Bastard's Counterattack [Rebirth]

"quick!"

"Hurry up, if things are delayed, we will be in big trouble!"

The eunuch in charge of delivering the oracle was very anxious, and frequently lifted the cotton curtain to urge the servants and guards who drove the chariot and followed the chariot.

"It's late at night, thank you for coming out of the palace." Rong Youtang said very kindly, and then stuffed two ingots of silver.He observed the other party's attire, manner of speaking, and judged that the person who came came from the Inner Court Department was a high-ranking steward.

"Oh, Mr. Rong is too polite, our family dare not accept your reward." The eunuch in charge declined with a wry smile.

Your Majesty declared me into the palace late at night, why?Could it be that he was angry with me and His Highness... so he was so angry that he couldn't sleep over and over again, and decided to get rid of me overnight?

I am dying?

Rong Youtang's heart was fluctuating, his thoughts were running wild, and he became more and more panicked!

"What do you say, father-in-law? It's just my wish. It's frightening that you insist on refusing." Rong Youtang forced himself to be calm, and insisted on passing the money into the other party's arms.

The eunuch in charge declined repeatedly, but in the end he couldn't refuse, so he had to accept it. He was quite surprised at the young man's sophistication, and he sighed: "Your Excellency Rong is too polite. His temper is just like your father's—" He regretted his slip of the tongue, Hastily stopped.

This person knows my dad?

As soon as Mano fell asleep, someone handed him a pillow!

Rong Youtang was uneasy, worrying that there was no reason to inquire about the inside information, so he immediately asked pleasantly and enthusiastically: "Could it be that the father-in-law and my father are old friends? Hey, why don't you come to the humble house for tea? Because I was in a hurry, my father didn't have time to explain the two things. In other words, the junior is rude."

What a modest, gentle, worldly and interesting No. [-] man!

Reach out and don't hit the smiling face, let alone the other party is an official of the court.The attitude of the eunuch in charge immediately eased a lot, and he explained with a smile: "Acquaintances are not really counted, only a few times with your father in the past. Your father is proficient in writing and calligraphy. At that time, he was in charge of documents in the inner warehouse, but our family was open-eyed. A blind man is only good for serving tea and water and running errands."

"Oh, that's how it is! Disrespect and disrespect, this junior greets Uncle Shi." Rong Youtang suddenly realized, and earnestly performed the junior salute without any hesitation.His adoptive father was a servant, and he kept in touch with some friends he met in the palace. Therefore, he treated the servant as an ordinary person from the bottom of his heart, unlike some scholar-bureaucrats who scorned the servant as "eunuch".

"My lord, please get up quickly, it really ruins our family!"

The eunuch in charge was respected, smiled, hurriedly supported him, and explained: "Hey, your lord is much older, and our family will leave the palace first. I am lucky to have such a well-educated and talented son like you. Now I am a grandpa enjoying the blessings. people envy."

This is true.The fate of the eunuchs was rough, and they entered the palace without a clean body. Their lifelong hope was to save some money, get out of the palace, buy a house, marry a wife and buy children, and enjoy their old age.Therefore, Rong Kaiji, who raised a number one scholar, has become a role model for eunuchs all over the world to grit their teeth and work hard!

"I don't know Shishu's name?" Rong Youtang asked seriously.

"Inner Court Secretary Cui Yusen."

"It turned out to be Uncle Cui Shi." Rong Youtang took advantage of the situation to change his words, thought for a while, and explained apologetically: "Just now my father woke up in the middle of the night, and he was so focused on the younger generation that he failed to recognize you. I'm really sorry. There will be another day, so I don't dislike you." If so, please sit down in the humble house."

"Hey, why don't you understand?" Cui Yusen waved his hands nonchalantly, and said frankly: "Your Honor doesn't know our family. Our family was promoted after he left the palace. Before that, we only met a few times when he was in the warehouse. Yuan. Your father is gentle and well-written. People often ask him to write family letters, and our family also asked for a few, so I am deeply impressed."

The atmosphere suddenly became harmonious, and after a long while of pleasantries, Cui Yusen whispered in a low voice, and took the initiative to say something: "Looking at your sad appearance, you may have misunderstood it, and now I want to remind you: something happened in the harem in the middle of the night, and a nobleman was killed , Your Majesty, out of respect, specially announces you to enter the palace to solve the case."

The nobleman in the harem was killed?who?

Rong Youtang was astonished and surprised, Cui Yusen hurriedly pressed it down: "Shh! Shhh! Don't say anything, our family just let you know, but you have to pretend that you don't know, and you will understand when you go in, ah."

