Xing Shangshu entered the palace to meet the emperor.
The emperor was reviewing the memorial in the imperial study, and after hearing the report of the Duke of Wei, he was brought in.
"Wei Chen, meet your Majesty."
Xing Shangshu bowed respectfully.
The emperor sat behind the desk, put down one of the reviewed memorials, picked up another, and asked, "Xing Shangshu suddenly entered the palace, why?"
Xing Shangshu hesitated for a moment, and said, "My minister... I have something to play."
The emperor opened the memorial: "Why can't we wait until the morning?"
Xing Shangshu thought to himself, but if he can wait until the early morning, he is afraid that you will be unhappy if you say it in front of the civil and military officials.
Having said that, I just met Lao Jijiu and Yuan Shoufu on the way. Lao Jijiu should not have read the contents of the document clearly, right
Just glanced at it, and it stands to reason that it can't be seen clearly.
Even if you see it clearly, as an old minister, you will not publicize this matter.
Thinking about this, Xing Shangshu secretly felt relieved.
Xing Shangshu cupped his hands and said respectfully, "It's a case, and Wei Chen can't decide whether to tell it in the courtroom."
The emperor asked, "What case?"
Xing Shangshu answered truthfully, "The case of Xianleju."
"Xianleju?" The emperor frowned, "Is it the most famous brothel in the capital?"
"Your Majesty also knows." Xing Shangshu was surprised.
No wonder he was so surprised. Xianleju's reputation seems to be very big, but in the final analysis, it is just a brothel. The imperial city has a clear class, and it is more difficult to overcome the barriers of class than to climb to the sky.
As long as the emperor is not interested in visiting the brothel, he will not pay attention to it.
"I've only heard of it." The emperor said indifferently, "A case of a brothel needs to be mentioned in the court?"
Xing Shangshu said with a complicated expression: "This case is very involved and has something to do with the royal family."
The emperor said indifferently: "Which prince went to the brothel and had an accident?"
It's the prince who pays it back, I'm afraid you won't be so embarrassed in your heart.
Xing Shangshu understands that if he stretches his head with a knife today, it is also a knife when he shrinks his head. He has to say, "The oiran of Xianleju died. It happened on the seventh day of the new year."
On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, the emperor had the impression that it was the day when the army returned, and it was also the day when he saw Ning An again.
What happened to such a good day
The emperor frowned.
At first, Xing Shangshu only thought it was a civil murder case, and there was no need to alarm His Majesty, so he didn't mention it in the courtroom.
Xing Shangshu continued: "But after the verification, Wei Chen unexpectedly found that the oiran in Xianleju was not dead. She was suspended for death and found a substitute Jin Chan to escape. Her real purpose was to get close to Doctor Gu of the medical center."
The emperor was not very interested in the matter of a Qinglou oiran, and only after hearing this did he have a look: "Which doctor Gu from the medical center?"
"The medical center next to the women's school is called Miaoshoutang." Xing Shangshu didn't know the relationship between the emperor and Gu Jiao. In order to attract the emperor's attention, he added, "Doctor Gu is Xiao Liulang's wife."
Xiao Liulang is the new champion of the new division appointed by His Majesty, and His Majesty should always take care of him.
In fact, Gu Jiao is also the daughter of Ding'an Hou's mansion, but Gu Jiao herself has never admitted it.
There was a bit of coldness in the emperor's eyes: "What is an oiran in a brothel approaching a doctor in the medical center?"
The Minister of Punishment: "Assassination."
"Stab..." Little genius doctor? !
The emperor's expression became puzzled and solemn: "You just said that the case of Xianleju is related to the royal family. Could it be that someone from the royal family instructed that oiran to harm Doctor Gu?"
Xing Shangshu did not answer directly, but took out the confession and the case file from the wide sleeves he sewed on the way.
The emperor took the confession and the file, and he recognized these as Xiao Liulang's handwriting.
Xiao Liulang also served as the secretary of the Ministry of Justice. In Gu Jiao's words, he was the secretary and spokesman of Xing Shangshu. If he did a good job, he could become the secretary-general of the Ministry of Justice in the future.
It is normal for him to write the dossier and the confession.
Of course, not all confessions were written by officials of the Criminal Department, and some were confessed by criminals themselves.
