I was just solving crimes, how could I become an immortal?

Chapter 135 Prince: I am not familiar with my uncle

On the sixth day, there is no morning service today.

The drizzle of rain, mixed with thin snowflakes, was falling, announcing that Shangjiang City had officially entered the cold winter.

If they had followed past habits, officials would have slept in warm bedding for two more hours before getting up and enjoying family time with their families.

But a piece of news suddenly detonated the whole city.

The cause was that the [Qing Tea Pavilion] in Dongshi closed suddenly.

Logically speaking, if a small teahouse closes, it won't cause much commotion.

But when a few old customers arrived, Ducai asked the shopkeeper: "How long will it close?"

"About three to five days. When the fighting stops, we will open the door." The shopkeeper replied.

"War? Where did the war come from?" The businessmen who asked were shocked. Isn't this Shangjiang City quite peaceful? Where did this statement come from?

Once curiosity arises, it cannot be stopped.

Someone soon found out that this teahouse was the pillar industry of the Tsing Yi Department, and the news must have come from the Tsing Yi Department.

Thinking that Cao Shuixiu was investigating a case recently, maybe he had predicted that a war would break out?

At the same time, the Privy Council, which was assisting Cao An in his investigation, suddenly issued an order to have all spies on standby in the city to prepare for possible turmoil.

When two pieces of news broke out, many people couldn't sit still, and Pang was the first to bear the brunt.

He rushed to the Tsing Yi Department, only to find that the Tsing Yi Department was already busy. It felt like preparations for war?
  "Cao An! What are you doing?" Pang Shi couldn't understand Cao An's thoughts. In his opinion, the only war that could break out in Shangjiang City was if these fools wanted to fight with someone.

What to do? If you can't find the case, you want to rebel?
  On the other hand, Cao An looked more serious today than usual.

Standing in front of Pang Shi, he handed him a list in his hand. On it were the names of more than a dozen officials, including Pang Shi's biological father.

"What do you mean?"

"Can't you see? This list contains the names of officials from the Prince's party."

"The prince's man? What do you want to do?" Pang Shi's eyes narrowed and he had a bad feeling.

"It seems that you have guessed it, and I am going to take action. You and I are good friends, so I would like to advise you in advance that it is best to stay out of the matter."

"Stay out of the matter? Do you want to attack the prince? Is it because of the case you investigated?" Pang Shi instantly understood what Cao An meant.

Although the prince had no official position, both the queen's natal family and the officials who had taken a stand in advance were all classified as the prince's influence.

If Cao An wants to remove the prince and the queen, he will definitely bring out a large number of officials. Cao An is sharpening his sword in preparation to suppress those counterattacks.

"That's the prince! Are you really sure you can fight against him?" Pang Shi still didn't believe that the prince would kill the prince. After all, the two had no intersection at all.

But Cao An was very determined and said regretfully: "There is no need for me to fight. I am just preventing a counterattack. I will meet with the Holy Spirit tomorrow morning. By then, neither the prince nor the queen can escape."

"What's the crime? Tell me clearly."

"The Ten Evils include four: treason, immorality, disrespect, and unrighteousness. You tell me whether they will die or not."

Heinous crimes are the most serious crimes. If you commit one of them, your home will be ransacked. After taking four of them in one breath, Pang Shi's body became a little weak.

No wonder Cao An has already started preparations before the report is made. Once these crimes are determined, no one can escape.

Abolition of the Queen and the replacement of the Crown Prince will inevitably trigger a series of reactions, including the Pang family, which is involved. There is no reason to stop.

Pang Shi swallowed hard and asked: "Are you sure about this? As the prince and queen, would you really do such a heinous thing?"

"Just because they won't commit it doesn't mean they won't be implicated. If they don't die, they will still be in limbo."

Pang Shi's eyes lit up: "You mean, they didn't do it? Then there is room for easing this matter, you..."

Cao An raised his hand and interrupted Pang Shi's proposal.

"I have some friendship with Mr. Feng. He brought me a gift last time, so I gave him face. But now they seem to be arrogant! Then don't blame me. From tomorrow on, no one of the prince's lineage will be left. I said of."

For the first time, Pang Shi felt the anger on Cao An. He was afraid that by now, the investigation of this case had revealed extremely serious facts.

"Calm down first. I will give you an explanation within today."

Pangshi rushed out the door, mounted a fast horse and galloped away. This nervous look made the faces of the watching spies change drastically.

