Chapter 7 — Crown Prince Concubine Sweet Mouth

I scooped him a bowl of porridge again:

“Furthermore, if your highness is like my concubine, you can get away with just a plate of breakfast, so why do they need to waste eighty thousand food stones and three thousand sets of armor?”

He closed his eyes when I talked to him, not knowing if he was angry or wanted to laugh. A moment later, he finally raised the bowl of porridge. I breathed a sigh of relief and helped him pick out old letters from the coal pot. Most of them were military reports and response letters. Tieu Thua Canh while eating and watching, suddenly pulled out a letter announcing victory at the northern border from three years ago:

“This letter is incorrect.”

I stopped to look. This is the reward decree he wrote to the general of the northern border three years ago. The main part is fine, but the end of the letter is missing a page. Tieu Thua Canh said:

"That page is a list of soldiers who died in battle, written down by her hand. The word 'Canh' signed is also on that page."

“Think about it, Your Highness, who has ever touched it?”

"That year, the Ministry of Military Affairs copied a part, the Ministry of Rites stored a part, and the East Palace kept a part. The records of the East Palace were always maintained by Chiem Su Palace."

There are not many people who can come into contact with old records of the Eastern Palace. Tieu Thua Canh summoned several officials of Chiem Su Palace to come and interrogate him one by one. They all panicked. Some people rushed to prove their innocence, others knelt down and complained right on the spot. Only the youngest son Tong Van, who was in charge of dispatches, remained extremely calm. He said old records are inventoried every year and have never been lost. The missing page was probably lost by a translator at the northern border three years ago, and is unlikely to be related to this case. He also advised Tieu Thua Canh that if the evidence was difficult to overthrow, it would be best to confess to the emperor first and save his life before thinking about the future. After listening, I looked at him one more time. Waiting for everyone to leave, I asked Tieu Thua Canh:

“Does Lord Tong have a grudge against His Highness?”

“No.”

“He worked at Chiem Su Palace for seven years, acted carefully, and never made a mistake.”

"That's why it's strange."

“Somewhere strange?”

"The others were all afraid that His Highness would die, only he was afraid that His Highness would not admit his guilt. He had not yet been taken to Dai Ly Temple, but he had already completed the confession on behalf of His Highness."

Tieu Thua Canh's eyes immediately became gloomy. I don't understand politics, but I understand how to please others. To please someone, you must first know what that person wants. The opposite logic is the same. No matter how many noble words a person says, the thing he is most anxious to do is the thing he truly desires. On the outside, Tong Van said he wanted to protect the Crown Prince's life, but in reality, every sentence urged him to confess to treason. Tieu Thua Canh immediately ordered his confidant to secretly investigate Tong Van. In less than an hour, he found out that his only son had been seriously ill three years ago, and searched all over the capital for famous doctors. After recovering from his illness, the Tong family suddenly bought two more manors in the south of the city, the source of the money is unclear. The royal physician who treated his son was recommended by Second Prince Tieu Thua Du's uncle. Tieu Thua Canh quickly wrote a few secret letters and sent someone through the secret passage of the East Palace to bring them out. When he lowered his pen, his right wrist was indeed slightly swollen tremble. I reached out my hand to hold his wrist:

"Does it hurt? Do I need medical advice?"

“Old wound, nothing to worry about.”

"Then I can't continue writing. If your highness is more seriously injured, I can only write for you. At that time, the civil and military official will discover that the writing on the Eastern Palace military orders has suddenly become worse, making it easier to distinguish the real from the fake."

Tieu Thua Canh held the paper tightly:

“No need.”

"Your Highness really knows how to take care of the overall situation. I'd rather bear the pain myself, but I don't want the Eastern Palace to lose face."

Tieu Thua Canh's pen tip shifted to the side, a drop of ink fell onto the paper. I point to the drop of ink:

"Look at it. Real handwriting is always a little imperfect. That fake one is so clean, you can tell at a glance that it doesn't have any human scent."

Tieu Thua Canh raised his eyes and looked at me. The color of his eyes under the light is strangely deep:

“Khuong Bao Chau, if I can go out, I will agree with you on one thing.”

My eyes light up:

“So from now on, your highness must eat on time every day.”

It seemed he didn't expect me to make this request, so he was silent for a moment:

“Don't you have anything else you want?”

“Yes. Every day you have to sleep half an hour earlier.”

“…”

Tieu Thua Canh withdrew his hand and continued to write letters, refusing to pay attention to me anymore. ## 8 On the other side, my father finally came up with a way to get the three companies to act together. Dai Ly himself was good at interrogating witnesses. The department is good at checking records. The Royal Palace is good at finding mistakes. The three places usually disagree with each other. Everyone is afraid of others taking credit, and even more afraid of making mistakes and having to bear the responsibility themselves. My father summoned them to the same place, first giving each of them a high hat. He said to Dai Ly himself:

“There are many witnesses in this case. If it weren't for someone with sharp eyes and seeing every detail like you, I'm afraid it wouldn't be possible to interrogate them.”

Again, he told the Minister of Justice:

“Military orders over the years are as numerous as the ocean, only the Penal Department understands the laws and old sentences the best.”

Then tell the Middle School Teacher:

"This case involves the reserve army. If there is no one to supervise, it will be difficult for people to believe. The officer is impartial, so he should be in charge of the overall inspection."

All three people feel that they are the most important. After sitting down, they waited for my father to announce who would lead the case. My father raised his cup of tea:

“If you three are indispensable, then you three should lead the case together, and supervise each other at the same time.”

It was the first time the three people heard someone talking and supervising each other so smoothly, and for a moment they couldn't find a way to refute. My father divided the work again. Dai Ly himself interrogated the mandarin escorting the food. Picture of the old file checker. Ngu history station specializes in finding errors in the remaining two places. At the same time, Dai Ly Tu can also investigate whether Ngu Su Dai is biased or not.