Chapter 174: Three Missing One, Come Quickly

"Sir, there is a discovery here!"

Xie Hui has brought people to the crime scene these two days to see if they can find any useful clues. At the same time, he has also asked people to visit the surrounding area to see if there are any witnesses on that day.

The place was searched on the day the body was found, but the search was not thorough.

Xie Hui walked to the place where his subordinates said they had found something. He had just dug something out, a small piece of cloth, which cheered Xie Hui up.

There's blood on it!

Xie Hui brought the things back to the Dali Temple and left some people to continue the search. After returning to the Dali Temple, Xie Hui also specially found an experienced embroiderer from the palace to identify the fabric.

There were traces of burning around the cloth, and it was covered with dirt. The embroiderer first carefully cleaned the loose dirt with a brush before picking up the cloth to identify it.

The embroiderer recognized the fabric very quickly. Not only because of her rich experience, but also because the fabric was truly extraordinary.

"Sir, this cloth is Yanxia satin produced in Shu. One piece is worth a thousand gold coins."

The blood-stained clothes worth thousands of gold were burned to a palm-sized piece of cloth. How could it be such a coincidence? Not to mention how many people could afford to wear Yanxia Satin, but the clothes happened to be stained with blood and were burned in the suburbs of Beijing.

The embroiderer's fingers gently rubbed it and soon she felt something different. She asked someone to bring a basin of water and after carefully washing away the dirt, she found something.

"Look, sir." The embroiderer pointed to a dark pattern on the cloth and replied, "There is something embroidered here."

The embroidery here is a similar color to the fabric, and at first the fabric was covered in dirt, so it was almost invisible.

Xie Hui took the piece of cloth and looked at the things on it. He had no idea what it was. He asked the embroiderer, "Does this pattern have any explanation?"

"I guess the cloth here is from the cuffs. It is thicker than other places, so it was probably not burned because of this. Many wealthy families have dedicated embroiderers. They will embroider the family crest or surname of the owner on the collar or cuffs of the clothes they make. My lord, go home and take a look inside your clothes. You may find the same."

The embroidery is so inconspicuous that you can't notice it unless you look carefully.

Xie Hui immediately gave orders to have someone check what the Shi family crest looked like.

At the same time, people who were investigating in the nearby villages also sent back news that villagers who were working on the opposite hillside heard the sound of quarreling here that day, but everyone was busy working and no one paid attention to it. No wonder the people from the Dali Temple didn't get anything out of them when they came to inquire for the first time.

For a big family like the Shi family, it is not difficult to find their family crest. There is even no need to check it. Liu Mingchong, the prefect of Yanzhou who came to the capital recently, knows it.

At this point, there was evidence, and no matter whether Shi Jiarui admitted it or not, he could not escape the crime of murder. He was still in prison waiting for his family to rescue him, but he didn't know that the Shi family was in danger.

Since Emperor Zhaoming ascended the throne, he wanted to deal with these dishonest so-called "aristocratic families". This time, the case of Shi Jiarui was just a "raft". Evidence of his murder had just been found, and the imperial envoys and ministers had already arrived, waiting to rush to Yanzhou to thoroughly investigate the Shi family and clean up the Yanzhou administration.

As for Liu Mingchong, although he did not do anything evil directly, it is a fact that he did nothing for so many years while the Shi family was domineering in Yanzhou. He could no longer keep his position as prefect.

In addition to the imperial escort, the emperor thought that the eldest prince had also gone to Yanzhou last time, so he asked him to go with him.

"Cancan, my father has sent me on another errand. You should stay at home and have a good time. If you feel bored, go play with your second and third siblings."

"I understand. Your Highness, go ahead and do your job well. I am not a child anymore and I can make my own arrangements."

After Ye Can married the eldest prince, she actually didn't understand why the Ye family and the Liu family had been fighting for so many years... The eldest prince was indeed a kind-hearted man. During the time she had been married, none of the things she had worried about before the marriage had happened.

