Mr. Kezaku

Let's go back to the palace tonight? "

Seeing that it was time to eat, if it was delayed, Chu Yuyang's next time would be taken up again, and he would still have to return to the palace late at night. After doing calculations, Zhao Xingduan felt that he was at a disadvantage anyway.

The two of them didn't make it, and even the meal was postponed.Because something happened, it's not that someone died again, but someone came to Zhuo's house.

Jiang Liuwu came to knock on the door in a hurry, Chu Yuyang asked: "Is dinner ready, so anxious?"

Jiang Liuwu said: "The Empress Dowager is coming, she has already arrived at the gate of Zhuo's Mansion."

"What?" Chu Yuyang suspected that she had heard wrong.

Zhao Xingduan didn't expect that the Empress Dowager would come over suddenly and frowned.

Zhao Xingduan and Chu Yuyang went out immediately, and the Empress Dowager had already entered the door of the Zhuo Mansion, and asked, "What's going on? How did the Ai family hear... I heard..."

The news of Lord Zhuo's death spread like wildfire. It only took one morning, and no one knew who spread the news, but it all spread to the palace.

Logically speaking, the people in the Zhuo Mansion are under house arrest, no one can go out to spread the news, and it is even more impossible for the guards and people from the Dali Temple to go outside and talk nonsense. I don't know who released the news.

The Empress Dowager heard in the palace that Master Zhuo had died, she couldn't believe it, she thought about it, and asked people to go to the gate of Zhuo's mansion to inquire, but the people who returned didn't find out.In the end, the Empress Dowager couldn't sit still, so she came to Zhuo's house in person.

Seeing Zhao Xingduan's face, the empress dowager knew that the rumors were probably true, and she almost fainted from fright, saying, "Where is the body?"

Chu Yuyang bite the bullet and said: "If you go back to the Queen Mother, I will have someone send Master Zhuo's body to Dali Temple for further autopsy."

"What a disgrace!" The empress dowager became angry all of a sudden, and said, "He is dead, and you still transport him back and forth. Isn't this embarrassing him sincerely?"

Zhao Xingduan said: "The Empress Dowager, be safe and don't be impatient. The death is really strange, and the case has to be investigated. It would be embarrassing if you just died so unclearly and didn't intervene. After the autopsy, I will be respectful." I respectfully sent it back."

Although the Empress Dowager knew this truth, she was excited at this moment and said, "Your Majesty, he is also your uncle after all."

Zhao Xingduan said: "My queen, if he is not my own uncle, I am afraid that I will dismiss him and put him in jail to await trial in those days, and I will not just keep him in the mansion."

The Empress Dowager was speechless immediately. When it came to that incident, the Empress Dowager seemed very guilty, and said after a long time: "Your Majesty, this matter must be investigated thoroughly, and your uncle must not be allowed to die for no apparent reason. .”

Zhao Xingduan said: "Mother, don't worry, I know this."

The Empress Dowager said again: "Have you found the suspect? Call someone over, and Aijia will interrogate himself."

When Chu Yuyang heard this, his eyelids twitched, and he said, "Queen Mother, it is still in the interrogation stage, and no suspicious person has been found yet."

"What?" The Empress Dowager stared and said, "You haven't even found anyone suspicious?"

"Queen Mother!"

At this time, there was a voice full of grievances, and then a woman walked over quickly and knelt down in front of the empress dowager.

Chu Yuyang took a look, wasn't it Qing Si?At this time, he had changed into a plain white mourning dress.

As soon as Qing Si knelt down, her eyes were full of tears, and she said: "Empress Dowager, this servant has seen you, do you still remember this servant?"

The empress dowager took a closer look, and it turned out that it was the maid who had been with her for a long time.The empress dowager had forgotten her at first, but now she remembered again when she saw her, and when she saw her wearing filial piety, she remembered that it was her younger brother who took a fancy to Qingsi girl and then asked her to leave.Now that a person dies suddenly, Qing Si becomes a widow.

The empress dowager was already mourning for her younger brother, but now she saw Qingsi in plain white filial attire, she was even more sad, and said: "Get up, get up, how can the Ai family not remember you? It's really hard for you."

Qing Si immediately stood up, and then said sobbingly: "Queen Mother, Qing Si thought that she would never see the Queen Mother in this life. Qing Si is really happy that the Queen Mother can remember Qing Si. Now the master has gone suddenly, and Qing Si is here I have no relatives and no reason, if the Empress Dowager takes pity on me, let me stay by her side! Qingsi is willing to follow you and serve you for the rest of her life."

Qingsi knew that Zhao Xingduan didn't care about her at all, and it was impossible for her to get Zhao Xingduan's favor.Coincidentally, the empress dowager appeared. If she could stay by the empress dowager's side again, she might have some chances.

It's just that she didn't think about it, she had already become Uncle Zhao Xingduan's concubine, already his uncle's woman, why would Zhao Xingduan want her?Not to mention that Zhao Xingduan doesn't like her at all.

Moreover, the empress dowager is a staid and polite person, so it is impossible to push her to Zhao Xingduan's side.

