Consort Zhanzhao

"I heard..." There was a suspicious pause, "The little prince was the first to see the maid who died under the Jinshui Bridge?"

It was Lord Bao who was asking the question, and Zhan Zhao heard his voice was much softer than before, but Zhan Zhao thought this was the proper etiquette for treating royal people, although it was the second time he had noticed this difference, but Let him go.

Zhao Bijia nodded, "It's not the first one either. In the early morning of that day, when the guards entered the palace, I came out of Yaowu Building and went to the Imperial Garden, which is right here." Zhao Bijia pointed, " Two maids ran out and told me that there was a maid lying under the bridge, who seemed to be dead."

Lord Bao nodded while humming, looked at Gongsun Ce and asked, "Can the little prince tell you about the situation that day in detail."

Zhao Bijia thought for a while, and said: "I stood here and asked someone to invite Wu Chengye over. I saw two eunuchs turn him over—"

Gongsun Ce hurriedly asked: "Young Lord, can you see the scar on the maid's face?"

"I see. At that time, I was holding Tuantuan in my arms. I compared the four wounds on the maid's face. They looked very deep, but they were spaced apart. Although they looked like they were scratched by some animal, they should not be cats. At least Not such a big cat."

Everyone has seen Zhao Bijia's cat, but it is an ordinary long-haired white cat. After hearing her explanation, they all understand.

Gongsun Ce and Mr. Bao looked at each other again, feeling that this case was getting tricky, just like what Zhao Bijia said just now, so he raised suspicion and framed it.

Because the scars on the faces of the two corpses in the morgue were obviously scratched by cats in terms of distance alone.

"Little prince, has he ever seen the blood on the maid's face?" Master Bao asked another question.

Zhao Bijia thought about it, shook her head, and said affirmatively, "I don't have it on my body." The iron-blue face of the court lady appeared in her mind, and she said again: "The wound is hideous, and even a little flesh turned out, but there is only blood on the wound. .”

Could it be that it was injured after death?Lord Bao shook his head, and Gongsun Ce asked, "Have you seen any other marks on her body? For example, are there any spots on her exposed hands or face?"

Zhao Bijia knew that he was asking about corpse spots, and the approximate time of death could be determined through this, but a princess raised in a deep palace would never know such things as corpse spots.

"No, her exposed hands and face are iron blue, without any spots."

Gongsun Ce nodded and said in a low voice, "That means he died within two hours."

Several people stood under the Jinshui Bridge for a while, Zhao Bijia saw Zhan Zhao performing lightness kung fu, and even flew under the bridge to have a look.

This is not common. Although there are people who are good at martial arts in the palace, it is absolutely not allowed to fly over the eaves and walls in the palace. So counting the time at Yaowu Building, this is the second time Zhao Bijia has seen someone fly up.

Zhan Zhao looked up and down the Jinshui Bridge very carefully, and then performed lightness kung fu to float back, lightly tapping his toes on the water, but returned to the table in two or three steps.

Zhao Bijia couldn't help but look twice, in exchange for Zhan Zhao's smile like a spring breeze. Although the venue, atmosphere, and accompanying personnel were a bit inappropriate, Zhao Bijia's heart was still pounding.

His face also seemed to be red.

Lord Bao subconsciously coughed twice, and took a step forward to separate Zhao Bijia's and Zhan Zhao's intertwined eyes, "Thank you, my lord, I will take my leave now."

Zhao Bijia looked away and said, "If Mr. Bao still has something to ask, just ask someone to ask."

"Your Majesty understands."

However, Zhao Bijia doesn't live in the Royal Garden, so he still wants to go out with them. After walking two steps, Gongsun Ce frowned suddenly, "The four scars on his face... were not scratched by cats, could it be that they were scratched by people?" caught?"

Bao Zheng also remembered what Wu Chengye had said at the time, that the scars on the court lady's face were punched out by the aunt in charge.It was precisely because of his disfigurement that he ran under the bridge in the middle of the night to feel sad.

Zhao Bijia suddenly understood what was wrong with her all the time.

After the No.1 maid died, it was Wu Chengye who investigated the case. At that time, it was blamed on the maid in charge. Even the wound on her face was said to be left by the maid in charge.

But the key point is: servants in the palace are not allowed to keep nails.

If there were no nails, how could such marks be left?

Zhao Bijia told Mr. Bao about his conjecture, and Mr. Bao thanked him again, and then they left.

Yang and An stood behind Gonggong, quietly, as if there was no such person.After the figures of Bao Zheng and the others disappeared, he said: "Princess, there are rumors in the palace...that the civet cat has come back for revenge."

"Civet cat?" Zhao Bijia repeated, and she remembered the case of the civet cat's exchange for the crown prince. Although the emperor had issued a password ban not to discuss this matter, there was a lot of uproar in private for a while.

After all, it is rare to see the empress dowager abolished throughout the ages.

However, according to Yang and An, the timing of the death of the first court lady was indeed very subtle.

The palace lady died three days after her father's birthday.

If it was the skinned civet cat back then... three days would be the limit.

But how was this day chosen? Why not choose the second day, but the third day?Unless the third day is really the day the civet cat died.

