Yuezhaoyingan

Chapter 56

Not long after, Emperor Cheng went to Ziyu Mountain to pray for blessings, ordered Ling Yu to accompany him, and Ling Xu to supervise the country.

After Ling Yu received the order, it took about half a month to go back and forth, and after looking down for a while, he decided to let Zhao'an and Xiang Bing accompany him.Emperor Cheng's mind became more and more unpredictable, but Xingnai City would not remain so peaceful forever, and there was always a little uneasiness in his heart.Regardless of whether Emperor Cheng sees anything or not, even if there is a one-ten-thousandth possibility, he must ensure Zhao'an's safety.

Fortunately, Emperor Cheng did not show too much concern for Zhao'an on the way, and the journey went smoothly. No one paid special attention to Zhao'an, but Ling Yu's worries did not diminish at all.

When the team returned to the city, it was already night, and the butler watched Ling Yu's car drive up at the door. When Ling Yu, Zhao'an and the others got out of the carriage, the butler arranged for the servants to unload the things.

Seeing that Qu He was not there, Ling Yu asked, "Where is the princess?"

The butler hurriedly said: "Last night, the carriage came suddenly, saying that Mrs. Qu asked the prince and concubine to go back and stay for a few days, and we have important matters to discuss."

"Master Qu is discussing important matters, looking for Qu He?" Ling Yu paused: "Has Ji Qing gone together?"

The housekeeper didn't know why he asked this question, and replied: "Ji Qing has been in the mansion over there for the past few days, and the concubine said that he is busy with things recently, so she asked me not to disturb him, and went to the two guards to follow. "

Seeing Ling Yu's frown, Zhao'an was a little puzzled and said, "Is there any problem?"

Anxiety surged in Ling Yu's heart: "Hurry up and ask someone to go to the Qu Mansion to ask when the princess and concubine will come back."

Everyone looked at Ling Yu's worried face and didn't understand what happened, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

The Qu family's carriage arrived soon, Master Qu hurriedly got out of the car, his face full of anxiety: "Where is my He'er? He'er didn't come back to the house last night, and my house never came to pick her up."

The butler gasped when he heard the words, and described the appearance of the coming man again, claiming to be the newly added servant of the Qu family, saying that the steward Xu of the Qu family asked him to come, and also saying that Qu He's nurse forest Shi misses Qu He very much. These people are worthy of the name, so Qu He and the housekeeper have no doubts.

Master Qu is about to cry: "My family has not added any servants in recent days, and I am not familiar with that appearance!"

A trace of fear flashed across Ling Yu's gentle face, and he said in a deep voice, "Someone tell Ji Qing to come, and say that Qu He is gone." Turning his head, he said to Bing and the housekeeper, "All the best painters in the capital will Call here, call all those people you met last night, and draw them all."

So far, Zhao'an felt that the situation was more serious than imagined.

The disappearance of the prince and concubine was no small matter, and everyone in the entire Xingnai capital was mobilized.

It wasn't until the next day when the sun was bright that the abandoned carriage was found in a hidden mountain forest on the outskirts of Beijing. There were obvious signs of fighting and blood on it. The guard's body was abandoned on the edge of a cliff not far away. Beyond the woods, the lavender clothes were scraped on the edge of the cliff, weeping in the wind, and the body of the woman who fell beyond recognition under the cliff fell desertedly among the gravel, with Qu He's favorite butterfly hairpin stuck on her head .

The tragic situation at the bottom of the cliff that day moved everyone present. Ling Yu's quiet face was full of sadness, and he approached the purple figure a little bit, stroking the broken butterfly in his hair with trembling hands.

Zhao'an had already burst into tears, and he wanted to go see Qu He again, and see the strange and bright Qu He again, but Xiang Bing held him tightly, and said in a choked voice: "Don't look, just look at it." Let her best look stay in your heart."

Zhao'an raised his teary eyes, sobbing, and looked at Ji Qing who was silent beside him with Xiang Bing.

