On the second day after leaving Beijing
, Li Qingwu went to the Criminal Department under an umbrella and took over the two cases as Qiu Che said.
She acts as regent in the name of a princess, and naturally many people are dissatisfied with this.
However, there is the example of Qiu Che, the female consort, who has not yet reconciled with the princess, and does not seem to intend to divorce, so the rumors have not yet fallen on her.
Li Qingwu didn't care about anything else and only focused on investigating her case.
There are no clues in Yuan Fu's case - they had previously speculated that the emperor was behind the show, but there were still some doubts.
If the emperor wanted to beat Qiu Che, then when Yuan Fu went to the execution ground, Qiu Che had clearly not yet made a name for himself and did not pose much of a threat to the emperor.
The beheading order was given by the emperor himself. If he personally rescued the other party, Yuan Fu would not be able to say a "beneficiary".
This only shows that the emperor may not be the ultimate mastermind.
Maybe he just happened to feel that Qiu Che and Li Qingwu were becoming more and more disobedient to discipline, maybe he just happened to find out that Yuan Fu was not dead... maybe he was just following the trend.
But with him involved, it would be extremely difficult for them to follow the clues and find out who was behind the scenes.
Because Li Shi would not let them continue the investigation to avoid being held accountable, he would definitely do everything possible to interfere with their judgment.
When Li Qingwu said this, he looked at each other with Qiu Che.
Qiu Che twitched the corners of his lips: "I even doubt that 'he' has even guessed this step."
As for the Qiu family's case - the woman had already entered the red sleeve trick and became a dancer, but she was just He shook his head ambiguously, saying that he had misjudged the person, and did not admit that someone was behind the instigation.
Qiu Che only felt that she was sad.
She couldn't find anything here, so Li Qingwu put these two matters aside and turned to the case of the Qiu family virgin.
Although Qiu Chudong had admitted his crime amidst the public outrage, he still refused to explain where the bones of the girls in Qiu's backyard were.
He had already been sentenced to death, but he was still so stubborn. There was only one possibility -
outsiders were definitely involved in the transfer of the virgin's body. And seeing that Qiu Chudong could not be saved, that person once again coerced and lured him, and reached an agreement with him on certain conditions. consensus.
Qiu Zhe, however, didn't know anything about it. He only cried and complained that he was wronged, and shouted for the Crown Prince to come and save him, so that he could look good to them.
Little did he know that because of the recent turmoil, the prince had not been out of his residence for a long time.
Let alone come to save him.
Qiu Che always felt that he was holding back some big move. After all, this silent method was not like the prince's usual straightforward and stupid style.
But she had no time to care about it right now.
Unable to get an answer from Qiu Chudong and his son, Li Qingwu hit it off with Qiu Che and turned his attention to Mrs. Liu.
Qiu Chudong refused to tell, Qiu Zhe didn't know, but what about Mrs. Liu?
Qiu Che's senses have always been quite complex towards this royal wife.
She couldn't hate the other person, nor could she say she had any affection for her.
Because she had been in prison with Qiu Zhe and his son for a long time, she had a sallow complexion and was almost out of shape. She looked even more haggard than Qiu Zhe and his son.
When she saw Qiu Che and Li Qingwu sitting side by side, she was slightly startled, and a complicated light flashed in her eyes.
"A commoner woman... has met Her Royal Highness the eldest princess."
"Mrs. Liu," Li Qingwu nodded, motioning for her to get up, and said gently, "People of the Ming Dynasty don't tell secrets. In fact, the reason why I invite you here this time is for the sake of the virgin of the Qiu family. Case. I wonder if you know about it?"
Mrs. Liu paused slightly.
"The civilian woman... knows about it."
It could be seen that both parties were a little stunned by each other's frankness. Li Qingwu quickly recovered and his tone became gentler: "Then do you know where the bones of those virgins were hidden? Who are they? Hidden?"
Seeing Mrs. Liu's silence, Li Qingwu thought for a moment and glanced at Qiu Che.
Qiu Che smiled and looked back:
Just make the decision, you don't need to ask my opinion.
Li Qingwu understood.
She composed herself, and when she turned back, her eyes became firm, "If you are willing to speak out, it will be a great achievement. I will make it clear to Your Majesty and request that you be spared the pain of exile and be separated from the ancestral home of the Qiu family."
" Wherever you go from now on is up to you - what do you think?"
