Cross the Sea in the Red Chamber

It is not difficult to know how the King of Nan'an was invited to the scene of the assassination.

Situ Sheng and his party came to Yuquan Zhai to appreciate antiques because Situ Ye liked sugar paintings. They stayed in Yuquan Zhai for about an hour.

The downtown area where Yuquanzhai is located is not very close to Nan'an County Prince's Mansion. The guy who followed them made sure that they would not leave Yuquanzhai in a short time, then left quickly from the downtown area, and went to Nan'an County Prince's Mansion by himself or notified others People went to invite the king of Nan'an County, and after that, the invited King of Nan'an County chose to walk to the side of Yuquan Zhai instead of taking a car, so it would take at least half an hour to get there anyway. .

In order to hide his identity, the king of Nan'an County once changed his clothes and dressed up like a commoner before going out. It took about two quarters of an hour at the fastest to change the whole set of clothes and make some minor modifications.

An hour in the Jing Dynasty is equal to eight quarters of an hour, minus half an hour the time spent on the road, and then subtract two quarters of an hour to change clothes, then the remaining two quarters of an hour are the time for the follower and the messenger to enter Nan'an County The time frame of the palace is over.

It is impossible to send a message in such a short period of time, and successfully ask Nan'an County King to use the letter.The king of Nan'an County is too cautious, timid and afraid of getting into trouble. A person with such a temperament must be somewhat indecisive when doing things.If he just used a letter to make an appointment, even if he would go, it is absolutely impossible for him to make up his mind to go so soon, even if he delays for several hours before making up his mind, he will definitely not arrive at the assassination scene so soon.

Since the plan of writing a letter is impossible, then someone can only go to invite him in person.

It's good to have someone, and it's easy to find someone.

Situ Sheng once sent people to closely monitor the movements of the four kings with different surnames. This was not only to avenge his own personal revenge, but also because he was afraid that these four kings with different surnames would use their military power to cause trouble. It is convenient to prevent problems before they happen.

Now that the time frame has been delineated, just ask the spies in charge of monitoring the Nan'an Palace to know who has entered the Nan'an Palace during this period.To be able to make an appointment with Nan'an County King so quickly, this person must be someone he is familiar with and trusts, and he must have often been in and out of the palace in the past.The spies will inquire about the specific identities of the people who often come and go in and out of the palace, so the watchers will definitely know who this person is!

But after a while, the leader of the spies monitoring Nan'an County King gave the answer to Jiang Yuan. There were only three people who had entered the Nan'an County King's Mansion within the estimated time, and one was Liu Fang, the woman in charge of a courtyard in the Palace. One of them is Cui Cheng, the housekeeper of Dongping County Prince's Mansion, and the last one is a male actor who is raised by the mansion, called Lingguan.

I looked through the information of the three people recorded later.

Liu Fangshi, a family servant of the Prince's Mansion of Nan'an County, has been a slave of the Nan'an lineage since his grandfather's generation.When she was young, she served the old concubine's maid, but as she got older, she was pointed out by the old concubine to be the wife of shopkeeper Liu in the silk shop in the mansion.

Liu Fang's stature is a bit short, a little hunchbacked, with a yellowish and dark complexion. She and her husband have raised two sons, and both of her sons work as servants in the palace.Because her husband lived in the silk and satin shop, the old concubine was considerate of her and allowed her to come and go between the palace and the silk and satin shop with special grace, and she could enter and leave the palace freely.

The night before the assassination, she left the palace to go to the silk and satin village, and returned to the mansion within the designated time on the day of the assassination.

Cui Cheng, the housekeeper of Dongping County's palace, did not sell himself, and he was not a slave.A native of Fujian, a veteran of the southeastern army, once served as a personal soldier of the king of Dongping County, and was later trusted by the king of Dongping County and became the steward of the palace of the King of Dongping County.

Cui Cheng has a dark complexion and a short stature. He is in his forties and has never married a wife or had children.He was highly trusted by the king of Dongping, and usually the invitations and letters that the king of Dongping needed to deliver to the king of Nan'an were sent by this person himself, so he often came to the mansion of the king of Nan'an to deliver letters.

On the day of the assassination, Cui Cheng was ordered by the King of Dongping County to send an invitation card for the Double Ninth Festival to the King of Nan'an County, and invited the King of Nan'an County to taste realgar wine, enjoy chrysanthemums and eat crabs at the King's Mansion of Dongping County on the ninth day of September.

