Bingwen sent a letter to Xia Chu on February 2nd. When I received the reply, it was already dawn on February 8th.
During these days of waiting for the letter, he took some time to visit the four people at Shuangsheng Inn every day. Except for Xie Ji Ming, the remaining three people had already known each other for a long time and were very affectionate to him.
He took the letter from Bian Hao's hand and read it in front of the house under the light of dawn.
After reading the letter, my face was full of horror.
He went back to the room, drank a cup of herbal tea, calmed down, walked to the window, and read the letter again.
After a moment, his face was still covered with a look of shock and disbelief.
He sat down and drank two cups of herbal tea, burned the letter, and called Sang Yi in.
"After Chenshi's meal time, go to Prince Hui's Mansion and bring a message to Prince Gu, asking him to come to Wentian Pavilion."
"Yes." Sangyi followed the order.
Bingwen took a handful of cold water with both hands to cleanse his face, and digested the shocking content in the letter just now. He pressed his temples, trying to wake up and wake up a little more.
A quarter of an hour later, he called for breakfast. After finishing it, he changed his clothes and went to Wentian Pavilion.
When he arrived at Wentian Pavilion, Su Qian'an pulled him and said, "Gu Shizi and Sang Yi are already waiting on the second floor."
It turned out that after Sang Yi passed the news, Gu Shizi took him directly to Wentian Pavilion to wait.
Bingwen nodded.
Su Qian'an saw that his expression was unusually solemn and asked with concern: "What's wrong with you? Is everything okay?"
"It's a big deal. I'll tell you later. I'll go up first."
Bingwen pinched his eyebrows. He had to calm down first so that Prince Gu would not be so shocked...
Bingwen went up to the second floor and asked Sang Yi to step back.
Gu Xingyun stood up and said to Bingwen: "Did Mr. Bingwen agree?"
Bingwen nodded and sat down.
"This is the deposit of two million taels of silver notes exchanged for two hundred thousand taels of gold, and my token jade pendant." Gu Xingyun looked happy and presented the silver notes and a jade pendant with both hands. Then he continued: "I saw that the person who conveyed the message did not refuse, and even asked me to come over for a meeting, so I guessed that Mr. Bingwen Xu agreed. These things have been prepared a long time ago."
Bingwen looked at the banknote and jade pendant, but didn't accept it.
"Let me remind you first, this matter is shocking. If you want to investigate, you must completely trust me and cooperate with me."
Gu Xingyun presented the banknotes and jade pendant in front of Bingwen again.
"As long as Mr. Bingwen can find out the truth, I will do whatever you ask me to do."
"Okay." Bingwen took the banknotes and tokens and put them away, motioning for him to sit down, and then said: "Prince Hui has passed away, has your housekeeper He Songfa retired and returned to his hometown?"
"Yes, he has served his father all his life. Now that his father has passed away, he has no intention of staying in the palace. His mother and concubine sympathized with his hard work all his life and rewarded him with money and allowed him to retire and return to his hometown."
"He is now in Nanlizhuang Village, Sanqu Town, Jingyang County. Send someone to find him and bring him safely to the capital for protection."
"I'll send someone to do it when I get back."
"While He Songfa was in the palace, he often stole things out of the palace and sold them. One night, he wanted to take advantage of Prince Hui's illness to go to his room to steal a folding fan. However, he ran into Concubine Wei and counselor Tian Yuchen, who were sick in bed. Prince Hui was tied to the bed, and Tian Yuchen used incense to burn the tail of a small snake in a bamboo tube. The little snake was afraid of being burned, so it scurried along the bamboo tube and entered Prince Hui's anus. Prince Hui was guarded by his concubine. He covered his mouth, stretched out his legs, and died."
After Bingwen finished speaking, he looked at Gu Xingyun with deep eyes.
"Mr. Bingwen, do you have any evidence?" Gu Xingyun's body trembled, his voice trembled, his face was frightened and angry, and there seemed to be raging anger gushing out of his eyes as he stared at Bingwen.
"So, I ask you to find He Songfa. He is a witness. You also have to open the coffin and conduct an autopsy. There must be a dead snake in Prince Hui's belly. That is physical evidence." Bingwen said firmly.
Gu Xingyun pressed his hands on the desk. Because he used too much force, his veins popped out and his joints turned white.
He gasped and asked, "Do you know that once your father's belly is cut open, there will be consequences if there is no dead snake inside."
"Since I told you, there must be a dead snake in Prince Hui's body."
Bingwen was so sure because he believed in Xia Chu.
Xia Chu's letter told him that if there was, there would definitely be.
"Okay, I'll make a big gamble with you." Gu Xingyun was silent for a long time and finally made up his mind.
"Prince Gu, I should be the one to accompany you in your gambling." Bingwen smiled lightly.
"Yes, if there is really a dead snake. Mr. Bingwen is the benefactor of my palace."
"There is a Wushuang pawnshop in the West Market. All the royal utensils sold by He Songfa are sold there. You can secretly arrest the shopkeeper Hao Jinping and wait for He Songfa to come to Beijing to confront him."
"Thank you, Mr. Bingwen, for telling me."
"This matter should not be delayed. Tomorrow is the scientific examination, which lasts for nine days. You only have nine days, so you must act resolutely. At the end of spring, Prince Hui's body will be transported back to the fiefdom."
"Xingyun understands, let's say goodbye first." Gu Xingyun bowed deeply.
"Prince Gu."
Gu Xingyun looked back at the stairs and saw Bingwen looking like he was about to speak but hesitated.
"Mr. Bingwen, it doesn't matter if you say so."
Bingwen frowned, thought about it again and again, and then said, "Tian Yuchen and His Highness the Fourth Highness's counselor Dai Silin are classmates."
"What do you mean, Mr. Bingwen?" Gu Xingyun's expression changed slightly.
"I don't mean anything, I'm just telling you the truth. There's one more thing I don't know if you know."
"What's the matter?"
"Empress Li once wanted to betroth her niece to you as the Crown Princess, but Prince Hui refused."
Gu Xingyun's expression changed drastically. He had been leading troops to fight on the battlefield and did not know about this. Now that I think about it, Concubine Li is the mother-in-law of His Royal Highness the Fourth Highness. Her attempt to marry Prince Hui was rejected, and His Highness the Fourth Highness's adviser was a classmate of Prince Hui's adviser. If the two were connected... he didn't dare to think about it.
After a long time, Gu Xingyun said: "I understand."
Bingwen nodded and bowed to see off the guests.
After he left, Bingwen breathed a sigh of relief. The straight back suddenly collapsed, and Bingwen lay in the chair and gasped for air.
I believe Xia Chu is true, and it is also true that he is extremely frightened...
(End of chapter)