kvmb Chapter 334 Who is the murderer?
Chapter 334 Who is the murderer?
Liu Yue looked shocked. The next moment, she straightened her face and scolded, "If you dare to provoke me again, I'll tear your mouth apart."
Arong's face turned deathly pale, and she quickly slapped herself in the face, saying, "I...I'll never do it again. Sister Liuyue, please don't be angry..."
Liu Yue said coldly, "Get out."
Ah Rong slunk away.
Liu Yue watched as A Rong walked out of the house and came to Shen Qingtan's side: "Second Madam, the eunuchs and palace maids in the mansion are being watched. Two people have left the mansion, one of whom is A Rong. The person she contacted has dealings with the eunuchs who handle procurement for the palace."
Shen Qingtan frowned slightly. Arong was a palace maid who came from the palace, so her master must also be someone from the palace.
The clue provided by Liu Yue was of no use whatsoever.
Their people couldn't enter the palace, and they couldn't find out who the purchasing eunuchs would ultimately pass the information to.
"Did you put the two things I gave you last night into the box in the study?"
"It's in."
"There are few useful people in the mansion. Tell the person guarding the study to clear away all the red items in the mansion tomorrow, and then go and decorate the ancestral temple."
Upon hearing this, Liu Yue immediately understood what Shen Qingtan meant.
This was a deliberate act to send away the servant guarding the study, giving someone with ulterior motives an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
That day, she took a few people to the study to organize books.
As Shen Qingtan expected, they were very cautious and did not touch the box.
The study has always been an important place in the mansion, and guards are always stationed at the entrance to prevent the eunuchs and palace maids from becoming suspicious.
Now that Ah Rong can't hold back any longer and is jumping out to instigate, she's probably about to take action.
Liu Yue couldn't help but ask, "Who do you think is A Rong's master?"
Shen Qingtan suspected it was Consort Shu, since the only people who had grudges against the Imperial Tutor were Consort Shu and Lin Shaozhanshi.
-
That afternoon, Liu Yue gave the order to have all the red decorations inside and outside the mansion removed and replaced with plain white.
Taking advantage of the absence of guards in the study, Ah Rong sneaked in, tiptoed into the cubicle, and found the gilded chest.
She pulled out the hairpin, removed the hairpin body, revealing a thin needle, and used it to open the lock.
While listening to the commotion outside, Arong hurriedly opened the lid and rummaged through the chest, finding a pile of letters. She randomly opened a few letters, all of which were correspondence between Shen Qingtan and Zhao Yihe, the manager of the trading company.
She learned from these letters that Shen Qingtan and Zhao Yi were wealthy, but that was all the useful information she had.
In order to find more useful information, she patiently opened all the letters one by one. Just when her patience was about to run out, she finally found an important letter.
This is a letter from the Prince of Zhenbei to Shen Qingtan. In the letter, the Prince of Zhenbei instructed that if Shen Qingtan had anything important to discuss with him, she should affix her personal seal at the end of the letter to prevent anyone from impersonating her.
Arong pondered for a moment, then continued opening the letters. A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes when she opened the last one. This was Zhao Yi's last message to Emperor Jing'an, to be sent only if he met with misfortune in Northern Qi.
It is likely that Zhao Yi was ordered to go to Yingcheng to deal with the plague and did not expect that he would die from the disease. He did not have time to tell Shen Qingtan this letter, so this letter has not been sent to the Great Zhou.
Another possibility is that Shen Qingtan was so immersed in grief that she didn't think of the letter for a moment.
Ah Rong leaned towards the latter, quickly put the letter back in the envelope, then rummaged through a stack of account books in the box and saw two brocade boxes at the bottom.
She opened the brocade box, inside which were two personal seals.
One belonged to Shen Qingtan, and the other to Zhao Yi.
Ah Rong bit her lower lip, thought for a moment, and decided to take the personal seal out first. Anyway, Shen Qingtan wouldn't need the personal seal recently, so she would have it copied for Consort Shu and then put the original back.
Thinking of this, Arong stuffed the personal seal into her bosom, put all the letters back in their original places, and quietly left the study.
Everything here was observed by the hidden guards. After Arong left, the guards bypassed the spies lurking in the mansion and went to Lanxue Garden to tell Shen Qingtan the news.
"Second Madam, Arong took two private seals from the study."
Shen Qingtan nodded slightly, signaling the guards to leave.
Liu Yue asked, "Second Madam, what is the purpose of this private seal?"
Shen Qingtan kept everyone in suspense: "You'll find out soon enough."
This personal seal is very useful; it can be used to lure out the big fish behind the scenes.
-
In Zhaohua Palace, Consort Shu received two private seals, a smile appearing in her eyes: "Under normal circumstances, these two private seals wouldn't be of much use to me. But now that Zhao Yi has passed away, these two private seals are extremely useful."
Hongqiao couldn't figure out what Consort Shu meant, but then she saw Consort Shu extend her hand in front of her, so she quickly helped Consort Shu up.
"Go to the Yangxin Palace."
Consort Shu never missed any opportunity to gain favor with the Emperor of Northern Qi.
“Yes,” Hongqiao replied.
Consort Shu arrived at the entrance of the Hall of Mental Cultivation. After being announced by a palace attendant, she stepped into the hall.
"Your Majesty." Consort Shu swayed gracefully as she approached the Emperor of Northern Qi and gave a graceful bow. "I received two wonderful gifts today and couldn't wait to come and share Your Majesty's burdens."
The Northern Qi emperor was troubled by the matter of posthumously honoring Zhao Yi. Upon hearing Consort Shu's words, he paused in his movement of pushing her away and instead pulled her into his arms.
"How will you share my burdens?"
"Take a look for yourself."
Consort Shu placed the two personal seals in the palm of the Northern Qi Emperor's hand.
The Northern Qi emperor picked up one of the private seals, recognized the name "Zhao Yi," and raised an eyebrow: "Where did you get this?"
Consort Shu knew that the Northern Qi Emperor did not care about Zhao Yi's life or death, and was even wary of Zhao Yi, which is why she dared to reveal the source of the private seal.
"Your Majesty, I will not deceive you. These two private seals came from the Crown Prince's residence. A palace maid who serves the Crown Princess took them to my sister-in-law."
"The palace maid said that although she was of lowly status, she was still a person from Northern Qi. Only when Northern Qi prospers can we live in peace. She was afraid that the Great Zhou would use the Crown Prince to bully our Northern Qi, so when she was tidying up the study, she boldly stole the private seal, hoping to do her part for Northern Qi."
“We have the personal seals of the Crown Prince and the Princess Consort, so we can forge letters and send them to Emperor Jing’an and Prince Zhenbei.”
At this point, Consort Shu sighed, "Even a lowly palace maid has such courage and spirit; it shows that His Majesty governs well, and everyone is of one mind."
This statement pleased the Emperor of Northern Qi, who did not investigate the veracity of Consort Shu's words, as long as the forged letter with the private seal could prevent the Great Zhou from causing trouble for Northern Qi.
"My beloved consort, you have resolved a matter that has troubled me greatly this time," the Emperor of Northern Qi said with a smile. "You will be richly rewarded."
Consort Shu happily expressed her gratitude.
Within half a day, news of Consort Shu receiving her reward spread.
Upon hearing the news, Shen Qingtan's eyes turned cold, confirming that the person behind Arong was Consort Shu.
Consort Shu used Princess Yizhen's death to sow discord between them and the Imperial Tutor.
From this, we can conclude that Consort Shu knew who killed Princess Yizhen back then.
What about the Imperial Tutor? Does the Imperial Tutor know?