The first work of the imperial prison

The night in the capital was as quiet as ever, and the day came as scheduled.

With the white belly appearing in the sky, the whole city seemed to be awakened, the houses of the common people raised the smoke, and more people came and went on the street. The steamed stuffed bun and tofu stalls were the most popular places, and everyone was in a hurry, either going to work, or Purchasing, or carrying out various planned things.

The people started a busy day, and the ministers were already waiting in front of the main hall. Those who came early stood still and calmly, and those who came late hurriedly straightened their collars, waiting for the whip to be sounded in front of the hall, and the emperor summoned him to the court.

The time was so tight that Emperor Yu'an didn't even have time to be tender with the empress, and he almost didn't even have time to fasten his waist buckle.

"The Holy Majesty has arrived, all the ministers have entered the palace—"

The sun rises in the east, and the sun shines brightly.

The sound outside is gradually getting smaller, there is no more chaos and panic, and everything is gradually returning to the usual order.

Some places are different.

Outside the Changle Palace, the big palace maid was sweating anxiously: "Where is Lady Yin! Where is it now? Why is it that this hour is not here yet? No matter how late it is, it will be too late. The master and empress are about to wake up!"

"I'm urging, I'm urging..."

The witty little maid came up with an idea: "If it's really too late, sister, should we learn from the west side and come by ourselves? Our Changle Palace is no worse than others, what's shorter, a small kitchen with a fire, a incense cage for lavender, and more. There are so many spices, and everything is considered complete, sister, after years of experience, you are capable enough..."

"How can this be done!" The palace maid looked slightly annoyed, "Our mistress is particular about people, and she wants a lot of tricks, can it be the same as that over there? The other side is getting older, so it's not good for them, only love Buddha fragrance and fruit fragrance , Our mistress has a good nose, and the fragrance is elegant, but she can smell it if she loses one point, and no one can pinpoint her pulse except Lady Yin, are you saying this to make me go in and take the blame!"

The little palace maid's face turned pale with fright: "I don't have any, I don't dare to..."

"Then hurry up and find someone for me!"

The big palace lady not only urged the little palace lady, but also ordered a few little eunuchs: "You, you, you, and you, go out and find someone for me!"

All of a sudden, all the palace servants of Changle Palace mobilized, running out one by one, in any direction, from southeast to northwest, but they did not dare to make a big movement to wake up the master and empress. They walked slowly, wiped their sweat, and searched for the The faceless Yin Mengqiu.

The former is the mistress and empress, so she can't afford to offend her. She is already in decline when the dynasty changes, and she still has the emperor's decree and refuses to withdraw, so she is not afraid that the emperor will not show her face in the future. The master of Kunning Palace is not so angry. See God wants this and that!

The latter is a female official, and she is not too young. She has reached this position step by step. It is said that the rules and etiquette are all ingrained in her bones, so how dare she be late!Does she want to bring all the palace people into trouble with her own strength!

After all, it is a little far away from the bedroom, and the movement outside can't wake Concubine You, but R&F can't come out to see it.

As soon as he came out and saw that the front of the hall was clean and there was no one to listen to him, he frowned instantly: "What happened?"

"Back to the father-in-law," the grand maid said the matter with a pale face, "...the clothes that the empress will wear today have not been smoked yet, and Lady Yin has not arrived yet."

Fu Lixing raised his eyebrows: "Then go find it, you can solve the problem by poking here?"

"Yes, the slaves will go right away!"

After all the turmoil, the man was found, but there was indeed a reason for the incident, and he could not go to Changle Palace——

Yin Mengqiu is dead.

The little eunuch who found her turned pale with fright, and ran back like hell, howled when he saw the imperial guards, saying that someone was dead, someone was killed, something big happened!

It's not that he was careless. The Commander of Jin Yiwei recently investigated the case in the palace. Everyone knows that this is not something that can be covered. If he found out but didn't say anything, wouldn't he be suspicious?Of course you have to shout it out!

Qiu Xunqing and his party will arrive soon.

The imperial guards isolated the scene early and protected it very well.