Ji Qing didn't cry, his eyes were red and bloodshot, but he didn't shed any tears.As if he didn't know what happened, he took a step forward in a daze, but the nails in his hand were embedded in his palm, but he couldn't feel the pain, and his instinct forced him to move forward.

In front of the invisible back of Zhaoan and the others, Ji Qing opened his mouth hoarsely, unable to make any sound, swaying, only a few steps left but as if he could no longer move his legs, he could only stand slumped In front of him, the broad back that had always been straight was bent, and tears fell silently.

The third prince's mansion was completely white, and it was so bright that it hurt the eyes.

With solemn eyes, Ling Yu stood in front of the coffin coldly and haggardly.Ling Fei still didn't understand what it meant, but was led by the nanny, and kept asking with his eyes wide open, "Where is Sister He?"

Emperor Cheng ordered that the case must be strictly investigated, and the prince and concubine were kidnapped and left the city. From the night when Qu He boarded the carriage to the time when the body was found, all the officers and soldiers guarding the city gate were detained for interrogation. During the period when Ling Xu was in charge of the country, Ling Xu also had no honor on his face, and ordered to intensify the torture.

The officials below naturally did not dare to slack off, after all, two princes were involved.However, before the execution was executed, two officers and soldiers tremblingly confessed that there was indeed a horse-drawn carriage leaving the city at night on the order of Qu He's disappearance, but when asked about the details, they began to falter.

Seeing that the board was about to be beaten down, the two of them had no choice but to say: "Because the person who came said that he was following the order of Qin, and the tone of the person who came was not kind, we let it go without daring to investigate carefully."

When the officials of the Ministry of Punishment heard about it, Qin Xiang was also involved. They didn't investigate one or two people in detail, and if someone died, they died. After all, they can't offend Qin Xiang.But the person who was murdered right now was none other than the dignified Third Prince's Concubine, and the Ministry of Criminal Justice did not dare to conceal this matter, so after thinking about it, he submitted the letter and handed it directly to Emperor Cheng.

Qin Xiang was originally watching the show, but the death of the third prince and concubine undoubtedly cut off a large part of the connection between the third prince and the Qu family. The rich Yue family would also be unreliable. He wanted to see how Ling Yu could still spread his grace .

It's just that he didn't expect the fire to burn himself in the blink of an eye.He naturally didn't admit it, how could he only believe in the words of the officers and soldiers for such a big matter.Qin Xiang was naturally annoyed that the officers and soldiers guarding the city neglected their duties and wanted to shirk their responsibilities.During the period when Ling Xu supervised the country, it was unnecessary and impossible for him to do these disgusting behaviors.

But those officers and soldiers were beaten to the brink of death, and they still insisted on their statement.

The villain escaped without a trace, and there was no trace to be found. With just a few words, he couldn't rashly believe that it was Qin Xiang who did it. Qin Xiang just breathed a sigh of relief, but then the problem was led to another direction.

Xingnai is the imperial capital of Yuanhe. Once the gates of the city are closed, they must be ordered to come out. They can only be released after showing the passing documents and checking the identity and seal of the person leaving the city.How did it come to Qin Xiangling's place that he didn't dare to check carefully because of his bad tone.

Obviously so many people have the order to leave the city, why they insist on the order of Qin Xiang.

So the villain was so bold as to rush straight into the city gate and leave the city at night in a grandiose way, just relying on the word "Qin Xiang", what does this mean?

After many days, there is still no trace of the villain. Qu He's death is like a drop of water falling into the desert without making a sound. This is naturally unconvincing.

Another morning, Master Qu knelt on the Nagato palace road, in full view of all the officials, and wanted to avenge his daughter.Regardless of the identity of the third concubine, the Qu family has only one daughter, who has been as precious as a jewel since she was a child. The Qu family donated millions of wealth to the court, and gave alms everywhere to relieve the people's poverty. Now that Qu He has been brutally killed, how can he do it? If you are not angry, how can the courtiers and the people not be angry.

