When the night was dark and windy, the lights of Zhongcui Palace were lit up one by one, and the screams changed from one sentence to countless sentences.

In the main hall of Ling Hanyuan, only one palace lamp was lit, and the bloody aura rose to the sky between the light and the dark, and the white Persian fluffy carpet had been dyed dark red by blood. Li Jieyu lay peacefully in a pool of blood, and the scene was very weird.

"What a panic! Go and tell the queen! Concubine Ning Su Jingxiang, the master of Zhongcui Palace, pretended to command calmly.

So soon after, the gate of Zhongcui Palace was opened, and the palace maids and eunuchs came out in pairs, shouting people, and announcing them.

In the dark, I saw two eunuchs heading towards the east, they were hunched and trotting in the snow, and even accidentally bumped into the little eunuch who was in charge of clearing the snow at night.

In order to ensure that the masters and sons walked together the next morning, there were people in the imperial city who regularly cleaned the palace roads at all times.

"I don't have eyes! What to run for the big night! Hit the ghost? The eunuch who was hit scolded sharply.

Originally, he was on duty at night, and he was hit on his back for some reason, how could he not be angry!

But after scolding, he was a little afraid.

Because he saw the two fathers-in-law in front of him, and the armband was marked with the words Zhong Cui Palace.

The father-in-law of Zhong Cui Palace is naturally higher in position than the eunuch who cleans the palace road. If they were scolded like this on weekdays, they would definitely have to rectify each other, but now they are not in that mood. I saw one of the eunuchs pick up the fallen man, and the two hurried to the east again.

This made the eunuch who swept the floor even more suspicious, guessing that something must have happened to Zhong Cui Palace.

After half the incense, the two fathers-in-law who sent the message knocked on the door of Changchun Palace, and after being scolded for "looking for death", Zhao Ziqian and Yi Xiangxiang were invited.

"What's going on?" Yi Xiangxiang had already rested, and she was called in the middle of the night, and the breath of getting up was very heavy.

The two eunuchs were already frightened enough, but when they saw the queen's face pale, they couldn't speak clearly when they knelt there trembling.

Yi Xiangxiang couldn't, so she could only suppress her irritability and say, "Don't be nervous, let's talk about what's going on." If you continue to procrastinate, and then you will alarm the Holy One, it is not something you can get through by trembling. ”

Someone from Zhong Cui Palace said that there was something to report to the queen, but Yi Xiangxiang did not let Zhao Ziqian follow her up. At this time, Zhao Ziqian was still lying on the phoenix collapse in the inner room, and he was deaf and clear-sighted, and he heard Yi Xiangxiang use his name to scare the eunuchs, and he felt quite funny.

The slightly larger eunuch hurriedly spoke up when he heard this, but he also deliberately lowered his voice: "Concubine Ning asked the queen to move to Zhongcui Palace, Li Jieyu... Li Jieyu is gone. ”

"What?" Yi Xiangxiang frowned and asked again, to make sure she had heard correctly.

"Queen Mother, Li Jieyu of Ling Hanyuan is gone! At the beginning of the child, Li Jieyu's personal palace maid Moxiang came to report to Concubine Ning's mother, saying that Li Jieyu died tragically in the main hall of Linghan Garden. When Concubine Ning brought people over, she saw Li Jieyu lying in a pool of blood, and she had already lost her breath. It is to send a slave to report and ask the queen to move to Zhongcui Palace to preside over the overall situation. The slightly larger eunuch kowtowed in reply.

Yi Xiangxiang is a little shaky? Why is the person who was fine this morning gone?

However, she also knew that the two eunuchs didn't know what was going on, so she didn't ask more, but asked Qing Xuan to take his clothes and change them.

She really needs to go to Zhongcui Palace, after all, it is a human life.

When Qing Xuan took his clothes, Zhao Ziqian walked out of the inner room wearing a yellow undershirt: "Send Qing Xuan to check, you don't have to make a special trip in winter." ”

He saw snowflakes floating outside through the shadow of the window, because he didn't want Yi Xiangxiang to go out and freeze at this time, he knew that she was the most afraid of the cold.

"You can pull it down, not to mention that it is a living human life, and it is also your favorite concubine! Not only do I have to go, but you also have to go and see, so that the Li family's side will not be cold. Yi Xiangxiang waved her hand to get Zhao Ziqian's clothes.

