Chapter 834 Deducing that the Empress is the Murderer
Madam Zhang recalled the words the Empress had spoken during the day. The Empress clearly loathed her daughter, which was why she said, "Evil will be punished, and good will be rewarded. It's not that retribution won't come, it's just that the time hasn't arrived yet."
Could it really be that the Empress killed Rou'er? Even if she didn't do it herself, it must have been someone she sent. I've heard that the Empress has a lot of power.
Madam Zhang covered her mouth. If the Empress really killed Rou'er, even with the Emperor's support, she wouldn't be able to get revenge!
Hearing Wang's smug laughter, Madam Zhang suddenly stood up and tried to run out of the yamen. The yamen runner stopped her and said coldly, "The case hasn't been concluded yet. Where are you going, Madam?"
Madam Zhang stammered, "I...I want to go home."
She pushed the constable harder, saying, "It's none of your business where I go; I haven't broken any laws."
After saying that, she ran away. The constables wanted to chase after her, but Zhang Anyu said in a deep voice, "Come back. Let her go. We won't get anything out of her about the assassination of the Fourth Princess."
"Yes," the constable replied respectfully.
At this moment, Minister Tang suddenly spoke up, "What a troubled time! Has Heaven not heard our prayers? More people are dying. What an unlucky year!"
He patted his slightly wrinkled official robe and said calmly, "I'll head back now. Lord Zhang, please report the case to the Ministry of Justice after you've thoroughly investigated it!"
Zhang Anyu frowned, cupped his hands in greeting to Minister Tang, and said, "Minister Tang, please take care."
No one invited him. What does it have to do with Minister Tang if the Jingzhao Prefecture receives a report? What does it mean that he came running over to take a look and then left?
However, he was well-informed and knew that the Fourth Princess had been assassinated, her neck had been cut, and her body was still lying in the morgue. He knew how to handle the case and close it.
The constable, Feng Sheng, said, "Now that there are no prisoners to interrogate, what should we do? Should we continue the interrogation?"
Zhang Anyu glanced at Wang Shi. Wang Shi had been standing at the entrance of the Fourth Prince's residence the whole time. She couldn't have killed anyone, and interrogating her now wouldn't yield any results. "Let her leave too!"
The steward of the Fourth Prince's residence took his statement and then released him.
Feng Sheng then asked, "We have no clue who the murderer is. How are we supposed to report back to the Fourth Prince?"
Zhang Anyu also had a headache: "Let's investigate slowly!"
Feng Sheng paused for a moment, "Should I ask a coroner to examine the body? There has to be a procedure."
Zhang Anyu was upset and waved for him to leave. He then wandered around the yamen alone, unsure of what to do next.
Seeing that everyone had left, Jiang Fenghua stepped out from the shadows and said, "Let's go and meet Lord Zhang. This case must be very difficult for him to handle."
When the constables saw three women suddenly appear at the entrance of the yamen, they quickly approached and asked, "Who are you?"
Hongxiu took the token. "My master is here to see your Prefect Zhang. Please ask him to come out!"
The constable didn't even need to look at the token; just seeing the faces before him made him bow and scrape, hurriedly saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty..."
Jiang Fenghua spoke up to stop them, "No need for formalities, go in and announce our arrival!"
He instructed the yamen runners to entertain the distinguished guest, and then hurriedly ran inside.
Zhang Anyu was also feeling annoyed in the corridor. When he saw him running over, he said, "What's the rush? Is a ghost chasing you?!"
"My lord, Miss Hongxiu has arrived." The constable assumed the Empress was traveling incognito and could not reveal her identity, so he only gave her the name Hongxiu.
Upon hearing the name Hongxiu, Zhang Anyu was overjoyed. He straightened his official hat and hurried outside. The first thing he saw was Hongxiu, and he exclaimed, "Miss Hongxiu, what brings you here so late?"
Hongxiu smiled and said, "I came with Your Majesty."
Jiang Fenghua wore a hooded cloak. She lifted the cloak to reveal her full face and said in a deep voice, "Lord Zhang is presiding over another case today."
Zhang Anyu quickly bowed and said, "This humble official greets Your Majesty the Empress. What brings you here, Your Majesty?"
"Let's go inside and talk." Jiang Fenghua knew that Zhang Anyu was Xie Shang's man, and she and he had some dealings with each other, so they weren't strangers.
Upon arriving at the main hall, Zhang Anyu welcomed Jiang Fenghua to the seat of honor. "Your Majesty, have you also heard about the assassination attempt on the Fourth Princess?"
Jiang Fenghua said, "I was right in front of Zhang Yurou when she was assassinated."
Zhang Anyu was startled, his mouth agape in shock, and he blurted out, "The Empress killed the Fourth Princess Consort?"
Lu Xuefei explained, "I was there too, but not Your Majesty. The assassin killed her with a thin steel wire. We didn't even see the assassin's face or shadow. There's something fishy about this, so Her Majesty came here personally to explain things to Lord Zhang."
Zhang Anyu smiled awkwardly, "I was just joking."
Hongxiu said, "This is not a joke that Lord Zhang can make."
"Miss Hongxiu is right, I will remember it." Zhang Anyu's smile remained unchanged, as if he had encountered some great joy.
"Has Lord Zhang found anything?" Jiang Fenghua asked in a deep voice.
Zhang Anyu shook his head, "I am also completely baffled right now. There are no signs of a struggle, and none of the soldiers guarding the Fourth Prince's mansion saw anyone enter or leave. There is indeed no way to investigate."
“I know all of this,” Jiang Fenghua said again. “I was there at the time.”
"The assassin killed the Fourth Princess Consort, but did he not harm the Empress?" Zhang Anyu asked in confusion.
Jiang Fenghua was also puzzled. "No, both I and Miss Lu were there at the time, and the murderer didn't show up. The murderer killed someone almost right in front of us. Who in the world has the ability to kill someone without leaving a trace?"
It would be terrifying if such a killer really existed. In fact, such people do exist, otherwise what did she witness firsthand?
What's terrifying is that she didn't see anything, and Lu Xuefei thought that a ghost had killed Zhang Yurou.
If they can't find out who it is, they can only blame it on demons and monsters.
She even suspected that Xie Shang had sent someone to kill Zhang Yurou, so she came to Zhang Anyu to test the waters. If it really was Xie Shang, Zhang Anyu would definitely give Zhang Yurou's death a reasonable explanation.
The premise is that Xie Shang has such an elusive and skilled person by his side.
Zhang Anyu then asked, "Since Your Majesty was present, could Your Majesty recount the events in detail to this humble official?"
Jiang Fenghua picked up on the important point, gesturing to indicate a distance, "At that time, I was this far from the Fourth Princess Consort, and the windows and doors were open. From the angle at which the Fourth Princess Consort was kneeling, the steel wire must have flown in through the door frame..."
She finished speaking briefly, and Zhang Anyu, who was good at nitpicking, said, "The Fourth Princess was kneeling on the ground when a flying steel wire severed her neck. The Fourth Princess was very close to the Empress."
It was not surprising that the Fourth Princess knelt and bowed to the Empress, but he still found it strange. He said, "Forgive my bluntness, but if Your Majesty had not left, the murderer caught by the steward on the spot might have been Your Majesty. Even if Your Majesty came to the main hall to defend yourself, Your Majesty could not clear your name."
This means that, based on this deduction, the Empress is the murderer.
“It wasn’t Her Majesty who killed the Fourth Princess Consort,” Lu Xuefei said urgently.
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