During the New Year's Eve banquet, a murder occurred in the palace. The eunuch didn't know whether to report the news or not, but at least he knew that he couldn't report it in front of so many people, so he only told Zhang Yuan. Feng Yuheng noticed that Zhang Yuan was called away, and the eunuch's lip shape caught her eyes. She was startled and her brows knitted tightly.
Xuan Tiange saw this and asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Feng Yuheng shook his head, and quickly guessed who the two young ladies who were killed were, and what the reason was, but he still couldn't figure it out. At this time, Zhang Yuan also thought carefully and passed the message to the queen. Tianwu was drunk and couldn't be relied on at all, not to mention that the two young ladies were killed, so it was just right to let the queen deal with it.
The Queen was originally talking to Concubine Gu while drinking tea and listening to opera. The news reported by Zhang Yuan made her head hurt. It's New Year's Day, why can't we just be quiet? She didn't think much, and subconsciously turned her eyes to Concubine Yuan, but saw that person was listening to the opera leisurely, as if she was not distracted.
Concubine Gu asked, "What's wrong?"
Before the queen could reply, she heard a commotion in the back seats, and a lady kept asking for help from the people around her: "My daughter is missing, has anyone seen our Huan'er?"
Feng Yuheng looked at the lady who was anxiously looking for her daughter. She looked familiar, but she couldn't put her name to her. She had no choice but to ask Xuan Tiange, "Which mansion is that lady from? Did she bring her daughter into the palace today?"
Xuan Tiange took a look and said, "The wife of the Minister of Justice brought her legitimate daughter into the palace today." She frowned at this time, and said with a bit of disdain on her face, "It is said that the wife of the Minister of Justice is not presentable. She is always bluffing and bullying, but why can't she behave herself in such an occasion? If your own daughter is missing, why don't you go and look for her? Why are you making a fuss here? Not only is she disrupting the show, but you can't afford to lose your reputation."
Feng Yuheng knew that although the women of Dashun were relatively civilized, they could go out on the street, have their own shops, and talk to men without being evasive, but that did not mean they were civilized and careless like in the 21st century. Generally speaking, if one's daughter was missing, one should at least go looking for her first, and then think of other ways if one could not find her. If one made a big fuss, even if the girl was found, people would criticize her, such as: where did she go? Who was she with? In this day and age, good news never goes out, but bad news travels a thousand miles. People's imaginations are quite large. If a young lady went missing, it could evolve into many different versions, and it would become a secret known to everyone in less than two days.
However, what Feng Yuheng was worried about at this time was not the reputation of the young lady, but the life of the young lady, thinking of what the eunuch who had just conveyed the message to Zhang Yuan had said.
The daughter of the Minister of Justice, the Ministry of Justice is an offensive job, it is possible that she was blamed by her father. At this time, the little girl next to Xuan Tiange was also saying to her: "Princess, you forgot that the daughter of the Minister of Justice was brought up later, maybe it was a play deliberately performed by that lady."
Xuan Tiange patted his head and thought about it, and hurriedly gossiped with Feng Yuheng: "How could I forget this? The legitimate daughter of the Minister of Justice was born to a concubine. The eldest lady of the mansion had been childless for many years. She once thought that she had no hope of having children in this life. She had no choice but to send the maid next to her to her husband's bed. She took the child born to her and raised it with her. Later, she found a way to force the concubine to hang herself. But I don’t know how she changed her luck a few years ago. After years of being unable to conceive, her body suddenly moved. Not only did she give birth to her own flesh and blood, but also twins. She has her own children under her knees, so how could she like the children born by the concubine? But the legitimate daughter has been raised by her since she was born, and it’s not easy to kick her back to be a concubine. The Minister also likes that daughter very much, and it is impossible for him to agree. I think she is deliberately trying to ruin the reputation of that girl."
Huang Quan Wang Chuan listened to this and shook his head helplessly. Huang Quan spoke quickly and sighed, "This is as disgusting as the Feng Family two years ago."
Feng Yuheng snorted coldly, "It's still worse than the Feng family. At least the father has some conscience." After that, he said to Xuan Tiange, "I'm afraid the matter is not as simple as the grudges between the family members. This drama is going to get more and more exciting."
"Hmm? Where did you get that from?" Xuan Tiange was puzzled. At this moment, the Queen and Concubine Gu stood up. Zhang Yuan also helped Emperor Tianwu to leave Mingzhi Palace, accompanied by several secret guards. As soon as they left the theater, another group of imperial guards surrounded them and were about to send Tianwu away.
As a result, when he came out of the theater, the cold wind blew and refreshed Emperor Tianwu. The effect of alcohol was gone in an instant. He looked around like a man awakened from a dream and asked in confusion, "Where are you going? Xiaoyuanzi, today is the New Year, why don't you let me accompany everyone to have fun? Where are you taking me?"
