Chapter 20 20. Leaf bottom fish
Huang Zixia was stunned for a moment, and immediately squatted down, holding the fish in his palm.
This is the little fish that Li Shubai has always kept by his side. In his boring and busy life, it is the only bright color that he can catch a glimpse of in his spare time.
Therefore, when Huang Zixia held it in his palm, a trace of remorse flashed in his heart.
You must not let it die, and you must not let yourself destroy Li Shubai's only bright color with your own hands.
The brush washers in the house have already washed the ink pens, and the tea in the pot is still warm, so it is impossible to raise fish.As soon as she turned around, she held the little red fish and ran towards the steps outside - the Zhenliu Pavilion was built on the bank facing the water, surrounded by lotus flowers, and the steps can go directly down to the water.
Holding the little fish in her arms, she scooped a handful of water in the water, saw it wagging its tail and turned over again, and then she breathed a sigh of relief, and looked up at Li Shubai.
Li Shubai stood in the water pavilion, staring at her with those extremely deep eyes, but saw that she was holding the little fish all the time, watching him without speaking.
He paused for a while, and finally took a bronze noble from the shelf, and walked to her side.
However, when she held up her hand and was about to put the little red fish into the bronze jug, the little fish suddenly jumped up in panic and jumped straight into the water from her palm.
A tiny ripple appeared, and the small fish dived into the water, never to be seen again.
She squatted by the water in astonishment, and saw Li Shubai standing beside her, his expression changed drastically.
The pond is so vast, and it is full of lotus flowers, and the small fish are only as long as a knuckle.Even if the lotus in the whole lotus pond is uprooted and the water is drained, such a small fish will never be found.
Seeing Li Shubai's brows, Huang Zixia frowned deeply.
A small red fish never grows up and stays in his glazed cup all the time.When they met for the first time, he had said that this little fish was related to a secret that even the emperor said clearly that he couldn't get involved.But now, this little fish was lost from her hands.
Huang Zixia stood by the lotus pond, all the water in her hands poured down the hem of her clothes, she looked up at Li Shubai in confusion, but Li Shubai didn't look at her or say a word, after a long time, he turned and went inside.
Only Huang Zixia was left standing alone on the steps by the water, the lotus wind swayed slightly, and the sunset was gorgeous, making everything in front of her blurred, and she could hardly see the world clearly anymore.
Suddenly, it occurred to her that four years ago, it seemed to be the same season, when she was barefoot picking the lotus root by the lotus pond, and heard her father calling her.When she turned her head, she saw behind her father, Yu Xuan who was quietly looking at him in the golden and purple colors of the setting sun.
The moment he stared at her with a smile changed her life.
She suddenly felt a little weak, so she let herself sit by the water, staring at the water surface in silence for a while.
At that time, his father took Yuxuan home and told her that he was an orphan, his parents died, and he lived in a ruined temple.A classmate of my father's back then opened a library to give lectures, and found a beggar who always went to the window to attend classes. He asked a few questions, and Yu Xuan answered them fluently, which was admirable.He also asked how he was literate. He said that he had picked up a book before, and someone said it was, and the teacher in the school just started to speak, so he memorized the words in the book by rote according to what the teacher read. When he finished learning the Chinese characters, he begged for old books thrown away by others, and with the few characters he knew from the Internet, he learned the Four Books and Five Classics intermittently.Hearing that, the gentleman was shocked as a genius, and mentioned this matter in front of Huang's father. Huang's father found Yuxuan and took a look, and suddenly felt pity for his talents, so he took him home.
That's right, Yu Xuan, who would not feel pity for such a young man reduced to dust?
Huang Zixia sat on the steps, buried her face in her knees, and silently looked at He Gai who was turning over in the night wind in front of her.
The evening wind is cool, and the night has come.Where the wind passes, the lotus leaves flip over like waves.
Her heart also seemed to be heaving on the waves, restless.
Yu Xuan said, I will wait for you in Chengdu Mansion.
However, the person who promised to take her to Chengdu Mansion is now, probably, angry.
And is very angry.
She sighed involuntarily.
Although she knew that Li Shubai would definitely not give up on her promise because of this, but she was unwilling to make him unhappy because of herself.
because……
She thought about what he had said to her, he said, the memory of the little fish is only seven snaps of fingers, no matter you treat it well or not, after seven snaps of fingers, it will forget what you did to it.
However, she is not a little fish who forgets other people in just seven snaps of her fingers.
She thought that she should have told Li Shubai at that time that she was not a fish, and that she would never forget those unforgettable people even in seven months, seven years, or seventy years.
She thought, put her fingers into her mouth, and bit down hard.
"Agashne, the most pleasing blood. I heard that King Kui also raised such a small fish. Eunuch Yang can tell King Kui the trick."
In the Taiji Palace, that person——Wang Zongshi once said this to her.
The finger was bitten, and a drop of dark red blood immediately gushed out and dripped into the water under her feet.
It was already dark, and the horizon was a deep purple. In the last twilight, she tried in vain to lure the little fish back.
The blood dripped into the water, spread and scattered, and became invisible.
She waited for a while, and seeing that there was no movement on the water surface, she pinched the wound she had bitten, squeezed out two drops of blood, and fell to the water surface.
The bright red color melted on the surface of the sparkling water, and the tiny ripples became invisible.
"What are you doing?" A clear and cold voice came from behind.
She didn't look back at Li Shubai, but just lowered her head to watch the water surface, and said in a low voice, "I want to see if Xiaoyu is still around here."
"Even if it's still underwater, will it come out if it smells your blood?" Li Shubai asked coldly.
She didn't bother to answer, because in the dark sky, she saw the little fish come out from behind a lotus stalk, and slowly swim towards her tentatively.
It really is still hiding here.
Huang Zixia gently dipped her hand into the water, the blood from the wound turned into a thin thread, rippling in the water, and annihilated into nothing.
And that little fish seemed to be hooked by that invisible silk thread, and swam towards her hand.
She moved her hand upwards slowly, and then when she was about to come out of the water, she closed it suddenly, wrapping the little fish in her palm again.
She happily held the little fish and turned to look at him, calling him: "Hurry up and bring something here and catch it."
In the last ray of skylight, the smile on her face was so eye-catching that Li Shubai was momentarily in a trance.
He silently took the bronze bar and asked her to put the little fish in it.
