All the ancestors in the capital begged me to be a substitute

Just at this time, an indifferent and cold voice came from the secret room, "Mr. Cheng, before the truth is found out, there is no need to be so anxious to convict your son."

It was Chu Yan's voice.

Shen Lingxi quickened her pace and walked into the secret room.

From the corner of her eyes, she could see that Chun Jun, who entered the room first, had already reached out to stop Mu Tiangang's raised hand.

And Chu Yan was standing aside with a clear expression.

He was wearing a nine-slit leather hat, a vermilion court dress embroidered with golden dragon patterns, and a jade belt around his waist. He obviously came directly from the palace.

Naturally, Mu Tiangang didn't dare to disobey the current prince's wishes, so he responded slowly, put down his hands with eyes full of pain, bowed to Chu Yan, walked to the stone bed, knelt in front of the old lady's body, and cried bitterly again.

The cries of the father and son echoed in the secret room.

Shen Lingxi's eyes quickly scanned the room.

The ancestor's body has been autopsyed by Wu, covered with a white cloth, and placed on the only stone bed for the time being.

On the bluestone floor tiles in the middle of the room, there was a large pool of scarlet and sticky blood, and a simple dagger was thrown in the pool of blood.

Shen Lingxi recognized at a glance that this dagger was the one that Mu Huai'an always carried on his body.

Judging from the traces, this pool of blood is where the ancestor died.

Mu Huaian sat slumped against the stone wall not far from the pool of blood.

Between his slender fingers, messy forehead hair, and the side of his thin face, there were bloodstains that dried up after being spattered by blood.

The peach blossom eyes that had been radiant in both directions were staring blankly at the pool of blood on the ground at this moment.

The whole person seems to have lost his soul.

Shen Lingxi's eyes swept across his face, and finally landed on those black clay tablets that seemed to be placed in a mess in the corner very close to him.

Those clay tablets were roughly arranged in the shape of a bull's head, and the position of the horns was pointing to the center of the room.

And in the middle of the room, there was a circle drawn with black charcoal, hidden in a pool of blood.

This is the same soul-locking circle as the secret room in Yunjiang Palace.

No wonder Xie Zhanghua and Xie Zhangting didn't come back all night.

It seems to be stuck here.

Seeing Shen Lingxi coming in, Chu Yan walked up to her and said in a low voice, "I asked them to keep nothing in this secret room except for the old lady's body, so that I can check it for you."

As he said, he looked at Mu Huai'an, and for the first time his deep eyes were stained with a little worry, "As for him..."

Shen Lingxi knew what Chu Yan was worried about.

Presumably he must have also guessed that this secret room is related to Wuerda.

Wu Erda escaped from the Yunjiang Palace on the front foot, and hid in the Wutong Garden of Duke Cheng'en Mansion on the back foot.

The relationship with the Mu family can be seen.

With Mu Huai'an's temperament, he would definitely not kill his grandmother.

If it really is Wuerda, use Zhu Youshu to control him and kill Mrs. Xie...

Even if Chu Yan can help Mu Huai'an get rid of the crime, Mu Huai'an will probably be infamous for killing his grandmother, and he will feel guilty and depressed since then.

This was by no means what Chu Yan and Shen Lingxi wanted to see.

Although Mu Huai'an was born in the Mu family, he had never done anything relying on the power of the Mu family.

He is the Shaoqing of Dali Temple who is upright and fearless, punishes evil and promotes good.

You shouldn't have to bear these things, and you shouldn't just disappear from the world.

"Your Highness need not worry."

Shen Lingxi said softly: "No matter how powerful Zhu Youshu is, he can't manipulate people at will and do things that go against his heart. Otherwise, Wuerda didn't need to spend a lot of time to use the death of his aunt to plant illusions on his mother-in-law. read……"

"I believe that Mu Shaoqing is only temporarily unable to remember the scene at that time, that's why it happened."

Although she said these words to Chu Yan, her eyes kept falling on Mu Huai'an's face.

Mu Huai'an's delicate and slumped eyes trembled slightly.

Shen Lingxi said pointedly: "Mu Shaoqing definitely understands in his heart that there are still many things that need him to do. He should cheer up soon."

These words made Mu Huai'an's dull and depressed expression a little bit more alive, and those eyes also rekindled a little bit of spirit.

Seeing this, Chu Yan withdrew his gaze from Mu Huai'an.

Seeing that Shen Lingxi was still looking at Mu Huaian——

Chu Yan pursed her lips, stretched out her hand very naturally, and lightly grabbed Shen Lingxi's two small hands, clasped them in his palms.

He frowned: "Why are your hands so cold? It's because they didn't prepare a hand stove in the carriage?"

Shen Lingxi had rushed over quickly, the early winter morning was so cold that it was inevitable that her hands would become numb.

