Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 75 The growing suspicion

"This case concerns the safety of your majesty and the crown prince, so it must be investigated in detail."

Li Ming's eyes twinkled cunningly as he observed Li Daozon's uncertain expression and continued to fan the flames.

"Um……"

Li Dao Zong rubbed his temple and thought for a while, as if he had thought of something, and asked in a testing tone:

"Why do you think there is a connection between these events?"

After being reminded by Li Tai, he subconsciously linked the ominous incident of the emperor's carriage with the case of Prince Hejian.

But speculation is just speculation.

If it is to guide practice, it requires certain evidence or logical support.

Li Ming replied:

“It’s a criminal method.”

"Do you know how the thief poisoned you?" Li Daozon suddenly became excited.

Li Ming shook his head: "No."

Seeing the light in Li Dao Zong's eyes fade away, he added:
"But the murderer overlooked one point -

"It is a common point that people cannot see any trace of poisoning."

Li Daozon frowned.

I think that what Li Ming said... is really what he meant.

It's like blaming gravity for not being able to poop. It's a bit far-fetched, but can you say that gravity really has no responsibility at all?

Moreover, the palace and the outside world were working together to crack down on the issue. This situation made him suspicious...

"Of course, Uncle Zong can think that this is just my figment of the imagination." Li Ming spread his hands and said, playing hard to get:

"It's possible that everything is just a coincidence. The three cases may have been committed by different murderers independently, or my father and the crown prince just happened to fall ill on the same day and happened to show the same symptoms as the Prince of Hejian.

"It's even possible that the Hejian County Prince case itself was a misunderstanding. He drank himself to death, and it was just some technical reasons that caused the silver needle to turn black."

Li Ming looked directly into Li Dao Zong's eyes and spoke word by word:

“Prince Jiangxia, whether it was regicide or an accident, necessity or coincidence, everything is up to you to decide.

"You said it was an accident, then it was an accident. You locked me in Lizheng Hall. I am absolutely safe, and you are absolutely safe too."

Li Daozon was sweating profusely.

The information that Li Tai inadvertently revealed, that the emperor and the crown prince were both unwell, did inadvertently serve as a hint to him.

It's just a hint in the opposite direction.

He hinted that the palace was not safe and that he must keep a close eye on the future Prince Lu and prevent him from running around.

Not to mention going out to investigate cases or something.

"But you and I are safe." Li Ming changed the subject, his eyes shining:

"But what about your majesty's safety? What about the stability of the Tang Dynasty?
"Could it be that the King of Jiangxia, who had conquered many countries, is hiding in a corner and only caring about protecting himself?"

Li Daozong was a general who had fought against the Turks and Tuyuhun in the west. When he was mocked by a young boy as a coward, his face immediately turned red and he blurted out:

"You rude boy! You little pervert!"

"Chi" means stupidity, and roughly means "little fool".

After swearing, the Minister of Rites felt much better. He exhaled heavily and said in a muffled voice:

"Just get out! I think your reasoning makes sense, not because you provoked me!"

"Oh, yes, yes, uncle is the most rational." Li Ming blinked his little eyes sincerely.

But just when his trick was about to succeed, the window behind him opened.

"Ming'er!" Yang shouted anxiously.

"Concubine Yang...!"

Li Daozon was suddenly panicked, turned his head away as if not looking at anything inappropriate, and bowed deeply without getting up.

It’s over... Li Ming didn’t know how to explain it for a moment.

Concubine Yang's face flashed with worry, reluctance, fear, ... but she finally calmed down and said lightly:

"Be careful on the road."

After saying that, he closed the window again.

Li Ming stood there with mixed feelings.

A large hand patted his shoulder.

"What are you standing there for? I promised to take you to investigate the case, let's go."

…………

With Li Daozon clearing the way, Li Ming passed through layers of checkpoints and finally successfully stepped out of the Taiji Palace gate, which he could normally exit with just a step on the accelerator.

"call……"

Li Ming let out a breath.

It was actually just as dark and hot outside as it was inside.

But at least I don’t have to face the same old palace walls anymore.

I really acted recklessly. I agreed to save my life... He shook his head in self-mockery.

After a calm analysis, I realized that now is indeed the time when I am most likely to be ganked.

But praying that nothing would happen and waiting for the storm to pass was not in his character.

He used a little trick and finally passed the first hurdle and successfully escaped from the palace.

The sea is wide and the fish can leap for it. Next, we need to...

"Where are you going, Your Highness?"

Li Daozon stretched out his hand and pulled back a certain prince who was moving towards the gate of the imperial city.

"Um... go investigate the case?" Li Ming looked away guiltily.

"The Dali Temple is within the Imperial City!"

Li Daozon didn't say much and walked towards the Dali Temple with Li Ming in his arms.

The structure of Chang'an City is a bit like an egg yolk rice dumpling. The palace is backed by the city wall to the north, and the east, west and south sides are included in the imperial city, and the imperial city is included in the capital city.

The Dali Temple and nine other temples as well as the six ministries of the Menxia Province were located outside the palace and within the imperial city.

As soon as he entered the Dali Temple, Li Ming immediately felt at home.

The clerks were carrying piles of files, all in a hurry, pale-faced, and with unsteady steps, and it was obvious that they had been 007 for quite some time. This atmosphere, as if someone might die suddenly at any moment, made Li Ming feel like he was back home.

"We checked the inventory of supplies entering and leaving the Prince's Mansion, and interrogated all the vendors who had done business with the Prince's Mansion and its servants..."

Sun Fujia had a look of despair on his face, and in a hoarse voice he introduced the current progress of the case to Li Ming and his team. His tone was flat, as if he was talking in a sleep.

