Chapter 29: Green Feather Fur Coat
The servants of Princess Gaoguo's mansion were guarding the area where the incident occurred. When they saw them coming, some of them ran to the pavilion next to them, obviously to report.
Xiao Fuyu emerged from the pavilion, draped in mourning sackcloth, her face stained with tears. Seeing Qiandeng approach, she bristled and asked, "Princess Lingling, didn't you promise the Crown Prince to thoroughly investigate the suspects in the mansion? Why are you here?"
Qian Deng knew that she was in a bad mood after losing her mother, so he put himself in her shoes and didn't mind her attitude. He just said, "I'm investigating the young master in the palace and have made some discoveries, so I came over to investigate the crime scene."
Xiao Fuyu glanced angrily at Ling Tianshui behind her, but they came for her mother after all, so she signaled the guards in the mansion to step back with a cold face and led them to the water's edge.
At the spot where the eldest princess fell into the water, incense and candles were lit, and fruit offerings were placed. It was obvious that Xiao Fuyu was trying to summon his mother's spirit. The shore was a mess of weeds and wet mud, and no trace of that day had long since disappeared.
Xiao Fuyu raised his chin and signaled them, "Check it out, but don't ruin my mother's tribute."
Qiandeng nodded slightly to Cui Fufeng and Ling Tianshui, lifted her skirt and walked to the shore, then carefully looked along the water flow with the two of them.
The area along the water was lined with trees because Jintang had previously cleaned up the garbage in the river bay when they set off fireworks. Therefore, although the water flow was slow, it was also clean, and the water plants on the riverbed swayed slowly with the water.
The three of them searched along the river bank. Since the princess's mansion had blocked off the area after the incident, the road was very clear.
Only at the river bend where Mingjiu roasted the sheep did they see scattered ashes and charcoal, and a few scorched banana leaves, which were the only mess among the clear stream and green grass.
The investigation continued all the way to the waterside platform, and all the cracks in the stones below were checked. Apart from some accumulated water, there was nothing abnormal in the cracks.
They looked at each other, Ling Tianshui hooked the railing with his backhand, leaned over and carefully checked the stone platform where Shangluo almost had the accident, but still found nothing.
However, some scattered herbs were indeed found on one side of the stone platform. Although they had been trampled to pieces, one could still vaguely make out that there were many Polygala tenuifolia among them, just as Meng Lanxi had said.
Qiandeng stood on the stone platform and caught a glimpse of a clump of water plants in the water that was darker in color than the others, so he couldn't help but take a second look.
Cui Fufeng followed her gaze and said, "It doesn't look like water plants, but a piece of multicolored cloth."
The cloth had a dark blue background and was caught by the tree roots, hidden under the water plants, swaying among the dense water plants. If the water surface was not clear now, it would be difficult to identify.
Ling Tianshui grabbed a branch to pick it up, but the branch broke with a bang just as it came out of the water. It turned out that the cloth was very thick and became extremely heavy after absorbing water, so the small branch could not lift it at all.
He reached into the water and dragged the blue cloth ashore. It turned out to be a thick feather satin cloak with exquisite weaving, but the feathers were mottled and looked messy.
Qiandeng was carefully identifying the pattern when he suddenly heard Xiao Fuyu's voice from behind him: "Isn't this your emerald feather cloak? I saw you wearing it in the Daming Palace on New Year's Day!"
Qiandeng thought it was ridiculous at first, but after looking carefully at the peeling marks on it, she found that what she said was true. It was indeed a green feather cloak.
She did wear this kind of green feather fur on New Year's Day, and because it was similar to Princess Gao's duck-cheek feather cloak, she was publicly ridiculed by the mother and daughter at the gate of the Daming Palace.
This green feather fur coat is made of dyed and woven feathers of ordinary birds, so it cannot be exposed to water, otherwise it would have the mottled appearance it has today.
"Princess, please take a closer look. This is a 'Yikou Bell' cloak, the same style as the one you wore that day. My Cui Yufu is a large cloak with shoulders and sleeves, very different from this one." Qian Deng naturally would not let her attack him. He lifted up a corner of the wet cloak and said, "I guess it was lost by a woman who fell into the water while traveling recently."
If something like this falls into the water, it cannot be salvaged even if it is retrieved, so it is abandoned.
