Nightwatcher

"Today, Master Xu took his servants to inquire about the list of people entering and exiting the imperial pharmacy."

The little eunuch spoke eloquently, telling the story step by step according to the list. Emperor Yuan Jing kept silent, his eyes were deep, and he didn't know whether he was listening carefully or thinking of something else.

"The last one on the list is Jingxiu Palace, the eldest maid next to the imperial concubine. Master Xu brought his servants to ask questions, but the door was closed."

Hearing this, Emperor Yuan Jing's frozen eyes moved, as if his attention had been drawn back a little.

"In desperation, Mr. Xu went to Shaoyin Palace and asked His Highness Lin'an for help."

Xu Qi'an's confession came to the little eunuch's mind, and he said naturally: "After asking Lang'er from Jingxiu Palace, Mr. Xu's face became extremely ugly, and he seemed not to want to stay any longer. He didn't even drink tea, so he took The servant hastily left"

"But before leaving Jingxiu Palace, Lang'er turned back and said that the imperial concubine invited Mr. Xu into the courtyard to thank him for breaking the case of Concubine Fu. Mr. Xu didn't want to see him at first, but Lang'er forced him to stay for a while. .” The little eunuch paused and continued:

"Then, the concubine retreated everyone, and the servants were not allowed to enter the house, so they could only wait in the yard."

"slow!"

Emperor Yuan Jing's eyes fully recovered, he interrupted the little eunuch, stared at him, pondered for a few seconds, and slowly said: "Screen everyone?"

"Back to Your Majesty, yes."

"What did they say in the yard?"

The little eunuch said: "It's too far away, the servant can't hear clearly, so I can only watch Master Xu and Concubine Concubine talking in the room from a distance."

Emperor Yuan Jing pressed his right hand to his lips, and said suddenly, "You said just now that after Xu Qi'an asked Lang'er, his face became extremely ugly?"

Before the little eunuch could reply, the old eunuch's face changed slightly, and he reprimanded: "You dog, how do you usually teach you?"

When reporting, don't mix subjective emotions, don't try to mislead His Majesty, and be fair and objective.

Emperor Yuan Jing raised his hand and interrupted the angry old eunuch.

Seeing this, the little father-in-law gained some confidence: "It's really ugly."

Emperor Yuan Jing nodded, pondered for a moment, and said: "Xu Qi'an wanted to leave, but Lang'er forced him to stay?"

"Yes."

The little eunuch noticed a certain change in Emperor Yuan Jing's attitude, and said cautiously: "Master Xu said that he is investigating the case by order, and his duty is there, so you don't need to thank me.

"Lang'er said, if Mr. Xu doesn't go to see your empress, he won't be able to get out of Jingxiu Palace."

Hearing this, Emperor Yuan Jing seemed to have light in his eyes. This time, he thought for a long time, the palace was terribly quiet, and the eunuchs, one old and one young, held their breath for fear of disturbing the unpredictable emperor.

Finally, Emperor Yuan Jing spoke slowly: "How was Xu Qi'an's mood when he left?"

Xu Qi'an had explained this sentence before leaving, but the little eunuch didn't answer immediately, but pretended to think about it, and then said:

"Master Xu left the palace with a lot of worries."

In order to increase the credibility, he added: "When leaving the palace before, Mr. Xu would chat with the servants and be happy, but today is very different, he didn't say a word."

Emperor Yuan Jing waved his hand.

"Back off." The old eunuch said immediately.

After the little eunuch left the bedroom, Emperor Yuan Jing sat for a long time without saying a word, and said, "Go, bring me Lang'er from Jingxiu Palace."

The old eunuch responded and slowly left the bedroom.

The old eunuch led a team of guards, and in the afterglow of the setting sun, they passed through layers of palace walls and arrived at Jingxiu Palace.

The eunuch guarding the gate recognized from a distance that it was His Majesty's big companion, went up to greet him, and said: "Eunuch, wait a moment, the servant will inform the imperial concubine and empress."

"Our family is in a hurry." The old eunuch slapped him away, led the guards into the yard, and walked through the front yard, when he heard bursts of crying coming from the inner yard.

