Moreover, from the incident with the princess at the beginning, it is not difficult to see that person's hatred and resentment towards the royal family. And all the things he did were probably to trample the royal face under his feet, so I think what he was going to reveal next, or what made him revenge and proud, should be related to this. ”

Xu Chu saw that Xiao Qinglang's face was solemn, and the fingertips holding the tea cup were slightly white because of the force, and immediately sighed.

In the dark room, the female corpse of the British duchess was originally dressed, but she was dressed in a concubine costume and painted with a concubine makeup, which was unbelievable enough. If it is really involved in a royal scandal, it is nothing more than the king's seizure of the wife, or the British public intention is treasonous

"The death of the British duke, will the prince feel that there is something wrong?" Xu Chu thought that throughout the ages, many people had used the means of cheating death and escaping, so this question was not unexpected by Xiao Qinglang.

Xiao Qinglang shook his head, "When the British duke died, I was not in the capital, and he was buried when he returned to Beijing. However, the death of the Duke of Guo is a matter of great importance, and the Queen Mother and the first emperor value it, so Dali Temple and the Inner Court have sent people to check it to make sure that it is indeed silent, and the aftermath is also handled by officials such as the Ministry of Rites. ”

In other words, as long as there is a person in the Dali Temple or the inner court who is not bought, it is impossible for the British Duke to fake his death and escape.

Now the mystery is getting bigger and bigger, as if the truth is close at hand, but they can't touch it.

Now the British government has become a dead end, and most of the generals who followed the British government back then are no longer alive. And it's been a long time, so it's not easy to track it down for a while.

"Then Hou Ning, the protector of the country, what personal relationship does he have with Xiao Heng, the British Princess?" Somehow, Xu Chu suddenly remembered that the poison that killed Dong Ruiyang seemed to be a medicine for the Marquis of the Protector to treat old diseases.

Although she didn't think that the Protector had a reason to kill Dong Ruiyang, this insignificant clue lingered in her mind at this time.

For the most part, this is the intuition of the prisoner, but the slightest possibility cannot be ignored.

Xiao Qinglang shook his head, "Although the Protector and the British Duke are both military generals, they have never heard of any personal relations. The Marquis of the Protector belongs to the meritorious generals with foreign surnames, and although the British Duke also has meritorious deeds, in fact, he has a foothold in the court because he inherited the title of the old British Duke and the support of the Queen Mother. Therefore, the Protector looked down on the British Duke Xiao Heng and thought that he was on the throne by nepotism, while Xiao Heng was also hostile to the Protector who was also an official in Gyeonggi but held real power"

Xu Chu didn't know much about this matter, but it was quickly straightened out.

According to the files and atlases she had seen, it can be seen that the wife of the old British Duke and the queen mother at that time were sisters, and after she married the old British Duke, the British Mansion was valued by the Holy Grandfather. Later, his wife and the queen became pregnant one after another, and it was rumored to be a good story at that time.

And for this reason, the Holy Grandfather and the Queen Mother have rewarded them many times. What's more, the old British Duke also won the trust of the Holy Grandfather and took charge of his Gyeonggi military defense. However, later, when he went out to play, he was assassinated, and more than ten members of his family were killed by thieves.

At that time, the British Mansion was slaughtered, which made the holy grandfather angry, and even made the queen mother, who should not have given birth, have a fetal gas, and give birth to the next prince, that is, the first emperor.

Later, at the beginning of the case, the three law divisions found the unique wolf teeth of the prince of the imperial court of Northern Xinjiang who were lost at the scene, so they concluded that the tragedy was committed by Northern Xinjiang in revenge for the Great Zhou. After that, the Great Zhou conquered the northern Xinjiang several times, and it was not until the national treasury was empty after the flooding in the south of the Yangtze River that the use of troops in the northern Xinjiang was stopped.

Later, because he felt sorry for his queen, he washed his face with tears every day, so he went down to find a young child next to the Xiao family, gave him the name Xiao Heng, and then succeeded to the name of the British Duke and his wife. After that, the young boy gradually grew up, but he looked like an old English duke and his wife, which made the queen at that time, that is, the queen of obedience, feel pity in her heart. In the end, he was accepted into the palace many times to be accompanied by the crown prince, that is, the first emperor.

It was not until the first emperor was made the crown prince that the young boy was given the title of British duke.

Later, the British government and the Protector's Mansion fought openly and secretly for the defense of Gyeonggi all the year round, until the first emperor ascended the throne, and the British prince was sent to the border to seek military achievements.

Before the first emperor ascended the throne, the only time the British Duke Xiao Heng led troops was to lead troops to Jinling to suppress the rebellion. After that, he was ordered to escort the show girls from Jinling Mansion into Beijing to participate in the draft, and then accepted the marriage until he went to the frontier.