Yin Mengqiu was wearing a standard female officer's palace skirt, lying prone on the ground, with his arms stretched forward, his face turned outward, surrounded by a few flies, there was no obvious blood on his body, nor on the ground, it looked like he was walking or running in a hurry When he was moving, he accidentally fell to the ground and died at the same time... that's the posture and state.

Shen Jiang glanced past the scene and raised his eyebrows: "I really know how to choose a place."

Ye Baiting was very unfamiliar with the scene, but after a few more glances, he could tell what Shen Jiang was thinking.

There was a murder case in the palace. Recently, the Jinyi Guards have been very strict in their investigations. The commanders have issued repeated orders. The imperial guards have all tightened their spirits. The inspections in the palace have been strengthened, but any place within the palace walls, even if it is a little remote, It is absolutely impossible for a homicide to happen, it is too easy to be discovered, this place is really unexpected.

This place can no longer be regarded as the imperial palace. The place where the corpse died was outside the palace wall, but it has nothing to do with the palace wall at all, and it is not suitable, because she is next to the palace wall, and she does not know which door and how she sneaked out, but Obviously didn't go very far, something happened.

It is also next to a secluded alley, too close to the imperial palace, ordinary people would not come here, it is not a place close to official carriages, it is very remote, if no one came here to look for it, basically they would not be found.

This is a little tricky.If it's suicide, why rush to such a place, in your own room, wouldn't it be better to be calm?If it was a homicide, how did the murderer let her come here?

The palace is so big, there are so many guards, and there is no ability to do this.

And the location outside the palace wall is also very ambiguous. Since the person died outside the palace, is it possible that someone outside did it?Yin Mengqiu is smart and capable. If he really wants to come out, he has enough skills. The murderer only needs to use some reason to catch her out...

As Ye Baiting walked towards the corpse, he glanced at the high palace wall and remembered the winding road he had walked through the cramped palace wall.

If someone is familiar with the roads in the palace, familiar with the inspection route and time of the imperial guards, and wants to go out of the palace and get close to the outermost palace wall by using the trail to walk through the palace... It seems that it is not impossible, but it is difficult to figure it out. Such a high palace wall, without martial arts, Yin Mengqiu, a woman, probably can't get over it, and the imperial guards have high sentries, so they are particularly sensitive to high places, no matter the wall or the roof, as long as someone approaches, they will definitely find that Yin Mengqiu can't move The brains of the wall are likely to have gone through the door.

But the key to the palace gate is under strict inspection, how did she get out?

Ye Baiting rolled up his sleeves, squatted down, and began to conduct a preliminary examination of the corpse.

"...the corpse is still warm, the cornea is not obviously turbid, the plaques are rare and few, in the form of stripes or small lumps, and the rigor has not yet appeared... The deceased died not long ago. Within two hours, it is now the end of the day. Prediction - the deceased should die at the end of Yin time, or the beginning of Mao time."

It is the morning star shining, the belly of the fish is white in the sky, when it is about to light up, just before dawn, people are most likely to relax their vigilance.

As for the cause of death...

Ye Baiting narrowed his eyes slightly: "The deceased's pupils were dilated, there were fine white foams at the corners of the mouth, and the color of the nails was bluish to purple—she died of poisoning."

But the specific poison is still uncertain.

Of the three deceased in this case, two of the deceased had common symptoms. Is the use of poison... the key?

Unfortunately, there are too many types of poisons, and there are no special clues. It is difficult to determine what poison Xing Mingda died of.

"There seems to be something on her..."

Ye Baiting flipped his hand, and took out a jade tablet from the waist of the deceased. It was round, with patterns carved around it, and a light blue glazed bead was tied below it. The body of the tablet was dotted with gold lacquer. Character.

寿？

"That's the jade card of Ningshou Palace, the jade base is the most respected, usually this kind of card is held by Mr. Ban himself, so he doesn't easily put it out," Fu Lixing, the owner of Dongchangchang, almost couldn't hold back when he saw this, and laughed. Aloud, "I really didn't expect that the culprit of everything turned out to be this old man! How dare you do such evil things in the Forbidden City, at the foot of the emperor, it's a shame! Commander, don't be annoyed, our family will help you go!" Call him, be sure to investigate and punish severely, heavy punishment—”

"No need."

Qiu Suqing swiped his finger forward, and the imperial guards had already moved.