For a time, news spread all over the sky, and people in both the government and the public were panicked.

On the other hand, the Tsing Yi Department and others...

"Cao An, are we really just taking care of our weapons? Can't we fight?" Ying Huorong asked a little disappointed.

Cao An came back last night and told them that the murderer had been confirmed and the evidence was available. He was going to arrest the uncle and asked them to sharpen their knives today.

Everyone in the Tsing Yi Department was very excited and got up early in the morning to prepare.

He polished his armor, oiled his weapons, and even took out the butcher's knife in the kitchen to sharpen it for him, ready for a battle at any time.

But after a whole morning of fussing, they discovered that Cao An only asked them to sharpen their knives, not Huo Huo.

If the knife is not sharpened, who will catch the uncle?
  "Of course it's the prince who goes, it's not our turn to take action."

……

That's right, it wasn't Cao An's turn to take action.

Pang Shi found his father immediately and made it clear that Cao An wanted to take someone. He didn't want his father to know faster than he did.

"Uncle Guo caused the case, right?"

"I don't have any problem with the specifics, but it should be similar. Those who can involve the prince and the queen must be relatives of the emperor. How do you know, dad?"

"The Deputy Chief of the Privy Council told me. Cao An gave them the information, gave up all investigations, and fully monitored the uncle. It seems that Cao An has obtained decisive evidence."

Cao An's pressure was not just his own bragging, but also his alliance's.

Anyway, the group of thieves in the Privy Council were clamoring every day to revive the Privy Council and avenge the Head Council. Now Cao An suddenly gave them an accurate answer, and almost no one in the Iron Mask could kill them with one sword.

As for now, it's not much better. The group of killers have directly surrounded the uncle's mansion, and not a single bird can fly in.

What's even more frightening is that Uncle Guo must have known about such behavior. In the past, he would definitely have made trouble with Emperor Wan Jing.

But this time he didn't. It was obvious that Uncle Guo felt guilty.

"Now what?"

"There is no court today. The Holy One is practicing. I have asked Eunuch Yu to pass on the news. This is the prince's last chance. We must find a way to get the best of both worlds."

……

The queen's bedroom.

The last time I saw the queen, she was still very graceful and unattainable, but now her face was pale.

He asked slightly panicked: "Eunuch Yu, are these news true? Cao An really dares to fight against us??" Eunuch Yu is also from the prince's faction, or in other words, since the prince was established, all the royalists have complied with God's will and stood firm. At the prince's side.

Now that the prince is in trouble, he is also very anxious.

"That day when Cao An was about to enter the palace, the old slave sent someone to inform the empress. Don't let others take advantage of the fight in the harem. Cao An has a good reputation and is not so easy to fool."

"But I didn't know that Ye Siyi's case would be so involved."

"What's even more disgusting is that it was Uncle Guo who asked us to ignore Cao An that day. He wanted to use us to block the sword!" The prince was also angry at the side.

That day it was reported that Cao An had found clues, and they were considering whether to be honest with Cao An. After all, competing for favor in the harem was not a big deal.

But it happened that the uncle of the state also came that day, threatening that Cao An was just a foreign minister and would not dare to fight with the empress. If he lowered his head, something would happen and he would lose his authority.

In a condescending manner, the queen and others naturally felt that they did not need to pay attention.

Unexpectedly, just a few days have passed and it has become a heinous crime.

Now no one doubts Cao An's words anymore, because Cao An has already taken action and doesn't bother to pay attention to them. If you don't believe it, you can continue to wait for death.

"We can't wait to die, Eunuch Yu. How about I go see Cao An right now?" It is very convenient for the prince to leave the palace. If he is the one to negotiate, maybe there will be a turn for the better?

But Eunuch Yu shook his head: "I'm afraid it's not enough for Your Highness to go now. After all, the fifth prince came to visit three days ago. Now that Cao An is on the line, it will be difficult to make him stop. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless you bring Princess Wenzhao with you, maybe Cao An will sell her favors."

……

Bringing Princess Wenzhao will make Cao An sell his favor?

How was this conclusion reached? Even the person involved, Cao An, didn't understand it. He seemed to have only met Princess Wen Zhao a few times, right?
  But no matter what, the prince did indeed do this. At this moment, the brother and sister appeared in the Tsing Yi Department.

Compared to the prince's panic, Wen Zhao was obviously more carefree.