She really didn't know what Zhao Ziqian was thinking all day long, didn't she win over the Li family? Someone's daughter died in your palace, why don't you go and see it? Besides, it's still someone who has been looking for the joy of fish and water together for dozens of days!

Eh, the merciful emperor! Yi Xiangxiang can only complain like this.

The two eunuchs were also puzzled, in fact, they Concubine Ning Niangniang only came to report in the middle of the night because of Li Jieyu's identity as a favorite concubine. But you can see what the saint means, but he doesn't care at all?

The minds of the masters are really incomprehensible! The two looked at each other.

Although Yi Xiangxiang is not in a good mood today, in line with "being a monk for a day and hitting the bell for a day", she must also shoulder the responsibility of the queen. She and Zhao Ziqian both changed their clothes, and then boarded the prepared sedan chair and headed for Zhong Cui Palace.

The long procession stretched all the way, and the eunuch who was clearing the snow saw this battle and quickly knelt to the side. waited until the sedan car team left and then ran around and told each other that something must have happened in the palace.

Zhao Ziqian led Yi Xiangxiang into Zhongcui Palace, Concubine Ning Su Jingxiang hurriedly led someone out to greet her, and everyone knelt down to meet the emperor.

"Get up, how did man die?" Yi Xiangxiang was not verbose, and asked Su Jingxiang.

Su Jingxiang stood up, and hurriedly replied when she heard the words: "The female officer and the servant are still investigating, and they will come back and forth later." ”

As soon as the words fell, there was a sound from the direction of Ling Hanyuan, and the group walked out of the sheep intestine path and walked in front of Zhao Ziqian and the others.

Seeing this, Su Jingxiang moved lightly and stood half a step behind Yi Xiangxiang's side.

"Song Yuan of the Chenshang Palace Bureau and his colleagues from the Criminal Punishment Court visited the saint, the queen and Concubine Ning." A beautiful woman knelt in front of the emperor and queen in men's clothes, followed by all female officials of the Shanggong Bureau.

The court of the Li Dynasty had a Shang Gong Bureau, and its division system was roughly similar to that of the Shang Palace Bureau in history. However, the Shanggong Bureau of the Li Dynasty has a penal court, which is mainly to investigate cases in the inner palace and be responsible for some punishments of palace people. And in a murder case like Li Jieyu's, if the criminal punishment court finds out the murderer, it will need to be transferred to the three divisions of Dali Temple, the Criminal Department, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate for retrial before the guilt can be convicted.

Of course, due to the inconvenience of the three divisions entering the harem to collect evidence, it is the penal court that mainly controls the direction of the investigation.

The rules and etiquette of the Rite Dynasty are not particularly strict, because there are not only female scholars, but also female officials. And the defense of men and women in the harem was actually very particular in the past, before the Qilin Dynasty, the imperial doctor in the palace was engaged in the diagnosis of the pulse of the palace concubine. However, after the establishment of the Qilin Dynasty, the defense of men and women was much broader.

Yi Xiangxiang felt that he was still influenced by the founding emperor of the Qilin Dynasty, and the founding emperor was also a modern person, and it should have been driven by him, so he slightly changed some of the strict rules in this time and space.

However, although the rules are not rigid and strict, Li Jieyu is a holy woman after all, and her body is not suitable for foreign men to see. It was the female official of the Shanggong Bureau who investigated the scene, and the post-mortem was also a woman.

"What's the catch? How did Li Jieyu die? Yi Xiangxiang repeated her own question.

Song Yuan beckoned the servants to answer in a row, and saw another woman say in a cold voice: "The steel dagger went deep into the heart and died on the spot." ”

A steel dagger? Yi Xiangxiang frowned.

"The corpse is still in Ling Hanyuan? Take Hongu to see it. Yi Xiangxiang said to the maid.

Li Jieyu's place of residence is Linghan Garden of Zhongcui Palace, and Yi Xiangxiang and they are in the courtyard in front of the main hall of Zhongcui Palace at this time.

Jimei watched the maid lead her mother to lift her legs and was about to leave, so she could only stop her in disregard of the rules: "Niangniang can't!" Li Jieyu died in vain, and your phoenix body is not suitable to go! ”

People who have been in the deep palace for a long time believe in ghosts and gods more, but Jimei has heard too much about the collision of ghosts and gods, so she stopped Yi Xiangxiang.

