Zhangjia Jinzhi

Chapter 156 The Murderer
After leaving the palace, Li Taiwei and Lu Xiao found a private room in Taibai Tower and sat down.

Since the last time the prince was assassinated, the business of Taibai Building has plummeted. It was time for dinner, but the entire third floor was empty.

"What about Xu Liangyuan, do you have any clues today?"

When the shopkeeper delivered the dishes himself, Lu Xiao stretched out his hand to pour tea for Li Taiwei, raised his eyes and asked.

Li Taiwei told him what Pei Zhaoyi said in Guanju Palace just now.

Lu Xiao was surprised and said:
"Why did she say such an important clue at this time?"

Li Taiwei took a sip of tea, and when she looked up at Lu Xiao, her amber eyes were full of pride.

As soon as Lu Xiao saw her appearance, he guessed that she must be holding something against Pei Zhaoyi, which forced her to say today...

"How do I remember that Pei Zhaoyi didn't offend you in her previous life? How can you catch her fault?"

Lu Xiao put another piece of sweet-scented osmanthus lotus root on Li Taiwei's plate, and said in a soft voice.

Li Taiwei picked up the candied lotus root, took a bite carefully, and then said in satisfaction:
"There are so many things you don't know!"

"Although Pei Zhaoyi didn't offend me, she stood next to Concubine Lan. Such a person...how could I not investigate?"

Lu Xiaohan said:

"So, the day before yesterday when you knew that the little maid was Pei Zhaoyi's, you guessed that it was Concubine Lan who was going to attack you on the Mid-Autumn Festival. Today, whether Pei Zhaoyi recruits or not, you know it well?"

Before Li Taiwei nodded, Lu Xiao hissed suddenly, with a dissatisfied expression:
"Such a big matter...you plan to keep it from me?"

Li Taiwei told him that what he said was a little inexplicable, and raised his eyes to look at him:
"What do I do with you about my own affairs?"

"Besides, you should know about Pei Zhaoyi's trick..."

When Lu Xiao heard this, he felt strange, put down the bowl and chopsticks, and listened to Li Taiwei's eloquence:
"Pei Zhaoyi has a direct elder brother named Pei Yu, who used to be the head of Wei Qian in Jinzhou, and was sentenced to death for killing the son of King Xiang by mistake... Do you remember this?"

Lu Xiao vaguely remembered that there was such a thing. At that time, it had just joined the army and heard someone mention it by chance.

When Ming Xing, the son of King Xiang returned to Beijing and passed by Jinzhou, he felt itchy for a moment, so he disguised himself and went into a brothel, where an oiran had a fight with someone and died unexpectedly.

He only vaguely remembered that the man who accidentally killed Ming Xing was named Pei, but he didn't know that he was such a blood relative to Pei Zhaoyi.

At that time, the king of Xiang made trouble in front of the queen mother, and the emperor sentenced Pei Yu to death in order to appease the anger of the king of Xiang.

But isn't Pei Yu already dead?How can it become the handle in Li Taiwei's mouth?
Could it be...

Lu Xiao's eyes lit up, and he said in surprise:
"Then Pei Yu is still alive?"

Only then did Li Taiwei show a teachable look, lowered his voice and said to him:
"Pei Yu is the only son of the Pei family, and he and Pei Zhaoyi are brothers and sisters of the same mother... Pei Zhaoyi didn't hesitate to commit the crime of deceiving the emperor, bought the jailer with a lot of money, and used a trick to replace Pei Yu who was originally beheaded. ..."

"I mentioned her father and brother in front of her today, and she was willing to tell the whole truth..."

Lu Xiao was speechless inwardly, fortunately he proposed to drag Li Taiwei into the palace, otherwise Xu Liangyuan's death might be drowned in the strife with the harem.

"Look at today's incident, it may drag Concubine Xian into the water?"

Lu Xiao picked up the chopsticks, put the meat from the belly of the fish on a plate, carefully deboned it, and handed it to Li Taiwei, asking casually.

Li Taiwei shook his head:
"Not necessarily, although Pei Zhaoyi is the witness, but she hasn't picked it up yet, and everyone may not believe what she said. Besides, I haven't found physical evidence yet, even His Majesty can't explain it..."