She raised her still wet hand and looked down at Xiaoyu.In the turquoise quaint belly, it was scurrying up and down at first, but after a while, it began to wander leisurely, becoming familiar with this strange environment.
With her fingers hanging on the water, she teased the little fish and said to it: "It's so dangerous, I almost made you escape."
"How do you know it likes the smell of blood?" Li Shubai stared at her smiling side with a low voice.
Huang Zixia raised her head and said seriously: "The prince told me, Wang Zongshi."
Li Shubai frowned unconsciously, and asked, "How do you know him?"
"In the Taiji Palace, I met him twice. On the day Princess Tongchang passed away, my hands were stained with her blood. The prince pressed my hands into his fish tank and was immediately licked by the little fish It's gone..." She said, still unable to get rid of the creepy feeling of nausea, and felt a layer of goose bumps on her body.
Li Shubai was silent for a long time, took the bronze jue over, stared quietly at the little fish inside, and said, "I have kept this fish for ten years."
Huang Zixia was slightly taken aback, and asked, "Ten years?"
It's only grown so little after ten years, and it's still not dead.
"Yes, ten years. On the day my father passed away, guess where I found it?" Li Shubai raised his eyes to look at her with meaningful eyes, "In the blood that my father coughed up, it unexpectedly , still alive, wriggling in the blood. I was holding a bowl of cold water in my hand, dipping cotton cloth to moisten my father's lips—unexpectedly, the young King Zhao grabbed the little fish in the blood, Throw it in my bowl."
As he spoke, his eyes gradually turned to nothingness, as if he had looked at himself who was young and fatherless at that time through ten years.
"I put the bowl of water on the window sill. I didn't think of the fish until after the emperor passed away and the emperor ascended the throne. I was about to leave the Daming Palace. I went to look at the window sill in the emperor's bedroom, but found that it was safe and sound. Still swimming in that bowl, dazed and leisurely. Everything that happens in the world has nothing to do with it, even if the world collapses, it only needs a shallow bowl of water to survive as usual."
Li Shubai tilted the bronze jue slightly, the copper rust reflected the water into emerald green, and the bright red fish looked very bright and eye-catching in the water.
"I took it out of the palace and went to my palace. In ten years, I have gone from King Kui to King Tong to King Kui, from an ignorant boy all the way to the present, but I never thought that the person who has been by my side the longest, It turned out to be this little fish." He silently looked at the little fish in the water, a creature that could forget everything with just a few snaps of his fingers, living so relaxed and happy.
Ignorant and unconscious, so also carefree.
Huang Zixia looked at the small fish in the water with him, and said in a low voice, "I heard that... the first emperor took the elixir by mistake and died not long after."
"Yes." Li Shubai, who had been treating everything around him indifferently, finally sighed softly at this moment. He looked up at her, his eyes were extremely deep and dark, "Why would the emperor vomit when the father leaves? This fish? This mystery has entangled me for ten years. Just like that impossible spell, I can't guess it even after trying my best. A piece of my father's last pen, three groups of unexplainable ink graffiti."
Huang Zixia looked down at the scar on her finger, and said softly, "There is also Agashne by Wang Zongshi's side."
"He lives in seclusion and rarely socializes with people, but he likes to raise fish, especially various rare species. It's not surprising that there is Agashne."
Li Shubai stood up, put the bronze jue on the shelf, and said slowly: "When the late emperor passed away, Wang Zongshi was by his side."
Huang Zixia knew that what he was thinking was the same as her own, but she didn't say it out loud.After all, there are some things that cannot be guessed even when there is no one around.
Li Shubai looked at the sky outside, changed the subject, and asked, "Tomorrow Dali Temple, what are you going to do?"
She looked at him solemnly and said, "I want to ask the prince about one thing first."
He didn't ask, but just glanced at her sideways.
"If the person released on bail by King Kui's Mansion escapes, what trouble will it cause?"
Li Shubai looked at her cautious and worried expression, and smiled lightly.
"If it wasn't for people to run away, why would I release her on bail?"
This understatement made Huang Zixia's eyes widen suddenly, looking at him in astonishment and excitement.
And the rare smile on his face was like the clear May sky after the wind blows through the clouds.Although it was only for a moment, it left her in a daze for a moment, and she couldn't help but froze there.
"However, this kind of trivial matter can be avoided by doing it casually? Why do you let yourself get into trouble." He said again.
Huang Zixia didn't bother to ask him what to do, but only asked: "My lord... already knows who the murderer is?"
"I guessed it, but some small details still don't match up, so let's take it as half of the crack. How about you?"
The corners of her lips raised, showing a bright smile: "All."
Li Shubai looked at the smile on her face in surprise, and lost his mind for a moment: "The three unsolved cases, the last emperor's posthumous writings, how to create the false appearance of divine punishment, everyone's motives... have all been understood?"
"Well," she nodded, with confidence and no doubts, "the case is over."
