Chen Chaobai glanced questioningly at Zhaohua and Lu Jinxiang.
Lu Jinxiang felt uncomfortable being stared at by Chen Chaobai. He curled his lips and said, "Your Highness, Prince Xuan, what do you think my daughter is doing? Are you doubting me? The princess talked hard for a long time before I agreed to take her out."
Lu Jinxiang raised his head and glanced at Song Ran again, and continued muttering: "My lord, you are too partial. Why don't you doubt the princess?"
Song Ran almost drowned in her own saliva. She glared at Lu Jinxiang fiercely. Lu Jinxiang shrank his neck and retreated behind Princess Zhaohua.
Mu Ling handed over the assassin to Shuntian Mansion.
The officers and soldiers of Shuntian Prefecture searched the inn inside and out, and found a female body in the woodshed next to the kitchen.
The blood stains spread from under the body to the door of the woodshed. The body of the deceased was still warm and the blood on the ground had not yet solidified. It should have been not long after the incident.
The assassin must have killed the maid in the woodshed before assassinating Princess Zhaohua. Then she changed into the maid's clothes and entered the main hall pretending to be a maid bringing tea and water.
After Shuntian Prefecture investigated other personnel at the station, they found nothing suspicious.
"Your Majesty, Princess, I will bring this person back to Shuntian Mansion first. He will be tortured to find out the mastermind behind it." Such a major case occurred within his jurisdiction. He just stood opposite Chen Chaobai and replied a few words. Lord Fuyin Gu Shen He was already sweating profusely.
In more than twenty years as an official, I have never seen such a bold person assassinate the princess at the feet of the emperor. If the princess makes a slight mistake today, his head will be moved.
"This woman is probably a dead soldier. Master Gu must be careful when she bites her tongue and commits suicide during torture." Song Ran reminded.
"Thank you, Princess, for reminding me." After saying that, Gu Shen leaned over and bowed respectfully to Song Ran.
After settling the matter, Chen Chaobai asked Song Ran to go back home by herself.
Before sending Zhaohua back to the palace, he personally escorted Lu Jinxiang back to his uncle's residence.
Lu Jiang, the uncle of the state, relied on his own sister to be the current queen. He always had a proud attitude and did not take Chen Chaobai seriously.
When Lu Jinxiang entered the house, she threw herself into Lu Jiang's arms with tears and runny nose.
Lu Jiang had always loved his daughter. When he saw that she had been wronged, he kicked the girl next to Lu Jinxiang hard and cursed her before she could ask her questions clearly.
He didn't even care that Chen Chaobai was beside him. He didn't let the people below him entertain him easily either.
Chen Chaobai was not in a hurry and just watched from the side.
After Lu Jiang finished loving his daughter, he slowly said, "Miss Lu secretly brought Princess Zhaohua out of the palace today."
"Princess Zhaohua sneaked out of the palace not once or twice. Did His Highness Prince Xuan make a fuss?" Lu Jiang didn't care, only caring about his precious daughter's suffering.
"Uncle!" Chen Chaobai raised his voice much louder, "Princess Zhaohua was assassinated today. Do you think this king is making a fuss?"
"Isn't it?" Lu Jiang picked up Lu Jinxiang in his arms and looked at her in disbelief. Lu Jinxiang nodded sharply.
"Fortunately, Princess Anyang was present today and saved the princess and captured the assassin. Otherwise, it would be difficult for your entire uncle's palace to explain to the emperor and the empress dowager."
Chen Chaobai's eyes suddenly turned cold and he glanced at Lu Jinxiang. His voice suppressed the uncle Guo who had just been arrogant.
Lu Jiang had almost never seen Chen Chaobai like this. He looked so arrogant that he was ready to eat people alive.
"This matter has alarmed the Emperor. I'd better think carefully tonight about how to explain to the Emperor tomorrow."
"Your Highness King Xuan, what do you mean?"
