After examination, the coroner concluded that these were male bones.
The neighboring mansions could only accept the defeat, as the person was already dead and they could not ask for compensation.
In the mansion of Minister Sun, he had no idea that the person with whom he had planned things last night had been burned to death. He was still walking around the mansion, thinking about his grand cause.
In the room, Sun Zhuohua repeatedly practiced how to report these things to the emperor and how he would solve any questions.
In the afterglow of the setting sun, Sun Zhuohua left his room, walked out of the mansion with a menacing look, mounted his horse, and set off for the palace.
Sun Zhuohua went to the palace to meet Emperor Yuan Ming, but he did not expect the process to go so smoothly.
Half an hour later, Duke Shang walked out of the imperial study with Sun Zhuohua, his face filled with anger.
"Sun Zhuohua, you'd better confirm for me that the news is true, otherwise I will not let you go."
Sun Zhuohua looked at Duke Shang with a humble look. "Duke Shang, you just saw the pigeon message written by Prime Minister Lin himself."
Duke Shang's face was full of coldness. "Maybe someone is deliberately framing me."
"Duke Shang, there is no point in me saying more. You will know the truth when the Prime Minister's Mansion finds the evidence."
"Hmph." Duke Shang strode away angrily.
When the two men and the Imperial Guards arrived at the gate of Prime Minister Lin's mansion, some people had already received the news and surrounded the gate, which also attracted many people to come and watch the fun.
Sun Zhuohua dismounted, walked forward and knocked on the door politely, and the doorman of the Prime Minister's Mansion opened the door.
When he saw Sun Zhuohua and the dark-faced Shang Guogong, he hurried forward to salute. "I will report to the Prime Minister right away."
Sun Zhuohua's face was full of smugness. "No need, this official and the Duke are here to investigate the case under the order of the Emperor. Just take us directly to see Prime Minister Lin."
When the people outside who were watching the fun heard this, their faces were filled with surprise.
"How could Duke Shang and Minister Sun lead people to surround the Prime Minister's Mansion?"
One of them said in a low voice with a mysterious look on his face: "I heard that the military secrets of Guanggu City were leaked. Could this be related to Prime Minister Lin?"
Someone immediately refuted: "How is it possible? How could Prime Minister Lin commit treason?"
"Yes, Prime Minister Lin is an honest and good official. It is impossible for him to commit treason."
Shang Wanning, standing in the crowd and listening to the people's discussion, showed a playful sneer on his face.
He also heard from Minister Sun that there would be a lot of excitement at the Prime Minister's Mansion today, so he ran over early to watch the fun.
He was going to watch Shang Yuanshan's backer fall and wait for his death in a month.
The more Shang Wanning thought about it, the more excited he became. If his mind hadn't told him not to laugh out loud, he would have laughed out loud right now.
"Cough cough cough~~" Shang Wanning suppressed his smile, and finally his old illness relapsed and he started coughing non-stop.
The people watching on the sidelines were so frightened that they stayed away from him for fear of being infected with tuberculosis.
Shang Wanning has been ill since he caught a cold from being injured in the rain last time. Whenever he gets emotional, he becomes breathless and coughs non-stop.
He didn't care about these at all at this moment and just waited to watch the fun.
Just as the people were looking forward to it, they heard someone shouting, "General Shang is here with people from the Dali Temple."
Everyone looked into the distance and saw Shang Yuanshan riding a horse, bringing Liu Quan and soldiers from the Dali Temple to the gate of the Prime Minister's Mansion.
Shang Wanning frowned. Could it be that Shang Yuanshan was coming to save Prime Minister Lin's family? But then he thought about the solid evidence that Minister Sun had told him at that time.
The corners of his mouth curled up, and he thought that it would be best if Shang Yuanshan was also implicated and died quickly.
Everyone saluted.
Shang Yuanshan dismounted from his horse and led his men into the Prime Minister's Mansion without any hindrance.
As soon as I entered the mansion, I heard noisy sounds coming from inside.
"Turn it over carefully for me."
Shang Yuanshan approached and saw Prime Minister Lin and Duke Shang standing aside with gloomy faces, while Sun Zhuohua and his men were looking through something in Prime Minister Lin's study.
"Sun Zhuohua, you are so brave. Do you know that this is the Prime Minister's Mansion?" Shang Yuanshan's angry voice reached Sun Zhuohua's ears, scaring him so much that his body trembled. But when he thought of the evidence he was about to find, Sun Zhuohua straightened his back.
At this moment, he no longer needed to pretend to be a brother with Shang Yuanshan. He looked at Shang Yuanshan with a sneer. "General Shang, I am also following orders. You'd better not interfere."
"Really? Did the Emperor allow you to destroy the Prime Minister's Mansion like this? Aren't you afraid that nothing will be found out and you will be convicted in the end?"
"How is that possible?" Sun Zhuohua was so happy at this time that he didn't think about why Shang Yuanshan came.
He never thought about why Prime Minister Lin did not stop his search, why the emperor's expression was so wrong when he reported tonight, and why things went so smoothly.
It was not until half an hour had passed and Sun Zhuohua had turned Prime Minister Lin's study upside down and found nothing that he was dumbfounded.
"How can there be no such thing?"
Prime Minister Lin raised his mouth with a sarcastic sneer, and his eyes shot towards Sun Zhuohua as sharp as ice blades. "Minister Sun, are you looking for some treasure in my study?"
His voice was low and full of sarcasm, and every word seemed to hit Sun Zhuohua's heart hard.
Sun Zhuohua's forehead was covered with sweat, his face was as pale as paper, and his eyes were filled with panic. "Quick, search him, the letter must be hidden in his clothes." He was making his last struggle.
Shang Guogong's always stern face was even more majestic at this moment, and his voice seemed to come from the abyss, low and full of oppression. "Sun Zhuohua, who gave you the courage to be so presumptuous in front of me?"
His words revealed unquestionable authority, making the atmosphere in the entire yard tense.
Sun Zhuohua had never seen Duke Shang so angry. His legs began to tremble involuntarily, and the fear in his heart surged like a tide. "No, no, there must be some evidence here." His voice became smaller and smaller.
Prime Minister Lin walked forward with a playful smile, his tone carrying an irresistible command. "Bring the person up."
Immediately afterwards, Xiao Lingzhu's figure appeared in everyone's sight, her hands tightly tied with rough hemp rope.
Sun Zhuohua was no stranger to Xiao Lingzhu. She was the wife of the second son of the Lin family who was introduced to him by Li Linghan, and she was also an indispensable part of their carefully planned conspiracy.
However, when Sun Zhuohua saw Xiao Lingzhu tied up so miserably, his heart sank to the bottom, for he knew that his conspiracy had been completely exposed.
Not only did his plan of framing someone fail, it also pushed him into a dead end.
Despair swept over him like a tide. Sun Zhuohua's legs went limp and he collapsed on the cold ground. His eyes were filled with fear of the future and despair of reality.
Shang Yuanshan strode forward, his eyes deep and sharp, as if he could see through the fear and despair deep in Sun Zhuohua's soul.
"Minister Sun, this general has something else to announce."
Sun Zhuohua had been completely overwhelmed by the huge wave of fear at this time. Shang Yuanshan's words in his ears became distant and empty, and he could not distinguish every word of those words.
However, when Shang Yuanshan's voice rang in his ears, Sun Zhuohua seemed to have grasped the last straw, and a glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes.
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