The rising sun shines through the Dali Temple.The sun has just climbed up the treetops to show its power, and today is destined to be a hot day. Today, the three jurisprudence will be interrogated. The three chiefs of Yushitai, Xingbu and Dali Temple are lined up and sit at the top.As usual, during the joint trial of the three envoys, Dali Temple presented the evidence and decided the case, the Ministry of Criminal Justice issued a judgment, and the Yushitai supervised the trial. Shaoqing has always been in charge of affairs in Dali Temple, and Cui Chunzhan is sitting there.When he saw Huang Zixia who followed Li Shubai in, looking at her with a resentful expression, he could only yell at her—please, don't make a sound today, just close the case like this! Wang Lin, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishments, of course remembered that Huang Zixia was the chief culprit who sent Queen Wang to the Taiji Palace, so he didn't even look at her, but nodded slightly at Li Shubai. The person who came to Yushitai was Jiang Kui, Yushi Zhongcheng. The old man obviously disdained that he was reduced to supervise and interrogate such a murder case, but because there was a princess among the dead, he reluctantly sat in front of the case, folded his hands, closed his eyes and meditated. All the people involved in the case arrived one by one. The son-in-law and King E were sitting by the side of the hall, the son-in-law stared blankly at the patterns on the brocade box brought by King E, his mind was in a trance and his face was haggard. Standing behind them were the four maids, Chuizhu, Luopei, Chuiyu, and Qingbi, all of whom looked bewildered, not knowing what would happen to them. Zhang Xingying and Di Cui stood side by side in the hall. Di Cui described her as thin and pale.Zhang Xingying held her hand quietly as a sign of comfort. Lu Zhiyuan squatted in the shade not far from them, buried his head, and stared at the moss on the ground. Qian Guansuo, who was brought out from the prison, sat wearily leaning against the beam, his whole body was scorched yellow and gray, his body was trembling all the time, and his face was ashen. Among all the people, only Zhou Ziqin looked as usual, still wearing bright clothes, and waved at Huang Zixia and Li Shubai with joy: "Your Majesty won't blame you? Because I have followed this case for a long time, so even though I didn't call, I came to listen Already!" "Whatever you want, as long as you are not called later, you can't make a sound." Li Shubai cut off the moth he might make, Zhou Ziqin could only nod with a bitter face. Dali Temple moved a chair for Li Shubai and sat next to King E.Huang Zixia and Zhou Ziqin stood behind him, one looked gloomy, and the other looked around. Li Run turned to look at Huang Zixia, with the usual soft smile on his face: "Eunuch Yang, since the truth of this case has been revealed, I think you can finally breathe a sigh of relief and take a break. Why are you still so preoccupied and full of thoughts?" look like?" Huang Zixia lowered her head in embarrassment and said, "Yes, thank you Prince E for your concern." Li Run asked Li Shubai quietly again: "Fourth brother, what's the use of asking me to bring that painting over?" "Well," Li Shubai nodded, and said, "All the tricks in this case should come from the father's posthumous writing." "But...the emperor's father has passed away for ten years, why is he suddenly involved in such a case?" Li Run asked suspiciously. Before Li Shubai could answer, eunuchs from outside lined up and the emperor had arrived. Concubine Guo Shu also came in with him.The people from Dali Temple hurried to the back and brought a chair over so that she could sit behind the emperor. After waiting for a group of people to sit down, Cui Chunzhan patted the gavel, and there was silence below. Qian Guansuo was brought up, and at the same time presented his confession in Dali Temple these few days, which had been clearly transcribed and was just waiting for his signature. "Qian Guansuo, you killed Princess Tongchang, Wei Ximin, and Sun Mangzi. The evidence is conclusive. Why don't you confess the crimes one by one and plead guilty?" During the past few days when Qian Guansuo was tossed, the originally fat and handsome man had lost a lot of weight. Although he was still fat, he had lost all energy and energy, leaving only a dead body. He was disheveled and wearing prison clothes, and he was paralyzed on the ground like a pig piss. When he heard the question, he seemed to want to use his hands to answer the question, but his hands were already covered with scorching foam, and they were soaked white in the water. , there is not even a nail left on the ten fingers.He couldn't bear the pain, so he could only still lie on the ground, humming in a low voice: "Confession... confession..." "Really recruit!" "Criminals... coveted the rare treasures of the princess mansion, so they bribed the eunuch Wei Ximin who was close to the princess, and stole the golden toad together with him. Everything was hidden from the family by the criminals...my family never knew... " Cui Chunzhan ignored him and asked himself, "Why did Wei Ximin die?" "Because...we did not share the loot equally, he turned against me, and the criminals were afraid that the matter would be leaked, so...when they participated in the Buddhist meeting with him at Jianfu Temple, they pushed him into the fire and burned him to death with candles on fire. It's..." "Why did Sun Laizi die?" "Because..." Qian Guansuo wriggled his lips numbly, his face showed a strange dead gray, his eyes were sunken, like a hole, and there was no light at all, "When the criminal killed Wei Ximin, he happened to be killed by him. I saw it, and later he blackmailed me, so I took advantage of my subordinates to clean up the sewer, and after distracting them, climbed in and killed him too..." Cui Chunzhan glanced at the emperor calmly, saw that he was only sitting upright, and was a little relieved, so he asked again: "Then why did you kill Princess Tongchang?" "Sinners...sinners..." His lips twitched, his eyes looked at the emperor and the others sitting behind him, but he still didn't dare to speak. Cui Chunzhan slapped the gavel: "If you don't want to suffer from flesh and blood again, just get it from the truth!" "Yes... it's the sinners who have never changed their minds. I heard that the princess dreamed that her most cherished Jiuluan hairpin disappeared, so the sinners sneaked into the princess' mansion to steal the Jiuluan hairpin again... Who would have thought that on the street that day, the sinners were in a hurry..." When Xing Xing took it out to look at it, she was actually seen by the princess, she chased it to a secluded place, and the sinner missed it for a while, just...just..." The emperor's face turned ashen, he stared at Qian Guansuo, resentful and desperate, at this moment, he wished that he was an ordinary commoner, so that he could let himself rush forward and kill the man in front of him who killed his daughter The villain beat him hard, at least to vent some of his resentment. Concubine Guo Shu gritted her teeth, stood up with a whoosh and shouted angrily: "Your Majesty, you must kill him in court to avenge Linghui!" The emperor raised his hand to stop her, gritted his teeth and said, "There are three envoys here, so why use us!" Huang Zixia stood behind Li Shubai, listening intently to Qian Guansuo's confession. Qian Guansuo's body was covered with bruises, and his voice was half moaning and half moaning: "Everything...is only related to the criminal, and the criminal's wife, children, relatives and friends don't know...the criminal pleaded guilty..." "In this case, sign and draw a pledge." Cui Chunzhan took the confession recorded by the Dali Temple Prime Minister and read it, and asked someone to take it to Qian Guan. Qian Guan Suowei paused on the ground, barely holding on to read it, then held the pen with his unsightly hands, closed his eyes, and was about to sign his name. At this moment, a muffled sound suddenly broke the silence in the hall. It was Dicui standing by the hall. She might have been frightened, and she was already weak, so she collapsed to the ground and passed out. But Qian Guansuo's hand shook, and the ink on the pen immediately drew a long mark on the confession. Huang Zixia, who was standing beside Dicui, quickly raised her hand to support her.Zhang Xingying looked at Di Cui anxiously, saw that her eyes were loose and her whole body was cold, so she hurriedly said to the hall: "Master Cui, Adi... Dicui has been weak since she came back from Dali Temple. Hearing..." Cui Chunzhan looked at her gray face and felt that the situation seemed to be very bad, so he turned to look at the emperor. The emperor only stared at Qian Guansuo and asked, "Who is she?" "She was a suspect in the past, but now it turns out that she has nothing to do with this case—because when the princess passed away, she was detained in Dali Temple." The emperor waved his hand and said: "This kind of idler is waiting, take it out quickly." Zhang Xingying quickly picked up Di Cui and wanted to take her out, but Cui Chunzhan said again: "Zhang Xingying, you are also a person involved in this case, so you should not leave the hall without authorization." Li Shubai signaled Jingxiang to hold Dicui and let him take her out. Di Cui was ignorant, she remembered that she was clearly fine just now, but when Huang Zixia touched her shoulder, she smelled a scent and fell down.And after passing out like this, he recovered immediately. She looked at Zhang Xingying, and was about to tell him that she was fine, when she heard Huang Zixia whisper in her ear, "Run away!" She opened her eyes wide in astonishment, wanting to see Huang Zixia's expression, and ask what she meant when she said this to herself, but Huang Zixia had already passed her and stood in front of the hall. Dicui was supported by Jingxiang and walked to the door.The gatekeeper of Dali Temple pointed to Dicui and asked, "Eunuch, what's going on?" "She seems to be ill, and the emperor ordered her to be carried out immediately." After speaking, Jing Xiang let her go and motioned to her, "Why don't you leave quickly?" Standing under the already hot summer sun, Dicui looked at the gate of Dali Temple and felt slightly dizzy. What Huang Zixia said in her ear echoed faintly—— "escape!" She hesitated in a trance, then immediately turned around, walked forward quickly, and merged into the crowd of people on Zhuque Street in the capital.
