Use a substitute on your wedding night to scatter the ashes of your entire family

Emperor Jingzhang seemed to have just remembered that early this morning, Concubine Shu and Concubine Duan came to him to ask for grace to leave the palace for two days of fun.

It was said that the eldest princess was holding a plum blossom viewing banquet at her villa today to select a husband for Princess Jianing, and she had invited all the unmarried young men and women from the residences of officials of the third rank and above in Shengjing City. She also wanted to join in the fun.

Shu Guifei had been married to him for more than twenty years and had never left the palace since entering it. She agreed because her heart softened.

I never knew something like this would happen.

"Where's Concubine Duan?"

"Empress Duan returned to the palace an hour ago. I have not heard her mention the fire at Bishuiquan Villa."

An hour ago, it seemed that the fire had not yet started when Concubine Duan came down the mountain, so this matter had nothing to do with her.

The war in the northwest was important. Emperor Jingzhang glanced at the fourth prince who was kneeling down and crying, and felt that he was not worthy of being reused. If it weren't for Li Shuangwan's special status, the death of a woman was just a death. Was it worth it for him, a prince, to cry like that?

He said, "Pass on my order, order Jinyiwei Commander Lu Dongqing to take charge of this case, and the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple to assist. Zheng Xinjiang will dispatch a thousand guards to surround Bishuiquan Villa. No one is allowed to leave the mountain until the case is clear."

Zhang Desheng responded hastily, "Yes," and hurried out to convey the order.

In comparison, although Lord Zhu, the Minister of the Dali Temple, has already taken over the case, the Emperor still has to trust the Embroidered Uniform Guard more.

Moreover, the emperor's meaning was very clear. In order to give an explanation to General Li, Concubine Shu had to be sacrificed. Of course, killing the concubine was impossible. At most, her title would be stripped and she would be sent to the cold palace.

It all depends on whether Commander Lu can figure out the Emperor's thoughts.

Emperor Jingzhang frowned and said to Ling Heng, who was kneeling on the ground and crying loudly, "Alright, you can go back now. I have already issued an order on this matter. I will definitely give you and the General's Mansion an explanation."

Ling Heng struggled to get up from the ground, but perhaps because he was too sad or had been kneeling for too long, he fell back down, his palms were bleeding, and he looked miserable, with the floor covered with tears and snot.

Emperor Jingzhang's temples were throbbing at the sight, and he thought to himself that Ling Heng's mind was filled with only a woman, and that he was not up to the task, and being a minister of rites was the end of his career.

The young eunuch hurried forward and carefully helped him up.

Seeing him staggering, Emperor Jingzhang waved his hand and said, "Send him out of the palace."

When he left, Ling Heng was still crying.

The darkness finally enveloped the earth.

Concubine Shu of Bishuiquan Villa was fully confident that as long as she waited a little longer, she would receive the news from the Emperor allowing her to return to the palace. However, she never expected that what she waited for was the Imperial Guards surrounding the mountain, and the Jinyiwei, the Ministry of Justice, and the Dali Temple jointly conducting a thorough investigation.

She collapsed to the ground helplessly.

……

At the same moment when Zhou Caiyao was struggling in the fire, a female corpse was salvaged from the moat of Shengjing City. The corpse was unrecognizable, and one could only tell from her clothes that she was of a noble status, probably a lady from a wealthy family.

The people immediately went to Jingzhao Prefecture to report the case.

Jingzhao Prefecture quickly found out the identity of the deceased, who turned out to be the newly adopted daughter of the General Zhenguo Mansion: Zhou Caiyao.

Although she was an adopted daughter and an actress, her status was different now. How could the prefect of Jingzhao dare to neglect her? He immediately ordered people to investigate the case.

The case was soon solved. The killer was a maid named Leng Yue, who was Zhou Caiyao's personal maid.

There are several servants in the General Zhenguo Mansion who can testify that early this morning, Miss Yao slapped Leng Yue several times because she did not serve her well, and told her to get out, otherwise she would kill her.

After Leng Yue left Miss Yao, her eyes were full of hatred. She said that Miss Yao took advantage of the fact that she looked a bit like Princess Heng and really regarded herself as the daughter of the General's Mansion.

She even threatened that one day she would destroy her face so that she would know that a featherless chicken could never become a phoenix, and made her life a living hell.

Leng Yue cried out that she was innocent and said those were just words spoken in anger. She was grateful to Miss Yao for redeeming her from the Lotus Class, so how could she possibly want to kill her?

But it was soon discovered that the person who redeemed Leng Yue was not Zhou Caiyao, but Princess Heng Li Shuangwan.

Therefore, Leng Yue was lying. She had a motive to kill, and she scratched Zhou Caiyao's face bit by bit with a golden hairpin.

Since he refused to confess, he was tortured. He was beaten with a stick, his fingers were tied with clamps, and he was doused with chili water. In less than half an hour, Leng Yue confessed.

The slave killed his master, a heinous crime, and was sentenced to immediate execution, which was to be carried out three days later.

For some unknown reason, this man died suddenly within a few hours of being thrown into prison. The wounds on his body were even gnawed by rats in the prison, leaving a horrible sight.

After the autopsy, the coroner said that the person was frightened to death. In that case, the body was thrown into a mass grave.

However, just as the incident was settled, nearly a thousand imperial guards were suddenly seen coming out of the palace.

The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Lu Dongqing, led hundreds of Embroidered Uniform Guards, and the Minister of Justice, Zhang Maozheng, also led a team of people and went straight out of the city gate.

"What's going on?"

"Hey, this year is really eventful. The third prince just died, and now a large number of imperial guards are dispatched. I'm afraid it's not a good thing."

"Something big has happened. Haven't you heard that Princess Heng, Li Shuangwan, was burned to death in Bishuiquan Villa?" Someone dropped a bombshell.

"What? What's going on? I heard that the Bishuiquan Villa has a strong backer. Without their badge, even a high-ranking official can't even think of entering."

Several heads gathered together, and that man spoke mysteriously, explaining the whole story clearly.

It turned out that Princess Heng, Li Shuangwan, went to the plum blossom viewing banquet held by Her Royal Highness the Princess at her villa outside Beijing today. After lunch, Concubine Shu and others arrived and forced everyone to go to Bishuiquan Villa to take a hot spring bath. Somehow the resting room caught fire and Princess Heng was burned to death in the room.

The yard was located in a remote area and there was only a wet nurse. Unfortunately, the wet nurse was also a gangster and fell asleep outside the house. When she was found, the fire had already engulfed the entire house.

It was not until an hour later that the fire was gradually put out, but unfortunately, the people inside had been burned into a pile of charcoal.

A large group of people gathered together to listen and sighed. Princess Heng was just confirmed to be pregnant with the prince a few days ago, and now two lives have been lost. It is too tragic.

Who would believe that there was no conspiracy? After all, except for the sixth prince, none of the princes had sons, only girls.

Some people also felt sorry that the eldest daughter of the General Zhenguo Mansion, Princess Heng, Li Shuangwan, was such a stunning beauty, but she was burned to ashes.

Dozens of young men and girls went there together, but she was the only one who got into trouble. How unpredictable the world is.

"Hey, that's not right. How do you know it so clearly?" the onlookers asked in surprise.

However, looking around, the man had already left. In the vast crowd, there was no trace of the person who had gossiped with them just now.

Just then, they suddenly heard a loud noise in front. Everyone looked over and saw a man falling straight down from his horse.