Yi Xiangxiang didn't think there was anything: "It's okay, don't worry." ”

She is from the 21st century, and she doesn't believe in ghosts and gods. But it's not that I don't believe it completely, after all, I am a soul. It's just that she thinks that if ghosts can really embarrass people, then the world won't be so peaceful.

"It's better to believe what you have than what you don't!" Jimei is very stubborn.

Zhao Ziqian didn't want Yi Xiangxiang to see the bloody picture, so he also opened his mouth to stop it: "The bloody breath is not suitable for contamination, let's go to the main hall and wait for news." ”

Yi Xiangxiang couldn't refute Zhao Ziqian's meaning in public, so she could only listen to Zhao Ziqian's meaning, and the group entered Zhongcui Palace to wait for the report.

Song Yuan and the others came to greet after receiving the news of the arrival of the emperor, so they naturally hurried back to the scene to continue their investigation. So in the main hall of Zhongcui Palace, only Zhao Ziqian and Yi Xiangxiang sat on the top, and there were palace maids and eunuchs standing on both sides, and everyone was silent and didn't dare to say much.

After the hall was quiet, Yi Xiangxiang found that Su Jingxiang was still standing beside her, so she asked her to sit down.

"When did Concubine Ning receive the news?" Yi Xiangxiang asked.

She is the master of the harem, and now it is the palace concubine who is dead, so it is most appropriate for her to ask.

Su Jingxiang got up and replied, "Queen Mother, the concubine only learned that Ling Hanyuan had an accident when she heard the ink fragrance next to Li Jieyu come to report it at the beginning of Zichu. The concubine went to Ling Hanyuan and saw that Li Jieyu was dead, so she immediately sent people to surround the scene and sent someone to pay homage to the queen. ”

She was also scared to death, although her uncle used to be a general, but she was a pampered young lady since she was a child. On weekdays, I can't even kill rabbits, but when I suddenly see a dead person, my soul is really almost gone.

"Don't be afraid, you did a good job of protecting the scene as soon as possible after the accident. By the way, can other palaces go to report? Yi Xiangxiang felt that this Concubine Ning was actually very stable.

"No, but it happened suddenly, and I didn't hide the news, so it should be ...... at this time" Su Jingxiang stopped when she wanted to speak.

She still knows the severity, the queen is the master of the harem, and the saint rested in Changchun Palace today, because she never reported elsewhere. However, at that time, she really didn't think of stopping the news, and at this time, it was estimated that those concubines who had some connections in the palace must have gotten the news.

Yi Xiangxiang saw Su Jingxiang's worries and comforted: "It's okay, this news can't be hidden, and neither the Holy Lord nor the Palace will blame you." ”

Su Jingxiang breathed a sigh of relief.

They didn't say a few words, and a little eunuch came to report outside Zhong Cui's palace, saying that a few ladies asked to see them.

"Let them in." Yi Xiangxiang said expressionlessly.

The little eunuch listened to the queen's order to let in, and then turned around and went out. After that, Yi Xiangxiang saw Lin Zhimeng and Kang Ling rushing in with a group of concubines.

Yi Xiangxiang carefully observed everyone's expressions, all of them were incredible, and it was difficult to see the clues for a while.

The palace concubines paid homage to Zhao Ziqian and Yi Xiangxiang, and the latter gave a seat.

"Mother, what's going on?" Lin Zhimeng was facing the sky, and it could be seen that she also got up from the quilt and came over.

"It's not clear yet, we'll see what the female officer has to say." Yi Xiangxiang replied to Lin Zhimeng.

In the middle of the night, the high walls of the palace were majestic and cold, and everyone sat in the main hall of Zhongcui Palace with different thoughts. No one felt sad, only some people showed fear on their faces, guessing that they were afraid of implicating themselves, or they were afraid that the next one would be themselves.

After about half a burnt incense, the people who checked the scene turned back and gathered in the Zhongcui Palace.

"Okay, don't be polite, let's talk about what the situation is." Yi Xiangxiang waved her hand to stop everyone from saluting.

