Chapter 277 Suspicion
Su Muyang was soon brought to the Qinzheng Palace.
He was arguing with Zhang Sicheng, expressing how humiliating it was for a man of eight feet tall to be brought into the palace by Zhang Sicheng by grabbing his collar like that!
He was originally muttering accusations, but when he touched Yan Shixu's face as gloomy as a mountain behind the imperial desk, his heart skipped a beat.
He quickly reviewed his recent actions in his mind.
Shan Ya's time is spent walking birds, fighting crickets, feasting and chatting...
This shouldn't be a big deal, right? Is it really worth the Emperor sending someone to bring him into the palace with such seriousness?
"Your Majesty, I have been very obedient during this period..."
When he said this, he believed it and immediately straightened his back. That fearless spirit reappeared in the corners of his eyebrows and eyes.
"Your Majesty," he walked straight to the imperial desk, and without waiting to be seated, he dragged a huanghuali armchair from the side and sat down carelessly.
"I've been so busy with paperwork today that I can't even get a foot off the ground. Why did you urgently summon me to the palace?"
If you listen carefully, you can hear a hint of complaint in his tone.
Zhang Sicheng, who personally dug him out of the quilt, almost couldn't help rolling his eyes.
Did this gentleman come to the yamen on time that day? He works for three days and rests for two days, and he has the nerve to say that he is exhausted by paperwork.
He is really shameless.
Yan Shixu naturally knew Su Muyang's character very well. He twitched his lips speechlessly and was too lazy to expose him.
Yan Shixu slowly pushed the stack of banknotes presented by Zhang Sicheng to the edge of the table, facing Su Muyang.
"Let's see." His voice was low and his emotions were unrecognizable.
Su Muyang's eyes fell on the stack of banknotes. He was stunned at first, then raised his eyebrows and showed a mischievous smile.
"Oh? The Emperor is going to reward me with silver? You are so polite! But..."
He drew out the tune, casually flicking his luxurious lapels with his fingertips.
"I, Su Muyang, don't have much, but I have a lot of money. You should keep it to fill up the inner treasury."
Yan Shixu: "..."
The corner of his eye twitched slightly, and he looked Su Muyang up and down suspiciously, then asked Zhang Sicheng who was standing beside him.
"Do you know if there is anything about him that is worthy of my reward?"
Zhang Sicheng shook his head honestly: "No."
Su Muyang: "..."
Zhang Sicheng suppressed a smile and explained, "Young Master Su has misunderstood. This banknote... is quite strange. Your Majesty, please review it. It is not a reward."
Su Muyang curled his lips and said "Oh", without any trace of self-conceited embarrassment on his face.
He reached out and took the stack of banknotes very naturally, twisted them out one by one, and examined the seals, secret stamps, and bank stamps on them with a sharp gaze.
His movements were casual at first, but as he flipped through the pages one by one, the strength in his fingertips grew stronger, and his cynical expression receded like the tide, while his eyes grew sharper and sharper.
When he saw the last one, he suddenly looked up and looked at Yan Shixu with a puzzled look on his face.
"Your Majesty, isn't this two hundred thousand taels of silver the dowry I gave to Ziyun? How did it end up with you?"
Yan Shixu narrowed his eyes slightly, and Zhang Sicheng beside him also looked surprised.
Zhang Sicheng recounted how the Imperial Concubine was ambushed on her way back to the palace, how he had been tracking down clues all night, and how he had found two hundred thousand taels of stolen silver in the bag of Zhou Tong, a traitor of the Jinwu Guard.
Su Muyang also heard the news that the imperial concubine was assassinated last night, and knew that the emperor was in the carriage that was attacked.
Zhou Tong mobilized the Jinwu Guards to create an opportunity for the assassin to kill the Imperial Concubine. When he was arrested, he jumped into the icy Li River and committed suicide without hesitation. In addition, the 200,000 taels of silver notes he personally withdrew from the Wantong Bank now serve as irrefutable evidence against him.