The last male actor, Lingguan, was born in a small theater troupe. Because of his beautiful appearance, he was raised in the mansion by the king of Nan'an County since he was a child. He specially sang operas for the mansion and has lived in the mansion for more than ten years.I heard that the King of Nan'an already disliked him as he was getting older and not as soft and beautiful as he was when he was a child. It is estimated that he will be released from the mansion next year.

This male actress is not tall, with a soft appearance, fair complexion, and skin that can be broken by blowing bombs, but he is only in his weak years.When he was young, his family was too poor so he sold him to a theater for money to make a living. Now his parents have died and he has a younger brother.Lingguan often went out of the house to see this brother who was studying in a private school, and occasionally stayed there for a whole day.

On the day of the assassination, Ling Guan left Nan'an County Prince's Mansion early in the morning with a small bag, and came back within the designated time with nothing in his hands.

The spy leader asked cautiously: "Master Jiang, are you going to monitor these three people?"

In order to investigate the affairs of the King of Nan'an, Situ Sheng specially allocated some spies from Jiangyuan as assistants. The leader of the spies naturally followed Jiangyuan's lead when he received the order.

In his opinion, the three people in this circle are all suspects.These three people are all people who can often enter and leave the palace, and they all have the opportunity to meet the king of Nan'an County. They all happened to enter the palace during this short period of time. Aren't they all suspicious?

Jiang Yuan didn't answer, but thought for a moment quietly, with a smile on the corner of his mouth, and then slowly said: "It doesn't need to be so troublesome, as long as you keep staring at one person, that's enough."

"One person?" The spy was taken aback. Aren't there three suspects?Why only monitor one person?The man had evidently not yet turned the corner.

Jiang Yuan stretched out his finger, clicked on the name of one of the three, and said, "Yes, except for the King of Nan'an, we only need to closely monitor him (her), and the other two don't have to worry about it. Both of them have to report to me every move, so be careful, don't be noticed by him, and you must not startle the snake!"

"Yes, my lord." The leader of the spies didn't ask why. Sometimes knowing too much is not good. He understood this truth, so he bowed and silently retreated.Since you can't figure it out, just follow the order, otherwise you will make mistakes.

Three suspects, hmph, there are not so many suspects at all.Among these three people, there is only one person who may go to Yuquanzhai with Nan'an County King, and that is - Cui Cheng, the housekeeper of Dongping County King's Mansion!

First of all, Liu Fang, the woman in charge, is impossible.

Liu Fang's family is the son of the Nan'an County Prince's Mansion, and the whole family's deed of prostitution is in the hands of the Nan'an County Prince's Mansion.If they want to leave the Nan'an County Palace, unless the master is merciful and returns the deed of sale, otherwise even if they steal the deed of sale back, it will not solve the problem.

In the Jing Dynasty, the deed of sale of slaves and maidservants was recorded in the government. Unless the master handed over the deed of sale to cancel the record, a single word of the household registration file could not be changed.

Liu Fang herself is the wife in charge of the palace, her husband is the shopkeeper in the shop, and her two sons are servants in the palace. Relying on the dignity of the palace of Nan'an County, although they are slaves in name, they live a happy life. It is hundreds of times better than ordinary civilians.

Now that life is so good, why is there any reason to cheat Nan'an County King?In case the king of Nan'an fell down because of the "assassination of the prince", their whole family would have to be dispatched to the border with the family of the king of Nan'an, and they might even be sold by the government to mine in the deep mountains and old forests.Will there be such a fool to do such a thing that hurts others and himself?It is impossible to think about it.

If someone else pretended to be her, it would be even more impossible.

Jingchao is not a martial arts novel, but there are no bugs such as disguise, let alone special effects makeup.It is impossible for ordinary disguise modification to escape the eyes of people who know it, and it is possible to recognize something wrong at a glance.

This Mrs. Liu Fang came from the side of the old concubine, and now she has become a rather oily housewife. How many people are fawning on her, because she is so attention-grabbing, even if someone disguises herself as her His appearance has already been recognized by others.Even if all the people in the mansion were blind and couldn't recognize her, and she had to go back to live in the silk shop every day, could her husband still not recognize his wife?Even if the special feature of hunchback can be dealt with with fillers and the like in front of outsiders, how can the husband who shares the bed hide it?

There are too many flaws, just think about it, so it is impossible to be her.

It's also unlikely that the actor will.

