Chapter 167 - Beacon in Troubled Times 17 (1/2)

Ch167 – Beacon in Troubled Times 17

By the time they came out of the cell, the guard outside had already hit the gong and it was more than two o’clock in the morning. Yu Hanjiang let everyone go back to rest and he and Xiao Lou also returned to their rooms.

They finally came home after a tiring day. The maid Pinger had been waiting for them and brought over two pots of hot water. The two men washed and before going to sleep, Xiao Lou grabbed the topical ointment Liu Qiao had prepared. Then he had Yu Hanjiang take off his coat to apply the medicine to the wound on his back.

Although the toxin in the wound had been completely eliminated, grisly and terrible scars traversed the man’s st.u.r.dy spine. Xiao Lou saw it and once again felt distressed.

He used his fingertips to gently rub medicine on the scars and softly asked, “Does it still hurt?”

The hot wound was coated with a cold ointment, making it extremely comfortable. Moreover, Xiao Lou’s fingers were slender and soft. He caressed Yu Hanjiang’s back with the medicine and Yu Hanjiang felt extremely relaxed. Even if the wounds were painful, his heart was very warm.

He whispered, “No pain. It is hard on you, Madam.”

Xiao Lou’s face was slightly red. “There are no outsiders here. You don’t need to call me that.”

Yu Hanjiang told him seriously, “It will be hard to explain if it is heard by Pinger.”

Xiao Lou didn’t weigh on these details. He helped change the bandage on the wound and the two of them fell asleep together.

The day before, Yu Hanjiang had realized he liked Xiao Lou so he wasn’t very comfortable sleeping in the same bed with Xiao Lou. He still kept the ‘statue’ position and didn’t dare to move, fearing he might accidentally touch Xiao Lou.

XIao Lou saw him lying on his back to sleep and immediately said, “Your back is hurt. Don’t lie flat while sleeping. Putting pressure on the wound isn’t good for healing.”

Yu Hanjiang was obedient and turned sideways, facing Xiao Lou.

Xiao Lou detected the other person’s gaze on his face. It was quiet at night and this person was watching him from such a close distance. Xiao Lou’s heart was beating quickly and he had to talk about the case to divert his attention. “You just said that the murderer isn’t certain. Do you think that Lin Shaobo isn’t the murderer?”

Yu Hanjiang explained, “If it was him then this case would be too simple. Liu Qiao witnessed the date between the fourth young lady and Lin Shaobo. The letter from the eldest young lady to the Ninth Princess also mentioned the personal affair of the two people. In addition, the fourth young lady personally confirmed that the two of them encountered her oldest sister. Lin Shaobo had the movie to kill and the time to commit the crimes. The clues are very clear but when you think about it carefully, there are many things that aren’t right.”

Xiao Lou listened carefully. “What’s wrong?”

Yu Hanjiang whispered his a.n.a.lysis, “First of all, where did Lin Shaobo get the poison from? We searched the room of the fourth young lady and none of the medicine that Liu Qiao said would lead to poisoning had been touched. This proves that the poison wasn’t provided by the fourth young lady. If the fourth young lady and Lin Shaobo had joined forces to commit the crime, it must be premeditated and the poison was planned in advance. However, if that was the case, they wouldn’t have met today to arouse suspicion.”

Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. “I also think that the source of the poison isn’t from the fourth young lady or Young Master Lin. So the two people who seem to have the most suspicion actually don’t have the tool to commit the crime. We also haven’t found the source of the poison. The maid said that the eldest young lady never ate in the house so I suspect she was poisoned face to face in the yard.”

Yu Hanjiang continued, “Yes, you examined the body and there were no signs of a struggle when she died. Obviously, she didn’t resist when she ate the poisonous food. This means the person should be someone familiar with the eldest young lady or else she wouldn’t eat what they gave them.”

Such a complex background definitely wasn’t just for decoration.

Xiao Lou’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Perhaps the eldest young lady’s death has nothing to do with love. Maybe she accidentally witnessed something in the palace that shouldn’t be known and was killed?”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “It is likely.”

He suddenly wondered, “Do you remember a detail mentioned by Qu Wanyue? The Ninth Princess is the youngest child of the late emperor. When the Ninth Princess saw the Eight Prince last night, she called him brother?”

Xiao Lou thought carefully and immediately responded. “Yes, the emperor calls him uncle and the Ninth Princess calls him royal brother. This means that the emperor is the nephew of the Ninth Princess and the Ninth Princess is the youngest child of the late emperor. So in fact, the relations.h.i.+p between the emperor and the late emperor isn’t father and son, but a grandson?”

Yu Hanjiang used this point to speculate that things weren’t simple.

In the world of the secret rooms, many times clear clues were likely to be interference and some details that were easily overlooked might actually be the real clues. The harem battle that the Ninth Princess told Qu Wanyue about, the question of the Ninth Princess’ seniority and the relations.h.i.+p between the Eighth Prince, the late emperor and the current emperor might be indicative of something.

The throne was generally pa.s.sed onto the son yet the late emperor pa.s.sed it to his grandson instead of the Eighth Prince.

Yu Hanjiang had seen the emperor. The man on the dragon chair was very young and was around 20 years old. The Eighth Prince was over 40 years old. Even if the Eighth Prince ignored politics and wasn’t emperor material, shouldn’t the late emperor have other sons?

The princess was ranked ninth, indicating that there were seven royal sons before the Eighth Prince.

Thinking of these things, Xiao Lou suddenly said, “Historically, there was a coup in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang’s fourth son, Zhu Di overthrew his nephew Zhu Yunwen. Zhu Yuanzhang initially set up his eldest son Zhu Baio as crown prince. Unfortunately, the crown prince died early so he asked his grandson Zhu Yunwen to inherit the throne. His son Zhu Di wasn’t satisfied and after Zhu Yunwen came to power, he initiated a rebellion. He became the emperor himself and was known as the Yongle Emperor.”

Hearing Xiao Lou’s words, something flashed in Yu Hanjiang’s heart.

The Ming Dynasty’s rebellion was very famous in history. Zhu Yuanzhang skipped his son and established his grandson as the heir. Zhu Di usurped the throne and finally took the power of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yunwen’s whereabouts were unknown and it became a pending case in history.

Yu Hanjiang frowned. “Zhu Yuanzhang also skipped the other princes at that time and directly established his grandson as heir, which is somewhat similar to the current situation of the Qi state. The current emperor is so young and the Eighth Prince’s heart is extremely deep. What if he wants to initiate a rebellion and unite with the Zhao state? He was conspiring with the Zhao state’s emissary when he encountered his oldest daughter and directly killed her to shut her mouth?”

If this speculation was true then it was possible to connect many clues.

The Zhao state’s envoys happened to come here today. The second young lady said that the prince of Zhao wanted to give a gift to his future father-in-law and sent someone to exchange details of the wedding. Long Sen said that the envoys of the Zhao state had entered the palace but left without attending the dinner.

If the messenger of the Zhao state entered the palace in the afternoon and was conspiring with the prince when they were caught by the eldest young lady out for a walk, it was possible that the prince killed his daughter.

Moreover, the Eighth Prince’s att.i.tude was a bit strange today. He took the initiative to ask Yu Hanjiang to investigate and was very cooperative.