Madam, protect me!

Ministry of Personnel.

Song Zhe took a sip of tea, looked at Li Nuo, and asked, "Why are you looking at the list of Jinshi this year?"

Li Nuo closed the booklet and said, "Guanglu Temple Wu Sicheng passed away, and Honglu Temple needs to write a eulogy for him. Father-in-law, can you give me Wu Sicheng's file?"

Song Zhe didn't think much about it and ordered a clerk to go to the case library to check Wu Zongguang's file.

Originally, Honglu Temple wanted to check the official's file, which required an official document.

But because of the relationship between the two, this step was omitted.

A quarter of an hour later, Li Nuo opened the file in his hand, and after taking a look, the expression on his face was not surprised.

After Wu Zongguang passed the imperial examination, his first official position was the chief chef of the Eastern Palace Dining Bureau.

The Food Bureau is in charge of the food tasting in the Eastern Palace. The duty of the Food Bureau is to personally taste the food of the Crown Prince before he eats, first to prevent poisoning, and second to taste the food and filter out the food that is too salty, too bland, or tastes bad.

More than ten years of hard study, one day to pass the imperial examination, just to taste poison and taste food for the Crown Prince, it sounds miserable.

But it is actually a good job.

Officials who can enter the Eastern Palace will be the direct descendants of the Crown Prince in the future. Once the Crown Prince ascends the throne, it is not difficult to be promoted three levels.

Unfortunately, since the Crown Prince died of illness and the Eastern Palace was disbanded, many officials in the Eastern Palace have been very unhappy in the officialdom.

Wu Zongguang is an exception.

After leaving the Eastern Palace, he was directly transferred to the Guanglu Temple, step by step, first served as the Director of the Zhenxiu Office, and then promoted to the Director of the Taiguan Office.

The Cuisine Department and the Imperial Household Department were subordinate departments of the Guanglu Temple, specializing in providing meals for temple banquets and court meetings, which seamlessly connected with his previous official position. Later, in the following few years, he was quickly promoted to the position of Guanglu Temple Chief Bookkeeper and Guanglu Temple Secretary, which was a meteoric rise.

If he had not died of illness, he would have been very likely to become the next Guanglu Temple Shaoqing.

In this imperial examination, the three officials who entered the Eastern Palace all died.

Gu Wenhan died of corruption and abuse of power, and was beheaded by his father.

Zheng Tianxing died of an affair with his concubine, and Wu Zongguang also died at the hands of two concubines.

And these three concubines were not ordinary people.

With the sharp intuition of the Legalists, Li Nuo had reason to suspect whether there was any deeper hidden secret in this.

He returned the file to his father-in-law, left the Ministry of Personnel, and returned to the Honglu Temple.

He wrote a eulogy for Wu Zongguang and asked his clerk to deliver it to Wu's house. Li Nuo practiced martial arts outside for a while, and went home for lunch as usual after leaving the yamen at noon.

An Ning came back from the Ministry of Justice halfway through lunch.

Li Nuo asked, "Has the case been investigated?"

Li An Ning nodded and said, "They all confessed. The two concubines of Guanglu Temple Cheng were forced to marry him by him at that time. They seemed to be flattering him, but they actually held a grudge against him. Every time they made medicine for him, they would deliberately hide some medicinal materials, turning the original tonic into a chronic poison. Taking this medicine for a long time was the real cause of death of Guanglu Temple Cheng..."

Li Nuo did not ask any more questions.

He looked at the prescription. Although he did not see it with his own eyes, he could guess which of the missing herbs were.

This prescription, after removing a few herbs, will indeed become a chronic poison.

This chronic poison will not be detected, but will slowly cause the human organs to fail, creating a false impression of a long-term illness and a normal death.

Li Anning sighed and said, "Those two girls are also pitiful people. Guanglu Temple Secretary forced their parents to death and forced them to marry. They knew that murdering an official of the court was a dead end. When they were in the prison of the Ministry of Justice, they snatched the jailer's sword and committed suicide..."

"Suicide again..."

Li Nuo put down his chopsticks, his expression thoughtful.

Zheng Tianxing's concubine also committed suicide in prison.

What are they hiding?

These two women fled overnight, which is also suspicious.

Although the code pointed out that they were the murderers, Li Nuo actually had no evidence.

The medicinal materials they hid could be disposed of secretly, so why did they keep them in the room?

Besides, they were too impatient to escape just after Guanglu Temple Secretary died.

It seemed that they deliberately jumped out and couldn't wait to admit that they killed Guanglu Temple Secretary.

This made Li Nuo more suspicious.

The officials of the Eastern Palace all died inexplicably, and the case itself was full of doubts. It was hard for Li Nuo not to wonder what happened in the Eastern Palace back then.

Li Nuo felt that he needed to get a detailed list of the officials of the Eastern Palace before the death of the prince.

He had a hunch that this was a big case.

If it could be investigated, perhaps his cultivation would usher in a surge.

However, this matter involved a wide range of people, and it was very likely that the deceased prince was involved. Even if he wanted to investigate, he could not do it openly.

After dinner, Li Nuo took the initiative to offer to make up for his wife and An Ning.

Without lighting up the portrait of Zheng Yuanwai's concubine, his makeup skills were far superior to those of ordinary women.

It seems that the two concubines of Guanglu Temple Cheng were also masters of makeup.

