Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 255 Guo Xun's Cunning Scheme

"The person has not been found yet?"

Haiyue's first suggestion was to find the patrolmen who were outside Wang Zuo's house last night.

However, upon returning to the Imperial Guard compound, his subordinates came to report that progress was not satisfactory.

Since the focus was on Jiajing's palace, there weren't many people patrolling the side courtyard last night; there were only twelve people, who took turns on duty during the night.

In the latter half of the night, when the fire started, Bai Hui, the centurion, was leading five brothers on patrol in the courtyard.

"I have an impression of Bai Hui. He is a hereditary commander of the Imperial Guard, and his ancestral home is in Beizhili. He is skilled in using chain darts and his martial arts are not weak."

Lu Bing said in a deep voice, "If we hadn't been bribed by the thieves, it wouldn't have been easy to take down the six Imperial Guards led by him without anyone noticing. It would have required a few skilled men to sneak in."

Imperial palaces all have city gates and palace towers, guarded by imperial guards. If a skilled individual with excellent agility were to sneak in, it would be possible, but for a group of people to quietly infiltrate, the difficulty would increase significantly.

"We also need to consider the manpower needed to set fire to the kitchen..."

Haiyue said, "This basically confirms that the chances of an insider succeeding in committing a crime are far greater than those of an outsider breaking in."

"Traitor! Traitor!"

Lu Bing's face darkened: "If it really is an inside traitor, then it makes sense. First, set fire, then commit the crime, and after everything is done, take advantage of the fire and everyone running out to quietly leave the palace. That way, it can be done without anyone noticing."

Haiyue proposed another hypothesis: "Once they leave, the thieves' identities will be completely exposed. What if the traitors within the palace are unwilling to give up their identities and remain in the palace?"

"It's not impossible!"

After regaining his senses, Lu Bing's mind became clear: "The traitor is Bai Hui's gang, which is easy to deal with. We can immediately send people to search for them. There will surely be some clues! But if this group of Imperial Guards is just a scapegoat, then the traitor is still hiding in the southern inspection team. We must find them!"

Haiyue asked, "In that case, what about the bodies of the six missing Imperial Guards?"

"Ok?"

Lu Bing suddenly looked into the room.

If they're not alive, we need to see their bodies.

Living people can escape, but corpses don't just disappear into thin air. And now there are two charred corpses whose identities are unknown!

"Quickly find someone you know to come and identify the body!"

Before long, the Imperial Guards who were acquainted with Bai Hui and the other six people came and entered the house to identify the bodies.

Wang Zuo's body is still covered with a white cloth. If it really is Mr. Guo's body, it should not be desecrated. We should take Guo Xun's verification as an example.

Anyway, the Marquis of Wuding can't protest.

The Imperial Guards, being quite bold, crowded around and began searching for distinctive features.

"Is this charred corpse... Chen Laoqi?"

How did you make that judgment?

"Reporting to Commander Lu, it's because of the fracture in his leg bone. Chen Qi... Chen Qi suffered a cut to his leg in his early years, roughly in this spot, which is why he walks with a limp! Everyone knows about this!"

"Good! Very good! Find another group of people!"

Through repeated confirmation by familiar Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards), it was found that among Bai Hui's patrol team was a man named Chen Qi, the seventh child in his family, whom everyone called Chen Laoqi. His height and build were similar to Guo Xun's, and the scars he had suffered in his early years matched the bone fracture marks on the charred corpse's leg bones.

"So, Guo Xun is not dead!"

Lu Bing coldly said, "The person who died in his room was Chen Qi, a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and his body was burned after death!"

Having confirmed this, Lu Bing led the group to Wang Zuo's house, lifted the white cloth, and examined the charred remains that appeared to be those of the gentleman.

This time, however, whether it was because Wang Zuo was ultimately the head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and everyone was in awe and fear, or because the bone fracture marks from the leg injury were indeed not something everyone could have, everyone stepped forward to examine him carefully and shook their heads.

Lu Bing paced restlessly, muttering to himself, "Is he really Mr.? Is he really not?"

Haiyue then slowly said, "Two points have been confirmed regarding the body in Lord Guo's room—"

"First, the manner of death was cremation after death; second, the identity of the deceased has been basically confirmed as the missing Embroidered Uniform Guard Chen Qi."

"Then we can deduce that after the thief killed Chen Qi, he dressed him in the clothes of the Marquis of Wuding to create the illusion that the Marquis of Wuding was dead."

"The identity of the body found in Commander Wang's office is currently undetermined, but the manner of death is that the person was burned to death." "If this person was also one of the six missing Imperial Guards, why is there such a discrepancy?"

Lu Bing proposed a hypothesis: "Perhaps this person, though alive, was no longer capable of resisting, which is why the thieves put him in the fire and let him burn to death?"

"wrong!"

Haiyue said, "The body had the congratulatory gift you gave to the commander of the capital in its bosom, and a jade token bestowed by the emperor on its waist. The person who replaced it may not be able to escape the fire, but they can destroy these things to make the physical evidence that identifies the body disappear."

Lu Bing frowned, lost in thought: "This really doesn't make sense. Since the Imperial Guard replaced you, sir, they should have killed him to avoid any complications. Why spare his life?"

In fact, Lu Bing had another question: why replace the body?
Could it be that the thieves kidnapped the gentleman and, fearing the imperial court's investigation, made people believe he had been burned to death?
As the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Wang Zuo knew many secrets.