Dali Temple has transcribed a new confession and brought it to Qian Guansuo again. Qian Guansuo looked at the confession, picked up the pen again with trembling hands, and looked at Cui Chunzhan with his almost dry eyes beseechingly. Cui Chunzhan nodded and said, "If you confess early, you may be able to save your family's life." Qian Guansuo's eyes were full of despair, he could only grit his teeth fiercely, close his eyes, and was about to drop the pen. "etc." A deep and slow voice interrupted the silence in the hall at this time. Cui Chunzhan, who was praying that there would be no side effects, knew that he still couldn't avoid this hurdle, so he could only look at his immediate superior with a bitter face. Everyone in the hall also turned their gazes to the source of the voice. The speaker was naturally King Kui Li Shubai. He sat upright on the chair and thought about it: "Cui Shaoqing, this king has a few things that I don't know about the case you have settled, and I still need you to clear up your doubts." Cui Chunzhan's tears were about to come down——Prince Kui, do you know that this matter is related to the wealth and lives of everyone in Dali Temple?Do you know the fact that you yourself are the highest official of Dali Temple? "Also please... the prince expressly." "Since Wei Ximin was needed to steal the golden toad at the beginning, why was he able to steal the Jiuluan Chai by himself? And I heard that after Tong Chang had that dream, he was very worried that someone would steal the Jiuluan Chai, so in the Properly treasure it in my own mansion——Since this is the case, without Wei Ximin's internal cooperation, how did the criminals steal Jiuluan Chai?" There was a sudden silence in the hall, everyone was thinking and dared not speak. The emperor looked at Cui Chunzhan: "Cui Shaoqing." Cui Chunzhan didn't dare to answer, but the sweat on his back quickly seeped into his clothes: "Chen... Chen Huan..." Seeing him like this, the emperor pointed at Qian Guansuo, who was half lying and half kneeling: "Say it!" Qian Guansuo's body was like sifting chaff, lying on the ground, speechless. The emperor gritted his teeth and said bitterly: "If you don't recruit quickly, I will copy your nine clans!" Qian Guansuo's speech was confused, and he said hastily: "Criminals... The criminals once brought a group of people to the Princess Mansion to clean up the sewers... The criminals sneaked in from the waterways..." "The place where the princess lives is a high platform. All the food and water are sent up by the maids and eunuchs. Where did the water come from?" ?” Cui Chunzhan was speechless, and quickly stood up and confessed: "I am negligent! I want to get the murderer to kill as soon as possible, so as to comfort the princess's spirit in heaven, so I am eager to try the case, day and night, mentally weak, and I have neglected this important clue! I implore the emperor to wait for a while. , Rong Chen will be interrogated again." Dali Sicheng immediately summoned several principals to discuss with the governor.The censor Zhongcheng Jiang Kui who had been watching from the sidelines asked slowly: "Cui Shaoqing, why do you need to discuss what the prisoner did?" Cui Chunzhan was not angry about his behavior of adding insult to injury, but said: "It was only because the Ministry of Criminal Affairs sent people to cooperate with Dali Temple to interrogate during the interrogation, so our department was worried whether there was a mistake due to poor communication." Wang Lin, who wanted to stay out of the matter, saw that he was finally dragged into it, so he had to cup his hands and said: "It's true, but I'm busy with business, so I only ask my best manpower to do my best. As for the rest, the department focuses on Using the law to convict and penalize matters will not help much.” The emperor heard that the three jurisprudence were pushing each other, all of them could only stir up trouble, and could only look back at Concubine Guo Shu, seeing her sitting blankly, and after losing her daughter, she suddenly seemed to be several years old, and couldn't help but feel miserable, feeling that she was the only one. To be in the same boat with oneself through thick and thin. He stood up and shouted: "Shut up for me!" Everyone immediately fell silent. The emperor looked over the crowd and finally landed on Huang Zixia: "Yang Chonggu!" Huang Zixia quickly replied: "The slave is here." "You are the candidate appointed by me to assist Dali Temple. What do you think about this case?" Huang Zixia looked at him and said: "There are many entanglements in this matter, and it cannot be explained by just a few words. The death of the princess was also caused by the connection of various links. Starting from Xi Min's death, tell His Majesty everything that has happened so far." The emperor managed to calm down his anger, and said to her coldly: "Okay, since the San Judiciary can't tell, then you can explain the case in detail, and explain everything clearly to me!" "Yes," Huang Zixia said with a bow, "I believe that the whole case started with the humiliation of a woman, but the clue that connects all the cases is a painting - the imperial brush of the former emperor in Zhang Xingying's home, It may also be the last emperor's last pen." Huang Zixia signaled Zhang Xingying to show the painting, and said: "We still don't know why the late emperor painted this painting, and what the real meaning of this painting is. But there is no doubt about one thing, that is, in this case The murderer's method, or the method of death of the three people, is exactly the same as the graffiti on it." The emperor looked at the painting with a complicated expression, and asked, "Is this really the work of the former emperor?" "There is no doubt about it." Li Shubai said. The emperor took the painting, examined it carefully for a long time, let out a sigh of relief, and said, "I don't know what the former emperor meant by leaving such a painting?" "That's not clear. It's just that the three deceased in this case, Wei Ximin, fit the thunderstorm in the