At dawn, the crowd entered the city with two coffins, and they parted at the gate of the city. Sun Zhao followed Huo Weilou into the palace to face the saint, Wu Xiang sent the coffins to Yizhuang, and Bo Ruoyou went home first to wait for news.
Now that the criminal evidence is complete, there is no need to worry about being unable to testify against Feng Qin, but Feng Qin has such a heart, he does not know how to argue, and if His Majesty and the Queen Mother are guarantors, it will be difficult for Huo Weilou and the chief envoy to try the case. When entering the palace, one must first express his feelings to His Majesty, so that Feng Qin will not make excuses in every possible way when confronted in court.
It was just dawn when Bo Ruoyou returned home, she was exhausted, her feet and hands were numb from the cold, she first bathed and changed her clothes with hot water, and asked Aunt Liang to bring some hot soup to eat, then she dared not sleep, just looked for Come to paper and pen to write the inspection form.
The certificate of inspection is only used during the trial, but this case is so involved, Bo Ruoyou always feels uneasy, she can only feel at ease if she has done everything she can.
Cheng Yunzhi knew in his heart that she was busy with the case these days, and when he saw her writing the testimonial, he came to see it. Before he finished reading it, he knew that the case had come to an end, "You really are Uncle Loyalty?"
Bo Ruoyou drank two sips of strong tea, cheered up and said, "At first it was just a speculation, but now it can be concluded that when Princess Anyang and Feng Yu died of illness, it was Feng Qin who pretended to carry out the funeral himself. The two died so strangely, he But he kept silent, if he said it wasn't his fault, it would be unreasonable."
Cheng Yunzhi's wrinkled face was full of stupefaction. Everyone knows that Uncle Loyalty is indifferent to fame and wealth and loves his wife, but in the end, the death of his beloved wife and eldest son was actually caused by him. Not to mention people who are familiar with Feng Qin. Even Cheng Yunzhi felt illusory.
Bao Ruoyou looked at Cheng Yunzhi's expression and said, "Is the adoptive father puzzled? In fact, I never figured out why he did such a murderous act. Now according to time, Feng Yu was the first person to be murdered by him. He didn't seek fame and fortune in his official career." , and it wasn’t because of his deep love for Princess Anyang, why did he murder his parents and children?”
Cheng Yunzhi was born in the Cheng family in the capital city, so he has some understanding of the Zhongyi House, but at this time, he couldn't think of an excuse, "As far as I know, Feng Qin really doesn't love official careers, and he is willing to be a wealthy idler in order to marry Anyang If it is said that he was born with a demon because of Anyang's death, I believe it, but if it is said that he will do it for something else, I can't think of it."
He narrowed his turbid eyes, and tried to recall, "The uncle's house has been prosperous for generations, and the old man is also a kind person. They have only one Feng Qin under their knees. Feng Qin was born with a golden spoon in his mouth. What more can he ask for?"
Even at the cost of murdering his wife and children.
Bo Ruoyou's understanding of Feng Qin is only that Cheng Yunzhi said that he has a deep affection for Anyang, but she knows little about others, but she firmly believes that there are many reasons for a person to act evil, and to know why Feng Qin does evil, one can only Continue the investigation from Zhongyibo Mansion.
With a flicker of her gaze, she saw the paper boat on the table. There was no handwriting on the newly folded paper boat. She worked hard on the case these days, and she never had any nightmares, nor did she have such weird behaviors anymore. Although she I don't believe in the theory of ghosts, but my younger brother's spirit in the sky may be able to see her efforts for this, and now, the real culprit is finally going to be punished!
After writing the test report, it was already dawn. Bo Ruoyou rested exhausted. As soon as her head touched the pillow, she fell asleep. The exhaustion of her body made her have no time to dream, but she only felt that there was a knock outside just as soon as she fell asleep. door noise.