"However... if Concubine Jin has a good wrist, it is not impossible to take this opportunity to bring down Concubine Xian..."

Lu Xiao raised his eyebrows and asked:

"Oh? Why did you say that?"

Mrs. Li smiled like a fox, and said:
"Because Xu Liangyuan belongs to Concubine Xian... If Concubine Jin is smart enough, she will definitely be able to find clues from Xu Liangyuan. Dragging Concubine Xian into the water is just a matter of course. If I can add fuel to it... Xu Liangyuan's people are already dead , what else can I argue for Concubine Xian?"

Lu Xiao was startled for a moment when he heard the words:
"This...was also found out in your previous life?"

Li Taiwei raised his eyebrows proudly at him:

"Earlier, Pei Zhaoyi said that Xu Liangyuan had morning sickness when she visited Concubine Xian's miscarriage, which stained Concubine Xian's carpet and made Concubine Xian displeased... Do you know that Concubine Xian's pomegranate carpet has a lot to do with it?"

carpet?

Lu Xiao couldn't help but widen his eyes...how could he know this as an old man?
Li Taiwei pouted and said:

"This pomegranate flower carpet was a tribute gift from the king of Beishuo back then. It was specially sent to the Poluo Temple to consecrate it with the meaning of hundreds of sons and thousands of grandchildren. It was originally given to the Empress Dowager, and was later given to Concubine Xian by the Queen Mother..."

"Concubine Xian has prayed to God and worshiped Buddha for many years, so she naturally cares about these auspicious things. There was a Wei Wanyi in Guanju Palace who was higher than Xu Liangyuan. She accidentally spilled tea and spilled it on the carpet. He was dragged out from the head and killed with a stick..."

"Xu Liangyuan vomited on the carpet but was only reprimanded... It can be seen that this person is valued by Concubine Xian..."

"Besides, Xu Liangyuan has always talked to Pei Zhaoyi about everything, but after she came back, she kept it from Pei Zhaoyi. She didn't let her know about being reprimanded by Concubine Xian, and she even kept her pregnancy from everyone..."

"If my guess is correct, Xu Liangyuan should be a spy planted by Concubine Xian in Yaohua Palace. Everyone thinks that Xu Liangyuan concealed her pregnancy because she was afraid of Concubine Jin, but the person she really fears is Concubine Xian!"

"Concubine Xian has a vicious temper. She lost her baby so badly that she will definitely blame her! Xu Liangyuan was afraid that she would make Concubine Xian red-eyed because she was pregnant, so she had no choice but to hide this matter..."

Lu Xiao frowned when he heard that:

"If Xu Liangyuan really belonged to Concubine Xian, why did she die in Concubine Xian's hands? Could someone deliberately cheat and frame Concubine Xian with those indigo palace shoes?"

Li Taiwei's face darkened a bit:
"It must have been an accident that Pei Zhaoyi fell and saw the pair of indigo palace shoes. Concubine Xian probably sent someone to notify Xu Liangyuan, but why did Xu Liangyuan suddenly throw himself into the well... This is really strange, and I can't say for sure. It won't have anything to do with Concubine Xian..."

"However... the empress has learned from the imperial physician that Xu Liangyuan is pregnant with an emperor's heir, so she must have concealed it for a while... Concubine Xian will not miss this opportunity to attack the empress and concubine Jin!"

The empress is in charge of the Phoenix Seal, backed by the crown prince, and Concubine Jin has three sons and one daughter. These two women hold a pivotal position in the harem, and they are the thorn in Concubine Xian's heart!

If these two can be brought down, the position of empress will be within reach for Concubine Xian who has the backing of the empress dowager!
"Sir!"

Someone outside the private room came to report.

Hearing a voice like Gu Yu, Dafu opened the door straight after receiving Li Taiwei's gaze.

Gu Yu entered and bowed to the two of them, saying:

"Your Majesty, news has just come out from the Jingzhao Mansion that the murderer who robbed and killed the servant girl of the Prime Minister's Mansion has been found..."

(End of this chapter)