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

Shen Lingxi walked to the front of the corpse, and said to Cui Jin, "Please stay away and let me change the clothes for the eldest princess."

The son-in-law has been immersed in a sad mood, as if he has never heard of it.

It was Eunuch Chang who came forward and persuaded him softly, then Cui Jin supported Eunuch Chang's hand in despair, stood up, said "I'm sorry" to Shen Lingxi, and left in a daze.

After he left, only Shen Lingxi was left in the room.

Shen Lingxi looked at Xue Tuan, "It's him?"

"Meow..." Xue Tuan rolled on the spot.

Shen Lingxi was thoughtful.

As far as she knows, there is no discord between the eldest princess and the queen mother, and it has always been a matter of well water and river water.

Why did Cui Jin go to kill Xuetuan?

How did he poison Xuetuan, and how did he hide Xuetuan's body in the ice cellar of the East Palace?

Now that the murderer has been found, but there is no evidence, who would believe it?

Did Yuzhu also kill him?

A series of questions kept flashing through Shen Lingxi's mind.

From last night until now, she has not found a chance to have a detailed discussion with Yuzhu alone.

"Xuetuan, go and find Yuzhu." Shen Lingxi said to Xuetuan, "I have something to ask him."

Xuetuan responded with a "meow", and turned to look for Yuzhu.

After Xue Tuan left, Shen Lingxi collected her thoughts, uncovered the yellow mounting paper covering the body, and began to repair the body.

This is the female assassin who died by Chu Yan's sword last night.

Shen Lingxi is a body mortuary, no matter what crimes the owner of the body had in his life, she would never do such things as "cutting out the bones and changing the face" on the body.

Fortunately, this female assassin's body shape and bone appearance are six to seven points similar to that of the eldest princess.

Shen Lingxi hastily painted the corpse last night, then smeared blood and messed up the forehead hair to cover up the unremarkable parts, and then greeted Mu Huai'an, looking for a trustworthy assistant to fool him.

Even the eldest princess didn't expect that the son-in-law would come back in a hurry.

The son-in-law is the closest person to the eldest princess, if you observe carefully, you will definitely notice something strange.

This is also the reason why Shen Lingxi would rush over again to personally bury the corpse.

She cleaned off the makeup on the corpse's face, and took out a newly made human skin mask from the box she carried with her, and carefully fitted it on the corpse's face, and then modified it, so that it would be convenient to restore the original face of the corpse in the future.

After a night, the body has become very stiff.

Shen Lingxi ordered someone to bring hot water, and alone softened the body inch by inch, and then changed into clean plain clothes.

The owner of the corpse was a martial artist, and his hands were slightly calloused, but the eldest princess was a pampered nobleman, and her hands were well maintained.

Shen Lingxi repaired those calluses one by one.

This is a flaw left by accident when he did not expect the son-in-law to come back last night.

Shen Lingxi thought that when she entered the house just now, the son-in-law had been holding the eldest princess's hand mournfully.

I couldn't help but feel a little curious in my heart, and I don't know if he found it.

As long as he has some sincerity towards the eldest princess in his heart, he should be able to sense it.

It took Shen Lingxi more than an hour to take care of the body to be exactly like the eldest princess herself.

For funeral ceremonies for Dukes of the third rank and above, each step has specific specifications.

At the time of a new funeral, new cotton should be placed on the mouth and nose to confirm whether the deceased is really dead or not, and whether there is any possibility of fake death.

Then there is the resurrection of the soul, calling the name of the deceased from a high place to the north, usually on the roof.

"Elder Princess" is violent death, only the second.

Then set up a bed in the room, move the deceased to the bed, drink wine and meat, and announce the obituary to relatives and friends.

Next comes the bathing: bathing and cleaning the corpse.

Attack: Change clothes for the dead, cover the face with white silk to cover the face, and set the ears with jade objects to plug the seven orifices, implying to prevent the true spirit from coming out of the body and Yuanyang from leaking out.It also has the meaning of "hanging beads to your ears, so that you don't make false listens."

Then, put pearls, jade and grains in the mouth of the deceased, which is called "rice containing". "From the first grade to the third grade, the beams are used for food, and the biscuits are used for shackles." It is hoped that the deceased can continue to enjoy the food and salary during their lifetime under the nine springs.

