Chapter Thirteen The Eldest Princess【Happy New Year】
On the side of the front hall of Weiyang Palace, the inner study where Liu Che handled official duties was quiet and no one was there, and the court meeting in the main hall had not yet ended.
Huo Qubing walked outside the study in the morning light.
Liu Che hadn't arrived yet, and he was suspected of overstepping his bounds when he entered the study.
He stopped in the corridor outside the study.
Huo Qubing was a man with a rich heart. He never felt bored when he was alone. He closed his eyes and meditated like a statue on the corridor, while rehearsing military battle formations in his mind.
In recent years, he has been preparing for the battlefield.
And always looking forward to that day coming.
Footsteps soon sounded in the distance. Liu Che, wearing a high crown and royal robe, walked closer surrounded by a group of attendants.
Huo Qubing put his hands together and saluted, "I have met your Majesty."
"No need to be formal, come in."
Liu Che's stature is only slightly taller than ordinary people, but he is not angry and has no power, and his energy is as deep as a mountain.
From the perspective of Huo Qubing, who had practiced the Teng She True Intent method, Liu Che's aura became more and more unfathomable.
The emperor cultivates and is blessed with national luck. He achieves twice the result with half the effort and becomes extremely powerful.
The purple aura behind Liu Che is thick, connected with the fate of the country, inseparable and difficult to shake.
The accompanying chamberlains, headed by Dong Xu, stopped outside the door.
In the study, Huo Qubing and Liu Che sat down one after another.
Liu Che looked at him, as if observing his strength after breaking through the Nine Realms, and smiled: "What's the matter?"
"I was ordered to thoroughly investigate the murderer of the Northern Army Lieutenant Liu Huai, and he chased him to the Ruyin Marquis Mansion last night..." Huo Qubing said calmly.
"When I woke up in the morning, the secret guard had sent a message, and I knew about it."
Liu Che picked up the memorial on the low mat and said: "The murderer is hiding in the Marquis Mansion. What do you think? Do you suspect that he is involved with Marquis Ruyin?"
"No, if it is really related to the Marquis of Ruyin, the murderer should not be hiding in the Marquis' Mansion. Other evidence can also confirm that this matter should have nothing to do with the Marquis of Ruyin's Mansion."
Huo Qubing said calmly: "I thought the murderer might not be the main culprit."
"You suspect there is someone else secretly."
"Your Majesty has learned clearly.
The other party acted carefully and was able to kill even important officials in the court, so the plan must be quite big and cannot be accomplished by just Xia Jie."
Liu Che pondered for a moment: "Continue talking."
"I plan to investigate from several aspects at the same time. The first is that Xia Jie's practice is quite special, and the yin energy in her body is as thick as a ghost.
Secondly, when Lieutenant Liu died, he was plotted with a special spice and fell into a coma first.
Liu Huai also practiced spiritual practice. This kind of spice can affect him just by its smell, so it must be a rare thing.
In addition, the criminal Xia Jie and others came and went from Chang'an, and they all had biographies and other items... These doubts can be used for subsequent investigation."
Huo Qubing was very clear and eloquent: "The most important point is that people hiding in the dark continue to commit murders. What is the ultimate goal?"
Liu Che finished approving the memorial in his hand and looked up at Huo Qubing: "What do you think their purpose is?"
"They killed four people in total. I re-checked the case files of the four people who were killed. Most of them were courtiers, with both civil and military skills, and high and low status. There seemed to be no rules, but I thought the other three people who were killed were just smoke.
Only Liu Huai is their real target."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because...the Northern Army lieutenant is probably their target.
Liu Huaishen dies, who does Your Majesty intend to replace the Northern Army Lieutenant?" Huo Qubing said.
"There were originally three candidates. One was to have Guo Jigong, the deputy general of the Northern Army, increase his rank to replace Liu Huai. The other was Huaiyang Marquis Xuzhe, and Zhang Cigong recommended by Wei Qing.
Do you suspect there's something wrong with one of them?"
Liu Che said in a deep voice: "The people in the dark want to control the Northern Army and control part of the survey and defense of Chang'an City?"
"I do have this suspicion, because only reciprocal benefits are worth taking such a big risk. The assassination of the Northern Army lieutenant would not be as simple as creating panic," Huo Qubing said.
The murder of Liu Huai and others seemed complicated and strange, but Huo Qubing was not confused by the case itself.
He jumped directly out of the case, looked at Liu Huai's murder from the perspective of the other party's purpose and profit, and found another direction from the chaos.
Liu Che also felt that Huo Qubing's judgment was very convincing.
The monarch and his ministers talked in the study for about a quarter of an hour before Huo Qubing excused himself and left.
————
Winter noon.
A manor on the outskirts of Chang'an City, with high walls and green tiles, and a deep courtyard.
Princess Pingyang also has a mansion on the outskirts of the city, enclosing a large area of Nuo Da. The surrounding mountains are clear and the scenery is beautiful.
In the afternoon, she received news from the city that Huo Qubing had forced his way into the Marquis's mansion and acted domineeringly.
According to the narration of the person who sent the message, Princess Pingyang remained silent and there was not much color on her face.
