The emperor investigated the poisoning in the purple bamboo forest very carefully, and it was not the Shen Criminal Division in the palace who took over the case, but the officials of the Criminal Department.

The people in the Criminal Department pay attention to "presenting evidence in court", unlike in the harem, where they often disregard people's lives only based on the emperor's speculation. For such a large case, the trial of the criminal department is much slower than that of the criminal department, but the speed is slow, the quality is high, and the fairness and justice are convincing to reason.

After five or six days, the results still didn't come out.

No one in the harem took the initiative to confess because he couldn't withstand the pressure.

Lin Yuan has been obsessed with listening to small songs these days, she really set up a platform at the door of the Scarlet Building, and invited a Liyuan singer to come over and sing with Qi Ronghua and others.

Also sitting with her was Wei Wenji, a native of Jiangnan, who loves to listen to these Wu tunes.

On this day, several people ordered two tunes with great interest, and the palace people came over to pass the ceremony, saying that the emperor summoned Hui Concubine Niangniang to Jianzhang Palace.

At noon, I'm afraid it's not the will of the bedtime. Lin Yuan and Qi Ronghua glanced at each other, and both of them had an inexplicable nervousness, afraid that the case would have a result.

The emperor only passed on Lin Yuan alone, and it was not easy for others to speculate. Lin Yuan hurriedly changed her clothes, put on makeup again, and went to Jianzhang Palace with the inner supervisor.

The figures in Jianzhang Palace are longing, on weekdays, only the concubines who have been summoned to serve can step here, but today there are dozens of people standing. There were concubines and palace maids, all kneeling in front of the emperor, all of whom were grounded in Changle Palace that day. After Lin Yuan went in, he looked at this posture, and then saw that there were people kneeling who were higher than his own rank, and he couldn't help but want to kneel together.

As soon as Tuoba Hong saw her, he beckoned: "Hui Concubine come here, you go and add a seat to Hui Concubine." ”

Lin Yuan saw that the emperor's face was gloomy and solemn, and he didn't dare to say anything, so he sat down very obediently. Next to the emperor stood two courtiers dressed in cyan cloud goose supplements, who were from the Criminal Department.

has been working in the criminal department for a long time, and most of them will be born with a wooden face, ignoring the joys, sorrows, and sorrows of the world. Whether it is a person who has committed the most heinous crimes or a person who has been wronged, they have seen too much, but they are so numb that they cannot understand human nature. Now facing the group of noble concubines in front of them, these two people are also expressionless, they only pay attention to the dossier in their hands, and the people in front of them are just dead things waiting to be pronounced.

However, in the eyes of the concubines below, these two officials of the Criminal Department are simply black and white, and they don't know if their souls will be hooked away. They were already trembling with fright at this time, and they had been unable to sleep and eat for the past few days, and now they were dying.

Tuoba Hong did not procrastinate, and pointed to the concubines and ordered: "The matter of Changle Palace has been found out. Today, I have summoned you all to pronounce the sentence in person, and I also want the true murderer to be convinced. Gao Aiqing, you can read it. ”

Hearing this, the waiter of the criminal department surnamed Gao opened the thick file in his hand, twisted it page by page, and said in a solemn voice: "...... On April 12 of the ninth year of Qianwu, poison was found in the purple bamboo forest of Changle Palace...... On 15 April, the Criminal Department interrogated the Imperial Concubines of the Inner Court, including Zhao, Xu, and An, ......"

Master Gao is a pedantic man, in his fifties, and he does things in a straightforward manner. Compared with the young Master Shangshu of the Criminal Department, who is known as the "ghost talent", he is not very smart, but he is better than being careful in temper, and he can find out the key points by checking the cases he has handled bit by bit.

From the emperor to the concubines, they were waiting impatiently, and Tuoba Hong was about to interrupt him with an order to "get to the point", but the tall man finally read the key place: "...... There is benzoin hidden in the palace of Ronghua Xu, and there are palace people beside him who have been to the purple bamboo forest. After the presiding trial of the Criminal Department, the chamberlain Wang Rong, the palace maid Zhang, and the Liu family believed that they were instructed by Ronghua Xu to bury benzoin in the purple bamboo forest. ”

Xu Ronghua, who was read it, raised her head suddenly, and there was already an attendant next to her who stepped forward to escort her, her face twitched, and she suddenly shouted loudly: "It's not me!" No, I've wronged you......"

Tuoba Hong looked at her with a smile, and as soon as he raised his hand, another roll of brocade was stuffed into her mouth. Lin Yuan, the person concerned, was shocked by the side, the emperor refused to even give Xu Ronghua a chance to distinguish, the criminal department did things really neatly, once it was found out, it was ironclad evidence, and you couldn't be allowed to cry out at all.

And the tall man over there adhered to the principle of handling the case, and still read down meticulously: "Ronghua Xu didn't use benzoin in the past, but since March of the ninth year of Qianwu, he suddenly had nightmares, so he used benzoin to calm the nerves. After diagnosis, Yung Wah Hsu did not have nightmare syndrome, which is the first suspicion; Since March, the palace maid Zhang has been in and out of the palace a total of eight times, to the capital's 'official alley' to purchase rouge cloth for Ronghua Xu's, every time she must pass through the purple bamboo forest of Changle Palace, and every time she chooses to leave the palace at dusk, it is already night after buying back. It's just a purchase, why it was chosen in the evening, this doubt two; After verification, the palace maid Zhang was born in poverty, but recently all her family members moved into a luxurious mansion in the capital, and the property was found at home worth tens of thousands of silver, which is suspicious ......"

