Mystery makes me strong

Chapter 2606: Case in the Painting

The old butler wanted to say something more, but the dead man suddenly drew his knife and stabbed the other person in the abdomen!
"Puff!" With a sound, blood and intestines flowed out from the hole in the abdomen.

"You, you, why do you want to kill me?" The old butler was shocked.

He never expected that everything was under control. He was just about to show off and demonstrate his ability, but in the end, he was killed by one of his confidants!
"Why? In order to get orphans, you allowed the drought to hit the three prefectures, refused to provide relief, and then only paid one copper coin per child to collect children from the people."

"Have you all forgotten about this?"

"Although I was only two and a half years old at the time, I remember it clearly. One penny, one penny, take the child away and let the child live. Those were the last words of my parents who were starving to death." The assassin said gritting his teeth.

The old butler had nothing to say.

He really deserves to die.

"But, but that was a plan proposed by Master Han, and the Crown Prince gave the nod. I was just an executor." The old butler wanted to argue.

Although he knew he was going to die, he still wanted to find some hope.

"Humph, Master Han and the eldest prince were the instigators, but what they said was to cut the food and money by one third and allocate two thirds to make the disaster worse."

"I just wanted to take the opportunity to buy some children. I didn't mean to starve the victims to death."

"After all, the eldest prince and Master Han are also afraid of retribution in the future. They lack nothing, not money, but status."

"But according to you executors, not only have you cut it by 100%, you are also taking the opportunity to increase taxes! Without disaster relief, the people still have a third chance of survival. But once disaster relief is provided, the people will have no chance of survival at all!" the assassin said fiercely.

The old butler had nothing to say.

He knew about this and even wanted to report it, but for the sake of the 2000 taels of silver sent by his subordinates, he chose to turn a blind eye.

He also felt that this matter had nothing to do with him and was done by his subordinates. What did it have to do with him?
However, he did not expect that his failure to report the matter would leave no room for adjustment or easing of the situation.

The assassins had every reason to kill him.

"Oh no! All of you warriors are useless!" The old butler thought of a question in horror.
"Who told you this truth?"

"Guess?" The assassin pulled out his knife and stabbed it directly into the opponent's lungs.

Lung bleeding and suffocation is the most painful way to die.

The old butler slowly fell to the ground, in great pain, his face turned blue, and he gasped for air, but couldn't breathe in at all.

In the end, he killed himself.

After seeing this, the assassin turned around and left.

Soon.

The maid came in and brought tea.

Seeing the old butler dead and blood all over the floor, she did not let out the familiar scream. Instead, she pretended that she saw nothing and quickly turned and left.

He even cleaned up his footprints before leaving.

The maid was not in collusion, she just didn't want to be the first person to discover the matter and then be suspected and beaten.

Once hit, it's death.

If you hit someone, you must kill him.

This is the rule in the mansion.

Because if I beat you, you will hold a grudge against me. Instead of waiting until the future, it is better to kill you now.

There are only two ways to deal with servants in the eldest prince's mansion.

One is reward.

The second is execution.

Naturally, the maid didn't dare to take this risk.

As a result, the assassins, who should have been caught immediately, had three more hours to escape.

It was not until another aide came to find the old butler that he discovered that the butler had been dead for a long time.

Then he started to report it and ordered people to search for it.

…………

And this is just the beginning.

For a time, cases occurred frequently in the eldest prince's mansion.

Under normal circumstances, if there were one or two murders a year, it would be considered a big deal.

But now it happens twice or three times in ten days!

Just outrageous!
Either the butler was killed by a servant, or a servant tried to assassinate the master.

Of course, most cases were unsuccessful.

After all, if the frequency is too high, the success rate will drop sharply.

This is also because the eldest prince’s mansion has a lot of people and a large space.

Otherwise, there won’t be enough people to report cases.

In short, the prince's mansion was in chaos.

The eldest prince was very smart. When the first case happened, he immediately left the mansion and went to another small courtyard that no one knew about.

"Damn it, I know it must have been done by the Second Prince. He wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to alienate my forces and make everyone feel insecure!" The eldest prince walked back and forth in a room.

