This is the reason why the Guo family's case can never be reversed, and even the emperor won't allow it.
The tyrant emperor once said the same. Yi Qing thought that since it was the case, there was no need to investigate this case. After all, whether to investigate or not only depended on what they needed.
"Except for this incident, Prime Minister Guo should have been a good official. After all, he was personally appointed by the late emperor," said Xu Maozhi. Actually, he was also eager to look into this matter.
Yi Qing thought for a while. "If we put aside the deposed emperor and only talk about the late emperor's personal appointment?"
Xu Maozhi shook his head. "You'd better go and examine the corpse. Maybe you'll find something."
Yi Qing nodded.
This time, Xie Hongning's corpse was in the Ministry of Justice. The officials there tried to stop Yi Qing, but seeing the eight - dragon gold bell in her hand, they didn't dare to do so. She directly barged into the back office.
Li Entong rushed over in a hurry. "Madam Xiao, even if you have the eight - dragon gold bell, you can't interfere with the government's case - handling."
"Even if I didn't have the eight - dragon gold bell, it's every man's duty to help when the country is in trouble. It's been such a long time since the case of the Xie family's sons having their hearts and livers dug out landed in your hands, Lord Li. Apart from one more death, what progress have you made? The people you've arrested were all those previously screened out by Xu Maozhi. So tell me, what can you do?" Yi Qing taunted.
There were few people in the world who dared to taunt Li Entong like this, but Yi Qing could. And he had to endure it.
"Solving a case takes time," Li Entong said dryly.
"Do you mean that as long as enough time passes, people will forget about it?" Yi Qing sneered. "Where's the corpse? I want to conduct an autopsy."
"This is against the rules," Li Entong objected.
"Fine. I'll go and tell the emperor that Lord Li can find the murderer in just one day," Yi Qing shrugged.
"I..." Li Entong didn't dare to offend Yi Qing.
Yi Qing turned around and left.
"Madam Xiao..." Li Entong lifted his robe and hurriedly chased after her. "Examining a corpse is not suitable for a lady of your status."
"Do you think you can decide what's suitable for me?" Yi Qing didn't even turn her head.
This Li Entong was nothing but a nuisance. If they wanted to solve the case quickly, they still had to rely on Xu Maozhi.
Li Entong followed Yi Qing all the way to the palace. The emperor was discussing the matter of offering sacrifices to heaven with his ministers. Yi Qing rushed in, with Li Entong trailing behind.
"You may go and make preparations," the emperor told the others to leave first. "What's going on?"
"Your humble servant pays respects to the emperor," Li Entong knelt down to pay his respects.
The emperor glanced at Yi Qing. He knew she had said she wouldn't interfere in the Xie family's affairs. So why was she causing a stir at the Ministry of Justice now?
"What's the matter?" Since Yi Qing kept silent, the emperor asked Li Entong.
Li Entong stole a glance at Madam Xiao. He thought if Madam Xiao were to tell the story, God knows what it would turn out to be. It was better for him to do it. "The Xie family is of a special status, and the case is complicated. Your humble servant thinks it's better to hand it over to the Court of Judicial Review."
"Previously, Lord Li vowed that he would find the murderer. Now you want to hand it over to the Court of Judicial Review. Do you think you can decide everything in the imperial court?" the emperor directly rebuked.
"Please spare my life, Your Majesty. Your humble servant just wants to do his bit for Your Majesty," Li Entong prostrated himself on the ground. Why did he feel that the emperor's tone sounded a bit familiar?
"Then which official in the Court of Judicial Review do you think is suitable to investigate this case?"
"Assistant Minister Xu of the Court of Judicial Review is the most suitable one," Li Entong hurriedly recommended.
"But he's been imprisoned," the emperor said with a frown.
"He can atone for his crimes by doing good deeds," Li Entong suggested.
The emperor nodded. "Fine. Since Lord Li has said so, let's release Xu Maozhi first. But since it was you who brought this up, Lord Li, you should fully cooperate with Xu Maozhi in investigating the Xie family's case from now on."
"Yes," Li Entong replied.
Only then did the emperor look at Yi Qing. "Madam Xiao, what do you want?"