When Master Gao said this, the coherence was very clear, and everyone nodded again and again when they listened. And Xu Ronghua, who was still struggling desperately, opened his eyes wide at this time, and his body didn't move at all.

During the few days she was grounded, she prayed to God day and night, and she always had a little luck in her heart. Moreover, the poisoning of Changle Palace was widely implicated, including the new concubines An and Xie, and the two of them were also found to have benzoin. The concubines of the palace were very jealous of An and others, and in the past few days, there were many people who had fallen into the well, and rumors spread in the palace to slander them.

So these days, the two who are most frightened are An and Xie. Moreover, An's had been to Lin Yuan's Scarlet Building, which was even more suspicious.

Xu Ronghua only grounded quietly in his palace, not daring to make the slightest move. It is not surprising that the palace people around her were escorted away by the emperor's order, and all the suspected concubines were like this. But what I didn't expect was ......

The criminal department was so powerful that it quietly found out that the palace maid beside her had gone out of the palace eight times to buy rouge for her, each time she took the path of the purple bamboo forest, and every time she acted at night. It was also found out that in order to buy the palace maid Zhang, she rewarded her with a huge amount of money, and ordered her family to move to the capital to facilitate control.

The most terrifying thing is that in the past few days of confinement, the emperor sent someone to search the palace again, and Xu Ronghua was not spared. She didn't think much about it, thinking that it was just a palace search, but now she thinks about it...... When the old ladies in front of the emperor came in, one of them accidentally bumped into her, and immediately knelt in front of her to plead guilty. Xu Ronghua was exhausted at that time, where did he have the heart to care about this.

It should have been that time that the old lady took the opportunity to feel her pulse.

Knowing that she doesn't have a nightmare at all......

Xu Ronghua's scalp was numb. When the emperor ordered a search, she was already worse than dead, but she still had a little hope, thinking that there were too many people who were suspected, and it was difficult to search, and it was unknown if she could escape in the end.

Xu Ronghua did not regret that she had done something harmful. The only thing she regretted was that she was too inconsiderate when she buried the benzoin, thinking that Lin Yuan had no way to investigate, so she was not cautious enough. As a result, once the investigation is started, the vulnerability is easily discovered.

She shouldn't have let her personal maid bury it, and she shouldn't have used nightmares, an easily recognizable excuse, to get benzoin...... She shouldn't even be in the palace to be so openly used that it is recorded in the hospital.

As smart as Xu Ronghua, at this time, he already understood what method Lin Yuan used to break his plan.

She thought that mixing benzoin and purple bamboo to produce poison was a very clever method, but she did not expect that the mixture of veratrol and the two would have a completely different effect.

Skills are not as good as others, and they are willing to gamble and lose.

Xu Ronghua is very clear about his fate, and he is not qualified to complain.

Tuoba Hong listened to the report of the tall man, his face was cold and frightening, but he did not intervene. When Master Gao finished speaking, he only nodded slightly, and asked left and right:

"How was Gan's case dealt with back then?"

Yao Fusheng heard the word "Gan's", his heart trembled, and he knelt down and replied: "Gan's plot to kill the emperor and queen...... Ling Chi, punish the nine clans. ”

"Then deal with the Xu clan in the same way." The Emperor said lightly.

Xu Ronghua's face twisted again, and his hands and feet began to struggle. She thought that as an imperial concubine, she had served Tuoba Hong for many years, so she would not punish the nine clans.

But Tuoba Hong actually dealt with her in the same way as dealing with the sinners who conspired against her......

No, no...... She struggled to speak, but the attendants around her quickly tied her up and dragged her down.

Takubahiro didn't have much expression from beginning to end.

This time he was really angry, there were many people in the palace who did evil, but this time it was different. wanted to hurt the Queen Mother's actions, which made him clearly recall the past-

When he was still the crown prince, Li Guifei and his third brother tried their best to put him and his mother to death. Later, he became emperor, and the assassination and assassination were even more non-stop.

It wasn't until he took back his authority in the past two years and killed King Muwu that his life was better.

He didn't want to touch those things anymore. But there are still people who dare to do something to the Queen Mother.

In his heart, Xu Ronghua is no different from Gan's.

***

After Xu Ronghua was convicted, the matter was finally settled.

Those suspected concubines were tormented, and this time it was like coming back to life. The matter of the abolished concubine Xu was never mentioned again, but Lin Yuan heard Xiao Chengzi say that the Xu family was tortured in the prison of the Criminal Department, and her clan and family members were also beheaded at the noon gate. The concubines have always been convicted in the harem, but Xu's fate is exactly the same as the Gan's example.

Because Xu Ronghua was attached to Concubine Shen in the past, and after Concubine Shen's death, the emperor did not find out that Xu Ronghua was attached to others again, and Xu Ronghua also did not admit who was behind it. Thinking that Xu Ronghua's position is not low, and he also has the support of his family background, he has enough strength to do this conspiracy, and finally the emperor decided that it was Xu alone.

This time, there was no bloodbath in the harem, and it only ended with Xu's tragic death. All the palace people in the palace where she lived were also slain with the rod, and none of them survived.

Lin Yuan's palace was guarded by more people, and the Changle Palace was even more heavily guarded. Although the Queen Mother didn't like so many people to serve, this incident scared the Queen Mother, and she simply restored the appearance of the iron wall a few years ago, for fear that someone would do anything wrong.