Yu Zaizhong had just walked to the outer courtyard of the Fourth Prince's Mansion when a servant with a sly look on his face suddenly stopped him.
"Hey, sir, wait a minute, my prince has some gifts for you."
After saying that, he took him to the side gate of the Fourth Prince's Mansion, and saw a carriage parked at the side gate.
He opened the curtain of the carriage, and inside were two girls who had fainted and were unconscious.
Yu Zaizhong nodded, "Thank you so much, Fourth Prince."
When the servant saw the gift that Yu Zaizhong accepted, he smiled happily and said, "Enjoy it, sir. If it's not enough, the fourth prince will send some to your house someday."
As soon as the stern-looking servant left, Yu Zaizhong glanced at the unconscious girl with disgust and ordered his men: "Beat her to death and throw her in a mass grave."
"By the way, leave some marks on these two women."
The servant didn't ask anything and replied respectfully: "It's your lord."
If some clues are not revealed, who knows how long it will take those people to find out about this matter.
Yu Zaizhong glanced mockingly at the Fourth Prince's Mansion behind him.
He doesn't like any of the princes of Da Qi. All he wants is for them to fight among themselves.
And he and his master are about to reap the benefits.
Prince Huai's Mansion.
Qin Rushuang received news from someone sent by Shen Minghe, saying that the bodies of two girls were indeed found in the mass grave.
This was somewhat beyond Qin Rushuang's expectations.
She did expect that someone might dump the body, but she didn't expect it to come so quickly and at such a coincidence. It was as if someone deliberately threw this clue in front of her eyes.
Qin Rushuang told Xie Xun the news from Shen Minghe.
"Your Majesty, do you think the person behind this accidentally exposed himself, or did someone deliberately pass on the information to us?"
Hearing the news, Xie Xun's face felt a little heavy. After all, it was two lives.
"Whether someone deliberately gave us the information or the person behind it exposed the truth, as long as we can find out the truth of the matter, we can put it aside for the time being."
Qin Rushuang nodded, "My idea is not to tell the families of these girls that this happened to them, so as not to alert others."
"Just do as you say."
Qin Rushuang handed these words to the servant of Shen Mansion who came to deliver the message, and at the same time asked him to let Shen Minghe find out the identities of the two girls, what happened to them during their lifetime, and whether there were any other clues about them.
The servants followed the order and left, and new progress was made before it got dark.
And this progress is very important.
They found that both girls had handkerchiefs embroidered with the word "zhou" in their arms.
Qin Rushuang carefully touched the handkerchief brought by her servant.
The material of the handkerchief is an extremely rare fabric, and it happens that in Kyoto, only one cloth workshop under the name of Du Shi has it.
Those who can use this precious fabric are either wealthy merchants or famous officials.
And because this kind of fabric is expensive, every piece sold will be recorded in the register. And knowing that the owner's surname is Zhou, it will be easy to check all this.
Qin Rushuang was worried about the girl falling into the water. After getting the news, she immediately wanted to go to her cloth workshop to check.
Xie Xun looked at the sky and said, "It's getting late. I will go with you."
Qin Rushuang nodded. This matter was closely related to Xie Xun, so it would be good to go together.
The group came to Du's cloth shop and easily found out the origin of this square handkerchief.
It was none other than Zhou Bingcheng, the official spokesperson of Yushitai.
Seeing this name, Xie Xun suddenly said, "When my father proposed the third sacrifice a few days ago, this man surnamed Zhou jumped out and strongly opposed the fourth son and I to host the sacrifice. But later I expressed that I didn't want to go, so I let the old man do it.
When Si was presiding alone, this person stopped talking."
"What the prince means is... maybe the person named Zhou is from the Fourth Prince's side?"
Xie Xun shook his head: "It's hard to say, but what is certain is that he must be related to the missing girls."
After receiving Xie Xun's reminder, Qin Rushuang felt a little heavy in her heart.
Since ancient times, Yushitai has been based on the principle of being honest and honest and loyal only to the emperor. Most of the officials there are clean and self-sufficient and value reputation more than anything else.
Although they are sometimes annoying, it is undeniable that Yushitai is a rare breath of fresh air in the Da Qi court.
But now this clear stream no longer speaks for the development of Da Qi and the justice of the court, but for its own selfish desires, which is really chilling.
Thinking again that Mr. Zhou, who was already over forty years old, might have defiled many missing girls, Qin Rushuang felt a chill in her heart.
These days, true villains are not to be feared, but hypocrites like this are to be feared.
Seeing that Qin Rushuang was very conflicted, Xie Xun said: "Not all the people in the court are hypocrites like this. There are also many ministers who work conscientiously in their posts and serve the country and the people."
Xie Xun hurriedly explained that he was afraid that Qin Rushuang would be disappointed with the court and Da Qi, and even more afraid that Qin Rushuang would be disappointed with him.
After hearing these words, Qin Rushuang's expression softened a lot.
It is true that there will be people who sit in the court and eat nothing, and there will also be people like Xie Xun who are clearly noble princes but personally lead troops to defend their home and country.
There are also children from aristocratic families like Shen Xiaoyang, who stick to the bottom line of the law and redress the grievances of the people.
Qin Rushuang wiped away the anger in her mind, and she suddenly thought of something.
"There are currently thirty-eight women known to have fallen into the water. However, the list was only found after the Emperor took this matter seriously. Could it be that some women have disappeared or fallen into the water without their families knowing about it?"
"This possibility cannot be ruled out."
"Let's go to the Yamen and see if there are any suspicious persons among the recent missing people." Qin Rushuang suggested.
Xie Xun nodded, Qin Rushuang's idea was not impossible.
The two of them went to the yamen together to inquire. As soon as the carriage arrived at the yamen gate, they happened to meet an old couple talking to the yamen servants.
Qin Rushuang listened closer and heard something different.
This old couple lives in the west of the city and has only one daughter at home.
They were devastated after their daughter went to Honglin Lake to play. After she fell into the water and disappeared, they didn't expect that they passed by the brothel yesterday and unexpectedly saw their dead daughter appearing in the brothel!
Xie Xun naturally heard that this matter was unusual, exchanged glances with Qin Rushuang, and followed the old couple to the Yamen.
After understanding what happened, Qin Rushuang speculated that these girls who fell into the water must be related to the brothel.
She ordered the county magistrate to press the news, and carefully comforted the old couple, asking them to be calm and promising that she would definitely rescue their daughter.
The old couple looked like they were well-educated and literate. After listening to Qin Rushuang's explanation, in addition to being happy for their daughter's life, they also had hatred for the person behind them.
Their good daughter was sent to a dirty place like a brothel!
After sending the old couple away, Qin Rushuang felt a little worried.
The fact that the old couple came to the yamen to report the crime must have been seen by many people along the way, and the yamen servant at the time also knew about it. He was worried that the safety of the old couple would be threatened.
Xie Xun saw Qin Rushuang's worry at a glance, so he comforted him: "Don't worry, I will send someone to ensure their safety."
Seeing that Qin Rushuang's face was still a little sad, she added: "We have found clues to this matter now, and it will definitely be over soon."
