At the beginning of the first lunar month of the second year of Hongxi (the seventh year of Yongle), many government offices in the capital suspended their offices.

There is no news about the rebels of the King of Han. Some ministers in the court estimated that the rebels would threaten the capital in three months; some estimated that the Minister of War Ru Ying and others even said exaggeratedly: The rebels will come to Zhili in half a month!

The important officials in the court were very anxious at this time, but because there was no imperial edict or mansion report, some yamen rested according to the rules. Anyway, most officials could not help at this time.

But the Dali Temple Minister was not idle. Compared to the big things he did, the New Year's Day was nothing. He really wanted to find out such a serious mystery. What was the truth! Xue Yan's efforts were also reported. The emperor was very satisfied with Xue Yan's praise and urged Xue Yan many times, without any worries, to find out the truth as soon as possible!

Xue Yan walked along the brick road towards Chunhemen. The snow in the twelfth lunar month had not fallen, but the snow on the ground had not completely melted, and people were walking on it to make a subtle "rattle" sound.

Inside Chunhe Gate is the Chunhe Hall where the East Palace is located. It turns out that the owner here is the current Ming emperor and has moved away from here long ago. Just after the Chinese New Year, the eunuchs and palace maids were not busy sweeping snow. A little white snow was stuck on the embroidered hem of Xue Yan's red robe.

There are almost no foreign ministers who will come to Chunhe Palace. Even the original Eastern Palace officials saw the crown prince in Wenhua Palace in the south. Of course, Xue Yan is an exception. The emperor has issued several imperial edicts recently, allowing Xue Yan to go anywhere and meet anyone!

Xue Yan walked to Chunhe Gate, turned around and looked at eunuch Haitao and Jinyiwei commander Tan Qing, bowed and said, "The emperor has the order, so I will go in. Have the palace servants avoided it?"

Haitao clasped his fists and said, "Jue Siqing just worry."

The real time when the late emperor passed away was not the day when the imperial court mourned, but two days before. After all, Xue Yan had already been confirmed from the three people: Emperor, Haitao, and Tan Qing.

There are far more than these people who are familiar with the matter; there are Empress Zhang, Yuan Gong, Guo Zi, the dead Jin Zhong, and the former official of the East Palace. However, Xue Yan felt that the person with a motive for regicide might be of great origin, so he only asked three necessary people; and has not yet alarmed the others.

The group entered Chunhe Gate, but Xue Yan did not go to the "place where the crime occurred"; but first went to Chunhe Hall, a place where he often stayed when he became the crown prince.

Xue Yan walked into the main hall of Chunhe Hall, walked in the hall for a while, and his eyes stopped on the big chair directly north, behind a desk. Looking at the location, he knew that the chair should be the place where the former crown prince often sat.

Xue Yan walked to the chair, thought for a while, moved away the chair, and moved another Taishi chair over. He sat down by himself.

Haitao and Tan Qing both stood silently on one side, without stopping Xue Yan, and the two of them didn't say anything.

Xue Yan has heard a little about what life the emperor lived before ascending the throne. The discipline of the late emperor was indeed very strict; for a while, today, he even reached the embarrassing situation of borrowing debts everywhere to live.

Xue Yan sat in this position and felt that the Chunhe Palace gave people a very deep and quiet feeling. He imagined the feeling of a trembling prince sitting here day after day, but not being safe.

Most of the time, the crown prince does not handle state affairs and government affairs for so long; the key is that the crown prince thinks that the future will take longer... What will the crown prince think in such an environment and state of mind?

When speculating on the motives of all parties, Xue Yan secretly felt that the suspicion of the present is also quite large! No wonder the King of Han raised an army to rebel and blamed the death of the late emperor directly on the head of the "East Palace".

The person who could get the greatest benefit from the death of the late emperor was precisely today! The reason why the emperor passed away and the prince succeeded to the throne was that simple.

Of course, these are just Xue Yan's secret speculations. If we look at it from common sense, Jin Shang (Zhu Gaochi) was already the crown prince at that time, so there should be no need to take the risk of doing such a big rebellious thing that is difficult to tolerate by heaven.

The most unreasonable thing is: if the lord killing was done by the current emperor, then the emperor ordered Xue Yan to investigate the case completely inconvenient...

Judging from the results, the King of Han also had some suspicion; because the biggest beneficiary at the moment became the King of Han. However, when the King of Han wanted to raise an army, the risks and costs were very high, and it would be difficult to predict today's results. So Xue Yan did not exclude the King of Han, but felt that it might be relatively small.

In addition, Xue Yan also secretly suspected the Queen Zhang! Even some of the former officials of the East Palace were suspected. The motive was that the prince made a mistake, and the officials of the East Palace were unlucky and even lost their lives! Xue Yan had worked as a criminal law official since the Hongwu period, and had seen many strange cases. There was nothing impossible in the world.

In addition to these people, Xue Yan also believes that at least two other people have motivations.

First, Concubine Guo, who is currently locked in Chunhe Palace, is also the person most suspicious of the emperor and his confidant ministers!

Xue Yan now understands why Concubine Guo was detained and the people from the Guo family would go to the imperial prison.

