Long Yuan and Xuying found the housekeeper's residence, but they arrived late. Nine members of the housekeeper's family, old and young, were all killed by sharp blades. Even when Longyuan and Xuying came to the door, the people on the ground were
The blood is not even dry yet.
Obviously, the murderer just arrived a moment before them.
No traces or clues left by the murderer were found at the scene. Long Yuan and Xu Ying looked at each other and shook their heads. Suddenly, Long Yuan slapped his forehead and said to Xu Ying in a hurry: "Go back to the palace quickly!
"
Xuying asked: "What happened? When did it happen?"
"We'll talk about it when we get back!" Long Yuan didn't have time to explain, so he left a few Imperial Guards behind and asked them to report the case to the county government. Then, he and Xuying took the rest of the Yulin Guards and Imperial Guards and hurried back to the palace.
When he arrived at the palace gate, Long Yuan got off his horse and asked in a deep voice: "Who is on duty today?"
A Sima of the Forbidden Army quickly stepped forward, bowed his hands and saluted, and said: "General Long Yuan, you are on duty today!"
Long Yuan looked at him intently and asked: "Who can leave the palace today?"
Hearing this, Xu Ying suddenly revealed a look of realization. Today they were ordered to search the West Palace. This was an emergency and no one knew about it in advance. The real culprit behind the scenes could not have sent people to kill the family members of the housekeeper in advance.
It must have been that the real culprit behind the scenes informed the matter and then spread the news outside the palace, causing all nine members of the steward's family to be silenced.
Then, they only need to find out who left the palace today, and it will not be difficult to find the real culprit behind the scenes. Xuying looked at Long Yuan with bright eyes, and secretly raised his thumb. Long Yuan was really alert and as careful as silk.
ah!
After hearing Long Yuan's question, Sima of the Forbidden Army thought about it and said: "This morning..."
As soon as he started talking, Long Yuan interrupted: "Let's start with the people who left the palace at this time!"
The Sima of the Forbidden Army paused, thought about it carefully, and murmured: "Except for General Long Yuan and General Xu Ying, the only people who have left the palace have been... the only ones who have left the palace are the Shishi from Yeting!"
Long Yuan raised his eyebrows and asked: "Stone Temple man?"
"Shiyuanshi eunuch!"
Eunuch is an official name, and he is the lowest official among eunuchs.
There are two major systems in the palace, one is the Yeting system and the other is the Yongxiang system. The Yeting system is mainly responsible for managing the food, clothing, housing and transportation of the palace personnel, while the Yongxiang system is responsible for managing people, including the maids and chamberlains of the palace.
The Yeting Ling and the Yongxiang Ling were usually held by eunuchs. They were of the same rank, and their salaries were both six hundred shi.
However, the affairs that the Yeting Order is responsible for are many and complex, including the Yeting Prison. Therefore, there are many more people in the Yeting system than in the Yongxiang system. In terms of officials alone, there are 160 people in the Yeting system.
There are seventy people, while there are only thirty or forty officials in the Yongxiang system.
Purchasing in the imperial palace also belongs to Ye Ting, so Ye Ting's officials will often enter and exit the palace. If Ye Ting's eunuchs use the excuse of going out of the palace to purchase, the imperial army will usually not stop them or ask more questions.
After the Forbidden Army Sima finished speaking, Long Yuan and Xu Ying looked at each other and immediately realized that there was something wrong with Shi Yuan. The two of them did not waste any more time and immediately searched for Shi Yuan throughout the city.
Unfortunately, not long after the search operation for the two men was launched, they received news from someone sent by Dong Xuan, the commander of Luoyang, that people had discovered Shi Yuan's body in a well in Beicheng District.
Long Yuan and Xuying rushed to the scene immediately. When they arrived, Dong Xuan was also there. Shi Yuan's body had been fished out. His fatal injuries were exactly the same as those of the steward's family. They were all used.
The sharp blade slit the throat. The wound was very thin and smooth, indicating that the person who did it was very fast and killed him with one blow.