She endured the impatience and woke up, and heard Aunt Liang outside say: "Miss, miss, wake up soon, someone is coming from the palace—"
Bo Ruoyou woke up with a jolt, she looked out the window, the sky outside was bright, and it was almost noon, she hurriedly changed her clothes and got up, and when she opened the door, Aunt Liang said: "Miss, someone is coming from the palace, please You enter the palace, His Majesty wants to see you."
"Is the servant calling?" Bo Ruoyou asked.
Aunt Liang shook her head, "It's not like the servant, who carries a knife."
Bo Ruoyou's eyes turned and she understood, and then she turned around to take the written examination form, and walked out of the yard quickly.
The one who came to summon Bo Ruoyou to enter the palace was the Forbidden Army of the Dianqian Division, who treated Bo Ruoyou respectfully, this person explained his purpose, and Bo Ruoyou went out with him and entered the palace.
She walked through the royal road to enter the palace once. When she was called into the palace due to marriage last time, she was worried all the way, but at this time, she was quite calm and composed. The ink on the test paper in her hand was dry. The crimes committed by Qin are complex in this world, and the minds of the superiors are even more unpredictable, but just like every case solved before, the evidence on the corpse is always the most convincing, even in front of the emperor, she also has Indomitable confidence.
The carriage stopped in front of the palace gate, and Bo Ruoyou followed the forbidden army into Xuanwu Gate. It was dark when he entered the palace last time, but today it was almost noon, and for some reason, the cloudy weather finally cleared up, and the warm sun above the clouds A piece of golden light was sprinkled, and the cramped palace was brightened up.
Bo Ruoyou was taken to Zhaoyang Hall.
"Your Majesty, County Lord Anning has arrived."
After a low report, Bo Ruoyou was called into the hall. As soon as she entered the door, several eyes from the hall fell on her, either coercion or doubt, and there was only one gaze, which was gentle and gentle. You quickly raised his eyelashes and looked over, facing Huo Weilou's obsidian eyes.
She closed her eyes and walked into the hall, saluted Emperor Jianhe and Empress Dowager Song who were on the couch in front of the window.
"You are Princess Anning? What are you holding in your hand?" The Empress Dowager Song had kind eyes, but the tone of her question at this moment was stern.
"Going back to the Empress Dowager, what the girl is holding is the certificate of inspection." Fearing that the Empress Dowager and Emperor Jianhe would not understand, Bo Ruoyou said again: "It was obtained from the inspection of the remains of Princess Anyang and the eldest son of the Feng family."
The Empress Dowager and Emperor Jianhe were obviously a little surprised, Emperor Jianhe said: "How do you know that you are called here to ask about your autopsy?"
Bo Ruoyou then said respectfully: "Master Hou entered the palace to report the case to the saint, and the women are doing the autopsy. Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager announced that the women entered the palace, so naturally they want to ask about the autopsy."
Emperor Jianhe said: "The inspection certificate is here."
Fuquan walked over quickly, took the inspection certificate and presented it to Emperor Jianhe. After Emperor Jianhe opened it, his eyes became serious. The emperor's deterrence was unusual, and everyone else in the hall was silent. The queen mother looked at his expression and asked tentatively: "How?"
Emperor Jianhe hesitated for a while, and did not show the test report to the queen mother. The details he wanted to ask were all on the test report. After reading it again, he looked at Bo Ruoyou, "The cause of Anyang's death is that the skull at the back of the head was cracked by an external force. As a result, you may guarantee that the results of your test are not wrong?"
Bo Ruoyou nodded, "I can assure you."
Emperor Jianhe glanced at Huo Weilou, "If you make a wrong test, you will be wronged, which is a serious crime."
Huo Weilou was about to speak, when Bo Ruoyou said: "Prison affairs should not be more important than the big opening, and the big opening should not be more important than the first love, and the first love should not be more important than the inspection①. The inspection determines life and death, and you should be cautious. The post-mortem of civilian women is several years old. , so far there have been no mistakes or omissions, if this time is wrongly tested, Minnv is willing to bear the responsibility."