The confession stated that Bai Kun was not literate enough, so Xiao Liulang, the secretary of the Ministry of Punishment, wrote it on his behalf.
After the emperor read it, he slapped the confession on the desk with a snap: "No reason! Whoever tried the prisoner!"
In order to avoid extracurricular troubles, Xing Shangshu simply said to the emperor: "It was Wei Chen who personally interrogated, and Xiao Liulang temporarily wrote and executed the script on the side."
The clerk of the Ministry of Punishment is generally served by a lawyer from the yamen, but when the lawyer is not in the yamen, another person can be appointed by the Minister of Punishment.
Xiao Liulang was born in the Hanlin, so he didn't even have the qualifications to be a swordsman.
If the case was tried by others, the emperor would only have to retry one or two cases, but Xing Shangshu and Xiao Liulang were both officials promoted by the emperor, and the emperor still trusted them.
The emperor didn't know much about Xiao Liulang's ability to decide cases. If Xiao Liulang was the only one who tried the case, the emperor would probably still wonder if he was being deceived, but Xing Shangshu is a veteran in solving cases, and he would never let a thief fool him. .
Could it be... is it really the work of the princess of the royal family
But that's ridiculous isn't it
Calling Jinshang Huangxiong, in other words, the young master behind the scenes of Xianleju is his sister.
He has only three younger sisters - Ning An, Xinyang and Huaiqing.
None of the three seemed suspicious.
Needless to say, Ning An, such a kind and simple person, how could she be in the company of the forces of the brothel and do things that hurt the little genius doctor
Huaiqing is an idiot, let alone this ability.
It will never be Xinyang.
Xinyang is indeed a powerful character. Among so many princesses, there is neither the protection of the mother nor the favor of the father and the emperor, but she has never suffered a loss in the hands of anyone.
She also got a great marriage prepared for her by her father before his death.
She is indeed a woman with wrists.
But she has no reason to frame the little genius doctor!
Xing Shangshu dared to ask, "Does Your Majesty have eyes on his heart?"
The emperor said angrily: "What's wrong with me? Are you sure you weren't blinded by the murderer?"
Although the emperor trusted Xing Shangshu's ability, but to let him doubt his sister, he would rather question Xing Shangshu's wrong decision.
At this point, Xing Shangshu basically had a guess in his heart, but there is no conclusive evidence at the moment.
Xiao Liulang can tell him that the concubine was killed by the brothers and sisters of the Gu family. This is the reasoning of the officials within the Ministry of Justice - providing effective clues to speculate on the motive behind the murder.
But he couldn't say that to the emperor.
Just as Xing Shangshu was thinking about how to speak to the emperor, Eunuch Wei's voice came from outside the imperial study.
"Princess Ning'an, why are you here?"
"I simmered some ginseng soup and sent it to the emperor. Is the emperor in there?"
"Uh… "
It is there, but I don't know if it is convenient or not.
"Ning An, come in," the emperor said.
Eunuch Wei smiled and stepped aside: "Princess please."
Princess Ning An carried the food box in one hand, and slightly lifted the skirt with the other hand, and stepped into the imperial study.
Xing Shangshu turned his head and bowed to Princess Ning An.
"This is..." Princess Ning An looked at Xing Shangshu in astonishment.
The emperor introduced: "This is the Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, surnamed Xing."
"It turned out to be Lord Xing." Princess Ning An nodded, "I'm sorry."
Xing Shangshu cupped his hands and bowed: "Weichen dare not."
Princess Ning'an said embarrassedly: "It seems that I came at a wrong time. I knew that the emperor was discussing official business with the minister, so I will come back later."
The emperor said: "It doesn't matter, it's just a case of catching the wind. Since you are here, let's take a look."
The emperor said, and handed the confession and file to Princess Ning'an.
Princess Ning An put the food box on the table, took the document and looked at it.
When she was reading the document, Xing Shangshu was looking at her without a trace.
Princess Ning'an became more and more surprised. At the end, Liu Mei frowned: "It was someone from the royal family who killed Doctor Gu? But why?"
There was a trace of doubt in Xing Shangshu's heart, and Princess Ning'an's face did not show any guilty conscience. Could it be that they guessed wrong
It stands to reason that only the motive for committing the crime is indeed not enough, and there must also be the timing of the crime and the evidence of the crime, commonly known as human evidence.
