Chapter 165 - Beacon in Troubled Times 15 (1/2)

After reading the letter, Xiao Lou had mixed feelings.

His first impression was indeed right. The eldest young lady was indeed indifferent to the world. She had seen through the world and decided to become a monk, so she was indifferent to Young Master Lin’s affairs in the brothels and her father’s birthday banquet.

This afternoon, she was in the Buddhist temple knocking on wooden fish and reading scriptures. Presumably in her opinion, accompanying Buddha for the rest of her life was her best destination. It was a pity that she didn’t get what she wanted. She intended to fulfill the wishes of others but the others didn’t necessarily have a kind heart.

Yu Hanjiang read the letter and frowned. “Ninth Princess, what is the relations.h.i.+p between you and Miss Yiyao?”

The Ninth Princess replied, “I’m her aunt from a generational point of view but I’m only four years older than her. She has been ill since she was young and became sick again after being taken home at the age of 10. My royal brother sent her to the captain to get treatment for a period of time. In that year, she lived with me so she was more familiar with me. However, this was the first time she wrote to me.”

The princess paused before adding, “I hurried to Jiangzhou this time because of this.” Then she couldn’t help moving her gaze away.

Yu Hanjiang had interrogated countless prisoners and naturally saw that her expression was abnormal. This princess not only acted badly but she was also bad at disguising herself as a man. It was obvious she was a family and she couldn’t compare to Qu Wanyue in men’s clothing at all.

Yu Hanjiang then asked, “You came to the prince’s mansion. Did you meet the eldest young lady?”

The Ninth Princess shook her head. “No, I went directly to the side hall and waited for dinner to begin. I didn’t expect that Yiyao would be murdered.” She frowned. “It must be the fourth young lady! She and Lin Shaobo’s private relations.h.i.+p was revealed so maybe she wanted to kill Ah Yao to destroy her mouth!”

Seeing the princess become emotional, Yu Hanjiang immediately interrupted her. “There is no direct evidence that shows the fourth young lady is the murderer. Please return first. I will definitely investigate this case.”

The Ninth Princess spoke earnestly. “You must catch the murderer. You must not let Ah Yao die in vain!”

Yu Hanjiang replied, “Rest a.s.sured.”

The Ninth Princess was turning to leave when Yu Hanjiang suddenly said, “The maid next to the princess, please stay. I have some things to ask you.”

The Ninth Princess was puzzled. “Why do you want to question her? Didn’t I give you the letter? Can I still lie?”

Yu Hanjiang just told her lightly, “Questioning the maids and guards is a necessary step to investigate this case. I must ask you to cooperate.”

The Ninth Princess nodded before whispering in Qu Wanyue’s ear, “You must not say it.”

Qu Wanyue smiled. “Princess, rest a.s.sured, I won’t say it.”

The Ninth Princess left confidently.

Long Sen closed the door, looked at his wife in men’s clothing with a complicated expression and whispered, “You look so handsome in men’s clothing.”

Qu Wanyue smiled at him and hoked, “Then I should dress as a man for our wedding. How about I wear a suit as well?”

Long Sen touched his nose. “No need….”

Qu Wanyue walked in front of Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou and told them, “Group Leader Yu, the Ninth Princess is lying.”

Qu Wanyue explained in detail. “The Ninth Princess is the daughter of the late emperor. The late emperor got a daughter when he was old and was extremely fond of her, allowed her to develop this arrogant and overbearing personality. Group Leader Yu, you should know this since the late emperor wanted to betroth her to you. Later, the late emperor died and the new emperor ascended the throne. Now His Majesty has a headache regarding his young aunt and wants to marry her out early. This time, he found a general for us. The Ninth Princess heard the news in advance. Before His Majesty could speak to her, she took me and ran.”

Yu Hanjiang said, “So she fled to Jiangzhou to escape the marriage?”

Qu Wanyue nodded. “This way, she can also deal with the eldest young lady’s matter.”

Xiao Lou pondered on it for a moment. “Teacher Qu, did you get any clues from the princess’ palace?”

“The princess tells me the palace gossip every day. It is said that the late emperor’s favourite imperial consort was poisoned by an imperial concubine. Later, Imperial Concubine Ming killed her. The women in the harem fought and fought. Once the late emperor died, there was an imperial edict to bury them together with him and the battle was finally over. The Ninth Princess said that in her next life, she didn’t want to be born into the royal family. She is more willing to be a free folk woman who can choose her own husband.”

Xiao Lou listened to Qu Wanyue’s words and his opinion of the Ninth Princess slightly improved. She didn’t have any feelings for Yu Hanjiang at all. However, Yu Hanjiang declined when the first emperor suggested marriage and she couldn’t let it go because of her pride.

The letter brought by the Ninth Princess and Qu Wanyue pointed directly at the fourth young lady and Lin Shaobo. Yu Hanjiang carefully a.n.a.lyzed it before calling the next people of the prince’s mansion over to ask questions.

The maids, the servants and the chefs, none of them were left out. Yu Hanjiang asked in detail and XIao Lou recording to the side was also very detailed. Yu daren tacitly cooperated with his wife to investigate the cause, causing the people in the palace to have wide eyes. After going out, they would talk.

“I have never seen a woman handle a case with her husband!”

“This Mrs Yu isn’t easy. She can even do autopsies!”

“She isn’t afraid of corpses at all. She is a strange woman. No wonder why Yu daren spoils her so much.”

Long Sen heard the people’s gossip and didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. Professor Xiao was a forensic doctor. What was a corpse to him? He wouldn’t even be afraid to set up a morgue.

Inside the room, Xiao Lou organized the transcripts for Yu Hanjiang to a.n.a.lyze. Two points were mentioned:

First, there was disharmony between Madam Qing, Madam Han and Madam Yun. Due to the vacancy in the position of imperial concubine, the three people fought openly and maneuvered covertly.

Madam Yun was the oldest one in the prince’s mansion and she had given birth to Qi Fenghua, the eldest young master and Qi Yiyao, the eldest young lady. She was the most likely candidate to become a princess. Madam Qing and Madam Han had always been dissatisfied. Madam Qing was quick to talk and had many conflicts with Mrs Yun in the backyard. Mrs Han also contended for the favour of the prince but she had been sick recently.

Secondly, the eldest young lady was taciturn and usually stayed in the Buddhist temple. She had no conflicts with anyone at the prince’s mansion.

It seemed that both Madam Qing and Madam Han had alibis. They might have a deep grudge with Madam Yu but they had no contradictions with the eldest young lady. If it was for the position of princess then they should’ve killed Madam Yun instead of the eldest young lady. These two wives could be ruled out so far.

The second, third and fourth young ladies hadn’t been questioned.

Yu Hanjiang first invited the second young lady over. Qi Yian, the daughter of a princess and the one the emperor personally appointed as Princess Sukan.

Out of the four girls, only she was worthy of the name ‘unmarried daughter of a n.o.ble house.’ The first time Xiao Lou saw her, he thought the girl had bright eyes, white teeth, a dignified appearance, a graceful bearing and a full aura. Marrying someone like her to the Zhou State could really support the situation.