Chen Qing was closely guarded by the guards and rode a carriage to the court. He made a special turn and walked away from the lake.
A large number of guards and palace guards gathered by the lake. They surrounded a place. Apparently they found something?
Someone shouted, "Your Majesty is here!"
The guards moved away one after another, and Chen Qing walked over. He saw a body covered with black cloth on the ground, with only one pair of feet exposed. It was probably lying face down on the ground.
Chen Qing stepped forward and lifted up the black cloth and took a look. She was indeed a woman. She was naked, thin, with disheveled hair. The fatal spot was on her back, where something like water pierced her chest and killed her with a single blow.
Chen Qing covered it with a black cloth and asked, "Where was it found?"
"Reporting to your Majesty, the body is right here and has not been moved!"
"Where were those black clothes found?"
The guard pointed to a big stone dozens of steps away, "It's pressed under that big stone."
"Are there any holes in the clothes?"
"No, they probably took off their clothes and went into the water."
Chen Qing nodded and asked Yang Jinchai and Xu Hong, "What do you two think?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, they probably had different opinions and had internal strife. As a result, they became murderous and stabbed to death with a sword from behind!"
"Is it with a sword?" Chen Qing asked.
Yang Jinchai nodded, "I have tested it in my humble job. It is a very thin sword."
"Do you think the other two people escaped through the waterway?" Chen Qing continued to ask.
"Judging from the current situation, it should be so!"
Chen Qing shook his head, "They can obviously swim around in black clothes, why do they have to be naked? Moreover, it is easier to be found naked under the water, and black clothes can hide it. This is one; second, the water flows from the west.
Yuhe, then flows out from the east. This is the direction of the water flow. If the assassination is done in the water, it will never rush to the shore, but will flow along the current; thirdly, is this a trick used by the other party?
You mistakenly thought that the other two people had escaped, but in fact they did not leave, they only took off their clothes to change into palace clothes."
Everyone was shocked. Are the two assassins still in the palace?
Chen Qing added: "I suggest you check the palace guards and palace maids. They used women to assassinate, and they must be pretending to be people in the palace."
After saying that, Chen Qing boarded the carriage and went to the court under strict guard.
Yang Jinchai said quickly: "I will arrange for the Queen not to come out and continue the investigation at dawn!"
Xu Hong nodded, "We need to gather all the palace maids and eunuchs, so that we can investigate more easily."
The two of them split up...
When Lu Xiu and others heard that the assassin was still hiding in the palace, they became worried again. They were mainly worried about the emperor.
Yang Jinchai comforted them and said: "Your Majesty went to the imperial study room, but it is safe. Now it is not safe in the inner palace. We must find two assassins. I don't know whether they are male or female, but they must be thin."
Zhao Qiaoyun said from the side: "If the palace people are gathering, then they will definitely not dare to go. They should hide in the palace and let the hounds smell the smell of the corpses, and maybe they can find their previous hiding place."
"But it has been raining outside, and their smell has been washed away by the rain."
Zhao Qiaoyun smiled and shook his head, "They were caught in the rain and the smell was heavier, and they were not hiding in the rain!"
Zhao Yingluo also said: "It's best to go to the imperial kitchen to check. If a lot of food is missing, they may have a long-term plan to lurk in the palace."
This sentence reminded Yang Jinchai, and she immediately rushed to arrange the hunting dogs and check the imperial kitchen.
............
There were not many maids and eunuchs in the harem, only about 500 people in total, so it was easy to investigate. The imperial kitchen also found that three large packages of snacks were missing.
By this time, the rain had subsided and turned into a drizzle. The three mastiffs finally found the trail. They ran along a corridor and barked at an attic in Yu Ying's courtyard.
A large number of palace guards surrounded the attic and began a rigorous search. The three-headed mastiff was also released, and the mastiff went straight to the third floor.
A mastiff had just rushed up to the third floor when it suddenly screamed and rolled down from the third floor with a flying knife nailed to its head.
"They're upstairs!"
The palace guards shouted, and the palace guards who had been tortured all night became energetic. Hundreds of guards came and surrounded the attic.
At this time, two women in palace attire suddenly came out of the broken window on the third floor. They ran away in separate directions, one to the east and the other to the west. Each of them jumped towards a big tree. The guards were well prepared and raised their crossbows together to shoot into the air.