He was very anxious.

"Sir, please be patient. Although this matter has disadvantages, it is not without advantages." said the personal aide.

"How can I live in peace? If this gets to my father's ears, he will definitely think that I can't even handle a few servants. How can I manage the entire force in the future?" The eldest prince said depressedly.

"It doesn't matter. I've thought of this a long time ago, so the case in the mansion is basically sealed, and no one outside will know about it." The staff member was confident.
"But father's Wind Guards will hear the news."

"Hehe, they heard the news, but they have no evidence and it is impossible for them to report it to the emperor."

"Why is this?" the eldest prince asked in confusion.

"That's because even if the emperor knew, he wouldn't make a big move. He wants to maintain a balance between the two princes."

"If we suppress you too much, it will be equivalent to allowing the Second Prince's power to grow excessively, which will fuel the Second Prince's ambition and make the situation unbalanced." said the aide.

After hearing this, the eldest prince thought for a while before he felt slightly relieved.

"Even so, the emperor will still reprimand Prince Yu after he gets the news. Those who follow the wind will curry favor with him and turn to the second prince," he said worriedly.

"It's okay. If we can't solve one thing, let's make sure others can't solve it either."

"In this way, everyone will think that it is not that we are too weak, but that the problem is too difficult."

"What do you mean?" The eldest prince thought for a while.

"That's right. We will fight back as well. We will also make the same thing happen in the Second Prince's mansion."

The eldest prince nodded, then shook his head.

"But how can we achieve this?"

"The Second Prince has made his house watertight and knife-proof."

"The rules are the most strict. No servant has ever dared to make friends with outsiders."

This is something he envied, but also something he despised.

Because doing so will definitely offend many people.

One day, the second prince will be killed by his servants.

However, he forgot that his own leniency only enriched the management and put more pressure on the people at the bottom.

It’s not as good as the second prince, who is equally strict to both the superiors and the subordinates.

Instead, it makes people at the bottom take it for granted.

"Your Highness is right. The Second Prince's residence does not make friends with outsiders."

"Moreover, they are too harsh in their treatment, so it is difficult for us to get into their inner circle. But please rest assured, Your Highness, I have designed a brilliant plan." The aide said confidently.

You can only commit a thief in a thousand days, but there is no way to guard against a thief in a thousand days.

Afterwards, some cases began to occur in the Second Prince's residence.

Although the frequency is much lower than that in the eldest prince's palace, it still happens one after another.

The second prince was also confused for a moment.

He also left the mansion immediately and went to the secret residence to separate from the servants.

He only had one or two absolute confidants with him.

He couldn't imagine why so many cases occurred in his own mansion.

It is said that some things are top secret and outsiders definitely don't know.

Only a few of my confidants know the truth.

For example, once he ordered the execution of a man who was doing illegal work.

When doing it, we also let the other party go to the mine to inspect first.

Then he created an accident and killed the other person.

In fact, there was no manufacturing, because accidents happened frequently. It was just that during the rescue, they deliberately dug in the opposite direction.

In the end, the man was successfully silenced.

However, this matter was later discovered by the man's son.

Normally, most people should swallow their anger. After all, many people would not give up their stable job to avenge their father who had died more than ten years ago.

Human nature is like this.

Among those survivors who intended to kill, how many of them would spend their entire lives seeking revenge?

It can be said that there are basically none.

Or just to stay alive.

But this world is different. As long as there is a motive, the crime will be committed.

So the house boy attacked the perpetrator and buried him in the mine as well.

The second prince couldn't understand this matter.

He didn't think about the eldest prince either.

Because there was no way that the Crown Prince and the others could know about that.

And the confidant who is in charge of this matter would not betray himself.

Because there is no benefit in selling out yourself.

The throne has not yet been decided.

The emperor's attitude was ambiguous.

Although the emperor is over 70 years old, he may live to 80 because he is cautious and does not indulge himself.

Anyway, it is impossible to determine the winner within a few years.

So there is no chance that this confidant would risk betrayal.

Traitors will never be truly valued unless they betray at a critical moment.

Therefore, the second prince was very troubled.

The only people who truly know the truth of this matter are Wen Rensheng and the person who started it.

