The news of the assassination of His Royal Highness King Qi was not made public and was deliberately suppressed by the imperial court. However, the senior officials of the imperial court still reported the news.
Empress Zhang also got the news and immediately summoned the Prime Minister of the Political Affairs Hall to discuss the matter.
At this time, Pei Zunqing discovered something strange. Yuan Zai did not come, but only four ministers came. Pei Zunqing whispered to Li Dai beside him: "The queen and Li Fuguo have reached a compromise."
Li Dai nodded, "It should be, otherwise Yuan Zai would be in charge of the Criminal Department and he would not be able to be absent."
At this time, there was a sound of ringing, and a large group of palace maids came surrounding Queen Zhang.
The four of them saluted together, "See you, Queen!"
Queen Zhang waved her hand, "Dear ladies, please take a seat!"
Everyone sat down, and Queen Zhang also sat down behind the bamboo curtain. She asked first: "His Royal Highness King Qi arrived yesterday. How did he pass through Hangu Pass? Is there any news from the Generalissimo's Mansion?"
Empress Zhang looked at Li Fuguo, and Li Fuguo said quickly: "This matter was handled by Pei Xiangguo, and I don't know about it!"
Pei Zunqing stood up and said: "Empress, I asked Your Highness the King of Qi yesterday. He said that Hao Tingyu, the guard of Hangu Pass, surrendered to him. He passed directly through Hangu Pass. He promised to Weichen that when he goes back, he will bring Hangu Pass to him."
Return Guguan to the court!"
Queen Zhang asked after a while: "Will he really pay it back?"
"Since he promised, he will definitely pay it back!"
"Okay! That's it."
Empress Zhang didn't want to delve into the matter, so she turned back to today's topic, "Pei Xiangguo, how was the assassination of King Qi last night?"
Pei Zunqing said quickly: "The King of Qi's queue was well-defended last night. Although it was attacked by crossbows, there were no casualties. His Highness the King of Qi was not angry. He just hopes that we will strengthen security inspections to prevent a second attack."
"Have you found any clues so far?"
"Reporting to the Queen, there are currently no clues. Dali Temple is fully investigating the case. There are many people on the other side and it is difficult to hide. There should be clues soon."
"We must go all out to investigate, not only to give His Highness King Qi an explanation, but also if such a bad assassination case occurs at the feet of the Emperor and seriously affects the Emperor's reputation, we will never tolerate it."
"Wei Chen obeys the order!"
Empress Zhang then said to Li Fuguo: "The Plum Blossom Guards will strengthen their investigations and all suspicious people will be arrested and interrogated. These are extraordinary times and extraordinary means must be used. I don't want any more assassinations to happen."
Li Fuguo repeatedly agreed. This order was what he wanted. Several prime ministers had worried looks in their eyes. The Plum Blossom Guards would definitely use this opportunity to arrest innocent people and create an atmosphere of terror in Luoyang.
But there is no other way. The assassination is too bad. If another assassination occurs, no one can afford it.
At this time, Queen Zhang began to talk about the third thing, which was also the most important thing she wanted to say today.
"The emperor wants to make Zhang Li prime minister. Everyone has read the decree. In the past few days, I have been trying to persuade the emperor to withdraw his appointment, but the emperor will not allow it. Therefore, on behalf of the emperor, I officially announced that Yuan Zai will be relieved of his post as a disciple of Zhongshu and will be appointed as the governor of Hedong Province.
The observation envoy also serves as Taiyuan Yin, and Zhang Li, the minister of Guanglu Temple, serves as Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, and is granted the title of Tong Zhongshu’s subordinate Pingzhangshi and participates in political affairs.”
The nearest village to where the assassination occurred last night is called Xiaguan Village, which is about three miles away from Tianjie. Between Tianjie and Pine Forest is a large area of farmland, which is currently covered with white snow.
Xiaguan Village became the focus of the Dali Temple investigation.
Sure enough, there was a harvest, and many villagers saw a large horse riding team.
In the Tutu Temple at the east end of the village, Peng Haiyan was listening to the reports of each group. He divided his more than twenty men into seven groups and visited each villager's house, not sparing any one.
"Envoy, Mr. Liu was composting at the head of the field yesterday at noon. He saw with his own eyes more than a hundred cavalrymen running past him. These people were not tall. Although they were all dressed in black and masked, their ranks were neat and murderous.
Tengteng is completely an army."
Peng Haiyan nodded. Almost all witnesses believed that the other party was the army. It looked like it might be the army.
At this time, three officials from the sixth group ran back and said: "Your Majesty, we have a big harvest!"
Peng Haiyan stepped forward and asked, "What's the harvest?"
"We asked my father-in-law's family in Xiguan, the village, and his nephew's family happened to be visiting. His nephew said that a group of black men leading horses came to their neighboring village a few days ago. There were about fifty people and they rented a big house."
Peng Haiyan perked up and asked quickly: "Where is his nephew's neighboring village?"
"We asked, and it was Zaotian Village in Yique County, in the northeast corner of the county."
Peng Haiyan immediately said: "Gather everyone together and rush to Yique County immediately."
Zaotian Village, Yique County, is a peaceful mountain village, backed by Yique Mountain and surrounded by dense forests.
In the afternoon, Peng Haiyan led more than twenty of his men to Zaotian Village.
They did not enter the village immediately, but asked a villager outside the village who was cutting ice by the river.
"The black knights on horseback! There are some, about fifty or sixty of them, living in the Lin family mansion in the east. They came back in the middle of the night yesterday, but left not long ago, and they haven't come back yet."
Peng Haiyan secretly screamed something bad, and immediately led his men to rush towards the village. After asking around in the village, a villager pointed to a large house to the east. Peng Haiyan immediately sent a man with high martial arts skills to investigate.
Not long after, his subordinates came back and reported, "I am reporting to you that this is an empty house with no one in it."
Peng Haiyan immediately sent two men to guard outside the village, and he led his men into the mansion.
The house was empty, and there were signs that many people had lived there, but nothing was left behind. The residents had packed up and left.
The men found several masks, which were carved from peach wood and painted with various colors of paint to give them a ferocious appearance.
Obviously, these people were the ones who assassinated King Qi. After their assassination failed last night, they packed up their things and ran away.
At this time, the person who was looking after the house was brought in. He was a middle-aged man named Lin, who was the cousin of the homeowner and lived next door.
The man was so frightened that he knelt down and saluted, "Young man Lin Ah Shui, please see me!"
"These are the people you deal with?"
"Reporting to the master, the house was rented out by my cousin. I have dealt with them three times and bought them food, meat and vegetables."
"Do you know where they are from?" Peng Haiyan asked again.
Lin Ashui shook her head, "I don't know. The people I deal with told me not to meddle in other people's business."
"Are they Han Chinese?"
"No!" Lin Ah Shui answered decisively this time.
Peng Haiyan immediately asked: "How do you know they are not Han people?"
"When I was moving food, they didn't allow me to come in. Instead, more than a dozen people came out to move the food together. They complained and argued a few times. I couldn't understand a word they said. They must not be Han people."
"Aren't they tall?"
"Yes! Everyone is not tall, half a head shorter than me, but they are all very strong."
At this time, one of his subordinates came over and said a few words to Peng Haiyan. Peng Haiyan stood up and asked Lin Ashui to go home first. He quickly walked into the house and his subordinates found evidence.
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[Lao Gao is practicing driving with his daughter these days, so there are only two updates, please forgive me!]