When the governor of the capital heard that the emperor had given him a chance despite his tone of reproach, he was instantly grateful: "Your Majesty, I will do my best to catch the murderer."
The princess has just said that in addition to finding the person, we must also start from the source of the poison. If he cannot find it in three days, he can quit.
The capital city commander came in a daze and left solemnly with his mission. The empress dowager saw that everyone had come and said directly: "Since everyone is here, just stay here with me for dinner and then go back to work."
Qian Jiujiu and Mu Yexiao didn't have much to do. The most they had to do was take the baby boy back and learn other things in the pharmacy, so they naturally agreed.
Nan Nan had naturally been called back, along with the eldest, second, and third princes. A large group of people were having a great time here, but Concubine Chen suddenly spoke.
"Queen, if everything is alright, I will go back first. And Xiya, don't you want to learn embroidery from me? Let's go."
The Queen Mother looked at the backs of Concubine Chen and Xiya leaving, and couldn't help but feel puzzled. When did Concubine Chen become so concerned about other people's affairs
But if Concubine Chen didn't cause trouble, she wouldn't care. Qian Jiujiu couldn't help but pay a little more attention to her. In her memory, Concubine Chen wasn't such a helpful person.
Beibei pulled Qian Jiujiu and said, "Mother, when I saw Empress Chen and Aunt Xiya today, Empress Chen was teaching Aunt Xiya how to embroider, and she was teaching very seriously!"
Hand in hand? What the hell is this Concubine Chen doing? Qian Jiujiu and Mu Yexiao looked at each other, a little curious, and then went to see the emperor together.
Before the emperor could say anything, the queen smiled and said, "Maybe the concubine is suddenly curious about their appearance. There's nothing strange about that."
This made sense, so the group stopped paying attention to Concubine Chen. However, Qian Jiujiu suddenly thought that the weather was so good and not too cold, so she just made a suggestion.
"Let's go to the pavilion in the Imperial Garden to have a barbecue. I haven't had barbecue for a long time and I suddenly want to eat it!"
Qian Jiujiu had already brought it up, and the Queen Mother thought about it and realized that she hadn't had barbecue for a long time, so she agreed immediately: "Mammy, go and tell the Imperial Kitchen to prepare the ingredients, and then send them to the place. We'll set off now, and enjoy the barbecue while admiring the snow, which will be a unique experience."
The Queen Mother agreed, what else could the others say? Of course they cooperated, and the large army headed towards the Imperial Garden.
Qian Jiujiu looked at the children Nanbeibei and said, "Surround your royal grandmother and make her happy."
Nannan had heard about what happened to Beibei today, and glared at Beibei several times. This time, she was not in front of him, but was causing trouble. Beibei rolled his eyes, indicating that this was a good thing.
"Got it, don't worry, mother, we will comfort the royal grandmother."
Qian Jiujiu was satisfied then, and then discussed with Mu Yexiao that it would be best to add a small amount of tranquilizer to the Queen Mother's barbecue so that they could sleep well at night.
Mu Yexiao naturally agreed: "Let's do this, and don't tell the Queen Mother, she may think she doesn't need it."
In fact, what happened today was still a bit shocking to the Queen Mother. Qian Jiujiu nodded, and watched the people from the imperial kitchen directly deliver the ingredients and the stove, and then went forward to check the ingredients.
If she didn't check, the Queen Mother would never be at ease. As expected, Qian Jiujiu had already seen the Queen Mother watching them openly and secretly. Qian Jiujiu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She wanted to let herself check, but she was too embarrassed!
After checking all the ingredients and making sure there were no problems, they officially started the barbecue. When the concubines in the harem heard that a barbecue was being held in the Imperial Garden, they all came to join in the fun.
Several concubines even came up to Qian Jiujiu to try to get close to her. Qian Jiujiu looked at these concubines with a smile and ordered them to do things without mercy.
This scene seemed very harmonious, but outside the palace at this time, there was silence. After the capital city commander returned to the government office, he immediately called in all the yamen runners, who all looked puzzled.
"Master Qu, what do you want to talk to us about?"
The capital's governor, Lord Qu, looked at them with a heavy face. "Today, I was summoned to the palace and found out that under our rule, the people still live in fear. In the palace, a maid has been targeted because of her current position."
"Her family, seven people, were all killed and buried not far from his home. Seven people, seven lives, and we know nothing about it. Now, go and bring back all the bodies and check the cause of death of these people."