Xu Chu's fingers unconsciously sketched repeatedly on the desk, until he stopped on the words "marriage and war", and only after a while did he hesitate to say, "The British duke only went to the border in the third year after marriage, but why in the past three years, no heirs have been born in the house, and there are no concubines in the British duke?" ”

It stands to reason that the more high-ranking the family, the more important it is to inherit the bloodline. Generally speaking, if a person with the status of the Duke of England has no descendants for a year or two after getting married, then whether it is the elders of the family or the queen of obedience, they should be urged. Even if it is impossible to make his wife directly pregnant, at least a concubine or a room will be arranged to have incense passed down from generation to generation.

However, the British government is strange.

Xiao Qinglang bowed his head and said, "I don't know the specific matters, but I heard that after Emperor Chengzong gave marriage, Empress Gongshun once rewarded the palace maids to the British Mansion, but they were all appointed by the British Princesses to be the maids of his wife. It wasn't until a few months after he returned from the border that his wife became pregnant."

"Because this is a matter of the British government's house, there are no files to see."

In other words, even if there is a strange thing about his wife's sudden pregnancy, there is no trace.

Xu Chu nodded, frowned, and said, "Is it possible that the disappearance of his wife is related to the child who disappeared in her womb, or is it related to the concubine palace dress she is wearing today?" ”

Xiao Qinglang sat on the top and said with a solemn expression, "This matter is very important, if you want to investigate it in detail, I am afraid that you must tell the emperor first."

If it is really found that the first emperor and the British duchess had a head and tail, it will undoubtedly be a huge scandal. Perhaps, even the death of the British public will be choreographed.

Therefore, he really can't answer this matter easily. Although there may be the truth about the abolition of his mother behind this matter, it is still not something he can reveal.

While the two were silent, the carriage gradually stopped. After a while, Wei Guang said outside the carriage, "Lord Wang, Lord Xu, the Zhu San family has arrived. ”

Because there is still a murder to investigate in front of them, no matter what they guess, they must put it aside for the time being in front of human life.

After getting out of the carriage, Xu Chu followed Xiao Qinglang to the place where the fire broke out.

The house here is not big, and Xu Chu estimates that it should be a quadrangular courtyard of about two points, not counting a few entrances and exits, and there is no cross courtyard back door. One main house is made of green tiles, and there are two adobe houses on the east and west, which are considered wing rooms, and the one on the west side is made of stove houses.

The fire was not serious, and the damage to the yard was not serious, but the adobe wing near the east was black, and the windows were only framed, and the window paper was completely invisible, except for the black hole.

Although the wooden door is too crooked to see the original appearance, there are still some doors that should have been closed at the time of the fire, so that the inside of the door is dark.

Xu Chu walked around the courtyard, and finally came to the wall more than one person high and stared at it. After a few moments, she had someone find a bench and step on it to take a look.

The wall was made of green bricks, with a little moss and mildew on it, and there was a small mark of rubbing on a patch of moss.

She tapped her fingers, as if they had been left by the rubbing of someone over the wall. It was as if he had fallen off the wall

Xu Chu got off the bench and re-checked the root of the wall, but saw that there was a trace of being tired back and forth. She reached out and twisted the somewhat soft soil, her eyebrows slightly raised. If she was right, it must have been someone who jumped off the wall and deliberately erased his footprints

When Xiao Qinglang and his entourage arrived, Sikong Han was asking the fire-fighting people who came nearby with the officials. In fact, if it is an ordinary time, a case like this does not require Sikong Han to come forward, at most, it is just someone from Jingzhao Mansion to interrogate. It's just that Zhu San is different, after all, he is very likely to have participated in the murder of King Jing'an, whether it is true or not, it can be regarded as a major case.

At this time, many people carrying wooden barrels and basins were covered in dust and embarrassment, and even more people were splashed with a lot of water, mixed with dust and crumpled into a ball. However, it can be regarded as extinguishing the fire, and it can also make the people living nearby breathe a sigh of relief.

It's just that after hearing the news that someone was burned to death in the burning room, the big guys were a little surprised. In their impression, the partial houses of the Zhu family are still adobe houses, and they are not the owners

"Hey, why did you say that this good man was burned to death? When he came back at that time, he was still very proud. A black-faced man wiped his face and sighed at the interrogating officer.

Before the official could open his mouth to continue asking, another man in a coarse cloth shirt next to him nodded and agreed, "Who said no, although the Zhu family is really hateful, but just dying like this, it still makes people feel uncomfortable." ”

The man's clothes were stained with a large patch of dust, and the wooden barrel in his hand was still dripping with water droplets, apparently he had just put out the fire.

However, when his words fell, the man who had just spoken did not respond, but was a little surprised, "Hey, Zhang Bing, isn't your Zhang family always at odds with the Zhu family?" Why did you change your temperament for the first time today and come to Zhu's house to fight the fire? ”