The old eunuch stood in the inner courtyard and said loudly: "Your Majesty, I beg to see you."

In Concubine Chen Guifei's room, a court lady with red eyes came out, and said in a soft voice, "Your Majesty, please come in."

The old eunuch followed the maid into the room and saw Chen Guifei sitting on the big chair, holding a brocade handkerchief in her hand, wiping her eyes from time to time, with a sad face.

"My lady, what's the matter?" the old eunuch asked in surprise.

"One of the servants next to me had a sudden illness just now, and he passed away if he said nothing, and the imperial doctor couldn't save him." Chen Guifei said sadly.

"This..." the old eunuch comforted: "My mother's day is sad, what is the maid's name?"

"Lang'er."

"!!!" The old eunuch's expression froze.

"My big companion came to Jingxiu Palace, why?" Chen Guifei said softly.

The old eunuch smiled, "Your Majesty sent an old slave to comfort your Majesty. Your Majesty knows about these days, and your Majesty is frightened."

Concubine Chen Guifei turned her head away and said in a mournful voice, "Your Majesty can't even see your concubines?"

The old eunuch laughed dryly, and did not comment on the imperial concubine's complaints.

He chatted with the imperial concubine for a few words, and said casually: "Then Lang'er is not very old."

Although Lang'er was an old man in Jingxiu Palace, Emperor Yuan Jing hadn't had a lucky concubine for more than ten or twenty years, and the old eunuch had no impression of this personal maid who unfortunately died young.

"A poor child." Concubine Chen Guifei looked sad.

The old eunuch took advantage of the situation and said, "Let's go and have a look."

He also has another identity, that is, the head of internal affairs, in charge of the eunuchs and maids of the palace, but this identity is his own false title as the great companion of Emperor Yuan Jing.

The deputy general manager is the real person in charge.

After all, the head of internal affairs is busy with affairs, and it is impossible to serve the emperor all the time.

After bidding farewell to Concubine Chen Gui, the old eunuch, led by the maid, entered the South Chamber, and saw Lang'er lying on the bed with a pale face.

"Have you had your doctor see it?"

"Go back to my father-in-law, I read it, the imperial doctor said it was a brain disorder, and there was no cure."

The old eunuch stared at Lang'er for a long time, then ordered: "Leave him to our family."

He ordered the guards to take away Lang'er's body and hurried back to report.

Returning to Emperor Yuan Jing's bedroom, the old emperor was still sitting behind the big case laid with bright yellow silk, looking towards the gate with a blank expression.

Seeing the old eunuch stepping over the threshold to enter the house, he didn't react at all.

"Your Majesty, Lang'er is dead," the old eunuch whispered.

After a long, long time, Emperor Yuan Jing let out a "hmm". This emperor who overlooked half a Jiazi at the peak of power was neither happy nor sad.

The next day, Emperor Yuan Jing held another court meeting. Civil and military officials entered the Meridian Gate in an orderly manner in the hazy sky. Some stayed in the square outside the Jinluan Hall, and some stood on the white marble steps outside the Jinluan Hall.

Only a very small part entered the main hall, and this part of the people, in the storyteller's mouth, was collectively called: above the temple, all the lords.

After the officials entered the hall, Emperor Yuan Jing came out from the back of the hall a quarter of an hour later and sat on his dragon chair.

After the monarchs and ministers played their duets normally, the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment came out and said loudly: "Your Majesty, the San Judicial Department has completed the verification, and the Queen is indeed the mastermind of the Concubine Fu case.

"Shangguan's virtue is unworthy. He murdered the concubine and framed the prince. Your Majesty please punish him severely."

The Minister of Dali Temple immediately stepped forward to second the proposal.

In the hall, civil servants, military generals, and some nobles all seconded their proposals, and the voices became one.

This means that they had already discussed it properly yesterday, and abolishing the empress is no better than abolishing the crown prince, which is a major matter related to the country. The abolition of the empress is only the emperor's family matter, as long as there are reasons and evidence to prove that the empress is indeed unethical, rather than the emperor liking the new and disliking the old, then the officials have no reason and no need to stop it.