When the shop owner Liu Yifang heard this, he immediately took his people to the imperial guards to pick up the body. After all, the body was discovered by them, and he thought they would bring it back. However, the imperial guards just took a look and quickly reported the news, without caring about the body at all.
Helplessly, Liu Yifang could only take people to the place where the bodies were found. Sure enough, he saw that the seven people were carried out and placed on the side of the road. There was a big pit next to them. Obviously, this big pit was used to bury the bodies.
Looking at the corpses in front of them, there were four adults and three children. They were all killed in the same way, with their necks broken. After a thorough inspection, they found that there were holes of varying sizes on their bodies, and no one knew how they were formed.
One of the bodies had its fingers chopped off. Liu Yifang frowned, thinking that the murderer must be a pervert, as he even poked holes in the body.
He took his men to bring the body back for a thorough inspection. Liu Yifang took his men to surround the family, and all the neighbors were taken into custody by the police.
These people were inexplicably detained by the yamen runners, so they were naturally a little anxious. One of the old ladies hurried forward to ask, "Brother yamen runner, we haven't done anything wrong, why can't we go out?"
The yamen runner looked at these people and didn't want to disturb them: "Don't worry, you haven't done anything wrong, so nothing will happen to you. I'm just asking you a few questions now."
Ask questions? Those who were being guarded in their own homes were all nervous. Fortunately, the people Liu Yifang brought came quickly: "Captain, you are here."
Liu Yifang nodded. Seeing the frightened look on the family's faces, Liu Yifang tried to make his smile more friendly: "You don't have to be afraid. I'm just asking you a few questions."
The people of that family nodded and said, "My Lords, you can know anything you want to know, and we will tell you the truth."
Liu Yifang nodded in satisfaction: "I just want to ask, when did you meet the family next door last time?"
Next door? Several people began to ponder, and Mu Tou suddenly spoke up: "Are you asking about the people from the Jiang family next door? I remember that no one has come out of the Jiang family next door for fifteen days."
Fifteen days? That's a long time. Liu Yifang looked at Mu Tou and said, "So when you found out that the person didn't come out, didn't you show any concern?"
Mu Tou shook his head: "Your Excellency may not know that Father Jiang said before that their daughter gave them a sum of money and they were going to move with the money! We thought they had moved away!"
Father Jiang's daughter, that is, the maid Xin Tao. She never mentioned the money at all. When an old woman heard this, she suddenly said, "Sir, I remember that when Old Man Jiang was talking that day, he didn't look very happy, and he looked a little sad!"
"I was a little confused at the time. My daughter gave them money to move, so they must be moving to a better place. Why are they so sad? At first I thought they were reluctant to move away! Sir, has something happened to their family?"
How could this move alarm the government? The people didn't quite understand. Liu Yifang looked at them and suddenly said solemnly, "Old Man Jiang's family of seven people are all dead. They are buried in the woods not far away."
When they heard that they were all dead, the people were shocked and their faces turned pale. "Who has offended me for no reason? They are killing me to silence me."
Liu Yifang looked at the frightened people and sighed, "And the death was tragic. Have you noticed that strangers who come here should provide any clues. Otherwise, who knows if you will be in danger."
If we make the matter sound more serious and scare these people, they will not help to conceal it. A woman inside trembled violently when she heard Liu Yifang's words. Liu Yifang was the head of the police and was very good at observing people.
He saw the woman at a glance: "Sister, do you have any clues? Please provide them. If they are useful, there will be a reward. This is also for your safety."
The woman glanced at Liu Yifang, and finally spoke hesitantly: "I did see a man who came out of the Jiang family a few days ago. But he was a handsome young man, not a murderer. He asked me a few questions."
Liu Yifang didn't expect that the investigation would make progress so quickly: "Tell me, what did you ask?"
The woman thought for a while before speaking: "He asked a lot of questions, including what Old Man Jiang likes, and he specifically asked about Old Man Jiang's daughter. I thought he was here to propose marriage to the Jiang family! So he told me everything. The Jiang family's daughter should leave the palace this year."
Yes, if he is not dead, he should leave the palace this year: "Please describe the man's appearance in detail. Come, bring the pen and ink to draw a portrait."
After getting the clue from the woman, Liu Yifang continued to interrogate the family below. The result was the same. The Jiang family had not been seen for fifteen days, and everyone thought they had moved away, and there was no other abnormality.
Seeing that he could not get any information out of him, Liu Yifang was about to retreat when he suddenly heard a cough.