"I came on horseback."

Shen Lingxi withdrew her gaze, shrunk her fingertips, and subconsciously wanted to withdraw her hand——

"There isn't even a charcoal fire in this secret room, so it's very cold." Chu Yan looked down at her, and said in a gentle voice: "After you have checked here and buried the old lady's body, hurry up. Bring it up and wait for you."

The warm warmth spread from his palm to Shen Lingxi's fingertips continuously, making her frozen fingers gradually warm up.

Shen Lingxi heard his words, which seemed to be expressing concern, but in fact, he was secretly telling her that he would take Mu Tiangang and his son away to facilitate her inspection of the scene.

She nodded sternly, and simply let him hold hands, urging secretly: "This place is very dark, it is indeed not the place for His Highness to come, Your Highness should go up earlier."

The words imply that he is here, which will prevent the dead soul from showing up.

Chu Yan didn't expect this level.

He was silent for a while, and then said, "If Mu Huai'an has been like this, you don't have to worry about him, I will let Chunjun stay with him."

Shen Lingxi nodded and said "OK".

Chu Yan felt that her cold little hand had warmed up, so she let go of her hand.

To the father and son who were still weeping in front of the old lady's stone bed, he said loudly, "Mr. Cheng'en, there are still some doubts in this case. You need to interrogate your servants. You can go up with the orphan so that the Crown Princess Embalm the old lady's body."

When Mu Tiangang heard the words, he realized that Shen Lingxi was also there.

Back in Yongtai Palace, when Shen Lingxi collected Mu Xue'e's body, he had personally seen her handiwork.

Today is different from the past, now Shen Lingxi has become the crown princess and the daughter-in-law of the royal family.

Mu Tiangang was naturally flattered to be able to condescend to embalm his old mother's corpse.

He and Mu Huaijie hurriedly stood up, wiped away their tears, and thanked Shen Lingxi, "Thank you, Crown Princess."

Shen Lingxi nodded slightly, and watched them leave with Chu Yan sideways.

Chun Jun wanted to stay, but seeing Shen Lingxi waving at him, he also retreated.

In the secret room, only Shen Lingxi and Mu Huai'an were left——
Shen Lingxi randomly walked to a corner and kicked away the black clay pieces.

In the black circle in the middle of the room, three soul shadows appeared instantly.

After Mrs. Xie was newly mourned, she was trapped in the soul-locking formation. She hadn't adapted to her own soul body yet, and her face was still blank.

It was not the first time that Xie Zhanghua and Xie Zhangting were locked into this formation. The moment they lost the shackles, they floated out of the circle impatiently.

Shen Lingxi winked at them, walked to the stone bed, and lifted the white cloth covering the ancestor's body.

What came into view was a deep bloodstain on the left side of the neck.

Using her finger as a ruler, she carefully compared the bloodstain, and carefully looked at the flesh at the edge of the bloodstain.

Then, go to check the old lady's bun and hands.

After checking these, Shen Lingxi has come to a conclusion.

She straightened up, looked past Mrs. Xie in the middle, and looked at Mu Huai'an who was leaning against the wall, and asked with a half-smile, "Have you ever examined the body of Mu Shaoqing, and you really think that the old ancestor was killed by you?" of?"

These words not only made Mu Huai'an raise his eyes for the first time, but also shocked the soul of Mrs. Xie in the middle of the room.

"When I woke up, my grandmother was lying in a pool of blood." Mu Huai'an closed his eyes, and said in a hoarse voice: "I was hit by Uerda's Zhu Youshu, and the dagger is in my hand. who is it?"

"No, it's not, it's not you." Madam Xie's dead soul floated in front of Mu Huai'an, and said anxiously to him: "Good boy, it's not you."

When she said these words, she found that her grandson couldn't hear her at all, so she couldn't help but look down at her feet.

The feet are dangling.

Only then did she realize that she had become a ghost.

Seeing this, Shen Lingxi twitched her lips.

This is a step that newly mourned souls will go through.

I never realized that I was dead, and then I didn't believe that I was dead, and finally accepted that I became a dead soul.

This acceptance process varies from person to person and can be long or short.

Shen Lingxi withdrew her gaze from her soul body, "Mu Shaoqing has handled so many cases, why did it fall on her, and lost her sense of proportion."

She said, waving to Mu Huai'an, "Come and see this wound."

Knowing what she said, Mu Huai'an must have discovered something strange.

He frowned slightly, stood up from the ground, and walked to the stone bed.

Shen Lingxi pointed to the wound on the side of the old lady's neck, "The scar starts from the left ear, the left side is slightly higher than the right side, and it's an oblique stab."

Using her hand as a knife, she imitated the movement of a dagger stabbing her neck, slashed towards the scar on her neck, and made a few gestures.

