socalfunplaces Page 553
Page 553
Biao Biao was very frustrated, which gave Huai Qing the psychological advantage, and even if the case was solved, it wouldn't make up for it!
At this moment, Huaiqing was somewhat troubled by the development of the case.
The fourth prince once complained to her that when he was young, his father, the emperor, valued him highly and often taught him how to be a ruler.
If the Emperor had no intention of making the fourth prince his heir, why would he teach these things?
While Huaiqing was lost in thought, Lin'an summoned the eunuchs and palace maids of Qingfeng Palace again, "I ask you, where is Huang Xiaorou, the palace maid who summoned the Crown Prince to Qingfeng Palace?"
A palace maid immediately replied, "Your Highness, she has disappeared."
Huaiqing's heart skipped a beat. Now that this palace maid has disappeared, this is really interesting.
Based on the current situation, it appears that the people in Qingfeng Palace moved the railings and learned about Consort Fu's habits, causing her to fall to her death.
Therefore, the palace maid who went to invite the Crown Prince to Qingfeng Palace is highly suspicious.
At this moment, Lin'an asked again, "Where did Huang Xiaorou live before she served Consort Fu?"
"At Crab Pavilion..."
Crab Pavilion was essentially a dormitory for lower-ranking palace maids. Once they were able to serve the concubines, they would move out.
At this moment, a palace maid whispered, "Your Highnesses, a woman's corpse was found in Crab Pavilion last night. Rumors are circulating in the palace that it's Huang Xiaorou's..."
Lin'an's eyes flashed, and he said to Lü Qing, who was waiting not far away, "Officer Lü, let's go!"
Lü Qing was very clear about her own role: at most, she was a criminal consultant; she wouldn't ask what she couldn't ask, and she wouldn't listen to what she couldn't listen to.
This person was suggested to Lin'an by Li Chang'an, who insisted that Lin'an bring him along, as he could be of great help in autopsy analysis and could also help Lin'an improve his cognitive abilities.
After all, Lü Qing was a woman, so it was much easier for her to investigate these concubines and palace maids than for a man, and she had far fewer taboos when moving around in the palace.
The group arrived at Crab Pavilion and successfully located the body in the backyard of Crab Pavilion.
As soon as Biao Biao arrived at the door, she saw the somewhat bloated corpse, which was completely different from the corpse of Consort Fu.
Her hurried steps stopped abruptly at the doorway, her instinctive refusal to go forward.
"Ahem! Officer Lü, examine the body for me!"
"Your subordinate obeys!" Lü Qing was used to handling such matters, so he immediately took off the corpse's clothes and began to examine it carefully.
Huaiqing followed him in nonchalantly, and Biaobiao, afraid of losing face, also braced herself and followed closely behind Huaiqing.
Although she sensed Huaiqing's disdain for her, Biao Biao didn't care.
"Your Highnesses, here is a piece of yellow silk." Lü Qing pulled out a piece of yellow silk from Huang Xiaorou's personal clothing.
Unlike commoners, not everyone in the palace could use yellow silk. This particular piece of yellow silk was very meaningful.
On the yellow silk, Huaiqing found a line of words: "Spring of the thirty-first year of Yuanjing".
Neither of the princesses knew the meaning of these words, and Huang Xiaorou had entered the palace earlier than this year.
"Huang Xiaorou drowned, but not immediately after the incident; she was dead no more than a day ago."
"She has a deep scar below her chest, which may be fatal. We need to ask the palace coroner to examine it."
Lin'an immediately made a call, summoning an old palace maid who was to perform the autopsy.
The palace maid, whom people called Rong Momo, was very skilled and quickly came to some conclusions.
“Your Highnesses, Huang Xiaorou’s old wound on her chest is very deep, it almost pierced her heart. This kind of wound is not easy to treat.”
"The year before Xiao Rou went to Qingfeng Palace, she somehow stabbed herself in the chest with scissors. Fortunately, the palace maid in her room discovered it in time and called the imperial physician to save her life."
Huaiqing immediately said, "Only concubines of the Empress Dowager or the rank of Imperial Concubine can use medicines that can treat this kind of injury."
"But why did she commit suicide...? What was the name of the palace maid who shared a room with Huang Xiaorou?"
"It seems her name is He'er!" Rong Momo replied.
When Huaiqing heard this name, his heart skipped a beat; this palace maid was from the Empress's side.
Just as she was about to feel relieved that Lin'an didn't know, Lin'an suddenly asked, "Where is He'er now!"
Rong Momo was momentarily speechless, but under Lin An's persistent questioning, she still answered, "In the Empress's palace."
"Hmph!" Lin'an straightened his back and looked at Huaiqing defiantly.
Finally, the investigation pointed to the Empress!
"Granny Rong, examine her lower body," Lü Qing reminded her.
This is a necessary step in examining a female corpse, generally to check whether the woman was violated before her death.
"Oh dear!" Rong Momo suddenly screamed, as if she had discovered something terrible.