Bathing, eating and eating are the jobs that Shen Lingxi has been doing for more than a day.

Afterwards, the imperial envoys from the palace came to express their condolences, set up the flags and banners in front of the coffin, and so on. Only the next day can the small collection, hair collection, large collection, and coffin be carried out. These are all assigned by the Ministry of Rites. After completing these procedures, It is time to accept condolences from relatives, friends and officials from all walks of life.

Because the eldest princess is actually cheating her death this time, the emperor personally ordered her to keep the funeral secret, so the funeral will only be carried out to the process of putting her into the coffin, and she will be temporarily put on hold when she stays in the mourning hall.

While taking care of the corpse, Shen Lingxi was talking to Yuzhu who was called by Xuetuan.

"Is the person who killed you the son-in-law?" She asked straight to the point.

A complex look flashed in Yuzhu's eyes, "It's him, and it's not him."

"What do you mean?" Shen Lingxi raised her eyes in surprise.

Yu Zhu: "I thought it was him, but after following him for a few days, I realized that this matter is not that simple."

A flash of clarity flashed across Shen Lingxi's eyes.

With his status and ability as a consort, he might not be able to cover up people's eyes and ears in the imperial city and commit such things.

He must have help.

"What happened to the assassin last night?" Shen Lingxi asked again, "Is it sent by the son-in-law?"

Yuzhu shook her head, "He has been dormant on the village in the suburbs of Beijing in the name of offering sacrifices to his ancestors. The purpose is to avoid the turmoil in the capital. Once the eldest princess dies, the emperor will not take his anger on him. The assassination was not arranged by him. , but he is an informed person."

As an insider, it is tantamount to watching "beloved wife" die.

But he still had to put on such an affectionate look on his face.

This is very interesting.

"So, he's just a pawn, or in other words, just a dead ghost?" Shen Lingxi asked.

Yuzhu nodded, "At present, only from him can we know who is behind the scenes..."

*
At the same time, Cui Jin, who was helped by Eunuch Chang to rest in the East Wing, woke up from his sleep with his head propped up. He looked down at his hand and twirled his fingertips for some unknown reason.

"No, that's not right." He murmured suddenly.

Eunuch Chang was by his side, and raised his eyelids when he heard the words, "What's wrong with the son-in-law?"

"The hands are wrong." Cui Jinsu looked at him, and spit out the whole sentence a little stiffly, "The hands are very rough, it should not be her."

Cui Jin stumbled and ran to the room, Shen Lingxi had already arranged the remains of the corpse, and invited the servants waiting at the door to come in.

The newly appointed Lord Prefect Wang and Mu Huai'an were also among them.

The "Eldest Princess" was wearing a snow-colored dress and a tulle face, lying on the bed in the middle of the room,
Through the tulle, she can be seen radiant, as if asleep.

"It's not, princess, it's a fake!"

Cui Jin said to the magistrate and Mu Huai'an in grief and indignation: "It's fake!"

Prefect Wang and Mu Huai'an looked at each other.

Mu Huai'an knew it well, and pretended to be surprised and asked: "What's the meaning of this son-in-law? This is clearly the eldest princess, how can there be a mistake?"

Cui Jin frowned, pulled Eunuch Chang behind him, strode to the couch, grabbed the corpse's hand, pointed to the palm for him to see, "There are calluses, it's not her."

Eunuch Chang glanced at the palm of the corpse, it was white and clean, without even a thin callus.

Glancing at the face of the eldest princess again, he would not admit his mistake no matter what.

"My son-in-law, this is really the eldest princess." He said in embarrassment, "You are overly sad, you must have read it wrong."

Cui Jin lowered his head and touched the corpse's hand in disbelief.

Although it was cold and stiff, there were indeed no rough calluses.

A gleam of light flashed across his eyes, and he stretched out his hand to uncover the veil covering the face of "Eldest Princess"...

It took some time to check the information in this chapter, and it was even later, sorry.

The funeral ceremony part refers to some records about the funeral of princes and princesses in "Da Tang Kaiyuan Ceremony", "New Tang Book", "Xunzi, Li Lun" and "Zhou Li".

Tang rites are the main ones, pre-Qin and Han rites are more particular.