And this eager rage is, after all, a debt to pay.

The impeachment of Prime Minister Qin in the court was one after another, not only the officials in the court, but even some local magistrates and governors of Yin and Zhou. Dare to be angry and dare not speak out, and suffer from it.

Jiantai even directly impeached Prime Minister Qin for his unscrupulous words and deeds. He once used his power to embezzle military resources to privately train government soldiers, allowed government soldiers to go out with knives during curfew, and even went out of the city without reporting. This failed to prevent the misfortune of the third prince and concubine from happening.

Although it cannot be said that the murder of the three princes and concubines was caused by Prime Minister Qin, with all these, one after another, and conclusive evidence, Prime Minister Qin was put on the cusp of the storm in an instant.

The normally arrogant disciples of the Qin family looked at Qin Xiang, who looked sour and silent, and didn't know what to do for a while, and timidly dared not help.

Qin Xiang looked coldly at the entire court as if he had reached a certain consensus, and accumulated his previous domineering behavior one by one, and took advantage of this opportunity to reveal them one by one.

This way of playing with people's hearts and being meticulous, only one person can do it.

He looked at the place where Ling Yu used to stand, it was empty, because of the grief of the third concubine, Ling Yu hadn't gone to court for many days.And among the officials who appealed this time, there are many officials who have never participated in the dispute between Ling Yu and Prime Minister Qin. No matter how weak Ling Yu was in the past, he had never said a word of kindness for him. He thought that these people had never taken sides. Yes, but now it seems that he underestimated Ling Yu's forbearance and planning.

Facing the agitation of the crowd, Qin Xiang couldn't justify himself, Emperor Cheng chose to imprison Qin Xiang in the mansion first, and chose to hand everything over to Ling Xu for trial.

Hearing this, Prime Minister Qin's complexion suddenly turned gray.He could deal with everything just now, but Chengdi's decision fell on his head like a thunderbolt.He raised his eyes to look at Emperor Cheng, with the same expressionless face, but it made him tremble from head to toe, and a chill came to his heart.

All the ministers were stunned. Misappropriating military funds, privately training government soldiers, going out with knives under curfew, and allowing people to oppress the people are all no small matters, but let the fifth prince go to personally interrogate his grandfather, what is this?

Emperor Cheng said indifferently: "The mistakes he made while supervising the country are naturally for him to deal with. Is there any problem?"

The courtiers looked at each other in blank dismay, and in the end they all said in unison: "Your Majesty is wise."

Concubine Qin Guifei went to see Emperor Cheng that day, but Qingming stopped her outside the hall.

Concubine Qin looked coldly at the most confidant of Emperor Cheng, peeling off his respectful appearance, she might have an unconcealed disdain for herself, even though she was already the most honorable woman in the harem, she never let him have the slightest bit of contempt. Paying respect, she raised her eyebrows and said, "Why, do I have to get Master Qing's permission to see His Majesty?"

Qingming still said respectfully, "It's His Majesty's intention."

Even though Concubine Qin knew from the beginning that it was Emperor Cheng's intention, she still couldn't hide her rejection of Qingming. It was about her father and son, so she had to disregard the holy will and still wanted to go to the palace.

Qingming said softly: "Your Majesty doesn't want to see your empress, but I still have a sentence for you to bring to your empress."

Concubine Qin stopped and turned to look at him.

Standing in front of Concubine Qin, his eyes were still gentle, and he said softly: "Your Majesty asked Concubine if she knew this kind of fish? He would go back against the current at all costs just to give birth to the next generation. Even if the journey is difficult, even if he sacrificed his life." After finishing speaking, he bowed his body. Back to the inner hall.

Concubine Qin Gui, who was left pale, stood in front of the hall for a long time, and finally left Minghua Hall in a daze.