Chapter 532: Chapter 534: Seeking Help
“Eh, this woman seems sowhat familiar, as if I’ve seen her sowhere before,” Pei Haolan stroked his chin, continuing to scrutinize the woman’s features closely.
Pei Siyang reminded, “If I’m not mistaken, this woman was with our Fifth Brother years ago.”
“Ah, I rember now, she’s the woman Fifth Brother hid in the brothel. Later on, for so unknown reason, she suddenly disappeared without a trace, and Fifth Brother shut himself in, drinking sullenly for a month,” Pei Haolan suddenly realized.
Shao He smiled, his lips blooming into a beautiful smile, and said in a soft voice, “I didn’t expect you to drown your sorrows in wine for a woman?”
“Don’t listen to his nonsense,” Pei Huaian retorted.
Shao He didn’t say much more, as he was well aware that this was not the occasion to delve into the matter.
“Since you all have ntioned it, then I have no need to hide anything,” Pei Jingyi stepped forward and said with a bow, “Reporting to Father Emperor, this woman was brought into the imperial palace by your son.”
“And why did you bring her into the palace?”
“She had been kneeling in front of my residence, begging passionately, hoping to offer blessings to Fifth Brother. Reluctantly, I brought her into the palace, never imagining that today she would end up lying here as a corpse.”
Pei Jingyi was filled with imnse regret, his eyes revealing a look of guilt.
Yan Ze stepped out and said, “Emperor, I wish to investigate this case and will surely uncover the true culprit.”
The Emperor nodded, feeling it was an apt decision to entrust the case to him.
At that mont, Pei Jingyi suddenly spoke up, “There seem to be strangulation marks on the woman’s neck, and there appears to be a print there.”
Everyone imdiately looked in the direction he was pointing and indeed saw that Ah Lan’s neck was bruised purple, with clear finger marks from being strangled.
Yan Ze bent down and rotated the woman’s neck with his fingers, discovering a mark that seed to have been left during strangulation. “We should first have the coroner co to examine the body.”
“This mark, it seems to resemble the Jade Ring of Fifth Brother, no, that of the Crown Prince,” Pei Jingyi deliberately brought up.
“Oh?” The Emperor raised an eyebrow.
All eyes turned to Pei Huaian, who candidly said, “Reporting to Father Emperor, I did indeed know her, this woman sought to get close to after seeing beco the Crown Prince, but I did not murder her, she does not warrant such an action from .”
“Perhaps in a fit of illness, Fifth Brother accidentally killed her; it’s not impossible,” Pei Jingyi continued.
Xia Zhaoshun stood by, clenching his fists tightly, incredulous that this fool could concoct such a plot to fra and entrap soone.
Pei Jingyi’s lips curled into a faint smirk, confident in his heart that this ti he would surely topple Pei Huaian.
“How co I wasn’t aware that the Crown Prince had any other illnesses?” the Emperor asked, his voice cold and piercing.
Pei Jingyi’s face changed abruptly, and he quickly knelt down, anxiously saying, “Reporting to Father Emperor, your son was rely speculating…”
“Hmph!” The Emperor snorted coldly, “Do you think I am senile?”
This unfilial son, it seems the lessons I’ve given him were not enough, allowing him to still harbor delusions.
Pei Huaian continued, “Father Emperor, this woman had intentions from the start and managed to follow to the imperial palace.”
Pei Jingyi’s heart sank, and sure enough, Pei Huaian added, “This matter I have already ordered an investigation into.”
The Emperor was silent for a mont before slowly stating, “Issue a decree that, effective imdiately, except for the ministers and their families, all servant boys and maids are to be detained and investigated; any violators will be punished without rcy. In addition, seal off the imperial palace and guard it strictly.”
“Yes, Your Majesty is wise!” All the officials said in unison.
Afterward, the Emperor left, and the courtiers dispersed. Pei Siyang, before leaving, patted him on the shoulder and said, “This road is not easy to travel; you must be very careful.”
“Thank you for the reminder, Big Brother.”
Pei Siyang afforded a faint smile and then took his leave.
Pei Haolan also ca over and said, “Fifth Brother, no, if there’s anything you need help with, Your Highness, just let know.”
“Third Brother is as silly as ever.”
Only Yan Ze, Shao He, Pei Huaian, Ah Mo, and others remained in the side hall.
Gathering together, Shao He spoke up, “I thought they would resort to using a honey trap to fra you, but I didn’t expect murder.”
“Pei Jingyi is in such a hurry to strip of my position as Crown Prince, afraid that I pose a threat to him, so it’s no surprise he would do such a thing.”
Shao He furrowed his brows, “At that ti, I noticed Xia Zhaoshun’s expression; he seed extrely angry about the matter, indicating that Pei Jingyi did not inform him when carrying out this deed.”
“Xia Zhaoshun is cunning and naturally knows this thod won’t bring down Your Highness. How could he agree to Pei Jingyi’s actions?” Yan Ze said with a chuckle while shaking the folding fan in his hand.
The coroner arrived quickly, conducted an examination of the body, and concluded that she had died from a dagger thrust to the heart.
Moreover, they found a packet of aphrodisiac on her, likely intended for Pei Huaian; unfortunately, she was never able to use it before her untily death.
The imperial palace was lit up as brightly as day. The Imperial Guard was conducting searches everywhere. Pei Huaian analyzed that the murderer was likely still hiding sowhere within the palace.
“The entire imperial palace is so large, it’s really not easy to search, unless we can lure the murderer out.”
The suggestion by Shao He enlightened both of them, and together they staged an elaborate act.
Soon, the whole imperial palace was abuzz with rumors that Ah Lan had not died, and that Shao He, with his superb dical skills, could bring her back to life.
As long as they could survive the night, they would see a resurrected Ah Lan the next day.
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