"Only Miss Lu knows about Princess Zhaohua's departure from the palace. If the assassin can get this news, doesn't Uncle Guo need to explain to the emperor?"
"Chen Chaobai, what do you mean!" Lu Jiang was furious and shouted angrily. .
"Uncle, don't be angry. I just want to remind you. Don't let this matter cause a rift with the emperor.
Lu Jiang's face turned pale and he tried hard to contain the anger in his heart.
After Chen Chaobai left, Lu Jiang imprisoned Lu Jinxiang in the ancestral hall and ordered her not to come out for three days. He entered the palace early the next day and went to plead guilty to Chen Chaoci for carrying the thorn.
This was the first time that Chen Chaoci saw such a confessional attitude after he ascended the throne. Although Zhaohua was so angry that he was half-dead yesterday, it was not easy to wait for uncle Lai Guo to humble him today.
Yesterday, Song Ran came out of the inn and did not go back directly. Instead, he slipped into the back door of Liu Mansion.
Liu Yunqi seemed to have known she was coming for a long time. I wasn't surprised to see her.
"I've been waiting for you for several days, why did you just come today?"
Liu Yunqi held the penholder with his slender fingers and wrote vertically.
"You knew I was coming?"
Song Ran looked at Liu Yunqi suspiciously. Liu Yunqi did not raise his head, and just wrote a few lines of words on the rice paper in a flowing and flowing manner. The general content is to calm her mind.
Song Ran also wanted to calm down. But, that was her marriage.
She doesn't love Chen Chaobai. She was even more afraid of Chen Chaobai. She couldn't see clearly this person, but this person often knew exactly what she was thinking.
"The Emperor hopes that you and Prince Xuan will get married as soon as possible. I think you will definitely come to me to discuss countermeasures."
After writing on a piece of rice paper, he set it aside to dry.
Song Ran looked at his unhurried movements and felt even more anxious.
"What does Brother Qi mean by this? Is there any solution?"
Liu Yunqi raised his head and smiled: "I already have a clue about what I told you that day. However, we have to wait for a while."
"About those Qi traders?" Song Ran approached Liu Yunqi and took the pen from his hand.
Liu Yunqi's hanging hands were stunned. Song Ran's hot temper was exactly the same as Song Yuan's, and she was indeed born from a mother's womb.
"Yes, the people investigating the case received news a few days ago, saying that they have found out something about it in the past few days."
When Song Ran heard this, she felt happy at first. But then I thought about it, Chen Chaobai's men had an affair with Qi State, but Qi State had good relations with Chen State, so there seemed to be no problem in it.
What was she missing?
right! Liu Yunqi never mentioned the key point from beginning to end! All she knew was that Liu Yunqi said he would find a way to help her, but he didn't say how.
"But isn't the State of Qi on good terms with the State of Chen? There is nothing wrong with associating with them. Why do you think this matter can be delayed or my engagement can be terminated?"
"The relationship between the Qi State and the Chen Dynasty has always been undercurrent. And the emperor is well aware of this. Two years ago, the emperor noticed that there was an informant from the Qi State in the imperial court. In several negotiations between the two countries, the Chen State lost the opportunity. Opportunity." Liu Yunqi sighed and continued: "The reason for the good relations between the two countries is just because Chen Guo gave up benefits everywhere. Qi Guo was greedy and took advantage of it many times."
"Do you suspect Chen Chaobai did it?"
"I can't make a conclusion right now about whether it's Chen Chaobai or not. But if I can get hold of Xia Chun, I'll get a copy of Chen Chaobai and it will definitely make the emperor think twice about whether to marry you to him."
Song Ran knew that Chen Chaobai was an ambitious man, but she did not expect that Qi would be involved. Is collaboration with the enemy and treason a small crime? If you rashly intervene in him, will you alert the enemy?
Also, if he takes a copy of his book and is resolved by him, will Liu Yunqi's situation be very embarrassing?
