Your Majesty, Lord Xu is here. Liu Deming entered the imperial study and bowed down to report.

The emperor was reviewing the fold, and the movement of his hand froze, and the vermilion ink on the tip of the pen dripped on the fold, and then smudged into a bright red flower.

He sighed, put down the fold and pen, took the cloth towel handed by Liu Deming and wiped his hands.

"Let people in."

Xu Chu respectfully entered the imperial study, lowered his eyebrows, and looked very calm and calm. was so calm that the emperor couldn't see the slightest emotion, just like Xiao Qinglang in the past.

The emperor did not wait for her to salute, and he had already said that he would not be saluted.

"How?"

Xu Chu stood quietly in the hall, his eyes solemn and firm, and said, "The minister has already understood the ins and outs of the whole case. ”

The emperor was silent for a long time, sitting quietly in front of the imperial case, and after a long time, he said hoarsely: "Oh? ”

Xu Chu couldn't see any expression on his face, and he couldn't guess how much he knew and what his plans were. But when things got to this point, she couldn't help but hesitate any longer.

She pursed her lips and said: "The previous autopsy has proved that the prince was framed, and the murderer is someone else. ”

"The minister made the real murder weapon into a mold, and it shouldn't be too difficult to find it in the palace."

In addition, the inner court had already found Xia Zhu who served the sobering soup for the prince, but when she was found, she had already died in a dry well. And she was dying in the jacket tightly guarding a white porcelain bowl, which was exactly what the prince had marked. On her body, there is also a purple jade hairpin engraved with the word Taihe. ”

In addition, Xia Zhu has a ring mark on the palm of his hand, and there is a white powdered medicine on the mark. These can prove that the prince was drugged at that time, so that his intuition was not at the mercy of others. ”

Seeing that the emperor was silent for a long time, she simply gritted her teeth and raised her hand to take out the note that Xiao Qinglang threw into the flower garden yesterday from her sleeve and said: "In addition, the minister learned from the prince that someone stuffed this note into his hand before the prince lost consciousness. And the ink on this note is mixed with gold dust...... In the palace, there should not be many people who can show their dignity with gold dust. ”

The emperor listened to her meaningful words, sighed deeply, looked up at Liu Deming after a while, and said, "Let people invite the Queen Mother, and let the inner court bring King Jing'an here." ”

Liu Deming respectfully agreed, and then quietly retreated.

There was no sound in the hall in an instant, and Xu Chu broke out in a cold sweat with a suffocating silence.

God knows how anxious she was when she said those words. After all, the meaning of her words is very clear, the initiator of this case must be someone from the Taihe Palace.

In fact, she is also gambling, betting on how the emperor will choose. And now it seems that his brotherhood with Xiao Qinglang is more solid than he imagined.

Thinking of this, her heartstrings, which had been tense, also relaxed a little.

In addition, the minister also asked the emperor to summon the Tang Lord of Dali Temple to bring the suspects arrested today into the palace. In addition, please invite the sister-in-law of the Hua family, Hua Wu, Xu Yanzuo, who is in the Jing'an Palace, and Chu Niangzi to enter the palace together. ”

The emperor squinted slightly, looked at Xu Chu, whose face was pale but did not bend his spine at all, and after a moment of silence, he commanded: "Summoning Tang Qiaozheng, Hua Wuxi, Xu Qizuo, and Chu Niangzi into the palace." ”

When the Queen Mother arrived, the tea in the teacup that the emperor was constantly rubbing in his hand was already cold.

And the Queen Mother is still followed by Mama Song, who has always followed her.

Mama Song stood beside the Queen Mother, her face gloomy, and she glanced at Xu Chu indifferently.

However, when the Queen Mother sat down and looked at Xu Chu, her expression was complicated and her face was solemn.

The next one is Xiao Qinglang. At this time, Xiao Qinglang's expression was indifferent, although he only wore regular clothes and never tied his hair with a jade crown, nor did he have a variety of jade to match, but it was difficult to hide the noble and elegant, Yushu Lanzhi temperament.

Xu Chu looked at him quietly, and finally covered up the brilliance in his eyes, as if all the feelings and tenderness he had been just a dream.

Xiao Qinglang glanced at her silently, and his eyes that were as quiet as an abyss suddenly trembled when he saw her drooping eyes. How could he not feel the change in her eyes, the people who used to hate each other to carve each other into the bone marrow could see what the other person was thinking with one look.

But now, those clear and transparent eyes no longer have waves and gentleness when facing themselves.