first picture, and they were burned to death; The first one is about the death of Sun Laizi; the third one, with the phoenix flying down and pecking people, should be..." She looked at the emperor and stopped talking.And the emperor already knew that what she was going to talk about was his daughter who died under Jiuluan Chai. The emperor looked at the painting for a long time, and his voice was slightly hoarse: "Why does the painting left by the former emperor coincide with the murder case ten years later?" "Although the former emperor was wise and mighty, in the eyes of a servant, it should be absolutely impossible to know in advance the murders ten years later, and it is even more impossible to draw such graffiti on the murders as a reminder to future generations. I think, The painting of the first emperor must have other purposes, but in this case, it was used for another purpose - the murderer was charged with the punishment of God in order to cover up his crime during the crime. After drawing a painting, he deliberately planned three murder cases by fitting it with this painting, trying to use sensationalism to deceive people and escape punishment!" The emperor nodded slowly, and said: "Then, if you find out who knows this painting and the shape of the graffiti on it, you can basically delineate the murderer." "Exactly, this is one aspect of the murderer's self-defeating. On the one hand, this technique makes these three cases appear confusing and unpredictable; but on the other hand, it also makes these three cases connected together, so that people can clearly understand We know that the murderer in these three cases is the same person. We can infer by combining the intersection points of the three deceased people, all the people killed by this person are closely related to Lu Dicui—and, This person has also seen this painting in the Zhang family's collection." The eyes of everyone in the hall immediately fell on Zhang Xingying. Under the attention of everyone, Zhang Xingying was extremely nervous and took a step back at a loss.And Huang Zixia looked at Zhang Xingying intently, and said: "Yes, it seems that Zhang Xingying's suspicion is very serious. Among the people related to Lu Dicui's case, Lu Dicui himself was involved when Wei Ximin and Sun Laizi died. When the crime was committed, but when the princess passed away, she was detained in the clean room of Dali Temple. It is completely impossible to escape to kill and return to her original position without anyone noticing. "Lu Zhiyuan, when the princess died, he had time to commit crimes, but when Wei Ximin died, he was carried home because of being too tired, and was looked after by a doctor and a neighbor next door. There was absolutely no way or time to escape from Fengyifang where he was at that time. He went to Jianfu Temple to kill people. When Sun Laizi died, he also buried himself in making giant candles for Jianfu Temple in the incense and candle shop. Many shopkeepers and customers in West City can testify. "Only... Zhang Xingying, he has no proof of his alibi at any time. In other words, Zhang Xingying was always at the scene when the three murders happened." All eyes were on Zhang Xingying.Zhang Xingying took a step back in panic, and subconsciously argued: "No... I, I didn't kill people..." Zhou Ziqin was also in a hurry, quickly grabbed Zhang Xingying's hand, and said anxiously: "Chonggu, second brother Zhang has a reason to kill, but I believe that he will not kill the princess! Even if he wants to kill, he will definitely not With this method, it is impossible for such an upright person to arrange so many schemes!" Huang Zixia nodded to him, and then said to everyone: "According to the order of time, the first murder case is the mystery of Wei Ximin's death in Jianfu Temple. The key mystery of his death lies in the crowd of people in Jianfu Temple at that time. The candle exploded, and countless people in the temple fled in all directions. There were only slight flames on everyone else, and Wei Ximin was the only one who was burned to death impartially. Regarding this case, everyone said it was God’s punishment, but how could the sky really do it for one person? Have you ever been moved? From my point of view, his death was just carefully arranged by the murderer, no matter whether there is a thunderbolt or not, Wei Ximin will die in the flames on that day!" Li Run opened his clear eyes wide, and asked: "But...except gods and Buddhas, is there really anyone in the world who can control the thunderbolt, so that the thunderbolt can just burn the person he wants to kill?" "Well, it looks like an impeccable retribution, but unfortunately, the murderer still left clues at the scene, let us use this to track down and find out many suspicious points." Huang Zixia's eyes swept over the faces of everyone in the hall.Even the emperor and concubine Guo Shu, who came here just to inquire about the death of Princess Tongchang, listened intently with great doubts. Huang Zixia turned her head and nodded to Zhou Ziqin. Zhou Ziqin cooperated very well with her now, so he immediately went to the warehouse to get the iron wire, handed it to her, and asked, "Is this iron wire we found in Jianfu Temple helpful to the case?" "Well, this is the method used by the murderer to hide himself, and it is also the method the murderer uses to kill people." She said, took the wire, pointed to the end that was burnt to blue, and said, "This color Obviously, the flames scattered on the site cannot be burned. This color needs a long time to burn—then, in Jianfu Temple at that time, where was there a long-lasting flame that could make a wire stand for such a long time? What about the burning of time? I think there is only one place, and that is the two giant candles in Jianfu Temple. Of course, the only one who can insert such things into the candles—” She held the wire and turned her head to look at it. Xiang Lu Zhiyuan who has been standing silently at the end. "I would like to ask, Mr. Lu, what is the purpose of inserting this iron wire into the candle wick?"
