Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 243 An old case
In the Hun Tian Tai.

In fact, the two had spent nearly a thousand days together on the ship, and they were already very familiar with each other. So the strangeness was soon eliminated, and they returned to the state of getting along naturally on the ship.

Chen Lingzhi asked Ren Yuan to sit down, poured him a glass of lychee paste water with ice, and asked with a smile:
"I guess you didn't come to see me, but about Princess Changle's case?"

"Haha, did you predict this through fortune-telling?" Ren Yuan took a sip of the cool and sweet drink and immediately felt the summer heat go away.

"No, I didn't see you on the boat last night. I heard from Yang Zhong and the others that you were trying a case overnight." Chen Lingzhi held the cup and smiled, "I came here this early in the morning, so I know what's going on."

"It's true for the case, but it also gives me an excuse to come see you." Ren Yuan said with a smile: "Don't you know that the more you hide and refuse to see others, the more curious others will be?"

"Yes, I do this to maintain mystique." Chen Lingzhi followed his words and said seriously. She is such a charming woman.

The two laughed for a while, and she said softly: "But all the files of Xiao Zhengde and Xiao Zhengze have been borrowed by your Chongguang Chuang. I'm afraid you made a wasted trip."

"No." Ren Yuan shook his head and said, "I want to see if there is a file on an old case."

"Which case?"

"Have you heard about Xi Mei's disappearance?"

"Of course I have heard of it." Chen Lingzhi smiled and said, "It was because of this case that my father was ordered to establish the Gou Chen Division. So this case can be said to be the first case of our division."

"Are there any files from that time?" Ren Yuan asked.

"It's in the first cabinet in the first row." Chen Lingzhi said without hesitation.

"Okay." Ren Yuan nodded and walked to the front row. Sure enough, in the first cabinet, he found a wooden box with a label saying 'Imperial Order to Investigate the Disappearance of Xi Mei'.

He couldn't help but praise: "Your father is so delicate!"

As he spoke, he opened the box, took out the files inside and began to flip through them quickly.

The first one is a description of the case.

Of course, the higher-ups wouldn't record any gossip like 'the emperor likes his sister-in-law', they just objectively described what happened that day...

The crime happened in June of the sixth year of Tianjian, exactly twenty years ago.

On that day, Xiao Yan ordered someone to invite Xi Mei to go boating in Xuanwu Lake, but the eunuch who delivered the order did not find her.

Because Xi Mei went to Dongshan to attend the "Lantai Gathering" and to see off Ren Fang who was about to be transferred out.

As a result, she mysteriously disappeared in Dongshan, and her carriage fell off a cliff. All the people in the carriage were smashed beyond recognition, and her identity could only be identified by her clothes and jewelry.

After hearing the news, Xiao Yan sent people to search Dongshan but to no avail, so the Danyang Yin determined that she had been murdered.

However, Xiao Yan asked Tao Hongjing, who was then Tao Zhenren, to divine, and the result showed that the person was still alive, but his whereabouts were unknown...

These are almost the same as what Prince Consort Xie said.

Moreover, Ren Yuan looked through the files and never saw any description of the Xiao brothers. Instead, he saw the frequent appearance of Ren Bi and Ren Fang, two names with the same surname as him... These two names mainly came from the testimony of the eldest princess Xiao Yuyao. In her testimony, Xiao Yuyao said that although she was Xi Mei's niece, the two were almost the same age, so they had a very close relationship. Therefore, she knew that her aunt had an affair with Ren Bi. She also read the letters and poems between the two.

Moreover, the testimony of the Grand Princess said that Ren Fang, Ren Bei's father, had known about it for a long time. He knew that the emperor liked his aunt, but he still allowed and even encouraged his son to date his aunt. I don't know why...

Ren Yuan kept shaking his head as he watched. It was hard to imagine that such gossipy confession came from the mouth of a princess of a country. It could be more like the mouth of a gossipy woman in the neighborhood.

~~
"I remember the case file. It is indeed very similar to the case of Princess Changle's disappearance. Both cases involved fake death scenes. The person is still alive but cannot be found." After Ren Yuan finished reading the case file, Chen Lingzhi said softly:

"Do you suspect that Xi Mei's disappearance was also caused by these brothers?"

"It was Prince Consort Xie who told me." Ren Yuan replied, "He said it was another Prince Consort Yin who told him."

"There is no smoke without fire." Chen Lingzhi said, "But how old were they at that time?"

"Sixteen or seventeen." Ren Yuan said, "Old enough to do bad things."

"But there is no evidence that this case is related to his brother. You don't know how big a fuss this case was back then. The emperor's wrath lasted for a long time, and so many people were killed that the water of the Qinhuai River was dyed red. Many years later, my father still felt scared when he mentioned it." After a pause, she apologized:

"Unless Prince Consort Yin can produce irrefutable evidence, my father will not agree to reopen the case." Chen Lingzhi advised, "But twenty years have passed. What kind of irrefutable evidence can there be? The validity of all evidence has disappeared."

"I know." Ren Yuan nodded and smiled, "Don't worry, I'm just verifying another guess, not reopening the case."

"What guess?" Chen Lingzhi asked curiously.

"Can you tell me whether Xi Mei is still alive?" Ren Yuan asked.

"How is it possible? Who would kidnap her and imprison her for twenty years? Is he a pervert? Okay..." Chen Lingzhi thought that Xiao Zhengde was indeed a pervert, so he nodded, and immediately started a divination in his sleeve. After he finished the divination, he said with a shocked face:

"She's actually still alive."

"Haha, that's great! Maybe we can solve both cases at the same time!" Ren Yuan excitedly waved his fist.
"Let's assume that both cases were committed by Xiao Zhengde. Then he wouldn't have arrested Xi Mei just for the sake of excitement, right? Imprisoning her for twenty years must have a purpose!"

"That makes sense." Chen Lingzhi nodded and said, "It is said that everyone in Beijing knew that the emperor liked Xi Mei. Who would dare to do that? It seems that only Xiao Zhengde dared to do that. But if it wasn't just for excitement, what was his motive?"

"He had a motive! At that time, his dream of becoming the crown prince was shattered and he had just been sent back to the palace. That was when he hated the emperor the most." Ren Yuan said in a deep voice: "Looking at his behavior over the past twenty years, he has actually been venting his dissatisfaction with the emperor. So it is very likely that he kidnapped Xi Mei to take revenge on the emperor!"

"Stealing someone's love?" Chen Lingzhi said, pinching her round, white chin.

"Yes. You took my position as crown prince, so I will take your woman. Isn't this reasonable?" Ren Yuan asked back.

"It's reasonable for a pervert." Chen Lingzhi smiled with his hands covering his mouth, and the room was full of spring.

"Why do I feel like you're scolding me too?" Ren Yuan rubbed his nose and smiled bitterly, "Now put yourself in his shoes. If you were him, how would you treat Xi Mei after you succeeded?"

"They must kill him and destroy the body." Chen Lingzhi said as a matter of course: "Even if the emperor feels guilty about him, this kind of thing is definitely the emperor's weak spot. If he touches it, he will die."

(End of this chapter)