The little heroine investigates a mysterious case

Yang Liuming gently placed the inkstone on the desk, sat down behind the desk, and waved to Gu Zhanghua to sit down as well.

"Sit down and talk slowly. I wonder if your Highness has any questions? Feel free to ask. I will tell you everything I know."

"You know that ever since the Crown Prince passed away, my father has refused to meet with me. Over the years, I have tried not to touch upon the tragedy of that year. But now I want to know the truth of what happened, but I can't ask my father directly for fear of upsetting him. So, I have no choice but to come and ask the teacher."

Yang Liuming's face was dazed for a moment, but he immediately returned to normal and looked at Gu Zhanghua with a look of relief on his face.

"Your Highness has truly grown up. You handled the Jiaoyang Valley case very appropriately. I, your master, never imagined there would be so many twists and turns. However, Your Highness wants to know the truth behind that old case. Can you bear it?"

"Teacher, don't worry. I've recovered from my illness. I went to pay my respects to my brother, the Crown Prince, a few days ago. I've thought it through clearly and won't run away anymore. No matter what the truth is, I can bear it."

Yang Liuming pondered for a moment.

"Only your father, me, Lord Ma, and General Qin know what happened back then. If I tell you everything, Your Highness, please promise me that you will keep it a secret."

Gu Zhanghua was shocked when he heard this. It seemed that the case back then did contain unfathomable mysteries. If it was true as Sister Xuan analyzed, that his father wanted to get rid of Aunt Zhao, then he would risk his life to seek justice for Aunt Zhao and Sister Xuan!

"I promise to keep it a secret. If the emperor blames you, I will definitely plead with him. This matter has nothing to do with you."

Yang Liuming waved his hands hurriedly.

"Your Highness, please don't misunderstand me. That's not what I meant. If you ask His Majesty in person, I think His Majesty won't hide anything from you."

When Yang Liuming said this, he sighed deeply, his eyes became a little red, and he raised his sleeve to wipe the corners of his eyes.

"When the diplomatic mission was attacked, the prefect of Fucheng rushed 800 miles to report the incident to the imperial court. Your father fainted upon reading the report and was unable to eat or drink for several days, his life hanging in the balance.

I was the Minister of Personnel at the time, and was entrusted by Your Majesty to lead the secret guards. General Qin and Lord Ma were stationed in Liyang, so to avoid unpredictable chaos, I led the secret guards to the scene of the incident in a hurry to check it out.

At that time, you had already been sent to the hospital by the Fucheng prefect for treatment. I searched the scene carefully, and apart from you still unconscious, Master Zhao Xiaoman and her apprentice were nowhere to be found. There was not a single person alive at the scene."

Gu Zhanghua never expected that the situation that year was even more tragic than he had imagined, and he couldn't help but confirm with Yang Liuming again.

"Are you sure they're all dead?"

Yang Liuming nodded slightly.

"Later, I took the arrows I found at the scene back to the coroner for examination, and discovered that the arrowheads were all poisoned!"

Gu Zhanghua understood that these poison arrows happened to match the poison arrow head that Sister Xuan had kept.

"What else did you find at the scene?"

Anger surged in Yang Liuming's eyes.

"I also discovered that several of the dead assassins were wearing identification tags around their necks. They belonged to the Vietnamese army!"

Gu Zhanghua leaned forward and looked at Yang Liuming nervously.

"Are you sure?"

"Your Highness, the army has its own rules. Every soldier in our Xia Army also has their own identity badge, but it is not worn around the neck, but on the wrist.

This is to prevent them from dying on the battlefield. If it is difficult to identify them, they can be confirmed through the identity plate, so this is definitely correct."

"What then?"

"The situation was urgent, so I rushed back to report to His Majesty, but His Majesty was still in a coma.

General Qin, Lord Ma and I have discussed this and have decided to have General Qin secretly gather troops in Fengcheng first. Once Your Majesty wakes up and decides to attack the Kingdom of Yue to avenge the Crown Prince, we can be prepared in advance.

Three days later, His Majesty regained consciousness and, as expected, was heartbroken. He decided to mobilize the entire nation to declare war on the Kingdom of Yue. However, at this very moment, the Crown Prince of Yue, Tian Yuan, suddenly and secretly arrived in Beijing.

"Did he sense any signs of trouble? Did he know we were going to attack the Kingdom of Yue?"

