a catastrophe, not to mention what kind of turmoil the Tang Dynasty would have because of this case, and he couldn't think of a way to break the situation at all.

After a strange silence, Gao Min opened his mouth first, and said with excitement that could not be hidden: "Your Majesty, the coffin is empty, and the big case from sixteen years ago has been revealed. Wu Zhaoyi back then, and now the queen of heaven designed Princess Anding, who was less than one year old, to fake her death, frame Queen Wang, causing her to fall out of favor and be deposed, and take the opportunity to become the lord of the main palace. The human and material evidence is complete, please Your Majesty set an example in the world, depose the wicked woman, and also clean the people who were involved in this matter, the king of the Qingming and prosperous times, and the lord of the hearts of all the people, please make a decision as soon as possible! ”

Gao Min's words are ugly, but if the criminal department reports to the Yushitai, the words of the courtiers in the court will be more intense tomorrow. Since Taizong, humility and admonition seem to flow in the blood of the monarch of the Tang Dynasty, once this matter is confirmed, it will be difficult for Li Zhi to keep Wu Zetian's throne even if he has the heart, not to mention ...... If this is true, can Li Zhi really forgive her?

Under the suspicious gaze of everyone, Wu Zetian knelt on the ground and bowed: "Your Majesty, the concubines are speechless about this matter, no matter how Your Majesty punishes, the concubines are willing to accept the punishment." But in the five years of Yonghui, the concubine has a clear conscience! The concubine doesn't know who or what kind of force is taking advantage of stability to make a living, and now she is willing to gamble and lose, which does not mean that the concubine admits her guilt. It is clear every day, everything the concubines do is for the Tang Dynasty, the merits of the ages, the descendants have their own conclusions, and the concubines have no regrets! Thank you again, the end of the world is far away, I hope Your Majesty cherishes it. ”

Wu Zetian said goodbye and motioned for Yushi to take him down. Don't talk about the imperial history, everyone present was stunned, and they all looked at Li Zhi, not knowing what to do.

Li Zhi sighed silently, squinted his eyes, and beckoned to Fan Ning at the end of the crowd, signaling her to come to him. Fan Ning instinctively wanted to escape, but was surrounded by several internal officials, and walked forward like a duck on the shelf, she didn't dare to look at Li Zhi, nor did she dare to look at Li Hong, her mind was confused, the whole world was silent, and she could only hear her own heavy breathing, like a dying person, emphasizing her existence in this way.

After a violent struggle in his heart, Li Zhi raised his slightly cloudy eyes, and a little hesitation faded away, full of the emperor's composure.

Li Hong knew that Li Zhi was about to make a decision, and his heart was in a mess, but Xue Ne, who had been silent, suddenly said loudly: "Enlighten the two saints, the minister has an attempt, or the truth can be revealed, please give the second saint an order!" ”

Gao Min and Li Qianyou exchanged glances, although they did not say anything, but both of them laughed, as if they were whispering Xue Negou jumped off the wall in a hurry. Everyone was silent, but at this time, they were buzzing and discussing, all saying that Xue Ne was really sent to death, that he and Di Renjie were at fault, and that the emperor had time to be held accountable in the future, so he was so anxious to send it to the door.

Li Zhi glanced at Wu Zetian deeply, as if he was caught in a trade-off. Li Hong, who was on the side, hurriedly said: "Father, the matter has come to this point, you must give a practical explanation to the people of the world, you might as well let Shen Yan try." ”

Li Hong is right, the more he arrives at this time, the more he is afraid of making a mistake, and if he is not careful, he may endanger the originally peaceful world. Li Zhi propped his head and motioned for Xue Ne to act according to his own ideas.

Xue Ne bowed his gratitude, then strode to the side of the shaft, and said to the monks: "If the emperor and the official give orders today, please also ask the masters to carry this coffin out of the pit first." ”

"This ......" The monks in the pit looked at each other and stood still. Some monks looked at Master Yuankong for advice, but Master Yuankong bowed his head and did not give any reply. Seeing this, another slightly older monk hurriedly said: "This coffin is very heavy, it was the Ministry of Rites that borrowed the sling car used to build the city wall from the Ministry of Works, and then the coffin was hoisted in. ”

Li Qianyou echoed loudly: "Nonsense! It's just a dying throe. ”