"Thank you Cui Shishu for your guidance, this junior is very grateful." Rong Youtang calmed down, his heart pounding, guessing for a long time to no avail, but finally dispelled the fear of "Your Majesty wants to get rid of me in the middle of the night".

Half an hour later, the carriage drove into the palace. Cui Yusen lifted the curtain, handed out his waist card several times, and the carriage went around a remote passage. After running for about a quarter of an hour, he got off the carriage, turned around and said, "Lord Rong, the rest of the way we I have to walk. Come on." As he spoke, he stretched out his hand to help.

"Thank you, Uncle Shi." Without thinking, Rong Youtang borrowed a little of the opponent's strength and jumped off the carriage briskly.He has dealt with all kinds of religions and streams, and he knows that people like eunuchs lack respect the most in their lives, and are most sensitive to disgust and contempt. If they are disrespectful, the relationship can be broken. Fortunately, he has long been used to it. Ordinary people look at it.

"Come on, this way."

Cui Yusen was in a happy mood, and was extremely eager to find a filial, smart and motivated adopted son after he left the palace!Thinking of this, looking at the young and promising boy, inexplicable empathy and love secretly surged up, and he whispered generously: "When you arrive at the Imperial Garden later, don't smile, and make your face sad. Listen to what your highnesses mean. In this palace, too much is said and often wronged."

Your Highnesses?How many highnesses are there?

"Okay! I'll remember, Uncle Xie reminded me." Rong Youtang nodded happily, he had adjusted his mood and demeanor, neither humble nor overbearing.

Two quarters of an hour later, the group arrived at the tightly guarded Imperial Garden, and hurried to the embankment of the lotus pond where the incident occurred. There were many large braziers burning brightly in front of them, and people were coming and going. See the tall and straight——

His Royal Highness King Qing!

"Master Rong, our family can only be sent here." Cui Yusen urged kindly.

In full view of everyone, Rong Youtang didn't want to do anything, so he just said softly, "Thank you, Eunuch."

Cui Yusen nodded, with a faint smile in his eyes, he turned and left.

Immediately, Rong Youtang walked quickly along the embankment to the place where the crime was heavily guarded.

"Your Majesty, Rong Youtang, enters the palace by order, and is willing to do my bit for your Highnesses." Rong Youtang kneeled down in a respectful manner.

At this moment, several elderly princes were walking into the tent to discuss urgently, only King Qing stopped.

"Master Rong, please get up." King Qing said in a low voice, raised his hand to support him, dripping water all over his body, and dived into the lotus pond to search again.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Rong Youtang got up, obeyed Cui Yusen's instructions, pretended to be ignorant, and asked with concern: "Your Majesty summoned the officials to enter the palace late at night, what happened here? Can I help you?"

"The eldest princess was murdered, and my father ordered us to solve the case as soon as possible within three days. If you don't do well, you will be dismissed from your post." King Qing explained slowly, dignifiedly.

"Princess, long princess was killed?"

Rong Youtang gasped, stunned and lost his mind, suspecting that he had heard it wrong, subconsciously leaned closer to his ear, and didn't even hear the emperor's "dismissal and punishment" in his heart.

"That's right. The Eldest Princess was killed, and now she is staying in the Mitai Hall. The imperial physician is examining the cause of death." King Qing repeated in a harsh voice, word by word, describing his sadness. Rong Youtang was dumbfounded and remained motionless, completely stunned!When he learned from Cui Yusen that "a nobleman in the harem was murdered", he guessed that it was a certain concubine, and focused on Wang Zhaoyi, but he never expected it to be the eldest princess.

"Eldest princess..." Rong Youtang hesitated to speak, full of doubts, he didn't know where to start to ask, and felt extremely difficult, he calmed down, and turned to concern and comfort: "Your Highness, please take care of your precious body, the night is cold Liang, you are wearing this wet clothes, why don't you change it?"

King Qing felt warm, nodded, raised his hand to wipe his face, pointed to the lotus pond, and said, "That's where the eldest princess was killed. This king just dived down to find clues, Commander Cao?"

"I am humble!"

"Master Rong was appointed by His Majesty to come into the palace to assist in solving the case. Please tell him carefully what you have so far. It is important to pursue the murderer, so there is no need to be too shy." King Qing raised his voice and ordered.

"Yes! Master Rong, please come with Cao." Cao Liqun took the order and stretched out his hand to lead him.

"I will obey your orders." Rong Youtang bowed slightly towards King Qing, pulled himself together, and hurriedly followed Cao Liqun.

