There was a signal from the secret guard outside. Qianzui walked out and returned to the inner hall a short time later. He said softly to Yun Shang: "Madam, the secret guard is here to report that someone died in Xiangyi Palace today."
That palace maid is the one who was discovered secretly passing letters with the guards patrolling the palace a few days ago."
"Oh?" Yun Shang paused, staring at the lines on the table for a while, then raised his eyes to look at Qian Zui: "Is the palace guard who delivered the letter to the little palace maid following?"
He lightly nodded and said, "It is inconvenient for the secret guards to follow the guards in the Imperial Guards. They have just passed their caution to the hidden stakes in the Imperial Guards, asking them to pay more attention to them. If there is any movement,
You can report it in time."
"That's it..." Yun Shang murmured softly, and after thinking for a moment, he hurriedly said: "Go and bring the guard over, and let the secret guards interrogate him quietly."
Qianzui quickly responded and retreated.
Yun Shang read a book in the palace for a while, and then Qi Ruihai came back. Yun Shang put the book aside, and then ordered Peilan to bring Qi Ruihai in.
"Your Majesty, I also found a small piece of torn paper in the palace maid's room, which is the same as the ones I brought back earlier. Looking at the pattern and material of the paper, it seems to be the same piece of paper." Qi Ruihai held it in both hands.
The small piece of paper was presented to Yun Shang: "On this piece of paper, there is half of the private seal of the empress."
When Yun Shang heard this, he was a little surprised. He quickly reached out to take the piece of paper, held it in his hand and looked at it carefully for a while. It was indeed Yun Shang's half private seal. Although it was only half, Yun Shang could still tell it.
.
Yun Shang held up his hand, and the piece of paper was so small in his hand that it was almost difficult to notice.
"Have you found out the identity of the palace maid? Have the other palace servants who live in the same room with her been interrogated?" Yun Shang narrowed her eyes slightly, with a hint of depth in her eyes.
Qi Ruihai hurriedly bent down to report: "That palace maid was from Concubine Li. There were four palace maids around Concubine Li. The one who died was called Ming Qian. She was the least noticeable among the four palace maids. On weekdays,
She is taciturn and doesn't like to talk much. However, she seems to have entered the palace at a young age. She is less than twenty years old, but she has stayed in the palace for seven or eight years. The other maids in the house were interrogated, but when the incident happened, the other three happened to
None of them are in the house..."
Before Qi Ruihai finished speaking, Yun Shang interrupted quickly: "Wait a minute, the other three people were not in the room when the incident happened? If I remember correctly, the time when the palace maid died should be in the evening, in the middle of the night
, where did those three people go?"
"The examination revealed that the palace maid died at the end of the Yin period and the beginning of the Mao period. The other three palace maids said that at that time, Empress Dowager Li had already gotten up, so the three of them were busy preparing the things that Empress Dowager Li needed.
I went to the imperial dining room to get breakfast. One was preparing things for washing, and the other was arranging for the palace servants to clean up because the wind blew last night and a lot of leaves and petals fell in the yard. Ming Qian was also there.
I wanted to go to the clothes washing bureau to pick up the clothes I had sent for washing, but Ming Qian said she had a headache, so she slept a little longer in the room." Qi Ruihai reported one by one.
"The end of Yinshi and the beginning of Maoshi?" Yun Shang was a little surprised: "Does Princess Li also get up at this time on weekdays? Now there is no need for her to get up early to greet anyone."
Qi Ruihai was slightly startled, pondered for a moment, and then said: "I will go and find out later."
Yun Shang nodded, "So, the other three people in the room were not present. So, did they find anything wrong with Ming Qian?"
"There's nothing wrong, because Ming Qian is a taciturn person. Her emotions and anger are invisible, and others can't tell." Qi Ruihai said softly.
Yun Shang's hand tapped lightly on the armrest, and after a long while, she said: "Let me tell Eunuch Qi a clue. Previously, Concubine Cao told me that Concubine Li once secretly visited me when I was not in the palace.
I printed my private seal on another blank piece of paper, so I sent my secret guards to keep an eye on Princess Li. A few days ago, my secret guards saw the palace servant named Ming Qian working with her in the middle of the night.
A palace guard in the Praetorian Guard secretly delivered the letter."
When Qi Ruihai heard what Yunshang said, his eyes were a little surprised. He thought about it and then asked softly: "In that case, my Majesty, I have two things that I need your help to answer."
"explain."
Qi Ruihai bent over, with doubts in his voice: "The first is, who is the guard who secretly delivered the letter to Mingqian? I want to interrogate it. Secondly, since the empress sent someone to keep an eye on Na Xiang
Yi Gong, did the secret guard notice that you got up early today?"
After Yun Shang heard him finish asking, he asked one by one: "I sent secret guards to interrogate the matter of the guards. The imperial guards in the palace have been strictly trained. Ordinary interrogation has no effect on them, so we should leave it to the secret guards."
Well. The secret guards I sent to keep an eye on Xiangyi Palace mainly focused on two places. One was around Xiangyi Palace to see if anyone was secretly passing on information, and the other was Princess Li's bedroom.
The residence of the palace maids is in the apse, so they generally don’t pay much attention to it.”
Qi Ruihai nodded lightly and said, "I understand."
"I'm telling you this, but I think it's a little strange. There are three people living with Mingqian. It can be said that they were not in the house early today because Concubine Li got up. But in the middle of the night, except for at most one person, they were not in the house.
Everyone else should be there during the night watch, right? Mingqian got up and went out in the middle of the night, and no one noticed it at all? And I feel that this is not the first time Mingqian has done this." Yun Shang raised her eyes and looked at it lightly.
