The cold winter of the first year of Yuan and Yuan came very hastily.

The day is still faint, overnight, only the wind is crazy, the people of Jinyangjing pushed the doors and windows the next morning, and they have seen a vast space between heaven and earth.

Yin Wu Shengchong of Shuntian Mansion was about one of the very few people who noticed the first heavy snow in the middle of the night.

His eyes were red and swollen, and he was bruised under them, apparently he hadn't slept all night.

Yesterday evening, a murder case occurred in the Chaodusk Pavilion of the Merit Workshop, and a common man who came to Kyoto from Fengyang Mansion was poisoned and died.

Wu Shengchong received the report of the case, but originally did not take it seriously, and only arranged for the magistrate to investigate at the scene.

As a result, the magistrate only brought back to the yamen the Maiko and the shopkeeper of the liquor store who accompanied the deceased to the Morning and Dusk Pavilion, and several running halls, and the proprietor of the maiko, Li Gui, and the proprietor of the liquor shop, Zhang Minghe, were nowhere to be found.

It turned out that these two had gone to Xianghe three days earlier, and it was said that it was for business.

Of course, Wu Shengchong wanted to go to Xianghe County to find the person, and then asked the details of the case, only to know that the deceased Wu Ji was highly poisoned by arsenic, and the poison fell into the wine, but the maiko was safe, it is said that Wu Ji wanted her to sing and dance to help the fun, and she coquettishly wanted Wu Ji to drink a cup first, but before the song was finished, Wu Ji fell to the ground and died.

There were only a handful of people who could touch the drinks, and it didn't take long for the officials to find arsenic from a young man who was in charge of serving food.

"Leaving the evidence of the crime on you? Besides, the proprietor of the Maiko and the proprietor of the liquor store were already on good terms, and the two went to Xianghe together, is it a coincidence? "Wu Shengchong is very suspicious.

With the evidence of the crime in his body, of course the young man was tortured, and he confessed not long after-arsenic was given by the Yan governor of Yongchang Houfu, as well as two hundred taels of silver, and bribed him to poison the wine and harm Wu's life.

Although he only confessed to the servants of the Houfu, but it involved a major case of human life, Wu Shengchong did not dare to do it hastily, and went to the Houfu to get people recklessly, he was very puzzled, what does the head of the Houfu have to do with the ordinary people, and he does not hesitate to buy murder.

As a result, the magistrate easily linked the deceased with the Houfu.

"My lord, it's really related, first there was a wine shop in Xicheng, many people witnessed the entanglement between Yongchang Houfu Erlang and Wu nationality, and later Yongchang Hou also personally invited Wu nationality, this Wu nationality also shouted in public 'kill and extinguish the mouth', but Yongchang Hou was very flattering to the common people."

Such a strange thing is, of course, extraordinary.

Wu Shengchong had no reason not to go to Yongchang Houfu to get people, but thinking of the Empress Dowager behind Houfu, he couldn't close his eyes at all this night.

But before he could make up his mind, another person came to the front of the hall to beat the drum, claiming to be the deceased Wu Ji's old friend, saying that Wu Ji had confessed to him, and if he died unexpectedly, the murderer would be the Yan family of Yongchang Houfu.

Wu Shengchong asked carefully, and the "old friend" said that Wu Ji used Cao Da's whereabouts to blackmail Yongchang Houfu.

At this time, Wu Shengchong did not dare to hesitate any longer, and of course he did not rush to Yongchang Houfu with great fanfare, but changed his official clothes, and only communicated with Yongchang Hou under the guise of visiting.

Yongchang Hou heard that Wu Ji was poisoned to death, and someone defiled the Yan family, so he was naturally shocked and angry, and swore that he would not do anything that harmed people's lives, and very cooperatively let the head of Yan Mansion go to Shuntian Mansion.

Manager Yan shouted that he was wronged: "If someone deliberately frames the villain, he will definitely let the murderer secretly recognize the villain's face first." ”

This is indeed not conclusive evidence.

However, since the case involved Yongchang Houfu, and was also related to the old case of Yan Tingyi's "perverting the law for personal gain", Wu Shengchong felt that he, the Yin of Shuntian Mansion, should not be solely responsible, so he ordered the Criminal Department to take over.

Naturally, this case naturally alarmed the Ci'an Palace.

Coincidentally, on this day, Yijing just entered the palace to say hello, was left by the Empress Dowager for dinner, and was smiling and thanking her, when she heard that Mrs. Yan handed over a sign to ask to see, and the Empress Dowager was planning to use Yijing to ease the estrangement with the eldest princess, and did not let her avoid it.