Seeing that Bo Ruoyou didn't look at Huo Weilou, he seemed to be very determined and fearless. Emperor Jianhe's eyes were a little appreciative, and he looked at the Queen Mother, "Queen Mother, Anyang and Feng Yu were indeed murdered by others. Back then, Anyang After the accident with Feng Yu, he arranged the funeral ceremony for him personally, but he never mentioned that the two died of illness, this murderer, there is no one else but him."
The Empress Dowager seemed unwilling to accept this fact, but Emperor Jianhe believed in Huo Weilou's report even more after reading the inspection certificate. She didn't believe in Huo Weilou, so could she still doubt Emperor Jianhe's judgment? The hands beside him clenched tightly, "Feng Qin...why is Feng Qin? He is the one who loves Anyang the most, how could he kill Anyang? And Yu'er, who didn't say that Yu'er was so talented back then, he will definitely be sealed in the future. Hou Baixiang, how complacent he was at that time!"
Emperor Jianhe glanced at the test report again, and was also stumped by this question, "The queen mother and I don't know the reason, and we still have to rely on the direct envoy to interrogate him, and I really want to know how he got to such a point! "
He looked at Huo Weilou, "Go get someone, do it neatly, don't cause gossip in Beijing."
Huo Weilou heaved a sigh of relief when he heard the words, Emperor Jianhe took a look at the test results, raised his hand and threw it to Sun Zhao who was standing aside, and went to see Bo Ruoyou again, last time I saw her she looked like a lady, today But he felt even more courageous, "I heard that in this case, your own brother was also the one who was killed, so would you do favoritism for him?"
Huo Weilou frowned immediately, and Bo Ruoyou also raised his eyes to look at Emperor Jianhe, and said seriously: "My brother was murdered, and as a relative, the daughter of the people wants to find the perpetrator to avenge him. Finding clues to avenge the victim is not a conflict, not to mention that only by finding out the real murderer can we comfort my brother Zai Tianzhi, so Minnv will only be more cautious when dealing with this case."
Emperor Jianhe smiled, and the queen mother thought that Feng Qin had harmed the mother and son of Princess Anyang, and she still sighed with red eyes.
Huo Weilou took Bo Ruoyou's report out of the palace, and outside the palace gate, Huo Weilou comforted him: "The matter has come to this point, it is impossible for Feng Qin to escape, Luke has surrounded Uncle Zhongyi's mansion, and will send him to heaven later. Prison interrogation, you just go home and wait."
Yan Bi shook her hand, only to feel that her fingertips were cold, "You just recovered from a serious illness. You were exhausted and caught the cold last night. You went back home and used some ginger soup. Don't catch the cold. The case has come to this point, and there is no room for change." , you can rest assured."
The ironclad evidence is like a mountain, not to mention that Feng Qin fell into the hands of the direct envoy, Bo Ruoyou believed that Huo Weilou would definitely find out the truth.
After Bo Ruoyou left, Huo Weilou rode his horse towards Uncle Zhongyi's mansion, the door of the uncle's mansion was closed, the embroiderer stepped forward to call the door, the person who opened the door was also the embroiderer, Huo Weilou entered, and soon Lu Ke greeted him come out.
"Your Majesty, have you seen His Majesty?"
Huo Weilou nodded, "Put Feng Qin in the prison for trial, search the inside and outside of the uncle's residence, and take all the servants of the uncle's residence into custody and send them to the Jingzhaoyi Yamen for interrogation."
Luke should be right, the dead Zhongyi uncle's mansion suddenly became noisy.
Huo Weilou was standing under the icy eaves, and after a short while he saw Feng Qin being wrenched out, his injuries were not healed, and at the moment he was restrained by the embroidered clothes, he had no power to resist, seeing Huo Weilou, Feng Qin's eyes were full Deep and stern, but he didn't struggle and roar, and was sent out of the mansion soon.
There was no mistress in the uncle's house, and there were not too many servants. Everyone was taken away in an orderly manner, but Feng Ye kept screaming for grievances. The embroiderer raised his hand and cut his arms behind him. Feng Ye was taken away.
