The detectives searched the villa inside and out. At this time, a detective came to report with a pale face.
"Captain, I found this in the corner of the backyard."
The constable handed the thing to the chief constable of the Ministry of Justice.
It was a broken dragonfly hairpin, finely crafted and obviously not something that belonged to an ordinary family.
"Your Highness, what is this?"
Facing the questioning of the Chief Constable of the Ministry of Justice, the eunuch smiled coldly and said, "There are also some palace maids in the other courtyards. What's so strange about you picking up women's jewelry in the courtyard?"
"Really?" The Chief Constable of the Ministry of Justice was not convinced. "I wonder which maid or palace maid in the other courtyard can afford such an expensive hairpin. Could it be a reward from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"
"Why? Your Highness the Crown Prince can't afford the reward?"
"It's not that I can't afford the reward, but... it's not difficult to tell whether the item belongs to the kidnapped girl or the maid in your Highness's villa. We just need to let the girl's parents identify it and we'll know."
Xiao Yujue looked calm, but his heart was in turmoil. He knew in his heart that he had walked into a trap set by others tonight.
As everyone was talking, the detectives who were searching the house came back one after another.
"How is it?" the chief constable of the Ministry of Justice asked anxiously.
Many detectives shook their heads.
“Nothing.”
"Have you searched every corner?"
"And... His Royal Highness's room has not been searched."
The eunuch jumped up upon hearing this and scolded, "Who do you think you are? You want to search the Crown Prince's room too? Humph, if you want to search, go ask the Emperor for an imperial decree. Otherwise, no one is allowed in."
The chief constable of the Ministry of Justice frowned deeply, and the situation came to a stalemate for a moment.
He thought it over again and again, and said, "Since the search of the prince's room needs to be reported to the emperor, then we should do it according to the rules. I will go back and ask the minister for permission."
Xiao Yujue didn't expect that at this point, the Chief Constable of the Ministry of Justice would still be so persistent. This made him feel that this was a pre-arranged conspiracy.
"It's late at night, there's no need to disturb Father. If you want to search, go ahead."
Xiao Yujue knew that searching his room was inevitable, so he might as well act calmly.
"Your Highness is very righteous, and I admire you. If it is found that this matter has nothing to do with you, I will follow the example of the ancients and come to your door to apologize."
After saying that, he took two of his constables into Xiao Yujue's room to search it personally.
Although this is a villa, Xiao Yujue's room is still very large, and the decoration and furnishings inside are majestic and magnificent.
The chief detective of the Ministry of Justice carefully checked everything in the house, and it seemed that there was nothing suspicious.
He walked to the bed, lifted the curtain and looked around.
Xiao Yujue was calm and composed, but his heart was also tightening. It was the first time in his life that he felt guilty.
The chief detective of the Ministry of Justice did not notice anything unusual and was about to turn around and leave when he suddenly saw out of the corner of his eye that a piece of the bed sheet seemed to be rolled up.
If it were an ordinary family, he wouldn't care.
However, this is Xiao Yujue's residence. As the crown prince of a country, he has only the best servants and waiters among the best. How could he be so careless?
The chief detective of the Ministry of Justice paused, reached out to pull the piece of bed sheet that was rolled in, and suddenly found that there seemed to be a gap in the middle.
He looked back at Xiao Yujue and found that Xiao Yujue looked a little nervous.
He narrowed his eyes, secretly condensed his true energy in his palm, and before everyone could react, he slapped the bed board with his palm.
With a loud bang, the bed board was lifted up, and there was indeed a layer of material inside.
A scarred female corpse suddenly appeared.
The poor, beautiful woman still had her big eyes open after death, and it was obvious that she was very unwilling and in pain.
Everyone present was startled and terrified, and the room was suddenly silent.
Everyone's eyes were focused on Xiao Yujue.
"Your Highness, how do you explain this?"
Xiao Yujue took a deep breath and said calmly, "No explanation. I didn't even know there was someone in my bed."
"Yeah?"
Such an answer is really hard to believe.
"You sleep on the bed. If others don't know it has a layer, I believe them. But if you don't even know it, that's hard to believe."
It's indeed far-fetched.
"Listen carefully. I said that I didn't know there was someone in the mezzanine under the bed."
The Chief Constable of the Ministry of Justice walked up to Xiao Yujue with a sneer and bowed. "Your Highness, this matter is of great importance and is beyond the scope of my subordinates' ability to handle. I can only report this matter to the higher authorities."
Xiao Yujue had nothing to say.
During the morning court session, the body of the victim was found in Xiao Yujue's villa. This incident made the emperor furious and the court officials shocked and uneasy.
No one knew who leaked the news, but within just one hour, it spread throughout the city.
The emotionally agitated families of the murdered women blocked the Ministry of Justice and the Jingzhao Prefecture government offices.
Although they are all from merchant families and do not have a very high status, each of them holds huge wealth, and even the economic lifeline of the entire capital.
They united together and hired a large number of common people and refugees to roam the streets and cause trouble to denounce Xiao Yujue; and closed all their businesses.
For a time, rice and salt shops in the capital city stopped doing business, and more than half of the pawnshops and restaurants were closed.
They spent huge sums of money to buy up fresh vegetables and meat, and would rather let them go bad than sell them.
The lives of the people in the capital were seriously disrupted, causing great headaches for the imperial court.
These people put pressure on the court in the hope that the emperor would severely punish Xiao Yujue as soon as possible.
Initially, the emperor defended Xiao Yujue on the grounds of insufficient evidence, but as matters became more and more serious, he gradually felt that he was overwhelmed.
At this time, Xiao Yujue's concubine reported to the court that the clothes and jewelry of previous victims were hidden in the underground secret room of the Prince's Mansion.
With one more piece of evidence, the court officials who had remained neutral began to no longer trust Xiao Yujue. They wrote letters to impeach him and demanded that the emperor enforce the law impartially and punish him severely.
"Your Majesty, let me rub it for you."
Seeing the emperor staring blankly at the memorials, Concubine Shen walked up to him, went around behind him, stretched out her boneless hands, and massaged the emperor's temples.
"You are the king of a country, you must take good care of your health."
The emperor sighed deeply and gently held Concubine Shen's hand. "Fortunately, I have a considerate and eloquent person like you by my side, otherwise... Alas. I have watched the prince grow up since he was a child. Although he doesn't talk much, he will definitely not do such a beastly thing."
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