She had never been to the Tsing Yi Department and was very new to everything. Cao An originally thought that with her arrogant temper, she would be out of place here, but unexpectedly, she and Xiao Jiu had the same interests.

Seeing the little girl squatting in front of a tombstone, Wen Zhao walked over curiously.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm waiting for him to die." Xiao Jiu remained expressionless, holding food in one hand and drawing circles on the ground with a dagger in the other.

It's a pity that this indifference cannot extinguish Wen Zhao's enthusiasm.

"Is the buried person still alive? That's amazing! Huh? What are you eating?"

"Candied haws."

"Candied haws! I love eating them too! Share one with me, and I'll share the pastries I brought with you."

"Okay." Xiaojiu agreed for the first time.

The two little ones inexplicably became friends sharing delicious food. They sat on Sanyang's grave and had a picnic. The scene was quite weird.

But that's fine, Cao An doesn't have time to deal with Wen Zhao for the time being.

He turned his head and looked at the two people hiding under the black robes, and made an invitation gesture to the side hall: "You two, come in and have a chat."

Without too much politeness, what Cao An wants to show now is only one word: drag.

The more you pull the other person, the more awesome you feel. Look now, Cao An has a cold face, but the prince is smiling in apology. It is completely different from the last time he saw him.

The three of them sat down. One of the two people in front of Cao An was the prince, and the other was naturally Feng Shilang, who had an old relationship with him.

"Master Cao, I forgot what you told me last time because I was too busy with official duties. I'm really sorry. I came here with His Highness the Crown Prince today. I hope you'll forgive me."

Cao An could naturally hear such an excuse.

In order to find excuses for his master, he took the initiative to take the responsibility on himself. Being a minister is indeed tiring.

He took out a brocade box again from his sleeve and placed it on the coffee table with ease. The weight seemed to be heavier, and he obviously wanted to bribe Cao An.

Unfortunately, Cao An just pressed the brocade box and pushed it back.

"Shilang Feng, I don't care about what happened before. As an official in the government, you have no control over yourself, I understand. You and I have met each other, so I would like to advise you to take care of yourself."

Take care of yourself?

Have you reached the stage where you need to take care of yourself?

Directly alienating his cronies in front of the prince? Cao An's attitude was so bullying that the prince instantly felt...scared.

He originally wanted Feng Shilang to test his words first, but now he couldn't sit still. He gave a gentle push behind him and asked Feng Shilang to speed up the questioning without delay.

Feng Shilang could only forcefully get into the topic: "Cao Shuixiu, when you came here, you heard that Uncle Guo was related to the death of the chief? I wonder if this news is true?"

Cao An looked back at him seriously: "Regarding this issue, I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

Bad news vs. good news?
  Could it be said that there is still room for change?
  Feng Shilang said expectantly: "Then let's hear the good news first."

"The good news is: the murderer who killed the master is none other than Uncle Guo."

"What! Is this good news?"

The two of them were shocked. Murdering a court official was a capital crime! Not bad news enough?

Now you say this is good news, but what is the bad news?
  "The bad news is: the other crimes he committed are ten times more serious than the murder of a court official."

It’s ten times more serious!
  Cao An's tone made the prince jump.

"Cao Shuixiu, don't talk nonsense. My uncle is in a high position, how could he commit such a serious crime!" The prince wanted to defend his uncle.

But Cao An just looked at him with disdain and asked teasingly: "It seems that the relationship between His Royal Highness and the uncle is not bad?"

"That's natural. He is the queen's brother. He often goes to the palace to teach me the art of puppetry. He is a kind man and not as evil as you said."

"Yes, but I have irrefutable evidence here. He killed the minister of the Ministry of Industry 20 years ago, destroyed the royal mausoleum, stole the late emperor's burial objects, and massacred hundreds of people."

Cao An's every word shocked the prince and made him take a step back.

When there was no way to retreat, the prince sat down on the wooden chair, feeling that all his strength had been drained away.

Cao An was right. If all these crimes were proven, it would indeed be ten times more serious than killing an imperial official.

The prince now only feels chills running down his spine. Fortunately, he is here. If he were still waiting in the palace, he might not know how he died.

As long as he comes, there will be room for relaxation.

The prince looked at Cao An seriously: "Actually, uncle Guo and I are not familiar with each other, and we rarely interact with each other."

(End of this chapter)