Lady Wan Guan

At dawn, Gu Zhou stopped and prepared to go to court.

An official came to report in a hurry.

"Sir, Sir Huang, the Minister of Industry, is dead."

Gu Zhou stopped and shook his hand, almost wearing his hat crookedly.

"How did you die?"

"When killed, one arrow seals the throat."

“Where do people die?”

"The Yamen of the Ministry of Industry."

Gu Zhouting remembered that termites appeared in Yongshou Hall a few days ago, and many pillars and beams were eaten away. Therefore, the emperor asked the Ministry of Industry to renovate Yongshou Hall as soon as possible.

This matter is under the responsibility of Huang Shilang of the Ministry of Industry.

The case was important, so Gu Zhouting led people straight to the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry.

The streets were deserted, with no one around.

Gu Zhou stopped in the carriage and listened to the reporter's account of what happened.

The reporter was a junior official from the Ministry of Industry.

"Because the ant infestation in Yongshou Hall is serious, it must be overhauled. The emperor limited it to be completed before the Mid-Autumn Festival, so the construction period is very tight. Mr. Huang has not been home for several days. He is either supervising the work in Yongshou Hall or working in the duty room of the Ministry of Works. Mr. Huang has been studying last night The drawings were made until late at night, and he told his entourage Yin Shi to call him before going to court. In order to prevent the emperor from asking questions, he had to make preparations. The entourage followed Lord Huang's instructions and went to call Lord Huang at seven o'clock. No one answered the knock on the door. When I pushed the door open and went in, I saw Mr. Huang lying next to the desk with an arrow stuck in his throat."

Gu Zhouting frowned. Is Mr. Huang's death related to the renovation of Yongshou Palace?

Arriving at the Ministry of Industry, Mr. Huang’s duty room.

Gu Zhou stopped and looked around, and saw that the window facing the desk was half open.

"Is this window always open?"

Master Huang's entourage said: "I left it open last night because the room was still stuffy. Master Huang left it open for some fresh air."

Gu Zhouding nodded, so the arrow came in through the open window.

Gu Zhou stopped in front of the window and looked out. He saw an open pond of more than ten feet. The lotus flowers in the pond were gone and only a pool of dead leaves remained. At the end of the pond was a flower wall with a diamond-shaped lattice on the half of the wall.

"Zheng Guan, go to the other side and see if there are any traces."

Zheng Guan took the order and left.

Wu Zuo has already completed the preliminary examination of the body.

"Sir, the deceased died from an arrow in his throat. The arrow was poisonous. The poison spread quickly, so that the deceased only took two or three steps before he fell to the ground and died. This arrow should have been shot by a small crossbow arrow."

"What's the angle for shooting the arrow?"

"Flat shot."

Gu Zhou stopped and nodded, then went to look at the drawings on the desk.

A large pile of drawings, including the main hall, side halls, beams...the drawings are detailed and neat.

"Where were you last night?"

Gu Zhou stopped and asked his entourage.

The attendant said: "The young one is waiting outside."

"Are you asleep?"

"The little one... took a nap."

"About when?"

"The little one doesn't remember clearly. He was still awake when the fifth watch rang. After the fifth watch, he stared blankly for a while, but he woke up quickly."

"Didn't hear anything?"

The noise when Mr. Huang fell to the ground should have been quite loud.

The attendant shook his head: "I never heard it."

After a while, Zheng Guan came back. "Sir, you can't stand on the inside of the flower wall. There are no traces on the flower wall. The traces on the outside of the flower wall are unknown. Whether it was left by the murderer needs further verification."

Gu Zhouting frowned and said: "No matter what, the murderer must be a master who is good at using a crossbow."

If the entourage did not conceal any lies, then the time of Master Huang's death should be between Chou hour quarter to Chou hour seven after the fifth watch, or to be precise, Chou hour two to Chou hour six.