"We checked all the drugstores and rat poison vendors in Chang'an, tracing the source of every arsenic this year...

"We also conducted a thorough check of the city's entry and exit records to verify the whereabouts of the raw materials such as red calcite used to make arsenic..."

Li Ming listened to him talk for a long time, and finally asked:

"So, you mean, we checked this and that, but found nothing?"

Sun Fujia's face twitched slightly, and he swallowed hard:

"not yet."

The efficiency of the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice is very high.

Chang'an is a big city with a population of over one million.

But within a month or so, they searched almost every corner of Chang'an, leaving no corner that might contain clues.

They even solved more than 80 unsolved murders, not to mention the number of injuries, attempted murders and other cases, which overcrowded several prisons in the capital.

However, the most critical case of Li Xiaogong still yielded nothing.

Not to mention identifying the murderer, we don’t even know how he poisoned us.

It was as if a Western juggler blew a breath, and the poison was transferred through the air to the victim's throat, poisoning him to death.

"Have you figured out the details of Li Xiaogong's son and concubines?" Li Ming asked.

Sun Fujia's expression became even more bitter:
"There is motive, but there is a lack of evidence."

Li Ming remembered that Li Xiaogong's three sons and seven concubines were either jealous of each other, had affairs with other women, or were plotting for property, and some were suspected to be foreign spies.

He understood Sun Fujia's feelings too well.

It's like you always hear the buzzing of mosquitoes when you sleep at night, but when you turn on the light you find nothing.

Makes people scream and scratch.

…………

"The only thing that is certain is that the Prince of Hejian was already a little drunk before he fell down."

After leaving the Dali Temple, Li Daozon told the only information about the case that could be confirmed at present.

"Under the influence of alcohol, he angrily accused his son of being a spendthrift and his concubine of being unfaithful, and even beat up the son, Li Hui, who had an affair with his fifth concubine and had a child with her."

Li Ming somewhat remembered the complicated family relationships in their family, but not completely.

I just remember that the relationship between men and women is a bit like the violent exhaustive method of permutations and combinations, it seems that anyone can have an affair with anyone...

"After beating his son, Li Xiaogong drank half a pot of wine in one breath.

"After drinking the wine, he immediately felt dizzy and nauseous, staggered to the door and vomited, then collapsed to the ground."

There was no mature distillation technology in the Tang Dynasty, and the alcohol content was very low, so it was difficult to kill a drunkard.

"The testimonies of multiple people can corroborate each other, so this is a fact that can be confirmed."

When Li Ming heard this, he slapped his head:
"Isn't it obvious? The poison is in that last pot of wine. Whoever has touched that pot is the key suspect!"

Li Dao Zong looked at Li Ming and said calmly:
"Li Xiaogong poured the wine for himself, and no one else touched it.

"Did he poison himself?"

Li Ming was stunned, and retorted to save his dignity:

"What if the poison was in the wine jar?"

Li Daozon did not answer and picked up Li Ming.

"What are you doing? Where are you taking me?"

"Aren't you going out? Go to the stables and let's go to the Prince's Mansion to see it for ourselves."

…………

Li Ming was bouncing on the horse's back, hugging Li Daozon tightly, fearing that he would be thrown off the horse by the rough man's acceleration.

The atmosphere in Hejian Prince's Mansion has completely changed from before.

The gate of the government office was wide open, and clerks in different uniforms and from different departments were coming in and out, busy as ever.

Under the dark cloud sky, the open door of the mansion was dark and the atmosphere was depressing.

On the other side of the gate, there were clusters of black stains on the ground. They were the traces left by the natives of Bashu when they burned incense, candles and paper money for the prince.

"Based on the testimonies of the prince's relatives and servants, the main hall has restored the scene as it was at the time of the crime, which will help inspire new ideas."

Li Daozon held Li Ming's hand tightly, fearing that he would slip away, and walked into the main hall as if he knew the way.

Sure enough, the furnishings in the main hall were completely different from when the tofu rice was served. Instead, there were more than ten sets of tables arranged in order of priority.

Li Xiaogong was a conservative and his family still practiced separate dining, with a low table in front of each seat.

The wine cups on the table, the wine jars against the wall, the small charcoal stove for warming wine and making tea... the old drunkard has all the equipment he needs.

It doesn't look anything special.

"This is the jar of wine that Li Xiaogong poured for himself. It was also the last thing he drank before he died."

Li Daozon picked out a jar with a special mark from the corner and casually picked it up and weighed it in his hand.

Hey, you are destroying the scene... Forget it, forget it, fingerprints are not extracted in this era... Li Ming complained in his heart, and then he saw Li Daozon remove the seal and put the mouth of the wine jar close to Li Ming's nose.

"Would you like to smell it?"

"Hey, hey, hey, no, no, no~!" Li Ming turned his head away instinctively.

Looking at this brave yet timid little fellow, Li Dao Zong smiled secretly in his heart, cleared his throat and said:
"Don't worry, it won't poison you. In fact, this wine can't poison anyone.

"At the luncheon when the prince passed away, in addition to himself, his eldest son Li Chongzhen and the Turkic seventh aunt all drank the wine in this jar, and more than one bowl.

"They are both fine. The coroner has checked the wine and found that it is fine. There is no poison. There is no mechanism in the wine jar that could have contained arsenic."

"Really?"

Li Ming put his nose close to the mouth of the jar and looked inside with doubt.

A smell of alcohol similar to fermented glutinous rice, mixed with a familiar smell of medicine, entered his nostrils.

"This is……

"Realgar wine?"

(End of this chapter)