The empress dowager didn't know the twists and turns in Qingsi's heart, seeing her pitiful, she said: "Poor girl, you just follow Aijia."

Qing Si almost beamed with joy, sobbed quickly, wiped away the tears that were not there with a handkerchief, and said, "Qing Si thanked the Queen Mother for her kindness."

The queen mother suddenly appeared to make trouble, which made Chu Yuyang a little depressed, but the queen mother didn't leave in the afternoon, she insisted on sitting in the town, and watched how Dali Temple solved the case all the time.

Chu Yuyang, as a small official third-rank minister of Dali Temple, really had no way to dissuade the empress dowager from making trouble, so she could only retreat silently, and went to investigate the case after eating.

Geng Zhi and Jiang Liu had questioned Qing Si just now, and reported the situation to Chu Yuyang.

Qing Si was not very cooperative, and she didn't speak carefully, according to her narrative.That night, she made some snacks with her own hands, and then took them to the master's room.She wanted to surprise the master, so she went in directly. Unexpectedly, the master lost his temper. Instead of eating, he scolded her and beat her, smashed everything, and even threw her out.

At that time, Qingsi was crying while talking, which was called a grievance.

Geng Zhi said, "That's all she said, nothing else."

Chu Yuyang asked strangely: "Didn't she mention that her hand was injured?"

Geng Zhi shook his head and recalled a bit.

Jiang Liuwu said, "It's not mentioned."

Chu Yuyang said, "It's unreasonable."

Qingsi's hand was injured at that time, and it was bandaged when they went back. Just now they saw Qingsi's hand covered with gauze, which obviously should be the most memorable one, why didn't it mention it?

Chu Yuyang said, "Did you ask that little girl Qingsi?"

Geng Zhi nodded and said, "The servant girl said that her master came back crying last night with a broken hand and a big hole, and she bandaged it for a long time."

Chu Yuyang asked: "Is there anyone else suspicious?"

The Zhuo Mansion is very large, the backyard is rather chaotic, and the front yard is not peaceful. There are countless suspicious people, but there are relatively few unsuspecting people.

The first is the third son of the Zhuo family. The third son has been weak and sick since he was a child. His mother was born in a brothel and entered the house with a big belly. She gave birth to the third son not long after.Others said that the third son was a bastard, not Master Zhuo's child at all.

Originally, when the third son's mother was favored, Mr. Zhuo didn't pay attention to these gossips at all, but later on, women were gradually disliked, and there was always someone who was more beautiful and younger than her.Later, Master Zhuo heard these words again, and felt that this was really the case, and it was very bad for women and the third son.Several times, he scolded the third son in front of outsiders as a bastard who didn't know where he came from.

The third young master was originally in poor health, and later became even more ill.But he was kind and especially filial.The old lady liked him the most. The third young master was originally in good health some time ago, but he suddenly fell ill and died within two days. The old lady was heartbroken.

The eldest son is not young, but he has achieved nothing, and he does not move out after marrying a wife, so he still lives in Zhuo's mansion.Several of his concubines lived in the same yard with him, but some people said that they saw the eldest son's concubines going in and out of the master's room, and saw one of the master's concubines go to the eldest son's room in the middle of the night.

Anyway, it's a mess, and I don't know if the son is cuckolding the father or the father is cuckolding the son.Some people also said that the father and son had torn their faces apart for a woman, but in the end Master Zhuo won and embraced the beauty.

The second son is a bit talented, but he is neither the eldest son nor the eldest son, so the eldest son does not like him. The second son thinks highly of himself and does not look down on the eldest son. The two often quarrel.Because the second son's status is not high, Lord Zhuo doesn't open his eyes to look at him very much, and the relationship is not very good.

Master Zhuo's daughters are all well married, and they haven't been back to their parents' home recently.

There are a bunch of jealous women and men in the backyard. They are called sisters and sisters on weekdays, but they are all putting shoes on others behind their backs.When Geng Zhi went to question him just now, everyone was stabbing others, saying that so-and-so was very suspicious.

It's not that someone has been disfavored for a long time and has accumulated grudges for a long time. He is probably the murderer who killed the master.It is said that a certain person is not obedient to women behind the master's back, and is very likely to want to kill the master and elope with others.

Geng Zhi cross-examined and felt that their confessions were surprisingly similar, and they almost included a few names when they took the notes.

Chu Yuyang patted Geng Zhi's shoulder and said, "I'm sorry for you."

Geng Zhi scratched his head and said, "I'm still dizzy now."

Chu Yuyang said: "Xiao Wu'er, take someone to search Master Zhuo's bedroom and study to see if there is anything suspicious."

Jiang Liuwu nodded immediately.

Chu Yuyang said again: "Geng Zhi, go and find out. Why did the news of Master Zhuo's death spread so quickly? Was it the guards or our Dali Temple people?"

Geng Zhi agreed and left with Jiang Liuwu.

Zhao Xingduan said: "After hearing so much, what do you know?"

Chu Yuyang said: "I don't have any clues yet, but there are a few doubts."

If what Qing Si said is true, they can roughly determine the time of Master Zhuo's accident from last night to this morning. Take it out of the room, then put it in the coffin, and then secretly replace the coffin of the third son of the mourning hall Zhuo.