Should he take this risk for her marriage?
But after getting married, it was discovered that Chen Chaobai was really that kind of person, so where should the entire Nanjun Palace be?
Song Ran didn't expect that things would become more complicated!
Liu Yunqi saw Song Ran's hands clenched tightly into fists, and there was no joy on her pale face.
"What's wrong?" Liu Yunqi asked in confusion.
"I'm just a little scared. What should I do if Chen Chaobai is really suspected of collaborating with the enemy and treason?"
"Don't be too anxious. If there is any news from my side, I will let you know."
"There is one more thing," Song Ran thought of today's events, "I guess you don't know about it, brother Qi. This afternoon, Zhaohua went to the inn to thank General Mu, but he met an assassin at the inn."
"What? Assassinated? How about the princess?" Liu Yunqi was surprised.
"Brother Qi, don't worry. The assassin has been subdued by me and is now in Shuntian Mansion. But -" Song Ran stared in deep thought: "I'm afraid I won't survive tonight."
"Shut up?" Liu Yunqi's eyes trembled slightly, then he looked back and looked up and down to see if Song Ran was injured.
Song Ran didn't know how lucky she was to have three men care about whether she was injured today.
She knew the meaning behind Liu Yunqi's eyes. She looked at him and smiled slightly: "I'm fine. That assassin is no match for me."
"Yes." Liu Yunqi put away his uneasy eyes and continued to listen to Song Ran.
"The only people who knew about the princess leaving the palace today were the people around Lu Jinxiang, in addition to the maids around her in the palace."
"Are you suspicious of Uncle Guo?"
"Uncle Guo is a fool, and he will never have such thoughts. I have observed the people Lu Jinxiang brought with him today, and they don't look like him."
In the afternoon, when the officers and soldiers of Shuntian Prefecture were inspecting the people at the post station, she specially observed them one by one in the dark, especially the people around Lu Jinxiang.
"Don't you find it strange? To kill the princess at the inn? Wouldn't it be more convenient on the way there? There are officers and soldiers guarding the inn." After listening to Song Ran's words, Liu Yunqi always felt that something was wrong with this matter.
His expression was solemn, his thoughts were complicated, and he couldn't say anything for a while.
"This is also what I'm confused about."
The reason I came to Liu Mansion tonight was because I wanted to find a way to delay Liu Yunqi's marriage. Secondly, there were too many doubts about today's assassination, and she couldn't figure it out.
"Perhaps her purpose has nothing to do with who she is? She just wants the relationship between Chen and Wei to break down."
Song Ran didn't expect this. But after Liu Yunqi's explanation of the relationship between Qi and Wei just now, this idea suddenly came to her mind.
"You mean, it's from Qi Guo?"
"Not necessarily? Maybe it was another country. Princess Chen died at the inn that received the Wei delegation. Chen Guo must detain the delegation to find out what happened. If the Wei delegation was detained, then Wei must be dissatisfied with Chen. It is not impossible for generals to meet each other in battle."
When Song Ran said these words, she was a little surprised. How did she figure this out? terrible. If it is true, this capital is really in crisis.
"The must-kill Princess Wei Yu can also play this role, why Zhaohua?" Liu Yunqi was puzzled.
"Perhaps her intention at the beginning was the third princess of the Wei Kingdom, but then she suddenly changed her mind after what happened?" Song Ran lowered her eyes, not knowing what was going on.
"The third princess of Wei knows martial arts?" Liu Yunqi asked tentatively.
"Yes, she can. She and Mu Ling went to the battlefield together."
Everything seems to be explained.
However, Liu Yunqi and Song Ran fell into deep thought together.
That night, the assassin did die. It was not a homicide, but it was unknown whether the caretaker made an oversight and the cloth stuffed in her mouth fell off. The assassin committed suicide by biting his tongue.
Before his death, Shuntian Mansion did not ask for any useful information.