Li Hong received Li Zhi's signal, and stepped forward with his hands behind his back and said: "Father Emperor Fang Cai has agreed to Xue Mingfu, and what he said will be on behalf of his father's order, and you refuse to obey it, but do you want to resist the decree and disobey it?" Spread the palace edict, and ordered the Ministry of Engineering to send the sling car here immediately, there must be no mistake! ”

Li Qianyou smiled disdainfully, and said to Li Zhi and Li Hong: "Your Majesty, Your Highness, the loss of Princess Anding's remains is a big matter, and now let Xue Mingfu, who is not a full-time investigator, work here to mobilize the public, and overstep his responsibilities, I am afraid it will damage Tianwei." Xue Mingfu previously swore that he could find the remains of the princess, but at this time, it was just to delay time, in order to get rid of the crime. Your Majesty is not feeling well, so you might as well hand over this matter to the Criminal Department for a thorough investigation, so as to fully investigate the truth of this matter. ”

Xue Ne changed his humble and polite appearance, and said generously: "Your Majesty, the Queen of Heaven, Fang Cai Di Facao's words are definitely not lies. Chen Xue Shenyan used the head of the Xiang as a guarantee, the case has been investigated, and it is determined that the mastermind behind the planning of this case and framing the queen of heaven is in the criminal department! Please Your Majesty immediately order the guards to block the Guanghua Temple, and no one is allowed to go out, if after clarifying the facts, it is still determined that the minister has half a sentence of nonsense, and the minister is willing to ask the left and right guards to immediately kill the minister at the moment, so as to set the record straight! ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone was in an uproar. Di Renjie stepped forward with his robe, his goatee curled, and his face was full of conviction and firmness: "Your Majesty, Xue Mingfu's words, the minister can also testify." Next, please allow Xu Chen to work with Xue Mingfu to clarify the truth of this case! ”

With Di Renjie's endorsement, Li Hong was a little more sure in his heart, looked at Li Zhi, and saw Li Zhi bowing slightly, so he said: "Please Xue Qing and Di Qing explain the truth." ”

Xue Ne and Di Renjie both crossed their hands and saluted, and then Xue Ne paced to the back of the empty coffin and faced everyone: "This case seems simple, but in fact, there has been careful calculation behind it, and the crime process has spanned more than ten years, and there are senior monks to do internal response, so it is difficult to get the truth according to common sense." The two saints and all their colleagues have seen that the princess's coffin is sealed with chains, and the lock has been buried in the soil for many years and has long since decayed, so the entire coffin is like a secret room, and it is impossible to take out the contents inside. ”

Di Renjie said: "So Xue Yushi and I both thought about whether someone replaced the coffin entirely, after all, if the entire empty coffin is locked and buried in the soil elsewhere, it will also get the same effect of lock decay, and then use the characteristics of this Guanghua Temple built on the west mountain of Longmen, dig a hole horizontally from the side of the mountain, come to the place where the princess buries her bones, steal the original coffin, and replace it with an empty coffin, it is not impossible." ”

Hearing such a bold idea of committing a crime, everyone present was shocked and couldn't help but start discussing this possibility.

"However," Xue Ne pulled everyone's thoughts back again, "In the past ten days, after careful investigation between me and Di Facao, we have turned the entire Longmen West Mountain three or two times, but we have not found such a thief hole. Not only that, but everywhere we went, all the soil layers were intact and there was no sign of backfilling. ”

The vegetation around the princess's tomb has not been destroyed by excavation. This is equivalent to saying that not only the princess's coffin, but including the soil of the entire Longmen West Mountain, has formed a huge secret room. ”

Li Qianyou snorted and glanced at the swords on the waists of the guards, as if he was thinking about which one would cut off Xue Ne's handsome head: "In this case, wouldn't it prove that there were no remains in Princess Anding's coffin from the beginning?" When the queen was deposed because of this, didn't it become the biggest grievance? ”

As he spoke, Li Qianyou turned around and pointed at Fan Ning, raised his voice an octave, and said angrily: "Everyone, look at this little lady, how similar she is to the queen of heaven!" With such a look and bearing, you can see at a glance that she is from a good background, she is the real princess of stability! was found by our criminal department, and the initiator of all this is Danghou himself! It was she who poisoned her own flesh and blood for the sake of her own throne, and has been blinding the emperor to this day, is it possible that you still want to continue to turn a blind eye and help the abuse! Yesterday's unlucky was the Taiyuan Wang family, the Lanling Xiao family, and he was unlucky to know that it was not you and me! How can such a vicious person be worthy of being in the back seat! ”

Hearing these arrogant words, everyone was so frightened that they were silent, Li Qianyou said, and shivered uncontrollably at Shangwu Zetian's cold gaze. Wu Zetian just smiled contemptuously, and didn't take him seriously at all.

