The next morning, after a night of heavy snow, Chang'an City became a world covered in silver.

However, the people have no chance and no intention to go out to enjoy the plum blossoms while walking on the snow. Children cannot build snowmen on the streets.

When they saw the fierce soldiers coming and going, they ran home in fear and threw themselves into their parents' arms. Some even cried so much that they were scared.

The Sixteen Guards were dispatched and worked hard all night, but they found nothing except the prisons of Chang'an and Wannian counties were full of city foxes and clubs.

The assassins seemed to disappear, hiding in hundreds of markets in Chang'an, with dozens or millions of people.

Such a result is not an accident. It is like finding a needle in a haystack. It is not easy to find a few people, not to mention that there is no information about the assassin at all.

Especially important information such as height, portrait, life, physical characteristics or accent, probably the only thing that can be known is that some of them were injured.

The doctors and pharmacies in the city have been under key surveillance, but unfortunately nothing has been discovered. I want to have a tightly organized assassin to prepare medicinal materials that can heal the wounds by themselves.

In this way, Sun Fujia, the young minister of Dali Temple, was under great pressure, and it was very important to investigate the assassin.

But……

Looking at the vast white road, Sun Fujia sighed, his heart full of helplessness.

He was the top scholar in the Wude period (the first top scholar with evidence in history) and his background was not high. It is rare to be able to reach his current status in more than ten years. The main thing he relies on is the ability to investigate and hear cases. He was favored and recommended by the late former Dali Temple Minister Dai Zhou and valued by Li Shimin.

If nothing was found in the assassination of the prince this time, what would His Majesty the Emperor think? How should his Sun Fujia stand in the court?

He wanted to find clues, and since receiving the imperial edict last night, he led his troops to come rushing. Unfortunately, it was too late and the light was dim. He was wearing torches in the heavy snow, so it was difficult to find anything.

Especially Changsun Chong's troops and the soldiers from Qixia Gate came to protect the carriage. The staff was in chaos and the scene was already messy. Even if there were any clues, they were destroyed.

By this morning, everything settled down, and the scene was covered with snow, and it was covered in white, and all traces were covered.

The situation is really bad!

Sun Fujia sighed, but despite his helplessness, he could not give up. He entered the palace and asked questions and made Long Yan furious, which was to cause trouble.

If you check it, you have to carefully investigate it. You can find something best. You really have nothing to gain, and at least have a posture.

Hard work pays off. In the early morning, a constable from Dali Temple found blood on a south road next to a south road. Fortunately, the blood was stuck to the trunk of the tree and was not covered with snow.

Sun Fujia immediately went to investigate and confirmed that it was a recent trace, almost certainly it was left last night.

Blood spots were found here. Has anyone ever fought? Or...

Sun Fujia looked around and saw that this place was a distance from the place where the prince was assassinated, and to the south it was towards Qixiamen. Unfortunately, there were woods here, there were no residents, and there were few pedestrians in the heavy snow yesterday, and there were no witnesses, so we could only speculate.

Even if you speculate and summarize some clues, you can still make some conclusions, but there are many possibilities.

However, what surprised Sun Fujia even more was that he was searching along this direction and found two corpses under the bridge hole of a nearby river.

He was in white clothes, strong and had wounds on his body, which was consistent with the assassin who was killed by the guards of the East Palace...

"Take it back to Dali Temple quickly and let the coroner check it out as soon as possible." Sun Fujia ordered and breathed a sigh of relief. Now he can enter the palace with confidence.

...

The Tang Dynasty's dynasty meetings are not available every day, and Li Shimin has free time this morning.

But he couldn't calm down in his heart. He almost didn't close his eyes all night. He just took a nap in Chengqing Palace, making Concubine Wei, who should have been serving in bed, feel very resentful.

However, the prince was assassinated, which was of great importance, so he did not dare to express his depression. He specially stewed lotus seed soup early in the morning to send it to Li Shimin, showing his virtuousness.

Originally, Li Shimin could have given him a few words of emotion and praise, but unfortunately, Sun Fujia came, Concubine Wei had no choice but to take back and return to the inner palace in disgrace. Well, her cousin, Princess Hejian, had already asked for an order. Today, she went to the palace to pay her respects, and the two sisters were just talking...

"See Your Majesty!"

"But what did you find?" Li Shimin asked in a deep voice while drinking lotus seed soup.

Sun Fujia whispered: "Back to Your Majesty, there is no major progress at present. Only one new blood spot and two corpses were found."

"Tell me!"