"Why is Mr. Fu Chang here?" He took a step forward and looked at R&F, "Why don't you explain?"

Only then did Fu Lixing patted his thigh and sighed: "Hey! We all forgot that since our family appeared on the scene, we would be interrogated, but this time is really a coincidence. The conductor asked you to look up and see what is happening now. Is it the time for our family to rest? The master and the lady have to get up, change clothes, finish makeup, and eat, which is not a problem? Our family can't leave at all, if it weren't for this female officer..."

He looked at the corpse not far away, and sighed: "In the palace, most of the people who can make a living in the palace have special skills. Lady Yin is very good at making fragrances, and her skill in using fragrances for lavender is even better than that of making room fragrances, master. The empress likes it very much. Although Lady Yin is not in my Changle Palace now, she has to serve the master if there is a need, right? This is also within the scope of her responsibility. After eating melons, she would come over at midnight every day to smoke the clothes that the mistress would wear that day. Fortunately, my mistress became more and more tired as she got older, so she didn't delay getting up late. What's the matter with her..."

Qiu Xunqing: "You just found out because someone didn't arrive on time?"

Fu Lixing sighed again: "Isn't it why? The temper of the mistress, if you can't get what you have agreed, you will definitely get angry. Although our family is an old man who has served for a long time, this temper can't stand it, so I came to find him. When it came out, who knew...the person was gone.”

Qiu Xunqing: "It's already here, don't rush back, tell me, from last night until now, where have you been and what have you done?"

"Where else can our family be?" Fu Lixing almost knelt down, "Commander, our family is a slave, and we have to serve the master all day and all night. If the master doesn't sleep, we have to poke her around to see if she has any problems." I don't have any instructions, I can't do anything else at all, the master is asleep, and our family has to keep watch at night, at most, we can watch the time for a while, otherwise how can we serve the master the next day..."

"So you have been in Changle Palace?"

"Yes."

"Didn't leave in the middle?"

"Never."

"What about your mistress?" Qiu Yiqing asked, "Never woke up at night, never left the bedroom?"

"Never."

Shen Jiang could see the question and answer: "Mr. Fu, do you want to think about it? You just said that you squinted for a while during the night watch, so others can't go out for a stroll while you are sleeping to death." ?”

Fu Lixing: "...When our family was stupefied, the mistress was also resting. How could I have that time? Isn't it ashamed to be seen?"

Shen Jiang didn't ask any more, anyway, the timeline was ambiguous, and they couldn't prove each other, and there was no comparison.

Ben and Ann came quickly.

Led to the scene by the imperial guards, his pace was not slow, and he walked steadily step by step. When his eyes slid past the corpses on the scene, there was obvious thought in his eyes, but nothing affected his movements. The posture of saluting is smooth and smooth, so perfect that there is no fault: "Commander."

Qiu Yiqing took out a round jade tablet engraved with the word 'longevity': "Can Mr. Banchang recognize this thing?"

Ban and An nodded: "It belongs to my Longevity Palace."

"This item should be kept by the factory owner himself."

"According to the rules, yes."

"Then why don't you hurry up and explain?" Fu Lixing's eyes were dark, "What did you plan in your heart, how did you kill the person, why did you kill, and the first two, Lord Xing and Mrs. Shan, were you also the one who did it? What kind of deep hatred, Banchang Gong has to do it himself?"

As if feeling that he was too aggressive, R&F paused again, and his tone slowed down: "It's about to be the Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone is very busy and there is no time to waste, Banchang Gong will help out, explain it earlier, and everyone can relax earlier. "

After listening to his call, Ban Hean rolled his eyelids: "It doesn't count if you have been fighting in the harem for half your life. In front of the commander today, you dare to catch the thief and blame our family? Are you investigating the case, or Commander?"

"you--"

Ban He'an ignored him, and cupped his hands at Qiu Suqing again: "Although our family knows this item, according to the rules, it should be kept by our family, but there is not only one such palace card, and Ningshou Palace needs to go out of the palace to distribute it. During this process, the jade plaque is kept by the palace staff. If the mission takes a long time, there is a risk of losing it. Half a month ago, Ningshou Palace lost a piece like this The brand name has never been recovered.”

