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

After all, Gao Shen, Li Zhi, and the deceased Lu Qi were the three most powerful people in Liangzhou, and many officials in Liangzhou Prefecture were promoted by them.

This Lü Ping forcibly seized family property, causing families to be ruined and killed, and he even colluded with wealthy merchants. With such a huge amount of money at stake, these three people couldn't possibly be unaware of it, right?

Just as he was racking his brains trying to figure it out, he shouted: "Report!!"

"Your Highness, we found it! We found it!" A guard ran in, panting.

Li Yuanchang's eyes lit up.

At the gates of the Prince's mansion, torches were lit, and guards carried in a corpse.

Li Yuanchang's face fell sharply again, his brows furrowed, and he hurried over.

"Greetings, King of Han!" the crowd bowed.

Li Yuanchang abruptly pulled back the white cloth, and the torch flames danced on that familiar yet pale face. With a bulbous nose and a mole on his eyebrow, who else could it be but Lü Ping?

His face was contorted with anger, his fists clenched, and the first thought that came to his mind was to kill him to silence him.

"What happened?"

"Your Highness, it was found in an alley in the west of the city. It was killed and covered with a straw mat in the dry grass, and it was almost not discovered."

"Look, the bloody hole in his chest, a fatal stab wound, almost piercing through," Guo Chao said.

Li Yuanchang took a closer look by the firelight. The cut was deep, but it wasn't stuck in his ribs yet, indicating that the force of the cut was immense.

To stab so deeply in an instant while a person is reacting, trying to escape or resist, is something that no ordinary person, not even an adult male, could do.

His eyes darkened, and he muttered to himself, "What a clever way to silence someone! Who was it?"

"The waters of Liangzhou run incredibly deep. I suspected something was amiss with Lu Qi's death, and now it's Lü Ping. What are they afraid I'll uncover?"

Too many questions, no answers.

He then carefully examined the other parts of Lü Ping's body and found almost no wounds; it was indeed just one stab wound, and the murder weapon was not left behind.

a long time.

Li Yuanchang looked regretful: "We were still careless. With Lü Ping dead, the case can no longer be expanded and can only be limited to this small area."

"Your Highness, we are incompetent, please forgive us!"

"We are incompetent, please forgive us!"

The soldiers in the tent knelt down in unison.

"Get up. It's not your fault, it's my fault for being careless. I should have controlled this person sooner."

"But no matter what, Lü Jie's confession is enough to bring down this legal advisor."

"Wang Hongzhi, you're in charge of confiscating their property," Li Yuanchang said.

"yes!"

"The body will be moved and sent to the Liangzhou Prefecture government office tomorrow."

"yes!"

Just as the soldiers were about to carry the person away, Li Yuanchang glanced around and suddenly noticed something.

"etc!"

Everyone froze.

Li Yuanchang stepped forward and grabbed Lü Ping's hand.

His left fist was clenched, completely different from his right. This is called corpse spasm, which is a "freezing" caused by muscle contraction in the last moment before death.

It took him a tremendous amount of effort to pry open his right fist.

Snapped! !

A shiny object the size of a bean fell to the ground.

Li Yuanchang's gaze sharpened; there really was something there!

He bent down, picked it up, and examined it carefully.

This is something like a pendant, made of silver chain, with a pea-sized piece of glass or some kind of gemstone that glows.

"What is this?"

"This looks so strange, I've never seen this kind of jewelry before."

"Yes," Guo Chao and the others said, frowning as they discussed.

Li Yuanchang looked at it for a long time but couldn't figure it out. However, he had a strong feeling that it must have been left by the murderer.

There must be something more to the story behind Lü Ping's murder!

"You may all leave now. Confiscate property and conduct searches as needed. Have all officials of Liangzhou Prefecture assemble at the government office tomorrow."

"yes!"

After entrusting the matter to Wang Hongzhi and others, he took the belongings clutched in the corpse's fist and hurried to the East Courtyard.

Situ Lan was taking a bath, and steam was rising from it.

Li Yuanchang didn't care about anything else and went straight in.

Several maids were shocked.

"Greetings, Your Highness!"

Situ Lan turned around, her face pale. She instinctively covered her upper body with her hands, her face flushed. She didn't know whether to come out to greet him or sit in the water bucket.

"Hehe, don't be afraid."

"Take a look at this for me, what is it?" Li Yuanchang wiped it on his clothes, feeling that women would understand this kind of ornament better.

Situ Lan paused for a moment, then took it and examined it carefully under the lamplight.

Her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly: "This...this looks like a crystal pendant from a hairpin."

"Hairpin?" Li Yuanchang raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, it should be a woman's hairpin, not a man's. A man's hairpin is called a hairpin guide, and it wouldn't have this kind of pendant."

"This kind of glass isn't cheap," Situ Lan said seriously.

Li Yuanchang frowned, seemingly lost in thought.

woman?

How could the woman stab so deeply, piercing through her ribs?

Generally speaking, no man could deliver such a ruthless cut; it would definitely get stuck in the ribs.

Could this thing not be the killer?

No, that's not right either.

If it wasn't the murderer, it's impossible that Lü Ping would still be holding on so tightly when he was dying. If it was someone from Lü Ping's family, then it's even more illogical.

He was almost dead, yet he was still holding onto it.

Looking at Li Yuanchang, whose expression kept changing, Situ Lan was puzzled and waved her beautiful, snow-white hand, which was covered in water droplets.

"Your Highness, Your Highness?"

"What's wrong?"

Li Yuanchang snapped out of his daze: "No, it's nothing."

"Are these things common?"

"Your Highness, this is quite common. During the prosperous Zhenguan era, foreign merchants frequently transported this kind of glass to the Central Plains. As long as you have money, it is still easy to buy."

"It's sold in almost every larger city; it's a favorite of high-ranking officials and nobles," Situ Lan said, her breath sweet and fragrant.

Li Yuanchang frowned. This was getting complicated. The scope was so wide that tracing the case was like finding a needle in a haystack.

He thought for a moment, then put the things away and decided to deal with them later.

At least Lü Ping was dealt with.

"Your Highness, what are you doing?" Situ Lan's snowy shoulders surfaced as she stared blankly at Li Yuanchang taking off his clothes.

"What else can I do? I need to take a bath too."

"My husband and I can use water together, which will also save water," Li Yuanchang said seriously.

Situ Lan was ashamed: "This..."

"Your Highness, I've only washed half of it, and the water isn't clean yet."

"How about you let me dry off, get dressed, and then help you wash?" Her eyes were pleading; she was genuinely embarrassed.

Even though they've had sex many times, they still haven't taken a bath together.

"Not dirty at all. I could even drink your bathwater!"

With a whoosh, Situ Lan, ashamed, quickly covered Li Yuanchang's mouth, afraid that he would utter some more indecent words.

The couple could have just talked about it privately, but the problem was that there were so many maids.

Hearing this, the maids either lowered their heads to suppress their laughter or blushed.

"Madam, you are rich and generous!" Li Yuanchang suddenly said quietly.

Situ Lan was bewildered, and only when she followed his gaze did she realize that she had covered her mouth but forgotten to cover other parts of her mouth.

"Ah!" she screamed, covering her chest with her hands and shrinking back into the water.

"I'm here!" Li Yuanchang plunged into the water with a splash.