"Although General Wei and my father had made great contributions, the emperor was not pleased. Instead, he grew to dislike them more and recalled them to the court."
However, Wei Tu was perceptive. How could he not understand Emperor Jinzheng's thoughts? It was all that enchantress from the Qiangfeng Kingdom who had caused this mess.
Wei Tu then remonstrated with Emperor Jinzheng, but the emperor didn't listen. Instead, he thought Wei Tu was being a villain. Not only Wei Tu, but General Long An also thought so and remonstrated with the emperor as well.
Because of the losses and heavy casualties in their own country's battles, the princess of the Qiangfeng Kingdom intensified her efforts to sow discord between Emperor Jinzheng and the two generals.
"Later, the emperor received an informant's letter, which said that General Wei had colluded with the people of the Qiangfeng Kingdom, which was why he always won battles. The emperor believed the content of the letter and detained General Wei and my father."
Wei Tu and General Long An tried to defend themselves, but Emperor Jinzheng didn't believe them. Later, during the trial, Wei Tu took all the blame on himself, so that all the people in General Long An's mansion escaped unscathed. However, it was different for the Wei family. They were sentenced to exile by Emperor Jinzheng.
"I don't know what your father and mine talked about. Your father took all the blame, and then your whole family was exiled. But on the way, they were intercepted and killed for some unknown reason. When I led my troops there, all we saw were corpses everywhere, except for you. That's basically what happened."
"Do you know who intercepted and killed my family?" Wei Shuxuan asked Ge Zian.
"We don't know. By the time we got there, those black - clothed men had already left. But I did find something," saying this, Ge Zian seemed to remember something. He got up and walked to the bookshelf behind him. He took a red treasure box from the shelf. "It's this."
"What is it?" Wei Shuxuan stretched her neck to see what was inside.
Ge Zian opened the box. Inside was a patterned dart. Wei Shuxuan picked up the dart and examined it carefully. It was quite nice.
"I picked this up at the scene where your family was killed. The pattern on it is the unique symbol of the Qiangfeng Kingdom. But when I looked at the corpses on the ground, the darts on them had no patterns. I don't know if they accidentally left this dart or if they did it on purpose to confuse us."
Wei Shuxuan looked at the dart repeatedly. She wasn't very familiar with the Qiangfeng Kingdom. She'd study this thing carefully after she had a thorough understanding of the Qiangfeng Kingdom.
"Do you want to take it, Xuan'er?" Ge Zian saw Wei Shuxuan deep in thought and asked if she wanted this thing.
"No. It's safer to leave it with you. After all, I live in the palace, and it's not good for Xin Zizhao to see it."
Ge Zian put away the red treasure box. "Do you want to have dinner at my mansion today?"
"Sure. I'll go back to the palace this afternoon."
"By the way, have you made any progress in the case you're investigating in the palace?"
"Alas, no progress at all. There are too many rules in the palace. I'm a bit annoyed and don't know where to start," Wei Shuxuan said, resting her chin on her hand in distress. "Actually, I suspect that it might be one of the powerful concubines around the emperor who did it."
"What's your basis?" Ge Zian didn't want Wei Shuxuan to take risks. After all, the people she was going to investigate were the concubines around the emperor. If she was caught by mistake, it would be troublesome. Although he could protect her, he would be powerless if it involved the harem.
"I think there are multiple murderers in this case. The person who can order so many murderers to kill people in the palace must be powerful. It can't be the maids or eunuchs. Since the emperor is not the murderer, it's more likely that the person who did it is one of the concubines around the emperor."
"So, besides the concubines, have you also considered the princesses and princes?"
"Of course. But I think the possibility is not high. So, I want to start the investigation with the concubines."
"Okay. Be careful yourself. Don't let others catch you by the heels."
"Okay, I'll be careful. Moreover, I have Xin Zizhao to help me. Don't worry so much."
After coming out of the study, Ge Zian asked her, "Don't you need to go and find Miss Dan?"
".... I almost forgot. Then ask someone to call her to the main hall. Otherwise, there will surely be a lot of trouble later."
In the afternoon, Wei Shuxuan and Dan Xueyao spent their time in General Long An's mansion. Because Wei Shuxuan was curious about Chinese opera, she later went with Dan Xueyao to the yard to listen to the performance.
Ge Zian had thought about telling his father that he had found Wei Tu's orphan, but he was worried that this would put Wei Shuxuan in danger, so he chose to keep it a secret. Fortunately, she was dressed as a man. His father shouldn't recognize her.
"Old General, hello. I'm Wei Luo."
Wei Shuxuan came to the yard and walked up to Old General Ge sitting in a rocking chair. She bowed and said, "Greetings, Old General. I'm Wei Luo."
"Are you the Young Master Wei who was personally appointed by the emperor to investigate the murder case in the palace?" Old General Ge lifted his eyelids slightly, looked at the young gentleman in blue in front of him, and smiled. "You look quite like the child of my old friend."
Wei Shuxuan was startled. She thought the old general had seen through her real identity and immediately looked at Ge Zian beside her. Ge Zian smiled calmly. "Father, Wei Luo is a man."
"Humph, can't I tell?" Old General Ge closed his eyes again, with a faint smile still on the corner of his mouth.
Now, both Ge Zian and Wei Shuxuan didn't know whether the old general had seen through her or not.
"Let's sit down and listen to the opera first."
In the evening, Ge Zian sent someone to take Dan Xueyao out of the prime minister's mansion first. At first, Dan Xueyao was reluctant, but after being scolded by Wei Shuxuan, she got on the carriage reluctantly.
"I'll go back to the palace first. If I'm late, Xin Zizhao will surely scold me again," Wei Shuxuan lifted her foot and stepped onto the carriage. Suddenly, she seemed to remember something. "By the way, are you going to enter the palace tomorrow?"
"Yes. I have to go to court tomorrow. I'll come and find you after court."
"Okay."
Just as Wei Shuxuan was about to get into the carriage, she heard Ge Zian call her. "Zian, do you have anything else?"
"Regarding the matter of Wei Wei, I suggest you tell Xin Zizhao earlier. Otherwise, it will be more troublesome if he finds out later."
"Got it. I know what I'm doing."