Fulixing let out a pooh: "You have found a good excuse——"

Ban Hean was unmoved: "When the palace card was confirmed to be lost, our family had already reported the loss to the Empress Dowager and Empress Empress respectively, and reported the loss to make up for it according to the rules. If the commander has any doubts, he can ask Kunning Palace to check the records."

His face was very stable: "The lost things are contaminated with foreign affairs, and they are dangerous to carry. If our family wants to harm others, there are some ways to do it quietly. There is no need to get involved in the risk yourself. This is what a fool would do."

Qiu Xunqing: "Then why this object appeared on the deceased, Banchanggong does not know."

Ban He'an: "I really don't know."

While listening to the conversation, Shen Jiang jumped up the high wall, watched the scene all over, and jumped down only to realize that until now, the young master has never said a word.

"What's wrong?" He walked up to Ye Baiting, "Why are you frowning, looking sad?"

"I'm thinking about this poison..."

Just as Ye Baiting was about to speak, he paused in thought. He looked around and stopped talking: "I'll take the deceased back to Beizhen Fusi for a careful autopsy, and I'll leave the scene to you?"

Seeing that the recording of the corpse had been completed, Shen Jiang ordered a small team of Jin Yiwei to carry it and escorted the young master back: "No problem, there are me and the commander here, and nothing can go wrong."

Chou Xunqing was asking questions, Ye Baiting didn't bother him, just looked at him from a distance, without saying anything, the two exchanged glances, and there was a tacit understanding between them.

Afterwards, Ye Baiting went back for an autopsy, Shen Jiang continued to investigate and record everything on the scene, and questioned the young eunuch who was the first to discover the corpse, and Qiu Yiqing visited the high-ranking people in the harem again, where Shen Jiang was inconvenient to go, inconvenient Whatever he does, he does it himself.

……

Beizhen Fusi, Wu Zuofang.

The first important detail Ye Baiting discovered was that the deceased had drunk alcohol.

The amount of alcohol he drank was not large, maybe only one or two sips, or a small cup, the amount that most people would not get drunk, and the taste was also small, so he didn't smell the smell at the scene at the time. When looking at the details, it smells wrong, it's the smell of wine.

The dress on Guan Yin Mengqiu's body is the standard clothes in the palace, which is the same as every time I saw her in the past.

There are many rules in the palace, and the hierarchy is strict. What kind of status and status must be worn, what kind of clothes must be worn, small palace ladies, big palace ladies, female officials, and different positions have different styles. You may be different from others, but you and others may be different. You yourself, wear the same every day.

This is not suspicious, what is suspicious is the state of her clothes.It is not freshly washed, sorted and folded. It is a unique state trace when it is changed every morning. In addition to the creases pressed by my prone posture, this dress also has many creases in other places, such as elbows, For example, where the shoulders move, such as the knee bend...

Regardless of whether the clothes are dirty, dry, or tidy, such traces prove that it has been worn by people for a long time, and it needs to be kept busy to leave such many and deep creases. Compared with Yin Mengqiu's workload, she should have worn this suit for a whole day.

The time of her death was at dawn, she didn't change into the clothes she was going to wear today, and she was still wearing the same outfit as yesterday, did she... Didn't rest at all?Still haven't planned on going to sleep?What did she want to do, where did she go, who did she meet?

A small amount of alcohol, is it drunk by yourself, or with others?

If you drink by yourself, there is always a purpose, whether it is to relieve your worries, or to please yourself, it seems that neither of them will just take a sip?It is also unlikely to drink by mistake. The people in the palace have engraved caution into their bones. The smell of wine is so obvious, how could it be possible to drink by mistake?That's... for drinking with others.

Xing Mingda was also poisoned and drank alcohol before his death. Could it be that the alcohol was not an accident but a necessary factor?To be poisoned after drinking alcohol?

Ye Baiting carefully recalled the dossiers and documents sent back by Qiu Xingqing at that time, and checked all the items for the banquet given by the palace that day, including wine, vegetables, chopsticks, spoons, bowls and dishes, no matter what they used for food and drink, they were all inspected. Only the glass of wine that Xing Mingda drank was poisonous, and everything else was clean.