A screen embroidered with bamboo looks toward the distance.
"My slave understands."
Yun Shang nodded: "In addition, Mingqian's detailed information should be recorded in your internal chamberlain. You can get it and send someone to send it over for me to take a look."
Qi Ruihai quickly responded, saluted Yun Shang, and then retreated.
Yun Shang opened her hand and looked at the piece of paper with half a private seal in her hand, but she had some doubts in her heart. Could it be that what Concubine Cao said was true? Concubine Li had indeed escaped Qianzui and Qinyi's attack.
Eyes, secretly printed some private seals.
Of course, there is another possibility, that is, Concubine Cao or Concubine Li quietly took the thing with the private seal and ordered someone to secretly carve a fake seal.
Yun Shang narrowed her eyes slightly and called Qianliu.
Qianliu hurried in from outside, and Yun Shangfang ordered: "Go to the House of Internal Affairs and ask Qin Yi to check. In the palace of Concubine Cao and the palace of Xiangyi, in recent months,
But someone has left the palace."
The sky was getting dark, and Luo Qingyan sent someone to pass the message, saying that he would return to Weiyang Palace later today, and told Yun Shang to just have dinner by himself.
Yun Shang had her meal early, and just after her dinner, Qin Yi came over.
"Your Majesty, what Qianliu came to ask me to check earlier has come to fruition. Because your Majesty was not in the palace a few days ago, I was afraid that someone in the palace would take the opportunity to cause trouble, so I ordered everyone in the palace not to leave the palace to visit relatives.
.Only the palace servants from the first prison, the first palace, the first courtyard and the sixth bureau can leave the palace when they have errands to do. Therefore, during this period, no palace servants from the two palaces that the empress checked have left the palace." Qinyi said softly.
Respond.
This result was somewhat beyond Yun Shang's expectation. Yun Shang frowned and said, "This is strange."
Just as he was saying this, Peilan's report came from outside: "Madam, the eunuch has sent a brochure."
Yun Shang nodded. It must be the booklet containing Mingqian's detailed information. Yun Shang ordered Peilan to send it in, and Fang took it and read it carefully.
Mingqian is from Jincheng, and her parents are still alive, but she has many older brothers and younger brothers. Because her family is poor and cannot afford to raise so many children, Mingqian, as a daughter, was naturally abandoned. Fortunately, her parents are kind.
, couldn't bear the thought of Mingqian being sold to another place to suffer, so he finally sent her to the palace, asking only for a full meal and warm clothes.
Yun Shang took the pen, ink, paper and inkstone, copied the relevant information from the booklet, handed it to Qin Yi and said, "Check it."
Qinyi took it, and Yun Shang thought for a while, took out another piece of paper, took out the private seal, stamped it, and gave it to Qinyi: "Go to various places in the city where seals can be engraved and ask. This one has happened recently.
Some time ago, someone may have used this seal to have it engraved. If so, we must find out who it is."
Qin Yi took it, her eyes fell on the seal, and after pondering for a moment, she said: "If someone wants to engrave the empress's private seal, I'm afraid they have to find a trustworthy place where the information will not be leaked, and engrave the empress' private seal privately.
Seal, but you will be thrown into jail."
"Oh, then others must know that this is my private seal. My name is engraved on my private seal, and it is still written in Ningguo. I'm afraid very few people will recognize it. Moreover, if it is this seal
It’s a lie. The two most suspicious ones have few connections outside the palace, so it’s impossible for them to find the place you mentioned.” Yun Shang pursed her lips and said in a deep voice.
Qin Yi nodded, saluted Yun Shang, and then retreated. As soon as Qin Yi left, Qian Zui hurried in, her eyes full of anxiety: "Mother, that guard is missing."
Yun Shang's hand paused slightly, her brows furrowed little by little, but her voice was very calm: "Can't you even keep an eye on someone?"
Qianzuo hurriedly knelt down and said, "It's my fault. I was keeping an eye on you, but the guard acted respectfully and he disappeared."
"A living person will never disappear into the palace, Cha." Yun Shang said coldly.
On the second day, Yun Shang sent people to investigate, and everything was answered.
The first was Qi Ruihai's interrogation of the other three people in Ming Qian's room. Qi Ruihai had been serving as a prisoner for so many years, and his methods must have been strong. The three people were imprisoned for a night, but someone finally couldn't help but tell the truth.
Someone confessed that Ming Qian secretly delivered the letter, which was a secret known to everyone in their room. They never asked about it, just because Ming Qian delivered the letter on behalf of Princess Li.
Concubine Li was not born high, and her parents and family were far away from Jincheng. As a concubine, she had only been a concubine before, and her status was low. Her family was not qualified to visit the palace, and she could not leave the palace. She had not seen her family for a long time.
The guards in the imperial guard are from the same hometown as Princess Li. Although the discipline in the imperial guard is also strict, the guards are much better than the concubines after all. It is still possible to deliver letters back to their hometown. However, Princess Li is a
The concubine was also not allowed to interact too much with the guards, so Concubine Li always asked Mingqian to secretly pass family letters to the guard, and asked him to help Concubine Li deliver the family letters.
Since it was Princess Li who ordered it, the other three people did not dare to say anything and just pretended not to know.
The second news came from Mingqian's home. Mingqian had not left the palace to visit her family recently, but the secret guards found out something. One of Mingqian's brothers was lured into the palace two months ago.
He entered a gambling house and has been addicted to gambling ever since. He lost a lot of money in the gambling house a few months ago, but because he couldn't pay back the money, he was blocked by people from the gambling house and beat him up on the street, but he was out of the palace to play.
The fifteenth princess rescued him. (To be continued)