King Qing wiped his face again, walked into the temporary tent compartment, changed into clean clothes, and then returned to the brothers.

"Cruel and violent, outrageous!"

The eldest prince was indignant, and said sonorously: "The murderer sneaked into the imperial garden of the palace and killed Yilin. His methods were cruel. Once caught, he would surely be torn to pieces! Poor elder sister, she died tragically at a young age. I am the eldest brother!" , In my heart, my heart is really... Alas!" He choked with sobs, and raised his sleeve to cover his eyes.

"My condolences, big brother." King Rui was ill and could hardly support himself, leaning on the soft chair, he pointed out with great pain: "The murderer is obviously very familiar with the Imperial Garden, otherwise how could he come in and out freely?"

"After an emergency investigation, the imperial guards found some suspects, but I think the murderer is probably not a eunuch or a court lady—the servants of the Royal Garden, who doesn't know Yilin? Dare to kill the royal princess, the crime is Ling Chi's nine clans, all of them have The family has a mouth, who would dare? Besides, the wound of Yilin...was diagnosed by the imperial doctor as the result of a violent beating, and there was only one person's footprint at the scene, so I think the murderer should be a man." The fifth prince who hurried back to the palace said solemnly .

"Fifth Brother's words are reasonable." King Qing nodded slightly, and said in a deep voice, "However, all suspect eunuchs and court ladies must prove their innocence. There are many strange people and strange things in the world. possible."

The sixth prince, Zhao Zewen, pointed out righteously: "We are all very sad that the emperor's sister was killed. Although Xiao Wu had a dispute with her sister before and after the family banquet, and was also in the Royal Garden when the incident happened, it is considered suspicious-but, brothers, think about it carefully, Xiao Wu Wu was lazy by nature, he didn't like riding and archery since he was a child, and after eating meat, he was addicted to alcohol and lust, and his body was empty. He was very weak. Miss Huang...struggled hard before she died, and broke several fingernails. Everyone was present at the physical examination just now, Xiao Wu from head to toe, is there a broken skin?"

"exactly!"

Zhao Zewu yelled at Qu with a sad face: "Sister Huang died so badly, how could it be me who did it? Oh, I'm too scared to take a look."

"Old Seven, shut up." King Qing ordered in a flat tone.

"Okay, okay." Zhao Zewu shrank to the side helplessly, and he didn't pay attention, standing side by side with the Eighth Prince. Without even thinking about it, he immediately moved away!

"Seventh, seventh brother, I just went to Mitai Palace to meet the imperial sister for the last time." Zhao Zening was full of fear, folded his sleeves, shrugged his shoulders, and said tremblingly: "She has bruises all over her head and face, and her hands are still stretched upwards. It’s so scary! I asked the imperial doctor why he didn’t dress up, and the imperial doctor said—”

"Got it! Shut up, don't you think it's not perverted enough?" Zhao Zewu reprimanded, very anxious.

"I, I'm just scared. I kept thinking, how could this happen? Could the murderer still be hiding in the woods in the imperial garden, in the artificial cave, or in the water—" Zhao Zening tremblingly looked around, but in fact He was elated and triumphant, but on the surface he looked overly frightened and bewildered.

Just right, a sudden gust of wind hit, the dead leaves in the lotus pond rustled, and the burning brazier crackled.

"Shut up! Don't be suspicious, okay? It's so annoying." Zhao Zewu interrupted with a trembling voice, folded his sleeves unconsciously, drooped his shoulders, and looked nervously at the lush trees and flowers.

"Old Qi, Xiao Ba, can you two be quiet?" The eldest prince turned around with a headache and stopped, ignoring the two younger brothers who were cowering side by side.

"Eighth brother, the imperial garden has been strictly guarded by the imperial guards. It would be great if the murderer is still in the garden. If he is captured alive, he will be interrogated slowly!" King Qing said coldly.

Zhao Zening couldn't help but "click" in his heart, he gritted his teeth, glanced at Rong Youtang who was not far away, trotted to his elder brother, and asked curiously: "Third brother, is second brother still sober?"

"Not yet." King Qing replied helplessly, inspecting the coarse cloth he found from the bottom of the water intently. This is the piece that Zhao Zening covered Zhao Yilin's head. .In addition, several hairpins, pearl flowers, shoes and other relics were found.

"Ze Xiang is really outrageous!"

The eldest prince frowned and shook his head, tried his best to hold back his joy, shook his head, and sighed loudly: "Oh, something happened in the palace, Yilin was killed, but he passed out drunk and fell asleep in the imperial garden! Moreover, he passed out on the rockery in front of him." In the cave, not far from here, there is no movement of fighting?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone fell silent by coincidence: the eldest princess was killed, and there were two princes who were at the scene of the crime and had time to commit the crime!