The only thing that matters after the abolition is the identity of the fourth prince. You must know that the fourth prince is the only direct son of Emperor Yuan Jing, and many people put their treasure on him.

Those who did not second the proposal were the four princes and one party.

Before Emperor Yuan Jing could express his opinion, Wei Yuan came out, and the hall fell silent immediately.

"Your Majesty, there is something else hidden about the case of Concubine Fu. The empress is not the mastermind. The real mastermind is Huang Xiaorou. She killed Concubine Fu, and then tricked the crown prince into Qingfeng Palace to forge this case."

Just as Wei Yuan finished speaking, professional trolls jumped out of the matter to retort:

"It's nonsense, a mere court lady can commit such a shocking crime? Besides, why did Huang Xiaorou frame the crown prince? Wei Yuan, what do you think of your majesty, what do you think of the princes of the temple?"

After finishing speaking, I would like to add a sentence: Your Majesty, please cut off this dog.

The rest of the ministers scolded Wei Yuan one after another, and the hall was chaotic for a while.

The old eunuch held the whip in his hand and whipped it vigorously, and there was a crisp sound of "slap" on the ground, and he shouted: "Silence!"

Only then did the hall quiet down.

The Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and the Minister of Dali Temple looked at Wei Yuan with a sneer, and all the officials also looked at Wei Yuan, with sneers, sarcasm, bewilderment and helplessness. The latter came from the party of the four princes.

Wei Yuan ignored the gazes from around and the scolding during the incident, and said: "Yesterday, Tonggong Xu Qi'an, who was in charge of the Concubine Fu case, found out that Huang Xiaorou was pregnant."

Before he finished speaking, there was another uproar in the hall.

Is the court lady Huang Xiaorou pregnant? !

Apart from the guards in the palace, the only one who can really make a woman pregnant is Emperor Yuan Jing. Of course, it is impossible for the guards. Those who can guard the harem are loyal to the royal family and have been selected from thousands of elites.

Moreover, they are often in a team of several people, supervising each other, and there is no possibility of having an affair with a court lady.

then there is only one possibility

For a moment, the princes in the temple looked at Emperor Yuan Jing's eyes, and they couldn't help but connotate.

Emperor Yuan Jing's majestic face twitched lightly, coldly seeing Wei Yuan who deliberately stopped talking, said in a deep voice:

"Wei Yuan, keep talking!"

Wei Yuan said slowly: "After investigation, it was discovered that the person who caused Huang Xiaorou to lose her virginity and become pregnant was called Shangguan, the uncle of the current dynasty."

Next, Wei Yuan told a story to the court officials, which was polished by him:

The court lady Huang Xiaorou was bullied by her uncle, she became pregnant unfortunately, and then secretly miscarried, so she held a grudge, endured it for many years, and finally hatched a conspiracy.

Taking advantage of Concubine Fu's personal convenience as a palace maid, she quietly destroyed the guardrail of the watchtower, and while Concubine Fu was drunk, she tricked the prince into going to Qingfeng Palace, setting up the most appalling trap in the harem for more than ten years.

After Uncle Guo heard about Concubine Fu's case, he found that Huang Xiaorou was involved, fearing that his behavior as a beast would be exposed, so he begged to Fengqi Palace.

Only then did the queen know that the uncle of the country had done such an outrageous thing, and she took the guilt for the uncle of the country with tears in mind.

In the end, Wei Yuan concluded the case: "This is how it happened. Uncle Guo has pleaded guilty. Your Majesty can bring him for trial at any time."

"Absurd." Dali Temple Minister snorted coldly, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, as far as I know, Huang Xiaorou was killed. If she planned everything, then where is the murderer?"

The ministers agreed one after another.

Wei Yuan explained without changing his face: "Huang Xiaorou still has accomplices, helping her in the layout, alluding to the queen in the name of framing the prince."

Hearing this, many ministers moved in their hearts and started to think about it.

If there hadn't been the matter of uncle Guo's defilement of Huang Xiaorou, anyone would have thought that the queen pleaded guilty because of solid evidence.

But after Guojiu's confession, the case took a turn for the worse.