The rising sun shines through the Dali Temple.The sun has just climbed up the treetops to show its power, and today is destined to be a hot day. Today, the three jurisprudence will be interrogated. The three chiefs of Yushitai, Xingbu and Dali Temple are lined up and sit at the top.As usual, during the joint trial of the three envoys, Dali Temple presented the evidence and decided the case, the Ministry of Criminal Justice issued a judgment, and the Yushitai supervised the trial. Shaoqing has always been in charge of affairs in Dali Temple, and Cui Chunzhan is sitting there.When he saw Huang Zixia who followed Li Shubai in, looking at her with a resentful expression, he could only yell at her—please, don't make a sound today, just close the case like this! Wang Lin, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishments, of course remembered that Huang Zixia was the chief culprit who sent Queen Wang to the Taiji Palace, so he didn't even look at her, but nodded slightly at Li Shubai. The person who came to Yushitai was Jiang Kui, Yushi Zhongcheng. The old man obviously disdained that he was reduced to supervise and interrogate such a murder case, but because there was a princess among the dead, he reluctantly sat in front of the case, folded his hands, closed his eyes and meditated. All the people involved in the case arrived one by one. The son-in-law and King E were sitting by the side of the hall, the son-in-law stared blankly at the patterns on the brocade box brought by King E, his mind was in a trance and his face was haggard. Standing behind them were the four maids, Chuizhu, Luopei, Chuiyu, and Qingbi, all of whom looked bewildered, not knowing what would happen to them. Zhang Xingying and Di Cui stood side by side in the hall. Di Cui described her as thin and pale.Zhang Xingying held her hand quietly as a sign of comfort. Lu Zhiyuan squatted in the shade not far from them, buried his head, and stared at the moss on the ground. Qian Guansuo, who was brought out from the prison, sat wearily leaning against the beam, his whole body was scorched yellow and gray, his body was trembling all the time, and his face was ashen. Among all the people, only Zhou Ziqin looked as usual, still wearing bright clothes, and waved at Huang Zixia and Li Shubai with joy: "Your Majesty won't blame you? Because I have followed this case for a long time, so even though I didn't call, I came to listen Already!" "Whatever you want, as long as you are not called later, you can't make a sound." Li Shubai cut off the moth he might make, Zhou Ziqin could only nod with a bitter face. Dali Temple moved a chair for Li Shubai and sat next to King E.Huang Zixia and Zhou Ziqin stood behind him, one looked gloomy, and the other looked around. Li Run turned to look at Huang Zixia, with the usual soft smile on his face: "Eunuch Yang, since the truth of this case has been revealed, I think you can finally breathe a sigh of relief and take a break. Why are you still so preoccupied and full of thoughts?" look like?" Huang Zixia lowered her head in embarrassment and said, "Yes, thank you Prince E for your concern." Li Run asked Li Shubai quietly again: "Fourth brother, what's the use of asking me to bring that painting over?" "Well," Li Shubai nodded, and said, "All the tricks in this case should come from the father's posthumous writing." "But...the emperor's father has passed away for ten years, why is he suddenly involved in such a case?" Li Run asked suspiciously. Before Li Shubai could answer, eunuchs from outside lined up and the emperor had arrived. Concubine Guo Shu also came in with him.The people from Dali Temple hurried to the back and brought a chair over so that she could sit behind the emperor. After waiting for a group of people to sit down, Cui Chunzhan patted the gavel, and there was silence below. Qian Guansuo was brought up, and at the same time presented his confession in Dali Temple these few days, which had been clearly transcribed and was just waiting for his signature. "Qian Guansuo, you killed Princess Tongchang, Wei Ximin, and Sun Mangzi. The evidence is conclusive. Why don't you confess the crimes one by one and plead guilty?" During the past few days when Qian Guansuo was tossed, the originally fat and handsome man had lost a lot of weight. Although he was still fat, he had lost all energy and energy, leaving only a dead body. He was disheveled and wearing prison clothes, and he was paralyzed on the ground like a pig piss. When he heard the question, he seemed to want to use his hands to answer the question, but his hands were already covered with scorching foam, and they were soaked white in the water. , there is not even a nail left on the ten fingers.He couldn't bear the pain, so he could only still lie on the ground, humming in a low voice: "Confession... confession..." "Really recruit!" "Criminals... coveted the rare treasures of the princess mansion, so they bribed the eunuch Wei Ximin who was close to the princess, and stole the golden toad together with him. Everything was hidden from the family by the criminals...my family never knew... " Cui Chunzhan ignored him and asked himself, "Why did Wei Ximin die?" "Because...we did not share the loot equally, he turned against me, and the criminals were afraid that the matter would be leaked, so...when they participated in the Buddhist meeting with him at Jianfu Temple, they pushed him into the fire and burned him to death with candles on fire. It's..." "Why did Sun Laizi die?" "Because..." Qian Guansuo wriggled his lips numbly, his face showed a strange dead gray, his eyes were sunken, like a hole, and there was no light at all, "When the criminal killed Wei Ximin, he happened to be killed by him. I saw it, and later he blackmailed me, so I took advantage of my subordinates to clean up the sewer, and after distracting them, climbed in and killed him too..." Cui Chunzhan glanced at the emperor calmly, saw that he was only sitting upright, and was a little relieved, so he asked again: "Then why did you kill Princess Tongchang?" "Sinners...sinners..." His lips twitched, his eyes looked at the emperor and the others sitting behind him, but he still didn't dare to speak. Cui Chunzhan slapped the gavel: "If you don't want to suffer from flesh and blood again, just get it from the truth!" "Yes... it's the sinners who have never changed their minds. I heard that the princess dreamed that her most cherished Jiuluan hairpin disappeared, so the sinners sneaked into the princess' mansion to steal the Jiuluan hairpin again... Who would have thought that on the street that day, the sinners were in a hurry..." When Xing Xing took it out to look at it, she was actually seen by the princess, she chased it to a secluded place, and the sinner missed it for a while, just...just..." The emperor's face turned ashen, he stared at Qian Guansuo, resentful and desperate, at this moment, he wished that he was an ordinary commoner, so that he could let himself rush forward and kill the man in front of him who killed his daughter The villain beat him hard, at least to vent some of his resentment. Concubine Guo Shu gritted her teeth, stood up with a whoosh and shouted angrily: "Your Majesty, you must kill him in court to avenge Linghui!" The emperor raised his hand to stop her, gritted his teeth and said, "There are three envoys here, so why use us!" Huang Zixia stood behind Li Shubai, listening intently to Qian Guansuo's confession. Qian Guansuo's body was covered with bruises, and his voice was half moaning and half moaning: "Everything...is only related