Chapter 158 Another Big Case
Chapter 158 Another Big Case
Yang Zhao hurried back to the Prince of Jin's Mansion, which was located opposite the Ministry of Shangshu. He had originally planned to have lunch with his younger brother and sister-in-law, but his father sent someone to find him and asked him to return to the Prince of Jin's Mansion urgently. He did not dare to delay and had to rush back.
As soon as he entered the government gate, a staff member came forward and said, "General Yang, the prince is waiting for you!"
Although Yang Zhao was the eldest son of Prince Jin, he was a military officer in the Prince Jin's Palace. Everyone called him Military Officer Yang, which did not show his noble status.
Yang Zhao hurried to his father's office and saw his father pacing back and forth in the hall with his hands behind his back and his brows furrowed. Yang Zhao knew that it must be a difficult case.
"Father, what happened?"
When Yang Guang saw his eldest son coming, he sighed and said, "Chen Shubao was stabbed last night and unfortunately died!"
Chen Shubao was the last ruler of the Southern Chen Dynasty. After the Southern Chen Dynasty was destroyed, Chen Shubao was captured and taken to Chang'an, where he was treated very well. He did not miss his homeland and continued to live a life of drunkenness and debauchery.
The assassination of a king of a fallen country should not be a big deal, but the problem is that Chen Shubao's sister, Chen Guiren, was the emperor's favorite concubine. With Chen Guiren's face, the emperor would definitely take it seriously. Once the emperor took it seriously, it would become a major case.
Yang Zhao asked quickly, "Did Grandfather summon Father?"
Yang Guang nodded. "He was very angry and summoned me to solve the case within ten days. Now I find it's too easy for them to make things difficult for me. If I can't solve a few big cases, I will lose the trust of your grandfather."
"Did father send anyone to the scene?"
"Wang Qiu, the Minister of the Dali Temple, has already led people to investigate the scene. It was Wannian County that received the report last night. Now Jingzhao Prefecture is also investigating the case under the order of the Crown Prince. I feel that the Crown Prince will definitely obstruct my investigation. Mr. Lin suggests that we investigate the case both openly and secretly. The Dali Temple will investigate the case head-on, and you will take a few officials from the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice to investigate in secret."
"My son obeys my order!"
Yang Zhao hesitated and said, "I want my third brother to help me. Does father think it's okay?"
"Okay! This is a matter between you brothers, I won't interfere."
Yang Zhao immediately formed a team of seven officials and more than twenty soldiers, and he sent someone to find his brother Xiao Xia to assist him.
There was a noodle shop opposite Chen Shubao's mansion. Xiao Xia had lunch with his elder sister at noon and was not full at all. At this time, he sat in the noodle shop, eating noodles while listening to the discussions of people around him.
"He spends all day entertaining himself with prostitutes, living a life of drunkenness and debauchery. It's a blessing for a man like him not to die in a woman's belly."
"Could it be an enemy from the south? I heard he killed many ministers, and the descendants of the killed ministers came to seek revenge."
"I heard that both the Dali Temple and Jingzhao Prefecture came to investigate the case, and neither side wanted to give in, so they almost came to blows."
"Need I say this? Jingzhao Prefecture is the Prince's faction, and Dali Temple is the Prince of Jin's faction. There will definitely be conflicts!"
Although the drinkers were talking quietly, Xiao Xia heard it clearly. He finished his noodles, took out a dozen coins and put them on the table, then stood up and walked towards the Chen Mansion opposite.
The Chen Mansion has been taken over by the Wuhou Guard, which is the Jinwu Guard of the Tang Dynasty. They are mainly responsible for the public security in the capital and patrol day and night.
Three hundred Wuhouwei soldiers have strictly controlled the Chen Mansion and no outsiders are allowed to enter. Xiao Xia was stopped when he approached the gate. Xiao Xia showed a Dali Temple silver medal, which was given to him by his eldest brother Yang Zhao to facilitate his investigation.
The Wuhouwei soldiers stepped aside, and Xiao Xia went straight into the mansion.
"Master Xiao!"
Someone called him, Xiao Xia turned around and saw that it was his eldest brother's guard, named Xie Shun.
Xiao Xia walked forward and asked with a smile: "Is my eldest brother here?"
"Yes! Please follow me."
Xie Shun led him to the back house and whispered, "In the morning, the people from Jingzhao Prefecture were investigating the case, and in the afternoon, the Dali Temple was investigating the case."
"Has the crime scene been moved?" Xiao Xia asked again.
"The body has been moved away. We don't know whether anything else has been moved. Who knows if the people in Jingzhao Prefecture will do something to hinder our investigation." They soon arrived at the Ziyu Tower. Xiao Xia entered the building and saw his eldest brother sitting on the first floor wiping his sweat.
"The third one is here!"
