Chapter 223 Search
When Lin Hao and Qi Shuo went to find Cheng Maoming, the commander of Jinlin Guard, the Minister of Justice hurried into the palace with the portrait he got from his subordinates to ask for credit from Emperor Tai'an, oh no, to report the progress of the investigation.
"Already know the murderer's appearance?" Emperor Tai'an was delighted when he heard this.
Minister Shen held the scroll in both hands and said, "Your Majesty, please review it."
Liu Chuan took the scroll, returned to Emperor Tai'an and slowly unfolded it.
Emperor Tai'an stared at the figure in the painting and asked in a cold voice, "How did you get this portrait?"
"Reporting to the emperor, it was a person in charge who found out that a waiter in the teahouse had seen the suspect, and Prince Jing drew this portrait after listening to the waiter's description." Minister Shen certainly wanted to take all the credit, but he also knew that biting off more than he could chew.
That was Prince Jing, not just any random person. Furthermore, as the chief officer in charge of the case, he was grateful for the great favor Prince Jing had given him.
"Painted by Prince Jing?" Emperor Tai'an was a little surprised and couldn't help but look at the portrait more carefully.
The man in the painting has long cheeks and a sharp gaze that seems to have solidified into substance, confronting the viewer through the paper.
Such realistic eyes, such superb painting skills!
In Emperor Tai'an's impression, this nephew was quiet, reserved, and steady. Compared with those royal family members who were either ostentatious or arrogant, he was so low-key that he had almost no presence. Unexpectedly, his painting skills were so outstanding.
The literary tradition of the Great Zhou flourished, and many skilled painters were found, but this was rare among the royal family. To master painting well required endurance, a difficult task for royal family members accustomed to extravagance.
Emperor Tai'an became interested in meeting his nephew.
Qi Shuo and Lin Hao asked Du Qing for the address, but did not rush to find out. Instead, they returned home.
The sky darkened quietly, the wind died down, and the red lanterns in front of the two government offices remained motionless, as if a huge steamer was covering the capital, making it dark and stuffy.
Lin Hao said goodbye to Qi Shuo, went back, washed off the sweat, and slept until dawn.
Chen Mu's portrait was quickly posted throughout the capital, and everywhere, crowds of people gathered around, pointing and discussing it. Cheng Maoming, walking down the street, pretended to have seen it by accident, then expressed his shock and hurried back to the imperial city.
The one who arrived before Cheng Maoming was Qi Shuo.
"Meet the Emperor, Uncle."
Emperor Tai'an looked at his nephew who saluted respectfully and said in a gentle tone, "Are you wondering why I asked you to enter the palace?"
Qi Shuo hesitated for a moment, then asked frankly, "Is it about the portrait of my nephew yesterday?"
Emperor Tai'an was stunned for a moment, then smiled, a rare smile: "Not bad."
Perhaps he was fed up with the deposed crown prince's various terrible behaviors, and now looking at his nephew with clear eyes and a frank expression, Emperor Tai'an liked him more and more.
"I didn't expect Shuo'er to be so good at painting."
"My nephew spends a lot of time at home, just killing time."
Emperor Tai'an nodded: "Yian's matter is thanks to you."
Qi Shuo hurriedly said, "Uncle Emperor, you are embarrassing me by saying this. Anyone would do their best to restore Yi An's innocence."
This remark resonated with Emperor Tai'an: "Yes, the criminal who intended to frame Yi'an is too despicable!"
The uncle and nephew chatted for a while until a eunuch reported that Cheng Maoming wanted to see him.
"Shuo'er, go back first."
"My nephew will take his leave."
This was the heartwarming scene Cheng Maoming saw when he came in with the eunuch. He was shocked and gave Qi Shuo a suspicious look when he passed by him.
Could it be that Prince Jing said it first?
Gu Qia
Qi Shuo nodded slightly as a greeting and walked out with a calm expression.
