That night, countless people tossed and turned in bed.

Prime Minister Qiao was also very angry.

The Qiao family had long been in the same camp as the Second Prince. If anything happened to Lu Mingyu, it would be a fatal blow to the Second Prince. Emotionally, he also did not want to see anything happen to his grandson’s wife.

What was even more hateful was that the assassin chose the day Qiao Wan was getting married to attack.

The news of Lu Mingyu’s assassination spread to the Qiao Mansion, and everyone was shocked. The happy event could not be interrupted, but it also ruined the joy.

Old Madam Qiao forced a smile and sent all the guests away before asking Prime Minister Qiao, “Who ordered the assassin to kill the Second Huangzifei?”

Prime Minister Qiao snorted coldly: “There are only a few people around.”

“I have received news that King Xingyang has come to the palace to meet the emperor. The Emperor has summoned the Minister of Justice to the palace and ordered the Ministry of Justice to solve the case within three days.”

Old Madam Qiao gritted her teeth and said angrily, “This man really deserves to die.”

Prime Minister Qiao sneered again, “He really deserves to die. Regardless of whether the Emperor is willing to do so or not, this is a rare opportunity. I will submit a memorial tomorrow, asking the Emperor to severely punish the murderer!”

Fighting a war was the forte of military generals, while submitting memorials to impeachment was the forte of civil officials.

Prime Minister Qiao, as the head of the civil officials, was going to take the lead in submitting a memorial, spreading word of the matter. In doing so, he was ready to indirectly put pressure on Emperor Yongjia.

If you wanted to protect the murderer, it depended on whether the Lu family and the Qiao family agreed!

Old Madam Qiao didn’t know much about what was going on in the court, so she didn’t say much. She just sighed and said, “I will go to the palace tomorrow to comfort the Empress.”

Prime Minister Qiao nodded and said, “Tell the Empress to keep calm! This matter is no longer something the harem can influence. Tell the Empress to show the bearing of the Empress of the Central Palace and wait patiently.”

After a pause, he continued, “Don’t even think about having a peaceful night at the Ministry of Justice. I’ll send someone to take the notice to the Ministry of Justice right now!”

…

The Ministry of Justice was indeed in chaos.

Yang Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice was not tall, had an ordinary appearance, and was usually cheerful and kind. But he was actually a smiling tiger. Everyone in the Ministry of Justice was in awe of him.

After Yang Shangshu returned from the palace, he immediately summoned all the people in the Ministry of Justice. Anyone who had returned home after the court session or had secretly gone out to drink wine was brought back.

Minister Yang’s small eyes swept across the faces of the people with different expressions: “The Emperor has given the Ministry of Justice three days. If the case is not solved within three days, everyone present will have to give up their official hats.”

The officials of the Ministry of Justice did not dare to show their bitter faces and responded in unison, “Please order us, Lord Shangshu!”

Minister Yang had been the Minister of Justice for many years and was very good at investigating cases. He immediately issued an order to divide the investigation into three lines. One was to start with the assassin’s body and have an experienced coroner examine the body to find out what kind of poison it was.

The second step was to start with the relatives of Chu Da and Third Zhao and thoroughly investigate the identities and origins of the two and who instructed them.

The third strategy was to start with the people on the street that day. Carefully interrogate the people who witnessed the incident and do not let go of any suspicious points.

That night, no one in the Ministry of Justice slept. The civilians and merchants involved in the case were taken to the Ministry of Justice jail one by one. Third Zhao’s family was repeatedly interrogated.

The assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice who went to the Lu residence to ask for the assassin’s bodies was not harassed. Housekeeper Lu happily carried all four bodies over.

However, when the Ministry of Justice wanted to take the girl with the broken leg away, Lu Jia whispered, “The girl is stupid and dumb, only about five or six years old, and can’t even speak. Now her broken leg has just been fixed, and she drank the tranquilizing medicine and went to sleep. Tomorrow, I will personally send her to the Ministry of Justice.”

The assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice did not insist and took the bodies back to the Ministry of Justice first.

The Ministry of Justice had the best coroner in Wei. After examining the body overnight, the forty-year-old coroner had already found a deadly poison called “Qianji.”.

This was a strange poison, with a strong toxicity. It killed people in just a few breaths. It was so poisonous that it was extremely complicated to prepare. It only occasionally leaked out during the previous dynasty. Later, it disappeared without a trace.

He never thought that it would be exposed in front of everyone again today.

Not to mention anything else, just the fact that this was a strange poison was enough to tell that the person who did it was no ordinary person.

After a night of interrogation, there were some gains.

Chu Da seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, and his identity could not be found for a while. However, many people knew Third Zhao.
Moreover, Third Zhao had a father, a mother, and relatives, so these people could always ask for some information.

Third Zhao was actually a member of the Zhao family. When he entered the military camp, he was kicked out for gambling in the middle of the night. In the past few years, he has done a lot of harm to the village under the banner of the Zhao family.

Everyone swallowed their anger and handed over the money. They were not afraid of Third Zhao but of the Zhao family. Third Zhao also had close contact with a manager of the Zhao family.

Minister Yang of the Ministry of Justice stayed up all night, and when he went to court the next day, he first reported to the Emperor what he had learned during the night.

Emperor Yongjia had a gloomy expression and glanced at Marquis Puyang.

Marquis Puyang’s temples throbbed, and his face looked grim. “Minister Yang, you can eat whatever you want but don’t say anything you want. There are at least hundreds of Zhao clan members, if not thousands. I don’t even know what a clan member who is five generations removed from me looks like.”

Minister Yang remained calm and responded with a folded hand: “The Emperor ordered the Ministry of Justice to solve the case within three days. The Ministry of Justice has been busy all night, and this is all they have found so far. I am just saying what I have to say, and I have no intention of involving the Marquis of Puyang.”

Wasn’t this just making excuses?!

Marquis Puyang was furious. He pointed his finger at Minister Yang’s nose and cursed, “Bah! The Emperor asked you to investigate the case, but you investigated me instead.”

“His Royal Highness the Second Prince is my Biao Zhi ^[1]son of a male cousin from the mother’s side, and the Second Huangzifei is my Biao Zhi Xi^[2]wife of such a nephew. I wish them the best; how could I do such a horrific thing!”

“Who on earth instructed you to throw dirty water on me?”

Marquis Guangping came over hypocritically and grabbed Marquis Puyang, who was cursing and ready to fight, and said, “This case has not been investigated yet, so don’t get angry. The innocent are innocent. No one can blame you for something you didn’t do.”

Marquis Puyang sneered with a sullen face and said pointedly, “You are right. Whoever did something wrong knows it in his heart. Don’t try to put the blame on me!”

Marquis Guangping seemed not to have understood the hidden meaning of Marquis Puyang’s words and continued to persuade them to make peace.

King Xingyang Lu Lin also attended the court today. He said nothing, but his sharp black eyes fell on the faces of Marquis Puyang and Marquis Guangping.

Prime Minister Qiao did not sit by and watch Minister Yang being humiliated. He said in a deep voice, “Minister Yang has been investigating the case all night, and today he is here to report the progress to the Emperor. Whether the two marquises are satisfied or not, they should show some respect to Minister Yang.”

Marquis Puyang did not hesitate when he criticized Minister Yang, but he was more polite to the Prime Minister and put down his sleeves in dismay.
Marquis Guangping also shut up and stopped fanning the flames.

Prime Minister Qiao then said to the Yongjia Emperor, who was sitting on the dragon throne with an unpleasant look on his face, “The Great Wei Dynasty has been established for nine years, and the Capital has always been relatively stable. There has never been such a heinous act as assassinating a Huangzifei in the street. Please punish the murderer severely and uphold the laws of the Great Wei Dynasty.”

(End of this chapter)