The Eldest Daughter Returns: Imperial Uncle, I'm Pregnant!

Chapter 209 Cause of Gu Changfeng's Death

"This..." Gu Ziming felt extremely frustrated; he was simply unable to be in two places at once.

His right eyelid had been twitching since he woke up this morning. He knew it wasn't a good thing, but he didn't expect it to be this bad.

It's obvious that something happened at the soup kitchen, and before he could finish dealing with that, something else happened at home. He couldn't even resolve the issues at home before another problem arose at the soup kitchen. It's like God is really not going to let him get away with this.

The Third Prince kept blaming him, and Gu Ziming was clearly starting to feel unhappy. He didn't need to distribute porridge in the first place. If it weren't for wanting the Emperor to see the Third Prince sooner and for getting the Third Prince out sooner, would he have gone to such lengths to plan this?

"Master..." Batu whispered worriedly from the side.

"Go, go, go back quickly and see what happened. Where is the servant who came to deliver the message? Have you found out anything?"

The two of them talked as they walked.

"Reporting to your Excellency, we have inquired and found out the truth, but the servant knew very little. Apparently, when Lord Zhao came to our residence to search, there was nothing wrong at first. However, when Lord Zhao went to the eldest son's courtyard, he accidentally fell and then accidentally saw half a hand buried in the soil..."

"Hehehe, an accident, just a coincidence, such an accident?" Gu Ziming had been immersed in officialdom for decades, and he didn't believe in such an accidental thing.

"This servant doesn't believe it either, but by sheer carelessness, several corpses have been unearthed in the young master's courtyard. The scene is quite gruesome. Master, you should hurry back and take a look."

"Let's go, take the shortcut, and make sure we get back before the King of Chu and the Third Prince."

Gu Ziming felt like his bones were about to fall apart. He stood at the gate panting, managing to get back before the two important figures, but it was no use, as they arrived right behind him.

"Oh, Lord Gu has quite the stamina; he got there before us."

Gu Ziming smiled awkwardly: "Your Highness is too kind. I am eager to return home... Your Highness, I will go in first. Please make yourselves at home, Third Prince."

After saying that, Gu Ziming hurriedly went into the mansion.

But things didn't go as planned. The entrance to the Prime Minister's residence was surrounded by layers upon layers of onlookers, and some people even set up tea stalls nearby. For a time, the entrance to the Prime Minister's residence was more lively than a market.

Gu Ziming and Batu tried to squeeze in for a long time but couldn't even fit half their bodies in.

The King of Chu, standing behind, said, "It seems that even the Prime Minister's eagerness to return home cannot withstand the will of the people."

Gu Ziming's face was dark. He couldn't scold the people in front of the Prince of Chu and the Third Prince, otherwise it would backfire and the people would surround him, making it even harder to get away.

"Your Highness is too kind. I'm afraid Your Highness and the Third Prince will have to enter through the side door with me..."

"What status do I, the prince, and my uncle have that we have to enter through the side gate of your house?" Xiao Yuheng said with dissatisfaction.

"This..." Gu Ziming frowned. He was really anxious and wanted to leave the two of them behind and go back as soon as possible.

"It's alright. It happened so suddenly. You should go with your uncle, Xiao San, so your delicate fiancée won't faint from fright."

The group bypassed the crowd and entered the Prime Minister's residence through a side gate.

In the open space in front of the Prime Minister's residence, there were corpses covered with white cloths. Judging from their size, there were at least eight or ten of them.

Lord Zhao and the coroner were squatting there examining the body, while Wang Ruyan, still disheveled and with a blank stare, was holding Gu Changfeng and muttering to herself.

The King of Chu looked around and saw Gu Qingwan standing on the steps, frowning and covering her mouth.

"What exactly is going on?!" Gu Ziming had no choice but to ask Gu Qingwan and Gu Hanqing.

Gu Qingwan realized what was happening and saw that Gu Hanqing's face was pale. She sighed. After all, she was still young and couldn't stay calm when faced with a problem.

"Father, I have already sent someone to inform you. That's pretty much how things are..."

The King of Chu originally wanted to see what kind of murder case it was, but he was shocked when he saw it with his own eyes. He summoned Lord Zhao to question him.

"what happened?"

"Your Highness, recently someone reported missing. I investigated for a long time and found that the Prime Minister's residence was the place where I was. I did not dare to take any rash actions until the evidence pointed directly to the Prime Minister's residence before I came here."

"Then what about these corpses?"

"Upon our initial investigation, we unearthed eight female corpses from Gu Changfeng's courtyard, ranging in age from a forty-year-old woman to a ten-year-old child..."

Upon hearing this, the crowd of onlookers gasped in shock.

Xiao Yuheng frowned and said, "Lord Zhao, don't you know how to clean up the scene before you start a case? There are so many people watching now, it will affect the investigation."

"Your Highness, I have considered this issue, but there are too many commoners at the gate, and they are all staying at the gate without stepping inside. I do not know how to persuade them."

"Why not just have the soldiers drive them away? If this continues, the threshold of the Prime Minister's residence will be crushed, and it will be no different from a vegetable market!"

Although Xiao Yuheng was speaking to Lord Zhao, his eyes were on Gu Ziming. He was reminding Gu Ziming not to let things escalate to the point where everyone knew about them.