Cheng Maoming calmed down.
It seems not.
Just say that Prince Jing is not that kind of person.
He stepped forward and bowed, "Your humble servant greets the Emperor."
"Is there any unusual movement at the guesthouse?" This was Emperor Tai'an's first reaction when he saw Cheng Maoming.
The Yu Liu envoy came to make trouble early this morning. Although he told the other party that the existence of a third person had been discovered, Emperor Tai'an knew that the Yu Liu side would not believe it easily.
In other words, even if the evidence is conclusive, the Yu Liu envoy will not give up on reporting the news of Princess Lingque's death back to Yu Liu for the King of Yu Liu to decide.
Da Zhou and Yu Liu once had a peace agreement, but as Yu Liu grew stronger, this agreement had long since become a fragile window paper, and it only took a trivial reason to break it.
Emperor Tai'an didn't want to gamble on Prince Yu Liu's thoughts for the time being.
The soldiers have not been trained yet and the crown prince has not been decided. If Yu Liu joins forces with Northern Qi at this time, it will be extremely disadvantageous to the Great Zhou.
When Emperor Tai'an thought about appointing a crown prince, he naturally thought of King Wei.
Recently, there have been more and more memorials requesting the establishment of a crown prince.
Emperor Tai'an wasn't dissatisfied with the Prince of Wei. Ever since he'd grown disappointed with the Crown Prince, the Prince of Wei had naturally come into his sight. The fourth son was far superior to the eldest, but he was still feeling a bit frustrated.
Emperor Tai'an was a rational man. He knew that the matter of appointing a crown prince could not be delayed any longer as he had no other choice, so he could not afford to keep trying to calm down.
"There's no unusual activity at the guesthouse yet. I saw the murderer's portrait posted on the street and have something important to report."
When Emperor Tai'an heard this, his expression immediately became serious: "Speak."
Cheng Maoming lowered his head slightly, then said with determination, "The person in the portrait... is the one who escaped the group that intended to bomb Jinxiu Street!"
"What?" Emperor Tai'an's face turned extremely ugly. He tried hard to control his anger, and his voice was as cold and sharp as a knife, cutting people's ears painfully. "I knew those people wouldn't give up!"
He glanced at Cheng Maoming and swallowed his scolding. "You and the Ministry of Justice, the Five Cities Military Commission, and other government offices, dig three feet deep to find this fish that has slipped through the net!"
"Your humble servant obeys the order." Cheng Maoming walked out of the palace, and his heart finally settled down.
It was better than I expected. I didn’t get scolded.
Because of this, he felt a little more grateful to Qi Shuo.
The people of the capital soon discovered that the streets were full of officials, the doors of every household were knocked open, and pedestrians on the street might be suddenly stopped and compared with the portraits held by the officials.
In addition to the officials, more people also joined in the vigorous activity of searching for the criminals. It was not because they had a strong sense of justice, but because the reward was too much.
For a time, the entire capital was shrouded in a tense and excited atmosphere, and "suspects" were continuously sent to the government offices by enthusiastic people.
The common people are relatively simple, so the Jinlin Guards definitely wouldn't dare to send him there, and they aren't familiar with other government offices either, so let's just send him to Shuntian Prefecture.
After sending away another "suspect" who was brought in, the Shuntian Prefecture official in charge of the comparison collapsed in despair: "The fat guy just brought in is at least twice as wide as the person in the portrait. How dare they send him here!"
Under this situation, Chen Mu seemed to have disappeared out of thin air.
On this day, several policemen knocked on the door of a house according to their assigned area. After the door was opened, they took a look at the young man inside and walked towards the next house without saying a word.
They were all disgusted by the person in the portrait and knew it was not the person without any comparison.
The young man casually glanced outside the door and calmly closed it.
Compared to the young man's calmness, Xuan Yi, who was hiding in the dark and watching, fell into self-doubt: Was he dazzled?
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