Chapter 247 Investigation
Everyone else looked confused.
The commander of the Jinlin Guard said there was a ghost, so why was he looking at Prince Jing? Could it be that Prince Jing—
Qi Shuo and Lin Hao instantly understood Cheng Maoming's thoughts: he was thinking of the master of disguise.
"General Cheng, what do you mean by this?" Minister Shen spoke, breaking the brief silence caused by Cheng Maoming's words.
"This..." Cheng Maoming hesitated.
Qi Shuo suddenly said, "Grand Commander, at the beginning of the investigation, it's best not to be disturbed by anything else."
Cheng Maoming was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "The prince is right."
It is indeed unacceptable to have preconceived ideas.
Cheng Maoming's gaze returned to Yang Zhe's face. "Yang Xiuzhuan said someone attacked you. I wonder where the wound is?"
Yang Zhe turned around: "It's at the back of the head."
When everyone looked, they saw a hint of brown among the thick black hair.
"Mr. Yang, do you mind letting the coroner take a look?" Cheng Maoming asked politely, but his tone did not allow for argument.
Whether he was the top scholar who won three prizes in the imperial examination or the emperor's favorite prince consort, once he was linked to the death of the crown prince, he would be nothing.
Not to mention Yang Zhe, anyone who harms the prince will be doomed.
"Of course I don't mind." Yang Zhe cooperated and sat down to make it easier for the coroner to check.
The coroner carefully pulled aside the hair and observed the wound.
"It looks like it was hit by a blunt object like a round stone, not a strong one."
Cheng Maoming glanced at Yang Zhe and asked, even though it might offend him: "Can you hurt yourself with a blunt object like this?"
The coroner couldn't help but glance at Yang Zhe, his voice hesitant: "That's possible... The main reason is that the wound is very shallow, and there is no murder weapon to compare. It's difficult to determine from the angle of the blow whether it was self-inflicted or someone else's offense."
Yang Zhe smiled bitterly after hearing this: "It seems that this humble official has no way to defend himself."
After hearing this, Han Baocheng and others spoke up for Yang Zhe.
"My Lords, it is impossible for Yang Zhe to harm His Highness."
"Yes, His Highness values Yang Zhe the most. He has no reason to do this."
"Although what Yang Zhe said is different from what we saw, we all know his character..."
"What does the prince think?" Cheng Maoming suddenly asked, causing everyone to look at Qi Shuo.
Qi Shuo's expression was calm, and his unhurried tone gave people an unwarranted trust. "It seems there are two possible scenarios. One is that Yang Xiuzhuan lied, and the attack in the purgatory was a self-torture tactic he used to escape, fabricating a real culprit out of thin air. The other possibility is that he's not lying, and Han Jinshi and the others are not mistaken. Someone took advantage of the time difference to impersonate Yang Xiuzhuan and poison the prince's wine."
"That's impossible! Even if he was in disguise, how could he look exactly the same? None of us noticed the difference?"
"There are indeed such masters of disguise." Cheng Maoming continued. Seeing everyone looking at him, he touched his nose. "But even if they look the same, what about their words and actions? Do you think there is anything unusual?"
Several people were stumped by the question.
"We had drunk quite a bit of wine and were a bit noisy, so I didn't notice anything unusual," said Han Baocheng.
Zhang Liangyu nodded in agreement.
Wen Feng thought about it carefully and said, "Brother Yang doesn't talk much. I think he's changed a bit, but I'm not sure. After all, he drank quite a bit and kept talking and laughing. It's not surprising that his voice is a little hoarse."
What Li Lan said is similar to what others said.
After listening to them, it turned out that they had all drunk quite a bit of alcohol, which affected their judgment.
"Where are your clothes?"
Several people looked at Yang Zhe, who was wearing a bamboo green robe, and were not sure: "This is it."
Men's clothing styles are generally similar. If the colors and materials are the same, it would be difficult for a drunk man to notice the difference.
"Let's go to the purification room." Cheng Maoming glanced around. "Yang Xiuzhuan and Han Jinshi come with us. The others stay here and think about any details we missed."
The restaurant had long been controlled by officials inside and out, and the bathroom was no exception.
Cheng Maoming had been to time-honored restaurants like Wuweizhai many times and had used the toilets there before. He took one look and frowned, "At this time, are both toilets occupied?"
The wooden signs hanging on the doors of the two clean rooms had words facing outwards, indicating that there were people there.
Han Baocheng pointed to the toilet on the left, with suspicion in his eyes: "When Brother Yang and I came here together, there was someone in this room."
Cheng Maoming ordered one of his subordinates: "Go in and take a look."
The subordinate walked in directly and came out after a moment: "Grand Commander, there is no one inside."
There was no one inside, but the wooden sign indicated that someone was there. This was intriguing. Either the last person to leave the toilet forgot to turn the wooden sign over, or someone did it on purpose.
"Let's go to the other one."
The subordinates checked quickly and found no one there either.
"After Yang Xiuzhuan came out, did he turn over the wooden sign?"
Yang Zhe shook his head: "I forgot."
"Forgot?" Cheng Maoming looked suspicious.
Yang Zhe smiled bitterly, "When I woke up, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head. I touched my hand and found blood. I was worried that something had happened, so I hurried back to my room and didn't bother to turn over the wooden sign."
This explanation is impeccable.
Cheng Maoming stared at the door of the toilet and muttered, "In other words, no one has entered this toilet since Yang Xiuzhuan left."
He simply called Yang Zhe to go in together.
The bathroom was long, separated by a thick screen. In the outer room, a bronze mirror sat on a shelf, used for tidying one's attire. Nearby were two wooden barrels: one half-filled with water, a ladle hanging from the side; the other was for collecting water for hand washing. A faint scent of incense burned on a high table in the corner.
As for the inside, it is a place for people to use their convenience.
Yang Zhe pointed to the entrance next to the screen and said, "I was attacked when I was almost here. I woke up and fell down around here."
The floor of the bathroom was paved with bluestone bricks. Although there were many traces of footprints and other things, there was almost no discarded items, so the bloodstains on the bluestone bricks were easily discovered.
Cheng Maoming first stepped over the bloodstains and walked inside. He pinched his nose and looked around but found nothing unusual. He then walked out and squatted down to look at the bloodstains on the ground.
There wasn't much blood, but it was consistent with Yang Zhe's minor head injury.
Cheng Maoming walked out quickly.
Although there is incense in the bathroom, it is not a pleasant place after all.
"How is it?" asked Minister Shen.
"There's nothing unusual in the bathroom," Cheng Maoming said, looking at Yang Zhe. "We didn't find the weapon used to attack Yang Xiuzhuan either."
Everyone looked at Yang Zhe.
"I didn't pay attention to these things when I woke up." Yang Zhe said with regret.
At this time, Director Jia of the Ministry of Justice came over and said, "Sir, we have questioned everyone in the restaurant. There were six people who went to the toilet here. Four of them used it, and two of them left after discovering that the toilet was occupied."
Minister Shen immediately said, "Bring these six people here."
Soon six well-dressed drinkers were brought before the crowd.
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