Gu Ziming understood and quickly ordered Batu to lead his men to close the gates of the Prime Minister's residence. However, the difficulty of closing the gates was unimaginable. The common people were all waiting to see the excitement, and no one wanted to be turned away like that. They knew that the excitement of the Gao family was not something that could be seen at will.

Although it was difficult, the gate was finally closed, and some curious people even peeked over the wall.

Gu Ziming had some reservations about the Prince of Chu and the Third Prince, but he had no reservations about these common people.

"I am, after all, an official of the imperial court. If anyone is afraid that I will be spying on my residence from the walls, and since Prefect Zhao of the Capital Prefecture is also here, I will have to accompany him to the Capital Prefecture!"

As soon as he finished speaking, those who were curious about the matter all left quietly by themselves. However, they did not climb over the wall to throw the arrows. The common people still gathered outside, discussing the matter, and did not leave.

"Ha, the Prime Minister is indeed quite the imposing figure," the King of Chu scoffed.

"Your Majesty..."

"No need to say anything more. The Third Prince is right. The scene must be cleared. All irrelevant people should be detained and not allowed to leave. Miss and Second Young Master, you should also go back."

Xiao Jingchen felt sorry for Gu Qingwan, thinking that she was a girl who had to see such a terrifying scene, and she would inevitably have nightmares at night. It seemed that he would have to come over tonight to keep her company, otherwise the girl would probably be too scared to sleep.

If Gu Qingwan knew that Xiao Jingchen had this idea, she would definitely roll her eyes at him.

After everyone had left, Gu Ziming said, "It's impossible for my household to have so many lives. Lord Zhao, you must investigate thoroughly and clear my name."

"This humble official is naturally aware of the seriousness of this matter and dares not act rashly. Your Highness, may I allow the witnesses to come in?"

The King of Chu's personal guards brought chairs to the entrance of the main room for the King and his entourage. The King of Chu sat down with great fanfare, and the Third Prince naturally followed suit.

After receiving the King of Chu's approval, two soldiers opened a crack in the gate from the inside and soon brought in an elderly couple.

“The people sitting up there are Prince Chu and the Third Prince. Now, speak,” said Lord Zhao.

"Your Highness, Third Prince, you must do me justice! A few days ago, my granddaughter came to the Prime Minister's residence with my husband to deliver vegetables, but she disappeared in no time. At the time, I just thought she was a child playing around and asked the people in the residence to help look for her. But the people who came said that the young lady of the residence had taken a fancy to my granddaughter. I originally thought that this child was very lucky to be chosen by the young lady of the Prime Minister's residence. She would definitely never have to worry about food and drink in the future. Waaah!"

As she spoke, the old woman began to cry.

The old man beside him continued, "Who knew that we wouldn't hear from her for days on end? We spent money to inquire, only to be told that my granddaughter wasn't with the young lady at all. Then someone else said that my granddaughter had already gone home and wasn't in the Prime Minister's residence. But we searched everywhere we could and asked everyone we could, but we just couldn't find my poor child's whereabouts..."

Gu Ziming frowned, remained silent for a while, and then said, "Old man, don't worry, go and see if your granddaughter is inside."

Lord Zhao never expected that Gu Ziming would personally handle this matter.

"Prime Minister Gu, I suggest you step aside for now. After all, this happened in your home. Even if you are not afraid of suspicion, you should avoid any appearance of impropriety."

The Third Prince added, "Prime Minister Gu, I believe you are innocent. Please stand aside and observe for now."

The elderly couple, supporting each other, found their granddaughter under the guidance of the constables. They immediately burst into tears, their cries nearly tearing a hole in the sky above the Prime Minister's residence.

The rest of the procedure was pretty much the same. People came in one after another to claim the bodies, and after they were claimed, they were all taken by the Prefect of Jingzhao to another courtyard to wait.

"Your Highness! We can decide your waistline! The Prime Minister's mansion demands an eye for an eye!"

All I could hear were the victim's family members crying, shouting, and cursing.

Xiao Yuheng remained silent, his heart heavy. Looking at the white cloth that had just been opened, he saw that the people inside had been tortured beyond recognition. If their loved ones hadn't come to claim them, they would probably have been wandering ghosts for the rest of their lives.

There were still a few unclaimed bodies left to claim.

"Prime Minister Gu, should we summon the steward of the manor to verify if this is someone from our household?"

Gu Ziming nodded with a dark face and asked Batu to call up an old woman. The old woman glanced at him and immediately screamed in fright.

Unsurprisingly, the remaining four bodies belong to the missing maids of the household.

"Your Highness, Third Prince, there are quite a few lives involved right now, I..."

"In my opinion, this is Prime Minister Gu's residence, not a place for hearing and investigating cases. Lord Zhao, why don't you take these pieces of evidence back first and proceed with the trial at another day?"

Lord Zhao clearly did not accept the Third Prince's opinion, and he looked at the King of Chu.

Xiao Jingchen thought that Gu Qingwan must have been involved in this whole affair, and since he had put in so much effort, he couldn't let her hard work go to waste.

"Lord Zhao is the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture. He has more experience than us. As long as he is fair, everything will be fine. The Emperor will take care of everything."

"I understand. Since this matter was found in the eldest young master's courtyard, then the eldest young master cannot escape responsibility."