to the criminal, and the criminal's wife, children, relatives and friends don't know...the criminal pleaded guilty..." "In this case, sign and draw a pledge." Cui Chunzhan took the confession recorded by the Dali Temple Prime Minister and read it, and asked someone to take it to Qian Guan. Qian Guan Suowei paused on the ground, barely holding on to read it, then held the pen with his unsightly hands, closed his eyes, and was about to sign his name. At this moment, a muffled sound suddenly broke the silence in the hall. It was Dicui standing by the hall. She might have been frightened, and she was already weak, so she collapsed to the ground and passed out. But Qian Guansuo's hand shook, and the ink on the pen immediately drew a long mark on the confession. Huang Zixia, who was standing beside Dicui, quickly raised her hand to support her.Zhang Xingying looked at Di Cui anxiously, saw that her eyes were loose and her whole body was cold, so she hurriedly said to the hall: "Master Cui, Adi... Dicui has been weak since she came back from Dali Temple. Hearing..." Cui Chunzhan looked at her gray face and felt that the situation seemed to be very bad, so he turned to look at the emperor. The emperor only stared at Qian Guansuo and asked, "Who is she?" "She was a suspect in the past, but now it turns out that she has nothing to do with this case—because when the princess passed away, she was detained in Dali Temple." The emperor waved his hand and said: "This kind of idler is waiting, take it out quickly." Zhang Xingying quickly picked up Di Cui and wanted to take her out, but Cui Chunzhan said again: "Zhang Xingying, you are also a person involved in this case, so you should not leave the hall without authorization." Li Shubai signaled Jingxiang to hold Dicui and let him take her out. Di Cui was ignorant, she remembered that she was clearly fine just now, but when Huang Zixia touched her shoulder, she smelled a scent and fell down.And after passing out like this, he recovered immediately. She looked at Zhang Xingying, and was about to tell him that she was fine, when she heard Huang Zixia whisper in her ear, "Run away!" She opened her eyes wide in astonishment, wanting to see Huang Zixia's expression, and ask what she meant when she said this to herself, but Huang Zixia had already passed her and stood in front of the hall. Dicui was supported by Jingxiang and walked to the door.The gatekeeper of Dali Temple pointed to Dicui and asked, "Eunuch, what's going on?" "She seems to be ill, and the emperor ordered her to be carried out immediately." After speaking, Jing Xiang let her go and motioned to her, "Why don't you leave quickly?" Standing under the already hot summer sun, Dicui looked at the gate of Dali Temple and felt slightly dizzy. What Huang Zixia said in her ear echoed faintly—— "escape!" She hesitated in a trance, then immediately turned around, walked forward quickly, and merged into the crowd of people on Zhuque Street in the capital.
Dali Temple has transcribed a new confession and brought it to Qian Guansuo again. Qian Guansuo looked at the confession, picked up the pen again with trembling hands, and looked at Cui Chunzhan with his almost dry eyes beseechingly. Cui Chunzhan nodded and said, "If you confess early, you may be able to save your family's life." Qian Guansuo's eyes were full of despair, he could only grit his teeth fiercely, close his eyes, and was about to drop the pen. "etc." A deep and slow voice interrupted the silence in the hall at this time. Cui Chunzhan, who was praying that there would be no side effects, knew that he still couldn't avoid this hurdle, so he could only look at his immediate superior with a bitter face. Everyone in the hall also turned their gazes to the source of the voice. The speaker was naturally King Kui Li Shubai. He sat upright on the chair and thought about it: "Cui Shaoqing, this king has a few things that I don't know about the case you have settled, and I still need you to clear up your doubts." Cui Chunzhan's tears were about to come down——Prince Kui, do you know that this matter is related to the wealth and lives of everyone in Dali Temple?Do you know the fact that you yourself are the highest official of Dali Temple? "Also please... the prince expressly." "Since Wei Ximin was needed to steal the golden toad at the beginning, why was he able to steal the Jiuluan Chai by himself? And I heard that after Tong Chang had that dream, he was very worried that someone would steal the Jiuluan Chai, so in the Properly treasure it in my own mansion——Since this is the case, without Wei Ximin's internal cooperation, how did the criminals steal Jiuluan Chai?" There was a sudden silence in the hall, everyone was thinking and dared not speak. The emperor looked at Cui Chunzhan: "Cui Shaoqing." Cui Chunzhan didn't dare to answer, but the sweat on his back quickly seeped into his clothes: "Chen... Chen Huan..." Seeing him like this, the emperor pointed at Qian Guansuo, who was half lying and half kneeling: "Say it!" Qian Guansuo's body was like sifting chaff, lying on the ground, speechless. The emperor gritted his teeth and said bitterly: "If you don't recruit quickly, I will copy your nine clans!" Qian Guansuo's speech was confused, and he said hastily: "Criminals... The criminals once brought a group of people to the Princess Mansion to clean up the sewers... The criminals sneaked in from the waterways..." "The place where the princess lives is a high platform. All the food and water are sent up by the maids and eunuchs. Where did the water come from?" ?” Cui Chunzhan was speechless, and quickly stood up and confessed: "I am negligent! I want to get the murderer to kill as soon as possible, so as to comfort the princess's spirit in heaven, so I am eager to try the case, day and night, mentally weak, and I have neglected this important clue! I implore the emperor to wait for a while. , Rong Chen will be interrogated again." Dali Sicheng immediately summoned several principals to discuss with the governor.The censor Zhongcheng Jiang Kui who had been watching from the sidelines asked slowly: "Cui Shaoqing, why do you need to discuss what the prisoner did?" Cui Chunzhan was not angry about his behavior of adding insult to injury, but said: "It was only because the Ministry of Criminal Affairs sent people to cooperate with Dali Temple to interrogate during the interrogation, so our department was worried whether there was a mistake due to poor communication." Wang Lin, who wanted to stay out of the matter, saw that he was finally dragged into it, so he had to cup his hands and said: "It's true, but I'm busy with business, so I only ask my best manpower to do my best. As for the rest, the department focuses on Using the law to convict and penalize matters will not help much.” The emperor heard that the three jurisprudence were pushing each other, all of them could only stir up trouble, and could only look back at Concubine Guo Shu, seeing her sitting blankly, and after losing her daughter, she suddenly seemed to be several years old, and couldn't help but feel miserable, feeling that she was the only one. To be in the same boat with oneself through thick and thin. He stood up and shouted: "Shut up for me!" Everyone immediately fell silent. The emperor looked over the crowd and finally landed on Huang Zixia: "Yang Chonggu!" Huang Zixia quickly replied: "The slave is here." "You are the candidate appointed by me to assist Dali Temple. What do you think about this case?" Huang Zixia looked at him and said: "There are many entanglements in