Zhao Bijia has a new guess, maybe the person who did this is an insider.She turned around, and Yang and An stood behind her with their heads bowed.

"The people from back then... Who is left?"

Yang and An replied respectfully: "It has been more than forty years since the incident, and all those who handled it back then have been killed by Mrs. Liu. Besides, there is no one in the palace who lived to be over 50 years old..." Yang and An hesitated for a moment, " Queen Mother."

Zhao Bijia was startled and instinctively shook her head.

"You pay attention and ask."

"Yes."

The two went to Zhaoqing Palace one after the other, Zhao Bijia shook his head, and felt that he might be thinking too much.

In this era, when encountering things that cannot be explained or cannot find the truth for a while, they will rely on ghosts and gods.

But... She recalled Concubine Pang Guifei's words in the morning, and said to Yang and An: "You and Yue Ruo should watch closely, don't let Tuantuan go out these days."

With a flash of eyes, Yang Hean understood Zhao Bijia's worry, and said, "Princess, don't worry."

Here Zhao Bijia returned to Zhaoqing Hall, while Bao Zheng has already compiled a list.

Including the palace servants who discovered and disposed of the corpses, the palace servants who had contact with the three court ladies, and the palace servants who guarded the imperial garden these days.

There are a total of 34 people on the list, Bao Zheng sighed silently in his heart, and said: "Mr. Gongsun, let's start asking."

Because it was a case specifically assigned by the emperor, although there was no deadline, it was tacitly accepted that this matter should be handled first, and Bao Zheng had to come in person.

Bao Zheng sat behind the desk, Zhan Zhao stood behind him, and Gongsun Ce sat at the small table in the secret place to record, and there was a school boy rubbing ink for him beside him.

However, after only three people were asked, Gongsun Ce looked at the extremely tall Guard Zhan standing behind Mr. Bao, and suddenly had an idea in his heart.

When the maid went out, Gongsun Ce stood up, walked to Master Bao, bowed his head and whispered in his ear.

Seeing the two of them talking, Zhan Zhao walked out very thoughtfully for a while without even turning his head, so he didn't notice at all that Mr. Bao gave him a strange look after hearing Mr. Gongsun's words.

"Guard Zhan." Bao Zheng shouted.

"My lord, please speak." Zhan Zhao turned around, saw that the two had finished speaking, and then walked back.

"It's not an option to continue asking questions like this." Bao Zheng said, "There are 34 people in the palace who need to ask questions, and some of them may need to be questioned repeatedly. how?"

"Zhan has just entered the Kaifeng mansion, everything is under the orders of Mr. Bao."

Bao Zheng nodded, "That's very good."

It's just that the grouping of these alternate inquiries is a little strange.

Bao Zheng questioned all the eunuchs, and Zhan Zhao asked all the maids. Of course, some key witnesses, such as those who handled the corpse, were all questioned together.

Gongsun Ce watched Zhan Zhao's inquiry for a while, and was very satisfied to continue recording.

Although he didn't want to admit it, as long as Zhan Wei said softly: "Girl, don't be afraid, just say what you know."

Those maids will be so eloquent, they can't wait to say their birthdays.

Of course, it is also very majestic for Mr. Bao to frighten the eunuch with a dark face.

Well, Gongsun Ce stroked his beard, Mr. Bao found the guard Zhan, he really found the right one.

Three days passed, and all the 34 people had finished questioning. Looking at the stack of papers in front of them and the more important confessions specially placed on it, the three frowned in unison.

Bao Zheng said: "These three court ladies all sneaked into the Imperial Garden, no one found them."

Gongsun Ce hummed, and said puzzledly: "Student has one thing that I don't understand." After getting Mr. Bao's attention, Gongsun Ce said again: "If the No. 1 maid accidentally ran to the Jinshui Bridge, but the two behind... Even if you are sad and want to be alone, you will never go down the Jinshui bridge where people have died."

"Mr. Gongsun is right." Bao Zheng said, "This is the first doubt."

Zhan Zhao also continued: "Zhan has checked under the Jinshui Bridge, and indeed there are no signs of struggle or other things. The No. 1 palace lady has been separated for too long, but the latter two must not have been killed under the Jinshui Bridge."

Zhan Zhao paused for a moment, then said, "There is no sign of a cat passing under the bridge."

Bao Zheng sighed, "This is the second doubtful point."

He took out two stacks of confessions, "Why did these two people draw their suspicions to the little prince's cat?"

Gongsun Ce went on to say: "Of the 34 people, 32 said they didn't see it or didn't know about it. There were only these two. The confession said that it was a cat scratch, and it also implied that there was only one cat in the palace. free movement."

Zhan Zhao picked up the confession and looked at it, "One was the one who carried the first corpse, and the other was the one who saw the second corpse."

"This is related to the little prince." Bao Zheng's tone was a little heavy.

"But the little prince also said that the scar on the face of the first corpse was not scratched by a cat." Gongsun Ce continued: "The students also went to see the second and third corpses. The wound was sharp and the size was indeed like a cat scratch. from."

"It's a pity that the first corpse has been burned..." Bao Zheng sighed, "Guard Zhan, Mr. Gongsun, follow me to the palace again."