“Could it be that someone tampered with the horse?”
Su Wu Ming immediately realized.
Lu Ling Feng also guessed the suspect:
“Could it be the bride’s brother, Dou Cong?”
“Dou Yu Lin!”
The two reached a consensus and were about to get up, but Lu Ling Feng stopped Su Wu Ming. Unusually, the usually carefree Zhong Lang Jiang seemed a little embarrassed.
“Zhong Lang Jiang, what’s wrong?”
Lu Ling Feng remembered something and asked:
“Su Wu Ming, how do you view Zheng Qing?”
Su Wu Ming was silent. Before Lu Ling Feng arrived, he had actually suspected Zheng Qing, but up until now, the man’s behavior had been perfectly normal. Even though he had some doubts in his heart, he didn’t have any evidence.
But seeing Lu Ling Feng’s current state, Su Wu Ming immediately guessed something and asked:
“What, did Zhong Lang Jiang suffer a loss at this man’s hands?”
Lu Ling Feng shook his head:
“No, it’s just that this man’s actions make me feel uneasy. Even though his actions are fine, it feels like he knows everything I do.”
Su Wu Ming smiled:
“Zhong Lang Jiang, are you under too much pressure lately? It seems like it’s necessary to take you to Pei Manor and have Miss Xi Jun play a tune for you.”
Lu Ling Feng’s face immediately changed:
“Su Wu Ming, if you continue like this, don’t blame me for being impolite!”
Su Wu Ming chuckled:
“Why is Zhong Lang Jiang so angry? Since this is the case, let’s go to the Dou family without delay.”
Lu Ling Feng angrily waved his sleeve:
“If it were only you, it would be fine. But Zheng Qing also asked me about this yesterday! Hmph, if I hadn’t stopped you, wouldn’t you both have made a fool of me?”
Su Wu Ming was surprised:
“Yesterday, Imperial Censor Zheng also went to you about this?”
Lu Ling Feng waved his sleeve and left: “Such a trivial matter, do I need to lie to you?”
The two arrived at the Dou family.
The elder Dou rushed forward and bowed:
“County Constable Su, General Lu, have you caught the culprit?”
Lu Ling Feng’s face was cold: “Where is Dou Yu Lin?!”
The elder Dou’s heart skipped a beat and replied truthfully: “He’s in his room.”
But the servant knocked on the door, and no one answered.
The elder Dou explained: “Yu Lin has been overly sad recently, crying every night, he must be asleep.”
But the servant said:
“I came by in the morning, and I saw the young master drinking a bowl of porridge.”
Lu Ling Feng ordered: “Break down the door.”
Several people worked together to break down the door, but they saw that Dou Yu Lin was already hanging, his eyes wide open in death!
“Ah? Young Master! Young Master!”
The elder Dou cried out in grief: “My son!”
After saying that, he fainted.
Su Wu Ming walked in, his brows furrowed, and he instructed the servants:
“Take the old man out first, and don’t let the old madam come in.”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
Several people worked together to lower the body, and Lu Ling Feng walked to the edge of the window, suddenly as if he remembered something.
“He had porridge this morning? Then the culprit should have left not long ago. Guo Zhuang, chase!”
“Yes!”
Guo Zhuang received the order and quickly ran off.
Su Wu Ming got up, he didn’t look at Lu Ling Feng, but his gaze was fixed on Dou Yu Lin’s body:
“Zhong Lang Jiang also noticed that he didn’t commit suicide?”
Lu Ling Feng walked over and said softly:
“Those who hang themselves, their eyes are closed and their lips are open. If the rope is around the neck, the tongue touches the teeth, if the rope is below the neck, the tongue sticks out. But he…”
Su Wu Ming added: “And his hands, those who hang themselves should have their hands tightly clenched, but he… It seems like he was strangled first and then hung.”
Lu Ling Feng squatted down, gestured at the thickness and the marks on Dou Yu Lin’s neck, and then ordered:
“Xiao Wu, call all the Dou family members out for questioning!”
“Yes!”
After gathering all the Dou family members in one place, Lu Ling Feng looked at the group of trembling servants and asked calmly:
“Where is the groom?”
A thin, honest-looking man stepped forward and stammered:
“The horse that pulls the carriage was chosen by the young master himself, and he personally fed it hay, and even personally sent it off. It has nothing to do with me!”
After saying that, he knelt down, clearly extremely scared.
Lu Ling Feng’s gaze was extremely sharp: “So you’re saying you saw something?”
The groom thought back to that morning. He had gone to feed the horses as usual, but he witnessed the young master putting something in the water he was giving the horse.
“Has Dou Yu Lin been acting strange these past few days?”
The steward replied: “On the day the young miss went missing, the young master came back in the middle of the night and drank himself into a stupor, muttering to himself. He seemed to be saying things like ‘where did I go wrong’ or something like that.”
Lu Ling Feng continued to ask questions, and the servants said: “The young master is a good person, a very good person!”
Su Wu Ming noticed keenly that one of the maids seemed to be about to say something, as if she wanted to say something.
…
Princess’s Manor –
Wei Feng Hua led the way in front, the two of them passed through the long path in front of the Princess’s Manor.
Truly, it was the residence of the most powerful woman in the Tang Dynasty. The arrangements here were almost like a scene every step of the way, and even the placement of every tree and flower had a special meaning.
Most importantly, the flowers on the corridor, no matter from which angle you looked at them, were flawless. It was obvious that they were taken care of every day by skilled gardeners.
And the handrails by the pond were made of precious white jade.
Wei Feng Hua brought him to the front of a garden and said solemnly: “Her Royal Highness the Princess is waiting for you inside. Just go in. Remember, don’t be disrespectful, or no one will be able to save you.”
Zheng Qing nodded: “Thank you for telling me this, General Wei.”
He entered the garden. The surroundings were all rare and precious flowers and plants, competing for beauty. Butterflies often flew above, the scenery was beautiful.
A dignified and elegant figure stood in the depths of the garden, with their back to him, as if strolling and admiring the flowers.
Zheng Qing walked forward a few steps and bowed: “Zheng Qing greets Her Royal Highness the Princess.”
The Princess turned around. Although she was already in her forties, she was in a position of power and well-maintained, but her makeup was a bit pale and dull, making her seem to be keeping people at arm’s length.
Actually, this was related to her personality and her current position.
Although four of the current Prime Ministers were on the Princess’s side, many people with ulterior motives claimed that she wanted to establish a second Wu Dynasty, so she was criticized a lot.
And her nephew kept tripping her up, both overtly and covertly. This Princess was now trying her best to win over people.
The Princess looked Zheng Qing up and down, her expression unreadable, just calmly said: “I didn’t expect the Zheng family of Xingyang to have such a capable figure. You are young but you have become an Imperial Censor, and you are skilled in investigating and judging cases. Your future is limitless.”
Zheng Qing was neither humble nor arrogant: “In reply to Her Royal Highness, I am just doing my duty. As an Imperial Censor, these are all within my duties.”
The Princess said lightly: “Alright, I’m not summoning you here for anything else. I heard that some time ago you were unemployed but you went to the Emperor’s residence, and then you became the Surveillance Imperial Censor, and even got the Emperor’s jade pendant?”
…
I sent the wrong chapter, chapter 17 was repeated. I have corrected it.