Hairpin Phoenix

   Chapter 405 Mastermind (2)

After    a stick of incense, the King of Dongping County entered the house where Concubine Meng was imprisoned.

   Concubine Meng first sneered: "What? Haven't found the real culprit yet?"

   Concubine Meng and Emperor Yongjia were childhood sweethearts and went into and out of Li's house when they were young.

  The King of Dongping County is six years younger than Emperor Yongjia, and he has been a follower of Emperor Yongjia since he was a child. Concubine Meng knew him all too well. Even if the Duke of Dongping County was the Zongzheng of the Zongren Mansion, Concubine Meng had no sense of reverence, and her words were sarcasm.

The Duke of Dongping stared at Concubine Meng closely, and said a few words unexpectedly: "Don't say that Brother Jue is fine, even if something happens, it won't affect the status of the crown prince. The first prince's right leg is already broken, so it's useless to do anything. already."

   Concubine Meng: "..."

   Concubine Meng was stabbed in the sore spot, her face turned pale, and an angry flame appeared in her eyes, as if she was going to swallow the Duke of Dongping alive.

  The Duke of Dongping has been a Zongzheng for many years, in charge of all the royal clansmen, and he has broken down many cases, big and small. After saying two sentences, seeing Concubine Meng's reaction, I knew it.

   Concubine Meng should have nothing to do with this matter.

  The Duke of Dongping didn't say much, so people came in, carefully questioned what Concubine Meng had done three days ago, and recorded them one by one. Then he went to Concubine Qin's house.

   Several princes and concubines lived outside the palace, and their foundations in the palace were shallow. Nine out of ten who set up this game quietly are the concubines of the harem.

   Young concubines who have never had children can also be excluded. As for Wang Jieyu, it was pulled out by Queen Qiao alone. There is only one princess under her knees, and she has long been attached to the East Palace.

   The most suspect is Concubine Meng, Concubine Qin, Concubine Su.

   Compared to Concubine Meng, who was short-tempered, Concubine Qin was much calmer and gentler. Seeing the Duke of Dongping County, he said without waiting for him to ask: "Yesterday I stayed in the Shouning Palace all day, and I never left the Queen Mother. I didn't know about the murder of Brother Jue until I was brought into the East Palace. of."

  The Duke of Dongping glanced at him and said lightly, "Concubine Qin doesn't have to talk to the Queen Mother. If you stay in Shouning Palace, you can also send someone to act in secret."

  Concubine Qin remained calm: "If you don't believe me, you can have someone search the palace. All the palace servants and servants around me may wish to interrogate them one by one."

  The Duke of Dongping looked at Concubine Qin for a moment, then turned around and called someone to come in for questioning.

   Then, the Duke of Dongping went to see Concubine Su again.

   Compared to the arrogant Concubine Meng and the calm Concubine Qin, Concubine Su looked much more pitiful. Helpless with a face of being wronged and wronged, her eyes turned red when she opened her mouth, and her voice kept trembling: "Your Majesty, I live in Yihua Palace on weekdays, and I never go to the bedroom except to ask for peace."

   "I didn't know about Brother Jue's murder from beginning to end!"

   "I beg you, you must find out what's going on, and give me my innocence!"

   said, tears rolled down one by one.

  Although she was in her thirties, Concubine Su was well maintained and looked at most in her thirties. A pair of willow eyebrows knitted together, tears like pearls, so pitiful.

   As long as it is a man, few can resist it.

The Duke of Dongping coughed, and his expression softened a lot: "Please calm down, Concubine Su. The king of this county has been ordered by the empress to investigate this matter thoroughly, and will not let anyone behind the scenes go, and will never wrong anyone. Concubine Su Niangniang has a clear conscience, so why should you be afraid."

   Concubine Su cried for a while, wiped her tears with her sleeve, and said in a low voice, "The prince said yes."

  The Duke of Dongping said again: "What Jufan has done will definitely leave traces. As long as you check carefully, this person behind the scenes will not be able to escape at all."

   Concubine Su's body trembled invisibly.

  The Duke of Dongping glanced at Concubine Su, walked out, and whispered to the people outside the door: "Ask carefully."

  …

  What has been done, there are always traces.

   Those with a guilty conscience will surely be able to see the difference.

  The Duke of Dongping looked around, and there was already a vague guess in his heart.

   For the next half of the day, the Duke of Dongping County focused on interrogating the palace staff in Yihua Palace. Palace people usually do some rough work at most, and they can't help but torture and interrogate them.

   Soon, someone from the palace confided that the maid of the Yihua Palace, Zitan, had a younger sister named Zisu. This perilla belongs to the sewing room, and there is a friend in the palace who is the servant of the king.

  The Duke of Dongping immediately ordered the red sandalwood and Zisu to come over. After several tortures, the dying Zisu finally confessed. It was Zitan who instructed her to bribe the king's servants and attacked Brother Kui'er and Sister Xuan.

   However, it wasn't her who killed the king's housekeeper. It was Zitan who deceived the king's housekeeper to the side of the pond. The king's housekeeper ate a poisonous snack and was pushed into the pond after the poison developed.

  Zitan heard Zisu say this, but did not deny it, opened his mouth and said, "Yes, I did it all by myself from beginning to end, and Concubine Su didn't know about it. If I want to kill or cut, I recognize it."

  Dongping County King sneered: "What a loyal servant! Say these words to the Queen!"

   Before he finished speaking, Queen Qiao, who was full of anger and cold eyes, walked in.

The Duke of Dongping immediately stepped forward and reported in a low voice: "Qi Empress, the red sandalwood has all been confessed. It was the red sandalwood who ordered Zisu to bribe the king's servant and kill the king's servant. She also said that everything was It was she who did it, and Concubine Su didn't know about it..."

   Queen Qiao's expression became more and more cold and stern: "Record everything they said into a confession, and let them draw and detain them. Then, they will be executed on the spot."

  Dongping County King was taken aback for a moment, and said subconsciously, "Don't you need to keep confronting Concubine Su?"

   Confrontation?

   Of course not.

   Queen Qiao said coldly, "I just need to know who did it."

   She said that whoever dares to hurt Brother Jue will kill her.

   However, we have to wait for Lu Mingyu to return to the palace and give Lu Mingyu an explanation before starting.

  …

   Outside Zhengde Gate.

  This battle has been fought all day since last night.

   It was getting dark again at this time.

  The barracks of the Yan army were full of corpses. There were Yan soldiers, and there were also Great Wei soldiers. There are also some poor innocent people who were originally imprisoned in the military camp and died tragically at the hands of the mad Yan soldiers when the camp roared.

   Yan soldiers were killed, wounded and wounded, and some who were exhausted and lost their fighting spirit, threw down their weapons and knelt down and surrendered.

  Lieutenant General Liu fought for a day, his whole body was covered in blood, and he looked terrifying. He strode to General Liang's side, cupped his hands and said, "General, the Yan soldiers have already descended!"

  General Liang came to lead his troops at noon and went to battle in person, and he was also covered in blood at this time. Of course, most of them were blood splattered by the Yan soldiers who had been slaughtered: "The general ordered that all the descending soldiers hang their weapons and lock them in one place. Then count and clean the barracks."

   It is necessary to count the soldiers killed and wounded on both sides, and to settle the remaining people.

  The most important thing is to welcome the princess back to the palace.

  Lieutenant General Liu took orders one by one to retreat.

  General Liang walked quickly to the outside of the middle tent of the Yan army barracks, and raised his hands: "The last general asks to see the Crown Princess!"

   (end of this chapter)