Lingguan is not a slave, but an actor. Although Nan'an County King bought him, he is not willing to raise him for a lifetime. When he is older, he will be released from the mansion when he is old.As long as there is another year, he can leave the house with the rewards accumulated over the years and live a good life with his family. Will he be willing to fail at this time?

If he survives until he is released from the mansion, then he will still have a face-to-face relationship with Prince Nan'an.When others saw that he came out of the palace, even if they despised his status as an actor in their hearts, they didn't dare to bully him too much, they always wanted to save face for Nan'an County King.Then, with many years of rewards, the Lingguan can live a good life by opening a small shop to sell something, or renting out a village to farm.

He also has a younger brother who is studying in a private school. Since he often visits, it proves that there is a deep brotherhood between him and his younger brother.When he went out, he brought a bag with him, but when he came back, the bag was gone, which proved that he had brought the gold and silver, snacks, playthings and other things rewarded by the mansion to his younger brother.If relying on the influence of Nan'an County King, his younger brother might have the opportunity to become an official in the future, or at least he can be a copywriter or a small official based on the county king's face. Wouldn't this be more comfortable than being an accountant or opening a private school?

Since both he and his younger brother can gain enough benefits from the influence of the King of Nan'an, what reason does he have to harm the King of Nan'an at this time?

Well, even if someone caught his younger brother and deliberately forced him to harm the King of Nan'an, or gave him a large sum of money, promised him a better future, and bought him to harm the King of Nan'an.But a majestic county prince, who is notoriously cautious, would he disguise himself and run to the gate of Yuquanzhai because of a little actor's words?Absolutely impossible.

It is also impossible to say that such a little actor is a character from the side of the assassin and deliberately placed in the county prince's mansion to deliver the news.

Can a secret that can persecute the king of the county be passed on to a person who was a child when he entered the mansion?Aren't they afraid that the child will leak the whole thing with his mouth?

Even if this actor is really talented, three or four years old, he is a genius, he is extremely smart, and his emotional intelligence is scary... that won't work.If he can deliver such an important message, and his status is really so important, and he even holds the connection between the king of Nan'an County and another unknown force, then there will be no rumors in the palace that he will be released from the palace next year. news.

For so-called confidential matters, it is good for one less person to know.That being the case, the Prince of Nan'an would definitely keep this actor in the mansion, so why did he decide to let him out of the mansion?It is also impossible for that mysterious force to suddenly decide to change people to deliver the news. Wouldn't this cause more troubles and expose secrets?

It is even more impossible for the assassin to find someone to pretend to be an actor.Lingguan is a male role, and he is a very good and skilled male role.He has been trained by a theater troupe since he was a child, and his speech and behavior are somewhat feminine, and it is difficult to imitate such a person.As for the special talent of singing, it is even more difficult to imitate. From learning opera to singing well, it takes at least a few years of hard work, otherwise, not to mention singing, it is just that the posture will not be able to show.Instead of choosing him as the object of disguise, it is better to choose a servant or handyman at random.

Therefore, in general, it is impossible for the actor to be an official, there are too many contradictions before and after, and it will definitely not be him.

Then in the end, only Cui Cheng, the housekeeper of Dongping County Prince's Mansion, was left!

On the ninth day of September, drinking realgar wine, appreciating chrysanthemums and eating crabs is really an excellent excuse, but unfortunately it still leaves a loophole!

Under normal circumstances, to invite a high-ranking guest to a banquet during a festival, it is often necessary to submit a post more than one month in advance.Otherwise, if the guest is invited by others in advance, or the guest has something to do and needs to decline, the host will have no time to make changes.

At this time, Jingchao was still very particular about the seat number. The seat number was a symbol of status. If it was wrong, it would lead to disputes, even anger the guests, and even cause death.Therefore, before the banquet, the number and status of the guests must be determined very accurately, so that the banquet can be prepared and the seats arranged in advance to avoid unnecessary mistakes.

Jiang Yuan himself also helped arrange his son Jiang Xuan's first birthday banquet, and he was so busy that he couldn't live without it, so he knew very well that a Chrysanthemum Appreciation Banquet on the Double Ninth Festival would not be given to the important person when it was less than eight months away. The guest of Nan'an County posted this post.