"Indeed. I think the Kingdom of Yue secretly planted spies in our Kingdom of Xia. The news of the army gathering in Fengcheng must have alarmed Tian Yuan, who conveyed a message to Your Majesty through Lord Ma.

As long as we hold our troops still, he will voluntarily return Jinyang City, and only then will His Majesty agree to meet with Tian Yuan."

"This Yue crown prince is really generous!"

Yang Liuming sneered.

"He had no choice but to do it! Your Majesty and the three of us only learned after meeting Tian Yuan that he was in control of the Yue army at the time and insisted that he had never issued an order to assassinate the Xia envoys.

He put forward two conditions: one was to voluntarily return Jinyang City; the other was that as long as he ascended the throne in the future, he would never take the initiative to provoke disputes between the two countries.

He used these two conditions in exchange for your father giving him a year to go back and investigate the real murderer."

"My father agreed?"

Yang Liuming nodded helplessly.

"Your Majesty has always been kind and benevolent. For the sake of Jinyang City's return and to spare the common people from the suffering of war, he suppressed his grief and agreed to Tian Yuan's request. He immediately issued an order, ordering General Qin to withdraw the troops assembled in Fengcheng."

Upon hearing this, Gu Zhanghua immediately breathed a sigh of relief. The real mastermind behind this had nothing to do with his father, but was some people in the Yue military.

But then he felt heartbroken for his father. The death of the Crown Prince was a fatal blow to his father, but for the sake of peace and prosperity in the country, his father chose to endure and give up on avenging the Crown Prince even though he knew the real culprit.

This was such a difficult decision for my father. No wonder he couldn't heal his inner trauma even after more than ten years. He must have always felt guilty towards the Crown Prince.

Yang Liuming saw that Gu Zhanghua was silent and seemed to be thinking about something, so he asked.

"Your Highness, do you have any questions?"

Gu Zhanghua then came to his senses, thought about it, and asked about something he couldn't figure out.

"Can you tell me what happened to the Jigong Mountain bandits?"

"It's a bit unfair to them, but it has to be done this way."

Yang Liuming stood up and paced around the room.

"When I was investigating the scene, I discovered that there were man-made roadblocks in the direction of the delegation's march. I instructed the Fucheng prefect to investigate the matter. He soon reported back that the roadblocks were set up by Li Dali, a bandit from Jigong Mountain.

Soon, Li Dali and his men were brought to Beijing, and after careful interrogation, they learned that Li Dali and his men had a deep grudge against Zhao Xiaoman, as Zhao Xiaoman had killed Li Dali's son while escorting an convoy, and Li Dali bore a grudge against her.

When they learned that Zhao Xiaoman was about to join the diplomatic mission to the Kingdom of Yue, they set up roadblocks along the way, intending to do something illegal, but before they could do anything, the diplomatic mission was attacked.

The tragedy that occurred that year shocked the entire nation. To appease the people, the case must be closed as soon as possible. These bandits deserved their punishment, so His Majesty ordered their beheading to be displayed to the public."

"Did the Crown Prince of Yue eventually find out who was behind this?"

Yang Liuming nodded.

"Before half a year had passed, Tian Yuan had a reply. The assassination team was a detachment of twenty people stationed at the border by the southern border garrison of Yue State.

Due to the rugged terrain and harsh environment of the area, the rotation of guards is only once every five years. When Tian Yuan found out that the identity card belonged to the southern border garrison, it was the turn of this team to be rotated.

But the soldiers who went to relieve the guard found that the twenty people in the original team had disappeared without a trace, and the time of their disappearance coincided with the time of the assassination of the Xia Kingdom delegation.

At this time, someone reported to Tian Yuan that the Sixth Prince was the mastermind behind the plot, with the intention of framing the Crown Prince so that he could take his place. The Sixth Prince, seeing the conspiracy exposed, committed suicide out of fear of punishment.

Gu Zhanghua cursed angrily.

"What a bastard! It's too good for him to die like this!"

"What else can we do? The mastermind is dead, Tian Yuan has given us an explanation, and with the successful recovery of Jinyang City, His Majesty has signed a long-term peace agreement with Tian Yuan, opening up trade. This matter is now settled.

To avoid complications and causing panic among the people, His Majesty has ordered the three of us to remain silent from now on. No one is allowed to mention that the Crown Prince's death was actually caused by the Sixth Prince of Yue."