Chapter 251 Brainstorming

At the beginning of the hour, the side door of the noon gate opened slowly, and the old eunuch marched to the door and said aloud, “Go to court!”

The cacophony stopped immediately, and the civil and military officials entered the side door in an orderly fashion, with the civil officials on the left and the military officials on the right, clearly separated.

Upon entering the Noon Gate, those above the fourth rank enter the hall, those below the fourth rank are at the entrance to the hall, and those below the sixth rank are in the square.

The ministers entered the great hall and waited for a quarter of an hour before Emperor Yuan Jing arrived late.

Clusters of eyes fell on the king of the country, trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on in his eyes and expression.

None of them failed, Yuan Jingdi reigned for thirty-seven years, the depth of the heart, the rich experience, the temple can arm wrestle with him few.

Just Wei Yuan and Wang Shoufu, too.

This court meeting was no different from the previous days, and the ruler and ministers played the right game as usual.

“Your Majesty, Chuzhou froze to death tens of thousands of people in the middle of winter, and the Department of Prefecture has run out of money and food in order to provide relief for the victims. I implore Your Majesty to draw up a decree and instruct the Ministry of Revenue to allocate money ……”

“The national treasury is empty, the matter of disaster relief, you can collect donations from the local gentry ……” Emperor Yuan Jing replied.

“Your Majesty, the barbarians in the north have repeatedly violated the border, and after the beginning of spring, the border conflict has become more and more intense, so we have to take precautions.”

“Your Majesty, the King of Zhenbei ignores the barbarians plundering the border, and defends the border city to the death without sending a single soldier, resulting in the displacement of the border people and the heavy casualties, I ask Your Majesty to condemn him.”

Hearing this, Emperor Yuan Jing looked at Wei Yuan, his voice devoid of joy or anger: “Aiqing Wei, what is the situation of the northern barbarians.”

Wei Yuan frowned and said, “At the end of last year, it snowed heavily in the north for several months, freezing to death countless livestock, and I expected at that time that the barbarians would come south to plunder.”

Emperor Yuan Jing suddenly remembered that there was such a thing and frowned, “What about the follow-up? The barbarians came south to invade the border, why didn’t the night watchman receive the news in advance?”

“It was my negligence.” Wei Yuan said.

In fact, it was he who recovered his darkies in the north and transferred them to the northeast.

Emperor Yuan Jing faintly said, “The barbarians in the north are invading from the south, Wei Yuan has been negligent, he is removed from his position as the Left Capital Royal Historian. Fined for one year.”

The hall was quiet for a moment, and dense question marks drifted through the minds of the ministers.

Although the night watchman had the duty of spying on intelligence, it was incidental business. Furthermore, when the northern barbarians invaded southward, and the King of Zhenbei was dead in the water and didn’t even fight, even if he knew in advance that the barbarians were going to invade the border, what was the point?

You can’t blame Wei Yuan for this, can you?

However, it was rare for Emperor Yuan Jing to turn his fire on Wei Yuan, and despite the confusion in his heart, the civil officials immediately seized the opportunity to take advantage of the situation to attack Wei Yuan, exclaiming that the Emperor was wise.

A royal historian stepped forward and emphasized, “Your Majesty, the King of Zhenbei sat back and watched the people suffer from the scourge of the military disaster without doing anything about it, I ask Your Majesty to condemn him.”

Emperor Yuan Jing’s response was just four words, “I know.”

The royal historian returned reluctantly.

The pilgrimage gradually came to an end, and when the backlog of political affairs that had accumulated during this period of time had been dealt with and the group of ministers had stopped presenting their petitions, Emperor Yuan Jing lifted his forefinger and gently tapped on the desktop.

The old eunuch in the python robe stepped out and looked around the group of ministers.

It came …… to the hearts of the eunuchs in the temple.

Fang are normal play right, although the removal of Wei Yuan’s position as the left imperial historian is surprising, but Yuan Jingdi suddenly convened the meeting, definitely not because of this “small matter”.

The old eunuch unfolded the imperial edict in his hand, said aloud: “I have ascertained the beginning and end of the case of Fu Fei, the Empress Shangguan’s instructed the courtesan Huang Xiaorou to kill Fu Fei, framing the Crown Prince ……..

“After I have been chastised, Shangguan’s confessed to its crimes, the Empress is out of order, virtue does not deserve the position, can not bear the fate of heaven. Its on the seal ribbons, dismissed to live in Changchun Palace.”

