Chapter 459: It wasn't a sudden death, it was murdered
"What? Prime Minister Shen and Murong Yan were both arrested and thrown into the Heavenly Prison?" There was a huge uproar in the court. When Xie Zhuoning received the news, it was already afternoon.
"It's absolutely true." Wei Zhao's face was solemn. "Your second uncle Xie Heng brought witnesses and evidence to the palace. Every word he said was directed at Prime Minister Shen and Master Murong."
Xie Zhuoning frowned and asked, "What kind of person is Prime Minister Shen? Doesn't everyone in the civil and military departments know this? Is there no one who has raised any doubts?"
"Of course there was." Wei Zhao replied, "But the scholar who testified saw that no one believed him, so he killed himself in court to prove his integrity!"
Xie Zhuoning gritted his teeth and was furious. "What a vicious duo!"
It would be better to say that there is no evidence after death rather than to say that he died to prove his will.
In this way, it will be even more difficult for Shen Xiang and Murong Yan to wash away their stigma.
"By the way, aren't cases like this usually handed over to your Yufu Division? Why did you send the person to the Tianlao?" Xie Zhuoning suddenly remembered and asked.
Wei Zhao sighed, "The prince said that our master had escorted the coffin of Prince Yong to the imperial mausoleum and would not be back for a while, so he transferred the case to the Dali Temple and asked the Historian's Office to work with the Ministry of Justice to handle the case."
They couldn't even get involved, let alone get close to it.
"It looks like Xiao Bicheng is determined to make this case an ironclad case." Xie Zhuoning curled her fingers and pursed her red lips into a tight line.
She had not expected that Xiao Bicheng would dare to take action against Prime Minister Shen, a veteran of three dynasties with great reputation, before he even ascended the throne.
It seems that he really can't wait to become a tyrant.
Anyone who does not obey his will must die.
"What should we do now?" Wei Zhao asked.
Their master is not in the capital now, so even if we send a letter by pigeon, it will take some time to get back and forth.
He came here to seek advice from their princess.
Xie Zhuoning thought for a moment, "Although your grandfather is not here, we can't just sit there and wait for death. You can secretly send people out to check the evidence provided by Xie Heng to see if you can find a breakthrough point."
"I'll do it right away." Wei Zhao bowed and immediately turned around and left.
Xie Zhuoning paced back and forth in the room all afternoon, waiting for the person who had been sent out to bring back news.
However, there was no good news.
Xie Heng must have planned this scheme for a long time. His evidence and witnesses were perfect, and there was not even the slightest flaw to be found.
The longer time goes by, the worse the situation of Shen Xiang and Murong Yan will be.
Once you enter the gate of the Heavenly Prison, you will either lose your life or be severely punished.
In addition, the longer the time goes on, the more evidence will be destroyed, making it more difficult to overturn the verdict.
"Is there really nothing we can do?" Xie Zhuoning was upset and confused, his mind was a mess.
Seeing his princess so irritable, Ling Feng suggested, "Why don't we send someone to rob the Heavenly Prison? There are a few people in Feiyun Guard who don't often come to the capital. I can find some people from Jianghu to help them, and no one will suspect anything about Prince Xuan's Mansion."
Xie Zhuoning had a "are you kidding me" expression on his face.
It is not impossible to rob the Heavenly Prison, but what to do after robbing the people out?
One is the left prime minister who has devoted himself to Daye for decades and has many students all over the world; the other is a newly crowned top scholar who has just passed the imperial examination. If they escape, they will be fugitives and can only live their lives in hiding under a false name.
To them, this is probably more cruel than killing them.
"How about sending a pigeon to deliver a message and ask Grandpa to come back immediately?" Ling Feng suggested again.
"No." Xie Zhuoning shook his head. "Not to mention whether it's too late for him to come back now, he has his own things to do. We can't expect you to handle everything by yourself."
They are one as husband and wife. Not only does he protect her from wind and rain, but she also provides a world for him.
After that, she stood up and said, "Prepare the car. I'm going to Xie's house."
Since there was no breakthrough in the witness evidence, she went to look for a breakthrough from her second uncle!
However, when they arrived at Xie's house, the door was closed.
Xie Zhuoning asked someone to knock on the door. After knocking for a long time, the door finally opened a crack, and a servant's head emerged from inside.
"Sorry, the Xie Mansion is closed to visitors today. We are not accepting anyone. Please go back!"
After saying this, the servant quickly retreated and closed the door.
"Princess, are you still knocking?" When the servant came over to ask, several more carriages arrived one after another, some even riding directly on horses.
A group of people gathered at the door of Xie's house and knocked on it "bang bang bang".
"Thank you, Mr. Yushi. I have something to say. Please come and see me!"
"Xie Heng, get out of here! Don't you know who Zuo Xiang is? Will he be partial to someone for personal gain? Bullshit! If you don't come out, I'll break down your door!"
These people were either students of Prime Minister Shen or bureaucrats who were on good terms with him. Some even simply admired his character and wanted to seek justice for him.
But no matter how hard they knocked, the door showed no sign of opening.
Xie Zhuoning understood what was going on and said, "Let's go back home."
Ling Feng held the sword and stood beside the carriage, "Princess, are you not going to meet your uncle?"
"No." Xie Zhuoning shook his head. "Xie Heng probably knew this would happen, so he ordered the mansion to close the door and welcome visitors. Believe it or not, even if they rush in now, they won't be able to see him."
It seems we have to start from somewhere else.
Where to start?
Just as she was thinking hard, a voice came from outside the door, "Sister Zhuo Ning!"
"Ayu, you're back?" Xie Zhuoning raised his head and saw Song Yuqiu striding into the house.
After she sat down, she poured herself a glass of water and took a big gulp. "Oh, I'm so tired."
Xie Zhuoning raised his hand and stroked her back to soothe her. "Drink slowly. Are you hungry? I'll ask Songlan to get you something to eat."
Song Yuqiu's eyes lit up, "I want roast chicken!"
"good."
"Two!"
"good."
Xie Zhuoning immediately asked Song Lan to do it.
Song Yuqiu pulled her arm and clung to her, "Sister Zhuo Ning, you are so good to me. I really want to spend my whole life with you~~"
Ling Feng felt that since their master was not around, he had to defend his position as the principal wife for his master, so he interrupted and asked, "Didn't Miss Song go to perform an autopsy? How is the situation?"
Xie Zhuoning also raised his head and looked at Song Yuqiu.
Song Yuqiu sat up straight, and when he got down to business, the cheerful expression on his face immediately subsided. "We went to the Xie family yesterday, hoping to sneak in under the pretext of paying our respects, but we didn't expect that the Song family didn't even have prayer flags or lanterns, let alone a funeral. We spent some money to inquire carefully, and only then did we know that Xie Zhiqing had been hastily buried. They said that the disease she contracted could be transmitted to humans, and they were afraid that it would cause an epidemic."
Sudden emergency, buried right after death, without even a funeral ceremony...
There is weirdness everywhere.
"I was so smart. I immediately realized there must be something wrong. I immediately found out where Xie Zhiqing was buried and went there."
Because Xie Zhiqing had never married and died at a young age, she was not buried in the Xie family's ancestral tomb.
Finally they found her grave in a mass grave.
After digging, open the coffin.
Song Yuqiu saw the problem at a glance, "How could she have died suddenly from an acute illness? She was clearly murdered!"