Along the way, Yun Shang and Luo Qingyan didn't speak. Qinyi and Qianzui both thought that Yun Shang and Luo Qingyan were just a little tired because it was too late, so they didn't think much about it and helped them rest.
.
Early on the next morning, Yun Shang was woken up by Qian Zui. Qian Zui's face was full of panic. He hurriedly took Yun Shang's hand. Before Yun Shang could recover, he had already started walking.
He said: "Mother, it's not good, Yuqin is dead, and Uncle Liu outside the palace is also dead..."
Yun Shang's eyes were still filled with confusion as she had not fully woken up. After hearing what Qian Zui said, she was still a little confused: "Dead? What died? How did you die?"
Qianzuo quickly repeated: "Mother, it's Yuqin, and Uncle Liu, who was Wen Po's family member more than 20 years ago, are both dead. They were both killed with a knife on the neck.
.”
Seeing that Yun Shang didn't speak, Qian Zui asked again: "Madam, do you want me to send someone to investigate carefully? Both Yuqin and Uncle Liu were under the guard of secret guards, and something like this happened, and the other party only
I’m afraid that my strength is not weak.”
Only then did Yun Shang come back to her senses. She held the quilt tightly with her hands and looked a little pale. After being silent for a long time, she sneered: "No need, I know who the murderer is."
When Qian Zui heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and then he quickly asked: "Do you know who the murderer is?"
Yun Shang nodded lightly, the coldness in his eyes became even stronger. Who else could be involved in this matter besides Xia Huanyu? Last night, he made a special trip to get the picture of the beauty and gave them a stern warning. Seeing that they had no intention of stopping, he
Deliberately ordering people to kill Yuqin and Uncle Liu was just to tell her that all their actions were under his control, so that they would know how to retreat when faced with difficulties and not continue to investigate.
Yun Shang smiled, but the more Xia Huanyu acted like this, the more she wanted to know the identities of Liu Yinfeng and Xia Houjing. However, Xia Huanyu was keeping a close eye on her these past two days, and she also
Don't be too hasty.
"Then Madam, how should we respond?" Qianzui looked at Yun Shang's face carefully and asked.
Yun Shang raised her eyebrows and then lay back on the bed. The corners of her mouth curled up slightly: "There are only a few days until New Year's Eve. This year is the New Year's Eve of His Majesty's first year on the throne. There is no room for carelessness. I will sleep again."
In a little while, go and call Aunt Qi and Aunt Qiu over and tell me how the preparations for the New Year's Eve palace banquet are going."
Yun Shang suddenly changed the topic, which made Qian Zui couldn't help but be stunned. It took a while before she realized that what Yun Shang meant by saying this was to stop her from pursuing the matter further.
Qianzuo responded quickly and asked softly: "I ordered the kitchen to prepare breakfast for your Majesty. What do you want to eat today?"
Yun Shang thought for a while: "Let's make some barley and red bean porridge. This Jincheng is very humid. The barley and red bean porridge will remove the moisture. For the rest, just prepare some pastries and side dishes."
"Yes." Qianzui agreed, then lowered the bed curtain and exited the inner hall.
Yun Shang said she would only sleep for a short while, and it turned out to be just a short while. In less than half an hour, Yun Shang called someone in to serve her and got up. Aunt Qi and Aunt Qiu were already in the hall.
Waiting.
After Yun Shang had breakfast, he announced the two of them to come in. After taking a sip of tea, he asked: "How are you preparing for the palace banquet?"
Aunt Qi hurriedly said: "It's basically done." After saying that, she handed several brochures to Yun Shang, "These are the banquet layout and seat arrangement for the palace banquet, as well as the preparations for the Tai Chi Hall.
Various utensils and location diagrams, as well as the list of meals, drinks and performances prepared for the palace banquet. The original empresses of each palace have become concubines and concubines this year, and all the costumes need to be made again according to the regulations.
The service patterns of each palace are also included."
Yun Shang nodded, took it, looked at them one by one, and then smiled and praised: "Emerald green sunflower bowl, imitation brother glaze chrysanthemum petal bowl, imitation Longquan glaze sunflower plate, lapis lazuli blue glazed bowl...
Fortunately, I have you, otherwise I wouldn’t know how to start, I’m afraid I’d get dizzy just by looking at the names of these appliances.”
When Aunt Qi and Aunt Qiu heard this, they were overjoyed.
Yun Shang smiled again and said: "The Chinese New Year is coming soon, have everything in the palace been decorated?"
"Everything is basically ready. There are also imperial gardens in each palace, and red lanterns have been hung up. I just hung them up yesterday. I walked around and looked at them last night. They are so beautiful. Spring couplets, door gods, New Year pictures, and window grilles.
I have them all one by one, just waiting for them to be posted together on New Year’s Eve.” Aunt Qiu quickly stepped forward to answer.
"Oh?" She had been thinking about those things last night because of the life experiences of Liu Yinfeng and Xia Houjing. Although she left Weiyang Palace, she didn't notice it. However, Taihe Palace had already
She had seen it being arranged, so other places must have been prepared as well.
"That's good." Yun Shang smiled and nodded, then returned the booklet to the two of them: "Just do it according to your ideas. I believe you. If you need anything, just come and report it.
yes."
Aunt Qi and Aunt Qiu agreed and then retreated.