In the past, it was the Embroidered Uniform Guards who arrested people; now, the Embroidered Uniform Guards were being kidnapped, which was an utter disgrace.

So the thought crossed Lu Bing's mind, but he didn't say it aloud.

Deep down, he naturally hoped that Wang Zuo was still alive, but he couldn't publicize this hypothesis and risk ruining Wang Zuo's reputation in his later years, so he was in a dilemma.

Haiyue then asked, "How has Commander Wang been feeling lately?"

Lu Bing paused for a moment, then lowered his voice: "It's not good! The gentleman suffered a serious illness last year, and after recovering, he developed a chronic cough. He's also lost a lot of weight, but he can still move around normally..."

'tuberculosis?'

Haiyue asked for more details, and it sounded a bit like tuberculosis, with symptoms such as coughing up blood, hot flashes and night sweats, eventually leading to emaciation and emaciation.

Due to the limited medical conditions in ancient times, tuberculosis was regarded as an incurable disease, with the saying that "nine out of ten tuberculosis patients die." Because it was contagious, patients were often isolated or abandoned.

However, since Wang Zuo did not prohibit contact with others and his health was not so poor that he was unable to get out of bed like a tuberculosis patient, it is still uncertain whether it is infectious tuberculosis. It may just be that the symptoms are somewhat similar.

Thinking of this, Haiyue slowly said, "Wenfu, Commander Wang is in poor health and has to accompany His Majesty on the southern tour. Has he given any instructions during this trip?"

Lu Bing's expression changed immediately upon recalling his master's instructions, which sounded like entrusting his son to him. He paused and said, "They were just everyday words, nothing special... With your skills, let alone last night's fire, even the great fire that once engulfed the three main halls in the inner court wouldn't have been able to trap you. There must have been a thief who harmed you!"

Haiyue glanced at the other person, then asked, "Is there any contact between Commander Wang and Lord Guo?"

He was aware of the situation, since he was the first to see through Guo Xun's disguise. He then asked Yan Shifan to remind the Embroidered Uniform Guard. As for how the Embroidered Uniform Guard made their move, Hai Yue didn't care too much.

He believed that the Embroidered Uniform Guard was so professional at dealing with nobles that he didn't need to worry about it.

Indeed, Lu Bing recalled how Wang Zuo had cleverly manipulated Guo Xun, who was pretending to be old, into appearing genuinely frail. This time, he no longer concealed his intentions and hissed, "Guo Xun harbors treacherous intentions, and you, sir, will certainly not allow him to deceive the emperor. If we speak of grudges, there are indeed some!"

At this point, his eyes lit up: "That's right! The thieves were Guo Xun's men. They harmed you, sir, and then Guo Xun used the charred corpse to escape!"

Haiyue said, "A charred corpse means death and the annihilation of one's soul. Is Marquis Wuding really willing to pay such a price? Besides, he hasn't been exposed, so why would he fake his death?"

"Guo Xun definitely has ulterior motives!"

Lu Bing said coldly, "If Guo Xun suddenly 'comes back to life' a few days later and cries to His Majesty that he stumbled upon the thieves plotting to kill you last night and had no choice but to feign compliance and infiltrate the enemy's lair, then not only will he be able to clear his name of being old, but he can also regain the Emperor's favor by virtue of his merit in suppressing the thieves. What then?"

Haiyue was not convinced: "That's a bit far-fetched. How could His Majesty believe that..."

"It's not far-fetched; it's just that Mingwei simply can't understand the arrogant and rebellious hearts of these nobles!"

Lu Bing's eyes flashed with cold light, and his five fingers slowly closed: "Guo Xun once did not hesitate to ruin his reputation by using the Imperial Academy massacre. How could an ordinary person do such a madman? He is old and close to a demon. This scoundrel has long since lost his mind and gone mad!"

"But even this motive cannot explain the differences between the two charred corpses..."

Haiyue said, "There's another point. There were six Imperial Guards on patrol. Now that Chen Qi's body has been found, if Bai Hui and the other four were also killed, where are their bodies?"

Lu Bing looked outside, his brows furrowed: "Last night, a large part of the palace burned down, and many buildings collapsed, with charred corpses inside. If we were to count them all, it would be too late. The southern tour cannot be delayed!"

The southern tour had a set schedule, and it was impossible to stay in one place for a long time. Moreover, the imperial palace had burned down. Was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty supposed to stay in this palace with the smell of burning everywhere tonight?

Therefore, under normal circumstances, the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Imperial Guard would roughly determine the number of people in each army and department, record the missing persons list, treat them as dead, and then set off.

They didn't have much time to investigate the case, less than a day.

Haiyue understood the difficulty, and after a moment's thought, she began to make arrangements: "Wenfu, first go and report to His Majesty on the progress of the case, and then request that a group of people be left behind to thoroughly search for the bodies in the palace. The identities of all the victims who perished in the fire last night need to be identified. This case of charred corpses is related to finding the traitor within the ranks, and it cannot be ignored!"

"This is a great plan!"

Lu Bing clapped his hands and laughed, "The most urgent task is to alert His Majesty. As long as His Majesty is prepared, even if Guo Xun returns and puts on a show, no matter how ingenious his lies are, they will not escape His Majesty's discerning eye!"

(End of this chapter)