Not long after, when Sun Zhao arrived at the uncle's mansion, Huo Weilou ordered him to interrogate the servants of the uncle's mansion in the government office. He himself was not in a hurry to go to the prison to interrogate Feng Qin, but the whole uncle's mansion was searching for evidence, and Huo Weilou stayed in the mansion on purpose.
This uncle's mansion located outside the imperial city has a history of a hundred years. The mansion has been expanded twice, and it is as majestic and wide as the Hou's mansion. Huo Weilou looked at the continuous eaves covered with ice and snow, and was very curious about the secrets hidden in the mansion. What a secret, this is the place where Feng Qin has lived for more than forty years, and all his crimes will leave traces here.
Huo Weilou went to Feng Qin's main courtyard first, and after Lu Ke asked, he said: "This is the place where Feng Qin lived after the death of Princess Anyang, the old servant said that Feng Qin was afraid of seeing things and thinking about others, so he changed his residence. "
If you don't know the truth, of course you should think that he is afraid of seeing things and thinking about others, but now that he knows that An Yang was killed by him, then he has a guilty conscience.
The layout of the hospital is quite elegant and simple, indeed like a place of penance, and there are many things of Taoism. In Feng Qin's study, in addition to Taoist scriptures, there are also many scriptures of Buddhism and Shamanism. Before that, he casually flipped through two books and wondered, "When did he start to believe in the way of gods and Buddhas so much?"
Lu Ke said: "When I was waiting for Lord Hou just now, my subordinates asked the old servants who have been with Feng Qin for many years. They said that the Feng family has believed in it for generations, not only Feng Qin, but also the old man."
Huo Weilou looked deep into the inner courtyard, "Continue to search and see where Princess Anyang lived back then."
The embroidered clothes envoys were scattered all over the uncle's mansion, but after a search, nothing suspicious was found. Although the residence of Princess Anyang was still preserved, most of the furniture inside had been replaced, it was covered with dust, and there were no clues left. Ye's yard is even more unusual. At this time, Lu Ke stepped forward and said, "There is still the last ancestral hall and the yard where the old man lives that have not been searched."
Huo Weilou pondered for a while, and chose to go to the ancestral hall in person. The ancestral hall of Bofu is not big, and it is the most secluded place in the northwest corner of the mansion, surrounded by towering pines and cypresses. , I saw that it was a place for ranking sacrifices, with curtains hanging all over, and runes and prayer flags hanging high, looking like entering a solemn and solemn Taoist temple.
The futon in front of the memorial tablet is half old, and it seems that people often come here to worship, and soon Lu Ke came in and said: "People in the mansion said that Feng Qin is in the mansion, and he would come here to worship the ancestors almost every two days. After he came back last night, he also Come here to worship."
As soon as the words were finished, an embroiderer came quickly from outside, "Master Hou, I found something in the old man's yard, go and have a look."
Huo Weilou raised his eyebrows and said as he walked outside: "If I remember correctly, the old man passed away ten years during Jianhe, and it has been twenty-one years now."
Lu Ke should be, the group of people left the ancestral hall and walked southwest along the corridor, and soon, they arrived at the courtyard where the old man lived. As soon as they walked to the gate of the courtyard, Huo Weilou felt that the courtyard was a bit strange.
This courtyard is located on the west side of the mansion. There are three entrances in total. It is placed in the uncle's mansion. It is larger than the courtyard where Princess Anyang and Feng Qin lived alone. The courtyard wall is square and faces south. It's not like ordinary dwellings that are scattered due to different uses, but absolutely symmetrical. Huo Weilou stood still and took what he saw into his eyes. Soon, he found out what was wrong.
"Master Hou, what's the matter?"
"This courtyard is larger than ordinary courtyards."
Lu Ke said: "The ancestors of the uncle's mansion have meritorious service. The rewards were given according to the mansion of the marquis. Later, the uncle's mansion was expanded and rebuilt, so it has the current momentum. Their ancestors were considered very prosperous for a while, and such a scale is not unusual."