At this time, the Son of Heaven had already made a decision to transfer the Wu case to the Criminal Department.

"Don't worry, Niangniang, this case must be an attempt by ill-intentioned people to defile the Yongchang Houfu, Lu Shangshu is fair and strict, and he is bound to be able to return the innocence of the Houfu." Yijing persuaded.

The Empress Dowager was thoughtful, Lu Ze, the secretary of the Criminal Department, was recommended by Yu Feng, and the first emperor trusted him very much, and he should not be embarrassed by Qin and Chen.

She was about to speak, but suddenly heard a voice outside the curtain: "Oh? Princess Chu also suspected that someone had framed Yongchang Houfu. ”

The apricot yellow heavy brocade curtain is picked, and a bright yellow brocade robe is dressed.

- The Son of Heaven is coming.

Yijing got up and lowered her eyes, curtsied, but secretly thought in her heart - the prince of her family really expected things like a god, and concluded that the Son of Heaven would personally intervene, and the implementation of the Weiguo Mansion was suspected of "ill-intentioned", of course, it was difficult to convict, as long as the Empress Dowager thought so, it would be considered a goal.

The Empress Dowager thought that her grandmother had a grudge against her because of the matter of her sixth sister, and then gave birth to this incident, even if the Empress Dowager was not 100% sure, but she may not suspect that it was the Weiguo Mansion that took revenge on the Yan family because of the matter of the Sixth Mother, which made the Yongchang Houfu even more criticized, and Yan's official position was not guaranteed.

The anxious Mrs. Yan also got up, and with her identity, she was still about to stand under the beautiful scenery.

"Don't be formal, please be seated." The Son of Heaven was very gentle at this time, he glanced at the beautiful scenery quickly, but said to the Empress Dowager with a smile: "My grandson came today just for the Wu case, and I know that my grandmother will definitely be worried." ”

This time, the Son of Heaven did not take the lead cautiously and cautiously to send the female eunuchs of Ci'an Palace, and asked Yijing again in public: "Does the princess know who has bad intentions?" ”

Yi Jing just sat down, and then had to get up and answer: "Holy Rongqi, the concubine only knows that Yongchang Houfu will not do anything to kill her, so she suspects that someone is to blame, as for the real murderer, the concubine is difficult to determine because of the unknown circumstances of the case, but presumably Lu Shangshu is aware of everything, and can easily prove that Yongchang Houfu is innocent." ”

These words seemed to arouse the interest of the Son of Heaven even more, and he raised his eyebrows slightly: "If it is the princess, what method can be used to determine it?" ”

Yi Jing didn't squirm, and replied generously: "Since the guy who poisoned him claimed to have been bought by Mr. Yan, then he will definitely remember what year, month, day, and hour he met with Mr. Yan, and what was the harm to people's lives. ”

"What if he's talking nonsense?" The Son of Heaven asked with interest.

"That's simpler, just verify who Director Yan saw on that day, you can debunk the murderer's lies, if you are an ordinary person, fortunately you don't remember your whereabouts and deeds a few days ago, but there are many things in the noble house, and Manager Yan should have a record of his daily life, and there are always traces to be seen." Yijing said.

Generally, the head of the aristocratic house has regular affairs every day, and there are always a few assistants around him, to verify where he went on a certain day of the month and what he is doing, and looking through the records should help "memory", and generally will not be unable to remember anything. As a housewife in charge of the feed, Yijing is certainly familiar with these conventions.

The Empress Dowager couldn't hold back for a long time: "Listen to the meaning of the saint, it has been confirmed that it is the murderer who spews blood?" ”

"That's true." The Son of Heaven smiled, his expression became more and more gentle: "As the princess said, Lu Shangshu forced the murderer like this, he immediately panicked, he didn't even say nonsense, he just said that he forgot everything, Lu Shangshu immediately ordered a heavy punishment, the murderer is just a fifteen or sixteen teenager, how can he hold it, it didn't take long to recruit." ”

Speaking of this, the Son of Heaven was stunned again, looked at Yi Jing and said with a smile: "Lu Shangshu thought that the maiko who led the deceased to the wine shop was also suspicious, so he was interrogated again, and it turned out that the maiko was also ordered by someone to get close to Wu Ji and lead him to the wine shop where the crime occurred. ”

The Empress Dowager sighed heavily, but suddenly wondered that the Son of Heaven cared so much about the case, and she speculated that the blame for the Yan family was none other than Chen and Qin, and the Son of Heaven knew it or not, so how could she allow the truth of the case to be revealed? Could it be that this time it has nothing to do with the two phases, and who else is calculating the Yan family?

