He Qingxiao came back and rushed into the city before the city gate closed.
Before Chang Liang came back, he sent a secret letter to Yan Chao and ordered Yan Chao to arrest him secretly.
It was pretty smooth, I got Chang Liang's confession, and I'm just waiting to go to the palace to report tomorrow.
"How has the capital been during the days I've been away?"
Even if Jinlinwei had an independent reporting system, due to the distance between the north and the south and the complexity of people's hearts, many things were still difficult to put on paper, and it was impossible to convey everything in such a timely manner.
Yan Chao reported some things, mentioning that Miss Kou attended the New Year's Day greetings and that King Qing received the Wanmin Umbrella from the victims of the Dingbei disaster.
It was dark outside, and He Qingxiao's voice sounded a little heavy: "Miss Kou, didn't you encounter any trouble?"
Yan Chao hesitated: "Probably not."
After being warned by the adults, he also sent someone to quietly pay attention to the activities at Qingsong Bookstore.
"should?"
"After the second volume of "Journey to the West" was released, more people came to buy it, and many officials and nobles came to support it. Prince Qing went to Qingsong Bookstore in person a few days ago, but nothing happened..."
After listening to Yan Chao's words quietly, He Qingxiao looked more relaxed and said, "Thank you for your hard work."
The next day, with the spring cold still lingering, He Qingxiao quietly entered the palace.
Emperor Xingyuan couldn't wait to see He Qingxiao.
He Qingxiao knelt down on one knee: "Wei Chen——"
"No gifts!" Emperor Xingyuan asked He Qingxiao to stand up before he finished speaking, and asked urgently, "Have you found the queen?"
He Qingxiao lowered his head and was silent for a moment.
Emperor Xingyuan's face suddenly darkened, with disappointment hidden in his eyes: "Not found? What about Mr. Songling?"
Mr. Songling and Xinxin must have a connection. If Xinxin cannot be found, finding Mr. Songling will not be a loss.
After a moment of silence, He Qingxiao held up his hands and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, there was no trace of Mr. Songling during this trip south, but it is suspected that the Queen has been found -"
Suspicious?
Emperor Xingyuan's heart skipped a beat, and he had an unknown premonition for some reason.
"What does the suspicion mean? Qingxiao, tell the truth about what you found."
"Wei Chen went south to Wanyang to investigate and accidentally discovered a tragedy..." He Qingxiao moved all the details of the previous investigation to this time.
"Wei Chen found the valley and found some objects in the valley, which seemed to belong to the palace——"
"Where are those objects?" Emperor Xingyuan asked with a pale face.
The deceased in the valley cannot be Xinxin!
He Qingxiao opened a small box he brought and said, "It is inconvenient to bring some valuable items into the palace, so Wei Chen only brought these."
"Send it up!"
The chamberlain took the box, inspected it, and presented it to Emperor Xingyuan.
Emperor Xingyuan saw a jade hosta in the box at a glance.
The jade was not very good, and the carving was ordinary. Emperor Xingyuan's hand shook when he picked up the hosta.
This hosta was bought as a gift to Xinxin the year he and Xinxin got married. He also engraved Xinxin's name on the tail of the hairpin.
Emperor Xingyuan turned over the jade hairpin and saw a small word "Xin" at the end of the hairpin.
He Qingxiao lowered his eyes, but he could imagine Emperor Xingyuan's reaction.
He found these objects that could prove the Queen's identity from a very hidden secret room.
Emperor Xingyuan picked up another phoenix pendant.
This phoenix pendant is in the shape of a half-moon, and the other half is here. Together they form a complete dragon and phoenix pendant.
Compared with the ordinary hosta, the carving of this phoenix pendant is exquisite. It was given to the queen after he entered the palace.
Emperor Xingyuan immediately ordered Sun Yan to take the dragon pendant that he had carefully collected.
The two jade pendants touched each other and fit perfectly.
Emperor Xingyuan wet his eyes: "Xin——"
He couldn't speak anymore. After a long silence, his voice became hoarse as if he had aged several years: "In other words... everyone in the valley is dead? Have you checked it yourself?"
He Qingxiao understood what Emperor Xingyuan meant and asked him if he had dug it out to take a look.
"Your Majesty, it has been almost a year since the tragedy in the valley occurred."
Even if they were dug up and examined, they could only identify the number of men and women.
Emperor Xingyuan suddenly leaned back in his chair and murmured: "I don't believe it, I don't believe it..."
As he said this, two lines of tears fell down.
He Qingxiao said nothing, waiting for Emperor Xingyuan to digest his emotions.
Emperor Xingyuan waved his hand.
Sun Yan, the eunuch on the side, whispered: "Master He, please wait outside for a moment."
"Wei Chen excuses himself."
He Qingxiao walked out.
The spring sun is bright and the air smells of flowers.
He waited quietly for a long time before being summoned again.
"Wei Chen has met your Majesty."
After saluting again, He Qingxiao saw the emperor who had become much calmer.
"Have you found anything else?" Emperor Xingyuan's eyes were cold, "Who is the murderer?"
He Qingxiao's always calm face showed a look of embarrassment.
Emperor Xingyuan's face sank: "I ordered you to investigate quietly, just to be prepared and tell the truth if you find out!"
He Qingxiao half lowered his head: "Wei Chen found out that there is a group of people active nearby. After investigation, the leader is... from the Guchang Bo Mansion."
Emperor Xingyuan's pupils trembled, and he asked one word at a time: "Gu Chang Bo's Mansion?"
"yes."
Emperor Xingyuan raised his hand to grab something, but finally landed on the white jade paperweight.
The paperweight is slightly cool, but the room is warm. Just like his mood, cold and hot collided, and underneath the calm appearance was rolling magma.
Waves of dizziness hit me, and my ears buzzed as if there were countless mosquitoes flying around.
Emperor Xingyuan closed his eyes for a long time before opening them, staring at He Qingxiao: "Is there any evidence?"
Just because he placed He Qingxiao in the position of governor of Jinlin Guard Town does not mean that he trusts this person wholeheartedly.
All officials thought that He Qingxiao's background made him resentful. In fact, such a background would not make officials fearful.
He needs someone to keep others at arm's length, and can only rely on his lone minister to do things that are not easy to put on the public eye.
But he also needs to be wary of whether this person may be dissatisfied and muddy the waters at key points.
Such as now.
"Your Majesty, please read this. This is the confession of the nephew Chang Liang, who was the leader of those people. Chang Liang went to the south with his uncle and returned to Beijing early..."
"Send it up."
Emperor Xingyuan read Chang Liang's confession and frowned: "In other words, Chang Liang does not know the identity of his target?"
"The person who really understands the southbound mission is his uncle Chang Qing." Speaking of Chang Qing, He Qingxiao's lowered eyes were filled with confusion, but his tone was unchanged, "Chang Qing left Beijing in April last year and has been staying in Wanyang."
If the dead are no longer important, then he will use the living to add a weight to the emperor's heart.
Sure enough, Emperor Xingyuan followed these words and asked, "Why are they always in Wanyang?"
"According to Wei Chen's investigation, they seem to be looking for something. Wei Chen checked around the valley and learned from several villagers that there was a young man living in seclusion in the valley, aged sixteen or seventeen. This young man is probably from the valley The survivors of the tragedy——"
"What?" Emperor Xingyuan stood up and stared at He Qingxiao, "What is the identity of that young man!"
"According to the villagers, he is the son of the mistress who practices medicine and saves people in the valley."