The narrowing of the time frame is a great help to them, but Chu Yuyang checked it.From last night until dawn, there were four people in the mourning hall at the same time.

That night, the mother of the third son was in the mourning hall with her maid, and there was also a servant of the third son.The three said that they stayed in the mourning hall all night. Although they all left, they all left for a very short time, just to go to the bathroom.

Later, when it was almost dawn, the old lady couldn't sleep, so she also came over.After dawn, the third son's mother left with her people, and the old lady was the only one left.

These four people all said that the coffin had been kept there, no one came in from the mourning hall, and no one touched the coffin, and it was even more unlikely that someone had changed the coffin and they hadn't discovered it yet.

What they said was too firm, and each of them said that they were telling the truth.

If they were telling the truth, how did Master Zhuo lie in the coffin in the mourning hall?There is also the body of the third son, which they haven't found yet.

They have seen the entire Zhuo family, and there are only a handful of places where a coffin can be buried.There is a garden in the back, but if someone buries the coffin, the soil will definitely show signs of turning over.But there is no need to look there, there is no trace of digging at all.

The guards surrounded the Zhuo Mansion so that no flies could fly out. It was really impossible for someone to take away the body of Third Young Master Zhuo.

Jiang Liuwu found a pile of ledgers in Mr. Zhuo's study. Mr. Zhuo is a man who loves money. Everything in the house, even every brick and tile, will be recorded in the ledger, as long as it is valuable.There are many stacks of account books, each of which is particularly thick.

Chu Yuyang was dumbfounded when he saw a few people carrying the ledger, and said, "What do you think?"

Jiang Liuwu said: "It's not finished yet, there are still two stacks, I'll move them over."

"Don't!" Chu Yuyang hurriedly stopped him and said, "There are so many things to watch for a long time."

"By the way, Master Chu." Jiang Liuwu took out something from his arms, handed it to Chu Yuyang and said, "I found this on the long case in Master Zhuo's study."

"Emerald cabbage?" Chu Yuyang said in surprise.

It is exactly the same as the emerald cabbage that was pulled out of Mr. Zhuo’s mouth just now, but it is obviously not the same one. If you look closely, you will find subtle differences, and there is no blood on this emerald cabbage. It is clean and looks very moist. There is no dust either, it should be because someone is often moving him.

Chu Yuyang said: "These two emerald cabbages are so similar, could they be a pair?"

Jiang Liuwu shook his head and said, "I don't know, I was just surprised when I saw it, so I brought it here."

Chu Yuyang held the jadeite cabbage thoughtfully, and said, "Could it be that the murderer took this jadeite cabbage from the table in Master Zhuo's study?"

No one could answer his words.

Zhao Xingduan was surprised to see Chu Yuyang come back with an emerald cabbage, but he didn't expect another emerald cabbage to appear.

Chu Yuyang said: "Master Zhuo's account book is very careful, I don't know if there is any record on it. I asked Jiang Liuwu to lead someone to check, but I don't know when I will find it."

As soon as Chu Yuyang said this, Jiang Liuwu hurriedly chased after him and said, "Lord Chu, I found it!"

Chu Yuyang said in surprise: "So fast? Xiao Wu'er is really getting more and more capable!"

Jiang Liuwu said: "Just in this book, the first treasure recorded is a pair of jade cabbages."

A pair of jadeite cabbage was indeed a pair of two, which showed that the jadeite cabbage stuck in Master Zhuo's throat was not belonging to the murderer.

They were lucky, this emerald cabbage was the first one in a ledger.Jiang Liuwu called a lot of people to come, each with a ledger, ready to make preparations for a long-term struggle, who would have thought that just after taking a look, one person would yell that he found it, and Jiang Liuwu took a look, and he really found it.

Zhao Xingduan asked: "Where did you get the records?"

Chu Yuyang opened her eyes wide, pointed to the ledger and said, "The things in the palace."

"Something in the palace?" Zhao Xingduan said, "I've never seen it before."

There are too many good things in the palace, it's normal that Zhao Xingduan didn't pay attention to them.The pair of jadeite cabbages were finely crafted and made of very good materials. It is not impossible to say that they are items from the palace.

Chu Yuyang said again: "It is still written in the account book that it was a reward from the Empress Dowager."

Zhao Xingduan frowned.

Master Zhuo is the younger brother of the Queen Mother, and he would reward Master Zhuo with some things on weekdays.But everyone did not expect that the emerald cabbage stuck in the throat happened to be rewarded by the empress dowager.

Chu Yuyang put down the ledger and said, "Could it be that the murderer just took something random and jammed Lord Zhuo's throat, just to prevent him from calling for help, and had no other intention?"

Zhao Xingduan shook his head.

Geng Zhi also hurried back at this moment, panting from running, and said, "Master Chu, I got it."

Chu Yuyang asked Geng Zhi to inquire about how the news of Master Zhuo's killing had leaked out. Geng Zhi hadn't been there for a long time, and when he heard about it, he ran back in a hurry.

Geng Zhi said, "This is so strange!"