Changchun Palace is the Cold Palace.

Inside and outside the temple, there was a dead silence.

From the top to the three princes of the first rank, down to the ministers outside the temple, but all heard the content of the edict, all confused.

A low voice rang out in the silence:

“Your Majesty, this matter cannot be.”

Emperor Yuan Jing narrowed his eyes, expressionless as he looked at a green coat that came out of the line.

Wei Yuan’s temples were gray, his eyes precipitated the vicissitudes of the years, and he stared directly at Emperor Yuan Jing.

I don’t know how long it took, but the Minister of Justice and the Secretary of the Da Lisi stepped out at the same time and said loudly, “Your Majesty, the case of Concubine Fu has not been heard by the three divisions, so it cannot be easily concluded.”

Emperor Yuan Jing said word for word, “This is my family matter.”

The new Minister of Rites snatched his body, made a bow, and said loudly, “Your Majesty, the abolition of the Empress is likewise a matter of national importance, and should not be done hastily. I still ask Your Majesty to refer the case of Concubine Fu to the three departments for review before making a decision.”

Although the edict said that the Empress had confessed her guilt. However, the abolition of the Empress was a matter of great importance, and the princes would not agree with Emperor Yuan Jing’s abolition of the Empress without knowing the situation.

“May!”

………

Early in the morning, Xu New Year washed up and headed to the back hall to enjoy breakfast, when from afar he saw Xu Suoyin in a small dress sitting on the steps outside the hall, puffing out her cheeks angrily.

The little figure looked lonely and pitiful.

“Suzume, why are you sitting here?” Xu New Year asked.

Xu Lingyin looked up and ignored it.

“Second brother is asking you.” Xu New Year frowned.

“Mother kicked me out and beat me.” Xu Suoyin sued, “Can second brother help me scold mother.”

Xu Xinxin shook his head.

Little DouDing had a look that said it all, wrinkled his nose and said, “If only big brother was at home, big brother likes to bully mother the most.”

Xu Xinxin entered the hall and sat in his familiar seat, waiting for Green E to serve him a bowl of congee, and as he ate, he said, “Mother, did Suzume piss you off again?”

“No, it’s your big brother who pissed me off.” The aunt said coldly.

“Big brother didn’t even come back …..”

The aunt sneered, “That’s what your big brother is capable of, being absent and still pissing me off half to death.”

Xu New Year looked at his sister and father, who were drinking congee with their heads bowed, and asked, “What’s going on.”

Xu Lingyue whispered, “Suzume ate a bun today, taking one bite and spitting it out, saying that this way she could keep eating it for the rest of her life.”

“Did …… big brother teach you?” The corner of Xu New Year’s mouth twitched.

Xu Lingyue nodded.

Uncle Xu Er added, “After Suzume threw up, she felt sorry for herself and tried to pick it back up and eat it again, and was beaten up by your mother.”

Hsu New Year: ……

He looked down under the table, only to realize that he had indeed spit up a good number of chewed bun crumbs.

“Big brother didn’t come home again today.” Xu Lingyue said in a depressed manner.

Xu Erlang and Xu Pingzhi said in silent agreement, “It’s definitely in the Department of Education.”

………

Xu Qi’an woke up in the backyard compartment of the yamen, the large courtyard was quiet, only an old mandarin hunched over, sweeping the floor in the courtyard.

“How long has it been since this quilt was washed, it smells funny, and the communal dorms are garbage.”

Disgusted, he lifted the covers and got out of bed on his wobbly feet, pushing the window open to let in the sunlight.

This was the public dormitory of the watchman’s yamen for the mandarins and watchmen on night duty to rest. Except for the golden gong, which had an exclusive room, the rest of the rooms were shared.

The sanitation was poor and there was no telling how many people’s children and grandchildren were buried under the thick quilts.

Thanks to the Spirit Medicine from the Sithian Supervisor and his own strong physique, the penetrating wound on his left shoulder had already scabbed over and would be healed in two more days.

On the contrary, the energy from the overdraft of the Heaven and Earth Slash had yet to be recovered, and he was as tired as a leaf of seven thorns, and his body was emptied.

Xu Qi’an poured a cup of tea to rinse his mouth, went to the courtyard to fetch a bucket of cold, clear well water, and after washing his face, headed to Spring Wind Hall.

“Whew, cozy ……”

After finishing the large meal delivered by the mandarins, Xu Qi’an rubbed his bulging belly and contentedly reclined on Li Yuchun’s chair, his feet resting on the desk.

