The stand-in didn't take it seriously for three years, and the minister was furious when they b

"Well, don't make trouble."

Mu Lianzhi almost died from being choked by him. Her body felt weak.

“This is the Imperial Palace.”

He kissed her forehead again, but Beitang Yi couldn't hide the excitement in his heart:

"You are so smart. I should have come back to see you earlier."

In order to complete this task, he and Si Chao have discussed more than ten plans. If he couldn't stand the smell on his body today, he would have to make do with it for a few more days.

"Zhizhi, you are really my baby. It seems that I can't hide anything from you from now on, no matter big or small. You have to report to my wife obediently."

Lifting her chin proudly, Mu Lianzhi snorted:

"It's good to know."

"But don't be too careless. You also said that there might be some people who want to take advantage of the situation. If they have nothing to do with this matter, there's no guarantee that they won't find an opportunity to do the same thing again."

"I've been thinking about this for the past two days. I'm a merchant girl and a young widow. I don't have much. Who would go to the trouble of targeting me at this time?"

Most likely it's directed at him?

Pulling his collar, Mu Lianzhi stopped talking:

"Although this is dangerous, it is also the best opportunity to throw dirty water on others. Lord Beitang, don't be careless and lose Jingzhou. I will not give up my position to others. I will only... People with different ideals cannot make plans together."

Knowing that she was hinting that "someone might be eyeing the position of Madam Beitang, and she would not share a husband with others", Beitang Yi was once again surprised at her thoughtfulness.

It is indeed not impossible.

Before, he had always thought that someone was targeting her in order to distract him or simply control him, making it easier to carry out the subsequent plan to steal the Mu Dongzhu. He ignored the possibility that this matter might have nothing to do with Mu Dongzhu.

After being enlightened by her, Beitang Yi realized that men and women think in many different ways. Talking to her was like opening the door to a new world, just like just now, and just like now.

Looking at her brightly, Beitang Yi felt that he was too superficial before and had never really looked at her.

She is not just good-looking, she is dazzlingly bright from the inside out.

Holding her chin, Beitang Yi gave her another lingering deep kiss, and then he promised earnestly:

"Okay. I will protect myself and remain a virgin for my wife. I don't want anyone else except Zhizhi. I won't trade her for any other woman in the world."

After a moment of shock, Mu Lianzhi slowly raised the corners of his lips, feeling indescribably moved in his heart.

"By the way, I never had time to ask you before, did you see who killed the killer who fell beside you? How did you end up falling beside him?"

Not wanting to scare her, Beitang Yi hugged her tighter and asked softly, searching for words:

"The way he died was a little unusual. It looked like the knife was broken..."

Thinking of the time when he saw her covered in blood, Beitang Yi couldn't help but feel an indescribable fear in his heart. When he mentioned this, Mu Lianzhi couldn't help feeling guilty. She pursed her lips unconsciously and her body stiffened slightly.

"Don't be afraid, I'm just asking casually. Those people are dead, thoroughly dead."

Some of the bodies were burned, leaving no possibility of resurrection.

"I, I don't know either. I just didn't want to hold them back, so I wanted to find a place to hide and help if I could. Suddenly, the man in black raised a knife towards me, and I fainted out of fear. I seemed to have tripped over something. I don't know either. When I woke up, you were by my side..."

After stirring his hands, Mu Lianzhi still felt that as for the matter of the ability to save his life, he should be the only one who knew it. Only by pretending to be a pig can he eat the tiger. Otherwise, it might not work in the future.

"I see."

He wondered why there was blood and flesh splattered on her face and in front of her body. When she said that, Beitang Yi thought of a reasonable explanation for her. The master should be behind her. During the confrontation between the two, the man in black was probably too weak. Before she completely fell down, his heart was crushed by someone. This could explain why there were blood and flesh splattered in front of her body. Maybe she was fainted by the blood.

After figuring it out, Beitang Yi stopped asking questions and changed the subject. Soon someone else came to report something, and Beitang Yi changed his clothes and went out to get busy again.

……

The next day, when Beitang Yi was called to the Imperial Study to report back, he told all of his findings, progress, and speculations without hiding anything:

"Your Majesty, I am incompetent. I have searched the palace twice, but have not been able to find Mu Dongzhu, nor have I found any obvious suspicious persons."

"However, judging from the assassination, the absence of the female family members on the Qixi Festival, and the relationship between Eunuch Fengrong, this incident involves at least two forces. At least one is related to the palace, and the other may want to take advantage of the situation. Therefore, the robbery of Mu Dongzhu, the assassination of the family members, and the silencing of Eunuch Fengrong should be three groups of people. Who is behind this, I have not yet been able to identify."

"This is the relevant chain of evidence that I have found and some of the evidence that I have compiled."

After respectfully submitting the memorial, Beitang Yi knelt down and admitted his mistake:

"Your Majesty, the more we investigate this matter, the more people we will point to. I'm afraid we won't be able to get a result in the short term."

His Majesty took a look and found that the force identified in the palace could be any of the three adult princes, because those people were wearing court costumes, which the palace people were most familiar with. They were all one-to-one imitations of authentic ones, stolen and old ones made into new ones. When the female members of the family were attacked, the Crown Princess, the Fifth Prince's wife and the mothers of related personnel were all absent for various reasons. The key point was that important relatives of each family were also absent.

For example, the wife and daughter of the prime minister's mansion was called away by the crown princess, several members of the fourth prince's maternal family were absent, and the fifth prince's pregnant direct line was also missing, so it is possible that all three princes were involved in the possibility of being involved with the imperial palace.

Beitang Yi also listed three possibilities for the assassination of the female family members. One was that they cooperated in the snatching of Mu Dongzhu from the Hanlin Academy, one was that they were really killed to cause turmoil in the court, and another was that someone had ulterior motives and used a knife to kill to vent personal anger or for personal gain, but the specific identity of the man in black has not been found out yet.

As for the eunuch beside the emperor, the only thing that can be confirmed is that he was bribed and took Mu Dongzhu away. It is hard to say whether he was silenced or someone took advantage of the situation. The source has not been traced yet. Therefore, it is unknown who is behind it and whether Mu Dongzhu is still in the palace.

Looking at the memorial in his hand, the emperor said nothing, but his heart was heavy.

In fact, the emperor knew that the chance of finding the wooden Dongzhu if it was lost in the palace was not high. It was such a small thing, how could it be found if it was buried somewhere or stuffed on a tree?

Just when the atmosphere was depressing, Eunuch Defu came in again to report that a minister had come to ask when he could leave the palace. The gist of it was that something strange had happened at home.

"The house collapsed three days after he left home. How can he still be the Minister of Works? Get him out of here!"

Beitang Yi was just wondering how to start the conversation, and the emperor slammed the table in anger, so he took over the conversation:

"Your Majesty, calm down."

"Your Majesty, I suddenly thought of a way. It may not necessarily find the real culprit, but it should be able to eliminate some people..."