The eunuch in the palace died outside the palace and his body was thrown into a well. This made Dong Xuan frown. As the order of Luoyang, he could not escape his involvement in this matter.
Seeing Dong Xuan's worried look, Xuying smiled bitterly and said: "County Magistrate Dong, you don't have to worry about this matter!"
After Dong Xuan heard this, his eyes just flashed, and then without asking any more questions, he immediately bowed his hands to Xuying and said, "In this case, I would like to thank General Xuying!"
Since Long Yuan and Xu Ying are willing to take over this matter, it is obvious that Shi Yuan's death is not simple, and it may involve secret matters in the palace.
As a foreign minister and a mere county magistrate, I should try not to interfere if I can. If I can push this hot potato out, I should push it out as soon as possible.
After tracing a large number of cases, Long Yuan thought of all the clues he could think of, but without exception, the other party cleared all the clues without leaving any clues.
On the way back to the palace, Xuying looked around and asked in a low voice: "Long Yuan, do you think this matter was done by the person in the middle palace?"
Changqiu Palace is also called the Middle Palace. The nobles live in the West Palace and the prince lives in the East Palace.
In Xuying's view, Guo Shengtong is a bit arrogant and domineering, but can she really be so thoughtful and vicious?
Long Yuan glanced at Xuying, shook his head, and said nothing. There were more and more people in the palace, but it became more and more uneasy.
When Liu Xiugang made Luoyang his capital, there were not many people in the palace. Walking in the huge palace made people feel empty. Sometimes, after walking through several palaces in a row, no one could be seen.
Now, there are thousands of maids and chamberlains.
Both of them returned to the palace with mixed emotions and worries. When they arrived at Qingliang Hall, they met Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu looked at Long Yuan and Xuying and asked, "How was the investigation?"
Long Yuan and Xuying pondered for a moment, looked at Yin Lihua aside, and hesitated to speak. Liu Xiu had always protected Yin Lihua very well, and now that something like this happened, Long Yuan and Xuying felt that it was better not to let Yin Guiren know about it.
Well done.
Liu Xiu said expressionlessly: "But it doesn't matter."
Just looking at the expressions of Long Yuan and Xuying, Liu Xiu knew that things were not going well. He could not always stay by Yin Lihua's side and protect him all the time. She should also be allowed to see some of the dark side of the palace.
.
Long Yuan took a deep breath and then told Liu Xiu exactly what happened.
After hearing this, Liu Xiu's face turned gloomy, and Yin Lihua's face was also full of shock. She didn't know that in order to add contraceptive drugs to her diet, the other party not only bribed the steward of the West Palace Dining Room, but now that the matter was exposed, he actually
The poisonous hand killed the whole family of the nun in charge, and even the people who were sent to the palace to report the news were not spared.
"This is unreasonable!" Liu Xiu clenched his fists and said in a deep voice, "Xuan Ye ordered you to come and see me!"
There was a problem with one of Ye Tingling's subordinate officials. Of course Liu Xiu wanted to find Ye Tingling and ask him clearly.
In the past, Xu Xiling held the post of Ye Tingling. Later, she became a beauty and became the emperor's concubine. The post of Ye Tingling was naturally transferred to others.
The eunuch Zhang Chong is currently in charge of Yetingling. The moment he walked into the courtyard of Qingliang Palace, Zhang Chong's legs became weak.
In the courtyard, there were Yu Lin Guards standing on both sides. Each of them had frosty faces, knives in their eyes, and a murderous aura. Zhang Chong walked up to Liu Xiu, knelt down on the ground with a thud, and stammered.
: "Slave... I pay homage to your majesty! I pay homage to your noble man!"
In the imperial palace, it is not just the eunuch who has become an official, he can consider himself a minor minister in front of the emperor. Those who can call themselves ministers must have the favor and trust of the emperor.
Liu Xiu looked at Zhang Chong who was kneeling on the ground with a serious face, and asked: "Is Shi Yuan your subordinate officer?"
"Yes! The people from Shisi Temple are officials from Yeting!"
"Where is he now?"
"This... this slave doesn't know!"
