On the fourth day since the sale of coal began, Sheriff Xie came to the coal shop in person and found the shopkeeper.
"Go and invite the little princess and Prince Wu to the government office in Chang'an County right away. A fool came to report that his whole family had died from coal poisoning, and only he survived by a lucky chance."
"The words of a fool? How can we believe them?"
The shopkeeper was completely dumbfounded when he heard this. Was it coming so soon?
It had just started selling!
Sheriff Xie said helplessly, "There are ten corpses of that family lying there. The coroner examined the bodies and found that they had indeed died from coal poisoning. That's why I was sent to find someone."
"What kind of things are these!" The shopkeeper gritted his teeth. "Are the Yang family members acting so quickly?"
"What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and send someone to the mansion to call them! For the little princess, go to Lieutenant Duan Jia. Ask her to take you into the imperial city to meet the princess and tell the princess everything that just happened in detail!"
"Yes!"
At the shopkeeper's order, several apprentices quickly set off.
In less than an hour, Li Ke, Li Jingyun, and even Li You and Li Yin, who came just to watch the fun, all arrived.
The government office in Chang'an County suddenly became extremely bustling.
"Your Highnesses, this is what Liu San just said. Please take a look." County Magistrate Wang Zhihe was also an old acquaintance of Li Jingyun.
It was in this court that Cui Xian was sentenced back then.
They took the paper and read it word by word. It was indeed that meaning, and every word and sentence pointed at them.
Liu San was kneeling beside them. His shabby clothes, bare feet that were almost numb from the cold, and his hands full of chilblains showed that he was not used to the warm court. It was hard to tell his age, but it said on the confession that he was eleven years old.
At just eleven years old, he looked so haggard.
Liu San timidly looked at them and was locked in a corner. Even his kneeling posture in front of Wang Zhihe was not standard. He was more like lying on the ground. Li Jingyun touched the ground and felt it was warm. They were using under - floor heating.
Li Jingyun's head was buzzing. Then she saw that someone had carried out the ten corpses.
She walked over and lifted a white cloth. The face underneath looked a bit familiar.
Wang Zhihe said softly, "Your Highness, these are the eleven members of the Liu family. All of them are dead except for this Liu San who survived by a lucky chance."
"The Liu family? Liu Laosan!"
Li Jingyun quickly remembered the family that Wu Meiniang had mentioned to her that day.
"Yes, yes, it's exactly their family. Your Highness still remembers?" Wang Zhihe nodded repeatedly.
Later, Li Ke, who had been silent all this time, supported Li Jingyun, who staggered and almost fell to the ground, and said in a deep voice, "This matter came too quickly. I've only sold the coal for four days. It's obvious that we've been framed. Magistrate Wang, shouldn't you order a thorough investigation?"
Wang Zhihe agreed, "Of course. This matter is of great importance, and we must investigate it to the end."
This involved two high - ranking princes!
Needless to say how favored and valued the little princess was, and the same was true for Prince Wu.
However, as an official in the court, he didn't quite understand some things.
Prince Wu's mother, Princess Yang, who was the daughter of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, also came from the Hongnong Yang family. Why was the Yang family so eager to undermine Prince Wu?
Yes, regarding this matter, he also suspected the Yang family. This matter was too coincidental not to arouse suspicion.
There was another thing. At that time, the little princess chose to let Prince Wu handle the sale of coal. It was said that she had even used all her wits and means to discuss it with Prince Wu and offered extremely generous benefits. Did she also think of the connection between Prince Wu and the Yang family, so she made this choice?
Li Jingyun had just got out of bed and was in high spirits. After seeing Liu Laosan's corpse, she was about to lift another white cloth when Li You stopped her. "Hongxuan, dead people are so inauspicious. Don't look anymore. What if you have nightmares tonight?"
"Nightmares? Then Lieutenant Duan can guard in front of my door tonight. Just like General Qin and General Yuchi guarding in front of Father's door." Li Jingyun said playfully, but her hands didn't stop.
She rubbed the space between her eyebrows, and her mind was full of mixed feelings.
This matter came so coincidentally that everyone guessed that it was a conspiracy of the Yang family. The Zheng family might also be involved.
They caused a death toll and then made a big deal out of it, saying that the immortal's stove was just a useless decoration and that the harm of using coal was still very high.
Thus, they wanted to stop their coal - selling business.
But there was a possibility that she didn't even dare to think about. What if the Yang family didn't do it?
Then she really could only blame everything on God.
Did God not allow them to sell coal?
Everything had to rely on investigation, a thorough one.
Sheriff Xie stepped forward, saluted, and said, "Yes, sir. We will definitely seek justice for these ten members of the Liu family."
"Good. Sheriff Xie, I still trust you very much." Wang Zhihe stroked his big belly and smiled.
Li Jingyun held her third brother's hand with her left hand and her sixth brother's with her right hand. Behind her were her fifth brother, Duan Jia, Chamberlain Feng, and Manjing. A large group of people walked out of the government office in a grand manner.
No one said a word. It was very quiet.
Li You couldn't stand it anymore. "Let's discuss a countermeasure. How about finding a restaurant? I'll call a few beautiful dancers over to help you relax."
"Fifth brother, how can we have that kind of mood now?" Li Yin was too tired to complain. Couldn't this guy think about something else?
Li Jingyun said, "I'll go with Sheriff Xie to the Liu family's old house later. Third brother, do you want to come with me?"
"I'm afraid not. I'm worried that some people will cause chaos during this period and spread rumors wantonly, which will be bad for our coal - selling business. I have to go back. Hongxuan, you must pay attention to your safety."
After much consideration, Li Ke finally declined Li Jingyun's invitation.
He was extremely anxious now. He didn't even have the mood to sit down and have evening tea. He wished he could drag Yang Yuzhi and his brothers in front of him and beat them severely until they admitted that they were the ones who had caused the deaths of the ten people in the Liu family and that everything was done to stop the coal - selling business.
At this time, Sheriff Xie appeared with the yamen runners.
"Okay." Li Jingyun replied crisply. "Fifth brother, sixth brother, I have to go now. Farewell."
"Okay, Hongxuan, go ahead! Pay attention to your safety!"
Li Ke grabbed Li You, who still wanted to cause trouble, and told his younger sister.
Although his fifth brother was much closer to them than before, the bad habits he had developed before still remained. He was worried that his fifth brother would ruin Hongxuan's business if he went there.
It was better for him to take his fifth brother to play.
"Fifth brother, there's an extremely beautiful fox in my mansion. Do you want to go and have a look?"
"This! Of course I do!"
Li You didn't even think about it. As soon as he heard this, his eyes shone with excitement. He followed Li Yin to the prince's mansion excitedly, only to find that it was just a well - fed and plump male fox!
At this time, Li Jingyun and Sheriff Xie rode their horses to the remote old house of the Liu family.
Sheriff Xie rode a horse alone. For Li Jingyun, Duan Jia was in front, and Li Jingyun sat behind her. This journey took nearly an hour.