At this time, it was still dark. The murderer wanted to shoot Mr. Huang through the flower wall and through the half-open window, and sealed his throat with one arrow. It was obvious that his eyesight and accuracy were excellent.

Gu Zhouting went to check outside the flower wall in person. The grass at the foot of the flower wall showed traces of being lightly trampled. Gu Zhouting stood here and looked through the diamond-shaped grid. This point was the best shooting point.

The traces were slight, indicating that the murderer completed the killing quickly and retreated immediately after shooting an arrow.

"Zheng Guan, take this arrow and go to the weapons supervisor to ask."

"Yes."

Gu Zhouting asked someone to find out what Mr. Huang has been doing recently, no matter how big or small, everything must be understood clearly.

Then he left the Ministry of Industry and entered the palace.

"You mean, Mr. Huang's death is related to the renovation of Yongshou Palace?" Xiao Yan met Gu Zhouding outside the imperial study and asked about Mr. Huang.

"There must be a motive for killing. Mr. Huang is renovating the Yongshou Palace and has no other errands on hand. From preliminary understanding, he does not have any enemies."

"What is there about building a palace of eternal life that makes it worth taking someone's life?" Xiao Yan was puzzled.

"Is there something weird in Yongshou Palace?"

Gu Zhou stopped and said, "The presence of termites in Yongshou Palace is strange enough. The building materials in the palace are carefully selected, so there is no possibility of termites. Moreover, the anti-termite measures in the palace are not lax and must be inspected every year. Take medication.”

"Yes, this is not Xishan. There are lush vegetation and many insects and ants. It's not surprising that termites appear." Xiao Yan agreed.

"The imperial official was shot and killed. This matter has a great impact. How many days do you have to solve the case?"

Gu Zhou stopped and said, "Five days."

"Then you have to work hard, but no matter how hard you work, you still have to come to my king's engagement banquet tonight."

Gu Zhou paused and said, "Even if you can't come, the ceremony will definitely come."

Xiao Yan said: "Try your best."

He also knew that this case put a lot of pressure on Gu Zhouting. He said that he would definitely come, but if Gu Zhouting really couldn't come, he wouldn't blame him.

Jiang Wanning is currently at Yunshang Embroidery Workshop. She came here specially to customize a set of clothes.

When I came here to have my clothes made, I didn't see Li Yuanniang. The people in the embroidery shop said that Li Yuanniang went to the palace to give clothes to the imperial concubine.

I came here today and finally met Li Yuanniang.

Li Yuanniang, who is in her thirties, has willow-leaf arched eyebrows and slender red and phoenix eyes. When she looks around, her eyes are moving, giving her a unique charm.

Unexpectedly, Qin Bochong was her guest.

According to Beidou Division's information, the only person who had an affair with Li Yuanniang was Qin Bochong, and Li Yuanniang mostly dealt with noble ladies and daughters.

"The material you picked is a bit plain, so I asked the embroiderer to put some effort into the tailoring and decoration. The waist-cinching tailoring highlights the tall and graceful figure of the county lord. The plum flower plate buckle matches the skirt and The cuffs have the same pattern, and by the way, there are a few butterflies embroidered here to make them more vivid." Li Yuanniang said with a smile.

Jiang Wanning is still very satisfied with the workmanship of Yunshang Embroidery Studio, with skillful hands and ingenuity.

But her focus is on Li Yuanniang.

Li Yuanniang has a faint fragrance of plum blossoms.

It's very light. If you don't smell it carefully, you can't smell it.

This reminded Jiang Wanning of the day when King Su Heqi died, when a woman with the fragrance of plum blossoms went to see Su He.

Before, she and Gu Zhouting both thought that the woman was Sun Guifei, because Sun Guifei used to live in Meifangyuan and also liked to use plum fragrance.

However, it now seems that it was probably Li Yuanniang who went to see Prince Su He that night.

After all, it is not convenient for Concubine Sun to leave the palace.

Moreover, after Sun Guifei moved out of Mei Fang Yuan, she no longer needed Mei Xiang.