"If the deceased was homicide, the wound should be straight."

"If the murderer was taller than the deceased, the right side of the wound should also be higher than the left side."

She pointed to both ends of the scar, "Look at this again, the upper part is where the knife entered, with deep scars, and the lower part is where the knife came out, with shallow scars."

"With Shaoqing's skill, if you go down like this, the entry and exit of the sword should be clean and neat, and there will be no difference in depth."

"Shaoqing has been in contact with murder cases all year round. You should know that only those who kill themselves will be serious with their swords and light with their hands. These two ends of different shades are just like this."

She pointed to the old lady's neat bun: "The old ancestor must know what kind of crime you will bear in the future if you kill her. She loved you so much when she was alive, and she couldn't bear to let you fall to such a state. Seeing you being killed I wish you controlled by art, and you will definitely struggle.”

"But the ancestor's bun is not messy, which means that she did not struggle during her lifetime."

"Look at her hands. The right hand is in the shape of a fist. Take a closer look. Is the size of the fist about the same size as the handle of the dagger? Look at her left hand, but it is naturally flexed."

"The moment a person dies, the body will stiffen into the dying posture, which cannot be disguised after death. Therefore, the fisted posture of the right hand must be the way after the murderer pulled the dagger from the ancestor's hand."

"How could Shaoqing not know the common sense of autopsy?"

Mu Huaian's pupils shrank.

He read it carefully according to the details that Shen Lingxi pointed out.

"The scar on the neck can only be seen as an oblique stab." He asked suspiciously, "The depth of the scar on both sides is obviously the same. How can you tell that the knife is deep and the knife is shallow?"

Shen Lingxi smiled faintly, and pointed to the edge of the scar on the lower right, "Look at the flesh on the edge, it's a straight incision, not curled up. Look at the flesh from the upper wound, it's curled up."

"After a person dies, the skin and flesh are no longer tense, and the skin and flesh cut open after death will not shrink. Therefore, the place where the knife is drawn is the trace that was repaired for the second time after the death of the ancestors. The wounds appear to be of the same depth, to cover up the stab wounds of suicide."

Mu Huai'an stared intently.

Sure enough, as she said, the flesh at the scar was straight.

This is indeed a postmortem injury.

He stood up straight and said with a complex expression, "Even though my grandmother was not killed by me, she... died because of me. If I could hide in the dark and not be so anxious to catch Ur back, I wouldn't have hit Ur The answer is Zhu Youshu, maybe she won't die..."

His tone was full of heartache and self-blame, which made Mrs. Xie tremble.

"My child, this is all my own decision, regardless of your business!" The old lady said sadly, "You should know that even if you are not here, I, I have already decided to die. Only when I die can I keep my life." Only the Mu family can keep you!"

Hearing this, Shen Lingxi's eyes finally fell on the ancestor's soul body for the first time.

I don't know if it's because of the mourning over his death, or the anxiety over the condition of his own grandchildren.

At this moment, Mrs. Xie was in tears, unable to restrain herself.

However, there was no regret in her eyes.It was as if, a long time ago, she had already made the preparations to bear everything to the death once the incident happened.

Shen Lingxi frowned.

"Aunt." Xie Zhanghua at the side called her softly at the right time, "We haven't seen each other for many years, do you still remember us?"

Mrs. Xie burst into tears when she heard this voice.

She turned her head in disbelief, and saw her two nieces, who had been dead for more than ten years, standing "alive" in front of her.

"Zhang Hua? Zhang Ting? You...how did you..."

Xie Zhanghua's eyes were filled with tears, he looked at her and said, "Aunt, after Wu Erda killed me, he locked my soul in Yongtai Palace, and I was able to escape a few days ago. Last night, you said in the secret room I have heard what you said...can you tell me why you...killed me in the first place?"

"No, I didn't kill you." Mrs. Xie staggered back a few steps, "I didn't kill you, I never meant to kill you."

"It was Wu Erda, he killed you. His master wanted to join forces with the Mu family, so he did this to you."

"I didn't want to kill you, you are my niece, how could I have the heart to kill you."

People tend to be like this.

Once guilty, he will say a lot of things to prove that he is right.

But most of the time, the more you talk, the more flaws you will have.

Shen Lingxi leaned against the stone bed, looked at Mrs. Xie's soul quietly, and asked coolly: "Since she is your niece, you should hate the murderer who killed her so deeply. When the murderer is in danger, hide him in this secret room?"

"You didn't kill people, so why did you choose to commit suicide to protect the Mu family?"

"Now that you are dead, Mu Shaoqing has the reputation of killing your grandmother. After you died, Wu Erda intentionally set up this kind of murder scene to frame Mu Shaoqing. Guess he wants to help you keep Mu's family. Or do you want to destroy the Mu family?"