Zhang Yuan was so angry that his nose was crooked. If this hadn't happened in front of so many people, he really wanted to kick Tianwu. Hostage? What kind of word is this? Is he gossiping? If someone makes a big fuss about this, his life would be in danger. Zhang Yuan was so angry at Tianwu that his face turned blue. His men exerted their strength and pinched Tianwu's arm, causing Tianwu to scream. Then Zhang Yuan said, "Your Majesty, something went wrong here. I have already informed the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother said she will handle it and asked me to help you go back and rest. You drank a lot of wine, so you'd better rest early."
"How could I have drunk a lot?" Tianwu sobered up and refused to admit that he was drunk. When he heard that something went wrong, he turned around and asked the queen, "What happened? Tell me, since everyone is here, how can I go to rest alone? Tell me, I will take care of anything for you."
As soon as these words were spoken, Madam Ma, the Minister of Justice, who had been clamoring for her daughter before, seemed to have found a backbone. She rushed forward crying and knelt down in front of Tianwu, crying and wiping her tears, "Your Majesty, my daughter disappeared while we were watching an opera. I beg Your Majesty to make the decision and find her!" She cried as she spoke, and she didn't look like she was crying. Her makeup was all smudged, and she looked scary in the middle of the night.
Tianwu looked at this man like a psychopath, and immediately showed disgust on his face. Besides, even if a government official's wife wanted to appeal to him, it should be her master who should do it. Why did she rush up to him?
Just as he was thinking, the Minister of Justice, Lord Ma, knelt forward with sweat on his forehead. He first glared at his own shrew fiercely, and then said with a bitter face: "Your Majesty, please calm down. This subordinate's daughter has indeed been missing for a while. This subordinate has sent people to look for her everywhere, and also asked people in the palace to help look for her, but she has not been found yet."
"Oh?" Tianwu immediately took the matter seriously when he heard this and looked at the man kneeling down. The Ministry of Justice is an important government office. As the Minister of Justice, Old Ma has offended many people over the years. Maybe someone is taking revenge. But then he thought, who has the courage to do this in the palace? He tilted his head and asked Zhang Yuan in a low voice: "What's the situation with the messenger you just mentioned? Is it related to the matter of Old Ma's family?"
Zhang Yuan saw that it was impossible to get rid of Tianwu without telling him, so he said helplessly: "If the emperor wants to intervene, then don't stand here and intervene. It's cold outside, so let me help you to Mingzhi Palace first and talk to you."
Tianwu had no objection to this and was helped in obediently. The Queen and others followed him back to the palace. There were no more actors on the stage, and people consciously stood at both ends, not daring to sit down. Seeing Tianwu sitting down, the Queen walked forward again and took the initiative to say, "Your Majesty, a palace servant found two female corpses by the lake near Mingzhi Palace. Judging from their attire, they should be the daughters of the official family who came to attend the palace banquet. It is not clear who they are yet. I am preparing to take people to take a look."
When this was said, everyone was shocked. The news spread from one person to another, and soon spread throughout the Mingzhi Palace. Lord Ma and his wife turned pale when they heard it. His wife was still okay, but Lord Ma was already trembling, and kept muttering: "No, it can't be Huan'er, it can't be Huan'er." As he said that, he ran out.
As he ran, Madam Ma followed him, howling as she ran, making people tremble. In addition to the young lady of the Ma family, there was another body! When people realized what was happening, they immediately began to look for their daughters in the palace. The young ladies who were standing with their sisters also scattered around to look for their parents. For a moment, Mingzhi Palace was in chaos. Tianwu was dizzy and simply waved his hand: "Go to the lake! Go to the lake and take a look!"
It was obvious at first glance that two bodies were lying side by side by the lake, and each of them had a delicate little arrow stuck in his chest. It was obvious that they were murdered.
Feng Yuheng had no impression of the daughter of the Minister of Justice, but she recognized the other body at a glance. Not only did she recognize it, many people saw the clues. Ren Xifeng was frowning and said, "Isn't that the daughter of the Grand Secretary?" Then he looked at Feng Yuheng with worry in his eyes.
That’s right, one of the two dead people was undoubtedly Miss Ma, because the Minister of Justice and his wife had already rushed over and burst into tears, and the other was none other than Li Ying, the daughter of the Grand Secretary who had been expelled from the Jade Palace because of her opposition to Feng Yuheng.
Feng Yuheng didn't understand why Li Ying was still in the palace. Shouldn't she have left the palace with Li Daxueshi? Even if Tianwu wanted to punish her, he couldn't do it during the New Year when they were sealed. They should have gone home quickly to make arrangements for their family. Why did she die here? Li Ying died, but what about Li Daxueshi?
Suddenly, Feng Yuheng felt as if a huge net was falling from the sky, facing her, tightening little by little.
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