Su Muyang was stunned for a moment, thinking that the person who framed him didn’t know that he and the emperor had been good friends since childhood?
Su Muyang straightened his back, and there was no longer any frivolous look in his eyes.
He said in a deep voice, "These two hundred thousand taels were placed by me personally in Ziyun's dowry box three days ago! There's no way it could have appeared in the hands of Zhou Tong!"
Thoughts raced through his mind, and his speech quickened: "Could it be that Zhou Tong sneaked into the Su or Wen Mansion and stole it? Or was it that the mastermind behind the assassination of the Imperial Concubine stole it by some unknown means and used it to bribe Zhou Tong? The people who have access to Ziyun's dowry... the servants of the Su and Wen Mansions, this is the most direct way. But..."
Su Muyang's eyes flashed, "Yesterday, there was a large wedding at the Wen Mansion. There were so many guests, a mixed crowd. There was no guarantee that there wouldn't be someone with ulterior motives who took advantage of the chaos to sneak into the house where the dowry was stored!"
A hint of recognition appeared on Yan Shixu's face. It was obvious that they had the same idea.
He immediately ordered, "Zhang Sicheng, you personally lead your men to the Su and Wen residences! Be sure to thoroughly interrogate who has handled or touched Princess Fu'an's dowry in the past three days! Anyone who is suspicious will be strictly interrogated!"
"I obey the decree!"
Zhang Sicheng clasped his fists, accepted the order, turned around and walked out quickly.
Just as Zhang Sicheng's footsteps disappeared in the corridor outside the hall, a figure that almost blended into the shadows inside the hall appeared silently in front of the imperial desk.
The man who came was dressed in dark clothes and was one of the secret guards under Yan Shixu.
He glanced at Su Muyang and did not avoid him. He knelt on one knee and reported with a fist:
"Your Majesty, at 3:15 PM last night, a fire broke out at the 'Tianxing Fireworks Shop' at the end of Changping Street. The fire triggered a chain reaction of explosions of gunpowder stored in the shop, causing widespread damage. Twenty-three civilians were killed or injured on the spot. Among them..."
The secret guard paused before reporting in a deep voice, "This includes Luo Zhao, the chief eunuch of Fengyi Palace. Luo Zhao was severely injured, with both arms severed at the shoulders and his left leg below the knee. Although he is still breathing after treatment, he can no longer speak or see, and is as good as a living dead."
When he heard the word "broken arm", Yan Shixu's pupils suddenly shrank!
In the fight last night, he personally cut off a killer's arm!
The killer was masked at the time, and when Zhang Sicheng was cleaning up the battlefield afterwards, he also found several bodies of killers with severed arms, making it difficult to identify their identities...
Is Luo Zhao's broken arm just a coincidence?
Suspicion grew in Yan Shixu's heart, and he asked, "Have you examined the wound on his arm? Was it caused by gunpowder? Or some other sharp weapon?"
The secret guard had obviously checked it before and immediately replied:
"I have asked the coroner to conduct a thorough examination. The skin and flesh at the broken ends of Luo Zhao's arms are shredded and blackened, and the bones are irregularly shattered. These injuries were definitely caused by the violent impact of the explosion, not by cutting with a sharp weapon."
Yan Shixu's furrowed brows did not relax.
Explosion injury? This seemed reasonable, but it made him feel that this "coincidence" was strange.
He continued to ask, "As the Queen's chief steward, why did Luo Zhao leave the palace so late at night? And why did he go to that fireworks shop? Was there anything unusual before he left the palace?"
The secret guard had conducted a thorough investigation before arriving, and he clearly described Luo Zhao's whereabouts last night:
"Your Majesty, last night Luo Zhao went to the small kitchen in Fengyi Palace at the beginning of the evening hour and personally brought several plates of freshly made cakes to the Empress's bedroom. About a quarter of an hour later, he hurriedly left the palace, carrying a pass personally granted by the Empress, and headed straight for the Tianxing Fireworks Shop on Changping Street. The shop owner confessed that Luo Zhao had gone to buy a batch of specially made fireworks."
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