It was at this time that he had time to think about the assassination last night.

“Normally, I leave the palace at exactly the beginning of the shen hour, but yesterday I left the palace after the hour of 5 o’clock because I was lining up the list of people entering and exiting the imperial pharmacy.

“It’s not surprising that the assassins who ambushed me knew my route home, I take that route every day, but how did they time it so well?

“The night watchman looks out from time to time from the roof, so the three assassins couldn’t have been lying on the roof waiting for me, or they would have been discovered by the night watchman on his nightly rounds.

“It is obvious that they know when I left the palace ……. It’s highly likely that the mastermind behind this is someone from the palace, or else there’s no way to explain this.

“Is it the Empress? I just found out clues against her yesterday, and she turned around and sent someone to assassinate me ……. Is it because she doesn’t want me to investigate any further?

“If it’s really the Empress who did it, then Huaiqing and I will have no choice but to divorce.”

Xu Qi’an pinched his brow.

At this time, a black-clothed official entered Spring Wind Hall and was relieved to see Xu Qi’an in the hall, “Just now, I went to the backyard to look for Lord Xu, but I couldn’t find anyone, so I thought that you had left the courthouse.”

Xu Qi’an still rested his legs on the table, half squinting, “I won’t be going into the palace to investigate the case today, so I’ll wait to recuperate from my injuries.”

The clerk nodded and said, “Duke Wei is looking for you, you should go to Haoqi House first.”

Ha, it seems that the matter of yesterday s assassination was known by Wei Yuan, who must have been dumbfounded …… Xu Qi An put down his legs and rose from his chair, “Lead the way.”

Along with the mandarins came to the Haoqi Building, lightly going up to the seventh floor, I did not expect that in the tea room, in addition to Wei Yuan, there are two unexpected guests.

The First Princess Huaiqing, who is as elegant and noble as a snow lotus; the handsome and introverted first son of Emperor Yuanjing – the Fourth Prince.

As Huaiqing’s sibling, the Fourth Prince’s features did not resemble his sister’s, but rather resembled Emperor Yuan Jing for a few moments.

Huaiqing, on the other hand, is somewhat similar to the Empress, except that the temperament of the mother and daughter is so different that the slightest resemblance is called out.

The faces of all three were extremely ugly, Wei Yuan held his teacup in his hand and bowed his head, as if he had not noticed Xu Qi’an’s arrival. The Fourth Prince looked at the sound and nodded slightly towards him.

Huaiqing likewise did not look at Xu Qi’an, frowning and pondering.

“Lord Wei.” Xu Qi’an clasped his fists.

Only then did Wei Yuan raise his head, pointing to the seat beside Huaiqing, and said gently, “Sit down.”

Xu Qi’an took his seat.

“Assassinated last night?” Wei Yuan pushed the teapot to Xu Qi’an, signaling him to pour his own tea.

Having just had his fill of wine, Xu Qi’an poured a cup of tea without drinking it and said with a nod of his head, “The mastermind behind this is related to the case of Concubine Fu, and is in the palace.”

“You suspect it’s the Queen?”

Wei Yuan’s words were too blunt, and Xu Qi’an was momentarily at a loss as to how to reply, carefully glancing at Huaiqing.

Wyvern still didn’t look at him, preoccupied.

The Rapunzel s current appearance is really like a woman facing divorce papers ……. Xu Qi’an muttered in his heart.

“Today, His Majesty proposed the abolition of the Empress at the court meeting, the reason being that the real culprit behind the case of Concubine Fu is the Empress.” Wei Yuan said.

“???”

Xu Qi’an stared at him blankly, the first thought that came to her mind: how long have I been asleep?

How to wake up, but a bit of things are not the same feeling, as if he slept for a century.

The case of Concubine Fu was investigated by his own hands, and every step and every clue was deduced and groped by him. He is still not sure that the Empress is the murderer, what does Emperor Yuan Jing have to go on?

Does he think he’s Conan or Dee?

But then, Princess Huaiqing’s words made Xu Qi’an confused again.

“Mother admits it.”

What areyou talking about?

Xu Qi’an waved his hand, “Sorry, humble servant wants to calm down for a while …….”

He thought for a long time and tried, “His Majesty wants to abolish the Empress because the real culprit behind the case of Concubine Fu is the Empress, and the Empress really admitted it?”

The Fourth Prince nodded.

“Could it be forced?” Xu Qi’an guessed.