The eldest prince and the third prince have not moved out yet and are still living in the palace. Because of what happened in the past, they still feel a little awkward when they meet each other now. However, Ye Can and the third prince's wife Liu Pengpeng get along very well and often invite each other and the second prince's wife to have tea and chat together.

The Second Prince's Consort Fu Jiaqi was also restless. She asked Ye Can and Liu Pengpeng, "It's a pity that there are only three of us. If there was one more, we could play mahjong. Do you know how to play mahjong?"

Liu Pengpeng immediately said, "I can!"

"I have seen it, but I have never fought it, and there are only three of us."

One is missing from three...

Liu Pengpeng suggested: "How about asking Princess Zhaoyang to come?"

Ye Can shook his head. "Princess Zhaoyang has been very busy lately and has no time to play mahjong with us."

After listening to his wife's troubles, the third prince stroked his chin and came up with a candidate.

Shen Yuan never expected that she would receive invitations from three princes' wives, inviting her to the palace for a talk.

Although no one knew what she had to tell the three princes' wives, she still packed up and went to the palace.

When Shen Yuan arrived at the palace, he was stopped before he could finish the ceremony.

"Does my sister know how to play mahjong?"

Shen Yuan shook his head blankly. It turned out that she was called here because there was a shortage of one person and she was asked to fill in the gap.

Fu Jiaqi immediately patted his chest and said, "It's okay, Cancan doesn't know how to do it either, I'll teach you."

Playing Mahjong is not difficult. Shen Yuan and Ye Can learned it very quickly. Then the four of them played Mahjong for the whole morning. Shen Yuan was even dragged by Ye Can to have lunch in her palace.

I don’t know if life in the palace was too boring, but after lunch Fu Jiaqi came again and wanted to continue fighting.

"Isn't your second prince at home?"

"Don't you know? Today, the emperor called him and the third prince away. I don't know what they were doing, and they haven't come back yet."

…

Zhaoming Palace.

"Sometimes, the third brother said he wants to go to the Dali Temple. You should teach him more."

Xie Hui was called here from the Dali Temple. As soon as he came in, he heard the emperor say this. He looked at the third prince in confusion. The third prince looked at Xie Hui looking at him, and he was still making faces.

After leaving the hall, Xie Hui asked, "What happened?"

"Early this morning, the Emperor asked my second brother and I to come to him. He first tested our studies and then asked us which government office we wanted to work for. My second brother said he wanted to go to the Ministry of Works, and I wanted to go to your Dali Temple."

Xie Hui frowned, "Dali Temple? Don't you like calligraphy and painting? Why don't you go to the Hanlin Academy?"

"Hanlin Academy?! Hanlin Academy is full of old scholars, what's the point? I won't go there. I want to watch you solve cases in Dali Temple, it's very interesting."

The emperor had spoken, and Xie Hui had no choice but to take the third prince back to the Dali Temple.

The Third Prince said to Xie Hui with a sly smile: "Your Yuanyuan is at my place today. Pengpeng said they were playing Mahjong and were short of one player. I thought your Yuanyuan would become one of our family members sooner or later, so I asked Pengpeng to call her."

Xie Hui's brows furrowed even more tightly now. He was now somewhat suspicious whether the Third Prince had other intentions. It would be fine if he was trying to win him over, but as it concerned Manman, Xie Hui didn't know whether they were really no longer fighting for the position of Crown Prince, but he didn't want Manman to get involved.

The third prince was frightened by him, "Why are you looking at me like that?! I don't mean to do anything bad!"

"You and the eldest prince..."

The third prince understood now and felt that he had died unjustly. "I'm not imagining things. Father looks like he can have ten or eight children. What's the point of fighting now? Besides, it wasn't my idea to fight in the first place. They started fighting when my elder brother and I were naked. It had nothing to do with us. It was because Pengpeng said we were short of one child that I remembered your Yuanyuan."

Xie Hui still had a serious expression on his face. The Third Prince was about to explain, but he said, "You were the one who called me Yuanyuan, too?"

"Oh my god, Xie Youqi, you are really good, really, I am impressed."