The clerk who came to summon us was in his thirties and was a confidant of Chamberlain Liu. He carefully considered his words: "Not only did Huo Shizhong forcefully break into the Marquis's residence, but his attitude was also very arrogant. He also detained Chamberlain Liu and myself."
"Who is the criminal captured by Huo Qubing? Are you sure there is a problem?" Princess Pingyang asked coldly.
"The person who was arrested was a servant girl from the East Courtyard. She is usually normal in the house."
The clerk who reported the news lowered his voice and said: "But the servant girl did show off her skills yesterday, which was very unusual. She seemed very ferocious... There is something wrong with her.
However, after the murderer died, two other corpses were found in the house, one of which was a servant girl from the east courtyard. It can be seen that the murderer was a fake and not from our Marquis Mansion."
Princess Pingyang's face darkened: "Even if he was a fake, how did the murderer get into the house?
If she wants to harm the people in the house, won't my safety also be threatened by her?"
The clerk who reported the news was startled, bowed his head and knelt down, and his body could not help but tremble.
"You go back and ask Chamberlain Liu to investigate this matter thoroughly. Anyone related to it will be shot with a cane, and no mercy will be given lightly!"
Princess Pingyang said: "Okay, please step back."
After the clerk left, Princess Pingyang took a nap for a while. In the afternoon, she returned to Chang'an from the suburbs and went straight to the palace to see the emperor.
Internal study room.
After reviewing the memorial, Liu Che stood up and went to the window to look out at the scenery outside.
The afternoon sunshine was quite good, clear and bright.
Liu Che saw the master of Pingyang Palace following his chamberlain in the corridor on the side of the palace, looking graceful and graceful.
He withdrew his gaze and returned to his seat to review the memorial.
The study was very quiet, with only Dong Xu and two other attendants standing at the door, waiting to be called at any time.
"Welcome the princess!"
Dong Xu's slightly sharp voice came from the door.
Princess Pingyang is Liu Che's biological sister. After Liu Che came to the throne, Princess Pingyang was called the eldest princess.
She entered the study, glanced at Liu Che, who was in the first place, and walked to his right hand side to take a seat.
"The heir of the eldest princess and Marquis Ruyin died young. In the past two years, she has been resting outside the city, but rarely entered the palace." Liu Che divided his mind between two things and wrote down comments in the memorial, speaking warmly.
Princess Pingyang said slowly: "It is true that I have entered the palace less often. I am afraid that people in this city have forgotten me."
Liu Che heard something in her words and said dumbly: "The eldest princess came to the palace because of Huo Shizhong's entry into the Hou Mansion yesterday to arrest the murderer?"
Princess Pingyang muttered: "He is just the son of my maidservant, so I won't come to the palace specifically because of him.
I came here to ask how the investigation went. After all, people in my house are involved. If I don’t ask clearly, I will feel uneasy."
Liu Chedao: "The reason for the matter, Huo Shizhong has told me, the murderer was hiding in the house, controlled the maidservants in the house with strange magic, and pretended to be in his place to hide in the house. It has nothing to do with other people in the house."
"oh?"
Princess Pingyang smiled: "This is as expected. I was thinking before I came here that I have always been very strict with my servants, so I definitely won't let anyone be so bold."
He then asked, "Did Huo Qubing ever plan to frame the people in my house?"
Liu Che smiled and said: "Not only did Qu Bing not organize the people in the eldest princess's house, he also judged that the matter had nothing to do with the Hou Mansion. He said that the Hou Mansion should also be the victim."
Princess Pingyang was silent for a moment: "In this case, Huo Qubing still knows how to advance and retreat. If he dares to talk nonsense, I will not spare him!"
She glanced at Liu Che: "We can let this matter go for now, but has His Majesty been too indulgent towards Huo Qubing in the past few years? He even dared to break into my mansion. If he commits the following crime, isn't Your Majesty ready to punish him?"
You must know that since ancient times, people who have been lax in driving people will eventually suffer from it.
Some people are born as slaves. Your Majesty must not overestimate their philistine thoughts. Once they have an opportunity, they will seize it with all their strength and never let it go. Even if your Majesty wants to use him, you must let him know that there are some things that cannot be overstepped, otherwise he will
He must bear the consequences that he cannot bear.
Only in this way can he know awe."
Liu Che laughed loudly: "The eldest princess is too biased. All her thoughts on curing illnesses are focused on her own improvement. She only hopes to kill the enemy on the battlefield. You are definitely not a philistine person like the eldest princess said.
This time he found out that there was a murderer in the Hou Mansion, and he also helped the Hou Mansion eliminate hidden dangers. He has no faults, so why should I punish him?"
Princess Pingyang frowned and kept silent.
A quarter of an hour later, when she left Weiyang Palace, she turned to look at the residence of Queen Wei Zifu deep inside the palace, and said to the attendant beside her: "Look, how powerful the maid beside me is. Not only did she become the queen herself,
, even her nephew dared to come to my house to arrest me."
In the afternoon, Princess Pingyang returned to Ruyinhou's Mansion in the city and told Chamberlain Liu: "Please take my invitation and invite Shanyanghou to come to my place."