Chapter 803 Search
It would be fine if Duke Hong was just an ordinary master from aristocratic family. If there were any problems, we could just go to his house and check.
But he happened to be a duke and the younger brother of the Empress Dowager.
Due to the favor of the Empress Dowager, even the emperor could not allow anyone to investigate him openly.
Luo Qinghan: "Since we can't investigate openly, let's investigate secretly."
Xiao Xixi was very curious: "What do you want to do?"
That afternoon, Mei Guangtao, the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, personally went to the Mansion of Duke Hongguo and said that a fugitive had sneaked into the city. The fugitive had a long criminal record and was extremely vicious. Recently, someone saw the fugitive near the Mansion of Duke Hongguo. For the safety of everyone in the Mansion of Duke Hongguo, the officials needed to enter the mansion to search.
In order to prove that what he said was true, Mei Guangtao also took out a portrait of the fugitive.
"Please look, my Lord. This is the fugitive who has appeared nearby. He has killed many people and is extremely dangerous. He must be captured and brought to justice as soon as possible. I hope you can be lenient."
Duke Hong drooped his eyelids, looked at the big man in the portrait expressionlessly, and said coldly.
"I have never seen this person."
Mei Guangtao: "Fortunately you haven't seen him. If you had, you would be in danger."
Although he was very reluctant, Duke Hong could not find an excuse to refuse and had to let the person in.
Mei Guangtao pretended to give instructions to the soldiers under his command.
"Be gentle, don't scare the family members in the Duke's Mansion, and don't rummage through things. If something is damaged, you won't be able to afford the compensation even if you sell it."
The soldiers had already received instructions from the prefect before they arrived. They knew who they were looking for this time, and they all cooperated and said they would be careful and cautious.
Mei Guangtao divided the troops into different areas, with each soldier being responsible for a different area.
After they dispersed, they began to search carefully in the Duke's Mansion.
As the prefect, it was not Mei Guangtao's turn to personally handle such trivial matters as finding someone. He only needed to accompany Duke Hong while drinking tea and waiting.
The family members in the backyard had already been reminded by the housekeeper and were hiding in their rooms.
The entire Duke's Mansion was unusually quiet.
About an hour passed.
The soldiers returned to their posts and reported the results of the search to the prefect.
The result was naturally nothing.
Mei Guangtao bowed to Duke Hong and was very humble.
"I am the one who offended you this time. I am busy today and cannot apologize to you. When I am free another day, I will come to your house to apologize in person and treat you to a nice drink."
Duke Hong snorted coldly, "I can't afford the wine that Prefect Mei invited me to drink."
After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and walked away with a cold face.
Mei Guangtao was not angry at all. He stood up, straightened his sleeves, and leisurely left the Duke's Mansion with the palace soldiers.
There are many powerful people in Shengjing City. Being a prefect in such a place, you often have to deal with the powerful and wealthy, and being given the cold shoulder is commonplace.
Mei Guangtao has long been accustomed to this.
Anyway, he was just given a cold shoulder by someone and it’s not like he would lose any more hair.
After returning to Jingzhao Prefecture, Mei Guangtao asked the palace soldiers to describe in detail the process of their search in the Duke's Mansion.
He extracted useful information from it, and after organizing it, he went to the palace to meet the emperor and told him the results of the investigation in detail.
"After investigation and questioning, I found that there are several people with the surname Ye in the Hongguo Mansion.
But there is only one person who can be called Mr. Ye, and that is the teacher invited back from outside by Duke Hongguo.
This Mr. Ye is thirty years old. I heard that he is a juren. He is responsible for teaching the younger generation in the mansion.
Unfortunately, when we went to the Duke Hong's Mansion, Mr. Ye was not there.
I heard from the housekeeper that Mr. Ye went out to buy books.
We searched the entire Duke's Mansion, but we couldn't find Mr. Ye. He must be not in the mansion."
Luo Qinghan said calmly: "What a coincidence."
He didn't go out early or late, but just went out when the officers and soldiers came to visit.
It was such a coincidence, as if it had been planned in advance.
Seeing that the emperor had no other instructions, Mei Guangtao tactfully said goodbye and left.
Luo Qinghan told Xiao Xixi about this.
Xiao Xixi said, "Shang Kui also came here just now and said that he found two bodies being carried out of the Duke of Hong's mansion last night. The Yulin Guards quietly followed and found that they were the bodies of two young women. Judging from their appearance and attire, they looked like concubines in the Duke's mansion."
Although concubines were equivalent to slaves and had a low status, they could not be killed casually. On the one hand, it would be bad for one's reputation if the news got out, and on the other hand, it would be difficult to explain to the government.
If this matter gets to the ears of the censors, you will be accused of being bloodthirsty and disregarding human life in a blink of an eye.
If it were someone who valued his reputation, he would definitely not let this happen.
But Duke Hong is different. He doesn't care about other people's opinions at all.
Even if I am impeached, what can I do?
Is it possible to strip him of his title?
As long as the Grand Empress Dowager was still alive, and as long as he didn't commit any crime that would get him his entire clan executed, no one could do anything to him, and his position as the Duke was as solid as a rock.
It was also because of this that Duke Hong seemed to be very careless when dealing with the bodies of the two concubines. He just had them thrown out of the city and buried in a secret place.
What he didn't expect was that the two bodies were just buried and then secretly dug out again in the next moment.
Xiao Xixi had already asked the Yulin Guards to send the bodies of the two concubines, along with Yin Shuang's body, to the charity cemetery.
Xiao Xixi asked Yulin Guard to continue keeping an eye on Mr. Ye.
"As long as we find Mr. Ye, no matter what, just kidnap him."
“Here!”
The Yulin Guards kept an eye on the Hongguo Mansion for two days in a row, but failed to find anyone suspected to be Mr. Ye.
At the same time, the annual Lantern Festival is here.
The so-called Shangyuan Festival is actually the Lantern Festival, and it is natural to eat Lantern Festival dumplings on this day.
Baoqin asked people to prepare several flavors of Yuanxiao, including those with osmanthus filling, black sesame filling, red bean paste filling, and even fresh meat filling.
There are sweet and salty ones, everything you can think of.
Xiao Xixi accepts everything and eats everything.
Luo Qinghan only ate a bowl of the one with black sesame filling and was not interested in the others.
There was a family dinner in the palace in the evening.
Led by the Emperor and the Grand Empress Dowager, they celebrated the festival with the concubines in the palace.
After the family dinner, it was still early, and Xiao Xixi wanted to go out of the palace to play. She heard that there would be a temple fair in the city tonight, where there would not only be performances to watch, but also lots of delicious food.
Luo Qinghan has always been very accommodating to her in small matters like this.
The two of them rode in a carriage and left the palace in the night.
There are so many people coming to the temple fair that even though it is late, the streets are still crowded with people walking side by side.
Every household hangs colorful lights, and even in the dark of night, the streets are as bright as day.
There were many small stalls on the street, selling toys, food, clothing and daily necessities. There was a wide variety of things, and Xiao Xixi was dazzled by the sight.
(End of this chapter)
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