Leaving aside whether the queen is innocent or not, with the uncle Guo's confession, there is room for disputes.

The faction of the Four Princes swept away the decline just now, and they stood up to speak out one after another, expressing their positions, supporting Wei Yuan, and denouncing the uncle Guo.

Gradually, there were only two voices left in the hall, the war of words between the princelings and the four princelings. The Four Princelings are headed by Youdu Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, while the Princelings are composed of various messy small parties.

Among the big parties, there may be some who secretly support the prince, but they will never jump out on the stage, and the big bastard will always hide under the water.

After some fierce wrangling, Wei Yuan said loudly: "Please make a decision, Your Majesty."

The quarrel stopped, and the officials echoed: "Your Majesty, please make a decision."

Wei Yuan's papers were submitted to the palace as early as yesterday, and usually the papers would be delivered to the palace one day in advance for court meetings, so Emperor Yuan Jing had already read Uncle Guo's confession.

In today's court meeting, if Emperor Yuan Jing wants to end the case of Concubine Fu, he can make a conclusion at this time, and if he doesn't want to, he will order another investigation.

Seeing that the officials stopped arguing, Emperor Yuan Jing opened his mouth and said slowly: "The Shangguan called out to cause trouble in the harem, and he will be sentenced to death! The queen's failure to report her knowledge is the same crime as her, but he thought of the blood relationship, so he ordered the queen to contemplate her mistakes behind closed doors. March."

The officials thought it was over, but Emperor Yuan Jing paused, and continued: "The crown prince broke into the Qingfeng Palace drunk and didn't know what to do. He was ordered to shut up and contemplate for half a year. Concubine Chen encouraged the crown prince to get drunk, which caused a catastrophe and was demoted to Concubine Chen."

There was silence in the hall.

The officials looked around in a daze, unable to figure out why the empress involved in the case had thought about it for three months; the prince had thought about it for half a year. And Concubine Chen Gui, who was irrelevant throughout the whole process, fell from Concubine Chen to Concubine Chen, downgraded two levels in a row.

Could it be that this case is related to Concubine Chen Gui, the old fritters thought to themselves.

Just after the court meeting here, not long after, the old eunuch went to Fengqi Palace and Jingxiu Palace respectively to deliver the decree.

After the queen learned about it, she fell to her desk and cried bitterly.

Concubine Chen Gui accepted the decree with a stiff face, and when the old eunuch left, she swept all the decorations on the table and the imperial decree to the ground.

In the sound of ping-pong-pong, Concubine Chen Guifei's towering chest heaved violently, and her dignified oval face turned blue with anger.

She gritted her teeth and spat out: "Wei Yuan"

Then, he held his Xiu fist and said word by word: "Xu Qi'an!"

At this time, she had already felt overwhelmed, and His Majesty's attitude changed drastically, which was definitely related to yesterday.

Yesterday the old eunuch came over for no reason, and expressed condolences as an excuse. This is not a problem at all, but considering the changes in the court today, it is not difficult to guess the mystery.

His Majesty is suspicious of her

And she was only exposed to Xu Qi'an, so it can be speculated that that bastard must have played some tricks secretly.

After a hard plan, it fell into the hands of a small gong.

A few minutes later, the sound of ping-ping-pong-pong came from the house again, and the maids and servants in the yard fell silent.

The day after the concubine Fu case ended, Xu Qi'an finally found his beloved filly.

This is a poor-fated horse. It had just recovered its life that day. After being chased away by its owner, it ran and ran, and ran and ran, until it was met by the sword guard patrolling the city.

Yu Daowei looked at the mark on the horse's buttocks and thought, isn't this our horse? So he brought it back to the camp.

This horse is indeed a special military horse for Yu Daowei. The second uncle got it at a low price through his own relationship. Not many years after I bought it, I gave it to my nephew to ride.

Afterwards, the watchman learned from the sword guard who was on duty in the area that day that he had indeed "picked up" a horse, followed the clues, and found Xu Qi'an's beloved filly.

This morning, Xu Qi'an accompanied his family to eat in the living room.

Xiao Douding took a rest today, she was very happy since she didn't have to go to school, and her breakfast was delicious.