Yun Shang took the book and read it. Halfway through, she saw Peilan poking her head at the door of the inner hall, and asked with a smile: "What is Peilan looking for?"
Peilan was startled, and hurriedly walked in and said: "The servant is looking for Pinellia ternata. Just now, Grandma Qi asked the servant and Pinellia to take people to clean the house in the side hall. She said that the Chinese New Year is coming soon, and today is a good day.
I cleaned every place in the palace, but I couldn't find Pinellia ternata, so I thought that Pinellia ternata might be in the queen's room, so I came to take a look. I saw the queen reading a book, so I didn't dare to disturb her."
Hearing this, Yun Shang raised his eyes and glanced at Qianzui. Qianzui shook his head and said, "I didn't see you. Maybe I was called away by Aunt Qinyi. Aunt Qinyi went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I'm afraid there are many people there."
Gotta be busy."
Yun Shang nodded and told Peilan: "Since you can't find Pinellia ternata, you can go find Qinghao and clean it together."
Peilan responded quickly and retreated hastily.
Yun Shang didn't care. She lowered her head and read for a while, then had lunch. Just as she was about to take a nap on the soft couch, she saw Peilan running over in a hurry, with a look of panic on her face:
"Empress, it's not good, Banxia is dead."
Yun Shang was startled, sat up straight, looked at Peilan and said, "What's going on?"
Peilan was probably a little frightened, her face was a little pale, and she was speechless for a long time with her mouth open. She quickly poured a glass of water and handed it to Peilan, comforting her softly: "Don't worry, drink a glass of water and take it easy."
Wait, tell me carefully, what exactly did you find?"
Peilan took the cup, his hand still trembling slightly, drank some water, and spoke after a long while: "Just now, the servants and Qinghao took people to clean the West Side Hall. There is no one in the West Side Hall on weekdays, and some miscellaneous things were mainly placed there.
In one of the rooms, there were some old chairs that were probably replaced earlier, so the servant asked people to move those chairs away and dispose of them, but unexpectedly, Banxia’s body was found behind those chairs.”
Corpse, corpse again? Yun Shang frowned, feeling a sense of powerlessness in her heart. Can't this Chinese New Year allow people to live happily?
Yun Shang stood up and asked Qian Zui to get a cloak and put it on. He gathered up his clothes and walked out of the main hall. He passed through the round arch on the left side of the courtyard in front of the main hall and entered the west side hall. The door of the side hall had been blocked by green.
Hao stood guard and did not disturb anyone except the palace servants who came with them to clean up.
Yun Shang entered the side hall and saw that Banxia's body had been carried out and placed in the yard.
Yun Shang knelt down and checked carefully. He must not have been dead for a long time. The skin was still somewhat elastic. There was a wound on his neck that was not very obvious. The blood did not flow much. There was no damage at all elsewhere.
Yun Shang looked at the wound on his neck. Although the wound was not obvious, it was a fatal blow. The murderer must have used an extremely sharp knife and struck very quickly.
"Take her in and search her carefully." Yun Shang said softly.
Qianzuo quickly agreed and asked Qinghao to take Banxia's body to a room in the side hall. Qinghao carried the body inside, then walked out and stood guard at the door.
Not long after, Qian Zui hurriedly walked out, holding something in his hand.
"Empress, this slave found this from Banxia's body." Qianzui said, opening his hand, and Yun Shang saw that what Qianzui was holding was a sachet and a jade pendant.
Yun Shang took it, first picked up the jade pendant and looked at it carefully. The jade pendant was all white, and it was the finest mutton-fat jade. There was the logo of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the jade pendant. Yun Shang raised the corner of her mouth coldly, a palace man, how could he
Is there such a good jade pendant? Even if the master rewards it, there is no way he can use such a good item.
Yun Shang put the jade pendant aside and picked up the sachet, but found some brown pills in the sachet. Yun Shang put the pills on the tip of her nose and sniffed gently. The pills in the sachet
But there are three or four kinds, some are used to aphrodisiac, and some are intoxicating drugs.
Yun Shang squinted her eyes and had some guesses in her mind. She raised her head to look at Qian Zui and asked softly: "You looked at the wound on her neck, is it the same as the wound on Yuqin and Uncle Liu's neck?
"
When Qian Zui heard the words, he nodded quickly: "I also want to talk to you about this matter. What does the wound on Uncle Liu's neck look like? I have never seen it, but the knife on Ban Xia's neck is like that."
The wound is exactly the same as the one on Yuqin's neck. The wound doesn't look too serious, but it is very deep. It killed him with one knife. It was clean and neat. You can tell at a glance that it was done by someone with extremely high martial arts skills."
Qian Zui thought for a while, then lowered his head and whispered in Yun Shang's ear: "By the way, Madam, I haven't seen Shen Ke for a long time. Could it be that Shen Ke..."
Yun Shang smiled, shook her head, the smile in her eyes became a little colder, and said lightly: "The people who died last night were probably Shen Ke."
Yun Shang was stunned for a moment, with a bit of disbelief on his face, and then he said calmly: "Go to the kitchen to make some Ningguo-style pastries and deliver them to the Palace of Supreme Harmony. Go there in person and deliver them to the Supreme Emperor. Then tell him
He, I would like to thank the Supreme Emperor for eradicating the traitor for me." (To be continued)