"Your Highness... Huang Xiaorou, she was pregnant before!"
This news was undoubtedly explosive. Huang Xiaorou, a palace maid who entered the palace at a young age, must have been a virgin at the time.
However, once they entered the palace, these women became the emperor's private property. Other men were generally not allowed to enter the palace, let alone have affairs with palace maids.
However, when Huang Xiaorou entered the palace, Emperor Yuanjing was already obsessed with Taoist cultivation.
Even the beautiful Empress and Consort Chen wouldn't bother with him, so how could he possibly steal a concubine from a palace maid?
Huaiqing was shocked and turned to look at Lin'an.
Lin'an's eyes were burning with curiosity, his curiosity about the Eight Trigrams blazing. He was not surprised at all, but rather a little excited.
Huaiqing had reason to suspect that Li Chang'an had told Lin'an something beforehand, but how could Li Chang'an have foreseen such a thing?
In fact, Li Chang'an only mentioned the possibility of palace maids having affairs to Lin'an, and told Lin'an not to forget to pay attention.
"Alright! Huaiqing, let's go to the Imperial Pharmacy to check the dispensing records first, and then investigate Huang Xiaorou's affair!"
Lin'an's interest was piqued, and he looked eager to try.
The group arrived at the Imperial Pharmacy in a grand procession and then retrieved the records of Huang Xiaorou's medication from that year.
"Your Excellency, check the inventory of medicines in and out of the warehouse for the past thirty-two years!" Lin'an ordered.
The old eunuch scurried off and quickly produced a booklet, which he then handed to Princess Lin'an.
Lin'an raised an eyebrow at Huaiqing, his eyes narrowing slightly, and said, "Huaiqing, do you dare to watch with me?"
Huaiqing remained calm and said, "Why wouldn't I dare?"
Subsequently, Lin'an began to personally look through the booklets, searching for records from that period.
"Huaiqing! You sent someone to tear this page out, didn't you? This is clear evidence that the Empress was involved!"
Lin'an spoke with absolute certainty because that page had been torn out, and Huang Xiaorou was also saved by He'er, and had already established a relationship with the Empress.
Therefore, given Lin'an's limited intelligence, this matter must have been done by the Empress and Huaiqing.
When Huaiqing saw the torn page, it was clearly from the last few days. The cover of the ledger was covered in dust, and there were even handprints on the dust.
"Bring me all the records of their recent visits to the Imperial Pharmacy!"
She then said to a palace attendant, "Please go to the Imperial Observatory and invite Miss Chu Caiwei to the palace."
Lin'an glared with her peach blossom eyes and said defiantly, "Huaiqing, what are you going to do?"
Huaiqing didn't respond, waiting for the old eunuch to bring out both booklets before saying to Lü Qing, "Officer Lü, could you please check who has entered the Imperial Pharmacy in the last five days?"
Lü Qing nodded in agreement, then picked up the ledger and began to peruse it.
"Lin'an, look at the dust on the cover of this booklet. It means that this page was torn out not too long ago. As long as we find the person who tore out this page, we can find out a lot of things."
Biao Biao blinked, trying to understand the logic behind it.
Huaiqing watched all this and rolled his eyes inwardly, wondering how Li Chang'an had taught this stupid little sister.
Moreover, the teaching is quite good; at least under Lin'an's leadership, the case is progressing smoothly.
Before long, Lü Qing found out that there were more than a dozen people involved.
Huaiqing made a quick decision: "Gather all these people in the Crab Pavilion. I have some questions to ask them."
Afterwards, the two princesses rushed back to Crab Pavilion.
The two had just sat down, each in a chair, when Lin'an suddenly remembered something, "Huaiqing, who is the man who got Huang Xiaorou pregnant!"
After Huaiqing's simple explanation, Biao Biao's knowledge of sexuality was further enriched, and she gained a deeper understanding of Huang Xiaorou's pregnancy.
In addition, her innate gossip-loving nature reignited her interest in the matter.
"How can you investigate something that's dead and can't be verified? Instead of investigating things that have no clues, isn't it more reasonable to investigate what's right in front of us?"
Biao Biao nodded. Huang Xiaorou's man was difficult to investigate because there were no clues.
However, the person who tore up the Imperial Pharmacy records could be identified using Chu Caiwei's Qi-observation technique. She could summon all the palace maids, interrogate them one by one, and see who was lying.
Li Chang'an had taught her that whichever direction in the investigation had the most clues, she should investigate that direction first.
"Huaiqing...Li Chang'an also taught you?"
"Tch~" Huaiqing sneered.
"Does this kind of thing need to be taught? I figured it out when I was eight years old. Any adult with a brain should understand this."
Biao Biao's face flushed red, once again being looked down upon by Huai Qing. "Of course I know, I thought the same thing before Li Chang'an taught me!"
Huaiqing's heart was not at peace. The men in the palace were either Emperor Yuanjing or the princes. If it wasn't Emperor Yuanjing who did it, then it was very likely one of the princes.