The first to speak was the female servant: "Back to the saint and Niangniang, just like the first investigation, it was confirmed that a steel dagger was inserted into the heart, and Li Jieyu died on the spot." ”

Yi Xiangxiang gathered the fox fur she was wearing, and then ordered someone to burn a few more charcoal pots.

"Are there any other wounds on your body?" Yi Xiangxiang regretted that she didn't go to the scene to check it out in person, after all, only the scene had the most intuitive clues.

The maid shook her head and said, "There is only one wound in the heart. ”

"Is there a setback at the bottom of the knife?" Yi Xiangxiang took the hot tea that Qing Xuan had just brewed and asked her own question.

"Yes, there was a pause when the knife pierced into the skin, and it took a second effort to push the dagger into the heart!" The maid was a little surprised, she didn't expect the queen to ask such a question.

The maid's name is Wan Ling, and she is the daughter of the ten thousand families in Kyoto. Wan Jia was born as a man and relied on the clues on the corpse to solve many cases. Although Wan Ling is a woman, she has been dealing with corpses since she was a child, and she doesn't look down on the daughters in Kyoto City who prefer to put on a show. Even if it is the queen's mother, she is concise and to the point in answering questions at the beginning.

But she never expected that the noble queen mother would be so meticulous, and she didn't dare to be perfunctory for a while.

Yi Xiangxiang didn't know what Wan Ling thought, but continued to analyze and judge: "I accurately found out the location of the heart, but I can't kill him with a knife?" It doesn't seem to be a martial arts practitioner? ”

Wan Ling was a little surprised, and she began to share her thoughts very happily: "What Niang Niang said is extremely true, the murderer must not know martial arts, and may even be a woman!" ”

"Oh? Why? Yi Xiangxiang also found this Wanling to be quite interesting.

Because Li Jieyu has the smell of incense, the point is that there was no trace of struggle when she was assassinated. Moreover, the expression on her face was also very serene, and it was obvious that she was assassinated after being stunned. This shows that the murderer was not sure of killing, so he used the hand of Mixiang to make the deceased unconscious before moving. Wan Ling no longer hid and told Yi Xiangxiang about his discovery.

The charcoal basin in the main hall of Zhongcui Palace was gradually burned, and Yi Xiangxiang didn't feel cold anymore, so she no longer wrapped herself in a circle chair, but stood up and paced: "Your guess is not unreasonable, but not only women are suspicious, but there are also elderly grandmothers and eunuchs in the palace, and they should also be within the scope of the investigation." But...... Or is it a bit of a problem, by the way, the doors and windows are closed? ”

"Niangniang, the doors and windows are closed. The windows are not often opened in winter, and looking at the snow outside the window, it must have been a long time since the windows were opened. It was Song Yuan, the female officer who was investigating the scene, who was talking at this time.

No windows? That means that the murderer entered Ling Hanyuan openly?

Yi Xiangxiang fell into deep thought and stopped asking, and there was a moment of silence in Zhong Cui Palace.

After a long time, Pei Yuchen, a concubine who was more courageous, said: "Why did a good person die?" Or was he killed, who was so daring? ”

She was very apprehensive, although she was also unhappy with Li Jieyu, but the other party died like this, and she was really a little scared. And Pei Yuchen also regretted his fall in the morning, and secretly confessed in his heart, praying that Li Jieyu's soul would not find her because of the morning's events, thinking that he would have to burn more paper money for Li Jieyu when he turned around.

"It's also to blame her for being too arrogant on weekdays, and the dog that fell into the water was beaten with a stick! There must be a lot of bullies, and the murderer saw that she was locked up by the queen's mother, so he did this! It was Concubine Hui Liu Yingxue who spoke.

Liu Yingxue is the daughter of the Hou Mansion, the Liu family sent the concubine who was still a girl to Tongzhou to suffer for a while, and later the concubine was picked up by the Yuwen family and entered the palace to be a mother, and the Hou Mansion has been suppressed by the four princes Zhao Zixiu and Concubine De. Later, Concubine De became Concubine De, and Zhao Zixiu, who was named King An, went to the fief, and the Li Dynasty was enthroned by Zhao Ziqian as the emperor, and the Hou Mansion was built to be reinstated.

