"Your Majesty, after many visits and interrogations, the courtiers have obtained a total of five confessions, which is the thicker stack of paper in Your Majesty's hand." Chen Ying said respectfully.

Emperor Yuan Jia sighed, picked up the pile of paper she said, flipped through a few pages, and frowned: "It's quite complete." ”

The voice was slightly cool, and there was not much emotion.

Chen Ying's face was calm, she took out the briefing from her sleeve, glanced at it, and said: "The providers of these five confessions are: Chen Xu, the old lady of Yongcheng Hou, Liu Tong, the old lady of Xinyang Hou, Wu Huishi, the old servant of the family of Lord Qing Chang of Honglu Temple, Ma Cheng's 'Qianlixiang' oil mill in Pingxiang County, Shunde Prefecture, and Li Cheng, a resident of Guangzong County, Shunde Prefecture. ”

As soon as the words fell, Emperor Yuan Jia's action of looking through the confession also stopped, and he raised his eyes to look at her, his eyes were very faint: "From the time you got this hairpin to the time you handed me the excerpt and asked to see me, during this period, you were just asking these confessions?" ”

"Yes." Chen Ying bowed: "The first three confessions were obtained in the capital, and it took two days to gather the total, but the last two confessions were entrusted by the courtiers to the Marquis of Weiyuan to help investigate, because the latter two witnesses were in other places, so it took some time." ”

Emperor Yuan Jia nodded, took a moment of silence, and sighed: "Your meticulous handling of the case is really speechless." ”

Chen Ying couldn't hear whether this was praise or disparagement, so she had to be silent.

Fortunately, Emperor Yuan Jia's emotion went very quickly.

"That's it, you go on, I don't bother to read these confessions." He threw the pile of paper aside, leaned back, and looked at Chen Ying: "Say, what did you find out about this hairpin." ”

"The courtiers found out that the original owner of this hairpin, named Cheng Rong, was the second daughter of the former Changning Bofu." Chen Ying said calmly: "Of course, this is her maiden name before she got married, and then she got married, and she is now Xingjibo's stepwife, Guo Cheng." ”

Emperor Yuan Jia's eyebrows did not move, his face was indifferent, and he seemed to be not surprised by this answer.

Chen Ying guessed that when he read the confession, he should have already known the answer.

Indeed, these two beads belong to Mrs. Cheng of Xingjibo.

In fact, on the day of Chen Xiang's big gift, Mrs. Xu recalled the events of that year and reported the name of Mrs. Xingjibo.

As soon as he heard Cheng's boudoir name Cheng Rong, Chen Ying immediately concluded that this was the right answer.

The small word "Wang" at the end of the pearl hairpin fits the surname "Cheng", plus the "Rong", it is almost clear that it is Cheng.

However, just in case, Chen Ying still interviewed a few more witnesses to confirm that the judgment was correct, and then asked to face the saint.

"The last two witnesses you just reported, I remember that they also seem to be surnamed Cheng, but they are the sisters of Guo Cheng's mother's family." Emperor Yuan Jia's indifferent voice sounded, without a trace of emotion.

"As Your Majesty said." Chen Ying gave a positive reply: "Chang Ningbo made a mistake back then, was stripped of his title, confiscated his family property, and his family was reduced to commoners, so he returned to his ancestral hometown of Shunde Mansion. Ma Cheng's real name is Cheng Ruoyu, and she is the fifth sister of Mrs. Xingjibo; Li Cheng's real name is Cheng Bao, and she is the sixth sister of Mrs. Xingjibo. According to the courtiers, these three sisters are half-sisters, Cheng Ruoyu is a descendant, Mrs. Xingjibo Cheng Rong's biological mother is Aunt Zhuang, and Cheng Bao's biological mother is Aunt He. ”

After a pause, she added: "The Cheng family was very depressed after returning to their hometown, most of the men died, and several daughters who married far away have not been heard from, and the confessions that the courtiers can get in a short period of time are only these two." According to the old servant of the Cheng family, Cheng Ruoyu and Cheng Bao are both second-married women, Cheng Ruoyu married a small official in Beijing earlier, because she has not been out for many years, after the Cheng family won the title, she was also abandoned by her husband's family and returned home and married to the owner of the oil mill as his wife; Cheng Bao married a businessman to do a continuation, the husband was more than 20 years older than her, about ten years ago a disease died, because of the loss of power in Changning Bofu, the businessman's former wife gave birth to several children to control the family property, Cheng Bao did not have the support of his mother's family, so he had to return to Cheng's house with the child and remarry his current husband. ”

She glanced down at the briefing, and continued: "According to the confessions of these five people, when Cheng Rong was nineteen years old, Mrs. Chang Ningbo intended to marry her to Xingjibo's mansion as a continuation, so she gave her this hairpin, dressed her up, and took her to the 'Red Leaf Banquet' set up by King Xianning, with the intention of inviting Mrs. Xingjibo to look at her future daughter-in-law. The first three witnesses saw the hairpin with their own eyes at the banquet. As for the latter two witnesses, they saw the hairpin at home, and Mrs. Xingjibo got married, and the pair of hairpins were also one of the dowries. ”

At this point, she bent down slightly: "That's all there is to it about the details of these five confessions. ”

Emperor Yuan Jia was silent, and his eyes were thrown out of the door.

The rain was very heavy, and the eaves drooped into a line, looking from afar, just like a clear bead curtain. The cool breeze blew, and the brocade curtains tied up on both sides swayed, faintly revealing a glimmer of sky.

The clouds are heavy, and they are pressing heavily on the edge of the brocade curtain, and the west wind rolls up, alternating between the flamboyant crimson and the gloomy iron gray, and the huer is gorgeous and desolate.

Emperor Yuan Jia's voice also seemed to contain two emotions, like a sigh, and like a coldness: "In addition, are there any other confessions or evidence?" ”

"Yes, the hairpin itself is evidence." Chen Ying quickly said authentically, and explained the rules of Zhencuilou's master's custom jewelry, especially the special watch, and added at the end: "...... The courtiers found the two apprentices of Zhencuilou that year, and both of them recognized that this was the hairpin that Mrs. Chang Ningbo ordered for her daughter, and the record on it was also written by the master of Zhencuilou. Their confessions were also given to His Majesty, which was the thinner stack of paper. ”

As for Zhencui Building, its old owner died of illness many years ago, and the young owner who took over was a bad gambler, and within a few years the family property was lost, and the time-honored brand in the capital went out of business, and the craftsmen also went their own way.

These all happened more than 20 years ago, and because they were trivial, Chen Ying only mentioned them in one sentence.

"These are just confessions you got, what about your inferences?" Emperor Yuan Jia suddenly asked.

Chen Ying pondered for a moment and replied: "If Your Majesty asks the courtiers their views on this matter, the courtiers feel that this matter is a bit strange, it looks like a frame-up. However, the courtiers did not have any empirical evidence to prove this inference, and this conclusion was the subjective assumption of the courtiers. ”

"It's okay, but it's what it is." Emperor Yuan Jia waved his hand.

Chen Ying said: "This hairpin was obtained from an unidentified female corpse. According to the autopsy report, as well as the examination of the clothes on the body of Liu Pan and the unknown woman, the courtiers deduced that the nameless woman was the real murderer who tortured Liu Pan and killed him. ”