According to the emperor, Concubine Guo and Empress Zhang competed for favor and had a deep grudge; Concubine Guo's first child was miscarriage, and he once accused it of the queen. Concubine Guo's motive was that hatred blinded his heart, out of revenge, or wanted his mother to be noble by her son, to defeat Empress Zhang today... Therefore, she wanted to kill Zhu Zhanji, the current eldest prince, but unexpectedly killed the late emperor!

Now in Xue Yan's opinion, if Concubine Guo really did this, she would of course be very stupid! However, these women, even if they were royal concubines, may not have much knowledge.

Second, the rest of Jianwen Party. After Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, the Qing Dynasty calculated a lot of civil and military officials of the Jianwen Dynasty, which was a bloody feud with the monarch and ministers of Jianwen! Among them, there were inevitably fish that missed the net, penetrated the palace, and looked for opportunities to recover the revenge!

But this kind of person has not been exposed yet, which makes people have no clue.

...Xue Yan pondered for a while in the main hall of Chunhe Palace, and then left the main hall; he asked Haitao to lead the way, and finally went to the "place where the crime occurred".

This is his experience he has gained from judging cases for many years: first determine the cause of death of the victim; then clear the victim's various connections and speculate on the people who have the motive for committing the crime; at the same time, carefully investigate the place where the case occurred, and then judge those who have the chance to commit the crime.

It took too long after the death of the late emperor, and the "determining the cause of death" could no longer be done; the most critical person, on the day of the incident, the two medical officials who personally took the pulse of the late emperor were silenced in the midst of the changes in the ascension of the late emperor!

Haitao and others all said that the medical officer was executed because he was not effective in treating the former emperor and deserved to be killed. But Xue Yan could guess what was going on in his heart, but it was just inconvenient to say it out loud.

At present, we can only temporarily presumably assume that the cause of the death of the late emperor was that he was stabbed by a poisonous needle stained with the silver ring snake. Because those who knew the inside story were consistent when reposting the diagnosis of the two medical officials, the statement was consistent and had high credibility; and other than that, Xue Yan did not have any way to prove the cause of death.

...The place is next to a pool in Chunhe Palace. When Xue Yan came to the shore, he saw some willow trees planted by the pool, but only bare branches were left at this time; the surface of the pool was frozen and has not melted yet.

Xue Yan walked a few steps and saw a broken brick and stone place by the pond. He pointed to it and said, "It turned out to be broken? At that time, the eldest prince (Zhu Zhanji) and the eunuch Wang Gouer dug the dredge here?"

Haitao nodded and said, "That's right."

"When the incident happened, Eunuch Hai was there in person?" Xue Yan asked.

Haitao made a memory and pondered for a moment: "When I came, the late emperor had already arrived here for a while. At that time, the late emperor had just decided to come to the East Palace, but no one was asked to inform me. After the late emperor arrived at the East Palace, the emperor (Gao Chi) rushed over, and the late emperor and others ran there again..."

Xue Yan buried his head and asked again: "Did Eunuch Hai see it with his own eyes when the eunuch Wang Gouer went to dig the dredge? Where are the others standing?"

Haitao took a "hiss" and frowned, "That was the summer of the previous year. Our family... the late emperor should be in this position; the emperor (Zhu Gaochi) and his servants were in the north, because the emperor rushed over from the north. It should be right!"

Xue Yan nodded and asked Haitao to stand at "the approximate position of the late emperor", and also asked Tan Qing to stand at a little north.

Then Xue Yan walked down the collapsed gap. He found a brick and stone near the ice surface. He stood there and found that he could squat down here, and the only place where he could squat down to reach the water. Then Xue Yan squatted on the stone, reached out to touch the ice surface, took out a piece of paper from his arms, and then stuffed it into his arms again.

After doing some trivial actions, Xue Yan returned to the shore and asked, "Do you know, what did I do just now?"

Haitao and Tan Qing both shook their heads and looked at Xue Yan with confusion.

Xue Yan said calmly: "I took a jade pendant from my arms..." He observed the expressions of the two, looking at the unquestionable appearance.

"Eunuch Hai, are you sure that the late emperor and the others are all where you stand?" Xue Yan asked.

Haitao frowned and said, "The days are too long, but our family thinks it's right."

Xue Yan thought for a while: "Is anyone relying on the Chishui Station?"

Haitao shook his head without hesitation and said, "Our family can be sure, no! At that time, the late emperor and the emperor were both by the pond. We are slaves. Don't you be extremely careful at this time? Beware of someone accidentally falling into the water!"

At this time, Tan Qing asked, "Xue Siqing thinks that Wang Gou'er tampered while digging the dredge?"

"It's possible." Xue Yan said, "The poison needle must be a premeditated arrangement, and someone must do this. But it may not be Wang Gonglu 2, or it may be someone else put it in advance. Didn't you say that the eldest prince often played here for a while?"

Tan Qing and Haitao both nodded in agreement.

"Concubine Guo is in Chunhe Palace? Can this official meet her?" Xue Yan asked.

Haitao said: "Our family takes Xue Siqing here."
Chapter completed!