Qiu Che has now left his ancestral home, so although his surname is still Qiu, he has nothing to do with the Qiu family.
To be fair, Mrs. Liu has never done anything to be sorry for their mother and son. Even in this repressive dynasty, she is also one of the victims of this system of male superiority and female inferiority.
Qiu Che knew that Li Qingwu and her wanted to go together.
But unexpectedly, after being silent for a long time, Mrs. Liu knelt down again: "If the civilian woman told me, could Your Highness let my son Qiu Zhe go?"
Li Qingwu's eyes turned cold.
Qiu Che also laughed and turned his head.
Mrs. Liu didn't hear the answer for a long time, but she seemed to have understood it. She didn't show any unwillingness or anger. She smiled bitterly and said, "That's not necessary." "
What's not necessary?" "
There's no need to bother Her Majesty the Princess to plead for the common woman. ," Mrs. Liu kowtowed, "A commoner woman can say what she needs to say, but there is no need to intercede for me."
"If my son is gone, what's the point of me still being alive?" Mrs. Liu murmured. "A Heli woman has nothing without her husband and son."
She closed her eyes and said softly, "Why don't you ask Your Highness to let me go with my son Qiuzhe?"
Qiu Che could tell that she stopped mocking and wasn't joking.
She really meant it.
Mrs. Liu is already old. She came out of prison with nothing, unable to do anything and unable to survive.
For her, who has always accepted the idea of "marrying a chicken, following the chicken, marrying a dog, following the dog", it would be better to die happily.
Li Qingwu looked at her for a moment and said, "As long as you don't regret it, that's fine."
Mrs. Liu showed a tired and relieved smile and kowtowed to her again.
Then he glanced at Qiu Che next to him: "Qiu... Before the Lord was imprisoned, a civilian woman once saw that someone came to my master quietly and entered through the back door."
"Who is it?"
"He is dressed as a guard, but he is not " He is from my house."
"What does he look like?"
"He wears a bamboo hat and is tall. I don't remember anything else." Mrs. Liu said, "That night, the woman got up and saw him with a few people.
"You don't think it's strange?" "Of course there is," Mrs. Liu said slowly .
"The next day I told my master and asked him what he was doing, and he suddenly got angry and scolded me. It was time to get up at night... Finally, he told me to leave it alone, saying it was not something I should know. "
"Then what?"
"I felt strange, but didn't think much about it. Later I heard about the virgin case... and then I realized that they were there that night. What are you digging for?"
Qiu Che thought thoughtfully.
It seemed that it was indeed what she thought. Recalling this timeline, the other party had already planned this big drama when she was kicked out of the princess mansion in autumn and early winter.
But Qiu Chudong wanted Qiu Che to suffer a big loss, and knew that her methods were not something she could resist.
The purpose of the person behind the scenes is unknown.
But if they guessed correctly, they probably didn't expect that Qiu Che would directly self-destruct to prove his innocence by injuring the enemy by one thousand and damaging himself by eight hundred.
"The last question," Qiu Che asked this time, "Why do you want to say it?"
Madam Liu tightened her grip on the rag-like hem of her clothes.
It only took one night to go from Mrs. Liu, who was well-dressed and well-fed, to a prisoner who was shouted at by everyone.
How could she accept her fate so quickly and reveal all the secrets of autumn and early winter?
Just when Qiu Che thought she wouldn't answer anymore, two government officials stepped forward, grabbed her from the ground and took her away.
Her soft voice floated in the wind: "...I also had a daughter."
She always thought that the daughter was stillborn at birth, and she was sad for a long time.
It was not until after he was imprisoned that he learned about this shocking virgin case from a chatting government officer.
She had served her murderous enemy for more than ten years sincerely, and she even became jealous of other women because of such a man, becoming more and more bitter and mean.
In the end, it turns out that the person who lost miserably and became the biggest joke was herself.
The day before Qiu Che left, Yang Qiu held a banquet in Linglong Pavilion to see them off.
Anyway, he was used to whatever decisions Qiu Che made, and he had no objection to Qiu Che's sudden decision to lead troops north.
...It may be that the impact of Yaotai's departure on him has not yet recovered.
The two of them were silent during the meal. While thinking about the deceased Yaotai and the turbulent court, Qiu Che was thinking about the upcoming separation from Li Qingwu and the long journey to the north.
