In my dream of returning to the Tang Dynasty, I snatched Wu Zetian from my lap.

For a moment, Li Yuanchang frowned. Had he guessed wrong?

"It was shortly after the Lantern Festival this year. It rained so much that the water reached the threshold of my house," the little girl said innocently.

Li Yuanchang asked again, "Where do you live?"

"It's not far from here," the little girl said.

Li Yuanchang was puzzled. If a flash flood occurred, wouldn't people living nearby be swept away? How come the water only reached the doorstep?

"Was the Dahong Temple destroyed by the flood?"

The little girl shook her head immediately: "No, it's not."

"It collapsed on its own!"

These words caused a stir in the room, and everyone turned to look.

Li Yuanchang gestured to the little girl not to frighten her.

How did you know?

Perhaps because she had a good impression of Li Yuanchang because of the kite and the copper coins, the little girl hesitated and said, "I saw it. That night I was secretly playing in the water and saw Dahong Temple suddenly collapse by itself with a loud noise."

Li Yuanchang's face darkened, and he was about to ask something else.

"You brat, what are you doing here again!"

"Come back quickly!"

An elderly man, leaning on a cane, came looking for them in a fit of rage.

The little girl heard the sound and immediately ran over.

The elderly man continued to scold them, then, seeing the strangers, he took the little girl and left.

Guo Chao tried to step forward to stop him and ask questions, but Li Yuanchang stopped him.

"No need to ask anymore."

"Children don't lie. Dahong Temple wasn't destroyed by a flash flood. It may have rained in Liangzhou that day, but the amount of rainwater was not enough to cause a flash flood. This is a deceptive argument."

Those who sensed something was amiss had sharp eyes.

"Your Highness, if there hadn't been a flash flood, how did the military advisor in charge of grain storage die in the mud?"

"A little rain can't possibly drown a living person, can it?" Wang Hongzhi wondered.

Li Yuanchang sneered: "If there's no natural disaster, then it must be a man-made one."

"The fact that Dahong Temple, which was more than half-built, could collapse is most likely due to its shoddy construction. Wu Wei's death must be suspicious."

More than a thousand years have passed. History is a cycle. Many things have changed, but many things have remained the same.

To confirm his suspicions, Li Yuanchang asked, "Where is Wu Wei's grave?"

"..."

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 202ᴋᴋs.ᴄᴏᴍ]

An hour later, Li Yuanchang led his men to a desolate mountain on the outskirts of the city.

Based on the information they had gathered, they quickly located Wu Wei's grave. After all, he had risen to the rank of Military Advisor and died in the line of duty, so his grave was obviously quite impressive, with at least a tomb and a monument, making it very easy to find.

Li Yuanchang first offered three incense sticks and some offerings to the deceased to show respect for the dead, and then directly ordered the ground to be broken.

boom! !

With each stroke of the hoe, the old grave, sealed for nine months, was brought back to light.

There was no such thing as counterfeit goods in ancient times, and the coffin was preserved extremely well underground, without even a trace of decay.

creak...

A piercing sound rang out as several people forcefully pried open Wu Wei's coffin.

boom!

The coffin lid suddenly burst open, and a pungent smell rushed out, almost causing many people present to vomit and involuntarily cover their noses.

Li Yuanchang frowned and slowly stepped forward.

"Your Highness." Wang Hong handed over a handkerchief.

Li Yuanchang took it and glanced inside. Nine months was too long. Even with the coffin sealed, only the head and bones remained of the body.

Although it was his first time opening someone else's coffin, his absolute decisiveness forged his strong mental fortitude.

"Bring out the remains."

"yes!"

The group jumped in and carefully moved the skeleton out.

This kind of thing should have been done by a professional coroner, but the Prince of Han's mansion didn't have such a person, so Li Yuanchang just did it himself. He was a man from the 21st century, with no knowledge of such matters.

He first carefully examined whether the bones had turned black. It is scientifically proven that bones will turn black when a person dies from poisoning.

However, after examination, poisoning was basically ruled out.

He then examined the surface of the skeleton, especially the arms, to see if there were any fractures or breaks.

But this time, it still didn't happen.

Until Li Yuanchang was unwilling to accept it, he turned the remains over.

"Huh!"

He exclaimed in surprise, squatted down, and carefully examined the corpse's cervical vertebrae.

"Your Highness, what's wrong?"

"There's wear on the blade here!"

"He didn't drown!"

"It's murder!" Li Yuanchang's eyes burned like torches.

Wang Hongzhi and others conducted a serious investigation.

"That's true!"

"The bone here clearly has scratches and cracks!"

"Someone stabbed Wu Wei in the neck from behind, the knife going right through, killing him instantly!"

"Who is it?"

"How dare they commit murder, even the Military Advisor of the Granary!"

Li Yuanchang sneered: "Who else could it be? It must be someone who's afraid of being exposed."

"First, collect the remains; they are evidence. As for the cemetery, restore it to its original state."

With a major lead already in hand, he felt there was a chance to uncover the truth and recover the missing eight thousand strings of cash. Everyone was in high spirits.

"yes!"

"Also, Hiroshi, take some people and make another trip."

"Now that it has been confirmed that Wu Wei was murdered, that Dahong Temple collapsed on its own, and that everything was a hoax, then the laborers and craftsmen who were responsible for its construction must have known some inside information."

"Find these people, then visit them one by one and ask them who provided the timber and stone for the construction of the Great Hong Temple!"

In the Tang Dynasty, there were merchants who dealt in timber and stone. For example, Wu Zetian's father made his fortune in the timber business in his early years.

"Yes!" Wang Hong bowed and then quickly left with his men.

Li Yuanchang stayed until the tomb was restored to its original state before leaving the scene.

By the time they returned to Liangzhou City, it was already dusk. The setting sun cast long shadows of Li Yuanchang in its afterglow.

He sat on his horse, his mind wandering, thinking about the clues he had recently discovered and how to handle the affairs of Liangzhou Prefecture in the future.

With such obvious evidence and such glaring loopholes, not a single person in Liangzhou Prefecture raised any questions or even bothered to investigate.

Just as he was lost in thought, a murmur of conversation suddenly came from a teahouse on the street.

"See that mansion? That's the Situ family. It's the most famous scholarly family in our area. Legend has it that one of our ancestors was a great calligrapher."

The Situ Mansion?

Li Yuanchang looked over instinctively and saw several men drinking tea and talking.

"Heh heh, so what if she comes from a scholarly family? She's not even worth the attention of the imperial relatives. His Majesty's betrothal has been finalized for a month now, and the Prince of Han has been here for quite some time, yet they still haven't accepted the eldest daughter of the Situ family into the family."

"It's obvious they look down on the Situ family."

"Tsk tsk, what a pity for Miss Situ. I heard she's incredibly beautiful and well-educated."

"I don't think so. Maybe she's incredibly ugly, otherwise why wouldn't the King of Han accept her?"

"That's right, who knows? The Situ family may not be well-behaved. Don't be fooled by their scholarly background; who knows what they're really like behind the scenes."

Li Yuanchang's face immediately darkened, and he stopped his horse, looking at Li Yuanchang with a murderous gaze, as if he were looking into an abyss!