The emperor was present that day, and the rules were strict, how did this poison get into Xing Mingda's wine, who put it in for him, and who can touch his wine glass?

Yin Mengqiu was the female official who was in charge of serving the dishes that day, she was the most likely to be the one, so they focused on following and asked the most questions... She didn't do it?Was she being used, or did they think wrong in the first place and fell into someone else's trap?

While mobilizing her brain to think, Ye Baiting undressed and conducted more tests on the body of the deceased to confirm, for example—whether Yin Mengqiu had a child or not.

The answer is born.

She has tiny stretch marks on her lower abdomen that haven't healed for many years, and there are also obvious birth scars below.Years have passed, and the wound has healed long ago. The pain is definitely painless, but the impact of childbirth on a woman is sometimes difficult to eliminate.

There is no need for Qiu Qing to look for other evidence, her body itself is the evidence...

The post-mortem work was carried out step by step. Ye Baiting had a flash of inspiration at the scene, and now he had more ideas. Slowly, some were confirmed, and some still had doubts, but it didn't matter. It's pretty clear now.

He immediately picked up a pen and wrote down the key clues on the rice paper, which was sent to the palace.

When Qiu Yiqing saw the note, she didn't stay idle for a moment, and she and Shen Jiang re-divided the work and acted separately.

He went to Yin Mengqiu's room first, it was clean and tidy, there was no alcohol or even the smell of alcohol.

Flying over the palace wall and eaves, looking down and observing, tracking all the way, expanding the scope of search, and slowly approaching Changle Palace again.

Fu Lixing greeted him with a smile: "The commander has worked hard, and the investigation is over so quickly? Come in for a cup of tea?"

Chou Yiqing remained expressionless: "Everything I want is here, Mr. Fuchang, you are very dangerous."

"I'm wronged, Commander, we didn't do anything! It must have been done by those people in the west. They framed you and brought you to our house!" Fu Lixing was aggrieved on the spot, "Please, Commander! , you must not be deceived by those dirty-hearted people, you must be aware of the details, and don't mistake the murderer!"

He was busy here, and Shen Jiang was not idle either. After inspecting the scene, he did not stay in the palace any longer and left the palace gate.

The place of Yin Mengqiu's death is ambiguous. It is next to the palace wall, but outside the palace. Since it is so subtle, it is impossible to be sure that the murderer is in the palace, so it is possible that the murderer is outside. Who else is related to this case? Who did it outside? convenient?

Naturally, it was Xing Mingda's widow, Mrs. Tong.

Yesterday the young master just came to ask a question, and he also brought up the grievances of the past. Mrs. Tong kept secret about the affair between Yin Mengqiu and Xing Mingda, and refused to say more. If it was not out of protection, could it be for other reasons?

For example, knowing that Yin Mengqiu will die soon, it doesn't matter if she says it or not.

But how could she, a housewife, know that others would die?

When Shen Jiang said something, Tong's family was also wronged: "I am a woman, and I am at home to guard the spirit of my husband. It is too late to be sad. How can I have the idea to go out and kill people in the palace? Even if I have such thoughts , and that’s not the case.”

Shen Jiang didn't allow her to coax her, and asked directly: "Where have you been from yesterday to now, what have you done, have you ever gone out, tell me."

Tong Shi: "Aside from guarding the spirit of my husband, what else can I do as a concubine, and I don't have time to go out."

"Huh? Why do I smell your place? It smells like wine?"

"The deceased husband was fond of wine. I thought about it, so I will serve him for the last time. I have to change it every day before the funeral..."

After a busy day, night falls and thousands of houses are lit up.

Ye Baiting didn't go to bed to rest, looking through the file in his hand, he felt that there should be a lot of gains today.

The candlelight danced with the wind, and from time to time a sparkle burst out. After an unknown amount of time, the courtyard door finally rang, and Qiu Yiqing and Shen Jiang came back.

"Young master, are you still asleep?"

After a busy day, Shen Jiang was in good spirits, and boldly passed the commander, and was the first to greet the young master: "The night is long and lonely, do you want to have a supper together?"

"Okay."

Ye Baiting closed the file, looked up at the sky, with a smile on his lips: "I'm afraid I will be very busy tonight."