The makeup styles and techniques of the three of them were extremely similar, as if they were taught by the same master.

There must be some connection between these three women.

Li Nuo was thinking, and suddenly felt a line of sight, occasionally scanning him.

Seeing Yiren sitting there alone, and then looking at the radiant Niangzi and An Ning, Li Nuo walked up to her and said, "I've been practicing female makeup recently, can I borrow your face?"

……

Ministry of Rites.

Document library.

Fang Zhanggu was drinking tea when he saw a figure walking in from the outside and said in surprise: "Zhao Zhanggu, what did you do in the morning? Why did you leave an hour early?"

The young Zhanggu named Zhao He sat down on a chair and said: "The doctor and I took leave of absence. Guanglu Si Cheng passed away due to illness. I went to his house to express my condolences in the morning."

Fang Zhanggu was stunned for a moment and asked, "Do you still know the Prime Minister of Guanglu Temple?"

Although the Prime Minister of Guanglu Temple is not a high-ranking official, he is still a big shot that is difficult to get in touch with for the little Zhang Gu of the ninth rank.

Zhao He glanced at him and said, "What are you talking about, Fang Zhanggu? I have more connections than you think. Not to mention the Prime Minister of Guanglu Temple, even..."

Halfway through his words, he did not continue, but said: "Actually, I'm not familiar with Mr. Wu. I just think it's a pity that he died so young. He died like this from a fifth-grade official position." No, we will never be able to rise to the fifth level in our lifetime..."

Fang Zhanggu also felt a little emotional and said: "So, if you ask me, the body is the most important. The power is great, the official position is high. Without a good body, it is useless to be a high official... "

Zhao He had a different view on this, saying: "Life is only a few decades. If you can't get ahead, it's no different from not living. If I could become a high official, I would live ten years less..."

Fang Zhanggu shook his head and said: "I still say the same thing. The more I want to stand out, the easier it will be to succeed. I will be satisfied if I can work stably in Zhanggu's position..."

Zhao He did not refute him anymore.

Everyone has his own ambitions, and Fang Zhanggu is willing to look at the archives of documents for a lifetime, so let him stay here for the rest of his life. He wants to fight for a bright future for himself.

But before that, he had to try again.

After leaving the Yamen, he did not go home, but came to Jingzhao Mansion.

A moment later, in a government office, Jing Zhaoyin, who was worried, saw Zhao He walking in, his brows relaxed a little, and asked: "It's Zhao He, why did you come to see me?"

Zhao He said: "Sir, Li Nuo went to the Ministry of Civil Affairs today to review Wu Zongguang's resume."

Jing Zhaoyin nodded and said: "I know about this matter. Honglu Temple is going to write a memorial speech for the Prime Minister of Guanglu Temple. Isn't it strange to ask for his resume? Do you have anything else?"

Zhao He hesitated for a moment and said, "Sir, another year has passed, and what you said about me being promoted..."

Jingzhao Yin stood up and said: "Look, you are in a hurry. I have said that it is not the time yet. Within a year, I will transfer you to Jingzhao Mansion. When the time comes, I will give you two years." Within a few days, he was promoted to three levels in a row..."

Zhao He's face showed excitement, and he bowed and said, "Thank you, Sir!"

When he walked out of Jingzhao Mansion, the excitement on his face faded and he looked back expressionlessly.

One year, one year after another, one year after another...

He has been sitting in the position of Ninth Grade Palm Guard for five years.

There were several five years in his life when he didn't want to wait and couldn't wait any longer.

You must take control of your own future.

He predicted Wu Zongguang's death months in advance.

Unexpectedly, his prediction turned out to be true.

Gu Wenhan, Zheng Tianxing, Wu Zongguang, Zeng Yan, Sun Jin...someone is causing accidents, causing these old people from the East Palace to die one after another.

There must be a big secret hidden in this.

There must be something fishy about the prince's death.

The then Prince Zhan Shifu and the Young Master Zhan Shi, and now Jing Zhaoyin must know something inside.

He is a member of the King of Han, so I am afraid that the King of Han is also involved in this matter.

Once he told the King of Han's opponent about this, and took the opportunity to overthrow the King of Han, it would be a great achievement.

When the time comes, do you still have to worry about your future?

The first thing he thought of was Li Xuanjing. A few days ago, Li Xuanjing had a fierce fight with the King of Han. If he knew about this, he would definitely not let the King of Han go.

But he was a little afraid of Li Xuanjing.

Moreover, following Li Xuanjing would make people scorn him, so he quickly excluded Li Xuanjing.

Apart from Li Xuanjing, the one who most hoped for the fall of King Han was probably King You.

After the death of the prince, the King of Han will be the eldest son of the emperor. If the King of Han falls, King You will be the most senior prince.

If you tell King You about this, and King You succeeds to the throne in the future, he will be a minister of the dragon, and his career will be just around the corner!

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel excited.

night.

Prince You's Mansion.

The time was approaching the curfew, and King You was about to take a rest. Suddenly someone came to report that there was someone outside the palace asking to see him.

King You waved his hand and said, "It's so late. If you have anything to do, let's talk about it tomorrow."

The man said: "But Your Highness, the man said that he has a big secret to tell Your Highness, which is related to a major treason case. If Your Highness can find out, it will be a great achievement..."

King You raised his eyebrows, and after a moment, he said, "Ask him to wait for me in the study."