Xue Ne suddenly laughed, the young man's stiff body shook and trembled, as if he couldn't help it, and after a long time, he tried his best to restrain himself, and saluted Li Zhi, with an uncontrollable smile in his tone: "Your Majesty forgives your sins, the minister is rude......"

Fan Ning, who came back to her senses, was quite surprised, she had never seen Xue Ne behave so cheerfully in front of everyone since she was a child, if it was usual, he should have started to support himself in front of so many people, why was he only smiling at such a critical juncture today? Fan Ning was puzzled, and heard Xue Ne turn his head and say to Li Qianyou: "The sun is clear, and the two saints are here, how can you be allowed to confuse the public and refer to the deer as a horse?" Whether Li Sixing is for the Tang Dynasty to reprimand the queen of heaven, or for his own selfish desires, you know it yourself! As he spoke, he changed his voice and said to everyone, "That's right, the entire Longmen Mountain is indeed a secret room, and it is indeed impossible for Princess Anding's coffin to be stolen." The coffin of Princess Anding is lying in this thick layer of soil! ”

"Could it be ......" Yuan Gongyu, the young man of the punishment, realized something, and saw that everyone was attracted by him, and said busily, "Your Majesty forgives the sin, the minister thought that if the princess's coffin was not replaced, maybe ...... is pressing under this coffin......"

Xue Ne bowed his head at Yuan Gongyu, his clear eyes were full of determination, and his earth-shattering spirit complemented his handsome face: "It is worthy of Yuan Sixing, the truth is so." Next, just wait for Yan Youxiang to come, and everything will be clear! ”

At this time, the imperial historian who was guarding the gate of the courtyard reported: "Si Ping Taichang Uncle Yan Liben has arrived!" ”

At the end of the long rain curtain, Yan Liben, who was in his rare old age, walked with a head on his head in a round-necked official uniform, followed by several officials and a large group of craftsmen, but after seeing them either carrying logs on their shoulders or carrying ropes on their backs, they bowed to the emperor and queen of heaven, and quickly came to the shaft and began to set up a rope car.

Yan Liben trembled and walked in front of Li Zhi, knelt down and said, "Minister Yan Liben sees the Emperor and Queen of Heaven!" ”

"Hurry up, please get up," Li Zhi was unwell, but he still bent down to help Yan Liben, and asked in surprise, "The right minister's family is in Jishanfang, why did he come so quickly?" ”

Li Hong said from the side: "A few days ago, Shen Yan asked his son to contact the Ministry of Industry to inquire about the details of the tomb of the princess of Guanghua Temple. The right minister has worked hard, if it weren't for this important case, I really don't want to work the right minister. ”

Yan Liben replied: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is serious, the old ministers are in the court, so they naturally have an unshirkable responsibility. Although this incident happened before the old minister took over the ministry, the old minister also had negligence and failed to discover and correct it in time. ”

While talking, on the side of the deep pit, the craftsmen have used the erected rope car to lift the coffin out of the deep pit, and then several craftsmen picked up the shovel, divided by two by three, and after a while, another coffin was dug out from under this layer of soil, which was exactly the same as the empty coffin that had just been dug up.

"Your Majesty, an identical coffin has been dug up in the soil......"

Hearing this announcement, Li Zhi glanced at the Empress Wu, who had been silent for a long time, and said slowly: "Open the coffin." ”

"Open the coffin!" A sturdy craftsman with a plate axe in his hand cut the iron lock that locked the coffin, and four craftsmen quickly tied the rope around the top of the coffin, and operated the rope car to lift the coffin cover.

Li Zhi stretched out his hand, Wu Zetian, who had been kneeling on the ground, paused for a moment before holding his hand, and the two came to the deep pit together, only to see a small skeleton lying quietly in the coffin, and the wrist bone and neck bone also carried the jade pendant and jade bracelet worn by Princess Anding back then.

You are the second saint, how can you not be an ordinary husband and wife, ordinary parents, the two of them hold hands very tightly, even after 16 years, they still can't help but feel heartache. Wu Zetian wept, Li Zhi's eyes were red, and after a long time, he eased his emotions, looked at Fan Ning who was dazed in the crowd and said: "This kid appeared to let you know what it would be like if our Qingxue grew up." A misunderstanding, wronged Mei Niang, don't blame me......"