Only Wu Yiqi was carefree and ate happily.
When walking out of Linglong Pavilion, Yang Qiu suddenly stopped and said, "There are new books in Linglong Pavilion today. Why don't you listen to one before leaving."
Qiu Che was silent: "No."
"Haven't you read the story book? ? When a person wants to do something dangerous, he must not fulfill all his wishes, otherwise he will never come back. "
Yang Qiu had a strange expression for a moment, as if he couldn't laugh or cry.
"Waiting for my triumphant return, there will be plenty of time to listen to the opera."
Qiu Che really wanted to postpone it until the funeral in Yaotai passed, but unfortunately the soldiers on the frontier couldn't wait.
As soon as the news of the war spread, conscription became inevitable. The capital city was also gloomy and turbulent these days.
Qiuche then took the initiative to appeal and requested that the conditions for conscription be relaxed so that women of appropriate age could join the army.
As soon as this memorial came out, even though they knew Qiu Che's talkative fighting ability was beyond the limit, the courtiers couldn't help it and objected one after another, angrily scolding her for being nonsense.
Just because Qiu Che has martial arts skills, it doesn't mean that other women also have her skills.
Isn't it nonsense to let women go to war?
This time Qiu Che allowed them to ridicule him without even a word of rebuttal, but he always stood firm in his suggestions.
Li Shi had a headache from the noise and was afraid that she would cause trouble again, so he finally agreed.
But even Yang Qiu felt that her decision was a bit impulsive:
after all, women couldn't keep up with the physical strength, and it might not be possible to travel long distances north.
But to everyone's surprise, two days after the news of the conscription came out, more than two to three hundred people came to sign up one after another. Excluding the old, weak, sick and disabled, there were actually two to three hundred people.
Some of them have practiced martial arts since childhood and are very interested in this aspect, some have admired Qiu Che for a long time, and some want to serve their country...
Qiu Che quickly eliminated some of the two or three hundred women who were really weak in physical strength. Immediately, a nascent women's army was formed.
Li Qingwu deliberately stayed up late to write the case file, just to see the Qiu family being taken to the execution ground before she left.
On the day she left, at dawn, both Li Qingwu and Wang were seeing her off at the door of the princess mansion.
Mrs. Wang cried so hard that she couldn't breathe, and kept nagging, asking her to take care of herself and take care of her own safety.
Qiu Che nodded.
She said goodbye to everyone one by one, and finally came to Li Qingwu, who personally tied a warm cloak on her and handed her a bag full of dry food.
The two looked at each other for a moment, and Qiu Che said softly: "I'm leaving, don't you have anything to say?"
Li Qingwu moved his lips, but in the end he just said: "Take care."
Qiu Che was stunned for a moment, and then smiled. .
"Qingwu."
"Huh?"
"Otherwise, run with me."
Li Qingwu's heartbeat skipped a beat.
But before she came to her senses, Qiu Che also reacted and said with a smile, "That's all, I made a mistake."
"Guard the capital for me," she hugged Li Qingwu and placed an unseen kiss on her earlobe. , as he spoke, a burst of white breath came out of his mouth, "Wait until I get home."
Li Qingwu: "...Hmm."
Wu Yiqi had been waiting for a long time, and led the army of women with her on horseback from the capital avenue. past.
The convoy escorting the prisoners passed by the army.
Qiu Zhe and his son in the prison car looked at Qiu Che, who was dressed in smart clothes on horseback, with complicated eyes.
But the other party didn't even look at them.
It's like two completely different lives leading to their own completely different futures.
At this moment, everything in the past life completely disappeared.
Everything is cause and effect.
When the people in the streets heard the news, they all came to greet her. Some had tears in their eyes, some were suspicious of her identity as a woman, and some were shouting:
"Master Qiu! You must triumph!"
Qiu Che smiled back one by one . See.
Amid the murmurs of the crowd, a little girl with braids pointing upwards held her mother's hand. Looking at the heroic figure on the horse, she asked in a sweet voice:
"Mom, who is that good-looking sister?" "
That's our general. He's here to protect our country."
"Can a girl be a general?"
Her mother was also stunned for a moment, then looked at the silent but determined women soldiers and smiled. He looked down and shed tears:
"Of course."
The sky turned white.
The night is over and the sky is about to dawn.
Don't panic, I won't write down the details of the battle (because of the author's taste)
and we will meet again soon :-D