Tian Yao heard Liu Yingxue's words, and pretended not to agree: "Concubine Hui said carefully, it is fair for the queen mother to punish Li Jieyu, as soon as you say this, I feel that the queen mother is like an indirect murderer." ”

She was also one of the people who was punished, which was originally very righteous and awe-inspiring. But when he said this at this time, it seemed that he was deliberately doing the opposite.

Originally, some people didn't think about it at all, but by Tian Yao, most people felt that if the queen did not punish Li Jieyu, the murderer might not dare to assassinate and kill people so arrogantly.

Everyone looked at their queen mother in unison, only to see that the queen's face did not change, but the saint beside the queen wrinkled her brows.

The queen is finished, and the saint also thinks that it is the queen's fault and gets angry! This is what the vast majority of people think in their hearts.

Yi Xiangxiang thought it was very interesting, this murderer didn't have the slightest clue, and someone put a hat on her head. I really don't think there are enough things, so take advantage of the chaos to step on it!

Looks like you didn't drink enough chicken soup! Yi Xiangxiang was very emotional.

"Isn't there a dagger? Can there be clues to find out if the owner is missing? Kang Ling interjected at the right time.

It's not bad, there are still brains, Yi Xiangxiang looked at Zhao Ziqian meaningfully, and then looked at Kang Ling.

Wan Ling asked Song Yuan with his eyes when he heard this, and after seeing the latter nodding, he asked people to take the dagger with a case. The blood stains on the dagger had not been cleaned up, and everyone trembled when they saw it.

"This is the dagger that assassinated Li Jieyu!" All Souls explained.

The steel dagger was stained with blood, and even the jade inlaid on the handle was stained. The scabbard is also on the case, which is also inlaid with jewels and jade, which is very exquisite.

"The scabbard was found in the grass outside the courtyard, and it should have been thrown away when the murderer left." Song Yuan said to Zhao Ziqian and Yi Xiangxiang.

Lin Zhimeng looked at the dagger a little impressively: "There are Praetorian guards guarding outside the inner palace, the murderer must not be from outside!" However, it is forbidden to hide the blade in the harem, and this dagger is so exquisite, could it be that it belongs to some Praetorian Guard? ”

Yi Xiangxiang squinted her eyes slightly and didn't speak, just smiled and beckoned Qing Xuan to come forward to check. Qing Xuan nodded, wrapped her hand in a cloth, she went over and picked up the scabbard to observe it repeatedly, and then turned back to Yi Xiangxiang and nodded.

"Well, there's nothing going on with this palace! Hongu can go back and rest! Yi Xiangxiang felt a little funny, she got up and straightened her sleeves and continued: "Holy Lord, this dagger is the property of the concubine, and the concubine can no longer participate in the investigation. ”

This stainless steel dagger was the one that Ren Feihong gave her when she was in Jinhua County. Yi Xiangxiang still remembered that this dagger saved her and Qingxuan's lives at the foot of Qishan, and she brought it into the palace with what she had always treasured in the cage, but she never thought that it had become a murder weapon.

The people around heard the queen's words, and Concubine Zheng Lier exclaimed: "It's actually the queen's mother......"

Zhao Ziqian shot a cold eye, and Zheng Lier was immediately silenced, but everyone knew what she wanted to say just now.

"Holy Lord, even if the dagger is the queen's thing, it doesn't mean that the queen is the murderer!" Wan Ling's cold opening.

From Wan Ling's point of view, she is as meticulous and meticulous as a queen, if she wants to kill someone, how can she leave such obvious evidence.

The female official Song Yuan echoed: "Tell the Holy Lord, the lower officials have asked the people in and out of the palace, except for two grandmothers who pulled Li Jieyu back to Linghan Garden in the morning, there are no other people from Changchun Palace who have entered and left Zhongcui Palace, this case has many suspicious points, and it needs to be investigated in detail." However, as the queen said, the dagger came from the queen's palace, so the queen was indeed no longer suitable to participate in the interrogation of this case. ”

As a female official, Song Yuan has a very businesslike attitude.

The final result tonight is that the Criminal Punishment Court of the Shanggong Bureau will mainly investigate, and cooperate with the noble concubine Lin Zhimeng and Kang Ling to jointly try the case of Li Jieyu's murder. Queen Yi Xiangxiang stayed in Changchun Palace to cooperate with the inquiry, and was not allowed to leave the palace for half a step.

In the eyes of everyone, the queen was grounded in disguise.

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