After I traveled through the book, I was spoiled by five little villains

The moment she saw Yan Changqing, the unspeakable emotions surging in Qin Yaoguang's chest slowly subsided.

When such a big thing happened, his timely appearance would not arouse Xie Shu's suspicion.

After all, in the eyes of outsiders, it was Qin Yaoguang who was angry with the prince consort because of Wanqi Tower, not him who was causing trouble.

She nodded and turned her gaze back to the busy room.

Knowing that he was standing behind her, Qin Yaoguang felt much more at ease.

The coroner was examining the body, and two old yamen runners were examining the surrounding area for traces of evidence.

The prefect cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, Prince, the investigation will take time. Why don't you wait outside?"

They were all important people whom he could not afford to offend, so how could he dare to let them just stand there?

"It's okay. I'm right here."

The country is peaceful and prosperous now, and she has never seen a dead body up close.

Coming to this place where people can be killed at any time, this was not the first time she had seen a dead person.

She even dared to search the corpse, so what's so scary about that?

Compared to a corpse, a living person with ulterior motives is more dangerous.

Besides, she was the one who caused the death of Duke Cui.

Yan Changqing said: "I have experience, let's take a look together."

Qin Yaoguang nodded in agreement.

The death of Duke Cui requires a final conclusion.

A quarter of an hour later.

The prefect reported back: "Based on the corpse spots and the decay of the body, we can infer that the old Duke died five or six days ago."

"There were no scars or other abnormalities on the body. The stomach was shriveled and there were signs of mild dehydration, which showed that the person had not eaten properly for several days before his death."

The more he spoke, the more frightened he became.

A dignified Duke is actually starving in his own mansion?

Even if there is no mistress of the house, there should be at least one or two loyal servants around her, right?

It seems that he is deserted by everyone.

It's incredible.

The reason behind it made him secretly frightened and he dared not think about it too much.

However, Duke Cui did not starve to death.

He continued: "The cause of death was poison."

As he spoke, the prefect presented a white porcelain bottle, which was empty.

Yan Changqing took it and sniffed it carefully for a moment: "Your Highness, it should be filled with poison."

Qin Yaoguang nodded.

When she saw the expression on the body of Old Duke Cui, she had some guesses.

The face of a person who dies normally will not be blue or black.

Combined with the various traces left at the scene, the matter is already very clear.

That day, Qin Yaoguang had made it very clear to Duke Cui.

As long as he took full responsibility for the consequences caused by Cui Yongwei, she would not pursue other matters, such as the secret deal with Prince Ruyang.

Old Duke Cui knew that the situation was hopeless. If he allowed Qin Yaoguang to pursue the case further, even the Cui family would be in danger.

But he still cherishes his life and is reluctant to die.

I always think there are other ways so that I won't be at the end of my rope.

Until his two sons, whom he had neglected all their lives, left one after another without even saying goodbye, and he couldn't even find anyone to deliver a letter to.

I actually ended up being all alone.

Immediately afterwards, chaos broke out in the Duke's Mansion.

He caught a maid who was cleaning the house and asked her, only to find out that He had taken away most of the people in the mansion, and the rest were all cunning and useless people.

At the beginning, his food and clothing were guaranteed.

Later on, the servants saw through his weak nature and gradually stopped taking him seriously.

So what if he's the Duke?

He is old and in poor health, and even walking is difficult for him.

Without someone to carry out his orders, he became just an old man trapped in the backyard.

To make matters worse, a late spring freezing rain caused him to catch a cold and become ill, unable to get out of bed.

He was forced to choose poison.

The details are no longer available, but the prefect deduced the general process. Qin Yaoguang listened to it and had no objection.

"The messy footprints left in the room and the stolen property are all from what happened today."

The prefect said: "Some have been recovered, and I will do my best to recover the rest."

Qin Yaoguang nodded, ordered people to collect the body, and asked someone to send a letter to He immediately.

"Your Highness, how about leaving the rest to me?"

Yan Changqing volunteered.

In the eyes of everyone, he was trying hard to repair his relationship with the eldest princess.

Qin Yaoguang responded expressionlessly, turned around and left.

She knew that Yan Changqing didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable, but he had to remain distant on his face.

Duke Ningguo left quietly, in such an undignified way.

Because the Empress Dowager never made a statement, the cause of his death quietly spread among the nobles and became a taboo topic that no one dared to mention.

He rushed back with her family overnight and entered Beijing as soon as the city gates opened the next day.

She knew that everything was settled and she just needed to take care of the funeral.

The emperor's edict came from the palace, ordering that Duke Ning's coffin be carried back to his hometown for burial, and that the entire Cui family observe mourning at the old house for three years. The two brothers Cui Wen'an and Cui Wenqing built houses in front of the tomb.

Although it was the Emperor's order, everyone knew it was the Empress Dowager's intention.

This made people who knew or didn't know the inside story gasp and keep all their doubts deep in their hearts, keeping it secret.

It is obvious that the Queen Mother directly expelled the entire Cui family from the capital.

Even the title of Duke of Ningguo was not mentioned at all.

Logically, since Duke Cui is dead, the title should naturally go to his eldest son Cui Wen'an.

It seems that the royal family, for some unknown reason, completely expelled the Cui family from the center of power and cut off the hope of this generation.

Whether the Cui family can rise again depends not on Cui Wen'an, but on his next generation.

Those who are capable will occupy it.

As for the exact reason, everyone can't help but think of the Cui Yongwei case that happened not long ago.

Is there any secret that cannot be told in this case?

When thinking of this, most people put the matter aside.

Only a few people continued to investigate along the line of Cui Yongwei, wanting to get to the bottom of it.

Xie Shu is one of them.

He has been in control of the government for many years. How could he tolerate a major and unclear case happening right in front of him while he knew nothing about it?

However, the clues he had available for investigation became fewer and fewer as time went by.

With the imperial decree from the palace, Duke Ningguo's funeral was carried out quickly and simply, with a standard that was totally inconsistent with his title.

Even the condolences paid by the various prefectures in the capital were kept low-key.

Go quietly and leave quietly.

He watched helplessly as the Cui family, a century-old prestigious family and the grandfather of the current emperor, passed away.

Affected by this incident, the capital city was unusually quiet throughout February.

Qin Yaoguang lived an orderly life in the mansion.

Her morning exercises have evolved from running to archery and horse riding. She has mastered Ba Duan Jin very well, and Qing Bai has also taught her a set of advanced basic boxing techniques.

In addition to protecting yourself, you can also fight back.

The children learn under Chunning's teaching. Each of them has his or her own strengths and they all make progress together.

At the end of February, someone submitted a message asking for a meeting.

"Fan Shiming?"

Qin Yaoguang was a little confused. What did this future commoner prime minister want to see her about?

After thinking it over, she arranged for him to sit in the flower hall and changed her clothes to meet him.