Chapter 85 Seizing the legitimate son
An old case from the Imperial Household Department, a vicious killer, and the prince of Prince Jing's Mansion.

The clues are intertwined together, but they do not make the puzzle of the truth clearer... Instead, it becomes more blurred.

Is there something wrong with the prince?
What caused the Wu family massacre, and why was the murderer so vicious to the mistress of the Wu family?
Who is the killer?
After searching all night, I didn't get any answers, but instead I had more questions.

The file room in the inner prison was silent, the flames of the oil lamps were straight, and it seemed as if the air had stopped circulating.

It was not until the wick crackled and emitted tiny sparks that Xifeng whispered, "Sir, let's not touch this case for now. Let's wait until Master Jinzhu comes back."

Chen Ji, who was sitting across the table, hummed and said with a smile, "This is definitely not a case we can handle. You and I will just treat it as the work of a ghost and not pursue it any further."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the flame of the oil lamp on the table flickering, and a cold wind was blowing up from the depths of the prison.

Chen Ji felt the icy stream surging from the depths of the inner prison. Just like last time, as long as he stayed in this inner prison long enough, the icy stream would naturally come to him.

Xifeng felt the cold wind and immediately stood up and drew his sword. He looked coldly at the direction where the cold wind came from: "Sir, did you feel the cold wind just now?"

Chen Ji laughed: "I thought you really didn't believe that there are ghosts in this world."

Xifeng was embarrassed for a moment: "Everyone says there are ghosts. Although I have never seen one, I always wonder in my heart. There are even gods in this world, what if there are really ghosts?"

This time it was Chen Ji's turn to be stunned: "Is there really a god? Have you ever seen one?"

Xifeng whispered, "Xu Shu, the deputy director of the Imperial Observatory of the Daning Dynasty, is a reincarnated immortal."

"Huh," Chen Ji was surprised, he had heard of this name.

On the previous Double Ninth Festival, when the Buddha and Bodhisattva passed by the gate of Taiping Medical Clinic, Master had mentioned this Xu Shu. It is said that he was the only son of Xu Gong, the elder of Xu Ge. After his accidental death, Xu Ge spent a lot of money to ask the abbot of Yuanjue Temple to use the seven-treasure lotus lamp to build a flesh body for him and live again.

How come when he got to Xifengkou, the other party turned out to be a reincarnated immortal?
Chen Ji asked in confusion: "I remember he was the son of Lord Xu, how did he become a deity?"

Xifeng thought for a moment and said, "I don't know how he became a god, but this is what Master Wu Xiu said to Master Jinzhu himself. Many people in the Imperial Household Department heard it. Master Wu Xiu would not speak nonsense."

"Wu Xiu?"

"I am the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, and now I serve the emperor. I am a very famous person in the inner court. Let's go, sir. It's getting late. I will take you back."

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "Please excuse me, Xifeng. I want to take advantage of the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone in the inner prison to write a letter to my friend."

Xifeng said, "Okay sir, I'll wait for you outside."

Chen Ji picked up the brush from the table, carefully considered his tone, and wrote a letter on a piece of paper.

After the writing had dried, he folded the letter in half and stuffed it into his sleeve.

After being released from the inner prison, Xifeng helped Chen Ji get into the car.

I don’t know how long the carriage shook and swayed before it finally dropped him off on the side of the road in the East Market.

The carriage slowly drove away. Chen Ji gently took off the black cloth from his eyes. His thin figure turned his head and looked at the back of the carriage.

Chen Ji walked back for a long time, making sure that no one was following him, before he found a little beggar lying on the side of the road.

He squatted beside the beggar and fed him gently.

The little beggar opened his eyes. When he saw the masked man, he immediately shrank back in fear: "Don't catch me..."

Chen Ji stretched out his hand and spread out his palm, revealing twenty copper coins in his palm.

The little beggar immediately reached out to grab it, but saw Chen Ji close his palm again and retract his hand. He pulled out a letter from his sleeve and handed it to the little beggar: "Send this letter to Taiping Medical Clinic tomorrow, and I will give you 20 copper coins tomorrow night. Remember, Taiping Medical Clinic"

The little beggar nodded quickly: "Okay, sir, I'll deliver it tomorrow morning!"

There was sporadic snow falling from the sky again, lightly landing between the strands of hair.

The little beggar suddenly said, "Sir, please give me a copper coin so I can buy some bread. Otherwise, I can't stand it."

In the hazy night, Chen Ji threw down two copper coins, turned around, put his hands in his sleeves, and walked westward.

……

……

Early in the morning, Anxi Street becomes bustling.

Liang Maoer, wearing a cotton-padded jacket and sleepily walking to the door of the clinic, saw the palace's servants carrying buckets of salt and sprinkling them on the snow-covered bluestone road.

He wondered, yesterday the king only swept the snow in front of his house, so why was he willing to take salt that cost 30 cents a pound and spread it on the ground of the entire street today?
Not only that, Jianpu also carried a basket and distributed handfuls of red Yanmen dates to each household in the neighborhood, which was particularly festive.

Someone in the clinic asked curiously, "What is this for?"

Liang Maoer looked back and saw Chen Ji and Liu Quxing also put on their clothes and came to the door.

At this time, Xibing passed by the Taiping Clinic with a basket in her hand. She came up to him with a smile and said, "Chen Ji, put your clothes in your pockets. I'll give you some more dates."

Chen Ji smiled and lifted up the hem of his clothes, and the wedding cake girl actually poured half a basket into the hem of his clothes in one breath.

