Chapter 139 Prince Duan Sent a Message, and the Three Members of the Mu Family Conspired Again
The lights in the Marquis of Yining Mansion were on all night.
Fu Yi caught two spies who were up all night and preparing to report the news. One of them quietly stuffed the letter into the dog hole and pressed it with a brick, and the other tied the letter to a stone and threw it out of the mansion along the wall, and also pretended to make two bird calls to remind the accomplices outside to pick up the message.
Fu Yi directly wiped out the people in one fell swoop, and then handed all the two letters to Shen Qing.
The contents of the two letters were very similar. Both of them said that Shen Yian was in trouble and was forced into the palace by the Imperial Guards. Xie Ling went to the Marquis of Wu Lie Mansion for help and has not returned yet. Now Shen Qing is the head of the Marquis of Yining Mansion, so he can take advantage of the opportunity.
Shen Qing looked at Manager Liu, and Manager Liu directly stated the identities of the two people. One was a maid serving Xie Ling, named Zhuxiang, and the other was a guard in the mansion, named Liu Feng. As for the one who was picking up the person outside, Manager Liu did not know him.
In addition to Liu Feng, when Shen Qing just called the names, there was one less palace guard, Liu Ting. If nothing unexpected happened, it should be the one who identified Shen Yian.
Liu Ting and Liu Feng are brothers of the opposite sex. They have been very well behaved over the years and only obeyed Shen Yian's orders. Therefore, Shen Yian did not doubt them.
Shen Qing guessed that Liu Feng and the accomplice should be Chu Lingxi's people, but after thinking about it carefully, he obviously felt something was wrong. Chu Lingxi knew all about the current situation of Yining Marquis Mansion without saying it, so why bother to expose the chess piece that has been planted for many years?
But apart from Chu Lingxi, Shen Qing really couldn't think of any other suspicious candidates.
As for Zhuxiang, Shen Qing thought it should be the prince Chu Lingxiu's people.
The three of them kept their mouths shut. Shen Qing interrogated them from the second half of the night until dawn. He used all the torture instruments in the palace, but he couldn't pry out any useful information from the three of them.
Knowing that asking more would not get any results, Shen Qing asked the palace guards to take the three away and keep them under strict supervision.
"Liu Guanshi, you just told me that Liu Ting left the mansion to visit relatives. Do you know where Liu Ting lives?"
Liu Guanshi nodded, "The booklet records Daling Village, 20 miles outside the city. It's hard to say whether it's true or not."
If it were in the past, Liu Guanshi would not deliberately doubt the truth, but now the situation is special, everything related to Liu Ting brothers is worthy of doubt.
Fearing that Shen Qing would blame him, Liu Guanshi explained: "Although the Marquis's Mansion has detailed records of the origins and family backgrounds of every servant and guard, they will not verify the truth one by one. What's more, Liu Ting brothers were not trained by the Marquis, but hired from outside."
Shen Qing immediately grasped the key point of the words, "Hire? Where did they hire them?"
"Replying to the eldest lady, it was the martial arts training center."
Shen Qing's eyes lit up. It was indeed a coincidence.
Shen Qing asked Manager Liu to send someone to Daling Village outside the city to check whether the Liu Ting brothers were there. At the same time, he asked Chan Yi to go to the martial arts training hall in person to find out all the information about the Liu Ting brothers. As for himself, he was guarding the mansion.
Just after arranging all this, Lan Xiang helped Xie Ling in from outside.
Xie Ling walked slowly, as if her legs were injured.
Shen Qing stepped forward to help her and said with concern: "What's wrong with mother?"
Xie Ling's throat was dry and sore, and her voice was already very hoarse. Shen Qing asked Fu Yi to pour her some water, and at the same time looked at Lan Xiang.
After getting Xie Ling's consent, Lan Xiang said, "Madam wanted Wu Liehou to plead for the Marquis in the court. Wu Liehou agreed, but at this time, the old lady came..."
Because of the death of the old Wu Liehou, the old lady has always been resentful of Xie Ling. She always felt that if Xie Ling had not insisted on marrying Shen Yian, the old Wu Liehou would not have been so angry that he would have been sick in bed, and finally he would have died of his old illness.