His heart was slightly suffocated, and he smiled helplessly. Probably, he upset her again.

In the silence of the room, Liu Deming suddenly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, Lord Lou asked to see you, and it was confirmed that Lord Xu asked him to investigate." ”

When Xu Chu heard this, he was sure in his heart. Then, set your sights on the Emperor.

"Now that the queen mother and the prince have arrived, the minister began to talk about the death of the third prince."

She saw the emperor's head, so she slowly spoke: "Today, the minister went to the autopsy by the holy decree and found that the third prince died before the Youshi, because he was frozen after his death and then confused the time of death. And the prince left the table at the beginning of the day, and there was a difference of more than an hour in the middle, so the murderer could not be the prince. ”

"In addition, after the minister re-examined the wounds on the abdomen of the third prince, he found that the three wounds on his abdomen had forged marks." Xu Chu said, took the autopsy sheet he had copied and handed it to Liu Deming, and then said, "This can be proved by the emperor and Cao Inspector." ”

"The murder weapon that killed the three princes, a slender, double-edged short sword, the sword surface is one inch wide, and the hilt of the sword is three inches like auspicious clouds or flowers." After Xu Chu finished speaking, he set his eyes on the emperor, took a deep breath and said, "The minister boldly guesses that the emperor knows where this murder weapon is. ”

The Emperor looked up, looked at her sharply, and after a moment said, "Go on." ”

Xu Chu was stunned for a moment, but soon she skipped the murder weapon. If the emperor wants to keep silent about this matter, then even if she has thousands of ways to prove the appearance of the real murder weapon, it will be useless.

"According to what I have checked, no one has gone to the ice cellar to get ice recently, and there is nothing abnormal in the ice cellar. So, how does Lord Xu explain the fact that the corpse of the third prince was frozen out of thin air? ”

Xu Chu pursed his lips, sighed lightly, and said, "Now I have to ask Lord Lou to reply." ”

When Lou An entered, his steps were extremely fast, he first saluted the emperor, and then said: "Lord Xu asked the minister to investigate the matter of making fireworks by the Ministry of Industry, and the minister has just interrogated the craftsman who went to the Empress Dowager's palace to make fireworks that day, and according to him, a lot of saltpeter was lost at that time. ”

"Now, the minister has brought the man, and he is waiting outside the palace."

The emperor frowned and looked at Xu Chu with some puzzlement. Obviously talking about the frozen corpse, how did he suddenly get to the fireworks again?

Xu Chu saw that he was puzzled, and arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, since the Tang Dynasty, people in the world have often used saltpeter to make ice. Saltpeter dissolves in water and absorbs heat until the water freezes. And to make fireworks, you also need saltpeter as a material, so the minister boldly guessed that when the craftsman went to the queen mother's palace to perform and make fireworks for the queen mother and the lord of Mingzhu County, someone stole a large amount of saltpeter brought by the craftsman. ”

"Then, the man used saltpeter to make ice, and used ice cubes to freeze the corpse of the third prince, and then confused the public."

The emperor shifted his gaze to the Queen Mother, and saw that the Queen Mother was tired, and he couldn't bear it, but finally asked: "What evidence do you have to prove that the saltpeter was lost in the Taihe Palace?" ”

"Mama Song's diarrhea is the biggest evidence." Xu Chu didn't care about the Queen Mother's suddenly sinking face, but said calmly, "Saltpeter can be used to make ice, but if it is misused, it will also cause severe diarrhea." ”

"When I went to the hospital today, I heard that Mama Song started diarrhea yesterday, and she got better after taking the antidiarrheal decoction, but today's diarrhea is much more serious." Xu Chu took a deep breath and continued, "If Mama Song said yesterday that she had diarrhea after using cold tea, then how could it be so aggravated today?" The minister listened to the palace maid who followed behind Mama Song and said that Mama Song's diet today is very fine, and there is nothing raw and cold. ”

The Queen Mother squinted slightly, glanced at her coldly, gritted her teeth and said, "Don't talk nonsense, how can the people around the mourning family be slandered by you at will?" ”

Xu Chu saw that her face was gloomy, but he was not afraid at all. Her eyes were cold, and she said word by word: "In addition, there is naturally side evidence. ”

She took out the white porcelain bowl and purple hosta from her sleeve, handed it to Liu Deming and said: "This is what Xia Zhu hid on his body before he committed suicide, and the white porcelain bowl has been proven to have hemp boiling that can make people unconscious." On the purple hosta, there is the word Taihe to highlight its origin. ”

"The minister guesses that the reason why Xia Zhu's bedroom was stolen today is probably to find this object."