this matter, and it cannot be explained by just a few words. The death of the princess was also caused by the connection of various links. Starting from Xi Min's death, tell His Majesty everything that has happened so far." The emperor managed to calm down his anger, and said to her coldly: "Okay, since the San Judiciary can't tell, then you can explain the case in detail, and explain everything clearly to me!" "Yes," Huang Zixia said with a bow, "I believe that the whole case started with the humiliation of a woman, but the clue that connects all the cases is a painting - the imperial brush of the former emperor in Zhang Xingying's home, It may also be the last emperor's last pen." Huang Zixia signaled Zhang Xingying to show the painting, and said: "We still don't know why the late emperor painted this painting, and what the real meaning of this painting is. But there is no doubt about one thing, that is, in this case The murderer's method, or the method of death of the three people, is exactly the same as the graffiti on it." The emperor looked at the painting with a complicated expression, and asked, "Is this really the work of the former emperor?" "There is no doubt about it." Li Shubai said. The emperor took the painting, examined it carefully for a long time, let out a sigh of relief, and said, "I don't know what the former emperor meant by leaving such a painting?" "That's not clear. It's just that the three deceased in this case, Wei Ximin, fit the thunderstorm in the first picture, and they were burned to death; The first one is about the death of Sun Laizi; the third one, with the phoenix flying down and pecking people, should be..." She looked at the emperor and stopped talking.And the emperor already knew that what she was going to talk about was his daughter who died under Jiuluan Chai. The emperor looked at the painting for a long time, and his voice was slightly hoarse: "Why does the painting left by the former emperor coincide with the murder case ten years later?" "Although the former emperor was wise and mighty, in the eyes of a servant, it should be absolutely impossible to know in advance the murders ten years later, and it is even more impossible to draw such graffiti on the murders as a reminder to future generations. I think, The painting of the first emperor must have other purposes, but in this case, it was used for another purpose - the murderer was charged with the punishment of God in order to cover up his crime during the crime. After drawing a painting, he deliberately planned three murder cases by fitting it with this painting, trying to use sensationalism to deceive people and escape punishment!" The emperor nodded slowly, and said: "Then, if you find out who knows this painting and the shape of the graffiti on it, you can basically delineate the murderer." "Exactly, this is one aspect of the murderer's self-defeating. On the one hand, this technique makes these three cases appear confusing and unpredictable; but on the other hand, it also makes these three cases connected together, so that people can clearly understand We know that the murderer in these three cases is the same person. We can infer by combining the intersection points of the three deceased people, all the people killed by this person are closely related to Lu Dicui—and, This person has also seen this painting in the Zhang family's collection." The eyes of everyone in the hall immediately fell on Zhang Xingying. Under the attention of everyone, Zhang Xingying was extremely nervous and took a step back at a loss.And Huang Zixia looked at Zhang Xingying intently, and said: "Yes, it seems that Zhang Xingying's suspicion is very serious. Among the people related to Lu Dicui's case, Lu Dicui himself was involved when Wei Ximin and Sun Laizi died. When the crime was committed, but when the princess passed away, she was detained in the clean room of Dali Temple. It is completely impossible to escape to kill and return to her original position without anyone noticing. "Lu Zhiyuan, when the princess died, he had time to commit crimes, but when Wei Ximin died, he was carried home because of being too tired, and was looked after by a doctor and a neighbor next door. There was absolutely no way or time to escape from Fengyifang where he was at that time. He went to Jianfu Temple to kill people. When Sun Laizi died, he also buried himself in making giant candles for Jianfu Temple in the incense and candle shop. Many shopkeepers and customers in West City can testify. "Only... Zhang Xingying, he has no proof of his alibi at any time. In other words, Zhang Xingying was always at the scene when the three murders happened." All eyes were on Zhang Xingying.Zhang Xingying took a step back in panic, and subconsciously argued: "No... I, I didn't kill people..." Zhou Ziqin was also in a hurry, quickly grabbed Zhang Xingying's hand, and said anxiously: "Chonggu, second brother Zhang has a reason to kill, but I believe that he will not kill the princess! Even if he wants to kill, he will definitely not With this method, it is impossible for such an upright person to arrange so many schemes!" Huang Zixia nodded to him, and then said to everyone: "According to the order of time, the first murder case is the mystery of Wei Ximin's death in Jianfu Temple. The key mystery of his death lies in the crowd of people in Jianfu Temple at that time. The candle exploded, and countless people in the temple fled in all directions. There were only slight flames on everyone else, and Wei Ximin was the only one who was burned to death impartially. Regarding this case, everyone said it was God’s punishment, but how could the sky really do it for one person? Have you ever been moved? From my point of view, his death was just carefully arranged by the murderer, no matter whether there is a thunderbolt or not, Wei Ximin will die in the flames on that day!" Li Run opened his clear eyes wide, and asked: "But...except gods and Buddhas, is there really anyone in the world who can control the thunderbolt, so that the thunderbolt can just burn the person he wants to kill?" "Well, it looks like an impeccable retribution, but unfortunately, the murderer still left clues at the scene, let us use this to track down and find out many suspicious points." Huang Zixia's eyes swept over the faces of everyone in the hall.Even the emperor and concubine Guo Shu, who came here just to inquire about the death of Princess Tongchang, listened intently with great doubts. Huang Zixia turned her head and nodded to Zhou Ziqin. Zhou Ziqin cooperated very well with her now, so he immediately went to the warehouse to get the iron wire, handed it to her, and asked, "Is this iron wire we found in Jianfu Temple helpful to the case?" "Well, this is the method used by the murderer to hide himself, and it is also the method the murderer uses to kill people." She said, took the wire, pointed to the end that was burnt to blue, and said, "This color Obviously, the flames scattered on the site cannot be burned. This color needs a long time to burn—then, in Jianfu Temple at that time, where was there a long-lasting flame that could make a wire stand for such a long time? What about the burning of time? I think there is only one place, and that is the two giant candles in Jianfu Temple. Of course, the only one who can insert such things into the candles—” She held the wire and turned her head to look at it. Xiang Lu Zhiyuan who has been standing silently at the end. "I would like to ask, Mr. Lu, what is the purpose of inserting this iron wire into the candle wick?"