The prefect said, "I'm sorry, Prime Minister, all the Hanlin scholars are suspected."
Duke Yan suddenly smiled. "Prime Minister Cai has found a son-in-law who is so handsome and successful, so naturally he wants to protect him. We can understand his mentality. But from another perspective, wasn't Lord Fu's intentional leave on the day of the murder a cover-up? In my opinion, Lord Fu is the most suspicious."
Prime Minister Cai also laughed: "It is well known that Duke Yan's youngest daughter was broken off from engagement by Prince Chi. Duke Yan is envious of me having a good son-in-law, so there is nothing wrong with saying that."
Duke Yan laughed out loud.
It is most important to speak tactfully at this moment.
He had to say it in a way that would make Mr. Cai depressed, but at the same time not offend Prince Chi, so as not to offend the eldest princess and the emperor.
After a moment of hesitation, he smiled and said, "My daughter is still young, there's no rush for her to get married. Besides, my daughter and Prince Chi have been together for many years, so it's normal for them to break up and get back together. As long as my daughter doesn't do anything that would ruin her marriage, I, as a father, will be very happy."
The implication is that the Prime Minister's daughter is already old and is anxious to get married.
It also implies that the Prime Minister's daughter has taken a fancy to the married man Fu Ciyi, forcing the couple to divorce. As a father, the Prime Minister supports his daughter and shamelessly asks for an imperial decree.
It's really shameless.
Prime Minister Cai wanted to get angry, but he couldn't.
Every word that Duke Yan spoke was about his own daughter, but anyone with ears could hear that every word was a satire on his Cai family.
Turning his head and seeing Fu Ciyi coming over, Prime Minister Cai walked over with a smile: "Master Fu, you should quickly tell the prefect what you did on the seventh day."
At this time, the eunuchs sang loudly: "The Emperor has arrived, and the princes have arrived."
As soon as he finished speaking, a bright yellow figure appeared at the door, followed by several princes.
The ministers present all greeted him: "Your Majesty, and Your Highnesses."
The emperor said, "Stand up."
After the emperor sat on the main seat, he looked at the ministers of Jingzhao Prefecture and asked, "What's going on?"
The prefect bowed and said, "I was just hoping to hear the reason why Master Fu asked for leave on the seventh day."
The emperor straightened his robe and turned his cloudy eyes towards Fu Ciyi: "Minister Fu, please speak."
Fu Ciyi bowed and spoke frankly, "My wife and I were deeply in love, and it was difficult for me to accept the divorce. On the seventh day of the lunar month, I remembered that my wife had said that we should plant fruit trees in the mansion. I was ashamed that I still didn't know what kind of fruit she liked. I remembered that she would peel oranges for me to eat, so I went to the North City to buy two orange trees and planted them in the yard. I was busy all day. The vendors in the North City can testify that when the fruit trees were planted, the vendors came to the mansion to give us guidance."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present was in an uproar.
The emperor's expression changed slightly.
Prime Minister Cai frowned.
Only Duke Yan's lips curled up, unable to suppress it. Fu Ciyi's words confirmed his earlier sarcasm.
Lu Wenfeng stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, I requested leave on behalf of Master Fu on the seventh day. As a fellow townsman, I am well aware of the deep love they share, and Master Fu was indeed heartbroken on the seventh day. In the past few days, I have seen Master Fu tending to the orange trees in the courtyard many times."
Only then did he realize why Ci Yi had been taking care of the orange trees.
"Go to Beicheng and ask." The emperor raised his hand.
Someone immediately took the order and left.
The prefect said, "Besides the Hanlin Academy, the other people coming in and out are their attendants. Could you please recall if any of their attendants haven't returned home in the past few days?"
One minister said, "Your Excellency the Prefect is wrong. We serve the Emperor, and our duty is to draft and protect the imperial edicts. How can we commit theft?"
"that is!"
"Instead of speculating here, why not go and identify the body and see if we have seen it before?"
After hearing this, the prefect's face began to turn ugly.
Today's move is the emperor's intention.
The emperor said the imperial edict was kept in the Hanlin Academy, and that a case of this magnitude should be thoroughly investigated. Every step, whether necessary or not, should be reviewed, and that's why he was spending his time on this.
Suddenly, a rapid high voice came in: "Report——"
The emperor said in a deep voice: "What is it?"
"A token was found at the crime scene." The visitor presented the token.
The eunuch brought over a tray and asked the visitor to place the token on it and present it to the emperor.
The emperor glanced at him, his expression darkening immediately. "What do you have to say, Second Brother?"
The Second Prince stepped forward in fear and said, "I do not understand what your Majesty is saying."
The emperor sneered: "Look for yourself."
The second prince glanced at the things on the tray, which were the tokens used by the servants in his mansion.
He immediately bowed and said, "Father, this is indeed the token of my son's residence. But I have a question: why didn't I find it when the body was discovered? If I find it now, it must be a frame-up!"
The visitor reported, "The token from the Second Prince's mansion isn't very large. It fell into a crack in the floor, right where the body had been. Because its color matches the floor, it's difficult to find. Most importantly, the crime scene was dimly lit."
The Hanlin Academy was responsible for drafting the emperor's confidential edicts, and the place where these drafted confidential edicts were stored had to be higher up the stairs. The doors and windows of the building were sealed, and the light was not very bright.
The crime scene was the darkest place.
The emperor nodded and asked calmly, "Second Brother, do you want to know the contents of the secret decree?"
The Second Prince's forehead was covered with sweat, and he immediately knelt on the ground: "Your son dare not!"
It can be said that the identity of each of these princes was given by their father.
He is a prince today, but may not be one tomorrow.
What's more, beheading is a light punishment.
At this time, the coroner of Jingzhao Prefecture asked to see the emperor.
The emperor allowed him to come forward and speak.
The coroner cupped his fists and reported, "Your Majesty, the corpse's clothing offers no clues, but there's a symbol embroidered on the insoles of his shoes. It's the exact emblem of the guards in the Third Prince's palace."
The implication is that the person coming might be the third prince's secret guard.
Upon hearing this, the Third Prince immediately knelt down and said, "Father, I am innocent. I would never send anyone to check the imperial edict. Even if I had the courage of a bear or a leopard, I would not dare to do so."
Seeing his cowardice, the emperor's face became gloomier and gloomier.
The second prince and the third prince began to argue, arguing that they were innocent and were framed by the other.
The emperor's eyes fell on them, and the matter was actually very clear: it was his so-called "good sons" who did it.
The prince was intelligent and capable, but also treacherous. He wanted to increase the power of the prime minister so that he could suppress the prince in the future.
So there were rumors that he did not want to pass the throne to the prince.
Many people wanted to know to whom he would pass the throne, especially his "good sons".
Now we have to find out which minister in the Hanlin Academy stood with a certain prince to guess his imperial intentions and gave that person the key to allow him to enter the attic.
At this time, Fu Ciyi asked the coroner, "Is there anything else on the body that can prove the identity?"
The coroner shook his head. "The token from earlier, the insole now, nothing else."
Fu Ciyi asked again: "Can we go and check it out?"
The coroner looked at the prefect, and the prefect looked at the emperor.
The emperor nodded: "Alright."
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