A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 318 A Long-Standing Dream

The emperor made the final decision and immediately issued an edict, ordering the document to be delivered to the border by express courier.

The officials took their leave.

When the Empress Dowager left, she appeared dazed and emotionally distraught, even causing the Emperor to frown.

Once Song Shuyu was the only one left in the imperial study, the emperor's straight back relaxed slightly. He leaned back in his chair, raised his long, slender fingers, pinched his forehead, and asked in a puzzled tone, "After all these years, are you really not going to satisfy my curiosity? At least give me a reason!"

Song Shuyu remained silent.

The emperor leaned forward slightly and noticed that the veins on Song Shuyu's neck were bulging, and his whole body was tense and stiff. He quickly said, "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I don't necessarily need to know. Of course, you are my only friend, and it's normal for me to care about you beyond the bond between ruler and subject, right?"

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty." Song Shuyu looked listless, clearly having no desire to speak.

In fact, he was ashamed to talk about it.

If it weren't for that reason, my father wouldn't have stayed away from Beijing for over a decade, causing him and his son to be separated and leaving my grandmother worried about him every day.

But the emperor was in a state of turmoil. He had a bold guess, but dared not say it out loud. He was really suffering from holding it in.

Song Shuyu quickly composed himself and asked, "Your Majesty, is there any news regarding the list and whereabouts of those experts?"

"look by youself."

The emperor picked out a secret letter from his desk, which was taken by the chief eunuch Zhou Chun and presented to Song Shuyu.

The twelve masters are meticulously recorded, including each person's name, portrait, birth date, height, build, place of origin, preferred weapon, martial arts skills, birthmarks, and medical records.

Song Shuyu studied the portrait carefully, his gaze settling on the sixth person's portrait, then he was dumbfounded, "Lin Jiao! This person is Lin Jiao!"

But when his gaze shifted downwards, he was startled again upon seeing the name. "Lin Chuan? His real name is Lin Chuan, and Lin Jiao is an alias?"

Upon hearing this, the emperor thought for a moment before remembering, "Is this the murderer who killed the censor's daughter at the spring banquet?"

Song Shuyu replied, "Yes!"

The emperor suddenly smiled. “Interesting. Of these twelve people, two are currently in the Imperial Guard, four are in the Imperial Palace, and six are missing.”

"Missing?" Song Shuyu exclaimed in surprise, quickly sorting through her thoughts before arriving at a conclusion. "So, the missing people are Lin Chuan and the five skeletons sealed in the Eagle Beak Mountain cave?"

The Emperor raised his chin, his deep eyes revealing an unreadable emotion. "The missing persons have been marked. Have your advisor, Master Mu, verify their identities. I have already secretly summoned the other six people and inquired about what happened back then. They all said that the six missing persons were assigned by the late Emperor to the former Empress, now the Empress Dowager, but for some unknown reason, they have disappeared without a trace."

"The time of disappearance..."

"Uncertain. Back then, they were not registered imperial guards. They were elusive and secretive in carrying out their missions, and no one knew about their whereabouts. It wasn't until after the late emperor's death that the Duke of Song brought them into the open and incorporated them into the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Palace. It was then that they learned that the other six had already disappeared."

"My father arranged this?" Song Shuyu was stunned. Did her father know the inside story?
The emperor sighed, "Minister Song, think about it in light of Lu Xun's experience. If you can't figure it out on your end, it should become clear when the Duke of Song returns."

"Yes!"

Song Shuyu's mind was in turmoil, and many thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. So, the Empress Dowager sent Lin Chuan and six other top imperial guards to Jiangnan to kill thirty-two people at the brothel "Shuiyunjian"? Did his father know that the Empress Dowager was the mastermind? Could this unsolved case be related to Mu Yan, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review?

……

Shoukang Palace.

Since her return, the Empress Dowager has been absent-minded. First, she dismissed the palace servants and sat alone in the crabapple grove, lost in thought. Then she went to take a petal bath.

As she sat in front of the dressing table applying her makeup, she examined her face in the bronze mirror. Her usually flawless, fair skin seemed less smooth, and there appeared to be a few fine lines around her eyes.

"Granny!" she cried out in alarm. "Quick, look at me! Have I grown old and ugly?"

"Your Majesty is a beauty of unparalleled grace and charm," the nanny immediately comforted her with a smile.

"nonsense!"

The Empress Dowager suddenly flew into a rage, and with a wave of her arm, swept everything on the table to the ground!
"Your Majesty, please calm down!" The nanny and the palace servants were so frightened that they immediately knelt on the ground to beg for forgiveness.

The Empress Dowager did not turn around. She stared intently at herself in the bronze mirror and commanded in a disordered voice, "Go and fetch the Rejuvenating Pill. I need to take it!"

"Your Highness, please reconsider!" The old woman's face turned pale with anxiety upon hearing this. "What if there's a problem with this last batch of Muscle Regeneration Pills? After all..."

The Empress Dowager interrupted impatiently, "He's coming back soon. I absolutely will not allow myself to become ugly, do you understand?"

"But……"

"If you're still worried, have a few people try it out first."

The Empress Dowager's cold eyes swept across the palace maid's face. The maid trembled and pleaded, "Your Majesty, please spare my life!"

However, the nanny took out a porcelain bottle from the locked dressing case, took out a pill, pinched up the maid's chin, and ruthlessly stuffed it into her mouth!

"If there are no problems in three days, I will take it."

"Yes!"

"Everyone stand down!"

The palace maid, holding her breath and drenched in sweat, left the bedroom.

The Empress Dowager walked to the bedside and took out a scroll from a hidden compartment by the bedside.

She untied the ribbon and slowly unfurled the scroll.

Beneath the crabapple tree, a young man in white stood holding a sword.

Her graceful bearing and imposing presence were beyond compare.

Her slender fingers gently caressed the boy's face; years of longing and yearning brought tears to her eyes at this moment.

……

During this period, Mu Qingcheng not only investigated the identity of the skeletons on Eagle Beak Mountain, but also cooperated with the imperial physician Jin Zesheng to treat the hematoma at the back of his head with acupuncture.

As the blood clot shrinks, those vague memories that were hard to grasp slowly become clearer.

However, it remains fragmented and cannot be pieced together into a complete memory puzzle.

She hadn't left the capital for many days, and could only relay information about the outside world through Song Shuyu and the constables.

The constables dispatched to Yuyang Town made some progress intermittently. Just as they were about to conduct a more in-depth investigation, Song Shuyu brought back a secret document from the palace.

Together, the two of them verified the identities of the missing imperial guards and the five skeletons by comparing their appearances and bone injuries, and basically confirmed the identities of the skeletons!
So they interrogated Lin Jiao again and revealed her real name, Lin Chuan.

However, Lin Chuan still refused to speak!
Song Shuyu's patience ran out, and he issued an ultimatum: "My father, the Duke of Song, is about to return to the capital. Do you want me to invite him to interrogate you?"

(End of this chapter)