Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

"What, Princess Gaoping is dead?"

At the hour of Mao, the sky was dark and the north wind howled into the Yingwu Hall.

The sleeping emperor was awakened by the shadow guard and Zhao Ming. Upon learning that Princess Gaoping had been killed, the emperor's face suddenly turned gloomy, and then he became furious.

"Snapped!"

The emperor slammed his palm hard on the bed, then stood up and roared with a ferocious look on his face: "Who is so bold as to kill someone in the streets of Kyoto?"

The shadow guard's face turned pale: "Your Majesty, this matter is still under investigation!"

"What do you Shadow Guards do for a living?"

The emperor suddenly turned his head and stared at the shadow guards, roaring, "Didn't you tell me that the entire Kyoto city is under the surveillance of the shadow guards? How come such a big thing happened, and you shadow guards have no information at all?

Princess Gaoping is surrounded by dozens of elite guards from the Great Zhou Dynasty. In addition, she is a master in martial arts. It would take many experts to kill her. Tell me, where did these people come from? "

These two questions in a row made the shadow guard break out in a cold sweat and immediately kneel down on the ground.

"Your Majesty's forgiveness!"

The shadow guard explained: "Tonight, His Royal Highness the King of Chu is getting married, and all the envoys and ministers will be attending. Most of the shadow guards have been transferred to the palace.

In addition, today is the Lantern Festival, and the people in the city are holding a lantern-lighting event. In order to ensure the safety of Kyoto, the Shadow Guards have also dispatched a lot of people to maintain it."

Although the emperor was angry, he knew what the shadow guards said, and most of the shadow guards were transferred to the palace by him.

However, the death of Princess Gaoping would certainly trigger hostility from the Great Zhou towards the Great Chu. If the matter was not investigated as soon as possible, how could the Queen of the Great Zhou let it go?

Among the nine dynasties, although the Qin Dynasty was the most domineering, if there was one person who should not be provoked, it must be the Empress of the Zhou Dynasty.

That was the throne that was obtained by usurping the throne. He is a ruthless person!

What's more, at this moment, the Chu Dynasty had just fought a war with the Zhao Dynasty. Although it won, it also suffered heavy casualties.

In addition, the Chu State was short of military forces and food. Once the Zhou Dynasty attacked, how could the Chu State possibly resist?

The emperor, who was getting more and more anxious, said coldly: "I don't care what method you use, find out the truth immediately!"

"Yes!" the shadow guard responded and immediately stood up and was about to leave.

But after taking two steps, the emperor called him: "Wait!"

"Call the Minister of Justice Ling Haoran!"

The emperor snorted coldly: "How could he, the Minister of Justice, do such a murder in Kyoto? This matter is closely related to the Ministry of Justice. Let him investigate it personally."

"I understand!" the shadow guard said and left immediately.

As soon as the shadow guard left, the emperor paced back and forth in the room anxiously.

Zhao Ming on the side carefully advised: "Your Majesty, don't be too anxious. With the Shadow Guard and Lord Ling investigating, the matter will soon be solved."

But the emperor said gloomily, "The other party dared to kill people in the streets of Kyoto City. He must have come prepared. It will be difficult to find him."

At this point, the emperor turned his head and looked outside the palace, with a flash of worry in his eyes: "Zhao Ming, who do you think is the most likely murderer?"

"This……"

Zhao Ming frowned, looking conflicted, and didn't dare to speak.

This is not something an eunuch can get involved in.

He was very clear that his duty was to serve the emperor and he could not get involved in political affairs.

Although the emperor is anxious now, as a eunuch, he cannot speak nonsense at this moment.

The emperor glanced at the silent Zhao Ming, snorted coldly, and said no more.

Half an hour later, on the street where the crime occurred, the Shadow Guards and the runners from the Ministry of Justice were checking the body.

Corpses were scattered all along the way, the ground was stained red with blood, and the pungent smell of blood spread throughout the street with the cold wind.

Ling Haoran, the Minister of Justice who received the order to investigate, squatted in front of a corpse and kept checking the condition of the corpse.

The coroner next to him was nervously checking the cause of death of the body. The surrounding yamen runners had blocked off the area and ordinary people were not allowed to enter at will.

Just as Ling Haoran was frowning and examining the corpse, the masked shadow guard appeared behind him at some point.

"Master Ling, do you have any clues?"

Ling Haoran was startled, but when he turned around and found that it was the shadow guard, he sighed: "Most of these Great Zhou soldiers died from bows and crossbows!

According to the time estimated by the coroner, it should be around Chou hour. Judging from the time Princess Gaoping left the palace, they should have been targeted as soon as they left the palace, and the enemy had ambushed them in advance."

The shadow guard raised his eyebrows, and a strange look flashed across his face: "It is not easy to own so many bows and crossbows in Kyoto City. Who has such great ability?"

While thinking, a solemn expression appeared on Ling Haoran's stern face: "The other party is very cruel and will not give the soldiers of the Great Zhou any chance to survive.

Even Princess Gaoping was stabbed in the front, but the attacker seemed to be worried that she was not dead yet, so he stabbed her in the back.

It was obvious that these people did not give Princess Gaoping any chance to survive, and they chased her for hundreds of meters until they killed her. "

After these words were spoken, the shadow guard's face looked a little ugly.

This is the capital city of Great Chu, at the feet of the emperor, and someone actually killed the princess of Great Zhou in the street!

If such a terrible thing were to spread, not only would the Chu Kingdom lose face and be laughed at by other dynasties, even the Zhou Dynasty would not let it go.

Now that a princess has died, given the temper of the Empress of the Zhou Dynasty, she will definitely send troops to the Chu Dynasty!

"This matter must be investigated as soon as possible!"

The shadow guard said in a deep voice: "I have already explored this place. There are not many clues here. The scene seems to have been cleaned by the murderer, but I still found several sharp arrows in the street over there."

After saying that, he reached out and handed over the arrow he had just found.

Ling Haoran took the arrows and took a look at them, a look of surprise on his face: "These seem to be arrows for a short crossbow."

The shadow guard nodded and said in a cold voice: "Yes, it was the arrows from the short crossbows, but judging from the way these people were shot, it should have been fired by many short crossbows at the same time, otherwise the wounds could not be so close.

There aren't many people in Kyoto who have so many short crossbows!"

At this point, Shadow Guard and Ling Haoran looked at each other, and a person appeared in their minds at the same time.

Ling Haoran was startled, his expression changed slightly: "You suspect it's His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu?"

The shadow guard frowned and said, "Although I have never seen the crossbow made by His Royal Highness the King of Chu, I have heard that it is not only powerful, but can also shoot five sharp arrows at the same time!

Lord Ling, please look at the wounds on these people. Most of them have five wounds wherever they were shot. "

Ling Haoran, who originally didn't quite believe it, suddenly changed his expression and quickly bent down to check the body.

After checking five bodies in a row, the wounds on each body were the same as what the shadow guard described.

"Could it really be that His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu sent someone to do this?"

"It's hard to say. My people have just investigated and found that the facial mask Princess Gaoping bought last night is gone. If it was really done by the King of Chu, it might have been for the facial mask!"

"This... is a matter of great importance and involves the King of Chu. Your Majesty, please make the decision!"

Ling Haoran did not dare to delay and immediately rushed to the palace with his shadow guard.

If Chu Ning was responsible for this, they could not arrest anyone without the emperor's authorization.

Only with the emperor's nod would they dare to go to the Prince of Chu's Palace to arrest people!