Huo Weilou shook his head, "This courtyard is built according to the directions of the eight trigrams. It runs south and north, the main house is on the central axis, and the left and right are sun, east, moon and west. Astrology has been dabbled a little, but it is difficult to delve into it, "Go to Sanqing Temple and find a Taoist priest."
After finishing the order, Huo Weilou stepped into the courtyard. There were many pines and cypresses in the garden, which was solemn and quiet. Unlike the courtyard that Huo Weilou had imagined was long gone, this courtyard was quite tidy. The envoy said: "Master Hou, I found several ritual artifacts and a bright yellow cassock in the main house in the second entrance."
The bright yellow color in Taoism is written by the celestial master. Huo Weilou quickly walked into the house, and he saw several emperor bells, swords and other objects. The altar, there is no image of the real god on the altar, it is empty, and the cassock was found by the embroidered clothes envoy from the dark cabinet under the altar.
Huo Weilou instantly understood where the courtyard was.
It was already dusk outside, it was getting dark early in winter, and the night would fall in a short while, Huo Weilou calmed down and said: "Continue to search, when the Taoist priest comes, let him take a good look at the yard for any strange things, Ben Hou will go there yamen."
He turned around and went straight to Jingzhaoyi Yamen.
Feng Ye and the others were brought to the yamen prison. Sun Zhao came back from the palace and had been interrogating them. Hearing that Huo Weilou had come, he hurriedly greeted them. When he met Huo Weilou, he asked, "What did the interrogation find?"
Sun Zhao said: "There are only five people who have been in the uncle's house for more than ten years, and those in the Zhuangzi outside the city also replaced them in the early years. They don't know how Princess Anyang died in the first place. They only know that Feng Qin personally wore the shroud for Princess Anyang. .”
Huo Weilou nodded, and then said: "Ask if anyone knows how the old man died." After speaking, he said: "Prepare a copy of the inspection certificate and the case file, I am going to interrogate Feng Qin .”
Sun Zhao went to prepare immediately, and soon sent it to Huo Weilou. Huo Weilou took the embroidered clothes and sent the royal horse away. In less than half an hour, he arrived at the sky prison. Feng Qin was taken into the sky prison after noon. The dungeon was closed for five hours. The dungeon was damp and cold, without any light from the sky, and because it was deep underground, you could hear needles falling quietly. became agitated.
When Huo Weilou showed up with someone, he didn't feel scared, but seemed saved.
He was dragged into the interrogation cell like cargo, and the shackles on his hands and feet were heavy. Facing the Huo Weilou after the criminal case, he still wanted to pretend to be calm, "Master Hou really did everything for the peace of the county magistrate. May I ask Lord Hou, Your Majesty and the Queen Mother have already forgiven me, so if I hid the bodies of Anyang and Yu'er, it would be a serious crime for me to go to the prison?"
Lu Ke would not talk much when he took people there, he didn't know that they had examined the corpses of Anyang and Feng Yu, Huo Weilou said coldly: "Of course it's not worth going to prison for hiding a corpse, but murdering your wife and eldest son is different. gone."
Feng Qin's eyes trembled slightly, and he was about to defend himself when Huo Weilou took out the certificate and asked the attendant to show it to him.
Feng Qin didn't know why, but when he saw what was written on the paper, his fingertips began to tremble, the more he looked down, the trembling became more uncontrollable, but his back was as tight as a bowstring, Huo Weilou looked at him intently, and Do not rush.
After Feng Qin finished reading, his eyes still fell on the paper, he lowered his head, his face merged with the shadow, no one in the cell could see his expression clearly, after a long time, the lamps and candles in the corner were dimmed After a minute, he slowly raised his eyes, those usually clear and gentle eyes were now covered with frost, and there was a sinister mockery between his brows and eyes.
"Is this what Anning County Lord tested?"
Huo Weilou's expression was the answer. At this time, Feng Qin suddenly sighed with great regret, and calmly said: "A person suffering from madness, can everyone believe what she has tested?"
The author has something to say: Notes: ①From "Xin Yuan Ji Lu", author Song Ci [Song].