“No.” Wei Yuan shook his head, his eyes containing the vicissitudes of life looked at him and said in a deep voice:

“You personally investigated the case of Princess Fu, and no one knows any clues or details better than you. You think about it again, there are not suspicious, unreasonable? Today, the two Highnesses came to the court, in addition to discussing the abolition of the Empress with me, they also have the intention of asking for your help.

“His Majesty has not yet withdrawn your gold medallion, and the princes need time to confirm the matter, and you still have time to look into the case.”

Huaiqing and the Fourth Prince looked at Xu Qi’an at the same time.

The Fourth Prince arched his hand and bowed, “I’m sorry for troubling Lord Xu.”

Xu Qi’an ignored him, his gaze turning to Huaiqing.

This lotus-like elegant and noble princess, her eyes like autumn water scrutinized him carefully, “How are the injuries?”

She didn’t have a proposal for a son, but was concerned about Xu Qi’an’s injuries.

For the sake of your sincerity to admit your faults, there will be no divorce ……. Xu Qi’an let out a “hmm”, “Thank you for your concern, Princess, my humble servant is fine.”

After a pause, he continued, “In the case of Concubine Fu, the Empress did have sufficient motives and reasons to frame the Crown Prince. And according to the clues I found out yesterday, the real culprit behind the scenes does point to the Empress as well.”

The fourth prince interrupted excitedly, “Impossible, mother wouldn’t do such a thing.”

“Don’t be hasty, Your Highness, I haven’t finished.” Xu Qi’an looked at Huaiqing and asked, “Does Your Majesty have any evidence?”

Huaiqing shook his head, “No, it was the Queen Mother herself who admitted it.”

Xu Qi’an frowned, “This is strange, if His Majesty has no evidence, why would the Empress admit it? Since the Empress has admitted it, why would she send someone to assassinate me?”

Therein lies the paradox.

The Fourth Prince sighed, “It’s precisely because I don’t know that I’ve come to find you. Lord Xu, you have repeatedly solved strange cases, so if there is anyone else in the capital who can find out the truth in a short period of time and return Mother’s innocence, then that person is only you.”

Xu Qi’an drank his first mouthful of tea after taking his seat and slowly said, ”When I first took over the case, I felt that the case of Concubine Fu was nothing more than two possibilities: one, the Crown Prince was indeed drunk and disorderly and killed Concubine Fu.

“Two, someone has framed the Crown Prince for the position of the Eastern Palace.

“After surveying Princess Fu’s Qingfeng Hall, I can conclude that the Crown Prince was indeed framed. Then this case falls under the second possibility, that someone is trying to frame the Crown Prince.

“Checking backwards along this line of thought, all kinds of clues are not pointing to the Empress. Frankly speaking with the two Your Highnesses, just a moment ago, I was also suspecting the Empress, suspecting that she had sent assassins to assassinate me.

“But learning that the Empress admitted that she was the real culprit behind the crime, I suddenly became suspicious of the case. The purpose of the mastermind behind the case, then, is not as simple as framing the Crown Prince, it’s killing two birds with one stone.

“But I have a question, the Empress lives in deep seclusion, and the Fourth Prince is not the Crown Prince, so why would the mastermind behind this point the finger at the Empress, and what is the figure? It can’t be the position of the head of the harem.”

Does it make sense to have an emperor who has been abstaining from sex for more than a decade and the throne of the harem lord?

Wei Yuan put down his teacup and sighed, “First of all, whether the fourth prince is the crown prince or not, he is His Majesty’s firstborn son. Secondly, the mastermind behind this is coming at me.”

“???” Xu Qi’an looked at him blankly.

Wei Yuan was silent for a moment and explained, “The Wei family is a family friend with the Shangguan family, and the Empress resumes the surname Shangguan.”

In other words, Wei Yuan and the Empress are political allies, and belong to the Empress’ “relatives.” ……. No wonder Princess Huaiqing is Wei Yuan’s half disciple ……. So Princess Fu’s case is ostensibly a frame-up of the Crown Prince, but it’s actually targeting Wei Yuan?

Wei Yuan undoubtedly belongs to the party of the fourth prince …… A Fu Fei case at the same time to deal with the crown prince party and the party of the fourth prince, awesome …… Xu Qi An secretly staggered.

“Father Emperor dismissed Duke Wei from his position as the left imperial historian at today’s court meeting.” Princess Huaiqing said.

Huh, this is not reasonable ……. Even if the mastermind behind the scenes wanted to weaken Wei Yuan by bringing down the Empress, it would be to undermine Wei Yuan’s “allies” and weaken his power in disguise.