The emperor hummed: "You also think it's absurd, don't you?"
Ning An suddenly lowered his eyes and smiled bitterly: "There are only three younger sisters of Your Majesty, and among these three, only I have the most contact with Doctor Gu. The most suspect."
The emperor's face sank: "Nonsense! How could you do this! From my point of view, it is clear that someone has evil intentions and wants to throw dirty water on the royal family!"
Princess Ning'an sighed, "But didn't the murderer plead guilty?"
The emperor said coldly: "It's not necessarily that the murderer is lying. Or, he didn't lie, but someone approached him posing as a royal princess."
Princess Ning'an slowly turned her head and looked at Xing Shangshu: "Master Xing, do you think there are two possibilities?"
Xing Shangshu opened his mouth, took a weak breath, and said, "Until the truth is revealed, all assumptions are possible."
"By the way, there are two other witnesses mentioned above, one is the oiran of Xianleju who is suspended from death, and the other is a girl from Xianleju, whose name is..." Princess Ning'an didn't seem to remember the name and looked at the document. Look, only then said, "Ah, Hua Xiyao."
She said, her eyes fell on Xing Shangshu's face again: "May I ask Mr. Xing, where are these two witnesses now? Can they testify in court? Just based on the words of a killer, it is concluded that Xianleju has a relationship with the royal family. The collusion is a bit arbitrary, what does Master Xing think?"
Princess Ning'an's eyes were very gentle, but for some reason, Xing Shangshu's forehead was a little cold.
He calmed down and said, "What Princess Ning An said is very true, but these two witnesses cannot testify in court now."
"Why?" Princess Ning'an asked softly.
Xing Shangshu said: "Hua Xiyao was taken in the medicine, and it took six or seven days to wake up. Another girl named Mo Qianxue was seriously injured and was being treated in the medical center. According to Xiao Shuling, her condition is not very good."
Otherwise, according to the normal procedure, Mo Qianxue would be brought back to the yamen of the Punishment Department for detention.
Princess Ning'an sighed thoughtfully: "It's really unfortunate that one was medicated and the other was injured. Master Xing, they are all important witnesses in this case, you must protect them, don't Let them be silenced, and the truth of this case will never be known."
Xing Shangshu glanced at Princess Ning'an subconsciously after hearing this.
Princess Ning An gave him a slight smile.
Xing Shangshu lowered his eyes, frowned, and cupped his hands: "What the princess said is very true, Wei Chen... will definitely add more people to protect them!"
…
After coming out of the palace, Xing Shangshu returned to the yamen of the Ministry of Punishment.
Xiao Heng's duty room was right after Xing Shangshu's duty room. Hearing the movement, Xiao Heng put down the pen in his hand and went to Xing Shangshu's duty room: "Sir."
Xing Shangshu slumped on the chair wearily, and told Xiao Heng about the conversation in the imperial study room: "...It's really flawless, do you suspect the wrong person? Is the murderer actually Princess Huaiqing or Princess Xinyang?"
Xiao Heng was not surprised by this development. If the other party didn't even have this means, he wouldn't be able to get to where he is today.
He was very fortunate that he did not put his chips on the emperor.
Xiao Heng said, "It's not Princess Xinyang."
Xing Shangshu gave him a strange look: "Do you know?"
"I often go to the medical clinic." Xiao Heng said, "Princess Xinyang contracted a heart disease a few years ago. Only Doctor Gu can cure her disease. She has not yet recovered, and she is still taking the medicine that Doctor Gu gave her. I will kill Doctor Gu at this time."
Xing Shangshu had heard a little about Princess Xinyang suffering from heart disease due to the loss of her beloved son. When she heard that she would follow the advice of the imperial doctor for the sake of recuperating, stay away from the sad place of the capital and go to Fengdu Mountain for recuperation.
"Princess Huaiqing?" Xing Shangshu shook his head decisively, "Isn't someone really taking the name of a royal princess?"
Xiao Heng suddenly said: "Actually, it's nothing if she doesn't remind the adults."
Xing Shangshu was puzzled: "What do you mean by this?"
Xiao Heng smiled lightly and said, "Sir, what Princess Ning'an said is right, you have to send more people, and you have to keep an eye on the hospital and the prison, and don't let people have the opportunity to kill people."
(End of this chapter)