, the assassin from the west screamed, was pierced by random arrows, and fell from the air.
Commander Xu Hong shouted anxiously: "Catch him alive!"
The guards put away their crossbows. The assassin who was escaping from the east landed on a big tree. She jumped down from the big tree. As soon as she landed, seven or eight nets fell from the sky and trapped her tightly.
"Caught!"
The guards rushed forward and held down the assassin in the net. One guard suddenly shouted, "Hold her hand, she will commit suicide!"
The guards desperately held down the female assassin's hand, but it was too late. She lowered her head and the poison-tempered flying knife in her hand had already pierced her throat.
The guards pulled the net open with all their hands, only to see that the female assassin was foaming at the mouth, twitching all over, and she was already dying.
Within a moment, both female assassins were dead. The palace guards searched the attic again, only finding a few packages of stolen food and nothing else.
Helpless, the guards had no choice but to hand over the bodies of the three female assassins and all their belongings to the internal guards, who would then take over to investigate their origins. The danger in the palace was relieved.
The guards also strengthened surveillance and patrols of the East Palace construction site. This was a fatal flaw that they had ignored before.
But whether there were only three assassins or there was another ambush, Yang Jinchai did not dare to be careless. She led the palace guards and mastiffs to search repeatedly, and finally determined that there was no fourth person, and then ended the alarm.
But the vigilance was not relaxed. The emperor's family could not leave the house for the time being and could only move around in their respective rooms.
.............
The alarm in the palace has been lifted, but the investigation into the assassination has just begun.
The internal guards took over the corpse, but found nothing after investigating the three corpses and belongings.
Zhong Huan was listening to the report from Xu Cheng, the commander of the internal guards. "The three female assassins have similar figures and almost the same weight. After carefully examining their hands and feet, I can conclude that they have received the same training and should come from the same organization."
, but there are no marks on any of them."
"Are they from the Central Plains?"
"Unrecognizable!"
Zhong Huan asked again: "Are there any clues about their belongings?"
Xu Cheng shook his head, "There are only three things that belong to them, black clothes, flying knives and sharp swords. The sharp sword is a willow leaf sword. It is very thin and can be bought in sword shops. The flying knives are also relatively common. The only special thing is
The poison quenched on the flying knife is very strong, the kind that seals the throat when blood is seen, and is currently being studied by the weapons workshop."
Zhong Huan nodded, "Since they were sent to assassinate the emperor, they will not leave any clues. However, their timing and breakthrough point were very accurate. We should start from the East Palace construction site."
Zhong Huan immediately ordered: "Go to the East Palace construction site!"
Dozens of inner guard cavalry rushed in the drizzle. After a while, they rushed to the East Palace construction site. Currently, the construction site has stopped and has been controlled by the inner guards. Several main stewards are there. The guards have stepped up their guard inside the palace walls.
, the outside of the palace wall was returned to the internal guards for investigation.
An internal guard soldier brought the night watchman up. Zhong Huan knelt down and looked at the dog that was shot, and asked the night watchman: "How many times did the dog bark before it was killed?"
"Reporting to the general, you will be killed after shouting twice?"
"Are you sure?"
"Sure, the little man heard it clearly and thought it was hungry."
Zhong Huan nodded and asked again: "Were you the only one at the construction site last night?"
"Exactly!"
A steward nearby said: "It rained heavily last night. The craftsmen were all resting in the work sheds and there was no construction scheduled."
Zhong Huan came to the wooden shelf beside the palace wall, where the three assassins broke into the palace last night.
"How long have the wooden shelves been there?"
The steward quickly said: "It has only been there for one day. It was built last night. There are tiles falling off the wall. We are going to repair the tiles."
Zhong Huan turned around and said to Xu Cheng: "They didn't carry any tools like hooks or claws to climb over the wall, which means they were planning to climb over the wall from here, and they seized the opportunity as soon as they built one. The craftsmen must have their eyes on them."
Xu Cheng also quickly said: "Reporting to the general, from the time when the dog barked and was killed, to when the alarm sounded in the palace, there was only a quarter of an hour. They were still able to go to the imperial kitchen to get food, which shows that they are very familiar with the layout of the palace."
"You are right. They have plans and have been patiently waiting for opportunities, but this is also our breakthrough."
At this moment, a craftsman ran over in a panic and reported to the steward, "Report to the steward, there was a death in the dormitory!"