Among them, the seventh prince's reason was that he picked flowers to present his mother to show his filial piety, and the second prince's reason was that he accidentally fell asleep after being drunk at a family banquet; "Second brother is still not fully awake. After he sobers up, everything will be clear." King Qing answered carefully.

"Humph!" Zhao Zewu, who had red and swollen fingerprints on his left face, was indignant and yelled aggrievedly: "Second brother was also in the imperial garden when the incident happened, and he was obviously closer to the lotus pond, but father beat me alone, and you are alone What's the point of stripping my clothes and examining my body?"

"Because you owe a lesson!" Zhao Zewen reprimanded severely.

"Lao Qi, why don't you and Xiao Jiu accompany Emperor Father?" King Qing suggested without raising his head. He was studying physical evidence with King Rui and others.

"I, I—" Zhao Zewu resented, and quickly expressed his opinion: "I still can't, third brother, I want to stay and help catch the murderer."

"Then be quiet and serious!" King Qing snorted coldly.

Two quarters of an hour later, Rong Youtang roughly understood what happened in the case, and exited the Mitai Hall where the body was buried together with the commander of the imperial guards.

"What Commander Cao means is: after nightfall, there are guards patrolling around the lotus pond in the Imperial Garden?" Rong Youtang asked.He just witnessed the remains of the eldest princess from a distance, although he only showed the head and face wounds, the ten fingers with broken nails and other parts, it was enough to shock and shock!It made him unable to recover for a long time - after tonight, there were only two princesses left in the royal family.

"Yes." Cao Liqun spoke quickly, and explained: "Nobles usually don't enter the garden to play at night. After Cao took office, he arranged patrols and changed defenses according to the old routine. A team of six, with knives, changed every three hours, day and night. stop."

"How long will it take for the two teams to switch defenses?"

"This..." Cao Liqun was at a loss for words, secretly complaining about the eldest princess who was killed after entering the garden awkwardly at night, and blaming him for not knowing how many people he would implicate.

Rong Youtang said seriously: "Commander Cao, don't misunderstand me. I am not asking questions. I am just ordering to assist in the investigation of the case, but I don't know anything about the defense of the inner court. I have to ask a few more questions."

"It's natural, Mr. Cao understands." Cao Liqun squeezed out a polite smile, and answered carefully: "The imperial garden covers a large area, with pavilions, pavilions, gardens, rockery, verandas and ponds, etc., with complicated twists and turns, and you need to go to the designated place to change defenses , and always pay attention to avoid simultaneous, must be staggered, the handover of the two teams... takes about half a quarter of an hour."

Rong Youtang nodded his head, sighed, and said: "From this, we can see how well the assassin knows how to change defenses in the imperial garden and the guards everywhere! It can be said that he can come and go freely."

"Well, Cao can't guarantee whether there are thieves in the forbidden army." Cao Liqun sighed angrily.

Rong Youtang snapped back to his senses, and quickly apologized: "Sorry, I don't have any evidence, I just speculate based on common sense."

Cao Liqun couldn't hide his frustration and anxiety. Although he hurriedly changed into clean clothes, his hair was covered with half-dried mud. Guess: The assassin is either a well-known palace man, or an outsider who is supported by palace acquaintances."

Rong Youtang didn't comment, just listened attentively.

After a while, they returned to the scene of the crime.

"Hey, Brother Rong, my father really thinks highly of you!" Zhao Zewu, who was drinking tea in shock, put down the tea clock, stepped forward to meet him anxiously, and said anxiously: "You must investigate carefully and find out the real culprit as soon as possible. Completely clear the suspicion of Master Wu, otherwise life will not be able to pass."

Rong Youtang already knew the details of the case, but it was inconvenient to say more, let alone promise anything, so he could only say: "Your official will definitely do his best."

At this moment, King Qing called from afar in the tent: "Master Rong, come here."

"Yes." Rong Youtang nodded towards Zhao Zewu, and stepped in quickly, habitually wanting to go to the side of King Qing, but the Eighth Prince moved away seemingly inadvertently, taking the place he wanted to stand, so he had no choice but to go to the fifth place. By the prince's side.

"Is it clear that it has probably passed?" King Qing asked in a low voice.

"Commander Cao has already explained it in detail." Rong Youtang was cautious, upright and restrained, lest he accidentally show disrespect for the deceased.

