amaotonovel Chapter 1119 Investigation 2
Chapter 1119 Investigation 2
Zhang Qian couldn't guess what Empress Jiang was planning next. It seemed that the news about the Living Buddha Temple had spread, and many people had come to the temple.
If they really can't find any other evidence or get anything out of the interrogation, they'll have to release Pudu and the others; there's no point in them coming all this way.
Jiang Fenghua went straight back to her room and never came out again.
Four hours later, all the bones buried on the back mountain were dug up and carried to the front of the temple gate, a sight that made people's scalps tingle and sigh with emotion.
Ao Xue presented Jiang Fenghua with a stack of interrogation records. “No one admits that the skeletons on the back mountain are related to them. They all say they don’t know. They won’t admit it unless they find evidence in the temple. Pudu also keeps saying he doesn’t know. During this time, Prefect Wu didn’t approach Pudu. It seems they really don’t know him.”
Jiang Fenghua had been copying scriptures for three hours straight. She said, "Hongxiu, take these copied scriptures to the altar in front of the temple and burn them!"
Hongxiu had actually already burned a whole stack of them.
Jiang Fenghua put down her pen and rubbed her aching fingers. "Are there more and more people outside? Who called these people here?"
“Yes.” Ao Xue continued, “It’s even like a temple fair, with people setting up stalls and doing business. Even after a murder, people still come to do business. I don’t know what these people are thinking, why they would set up stalls and do business.”
“The people of Jiangzhou are quite quick-witted. The case won’t be solved anytime soon, but everyone still needs to eat and drink! Making money should be quite easy right now,” Jiang Fenghua said.
Ao Xue said, "Who could possibly eat when faced with a pile of bones? It's terrifying to even think about."
Jiang Fenghua thought to herself: That's right! Who can eat in peace? Ordinary people would be scared to death.
“Your Majesty, why don’t you interrogate Hu San directly? He’s the one who came to Your Majesty to file a complaint. He’s not from Plum Blossom Village, yet he knows about the Golden Toad murder in Plum Blossom Village. He must know something else, but we haven’t found anything yet. Is there really a secret here?” Ao Xue added, “Our people have been keeping an eye on Wu Yirong. We don’t know if he’s pretending or if he really doesn’t know anything. He’s really good at keeping his composure.”
“We were being watched as soon as we returned from Xichuan,” Jiang Fenghua added. “And it wasn’t just one group of people who knew our whereabouts.”
"Who is it?" Ao Xue asked.
“I don’t know yet,” Jiang Fenghua replied very seriously. “Maybe we should also take a look at the stalls outside the temple.”
Just then, a sound came from outside Jiang Fenghua's room. Aoxue opened the door and saw a piece of paper with a drawing on it. Aoxue was stunned after seeing it.
She said, "Your Majesty...look quickly."
"What happened..." Jiang Fenghua also hurriedly went out.
The drawing on the door was clearly a topographical map of the Living Buddha Temple, with the focus of the drawing on the direction of the Buddha Hall. The word "foolish" was written next to it, and there was even a mocking and sarcastic expression drawn on it.
Jiang Fenghua was stunned after seeing it. She reached out, peeled off the paper, and smelled it. "It's rice paste, from the direction of the kitchen."
“Aoxue, let’s split up and look for who has rice paste on their hands.”
The temple was now mostly populated by soldiers, so it wasn't easy to find the person who posted the map. She searched around but couldn't find anyone suspicious, but she was certain that this person must have disguised himself as a government official and sneaked in.
Because the monks were all under control.
Ao Xue said, "I asked the hidden guards, and they didn't find anyone suspicious either."
"To be able to evade the hidden guards and know our movements in the Living Buddha Temple, it seems that the other side has been watching us all along."
Xun Yao arrived after receiving the news. "Your Majesty, what happened?"
"It's nothing." She simply handed the blueprints in her hand to Xun Yao.
Ao Xue briefly explained what had happened. Xun Yao was astonished that someone could sneak in right under his nose and escape successfully; it was practically mocking them.
Xun Yao was dumbfounded when he saw the disdainful expression on the blueprint: "This subordinate thought of searching the temple again to see if there were any hidden mechanisms or secret doors. It was all my dereliction of duty. Fortunately, Your Majesty is safe and sound."
If anyone succeeds in assassinating the Queen, he truly deserves to die.
"They were just reminding us that the evidence of the Living Buddha Temple's crimes was in the direction of the Buddha Hall. They didn't intend to harm me, so you don't need to be nervous." She was also becoming more and more interested in who else was watching her besides the Yuezhi clan.
Jiang Fenghua added, "Let's not wait any longer. Follow the clues on the map and find out the evidence of the Living Buddha Temple's crimes. Make a big fuss and give all the money to the Northwest for military expenses."
The Living Buddha Temple has long been a black market temple. People will die for money, just as birds will die for food. They use monks as a cover, which can only mean they are willing to take risks for money.
Jiang Fenghua carefully put away the blueprints before going out to see what was going on. The kind person who had given her the blueprints was probably among the onlookers.
The people outside the temple became interested when they finally saw some activity. They knew the empress was in the temple, but they didn't know which one it was. They just imagined that the empress must be dressed in gorgeous clothes, wearing a phoenix crown, and looking elegant and noble...
This time, Xun Yao dared not stray too far from Jiang Fenghua. With so many people around, if something happened to the Empress, he wouldn't have enough heads to chop off.
This time, Zhang Qian got to enjoy himself. When he had the Buddha statues in the temple smashed open, countless gold, silver and jewelry were revealed inside.
Zhang Qian had never seen so much money before. He was dumbfounded. Even if officials were to embezzle and accept bribes, they wouldn't have this much!
"Who would have thought that these Bodhisattvas were actually large money jars used to store wealth?"
"Everyone says that temples are poor and monks are compassionate, but it turns out they are so rich."
"They even have women's jewelry. How many people have been harmed by this to steal so much jewelry?"
"How did they hide this money...?"
"There's a hole above our heads. Lord Zhang just had someone climb up to check it out."
There was a lot of talking both inside and outside the temple...
Just then, a pool of dark red liquid suddenly flowed out from the back wall of the smashed Buddha statue, emitting a strong smell of blood. As the cracks widened, even scattered white bones fell from the wall, some old and some new. Most terrifyingly, each bone had a hole in its chest area.
It felt like my heart had been hollowed out.
After examining the patient, one of the officers exclaimed in shock, "There is no heart."
"There's a hidden door here!" someone else shouted. "Who would build a hidden door behind a Buddha statue...?"
Just as the officers and soldiers were about to open the hidden door, Jiang Fenghua quickly stopped them, saying, "Leave here, don't go in."
But it was too late.
The soldiers had already pushed open the hidden door, but in the blink of an eye, they inexplicably lost both of their eyeballs. Soon after, they collapsed and died of poisoning.
Jiang Fenghua said sternly, "Everyone, step back."
She knew at a glance that there was a golden toad hidden in the secret door. Yue Anying's golden toad had already been locked in an iron cage and secretly sent away, so it couldn't be the red-eyed toad inside.
So there's a secret hidden inside the broken-open door.