Yang Zhao was too fat, and he stood up with difficulty and said with a smile: "I've been waiting for you to come."
"Brother, this building is very remote! Is this where Chen Shubao sleeps?"
"No! There are more than a dozen small mansions like this. Chen Shubao changes his location every night. I guess he is afraid of being assassinated!"
Xiao Xia nodded and went upstairs with his eldest brother. The second floor was about 40 square meters and remained the same as it was last night. In the middle was a long table filled with food and wine. The couches on both sides had backrests, but several of them had been flipped over, showing the chaos of last night.
Sitting in the center was a dummy made of a cloth bag filled with straw, imitating Chen Shubao. The dummy's face was painted strangely, with an arrow stuck in its forehead and it was lying on the couch with its head tilted back.
"Is this a dummy made by the Dali Temple?" Xiao Xia asked.
Yang Zhao shook his head. "It was not made by the Dali Temple, but by the Jingzhao Prefecture."
"Have you seen the body?"
Yang Zhao still shook his head. "The body has been sent to Xingshan Temple. Chen Shubao's sons are not allowed to see the body anymore. I heard that the body was damaged during the autopsy in Jingzhao Prefecture. The Chen family is furious. After the body was placed in the coffin, it is not allowed to be opened again, unless Concubine Chen agrees."
"Where are the prostitutes who drank with me? And the escort warriors! Where are they?"
"He was interrogated by Jingzhao Prefecture last night and released home. Jingzhao Shaoyin said he had nothing to do with them."
Xiao Xia sneered and said, "It seems that Jingzhao Prefecture is undermining the Dali Temple's case-solving!"
"How did you know that, Third Brother?"
"It's obvious that the arrow didn't hit his forehead. Big brother, you can see that the backrest of the couch opposite him has flipped over, and there is a cushion on the couch, which means there is someone sitting opposite Chen Shubao. The arrow was shot straight into his forehead and would definitely be blocked by the person opposite him. How could it hit his forehead? It should have been shot from behind, either hitting the back of his neck or the back of his head."
An official from the Dali Temple said, "Your Highness, Master Xiao is right. There are traces of people sitting on the cushion on the couch opposite. There are wine glasses in front of them and bones on the ground. There are indeed two people sitting opposite. Chen Shubao is a short and fat man. He was blocked by the person opposite. The arrow could not have been shot from the opposite side."
"What a bunch of bastards!" Yang Zhao clenched his fists and cursed. The Jingzhao Prefecture had deliberately forged the facts and misled them.
Xiao Xia lifted the curtains at the back window, looked at the window carefully and said, "The window was opened last night. The curtains were cut by a very sharp sword. I could just pull open the window bolt with my hand. There were two pieces of dirt on the horizontal bar of the window. Someone was squatting on the window and shot a short crossbow. It was less than ten steps away from Chen Shubao, and it hit the back of his head and neck."
Several officials hurried over to take a closer look. Xiao Xia went to the opposite window and took a closer look. The opposite window was intact.
At this time, Yang Zhao slowly walked over and asked, "How should we investigate this case? Do you have any direction?"
Xiao Xia nodded, "In fact, this case is very obvious. The Purple Jade Tower is in a remote location and is hidden by thick curtains. If the assassin doesn't have an insider, he won't be able to find this place. Finding out who this insider is is the key to solving the case. There is no point in looking into other aspects."
Yang Zhao hesitated for a moment and said, "From the perspective of motivation, the Crown Prince is most likely to be trying to make things difficult for my father!"
Xiao Xia shook his head and said, "Brother, there are so many people with motives. I also know that the prince is the most likely one, but where is the evidence? How dare you identify the prince without evidence? Besides, doesn't the King of Han have a motive? And Chen Shubao had enemies during the Chen Dynasty. He killed so many ministers, and the descendants of every minister wanted to kill him. So the motive is the most meaningless. It is better to start with the insider and find clues from the insider. This is the only way."
Yang Zhao nodded, "You are right, investigating the traitor is the only way, but unfortunately the guards and prostitutes were released by Jingzhao Prefecture. I really want to kill those bastards with a knife!"
Xiao Xia smiled slightly and said, "In fact, this is an opportunity to chop off the prince's paws. Big brother, you can suggest that father go to the emperor to file a complaint against Jingzhao Yin Wang Hong and bring the dummy over. Let Wang Hong explain why he faked the shot in the back of the neck? Why did he release all of Chen Shubao's warriors and let the traitor escape? Jingzhao Yin can't explain at all. In this way, even if the case cannot be solved, the responsibility can be pushed to Jingzhao Prefecture."
Yang Zhao's eyes lit up. He was so angry that he didn't think of this as an opportunity.
He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What if he really got shot in the forehead?"
"Now my brother and I will go to Xingshan Temple to see the body and we will know."
(End of this chapter)