flstandardbreds Chapter 364: Murder in broad daylight and abandoning the body
Chapter 364: Murder in broad daylight and abandoning the body
Even though he knew it was not man-made, Xie Ci'an's eyes still kept on looking cold.
Even if it was just an accident, if they hadn't been more careful, Gu Jianchu and the baby in her belly would have been in danger. He would never allow Gu Jianchu to have even the slightest accident.
Xie Ci'an knocked on the car wall again.
Cheng Song immediately understood what he meant and stepped forward, opened the car door, and lifted the heavy curtain.
A cold wind blew snowflakes in through the car door.
The sudden coldness made the unsuspecting Gu Jianchu sneeze. Xie Ci'an reacted quickly and draped the blanket over Gu Jianchu, and picked up the hot water bottle and stuffed it into Gu Jianchu's hand.
Gu Jianchu was completely wrapped up, with only a furry head exposed.
Xie Ci'an, like Gu Jianchu, was still frightened. To be on the safe side, he placed Gu Jianchu on his knees and poured a bowl of hot soup into Gu Jianchu's hands, "Chu, have a cup of hot soup to warm yourself up first."
Gu Jianchu took the hot soup without objection.
After finishing all this, Xie Ci'an called Wen Zhu over in a cold voice.
"Go check what's going on?" Xie Ci'an instructed Wen Zhu, and then his concerned eyes fell on Gu Jianchu. He raised his hand and touched Gu Jianchu's lower abdomen, "Is there anything uncomfortable? Do you want to ask Doctor Lin to come and take a look?"
Gu Jianchu drank a cup of hot soup and felt a little more relaxed. "Your Majesty, don't worry. I'm not feeling unwell. It's you who's overly nervous. Even your hands are shaking."
Gu Jianchu returned and held Xie Ci'an's hand, which was shaking on her lower abdomen due to nervousness.
In fact, her hands were shaking too.
Compared to someone's deliberate planning, this kind of accident is more frightening.
They can avoid deliberate planning with the help of the system, but such accidents are inevitable.
At that time, Wen Zhu had already checked the situation and returned.
Xie Ci'an clenched his fists tightly and let them hang at his side. "What's going on?"
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, a woman rolled down that hillside and landed right in front of the imperial carriage. Investigations have revealed that she was already dead before she fell off the cliff. It seems someone deliberately murdered her and dumped her body here. Preliminary investigations revealed numerous scars on the woman's body, including bruises likely inflicted before her death. Other fresh wounds were inflicted when she fell off the cliff. Based on the scratches, the woman's death likely occurred between last night and this morning. She was then taken to this location and dumped there. It was snowing, and the murderer mistakenly believed the place was quiet and uninhabited, so the body wouldn't be discovered so quickly."
Upon hearing this, Xie Ci'an's teacup was snapped in two. "How dare you kill someone and dump the body in broad daylight!"
"I have arranged people to investigate on the mountain. The body was just thrown away, and the murderer should not be able to run far." Wen Zhu added cautiously.
"Where is the Dali Temple Minister?" Xie Ci'an's cold voice sounded.
Dou Cong, who was hiding at the back, carefully moved through the crowd and came before the emperor and empress.
This time at the Wanguo Temple, Dali Temple Minister Dou also accompanied the emperor and empress. When the man rolled down the mountain, he was frightened, fearing that he had encountered an assassin again. But when he heard Wen Zhu say that the man was dead, his eyes went dark again and again, which was more frightening than encountering an assassin. The murderer really knew how to choose the time and place to dump the body.
They chose to dump the body when the emperor and empress went to the Wanguo Temple, and on the road the emperor and empress had to pass, and directly on top of the emperor and empress's heads.
If it was an assassin, the Imperial City Bureau and the Imperial Guard would be in charge, but this kind of corpse can only be handled by their Dali Temple. What did they do to offend the Dali Temple?
"I'm here, and I'll have someone deal with the body and solve the case as soon as possible." Dou Cong didn't wait for Xie Ci'an to speak, and took the responsibility on his own initiative.
Dou Cong took the initiative to take the responsibility. Xie Ci'an had nothing to say and could only wave his hand and let Dou Cong handle it.
Dou Cong quickly arranged for people to deal with the corpse blocking the road. Just as the two guards lifted the body, a jade pendant fell from the woman's waist to the ground. Zhu Xia, who noticed this scene, quickly said, "Wait."
After all, Zhu Xia was the queen's maid-in-law, and all the ministers knew her.
After hearing Zhu Xia's voice, Dou Cong and the imperial guards immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at Zhu Xia in unison.
Not only the imperial guards and Dou Cong, but also the emperor and empress in the carriage were the same.
Zhu Xia was never one to meddle in other people's business. Since she had spoken out, she must have discovered something wrong. Gu Jianchu asked lazily, "What's going on?"
"Your Majesty, I saw a jade pendant that fell from that woman and it looked familiar." Zhu Xia reported truthfully.
"Go and take a look." Gu Jianchu looked suspicious.
The two guards placed the corpse back on the ground. One of them picked up the jade pendant and handed it to Zhu Xia, "Aunt Zhu Xia, this is the jade pendant."
"Thank you." Zhu Xia took the jade pendant and took a look at it. After seeing the texture and pattern of the jade pendant, his expression changed drastically. He ordered in a cold voice, "Turn the person over."
Although the two guards didn't understand why, they still stepped forward and turned the body over. The woman's face was scratched by the stones when she fell, but her features could still be barely discerned. When Zhu Xia saw the woman's face clearly, she ran back to the carriage in shock, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the deceased is Concubine Wu, who was dismissed from the palace some time ago. She still has the jade pendant given by the Empress."
Zhu Xia said as she handed the jade pendant to Gu Jianchu.
Wu Cairen did not hold a high position in the palace. After the virtuous concubine and the noble concubine fought against each other, no one tried to win over a small concubine like her. Even after those two were defeated, Wu Cairen's presence in the palace was not very strong.
However, Zhu Xia was close to the queen after all, and was familiar with the concubines in the palace, so she recognized the person at a glance.
Wu Cairen Gu Jianchu still had some impression of her. She was a very cute girl. She knew that her status was low, so she was honest in the palace and never competed for favor. Even when paying her respects, she was very polite. However, this girl loved to eat.
The meals in the palace were provided according to the concubines' ranks. If they were of low rank and not favored, they basically had nothing delicious to eat. If they had money to bribe the palace servants, it was okay, but if they had no money, they could only eat the barely filling meals sent by the imperial kitchen. So every time Wu Cairen went to her palace to pay her respects, she would drool at the sight of the cakes on the table. After she agreed, she would eat a lot like a hamster, which made everyone laugh every time.
Gu Jianchu would occasionally help these concubines and arrange for the imperial kitchen to send them some delicious food, but that was the reason, and she couldn't help them every day.