How is it that as soon as the Empress had an accident, Yuan Jingdi immediately dismissed Wei Yuan as a layer of important identity, making it seem as if the mastermind behind the scene is Yuan Jingdi …… Wait a minute, assuming that the Empress is the black hand behind the framing of the Crown Prince, the intention is to support the fourth prince to become the Crown Prince.

When Emperor Yuan Jing knew this, he immediately weakened and hammered Wei Yuan …… What does this mean?

It shows that Emperor Yuan Jing was jealous of Wei Yuan.

Xu Qi’an suddenly understood why Emperor Yuan Jing chose to make the concubine’s son the crown prince instead of the fourth prince born to the empress.

The Empress and Wei Yuan are political allies, if the Fourth Prince is made the Crown Prince, if it were me, I would have trouble sleeping and eating.

Retracting her scattered thoughts, Xu Qi’an put her mind on the case and mentally reorganized the case of Concubine Fu.

As Xu Qi’an fell into thought, the tea room fell silent, with only the gentle breathing of the four of them.

“The crown prince finished drinking from Chen Guifei, met Huang Xiaorou on his way back, and was invited to go to the Qingfeng Hall of Princess Fu …… The crown prince did move to this father’s woman at that time.

“Then Princess Fu fell to her death, and the Crown Prince became a suspect and was imprisoned in the Da Lisi.

“After I found out that Princess Fu was killed and the crown prince was framed, the next day, Huang Xiaorou’s body was found in the Crab Pavilion ….. It’s too much of a coincidence.

“No wonder I felt something was wrong at that time, Huang Xiaorou was silenced instead of committing suicide, so why did the perpetrator choose Crab Pavilion?

“If you kill a person to silence, secretly buried is also better than throwing the body in the well. Take a step back, the deep palace inner court, the well is said to have dozens, even hundreds, but choose a densely populated, easy to be found in the crab pavilion.

“This is fucking intentional, deliberately letting us discover Huang Xiaorou’s connection with the Empress.

“My initial guess was wrong? Huang Xiaorou is not the murderer who killed Concubine Fu, she’s just a prop, a prop that allows us to pin our suspicions on the Empress?

“No, the one who tricked the Crown Prince into going to the Qingfeng Palace was indeed Huang Xiaorou, the Crown Prince will lie, but the guards around him won’t lie. It’s too easy to screen. Moreover, to be able to set up the scene, secretly destroy the guardrail, and know Consort Fu’s habits well enough to know that she was going to be in love with her fake husband, all of this had to be done by a close-knit grand palace maid.

“If the Queen didn’t do all this, why would she admit it? Perhaps there was some reason why she had to admit it.

“What is the Empress afraid of? It’s bound to be related to this case, and the main three people involved in the case are Concubine Fu, the Crown Prince, and palace maid Huang Xiaorou.

“And of the three, the only one with a connection to the Queen is Huang Xiaorou ……”

Huang Xiaorou?

All sorts of chaotic thoughts and speculations flashed through his mind, and Xu Qi’an combined the clues he had gotten with his own to deduce the case step by step.

Thinking of this, Xu Qi’an suddenly awakened to something and fished out a dull-colored yellow silk cloth from his bosom.

It was embroidered with red-colored lotus flowers, as well as a line that read: Spring of the thirty-first year of Yuanjing.

Princess Huaiqing stared at the yellow silk cloth and said, “This is from palace maid Huang Xiaorou.”

“Right!” Xu Qi’an nodded and looked around at the three, finally landing on Huaiqing again, and said in a deep voice, “Your Highness, we only know that the Empress saved Huang Xiaorou, but there are two suspicions, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed them.”

Wyking shook his head.

“First, why did the Empress save Huang Xiaorou?”

“Mother has always been kind and gentle, it is not surprising that she would spend elixirs to save a courtesan.” Huaiqing said.

The Empress may be a good person, but that’s not the point …….. Xu Qi’an shook her head, “Then why is the Empress paying attention to a palace maid? And send Fengqi Palace’s He’er to keep an eye on her?”

“This palace has asked Mother, and Mother won’t say.” Huaiqing frowned.

“Second, why did palace maid Huang Xiaorou kill herself?” Xu Qi’an pointed at the yellow silk cloth and said in a deep voice, “The answer is right here.”

………..

PS: Change before you change.

10,000 words are offered, and I’m begging for a monthly pass.