"Do you know that Shi Yuan colluded with traitors and secretly murdered noble people?"
When Zhang Chong heard this, his head buzzed, his vision turned black, and he almost fainted from fright. He put his head on the ground and said repeatedly: "I don't know, I really don't know!"
"As a Ye Tingling, you know nothing about the actions of your subordinate officials. What use do I need from you?" As he spoke, Liu Xiu shouted: "Come here!"
Following his words, two Yulin guards stepped out of the queue, stepped forward, stepped in and saluted, and said: "Your Majesty!"
"Drag Zhang Chong down, throw him into Yeting Prison, and interrogate him severely!"
From the end of the Western Han Dynasty to Wang Mang's Xin Mang period, there were many prison systems in the capital and throughout the country. In the capital alone, there were as many as 26 prisons. Liu Xiu became emperor and moved the capital to Luoyang.
Parts of the prison system have been abolished, including Yeting Prison.
But later on, there were more and more people in the palace, and there was a mixture of dragons and snakes. It was inevitable that some of them had unclean hands and feet, or were careless and made mistakes. To imprison these people, the only way to jail them was to set up prisons in the palace. So Liu Xiu abolished Yeting Prison.
Not long after, Yeting Prison was reactivated.
Now, Liu Xiu sent Zhang Chong, who was originally in charge of Yeting Prison, directly into the prison. Zhang Chong felt that his scalp was about to explode. He kowtowed forward repeatedly and begged urgently: "Your Majesty, spare your life! Your Majesty."
Spare your life!"
"Drag him down!" Liu Xiu didn't bother to look at him again. Two Yulin guards took Zhang Chong's arms, one on the left and the other on the right, and dragged him out of Qingliang Hall.
This time, Liu Xiu was furious. Someone in the West Palace dared to drug Yin Lihua. This was no longer a problem involving Yin Lihua alone. If someone drugged Yin Lihua today, someone could drug Guo Shengtong and Xu Xiling tomorrow.
He drugged Prince Liu Qiang, Liu Fu, and King Liu Yi, and even drugged him Liu Xiu.
This palace is still the emperor's home, it has become a place of filth and evil!
Looking at Liu Xiu with a pale face, Yin Lihua gently held his hand and whispered, "Your Majesty, don't get so angry!"
Liu Xiu looked at Yin Lihua, held her hand, and said, "I have made Lihua suffer!" If Lihua's body was not in good condition, he really didn't know how to face her.
Thinking of this, Liu Xiu looked at Pi Tong who was sitting attentively aside, trying to minimize his presence. He said meaningfully: "Weijun, whether Lihua can recover and return to her original state depends entirely on you!"
Pi Tong bowed and said: "Wei Chen will do his best! Wei Chen should do his best!"
This time he finally didn't say try his best, but changed it to try his best.
Liu Xiu looked at Pi Tong and couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly. He then looked at Long Yuan and Xuying and said, "It seems that it's time for me to tidy up the palace."
Long Yuan and Xuying both bowed and saluted, expressing their agreement.
Liu Xiu said: "Zhang Kun!"
"My slave is here!" Zhang Kun trotted up to Liu Xiu and knelt down. Just now Zhang Chong was thrown into Yeting Prison, but he could see clearly.
Ye Tingling is not a small official, he is also a master who walks around in the palace on weekdays.
But now, he was thrown into jail without even a chance to beg for mercy. This made Zhang Kun clearly realize what it means to accompany a king like a tiger, and a cold breeze kept running down his spine.
"You send the noble man back to the West Palace. All the ladies and chamberlains in the West Palace will be sent to the prison to await trial. You will choose the replacement yourself. If there are more treacherous people sneaking into the West Palace in the future, and something like this happens again, I will only take you.
One person is asking!”
Zhang Kun was so frightened that he sweated profusely and kept saying yes. Zhang Kun had followed Liu Xiu for so long, and this was the first time he had seen the emperor so angry.
He didn't even dare to take a breath, so he climbed up from the ground in a panic, hunched his neck, bowed his body, and stood tremblingly next to Yin Lihua, as if he had found a safe haven.