The current power and status of Nan'an County King are all above Dongping County King. Since Dongping County King wants to invite him to a banquet, why did he post a post so late?Isn't this deliberately not taking Nan'an County King seriously and insulting him?If he really dared to do this, then the friendship between Dongping and Nan'an two Wangs with different surnames for several generations would be over, and that would be a good thing...

What kind of invitations, banquets, since they are all excuses, then Cui Cheng, who entered Nan'an County's palace at this time, is very problematic.Cui Cheng is from the palace of the king of Dongping County. Could it be that the assassination of the crown prince has something to do with the king of Dongping County?

Jiang Yuan frowned and rubbed his temples.There is no reason for the King of Dongping to cheat the King of Nan'an... If the King of Nan'an's strength is defeated, what good will it do him?If the king of Nan'an is here, then the power possessed by the king of Nan'an County is the power shared by the four kings with different surnames.If Nan'an falls because of the assassination, his power will definitely be taken back by the old emperor, and the power of the four kings with different surnames will inevitably shrink greatly.

What reason does Dongping County King make such a drama that hurts others and hurts himself?Obviously impossible, completely illogical.

Wait, Jiang Yuan's fingers stopped on the acupuncture point.If everything is logical, there is only one possibility - Cui Cheng is not from Dongping County King, he is working for someone else!The forces behind those assassins are not only connected to Nan'an County King, but also connected to Dongping County King!Cui Cheng is neither from Nan'an nor from Dongping, he is simply the guy sent by the gang of assassins to the prince's mansion in Dongping County!

Cui Cheng is not a slave who sells himself. He does not have a wife, children, and children by his side, and he is alone from the beginning to the end.But what if he didn't want to marry a wife, but chose not to expose his wife and put his wife and children in other places?

If so, even if the kings of Dongping and Nan'an were both down, he would not be involved in his status as a servant, and he would not be arrested and threatened, so he could escape in advance and retreat calmly.

He was nominally a soldier of the King of Dongping County, but whether this identity can be trusted is still a matter of debate.Maybe his name and identity are fake, and they are all made up.If this is the case, since Jingguo is so big, he can live a stable life as long as he stays up day and night and only walks the barren mountain paths, finds a place where he is not familiar with and forges his identity and name again, and he is not afraid of being implicated by the palace at all.

From the very beginning, he was brought back to the mansion by the Duke of Dongping to deliver news to that unknown force. He has always been a member of that assassin force!

That force might have thought about bringing down the King of Dongping County, but later the King of Dongping County's power was greatly damaged, and he basically had no power, so there was no need to attack him, so they chose to bully the King of Nan'an County. Then the chance of the prince being assassinated sent the king of Nan'an to the guillotine, eradicating the power of the king of Nan'an.

This force is so dissatisfied with noble forces like Dongping and Nan'an, and wants to assassinate His Highness the Crown Prince, could it be someone from the aristocratic family? !

No, no, no, the four kings with different surnames have always regarded people from the family as thorns in the flesh, and they are the four kings who hit the family's power the hardest. It is unlikely that the family will contact them.Even if there is a connection, the indecisive and timid guy Nan'an Junwang will not go to the market alone. With his temperament, he will definitely not be so relieved to join forces with the aristocratic family alone.

It's not an aristocratic family... so who could it be?

Although Jiang Yuan is very keen, he is not a master at judging crimes. He infers that he has reached the limit of his level at this point.Just one point, he was able to string all the things together, but the problem is that such a point is really not easy for ordinary people to find, and the decisiveness that is not professionally matched can stump a lot of people...

So Jiang Yuan can only be Jiang Yuan, he may be able to make a difference, but he can't become a master at solving cases like Di Renjie, Bao Qingtian, and Song Ci.

He really couldn't figure it out, so he simply packed up the collected information and went directly to the Ministry of Criminal Justice to talk to Jiang Ning.It is a waste of resources if there are real masters in solving crimes who don't need it, just guessing and thinking wildly!

Jiang Ning was sitting in the room of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, staring at the spider webs on the wall in a daze. He had indeed collected some information from the assassin's corpse during this time, but he couldn't connect it together.After holding back for a day, my head was about to fry, my brows were frowning and my eyes were wandering, and I didn't know what I was thinking.

Seeing that Jiang Yuan came to the Ministry of Criminal Justice to look for him and told him the results of his analysis, he didn't feel irritable. Instead, he thought that talking to Jiang Yuan could relax his mind. The clues connect together.

When Jiang Ning said this, Jiang Yuan became interested instead, and said, "Cheng An, what have you discovered?"