Wu Zetian raised his sleeves to wipe away his tears, turned around, glanced sharply at Li Qianyou, who was already frightened, and asked Xue Ne and Di Renjie again: "Xue Qing, Di Qing, Fang Cai said that the mastermind of this case is in the Criminal Department, who is it?" ”

With Wu Zetian's question, everyone immediately turned their eyes to Li Qianyou, who was more than half a hundred years old, and his legs were so frightened that his legs were weak, and he knelt on the ground straight, and said to forgiveness: "The two saints forgive their sins!" The minister is just deceived by others, listening to slander, the mastermind behind the scenes, and the mastermind behind the scenes is ......"

As he spoke, he turned his gaze to Gao Min's location, but unexpectedly found that it was empty, and he opened his mouth for a while, unable to say a word.

Xue Ne arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the Queen of Heaven, Rong Chen reintroduced Gao Min, the head of the Criminal Department, and he has another name, called Changsun Sheng. ”

As soon as the words fell, a guard rushed to report: "After the enlightenment, someone escaped from the backyard of Guanghua Temple over the wall, and injured three guards one after another!" The rest of the guards have gone after them! ”

Not only Gao Min is gone, but Fan Ning, who is standing at the end of the team, is also gone. Everyone's eyes were attracted by the coffin, and Fan Ning must have sensed that Gao Min wanted to take advantage of the chaos to escape, so he chased him out. Xue Ne shouted that it was not good, Gao Min's kung fu should not be weaker than Shi Yuannian, if he took this opportunity to hold Fan Ning hostage, how should he deal with himself? However, at this time, Empress Wu was still questioning herself, and Xue Ne couldn't leave without permission, and her face turned a little pale.

"Eldest grandson Sheng?" Wu Zetian and Li Zhi exchanged looks, surprised with a bit of understanding.

Xue Ne saw Li Hong signaling Zhang Shun to follow, and was slightly relieved, but he still couldn't help but stumble a little when he replied: "Yes, that's right, the previous minister had suspected that Director Gao had escaped when he was young. When talking to people, Mr. Gao often does not avoid his father's 'Gao Qing', but he will unconsciously avoid the word 'none', but he suffers from the lack of evidence. When the emperor and queen arrived in the courtyard, the minister asked a sentence in the Tao Te Ching, and there was evidence. Diffaccio was also present at the time and could testify. ”

Di Renjie crossed his hands and said, "The minister can indeed testify." Xue Mingfu asked the next sentence of 'knowing its whiteness, guarding its blackness, and being the world's style', and the high director replied that it was 'for the world's style, Changde is not ashamed, and it returns to the void'. Presumably, everyone present knows that the original text of the Tao Te Ching is 'return to Wuji', not 'Void Pole'. The only possibility that this word will be mispronounced is that when he was a child learning the "Tao Te Ching", the gentleman in the family school avoided the words with 'nothing' in order to avoid it, and changed it to other words with similar meanings. ”

Wu Zetian sneered and said: "Setting up bureaus at all levels almost caused the palace to be speechless, but it is much smarter than his father." ”

At this time, a guard rushed in quickly, and said hurriedly: "Qi Yu Ersheng, the head of the Gao surname has someone to answer, and I can't catch up with him when I ride a horse and flee, so I have ordered the painter to paint his appearance in detail for the purpose of being wanted." In addition, there was a little lady in the backyard who fainted, and she should have been knocked unconscious by thieves. ”

Before the words fell, Xue Ne couldn't care less about being in front of the palace, and ran out quickly.

Wu Zetian frowned slightly, and said to Li Zhi: "Your Majesty, although the truth is revealed, the suspect has escaped, and someone has been injured because of this, and I am afraid that this case will not be closed for a while." Who should be in Guanghua Temple, when the empty coffin will be laid down, all must be interrogated in detail, what kind of benefits Li Qianyou has received, and who is behind the eldest grandson Sheng, and who will fund it, it is also necessary to investigate in detail, and you may as well return the case to Di Qing and Xue Qing. Your Majesty is not feeling well, so get up early and drive back to the palace. ”

Li Zhi bowed his head slightly, turned his head to Li Hong and said, "Ordered the doctor in the palace to go and see the child, he looks like your mother, and it can be regarded as a kind of fate." ”

"The retainers obey." Li Hong intervened, saw the emperor and queen leave, let out a long sigh of relief, and anxiously turned around and went to the backyard to find Xue Ne.