Liu Quxing was immediately jealous: "Miss Xibing, why are you so nice to Chen Ji? Pour some for me too!" Xibing rolled her eyes at him: "This is for all of you. If you want to eat, go to Chen Ji and get some. Let's go, there are still many other families to distribute."

Chen Ji looked at the back of the wedding cake girl and asked in confusion, "Is there a big happy event in the palace?"

Liu Quxing thought for a moment and said, "Maybe the prince is coming back. The neighbors on Anxi Street all say that when the prince is here, the palace is very generous, but when the prince is not here, the palace becomes stingy..."

As they were talking, they saw the strong servants fetching bamboo brooms and sweeping the long street clean, as if there had been no snow.

There was a sound of climbing over the wall in the backyard, and the princess shouted, "Who took the ladder away? Help, bring the ladder over here."

Liu Quxing hurried to the back and said, "I'll do it, I'll do it!"

Chen Ji looked back and saw the princess climbing down the ladder. She stood under the courtyard wall, untied the small purse hanging on her waist, took out a silver coin and handed it to Liu Quxing: "Buy six baskets of meat buns and four baskets of vegetarian buns. I saw Brother Maoer eat four baskets by himself yesterday and he was still not full. Buy more today."

Liang Maoer smiled naively and said, "The princess really has a kind heart."

Just as he finished speaking, a dirty little beggar, in rags, holding a letter, tried to rush into the clinic.

Liang Maoer quickly grabbed him by the collar and asked, "What are you doing?"

The little beggar said hurriedly: "Someone asked me to deliver a letter here and there will be a reward!"

Chen Ji took the letter, spread it open and read: "My brother, the Crown Prince, I respectfully read your letter... A letter to the Crown Prince?"

He walked to the backyard with a calm expression and handed the letter to the prince: "Prince, this is a letter for you."

"For me?" The prince took the letter in surprise, and his expression became gloomy after just two glances.

Chen Ji carefully observed the prince's expression and asked curiously, "Prince, who wrote the letter? You don't seem very happy?"

The prince sighed and said, "It was Zhang Ping, Wang Quan, Wang Wu, and Li Bo who drank with us earlier. They... they have to leave Luocheng for something, so they can't drink with us anymore."

Chen Ji suddenly felt that the prince didn't seem to know that these four people were dead.

The letter was written by Chen Ji. He wrote this letter to see how the prince would react when he saw a dead person writing to him.

If the prince knew that these four people were dead, no matter how realistically the other party acted, there would always be some doubt in his eyes.

But the prince's first reaction was not doubt, but sadness.

As they were talking, even Bai Li came over. After reading the letter, she looked disdainful and said, "These people left because they couldn't face us. Why are you sad, brother?"

The prince said softly, "We were friends for a while after all."

Chen Ji suddenly felt that the prince should be fine.

Let's talk about the first point first. The night before, Jin Zhu led the Jie Fan Guards to surround Hongyi Lane. The Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department had clearly received the news in advance. Even the madam of Jinfang and Miss Yan'er had escaped, but the prince was still foolish enough to fall into the trap. This was not normal at all.

Secondly, the prince has been in Donglin Academy for three years. If he is really ambitious and courageous, he should be patient and make friends with scholars instead of going to the tavern at the foot of the mountain every day to make friends with people from all walks of life.

and many more.

Chen Ji suddenly felt that he might have been thinking in the wrong direction: the prince went to the Gold Square in Hongyi Lane not necessarily because he wanted to go there, but because the four gangsters knew that the Golden Pigs were going to surround the Gold Square and deliberately led the prince there.

If the prince was arrested and sent to the inner prison, who in the palace might benefit from it? Naturally, it would be Concubine Jing and Concubine Yun.

Prince Jing is obviously still fertile. If the only son in the mansion dies, he will naturally find a way to have another child to continue the family line. By then, the one who inherits the title of Prince Jing will be the offspring of Concubine Jing and Concubine Yun.

Who in Prince Jing's mansion would have known in advance that the Golden Square was about to be surrounded? Concubine Yun!
A chill suddenly rose in Chen Ji's heart!
Concubine Yun!

If the whole thing was planned by Concubine Yun to send the prince to the inner prison in order to seize the throne, and then sent people to kill four martial arts people to silence them, it seems that many things make sense.

He had heard about the ferocity of the fight for succession in ancient times, but he only regarded it as an artistic processing of the story in novels and had never really experienced it himself.

And now, he truly felt the cruelty of the fight for the throne in the royal palace.

No, no.

Chen Ji turned around and laughed at himself for his wild guesses... You have to know that Bai Li was also in Jinfang the night before yesterday. Bai Li is Concubine Yun's biological daughter. Even if the other party wanted to seize the throne, she would not sacrifice her own daughter.

Moreover, after the Crown Prince is thrown into the inner prison, what if the entire palace is implicated?
Chen Ji gave up this conjecture.

Bai Li came over and saw that he seemed to be thinking about something, so he asked in confusion: "What are you thinking about? I see that you are not in a good mood."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "It's okay. I'm in a good mood, especially good."

As he was talking, Liang Mao'er was carrying a tall steamer with white steam rising from it, and trotted back to the clinic: "Chen Ji, Princess, come and have some buns."

Chen Ji smiled and replied, "Coming."

He looked at the prince, then at Bai Li. As long as the prince was not a cunning and vicious person, it would be fine.

(End of this chapter)