[Chapter 168, War in Troubled Times-17]

Hearing Yu Hanjiang say that the deceased was Lin Shaobo, the prince's mouth twitched slightly, and his brows instantly twisted into the character "Chuan". Although the eldest son of the Lin family was not the most favored son in the Lin family, he actually died in the palace.

How to explain to the Lin family?

The prince looked at the guards beside him with a sullen face, and shouted in a low voice: "I asked you to search the palace carefully last night, didn't you search here?!"

In the dark night, the pond was full of lotus flowers. It was really difficult to attract attention with a corpse floating under the cover of lotus leaves. The guard was also wronged and explained in a low voice: "My subordinates searched near the pond, but did not enter the pond.

While salvaging inside, it was too dark to see the bodies floating in the pool... No, I didn't expect that Master Lin would slip and fall into the water!"

At this moment, a gentle voice suddenly sounded in everyone's ears: "Young Master Lin did not slip and fall into the water."

This voice seems to come from Mrs. Yu?

Everyone was stunned and turned around - the body was swollen and disgusting at first glance. Mrs. Yu actually didn't mind at all, she saw "she" squatting next to the body with a calm expression, pointing at the body and saying: "

Master Lin also died of murder, but the cause of death was not drowning."

When Yu Hanjiang heard this, he also walked over and squatted next to Xiao Lou, carefully observing the marks on the body.

Xiao Lou pointed to the pieces of clothing tightly held in the corpse's hand and the bruises on the neck, and said softly: "Look, although the marks on his neck are swollen with water, you can vaguely distinguish the fingerprints. The murderer should be

He suddenly attacked him from behind and strangled his neck forcefully. When he struggled, he tore the murderer's sleeve, and the piece of cloth he held tightly in his hand probably belonged to the murderer."

Yu Hanjiang pulled the cloth out of the corpse's hands and looked at it carefully. He frowned and handed the cloth to Long Sen, asking: "Where does this cloth come from? Can you be sure?"

Long Sen took it, compared it carefully with the clothes he was wearing, and said: "It should be the clothes of a guard. The royal guards wear this kind of navy blue clothes. They are uniformly customized and easy to identify."

Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou: "Madam, you think Lin Shaobo was strangled to death before being thrown into the pond?"

Xiao Lou nodded and said: "That's right. If he slipped and fell into the water, he would struggle after falling into the water, then there should be water plants, sediment and other things in the pond in his fingernails, and there would also be a large amount of pond water in his mouth and nose.

Foam and silt.”

Xiao Lou turned the corpse sideways and said: "There is no foam or sand in his mouth and nose." Then he took off the corpse's clothes, pointed to the muscles on the corpse and said: "In addition, because the water temperature is lower than the human body temperature,

After he fell into the water, his muscles all over his body twitched due to the cold, and the stiffness of the body would be obvious. The spots on the body are generally light pink or dark red - but his body does not meet the characteristics of drowning."

Xiao Lou said firmly: "He didn't struggle after falling into the water, which means he was dead the moment he fell into the water. Judging from the degree of decomposition of the body, Master Lin's death time was also around 1:00 o'clock yesterday afternoon, which was very close to the death time of the eldest lady.

near."

Everyone around looked at Xiao Lou in shock. Unexpectedly, Mrs. Yu looked at the corpse without changing her expression, and even made so many excuses. If what Mrs. Yu said was true, then Master Lin was also killed in the palace.

Murdered by people - two people died in the palace within one day? It means that there is a very terrible murderer lurking in the palace!

Thinking of this, the servants' faces became ugly.

Yu Hanjiang stretched out his hand, gently helped Xiao Lou stand up, walked to the prince and said, "The prince must have heard what my wife just said. Judging from the autopsy results, Lin Shaobo was strangled to death and thrown into the hospital.

In the pond, the time of his death was very close to the time when the eldest lady was poisoned. I wonder what your prince’s opinion is on this?”

The prince frowned slightly: "Master Yu, what do you mean by this?"

Yu Hanjiang looked at the prince and said calmly: "Someone in the palace committed a wanton murder and killed the eldest lady and Master Lin in succession. The murderer naturally would not kill these two people for no reason. What was the murderer's motive for the murder?" He deliberately lowered his tone.

The voice said meaningfully: "Could it be that the eldest lady and Young Master Lin accidentally saw something they shouldn't have seen and were silenced?"

The prince thought about it carefully, then nodded and said: "Your Majesty, what you said makes sense." He turned back to look at Long Sen: "Long Guard, call everyone to the front yard immediately. I would like to ask, what happened to the Prince's Mansion at Youshi yesterday afternoon?

Where are people and what are they doing!”

Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou looked at each other.

For this prince to be so calm until now, he is either really innocent or his acting skills are too superb. Yu Hanjiang's words just now were actually a test, but the prince was actually indifferent.

Soon, everyone in the palace gathered in the lobby, and Yu Hanjiang interrogated them one by one again.

Most of the guards were busy in the front yard yesterday afternoon. A group of people in the kitchen can testify to each other. The maids were setting up the banquet. Only a handful of people stayed in the backyard yesterday.

Yu Hanjiang called those who had no alibi to the side hall and interrogated them in detail.

A maid tilted her head and thought carefully, then suddenly said: "By the way, yesterday afternoon Caiyue and I went back to the backyard to get something. When we passed by the lotus pond, we heard a sound in the distance, as if something fell into the water.

We looked for the sound, but there was nothing in the pond, but we saw Guard Qin walking over in a hurry."