"Yes, I found blood in the woods heading to Qixia Gate not far from the place where the prince was assassinated..."

Li Shimin looked slightly moved and asked, "What? What does it mean?"

"I think there are two possibilities. One is that the assassin has chased and killed Mr. Xie; the other is that the assassin escapes through this direction."

“Which one is probably bigger?”

Sun Fujia bowed and said, "I asked last night. Xie Xueshi and Mrs. Zheng were walking in the same car. Both of them said they had not been blocked and had not seen the murderer."

"Miss Zheng? Is Zheng Liwan?" Li Shimin's expression changed slightly, as if he was quite sensitive.

Everyone knows the old story that year, and Sun Fujia naturally heard it. He lowered his head and said embarrassedly: "Yes, yesterday, Mrs. Zheng also went to Quchi to attend the banquet. When he returned, the shaft of the car was damaged. It happened to be thanking the scholar to pass by, so he walked with him."

"Oh!" Li Shimin nodded slightly, not knowing what he was thinking.

Sun Fujia continued: "Shi Xueshi and Madam Zheng both have valuable identities and actively rescue the prince. Their words should be credible; and Madam Xie and Madam Zheng met for the first time yesterday and were not familiar with each other... Therefore, there is no possibility of lying together.

Furthermore, if you really encounter an assassin attack, how can a young scholar and two weak women escape from the tiger's mouth? Therefore, I think it should be the blood stains left by the murderer when he escaped."

"Yeah!" Li Shimin asked, "Where are those two corpses?"

"The Dali Temple coroner has been inspected. It was not because the guards attacked him. After escaping, they died of serious injuries and died halfway through, but because they were silenced."

"Silence?"

Sun Fujia said: "If someone helps, these two assassins may be able to escape, but it is estimated that Changsun's son-in-law acted quickly and Qiao Duke was chasing him in time. The assassin could not help him escape in a hurry, so he silenced his mouth and hid his body under the bridge."

“…”

"Your Majesty, but there is something special about the assassin's corpse." Sun Fujia added: "A coroner's inspection found that some of the wounds on his body were similar to those of some of the guards who were killed and injured when the Shanzhou Imperial Camp was attacked..."

Li Shimin looked dim and whispered: "In this way, can the identity of the assassin be basically identified?"

"This can be determined for the time being, but it still needs to be carefully verified and supported."

Li Shimin looked a little relaxed and said softly: "Thank you for your hard work in Sun Qing. When will the arrest of assassins make progress?"

"Your Majesty, I'm brave enough to ask Your Majesty to issue an order to stop the entire city's search." Sun Fujia bowed and said what Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji wanted to say, but did not say anything.

"Why?" Li Shimin frowned, slightly displeased.

"Your Majesty, the year is approaching, and such a great war will inevitably lead to panic and unfavorable stability; and many envoys from tribes of surrounding countries have come to pay tribute. Such chaos not only damages the etiquette of the Tang Dynasty, but also makes the envoys think that our dynasty is unstable and then are ready to move, which is not worth the loss."

Li Shimin's dark face stretched slightly and nodded, "What Sun Qing said is not unreasonable, but the prince was assassinated and the assassin hid in Chang'an. He still didn't know what would happen. It was really dangerous. How could he not arrest him in time?"

"Your Majesty said very well, but the search for the whole city may not necessarily lead to the capture of assassins. Chang'an City is huge and has a large population. Such a huge war has caused chaos. How easy is it to catch those needles in the sea? Especially if someone deliberately protects and helps, it is even more difficult to get it."

Sun Fujia said earnestly: "It is better to temporarily withdraw the soldiers, loose on the outside and tight on the inside, focus on monitoring, so that the assassins think that the court has relaxed.

Most of the city foxes and rats in Chang'an City were arrested and imprisoned. The city is now calm. If the bad guys appear, it will be obvious. Whether they plan to escape from Chang'an or do anything bad, they will be easily discovered, arrested, or even dig out the involved people behind the scenes."

Li Shimin pondered for a moment and nodded, "Sun Qing's words are reasonable. I will issue an edict to Chai Shao later. As for the subsequent investigation and arrest of assassins, I will leave it to you to take responsibility."

"Yes, I obey the order!" Sun Fujia happily accepted the order and hurriedly retreated back to Dali Temple and began to arrange the arrangements. But he didn't know that while he was going to Chengqing Hall, a coroner quietly left Dali Temple and went to the Wei Palace.

*

PS: Thank you book friends 120629215231415, for the treasure hunt for thousands of years, and for the rewards of three meals!
Chapter completed!