Lu Ze said, "Your Highness, Princess Qi would never kill anyone. The body was found between 3:30 and 5:50 last night. The princess was with me at that time, so there's no way she would have killed anyone!"
Qin Zhen raised his eyebrows and said, "Princess Qi doesn't have to do the killing herself. She has subordinates who will do it for her!"
Qi Yuning asked, "Since Fifth Master Qin knew he could hire someone to kill someone, why did he insist that it was me who did it? Would I be so foolish as to kill her when Madam Qin and I were alone in this courtyard?"
Qin Zhen snorted lightly.
Zhao Chong patted Lu Ze on the shoulder and said, "I'll leave this case to you. You must give your great aunt justice."
Lu Ze nodded slightly and asked the female coroner brought by the prefect to carefully examine the body, confirming that there was only a wound in front of the heart.
The female coroner frowned and said, "This wound looks like it was caused by an iron spike."
Lu Ze frowned. Iron spike, where did the spike come from?
Looking up, if the murderer was the one who put the awl down from the tiles, then Qi Yuning's secret guards would definitely have discovered it.
The female coroner felt Madam Qin's chest and frowned, saying, "Her chest is especially colder than other places."
Qi Yuning saw the charcoal braziers in the room and asked Chunxi, "Why are there so many charcoal braziers here?"
Chunxi said, "Oh, my wife is afraid of the cold. Last night, Xiaxi filled several hot water bottles and placed them in the bed. My wife has always had the habit of using hot water bottles to warm her heart..."
Qi Yuning said, "But I've never seen a hot water bottle here!"
Chunxi said, "The master asked Xiaxi to put this hot water bottle there. Xiaxi also put a lot of these charcoal braziers there because he was afraid that the mistress would get cold."
Lu Ze asked, "Where's Xia Xi?"
Qin Han said angrily, "Xia Xi has been with my wife for over thirty years. How could she possibly have killed someone? She accompanied my wife to the Qin Mansion when she was fifteen years old. Now she's almost forty. She's been loyal for twenty-four years. How could she possibly have killed her master?"
Chunxi said: "Xiaxi, I don't know where Xiaxi went..."
Qi Yuning and Lu Ze exchanged a glance, then saw Jingzhe rush in and said, "Princess, something bad has happened! Miss Lingling is missing!"
When Qi Yuning heard this, she was shocked. "Lingling is missing? Where did she go?"
Guyu said, "I just saw Miss Lingling still sleeping. I turned around to get some hot water outside, but when I came back into the house, Lingling was gone."
Lu Zelian comforted Qi Yuning, saying, "Don't worry. Lingling is young and can't run far. She might wake up and come out to find us. Just ask the secret guards."
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