Not only did he not kill anyone, he had no idea what had happened. Early in the morning, someone shouted at the door that he had killed someone, and indeed, a woman had died next to him. She was the top courtesan in the brothel.
"Li Huang, as the Minister of War, how could you spend the night in a brothel?"
Hai Ling was extremely disgusted by this. She glared at Li Huang, thinking how could he be such a person when the Emperor trusted him so much.
Upon hearing Hai Ling's words, Li Huang quickly shook his head: "Your Majesty, I am innocent. Last night, Minister Liu of the Cabinet invited me to discuss matters. He was supposed to be here, but when I arrived, I waited and waited and did not see him. Later, I fainted, and by morning I had become the murderer."
Li Huang recounted what had happened the previous night. In the room, Hai Ling, Ji Shaocheng, and the others all frowned. Could it be that someone had set a trap for Lord Li?
"Wu Shang, did you send someone to ask Lord Liu if there was such a person as Lord Li?"
"Your Majesty, I have investigated, and Lord Liu says there is no such thing."
It seems to be a well-set trap. Hai Ling and Ji Shaocheng looked very sad. Could this be a trap set by the west family, just to get rid of Li Huang and obtain the position of Minister of War? If that's the case, it's truly heartbreaking.
However, we cannot speculate before we have investigated the matter thoroughly. But this case is indeed tricky. The person died in Li Huang's bed, and even if Li Huang had a mouth, he couldn't explain himself.
Hai Ling got up and walked to the murdered woman, pacing back and forth, examining the victim's face and the knife in her chest.
He quickly discovered a flaw and immediately ordered Wu Shang to summon Wu Zuo. Pointing at the knife wound, he slowly said, "The location of the cut shows that the force at the front is not as strong as that at the back, so the wound at the front is not as big as that at the back. Judging from the bleeding, the murderer has six fingers. The six fingers are connected, and the sixth finger should also be on the thumb, which is why the force at the front is insufficient."
Upon hearing this, Wu Zuo quickly examined the matter carefully and finally nodded in agreement.
"Your Majesty is right, the murderer has six fingers, and the sixth finger is connected to the thumb."
Minister of War Li Huang finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was not completely cleared of suspicion, at least he knew that he was not the one who did it.
"Thank you, Your Majesty the Empress. Thank you, Your Majesty the Empress."
Li Huang spoke in fear, knowing that if it weren't for the Empress, he would surely be dead today.
Hai Ling ignored Li Huang and ordered Wu Shang: "Immediately arrest this six-fingered man. Also, temporarily detain Minister of War Li Huang in the Ministry of Justice's prison."
"Your Majesty, we obey."
Wu Shang received the order, and Hai Ling, seeing that things were almost done, led Shi Mei, Shi Lan, Ji Shaocheng, and others out of Yi Hong Lou.
There were many people watching outside the building. As soon as Hailing came out, many people pointed and whispered. Many people respected and loved this empress of Beilu.
Even after Hailing and the others boarded the carriage, the people were still talking.
Hai Ling glanced at Yi Hong Lou, then, as if remembering something, instructed Ji Shaocheng: "Investigate the background of this Yi Hong Lou."
“Yes,” Ji Shaocheng nodded.
Hailing led the group back to the palace. Inside the carriage, Mingzhu looked at Hailing with a worried expression.
"Miss, what you're doing offends the Empress Dowager. Do you think she'll be furious?"
The Empress is pregnant now, when will the Emperor return?
Hai Ling remained silent, saying that it was impossible for the Empress Dowager not to blame her. She was afraid that once she returned to the palace, the Empress Dowager would be waiting for her. However, she would not stand idly by. She would intervene in court affairs and would not remain indifferent.
"Let's go, don't think about it too much, I'll be careful."
The carriage made its way into the palace, and by the time Hailing and the others returned, it was already afternoon.
In front of the Qingqian Palace, Fuyue and the other palace maids and eunuchs were all kneeling, their faces covered in sweat, clearly having been kneeling for quite some time.
As soon as Hai Ling appeared, Fu Yue and the others hurriedly greeted her respectfully, "Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress."
Shi Mei was the first to speak, asking, "What's going on? Why is everyone kneeling at the palace gate?"
Fu Yue raised her eyebrows and glanced at Hai Ling, then whispered, "It was the Empress Dowager who discovered that the Empress was missing, so she punished us by making us kneel here."
At the palace gate, the expressions of several people changed.
Hai Ling waved to Fu Yue and the others to get up, and led them towards Qingqian Palace.
Fu Yue reported from behind: "The Empress Dowager also said that Your Highness should return and go to Cixi Palace immediately."
Hailin had been away from the palace for most of the day and was very tired. She had no energy to go to Cixi Palace, so she rested in her bedroom in Qingqian Palace first, and only got up to go to Cixi Palace after taking a nap.
Inside Cixi Palace.
The Empress Dowager's face was extremely ugly, her eyes blazing with anger, and she was furious.
"The Empress is truly magnificent. She even displays her power in front of outsiders, and has even produced the Emperor's imperial edict and gold token."
The Empress Dowager wanted to kill someone when this was mentioned. She never expected that Feng'er would leave a gold medal for this woman. If it weren't for this gold medal, what use would Ji Hailing have?
"Mother?"
Hai Ling knew that the Empress Dowager's anger was to be expected, so she let her vent her anger without saying a word. Only after the Empress Dowager had vented her anger did she slowly open her mouth.
"Mother, please don't be angry. The case of the Minister of War committing murder is still a matter for the Ministry of Justice. Ling'er is afraid of criticism from outsiders, which is why she doesn't want the west family to get involved."
"In that case, I should thank you."
The Empress Dowager glared coldly at Hai Ling. Seeing that she remained silent and stared at her intently, she sighed after a long while and spoke earnestly.
"Your Majesty, as the Empress, and pregnant, why are you leaving the palace instead of taking good care of your pregnancy? You've even gotten involved in the murder case of the Minister of War. From now on, stay in the palace to rest and don't pay attention to those trivial matters. Let me handle this."
In the end, the Empress Dowager was still unwilling to give up; she wanted to seize power herself so that she could promote the people of the west family.
Now that she has taken the lead, she will not let the Empress Dowager do whatever she wants. A dark glint flashed in Hai Ling's eyes, but she smiled gently and spoke softly.
"Ling'er thanks Mother for her concern. Mother, please rest assured, Ling'er will take good care of her health. Also, when the Emperor left Bianliang City, he instructed Ling'er to pay attention to matters in the court, and Ling'er naturally cannot abandon them."