jdhmnovel Chapter 507: A Servant of the Left Minister's Mansion
Chapter 507: A Servant of the Left Minister's Mansion
"Ah, I always feel that Minister Zuo had the idea of letting my niece marry a rich businessman as a concubine. Maybe something else happened during this period. As for being defiled, I feel that there is a hidden story. Minister Zuo's family is not good to Li Miao. Although they don't beat or scold her at every turn, she can't get any good things because she is living under someone else's roof. She wears her cousin's old clothes and eats no better than the servants in the mansion. Before she entered the palace, I heard that she was treated like a servant by the people in the mansion. The hot spring villa is very expensive. Only the high-ranking officials in the capital or some wealthy merchants can afford it. With the attitude of Minister Zuo's family towards my niece, how could they let her go to the hot springs? Maybe this is all a conspiracy of Minister Zuo. As for forcing my niece to commit suicide, it might be to kill her and silence her."
She didn't have that many connections and couldn't find out the truth of the matter, otherwise she wouldn't have come to the Queen for help.
The Queen has many people at her disposal. I heard that even the Imperial City Bureau is now under the Queen's command.
There is nothing that the Imperial City Bureau cannot investigate.
[Damn, there really is something else going on here.]
[Ah, beast! How could there be something so inferior to beasts in this world?]
When Li Miao was originally sent to the palace, he was hoping to gain her favor, and then, by insinuating himself into the Emperor's favor, he could get him promoted. However, he also knew that entering the palace carried risks, and that one misstep could lead to death, especially since I was the daughter of a marquis, and the Imperial Concubine and several other concubines had very powerful backers. Therefore, he didn't dare send his daughter to the palace to help him advance his career, but he dared to send his niece. He knew that if Li Miao gained favor, he would benefit, but if she didn't, he wouldn't suffer any loss. If something happened to Li Miao in the palace, he could easily distance himself from the matter because she was his niece, not his biological daughter.
What the Left Minister hadn't expected was that even after Li Miao entered the palace, the Emperor could still expel her. He was cleverer than others, knowing that a woman expelled from the palace by the Emperor couldn't be dismissed casually. Besides, he had other uses for Li Miao, so he took her into his palace. After a while, when he felt the hype had died down, he thought of marrying her off to a wealthy businessman for money. That way, he could bribe his superiors and gain more influence in the court, thus achieving promotion and wealth. Who knew Wen Nuan would tell her about it, and she arranged for the Imperial Censor to impeach him? He was nearly frightened to death, but the Emperor didn't pursue the matter, which put his heart at ease.
However, this man never gave up on scheming for personal gain. After all, he had been in the position of Left Vice Minister for so long. His incompetence made it difficult for him to advance. He had to find some way to do so, otherwise relying solely on his own abilities would be impossible. Since the Emperor couldn't rely on him, he could only rely on himself. Perhaps currying favor with his superiors was also an option. So he thought of Minister Lin of the Ministry of Works. He had made inquiries and learned that Minister Lin was not only unmarried at such a young age, he didn't even have a concubine. He could place his niece by his side, so that he would be the only one, and with the help of Minister Lin, he might be able to climb to the position of Vice Minister.
[That is, is there a possibility that Minister Lin has no concubines in his mansion because he prefers men to women? Otherwise, at his age, if he liked women, he would probably have children. And with his looks, he would definitely have no shortage of women. Many beautiful women would flock to him.]
This Left Vice Minister has truly done a great deal of harm. He didn't get the full picture, only halfway through, and then he started arranging for people to find out Minister Lin's whereabouts. It just so happened that the housekeeper bribed the servants in Minister Lin's residence and learned that Minister Lin was going to the Hot Springs Villa on his day off. So he tricked Li Miao into going there and drugged her, thinking that once Minister Lin had put her to sleep, he could immediately take her back.
So he quietly sent someone to the room that Minister Lin had booked in advance, just waiting for Minister Lin to take the bait.
Minister Lin had arranged to go to the Hot Spring Villa with Xiao Cong, a Grand Secretary of the Hanlin Academy. However, they encountered an accident and their carriage broke down on the way. Although it was repaired in time, Xiao Cong was a little superstitious and thought the breakdown was a warning to them. He was afraid that if they continued on, something might happen. So he didn't want to go and wanted to turn back. Minister Lin, of course, spoiled his lover and didn't go to the Hot Spring Villa, but turned back instead.
[Let's not talk about the fact that Minister Lin has a loved one and wouldn't touch Li Miao no matter where she is. But Minister Lin and Xiao Cong never went there, so who defiled Li Miao? Also, I've heard about this hot spring villa. Except for the wealthy or high-ranking, ordinary people can't enter. Even if wealthy businessmen or officials want to soak in the hot springs, they have to make a reservation in advance, otherwise there won't be any rooms. And since the room was reserved by Minister Lin in advance, even if he doesn't go, the villa won't give it to anyone else. Doing so would be detrimental to their reputation and future business.]
Since only high-ranking officials and dignitaries can go there, they won't run around, or even break into Minister Lin's reserved room.
The only people who could enter were the staff or owner of the Hot Spring Villa, and Minister Lin's men. The staff at the Hot Spring Villa definitely knew Minister Lin wasn't there, and if the Li family wanted to send someone in, they would have to go through the staff at the Hot Spring Villa. The staff at the Hot Spring Villa definitely knew Minister Lin wasn't there, and there was no one in the room.
[Aside from the people from the Hot Spring Villa, the most likely candidates are the servants from Minister Lin's residence. Since these two aren't going, they must have arranged for someone to inform them in advance.]
Just at this moment, the mechanical sound of the system sounded in Gu Jianchu's mind.
【neither. 】
Gu Jianchu didn't expect that the people he guessed as possible murderers were not the ones who were responsible.
Who is that?
[It was the servant sent by the Left Minister to escort Li Miao. The Left Minister hadn't expected Minister Lin to be unable to come, so he drugged Li Miao in advance and specifically arranged for the servant who was escorting Li Miao to wait outside. If he saw Minister Lin and Li Miao together, he would send someone to inform him. The servant had been lingering at the entrance of the villa and accidentally overheard a conversation between Minister Lin's servant and the villa staff. He learned that Minister Lin's carriage had broken down along the way and he wouldn't be coming. However, canceling the reserved room would make it difficult for the hotel to do business, so Minister Lin offered to pay for a day's stay.]