Wind rises time and space gate

Chapter 491 Interrogation
Zhao Guangyuan stood at the head of Xu Hu's bed and looked at him expressionlessly.

Xu Hu's eyes were wide open, and he lay dead on the bed. His neck was cut cleanly, and the cut was neat, without any blood splattering elsewhere. There was no sign of a struggle on the bed.

I guess he was killed in his sleep in the middle of the night without even struggling.

Exactly the same way Wei Quan died.

"My Lord, there is no trace left."

Zhao Guangyuan stared at him quietly, with no emotion. How could there be no traces? There must be fingerprints on the curtains and quilts, but this is not Xia'er's era, and there is no database to collect fingerprint information.

In Da Qi, many people have never seen what a household register looks like in their entire lives, and they don't even have a name.

"Your Majesty, this method is clean and neat, without any drag. It is obvious that you are not an ordinary person."

"It's the secret guard of the Eastern Palace." Zhao Guangyuan said the first words of the night.

"The secret guards of the Eastern Palace?" Wei Zuo and Zhang Zhi were surprised.

The secret guards of the Eastern Palace? The prince received the news so quickly and sent the secret guards of the Eastern Palace? "Your Highness, are you so sure?"

Zhao Guangyuan nodded and turned to leave. "Tell someone to place them there."

Walking outside, looking at the sky which was already slightly brightened by the morning light, he felt heavy in his heart. Back then, the secret guards of the Eastern Palace were also controlled by the emperor's brother, and even he had two secret guards sent by his grandfather.

The East Palace secret guards and the royal secret guards are from the same family, and he is very familiar with their methods of killing.

"Your Highness, was there any movement from your side last night?" The Eastern Palace sent secret guards. It is impossible that they only wanted to assassinate Xu Hu and Wei Quan. I'm afraid they also targeted Your Highness.

Zhao Guangyuan shook his head. Maybe it was too late. Or maybe there were enough people around him.

"Send what we got to Beijing secretly."

"Is the prince afraid?"

Zhao Guangyuan nodded, "The prince has already taken action. I guess all of us are being targeted." The prince probably wanted him to be like Xu Hu and Wei Quan, never able to return to the capital.

"Yes. I will arrange it right away. But do we need to transfer more people from other places?"

"We have enough people."

"But since the prince has already taken action, I'm afraid he won't stop until he achieves his goal. We must not underestimate the enemy."

After a long while, Zhao Guangyuan nodded and said, "Let Changping transfer another team over here."

Zhang Zhi nodded and went down to make arrangements.

From that day on, Zhao Guangyuan had more people following him, and there were also many more people working in secret. Even when Wei Zuo and Zhang Zhi and others went out, they were followed by three or four people.

Within a few days, Zhutou County had returned to its pre-flood state. The city did not become chaotic. Instead, it was better than before.

As for the dams destroyed by water, Zhao Guangyuan ordered the county government to issue a notice to recruit young and strong people to repair the dams and dikes. The conditions promised were three meals a day and fifty cents a day. There was an endless stream of applicants.

The Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Revenue and Zhao Guangyuan each wrote a memorial back to Beijing, but everyone knew the nature of the court, and there was probably still some arguing in the court. They couldn't wait for the court to send silver, and now the county government couldn't come up with silver, so Zhao Guangyuan had to pay for it all out of his own pocket.

While comforting the people, he also built dikes and dams. He also mobilized local wealthy families, gentry, and merchants to donate grain, goods, and silver, and erected a memorial archway beside the dike with the names of the donors written on it. More and more people performed righteous deeds.

The people were everywhere praising the King of Yue. Zhao Guangyuan was almost known to everyone in the two cities.

On the other side, Wanhua County in Luocheng took the same action as Zhutou County. With the money in place and sufficient manpower, the damaged embankment was soon repaired. The previously shoddy and flimsy embankment had to be demolished and rebuilt.