A temporary tent was set up beside the bank of the lotus pond, and there was only a round table and a few chairs in the tent. King Rui was born weak, wearing a thick cloak, and was flipping through the imperial garden inspection and defense file provided by the guards. The blood was black and blue, and they didn't raise their heads; the other princes glanced at Rong Youtang strangely, but didn't say anything, after all, the other party was appointed by Emperor Chengtian to help solve the case.

"Your Highness, these are...?" Rong Youtang asked softly, pretending not to be ignorant of some strange eyes.

"The relics of the eldest princess. Some of them were picked up from the ground, and the rest were salvaged from the bottom of the water." King Qing replied.

The eldest prince cut straight to the point and asked: "What's your opinion, Sir Rong? The emperor specially summoned you to the palace. I think you should be able to help."

"Your majesty is stupid. Thank you for your majesty's appreciation. Your majesty has praised me." Rong Youtang said modestly. He stared at the red jadeite earrings and other jewelry neatly arranged on the table. It can be identified that he wears a lot of expensive jewelry, which shows that the murderer is not seeking money."

"It's natural." The eldest prince frowned, sneered and said: "How can Xiao Xiao in the world dare to sneak into the palace to seek wealth and murder? If he is caught, he will punish the nine clans."

Rong Youtang nodded and continued to analyze: "Let me let the official dare to risk his life to say that according to the imperial physician's examination, the eldest princess was seriously injured and drowned when she was awake, and her body showed no signs of being violated—"

"Shut up!" The eldest prince categorically stopped: "You are presumptuous!"

"Brother, he's just stating objective facts. In order to catch the murderer as soon as possible, let's put it aside for now." King Qing reminded.

"Master Rong, continue. If you can solve the case, I will reward you a lot!" King Rui finally raised his head, his lips were black and purple, and his eyes were bursting with rage.

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your understanding." Rong Youtang bowed his hands, realized that his words were inappropriate, and immediately replaced "the eldest princess" with "the victim", and analyzed clearly: "Commander Cao said that the guards of the two teams changed defenses. It took about half an hour, and the scene was severely damaged. According to the first guard who discovered it, there was only one person's footprint. Then, let's assume that the murderer was alone and not for money. Judging from the victim's injuries, the murderer must have died. After a short period of time, the victim was unable to call for help, and after being beaten viciously, he was pushed into the water and drowned.” After a pause, Rong Youtang summed up clearly: “Your Highness, please think about it. For a quarter of an hour, the murderer had to allow himself time to evacuate and abscond. It can be inferred from this that the crime process was very short, and the murderer should not have paused and hesitated. .”

The princes couldn't help being attracted, they held their breath and concentrated on thinking about Rong Youtang's nimble and agile mind.King Qing couldn't hide his appreciation, staring at each other with focused and gentle eyes.

Zhao Zewu shuddered, trembling, and asked: "But, why did the murderer kill people? Although Huang Jie usually...cough cough, but she is only a girl's family and knows very few people. Who did she offend?"

That's right!

Rong Youtang quietly applauded the Seventh Prince: You have proposed the key!Although the eldest princess is domineering, unruly and annoying, she lives in a deep palace, and she can even list the names of the people she contacts, so the scope of investigation is actually very small.

Rong Youtang's eyes brightened, and he made it clear: "According to the clues we have so far, the lower officials have the courage to infer the murderer's motives: first, he made enemies with the victim and waited for an opportunity to kill him; second, the victim who was walking alone accidentally broke into a Secret, the other party improvised, murdered and silenced."

"It makes sense!"

Zhao Zewu clapped his hands crisply, and couldn't wait to say: "Brother Rong is the same as I thought, for no reason, who dares to kill the princess? That is a felony committed by the Lingchi Nine Clan."

Meddle in your own business, damn Rong Youtang!Hidden in the crowd, Zhao Zening lowered his eyes, his pupils dilated instantly, and he gritted his teeth, wanting to slice Rong Youtang's tongue piece by piece with a knife.

The eldest prince rolled his eyes, secretly delighted, and deliberately asked in confusion: "Break through the murderer's secret and be silenced? Impossible?"

King Qing was calm and calm, and explained in a deep voice: "Brother, this inference is reasonable. The imperial garden occupies a vast area, and there are dark and secluded corners. It is guaranteed that no one will plot evil."

Rong Youtang focused his attention, and answered naturally: "Therefore, everyone in the Imperial Garden before and after the incident is suspected—" Before he finished speaking, he was suddenly interrupted by the anger of the second prince who stepped into the tent: "Shut up! What is it? How dare you speak nonsense?"