Qian Deng said this as he casually turned up the inner collar of the cloak to take a look. His eyes fell on the lining marked by each family, and he couldn't help but frown slightly.
She showed Xiao Fuyu the inner collar of the cloak and said, "How about you, Princess, take a look and see which family this belongs to?"
On the inner collar of the cloak, the words "Gao Guo" were clearly embroidered in gold thread.
Xiao Fuyu's face was strange: "Impossible! My mother and I would never wear such stuff. There is definitely no such thing in the mansion!"
Cui Fufeng said, "Based on everyone's testimonies, Jin Tang and his workers thoroughly cleared the river bend yesterday. Such a conspicuous object shouldn't have been left on the bottom of the water. It most likely appeared after the cleanup was complete. However, at that time, only the Changhua Prince's Mansion and the Princess' Mansion were left in the river bend. This object clearly wasn't brought by us, so it could only have been brought by someone from your Princess' Mansion."
Xiao Fuyu sullenly gestured to the female official behind him to take the wet cloak and said, "Take it back and ask."
Cui Fufeng naturally wouldn't let her take the evidence. "Any clues at the scene could be related to the progress of the case. This cloak is very likely evidence and should be handed over to the Dali Temple. At the same time, we also need to question the people who accompanied us to Qujiang Lake yesterday. I hope the princess will inform the people in the palace so that the government can proceed more conveniently."
Xiao Fuyu had been accustomed to seeing others being servile in front of her since she was a child, and had never been told to cooperate in such a decisive tone. She had just lost her mother, who was a princess, and her status immediately collapsed, which made her sad and angry. She stared at Cui Fufeng with eyes that seemed to be shooting out anger.
But Cui Fufeng didn't care about her feelings. He just told the Dali Temple officials to get ready.
Xiao Fuyu could only vent his rage at Qian Deng: "Princess Lingling, you solemnly promised the Crown Prince that you would thoroughly interrogate your fiancés. Now that you've failed to do your job, you're investigating our Princess's Mansion instead?"
"Your Highness, what you said is completely illogical. I'm a mere woman, holding no official position at court. I'm helping your Princess Mansion investigate because I pity you, like me, in the loss of your mother." Shangluo was missing, and the backyard was filled with treacherous circumstances. Qian Deng felt a stifling pressure, and her voice deepened. "It will take time to investigate the young man in my backyard. If Your Highness Changyi thinks we're here to do your bidding, I'm afraid she's misunderstood."
As soon as these words were spoken, Xiao Fuyu roared angrily, "Aren't those people's suspicions obvious? It's fine with others, but before my mother got into trouble, didn't the person who kept saying he wanted her... wanted her dead, shout so loudly that everyone in Qujiang Lake could hear him?"
Qian Deng naturally remembered that Xiao Fuyu came to make trouble and angrily accused Ling Tianshui of harming her horse, but was scolded away by Ming Jiu.
At that time, Mingjiu spoke without thinking, saying that he would make Princess Gao suffer a torrent of pain and pain, die with her eyes open, and die at the very moment of death. The word "death" appeared in every word, which was really scary to hear.
"That was simply because he wasn't familiar with Chinese, and his words didn't convey his meaning, leading to misunderstandings. The princess brought in her maid, Nian Tao, to confirm that the man who visited the princess at Qichun Pavilion that day was very close to her. There's no way Prince Mingjiu and the Grand Princess could have reached that point, right?"
Xiao Fuyu bit his lower lip angrily and turned his head to look at the place where Princess Gao fell into the water.
Too lazy to talk to her, Qian Deng turned to Aunt Su Wan beside her and said, "I have something to ask you, Aunt. Can I have a moment to talk?"
Su Wan looked at Xiao Fu Yu uneasily, and when she saw that she snorted coldly and ignored them, she hesitantly followed Qian Deng to the side.
Qian Deng asked immediately, "Aunt, may I ask if any horses in your house were killed a few days ago?"
Su Wan nodded hesitantly, "Yes... a thief from nowhere sneaked into the mansion late at night, cut off the head of the princess's new favorite horse, and stuffed the horse's head next to the princess' pillow..."
It turned out that Princess Gao had just woken up from a nightmare of drowning. When she opened her eyes, she suddenly found a bloody horse head beside her pillow.
The horse died with its eyes open, and when it met Princess Gao's eyes, she was frightened out of her wits and screamed hysterically.
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