Although Zhao Guangyuan stayed in Zhutou County more time, on the day Xu Hu and Wei Quan died, he had people protect the prefect of Luocheng and the magistrate of Wanhua County.

When the two learned that Xu Hu and Wei Quan were dead, their calves trembled so hard that they couldn't stop for a long time.

Before Zhao Guangyuan questioned them, they revealed all the secrets themselves.

Although the two were not the prince's confidants, they were told explicitly or implicitly to falsify the accounts for the project funds allocated for this matter. How could they not know what materials were used and how much was used?

The two actively cooperated with the King of Yue to comfort the people and mend loopholes, hoping that the King of Yue could save their lives. They suffered several assassination attempts at night, and the prefect of Luocheng and the magistrate of Wanhua County clung to the King of Yue.

Zhao Guangyuan himself also faced several assassination attempts, each more brutal than the last.

The secret guards sent by the East Palace came in waves. Perhaps they knew that the King of Yue had good fighters around him, so they attacked at the same time with more than 10 or 20 people each time. On the first day, they managed to kill all 20 secret guards. Only one day later, the second wave came with more secret guards.

Zhao Guangyuan also suffered dozens of casualties.

"Your Highness, how about we hide for a while?" More than a dozen secret guards died, and Wei Zuo, Zhang Zhi and others were in deep sorrow.

"You can't leave now." All the nearby counties and prefectures knew that he had brought the emperor's secret decree. Every day, officials from various places came to see him and report to him on the situation in their jurisdiction. He couldn't leave yet.

And he still had to wait for the imperial edict's reply.

In the palace, Emperor Zhizheng had received a secret report from Zhao Guangyuan and was shocked to learn that the newly built dam had been destroyed by human beings.

Before he could issue an order to arrest the person, news from all over the capital reached his ears.

He knew that Lao Qi had requested permission to secretly leave the capital to inspect the new water conservancy projects in various places. He also knew that Lao Qi had used the excuse of being demoted to the imperial mausoleum to reflect on his mistakes as an excuse to leave the capital. But he had never thought about it carefully, Lao Qi actually arranged a substitute in the imperial mausoleum!
Was this arranged this time to conceal the Crown Prince? Or had this person always been there?

Was the person who was in the imperial mausoleum before really the seventh brother?

Emperor Zhizheng also began to think carefully about the details, just like the Crown Prince, Prince of Qin and others.

The emperor was suspicious by nature, and this matter was revealed by the crown prince and others. Emperor Zhizheng ignored Zhao Guangyuan's secret report and began to inquire about his situation in the imperial mausoleum in the previous ten years.

He summoned Zhao Changle, the mausoleum chancellor, the leaders of the imperial palace mausoleum guards, and the Fengxian army to the capital for questioning.

As a member of the Zhao royal family, Zhao Changle did not support any particular prince, but over the years he had seen how the King of Yue lived in the imperial mausoleum, and he unconsciously leaned towards him.

"During those years, I went to discuss the imperial tomb sacrifice with the King of Yue every now and then. Although the King of Yue was taciturn, he responded every time. If it was really a substitute, then I don't know which one is real and which one is fake."

Wei Deguang was also summoned to the palace. "I have been ordered to guard the entrances to the imperial mausoleum. I have never neglected my duties over the years. I have never seen the King of Yue leave the imperial mausoleum privately."

Even the eunuchs and palace maids serving in the palace were interrogated. Many of the palace servants who bullied and looked down on Zhao Guangyuan in the past are still alive. "The King of Yue was determined to die back then, and he simply..." There was no need for anyone to pretend.

And the chef Huang in the palace, the cook and the kitchen helpers, the King of Yue is fake? The King of Yue went to the kitchen to learn how to cook and planted vegetables in the fields, is that fake? That's too real.

Emperor Zhizheng was still in Beijing investigating the background of King Yue, while Zhao Guangyuan had already experienced several life and death situations.