"Your servant's wife wants to examine Xie Hongning's corpse."
"Since Lord Xu is in charge of this case, you can just go to him," the emperor thought the Xiao family had some strange preferences. What was so interesting about a corpse?
"Okay," Yi Qing turned around and left.
Only now did Li Entong realize that there were indeed some people one couldn't afford to offend. They weren't afraid of you; they just couldn't be bothered with you.
Xu Maozhi was released from the prison, and Xie Hongning's corpse was also sent to the Court of Judicial Review. This time, no one from the Xie family came, so it was quite quiet.
Xie Hongning's death was almost identical to Xie Hongyi's, even the sitting position when they died was similar.
"Why did the murderer make the corpses kneel and sit?" Yi Qing had found it strange last time.
If Xie Hongyi's corpse being in that position was an accident, it was hard to explain why Xie Hongning was also sitting like that.
"Sitting?" Xu Maozhi frowned and thought for a long time. "There's really an allusion about kneeling and sitting regarding Xie Xiuxian."
"What is it?"
"Back then, when Prime Minister Guo was enjoying chrysanthemums on Dongjie Mountain, he answered the students' questions. There were so many questions from the students, and they even showed their own essays to Prime Minister Guo. There weren't enough attendants around Prime Minister Guo, so Xie Xiuxian knelt and served..." Xu Maozhi said as he looked at Yi Qing.
"Is that when Prime Minister Guo took a fancy to Xie Xiuxian?" Yi Qing didn't expect there to be such a connection.
"Yes. After that, using the pretext of seeking answers to questions, Xie Xiuxian knelt and waited outside Prime Minister Guo's mansion many times. Eventually, he became a guest of honor at Prime Minister Guo's place," Xu Maozhi had only heard a bit about this from storytellers. After all, no one dared to talk about such things after the deposed emperor. "Could it really be the descendants of the Guo family?"
"I've said that it may not necessarily be the descendants of the Guo family. It could also be like Song Zhiyu's admiration for Xue Bozheng, purely out of admiration," Yi Qing said.
Xu Maozhi had a headache. "So what should we do now?"
"The Xie family only had those two sons, and they're already dead. We don't know if those people will spare the others. We should protect the Xie family members first."
"The Xie family doesn't only have those two sons. Madam Xie is very domineering. She only allows her own legitimate sons to stay in the mansion. The concubines' sons of Lord Xie are all raised in the manor," Xu Maozhi whispered.
Yi Qing thought the family relationships in the Xie family were simple. It seemed that no wealthy family was simple.
After examining the corpse, Yi Qing looked solemn. She had felt that the modus operandi was familiar last time, but she thought it was impossible. Now that this kind of thing happened again, she was a bit suspicious.
There was no result this day. When Yi Qing got home, it was almost dark. Xiao Jinghan was just about to go out to look for her when he happened to meet her coming back.
"Are you going to get involved in the Xie family's affairs?" Xiao Jinghan was a bit worried.
"The queen came to me personally. What could I do?" Yi Qing was in a dilemma.
"Actually, I have something to discuss with you."
"What is it?"
"With the current situation of the Xie family, the queen will also be affected in the palace. The emperor means for you to become sworn sisters with the queen," Xiao Jinghan whispered as he walked into the main hall with Yi Qing.
"What does that tyrant emperor mean?" Yi Qing was puzzled. "He hated the queen so much before. Now he's starting to plan for her?"
Xiao Jinghan thought the emperor had really offended Yi Qing. Then Yi Qing said, "The harem needs to be stable now."
"Now that the queen has lost the support of the Xie family, the emperor doesn't have to be afraid of the powerful relatives from her family. He really has a good plan," Yi Qing said angrily.
Xiao Jinghan also knew that was what the emperor was thinking.
"We'll have to wait until the Xie family's matter is settled," Yi Qing lazily slumped into a chair. "I have to think of a way."
"What way?"
"We have no leads at all, and screening is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I plan to lure the snake out of its hole, but the legitimate sons of the Xie family are already dead. I can't even find a bait," Yi Qing said with a heavy sigh.