As soon as the word Taihe came out, the Queen Mother's face suddenly turned pale.

"Then there is the note handed over to the prince, which is written in gold powder ink. In the palace, only the queen mother and the queen can use gold dust into ink. ”

In addition, according to the records of the inner court, the queen mother once dealt with a private matter of competing for favor in the harem during the reign of the first emperor. At that time, some concubines bribed the descendants of craftsmen of the previous dynasty to make yin and yang rings, which could hide medicinal powders or needle tips. At that time, the queen mother disposed of the concubine with thunder, and confiscated the ring into her hands, and the harem has never seen the ring of yin and yang since then. When Xu Chu said this, his tone paused slightly, and finally handed the painting from Xia Zhu's hand in his hand to Liu Deming and motioned for him to hand it to the emperor, "This ring has a clear pattern, and it is identified by Lord Lou Anlou, which is exactly the style of the yin and yang ring that was checked by the harem back then." ”

As she spoke, she looked at the Queen Mother and said with a cold expression: "And in the end, what really made the minister sure was the assassination of Xiao Guizi in the Queen Mother's palace." Xiao Guizi was born in the inner court and was proficient in martial arts, but he carried out assassinations in the palace in a grand manner. ”

"It's not difficult to find out his identity, and it's naturally not ......difficult to pry his mouth open," Xu Chu said slowly word by word, her tone was very calm when she said it, but it was deafening in the ears of the Queen Mother and Mama Song.

At this time, in the silence of everyone, the emperor suddenly sneered and said, "Queen Mother, if I remember correctly, there is an auspicious cloud short sword in the queen harem for use to ward off evil spirits?" ”

The Queen Mother's face changed slightly, her eyes trembled, she clenched her hands tightly and asked, "The emperor is suspicious of the mourning family?" ”

"I'm just telling the truth." The emperor looked at the Empress Dowager Xiang, ignored the anger in her eyes and continued, "I have asked, since I have seen the emperor's brother yesterday, except for Lord Xu and the guards, there is only Mama Song. ”

"And before seeing Mama Song, the royal brother did not admit his guilt." Xiao Qinglang's ridicule after being stolen and seized last night is still vivid, and no one will say that he has the intention of confessing his guilt against his will.

The atmosphere that was originally just cold and lonely is now like a cold cover, which makes people feel cold in their hearts. It was a person like Lou An, and his breath was frozen for a moment.

"As for the hemp boiling on the white porcelain bowl, it is indeed from the Jing'an Palace. But in the past few days, only two people have been in and out of the palace at will, and there is ......"

As she was talking, the voice of the little eunuch came from outside, saying that the playboy was asking to see the emperor and was now rushing inside.

The emperor glanced at Xu Chu, did not speak, only waved his hand to let people go. It wasn't until Hua Wu's illness was close that everyone found that the playboy who had always been flamboyant was very ugly at this time.

"Since the playboy is here, then you might as well let the playboy say that the playboy really entered the palace to discuss family affairs!"

She looked at Hua Wuxian with heavy eyes, and she didn't waver until he staggered his gaze in embarrassment.

"I ......" flowers are disease-free at this time, how can I not see the clues. He glanced at Xiao Qinglang with annoyance, and saw that he looked calm and unsurprised, so he let out a sigh of relief and said, "It was indeed me who brought Ma Feisan out of the Jing'an Palace." I was able to enter and leave the palace at will, so I was naturally clear about the development of hemp boiling powder by Aunt Chu and others...... After I took the hemp boiling powder out, I took the opportunity of the queen mother's summons to hand over the medicine powder to Mama Song of Taihe Palace. ”

Hua Wuxi's words almost completely blocked the back road between the Queen Mother and Mama Song.

But even so, the Queen Mother still forced her face and asked: "The mourning family has raised King Jing'an since childhood, what reason do you have to do these things now?" ”

Xu Chu stared at her for a long time before he sighed softly: "Naturally, it is because the prince has found out about the royal secret that is enough to shake the Great Zhou court......"

After she said this, she didn't look at the queen mother, but instead said to the emperor: "Please let the emperor pass the Dali Temple Qing Tang into it." ”

"Biography!" The emperor gritted his teeth and commanded in a deep voice.

Just as he said this, the Queen Mother, who was still quite aggressive just now, suddenly turned pale, and even the eyes that had been glaring at Xu Chu trembled slightly. In just an instant, her whole person was as angry as a defeated trapped beast, leaving only pale despair and silence.