I heard the Son of Heaven say: "Maiko was instructed by the proprietor Ligui, and the young man also claimed to be instructed by Zhang Minghe to poison Wu and blame Yongchang Houfu, the young man also said that he had heard Ligui and Zhang Minghe discuss, Wu Ji used Cao Da's whereabouts to blackmail Yongchang Houfu, and once embarrassed Yongchang Hou in public, Wu Ji died, Yongchang Houfu could not escape suspicion, Wei Guogong took advantage of Wu Ji to make waves and frame the Yan family, this plan is indeed wonderful. ”

As soon as these words came out, Mrs. Yan, who was already very nervous on the side, almost exclaimed, but she lost her temper and subconsciously raised her hand to cover her mouth.

The Empress Dowager was naturally shocked: "What the Holy Lord said is true? Who are Li Gui and Zhang Minghe, and what is the relationship between them and the Patriotic Mansion? ”

"This is going to ask Princess Chu." The Son of Heaven is so neat.

He actually didn't expect Yijing to be present "exactly" today, but the Son of Heaven was full of confidence in this plan, and he didn't care if Yijing was not present at all.

Because Li and Zhang had been instructed by Chen Xiang in advance - "Before starting, it is best for the two of them to leave Kyoto temporarily, and when the Yamen finds the two of them, the case has already been solved, and the two of them can be exempted from the pain of criminal trial." ”

As early as last night, those two have become corpses, and the news will be transmitted back to Kyoto by the next day at the latest, so Wei Guogong has another suspicion - it is clear that he has heard about the leakage, and he knows that it is not good to kill people! Because that guy couldn't stand the torture yesterday, and as a result, Li and Zhang were assassinated at night! Although the words of that guy alone are not enough to convict Wei Guogong, it doesn't matter, as long as the Empress Dowager is suspicious of ghosts, the plan that follows can be implemented smoothly.

In order to achieve this matter, the Son of Heaven deliberately allowed Lu Ze to try the case, and the Empress Dowager knew that Lu Ze and Yu Feng had a good relationship, and she would not suspect that Lu Ze would be bribed by Chen and Qin and be unfair.

Needless to say, the words of the Son of Heaven fell, and the Empress Dowager and Mrs. Yan both stared directly at Yijing.

Yi Jing was full of inexplicability: "The concubine really doesn't know the words of the saint, because the concubine is also the first time to hear the names Ligui and Zhang Minghe." ”

Uncle Li Yijing has never met, but I'm afraid that even Erniang and Siniang don't know his name, let alone Zhang Minghe, if Yijing hadn't heard Yu Feng talk about it, he would have no impression of these two names.

The princess pretended to be stupid very well, but let the Son of Heaven pat her forehead: "It's confused, the princess shouldn't know, but Wei Guogong will definitely not forget it." ”

Guan Zi sold a little too much, and the Empress Dowager couldn't help but clench her fists.

The Son of Heaven hurriedly told the relationship between Li and Zhang and the Weiguo Mansion: "Let's not talk about Ligui, although it is a common man, it is indeed an in-law with the Weiguo Mansion, as for Zhang Minghe, although he is only the brother of an aunt, I heard that the Weiguo Duke takes care of him very much, not only for him to get rid of his citizenship, Zhang Minghe's business principal is also thanks to the funding of the Weiguo Gong, a few years ago, Zhang Minghe and Erlang Su Ying also often corresponded, and the relationship was close. ”

Yi Jing naturally wouldn't refute the words of the Son of Heaven, she was only deeply blessed: "The Holy Lord and the Empress Dowager have a clear understanding, that murderer can not only defile the Yongchang Houfu, but also naturally frame the Weiguo Mansion, and the concubine believes that her father will never do anything to kill people and cause trouble." ”

"I am not gullible, but Lu Shangshu found out that the person who exposed Yongchang Houfu and wanted to destroy the mouth the day after the case was not bought, but really an old acquaintance with Wu Ji, Wu Ji once told him that he had Cao Da's whereabouts on hand, and he would be able to coerce Yongchang Hou to find an official position for him in the future glory and wealth, but in case he suffered a sudden death, it must be Yongchang Hou's hand." The Son of Heaven frowned slightly: "That young man's confession also mentions Cao Da, which means that it is not nonsense, so grandmother, I think, it is better to ask Wei Guogong to ask for a clear understanding first." ”

The Son of Heaven is so bright and upright, and once again shows that he has a clear conscience, the Empress Dowager is really full of suspicions, and her eyes looking at Yijing no longer have the usual gentleness, but have an obscure taste.