"Shut up for a day, it's like picking up a treasure. I have never had a daughter as stupid as you in my life." The aunt said disgustedly.

"You only have two daughters in total." Uncle Xu complained on behalf of the young girl, but he didn't dare to argue with his aunt openly, so he could only argue secretly.

"I still have the face to say that Lingyin is so stupid, it's up to you."

Sure enough, my aunt repeated the same old tune, and blamed the second uncle for why Xu Lingyin didn't wake up.

"But I just don't want to study." Xu Lingyin said aggrievedly.

"Lingyin, you are not stupid, don't listen to your mother's nonsense." Xu Qi'an stroked her head, remembering a method taught by her teacher in her previous life.

"When you don't want to study in the future, just imagine that there are two people in your mind"

"Ah? There is someone in my mind." Xu Lingyin was taken aback, covering her head with two chubby hands.

"Imagination, brother is talking about imagination." Xu Qi'an took a deep breath, and said with a pleasant face: "If a villain doesn't want to study, then another villain will say: I like reading, I like reading.

"In the long run, you'll love reading."

"Self-suggestion!" Xu Nian nodded slightly, and commented: "The effect is good. I used to burn the lamp to study hard, and when I was really sleepy, I would hint that I didn't want to sleep. The effect is good."

When the aunt heard that her own son had endorsed it, she immediately had expectations for her nephew's method, and said, "Lingyin, you try?"

The silly Xu Lingyin tilted her head and thought for a long time, then nodded slowly.

"How is it?" My aunt asked quickly, but she actually cared about this young girl the most.

"A villain in my head said, don't want to read, don't want to read. Another villain said, okay, okay."

"" Aunt put her hand on her forehead.

"Maybe she is really not suitable for studying, so don't force me, auntie." Xu Qi'an comforted her.

"The day after tomorrow will be Chunwei." The second uncle said suddenly.

"Yeah!" Xu Nian nodded calmly.

The aunt immediately peeled a boiled egg for her son, and said, "With our Erlang's knowledge, it's no problem to be admitted to Jinshi. Master, it's time for the Xu family to honor their ancestors."

Although Xu Qi'an is now highly appreciated by Wei Yuan, and he has hooked up with the princess, but he is a warrior after all.

In this era when everything is low-grade and only high-grade reading is high, the title of the gold list is a matter of glory.

In this regard, even Xu Lingyue, who is partial to the eldest brother, agrees with her mother's opinion, thinking that if the Xu family wants to honor their ancestors, it depends on the performance of their second brother Chun Weizhong.

"Second brother, it's up to you whether our Xu family can become a scholar-official class." Xu Lingyue smiled and brought food to Erlang.

Xu New Year raised his chin proudly.

The air is shaking and cold, when Wufu will stand up, will the world be better, there is discrimination against Wufu everywhere, Xu Qi'an sighed inwardly.

Thinking of the conversation with Wei Yuan the day before yesterday, the improvement and inheritance of the Wufu system from generation to generation has led to the present Ninth Rank. But to this day, the Wufu system has not come to an end.

The road beyond the grade has not yet been explored.

Therefore, there is no warrior god in the Wufu system.

"It stands to reason that it shouldn't be. There are the most people who follow the warrior system. With a huge base, there will always be geniuses who will come out enthusiastically. If they accumulate from generation to generation, it is impossible not to be a warrior. Forget it, it is too early to think about this issue. In my life I’m happy to be able to reach the fourth rank.”

After breakfast, the second uncle hugged his helmet, put on his saber, and was about to go out.

"Wait, Second Uncle, you are the elder of the family, you have to stay at home today." Xu Qi'an called to stop him.

Second Uncle Xu turned around in a daze, "Is it a holiday today?"

Aunt shook her head.

Xu Lingyue and Xu New Year looked at Xu Qi'an blankly.

Xu Qi'an looked at his aunt and raised his proud chin, "Today is not a festival, but it is a day for the Xu family to honor their ancestors."

PS: The state is not right today, the number of words is less. The next plot starts tomorrow, um, not a case.

Change first and then change.