You can't only love the Qing Dynasty when you're eating the fruits of others' labor.

Chapter 208: Was the Empress Dowager also involved?

Shunzhi remained silent for a while. Given the gravity of the matter, he deliberately slowed his speech and carefully chose his words to express his dissatisfaction with the outcome of the trial.

“These assassins had all received great kindness from Mandahai. They were grateful for the Lord’s grace and wanted to avenge the Lord. Judging from their confessions, there is nothing wrong with this logic.”

"But I want to know, why do they believe that Jiang Qingyun poisoned Mandahai? Or rather, who provided the so-called evidence that makes them convinced that Jiang Qingyun poisoned Mandahai?"

Li Shuotai's back was covered in cold sweat. He realized that the emperor had grown up too quickly in the past few years and had a very peculiar perspective on issues.

He immediately kowtowed:
"It was my oversight. I will continue to investigate further after I return."

Emperor Shunzhi was very dissatisfied and spoke in a stern tone.

"Furthermore, there were a total of eight assassins involved in the assassination. Three were killed at the scene, one was captured, and what happened to the other four?"

"Among the assassins, two were from the Zhili Green Standard Army, serving as a battalion commander and a lieutenant commander respectively. Zhang Cunren, don't you feel terrified?"

The Governor-General of Zhili, Zhang Cunren, knelt down with a thud.

"Your Majesty, I am guilty. I have failed in my duty to manage my subordinates. I beg Your Majesty to punish me."

"For failing to manage subordinates strictly, a one-year salary penalty shall be imposed."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Zhang Cunren was also quite frightened.

From the time the court entered the pass until now, it has focused all its energy on destroying the Ming Dynasty, with military spending far exceeding all other aspects.

The official system had long been backward and had never been able to change the fact that the bureaucracy was so rudimentary that he, as the Governor-General of Zhili, had long concurrently served as the Provincial Commander.

Considering Jiang Zhongcheng's appointment as the Zhili Green Standard Army Commander, in a flash, Zhang Cunren had an extremely bold guess: could it be that Jiang Qingyun had orchestrated this assassination himself?
In the end, the Chiang family, father and son, were the biggest winners!
Thinking of this, Zhang Cunren felt a chill run down his spine. He glanced at Li Shuaitai kneeling beside him.

Just then, Li Lutai turned his head, and the two looked at each other.

He saw the complex emotions in Li Lutai's eyes, and Li Lutai saw the suspicion in his eyes as well. For a moment, both of them were quite frightened.

……

Emperor Shunzhi was still not satisfied and continued to review the case files.

"Assassin Feng Sanniang, 16 years old, was a servant in Wangzhuang, a suburb of Beijing. Out of gratitude for Prince Li's kindness in giving her father medicine and a coffin, she joined the assassination mission and was killed on the spot by the guards."

"Among the assassins are Green Standard Army officers, servants of the Wang family, and servants of the Wang residence. I would like to ask you, with such diverse backgrounds, how did they come together? Who brought them together? Furthermore, their ambush locations were so precise, was someone secretly tipping them off?"

"The more I thought about it last night, the angrier I became. In history, apart from Wu Yuanheng, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, who was assassinated in the capital, is there any other case of a high-ranking official being assassinated in the capital?"

Tell me, is there?

The four men trembled with fear and kowtowed repeatedly.

Shunzhi's voice was filled with the smell of blood:

"Take these files back and review them again. Report back after you have a clear understanding of the situation. No matter which member of the royal family or noble is involved, investigate to the end."

"According to the order."

The four left the Qianqing Palace dejectedly.

The Flower Hall of the Ministry of Justice.

The four men sat drinking tea with long faces, chatting idly.

Zhang Cunren couldn't help but ask, "Does Your Majesty mean that there must be a mastermind behind this case?"

The old fox Sony put down his teacup: "I think the Emperor intends to use this opportunity to strip someone of their title?"

Zhu Guozhi smiled awkwardly: "How about I go to Yuquan Mountain to pay my respects to the person in charge and ask for his opinion?"

Li Shuotai was lost in thought. His secret affair with a palace maid in the Red Palace, and the dying words of his deceased brother Li Bayan—each and every one of these things was so strange.

"Master Li, Master Li?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I got distracted just now. I haven't been sleeping much these past two days."

Sony's low-frequency audio:
"Lord Li, the most crucial question now is, how far should we stop our investigation?"

"I do not know either."

"You know." "Lord Suo, tell me, do you think I dare to uproot Prince Li's entire lineage?"

Sony sighed in disappointment.

Zhu Guozhi, standing nearby, rolled his eyes and took a different approach:

"His Majesty raised three questions: First, the mastermind behind the scenes; second, the direct organizer; and third, the intelligence leaker. The first point is too sensitive, so let's deal with the second and third points first. Let's just take it one step at a time, and if the sky falls, someone taller will hold it up."

"Who will cover for us?"

“We just need to spread some rumors, and someone will step forward to intervene.”

Sony's eyes lit up: "The Empress Dowager?"

"Yes."

"Brother Zhu, wonderful, wonderful indeed."

As the saying goes, for every clever plan you have, there's a way to get around it.

In officialdom, it's all about wits and strategy.

Fight without breaking apart; seize the right opportunity; and you can achieve great results with minimal effort.

……

The four ministers decided to re-examine the case, going through all the physical evidence and witnesses from the beginning. As a result, the unlucky guy was caught—the military commander, Yabulan.

He was the first to suggest to Jiang Qingyun that they halt the march and go to the river to wash away the dust of the journey. At least five guards testified that he did indeed say this.

Without his suggestion, theoretically, there would have been no assassination attempt.

The four ministers entered the palace again and presented the problem to Emperor Shunzhi.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Shunzhi was stunned and furious. He believed it was better to err on the side of caution regarding the existence of a traitor. He immediately ordered Yabulan to leave the palace and go to the Ministry of Justice to cooperate with the investigation, with the bottom line being that he should not be subjected to arbitrary torture.

In just two days~
Mentougou arrested another out-of-towner with a suspicious accent. After interrogation, it was confirmed that he was the shotgunner who had been hiding in the cornfields.

This man is a guard in Prince Li's residence. He is Korean, skilled in firearms, and speaks very poor Chinese.

2 days later~
Four constables from the Ministry of Justice knocked on the vermilion gate of Prince Li's mansion and politely led away an old steward from the residence.

The capital was shocked.

Chang Adai, who succeeded Prince Li, was shocked.

Chang Adai's mother was even more shocked. Her surname was Borjigit, so that very day, she took 11-year-old Chang Adai and rushed into the Forbidden City.

Cining Palace.

After listening to her relative's tearful account, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang was completely stunned, her expression shifting repeatedly.

"Damn it, absolutely damn it."

It's hard to say who she was cursing, but let's just assume she was cursing Lee Sol-tae.

……

Chang Adai's mother had a very fiery temper; she cried and made a scene at Cining Palace.

“Cousin, even if the late King was wrong, shouldn’t his debts be forgiven now that he’s dead? Does the Emperor really want to execute us orphans and widows too? Strip Prince Li of his title? Or does he want to personally take over as the banner chief of the Plain Red Banner?”

"In the palace, you should address me as Empress Dowager."

"Cousin, would the servants dare to do this without the Emperor's permission? Oh dear, we can't live like this anymore. Let's jump into the well together, mother and daughter."

After saying that, she pulled Chang Adai to find a well.

Xiaozhuang:

"Stop them."

The eunuchs and palace maids quickly stopped the mother and son.

The Cining Palace was in complete chaos, a scene of utter disarray.

(End of this chapter)