Wen Rensheng now spends every day drinking tea in a teahouse, watching the eldest prince and the second prince fight over cases.

He couldn't help but feel curious.

Many coups in history were actually quite clean and efficient.

How can there be too many layouts?

It is to capture the people in key places and then launch the attack.

Of course, there are also cases where hatred is used to oppose key figures of the other side.

But only in this world can one eliminate his competitors by committing murder.

It's really novel.

In Wen Rensheng's eyes, the eldest prince and the second prince still have loopholes.

That is, they are still human beings and they still need to eat, drink, defecate, urinate and sleep.

Someone is still needed to serve.

However, the two men have tempers, and it is impossible for the servants not to make mistakes. This is a major contradiction.

If one day one of the servants becomes determined, he can easily kill these two people with poison.

Toxins are also well developed in this world and are also easy to obtain.

For example, you can do it by taking saltpeter from the toilet and mixing it with some inorganic substances.

These seem to be the characteristics of this world, just like farming.

…………

Who is the culprit?

Naturally, the remaining one is the third prince who seems harmless.

In the third prince's house.

In a study.

A one-eyed man with a lame leg and blind one eye was sitting in the study painting.

His study is actually independent of the entire mansion.

But on the surface, it seems to be intertwined with other rooms and cannot be distinguished.

No one knew, there was no one in the other surrounding rooms, and no one was allowed to enter.

According to him, he needs to concentrate highly to get inspiration when painting.

Anyone who approaches the nearby room will hear a vibration, and if they disturb him, they will be killed without mercy.

Since Wen Rensheng is determined to uncover the truth, it will naturally be easy for him to see the truth.

After all, this world is still a semi-low-magic world.

I don't say it's magic-free because it's a bit weird in the first place.

The frequent occurrence of such cases is a manifestation of the weirdness of human nature.

The current situation is that while the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits.

However, although some people suspected the third prince, there was no evidence.

Because the third prince was blind and lame, such a disabled person could not become emperor no matter what.

Everyone would just choose a fool. Even if they adopted someone from the side branch of the royal family, it would be impossible for them to choose him.

Putting aside other things, what should we do when offering sacrifices to heaven and earth?
It's impossible to let others act on your behalf every time, right?

Besides, what if the offspring born is also disabled?
After all, the third prince himself was born with a disability.

He became blind and lame just a few months after he was born.

In fact, it was caused by a high fever.

But people at this time would only regard him as someone born with a disability.

Therefore, the three princes could not compete.

No matter whether it was ministers or generals, no one would stand on his side even if he tried to win them over.

Wen Rensheng naturally knew this.

In real history, there were no disabled princes among those who fought for the throne.

There are indeed quite a few idiots, but you can't tell from their appearance.

Instead of choosing the third prince, it is better to find a mascot.

On the contrary, it will not be so easy to destroy the country.

So even though everyone knew that, under normal circumstances, the third prince would definitely be the most suspicious, they did not actually include him as a suspect.

The third prince was painting at this time.

Painting was very common, and there were many masters of painting in the royal family.

However, if someone saw the third prince's paintings, it would definitely be horrifying.

Because he is drawing a story.

It was a farm owned by the eldest prince, located outside the city.

With six thousand acres of land, it is definitely a big farm.

The characters are a butler and a servant.

In the picture, the housekeeper takes the servants to check the well to make sure there are no problems with watering.

The next painting shows the servant throwing stones at the steward, knocking him into the well.

Judging from the details drawn by the other party, this is obviously not a random imagination.

Because the details are very realistic, the eldest prince does have such a farm.

Moreover, cases broke out one after another in the eldest prince's mansion, and it was almost overcrowded.

Now it is starting to spread outside the city and to the village. The next step is to spread to the fiefdom.

I have to say, this third prince is quite powerful.

He's cheating...

The conspiracy he designed was actually very simple, but it was impeccable.

Because this is a conspiracy drawn on a painting.

How can ordinary people tell?
Unless someone can collect the original manuscripts of these calligraphy and paintings and then think carefully about them, they can come to a horrifying conclusion.

(End of this chapter)