In order to punish Xie Ling, the old lady made her kneel in the Xie family ancestral hall for a night, and only let her go back at dawn.
Looking at Xie Ling, Lan Xiang's eyes were full of heartache.
Lan Xiang has been serving Xie Ling since she was a child, and Lan Xiang has witnessed all the grievances Xie Ling has suffered over the years.
Xie Ling's voice was hoarse, "Don't blame mother. If it weren't for me, father wouldn't have passed away at such an age, and mother wouldn't have been alone for so many years."
Lan Xiang couldn't help but argue for her, "Madam, what does this have to do with you? The imperial physician had already said that the old marquis had left many roots of illness on the battlefield. Originally..."
"Time is running out" Lan Xiang hadn't finished the four words before she was interrupted by Xie Ling, "Okay, don't say anymore."
Lan Xiang was silent, and Xie Ling looked at Shen Qing, "You haven't slept all night, go and rest first, I'll take care of you in the mansion."
Shen Qing shook his head, "Mother's health is not good to begin with, and she has been kneeling all night. Go in and sleep first. Daddy, I'm here."
Xie Ling was about to refuse, but Shen Qing took her hand and continued, "Mother, don't be stubborn. You can't get sick at this critical moment. I'm busy with Daddy's affairs, and the mansion and Zhao'er still need your care. We can't fall down."
Xie Ling's eyes were slightly red, and he swallowed the words of refusal.
As the sky gradually brightened, Shen Qing had just taken two bites of breakfast when she saw the guard at the gate walk in quickly with a note in his hand.
"Miss, this was just delivered by someone, saying that you will understand after reading it."
Fu Yi stepped forward and took the note and handed it to Shen Qing. Shen Qing opened it and saw that there were only six short words written on it - a chat at Tingyun Teahouse.
Shen Qing's face sank instantly. It was indeed him!
Although he could not recognize Chu Lingxi's handwriting, Shen Qing knew that Tingyun Teahouse was Chu Lingxi's property.
After a moment of silence, Shen Qing stood up and left the house with Fu Yi and several guards.
...
On the other side, it was almost time for the morning court to end, so Yangling Marquis hurriedly took a carriage to an old friend's house.
Now that he was dismissed from the government, he had to learn many things from other ministers. In the past, Yangling Marquis was reluctant to move around because he felt ashamed, but today he was particularly proactive.
The morning court ended much later than usual, but Yangling Marquis was very patient.
Half an hour later, Yangling Marquis got the news he wanted and returned to Yangling Marquis Mansion with a smile on his face. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart that Lin Xuefu's guess was right, and Shen Yian was in trouble.
Back at Yangling Marquis Mansion, Yangling Marquis went straight to Fuyun Pavilion.
Mu Ziqian and Lin Xuefu had just gotten up and heard the news about Yining Marquis Mansion. They didn't even need to have breakfast and followed Yangling Marquis into the main hall.
After driving away all the maids and closing the door, Yangling Hou smiled and said, "I have good news for you. Shen Yian is suspected of assassinating Prince Duan. The evidence is solid. He has been imprisoned in Tianlao."
Mu Ziqian's face was immediately filled with joy. Obviously, he did not expect his wish to come true!
Lin Xuefu was a little skeptical, "Imprisoned in Tianlao? Has your majesty made a decision?"
A trace of regret flashed across Yangling Hou's face, "Not yet. Your majesty was going to let the Dali Temple investigate for another seven days and make a decision. After all, the evidence is solid. But Jing'an Wang and Wulie Hou stood up to plead for Shen Yian, so your majesty extended the deadline to half a month."
Mu Ziqian was a little surprised, "Jing'an Wang and Wulie Hou? One of them has been away from the government for many years, and the other has always been at odds with Shen Yian. Why did they suddenly... Then they all started to plead for Shen Yian, isn't that wrong?"
Marquis Yangling touched his chin and guessed: "Marquis Wulie probably did it for Xie Ling's sake. As for Prince Jing'an... the only one who can invite him in Shengjing is Prince Lu, right?"
Lin Xuefu said at the right time: "I heard that Prince Lu and Marquis Yining are very close."
Mu Ziqian was very puzzled: "I can't figure out how these two people got together. Could it be that Lu Yan fell in love with the lady of Marquis Yining's mansion?"