Caiyue also confirmed this, saying that she saw guard Qin Rui in the backyard yesterday afternoon, which happened to be around You hour.

The guards are not allowed to go in and out of the backyard of the palace at will - because the guards are all men, and the backyard is full of female relatives. There are differences between men and women. In order to avoid suspicion, the guards usually will not take the initiative to go to the backyard to cause trouble for themselves. Unless they receive an order, otherwise they will not do so privately.

Breaking into a backyard is a serious crime.

Yu Hanjiang asked the prince: "Did the prince send a guard named Qin Rui to the backyard yesterday at Youshi?"

The Eighth Prince immediately denied: "No. The dragon guard was responsible for the security of the palace yesterday. Master Yu can ask him."

After hearing this, Long Sen also shook his head: "My subordinates did not let Qin Rui go to the backyard. There were too many guests coming to the palace yesterday afternoon. We have been patrolling the front yard to prevent the guests from accidentally entering the backyard and affecting the lady. The backyard

The door is always guarded."

Yu Hanjiang called the two people in charge of guarding over, and both of them said: "I have never seen Guard Qin."

Since the gatekeeper had never seen him, how did Qin Rui enter the backyard?

Long Sen followed and said: "If I remember correctly, Qin Rui knows Qing Kung Fu and is very skilled in martial arts. It is not difficult to climb over the wall directly without taking the main entrance."

Upon hearing these words, the prince's face suddenly darkened.

Yu Hanjiang also frowned and thought - it's not easy for a guard to sneak over the wall to the backyard.

The backyard is full of female relatives. Could it be that a certain lady or young lady from the palace is having an affair with this Qin Rui?!

Among the three ladies, Mrs. Yun checked the dinner menu with the chef, and many people could testify for her. Her alibi was the most convincing; Mrs. Qing supervised people cleaning the yard at home, and there were several maids and servants.

All can testify.

Only Mrs. Han - she said she had been sleeping in the house yesterday afternoon, and only two personal maids could prove it.

The two maids, Xiaoxue and Xiaoshuang, were brought by her from her parents' home. They had served her since childhood and were loyal to her. They would say whatever she asked the maids to say. It is possible for personal maids to commit perjury.

, so her alibi is not convincing.

Mrs. Han is weak and ill, and has no strength to kill the eldest lady - but what if she has an affair with the guard?

Guards with high martial arts skills naturally act swiftly and swiftly.

Moreover, Mrs. Han is the mother of the fourth young lady, and I have heard that Mrs. Han has medical skills before. If she had an affair with the guard and was discovered, she would have the motive to kill and silence the eldest lady. She would secretly poison the eldest lady, and then the guard would deal with it and witness all this.

Mr. Lin, it makes sense.

Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou looked at each other and whispered, "Send Qin Rui over."

Qin Rui quickly entered the interrogation side room.

This guard is tall and handsome, and is indeed a talented person.

He looked to be about twenty-five years old, and he had a sword at his waist. He was the most handsome of the guards in the palace. He had changed into a pair of very clean new clothes. I wonder if the old clothes had been used.

Someone tore off a piece.

Yu Hanjiang asked directly: "Guard Qin, why did you go to the backyard at Youshi yesterday afternoon?"

Qin Rui's expression changed slightly, and he explained in a low voice: "My subordinate heard a noise in the backyard and saw a figure climbing over the wall. He was worried that it was an assassin and would endanger the safety of my wife and ladies, so I went to investigate."

Yu Hanjiang stared into his eyes coldly: "If you find the assassin, why don't you report it to the prince?"

Qin Rui said: "The situation was urgent at that time. The man had already entered the backyard, and my subordinates had no time to report."

Yu Hanjiang said: "Why didn't you tell me about this when I asked you last night?"

Qin Rui clenched his hands lightly: "I was worried about causing misunderstanding, so I didn't tell the adults."

Yu Hanjiang said: "Why did you change into new clothes? Where did your old clothes go?"

Qin Rui looked embarrassed and explained: "It was scratched by a branch while tracking yesterday. My subordinate took it back to the house and planned to sew it up before wearing it again."

This set of testimony is completely untrustworthy.

The prince said angrily: "How dare you break into the backyard of the prince's palace without permission!"

Qin Rui immediately knelt down on the ground, clasped his fists with both hands, and whispered: "Your Majesty, my subordinates indeed saw someone climbing over the wall and entering the backyard of the palace, so they chased after him to investigate. I ask Your Majesty to clarify!"

The prince said: "What about the assassin you chased?"

Qin Rui was silent for a moment and lowered his head: "...The man ran away."

The prince slapped the table hard: "It's full of nonsense!"

He glanced at Long Sen coldly and said, "Go and call Mrs. Han."

Long Sen went next door to summon Mrs. Han.

After a while, Mrs. Han came to the side hall. She was sick, her complexion was pale, and she was so weak that she almost fell down when she walked. The prince stared at her and asked directly: "Did you see Guard Qin yesterday afternoon?"

The color drained from Mrs. Han's face and she said in a trembling voice: "Why do you ask, Your Majesty? I have never seen Qin Guards before!"

The prince said coldly: "As far as I know, both you and Guard Qin are from Linzhou. A servant reported that you were unwell and Guard Qin had brought you medicine. Is it true?"

Mrs. Han said tremblingly: "I asked Guard Qin to drop by to grab the medicine..."

The prince slapped the tea table with his palm again, almost smashing the table: "Damn! There are so many maids and servants in the palace. If you want to buy medicine, you need to ask Guard Qin to help you? How dare you two have an affair behind my back?

, you have such a big burden!”
To be continued...