There is a god in the sky

Chapter 111 The Strange Case of Fuchunju 9

Sui Feng stared at his master's hand and coughed, "My lord, what should we do now?"

They arrested Officer Ma, which shows that he has an unusual connection to this case.

Shen Lan took a step back and looked at the person lying on the ground, saying, "This kind of sleeping potion can only make him unconscious for half an hour."

Sui Feng asked curiously, "When did Miss Shen make her move?"

In that situation, an ordinary young girl would have been terrified and cried, but she calmly managed to poison the person holding her hostage.

"Just as he pulled me out."

Xiao Ji ordered Sui Feng to tie up Constable Ma first, "It's past midnight, we'll take him to the government office for interrogation tomorrow."

Shen Lan went back to her room and fell asleep soon after lying down, so she was unaware that Xiao Ji and the others had dealt with two more groups of intruders in the latter half of the night.

However, both groups were very cautious. As soon as they discovered that the person inside was awake, they immediately left, preventing Xiao Ji from catching anyone.

"This case involves quite a few people, which is strange. Is there more than one murderer?"

Xiao Ji only managed a short nap just before dawn, but woke up refreshed early in the morning.

Sui Feng brought in breakfast. "Sir, Prefect Dou sent someone to say that he will be going to the Prince's Mansion to receive the envoy today, and he will not be involved in the case."

"He's quite comfortable entrusting such a big case to an outsider," Xiao Ji joked.

Sui Feng scoffed, "Even if I don't hand it over to you, he won't be able to solve the case."

The presiding judge of a prefecture was actually a prince of noble status. No one dared to refute the cases he presided over, and they let him do whatever he wanted.

"It's only been a year. If this prince causes trouble for a few more years, the reputation of the Tanzhou government will be completely ruined."

"The common people don't care about the reputation of the government office, and they dare not take the imperial family seriously."

Even if they knew that the young prince had made a wrong judgment, ordinary people had nowhere to seek justice, and the government officials would not dare to be the first to do so.

It seems he will have to visit King Zheng afterwards.

"Let's go, take Ma Long with us, let's go to the government office to hold court!"

Inside the Prince Zheng's residence, Fu Qingyan was woken up by a servant.

"Your Highness, the Prince requests that you come to the flower hall to receive guests."

Fu Qingyan had been reading late into the night and his eyes were still heavy. He asked groggily, "Who is this? Is it my cousin?"

"They seem to be people from the palace."

"The palace?" Fu Qingyan instantly snapped out of his daze, slipped on his shoes, and ran outside.

He wondered: Could it be that his sister sent someone to find him?

Inside the flower hall, Prince Zheng lay on a soft couch, being massaged on the shoulders and legs by two beautiful maids.

Below him knelt a eunuch dressed in blue, holding an exquisite wooden box above his head.

"The steward repeatedly instructed that this pill must be personally delivered to the Prince to repay your kindness."

An attendant took the box, opened it to inspect it, and then handed it to King Zheng.

King Zheng took out a pill, smelled it, and asked in confusion, "What is this?"

The eunuch said smugly, "Your Highness, this pill is a tonic for His Majesty to strengthen his constitution and prolong his life. If the steward hadn't been deeply favored by the Empress, he wouldn't have been able to obtain the prescription for this medicine."

Prince Zheng became interested and sat up to examine the pills.

"If it's something the emperor eats, then it must be at least an elixir of immortality."

He remembered clearly that ten years ago, the emperor fell seriously ill and thought his days were numbered, but unexpectedly, his health has been getting better and better over the years.

He had heard his elder sister mention it once, saying that the Crown Prince was filial and had found an elixir for the Emperor, which improved the Emperor's health.

Could this be it?

Prince Zheng was not entirely sure, so he dared not swallow the pill and put it back in the box.

He counted them; there were ten in total.

"How should I take it?" he asked.

The eunuch explained in detail, "Take one pill on the night of the full moon each month. It's best to use deer blood as a medicinal guide to maximize its effects. The steward said that this medicine can even help the prince regain his virility!"

"Hahaha... Such a miraculous medicine, all thanks to Steward Li, otherwise I would never have had the chance to see it. He gave me such a great gift, I really don't know how to thank him."

"Your Highness is too kind. The steward said he will remember your kindness."

"It's just a little gunpowder, nothing much. I wonder if Manager Li has any other requests?"

"Your Highness is indeed renowned. The steward does have a request."

Prince Zheng was in a good mood and casually asked, "What do you want? Tell me."

He knew very well that the person in charge of the palace was an extraordinary figure, who had risen to a position second only to the emperor in Kunning Palace at a young age.

Most importantly, he enjoyed the deep trust of the Empress and the Crown Prince, and also had some influence with the Emperor.

Otherwise, why would Prince Zheng have befriended a eunuch?

“Our manager wants to remove General Chi, whom you have placed in the palace. The Crown Prince wants that position.”

Prince Zheng's smile froze on his face.

He wasn't surprised they knew Chi Kun was one of his men, but what gave him the right to act on a whim?

"Isn't this a bit much? When did the Crown Prince's appetite become so big?"

"Your Highness, please calm down. The steward had no choice, but he said he could compensate you with a vacancy of the same rank, so Your Highness won't suffer a loss for nothing."

After thinking it over, King Zheng decided that exchanging a position as a general for Li Ge's favor wasn't too bad.

“Your steward is always honest and upright, and I trust him. Let him discuss it with my elder sister.”

Fu Qingyan waited outside for quite a while before being invited into the house, where he saw a familiar-looking eunuch kneeling inside.

"You are... Eunuch Zhang?"

"Oh, Your Highness, I've finally met you!" Eunuch Zhang crawled forward a few steps, hugged Fu Qingyan's leg, and cried.

"Consort Li was so worried about you. She couldn't even eat when you didn't return for a day. Now that I see you are alright, I can finally go back to the palace to report back."

He was crying and sniffling, which disgusted Fu Qingyan.

He forcefully pulled his leg out and asked Eunuch Zhang, "Did my sister send you to find me?"

"What a question! Besides Consort Li, who else could have sent this servant on such a long journey to Tanzhou?"

"How did you know I was here?" Fu Qingyan asked, puzzled.

Although they did not deliberately hide their whereabouts, how could people in Bianjing know which road they took?

Eunuch Zhang rubbed his eyes and replied, "It was this servant who went to Lord Xiao's residence to inquire. I also came to Tanzhou to try my luck, but I never expected that Heaven would take pity on me and allow me to meet Your Highness."

Fu Qingyan also had many questions to ask him, apologized to the Prince of Zheng, and then dragged him out to talk.

King Zheng was overjoyed. Indeed, the servants in the palace had many faces, speaking one language to one person and another to another.

Consort Li probably doesn't know that the eunuch she trusts most is actually Li Ge's man.

That kid has quite the ambition. Once the Crown Prince ascends the throne, he'll probably become the most powerful official in the entire court.

The scourge of eunuchs was the root cause of the downfall of a nation.

But what does that have to do with him? The throne is no longer within his lineage, so it doesn't matter who rules the world.

"Someone come here...and summon Prefect Dou."

The most important thing now is to find out those bizarre murder cases. I wonder how capable Xiao Ji is.