Ye Youlan's daily life of traveling through time

Chapter 151 Assassination

"When we were cleaning up the battlefield, everyone else died tragically after a fierce fight. Only they died with the same wound: their throats slit, their eyes wide open. They must have been shocked, as if they were killed by someone they knew. I looked up the list of pension recipients and found their names missing for two consecutive years. I asked someone to investigate, but their relatives had disappeared without a trace. So I don't think this is a coincidence, someone is hiding the truth."

"In the Liangcheng ambush case, someone wanted to kill you. It must be someone from the imperial court. The two with the ability to do so are the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. Of course, it could also be someone else, such as someone you offended. If they wanted to kill you, they would definitely need someone inside the army to help them."

The Seventh Prince nodded seriously: "You are right, continue."

Ye Youlan smiled playfully: "Why do I feel like you are testing me?"

"You could say the same thing."

"Let's work backwards. Who would have benefited from the Liangcheng ambush? When you returned to the court from Chubei, you didn't ask for military merit. So who did the emperor reward? Whose virtues were unworthy of their positions? Who has problems?"

The Seventh Prince raised his eyes and thought for a moment. "That's too many. Li Da is the most obvious. He suddenly jumped from a fifth-rank official to the Minister of Rites, and was extremely famous for a while. Old man Jin from the Ministry of Revenue is Ruoyun's father. He once failed to provide military supplies on time and was beaten by me. He also got a promotion from Vice Minister to Minister."

"Master Jin is quite smooth-talking. He shouldn't get involved here, right? He's a shrewd person and won't get involved in muddy waters."

The Seventh Prince pinched Ye Youlan's nose and said, "You spoke well of Old Man Jin because of Ruoyun. I only mentioned which people were promoted when I came back, but I didn't say that they were all involved."

Ye Youlan's secret was revealed, and she smiled: "It seems so."

The Seventh Prince wanted to continue analyzing the situation when he heard Li Zhi outside the house say that he had brought the child.

"Let him in."

Li Zhi came in with a thin boy about ten years old. The child had big eyes, but was not timid at all. He had a sparse suitcase on his arm, which probably didn't have many clothes on it.

"See you, Your Majesty."

The Seventh Prince glanced at Zhao Lin and asked, "Are your adoptive parents treating you well? Are you studying? Are you in touch with your biological mother?"

Zhao Lin replied respectfully, "My adoptive parents treated me well. My family was poor, and I never went to school. I don't know where my biological mother married. She never came back to see me, and I never went to look for her. I wonder what the prince wants from me."

"After your father died, did the magistrate pay the compensation on time?"

Zhao Lin shook his head blankly: "Grandma went to the county magistrate to look for her, but was driven out by the yamen runners. On her way back, she encountered a tornado..." The child choked and couldn't continue.

Zhao Lin placed the bundle on the table and opened it. Inside was a dagger and a jade pendant. "My father came home a month before his death and gave me a dagger and a jade pendant. He told me to keep them well and not lose them."

When the Seventh Prince reached out to take the jade pendant, Zhao Lin picked up the dagger and pulled it out of the scabbard, suddenly stabbing the Seventh Prince. Ye Youlan screamed, "Ah!" and subconsciously picked up the teapot on the table and smashed it over.

The tea soaked the tablecloth. Li Zhi subdued the child. A blood mark appeared on the Seventh Prince's arm. He stood up and brushed off the water stains on his body.

Ye Youlan called Dingxiang to bring the medicine box over. The Seventh Prince told her not to panic. He stared at Zhao Lin with a cold gaze. Zhao Lin's eyes widened in anger: "You killed my father. I want to avenge my father."

Ye Youlan was stunned for a moment. What kind of plot was this? Was it confusing right and wrong?

The Seventh Prince's voice was cold and low: "Who told you that I killed your father? Tell me."

"The county magistrate's lawyer said so. My grandmother and I came to the county magistrate's office to ask for the pension. The lawyer said that my father was a soldier of the Seventh Prince. The Seventh Prince colluded with Beimo and caused the Liangcheng tragedy. In order to cover up his tracks, the Seventh Prince killed several people in Linzhou who knew about it."

Ye Youlan wanted to laugh: "Child, you are too naive. If the Seventh Prince is colluding with Beimo, how could your father and his soldiers know such a confidential matter?"

Zhao Lin was unconvinced. "I'm not a child. My advisor said that if the Seventh Prince wasn't a spy, why did he return to the imperial court? The Emperor didn't reward him, and instead took back his military power. He only spared his life because he was the Emperor's brother."

Ye Youlan thought it made sense. No wonder the brainwashing was successful. It seemed that those families were also brainwashed in the same way. They were all spies. How could they have the nerve to ask for compensation? They were too busy hiding.

Dingxiang came over with the medicine box, and Ye Youlan bandaged the wound of the Seventh Prince. The Seventh Prince stroked the jade pendant with his right hand. It was a jade pendant of good quality, a crystal clear jade Guanyin.

The Seventh Prince asked Li Zhi to take the child away. He carefully examined the jade pendant and said, "Zhao Yong is just an ordinary soldier. He can't afford such an expensive jade pendant. Could it be that someone bribed him with this jade pendant?"

Ye Youlan had already cleaned the Seventh Prince's wound. "Luckily, it was only a scratch. Next time you interact with strangers, you must keep your distance."

The Seventh Prince smiled and said, "Thank you, Madam, for that hit just now. Otherwise, with this child's strength, the bones would have been exposed."

"You can still laugh. You scared me just now."

Ye Youlan took the jade pendant and looked at it, but couldn't see anything. "When we get back to the capital, I'll find an experienced jade craftsman to take a look. Maybe there will be some new discoveries."

Ye Youlan asked the Seventh Prince what to do next. "The County Magistrate knows everything, and he's still playing Tai Chi with you. Could he also be a student from Jinghua Academy?"

"He is."

"I never thought that people from Jinghua Academy would infiltrate every part of the Great Chu State. It's really hard to guard against them. No wonder you said it would take seven or eight years for Qingshan Nanfeng Academy to replace Jinghua Academy. It seems I was too naive."

The Seventh Prince ordered Li Zhi to go back to the County Magistrate and ask the Legal Adviser to come over for a talk. Half an hour later, the Legal Adviser didn't show up. The County Magistrate arrived, hunched over, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he reported to the Prince, "The Legal Adviser has run away. It turns out he embezzled the compensation for fallen soldiers, and now that his crime has been exposed, he's gone."

The Seventh Prince chuckled softly, "He ran away in just a short while. Who leaked the news?"

The magistrate blushed. "I don't know either. I just heard that the yamen runners brought Zhao Yong's child here. The magistrate was probably afraid that the matter would be exposed, so he probably ran away at that time. I am sending people to search for him with all my strength. I will definitely capture the magistrate and give everyone an explanation."

The Seventh Prince asked the magistrate if he had found the four families. It shouldn't be difficult to find them!

"It's not difficult, it's not difficult. I'll send someone to look for it right away."

The Seventh Prince called Li Zhi and asked him to find two people to follow the magistrate to look for the person, and to come back when they found him.

By dinner time, several families had found them and brought them to the flower hall on the first floor of the inn.