Isn't Chapter 123 always like this? [Please give me a monthly ticket! ]

"The reason why I hide my identity as a mystic is because all my skills come from a mysterious master."

Zhang Ji let down his guard and spoke slowly.

"Originally, I was just a scholar from Nanzhou who came to the capital to take the imperial examination. But I unexpectedly met the princess and was chosen as her consort. In today's court, becoming a consort means that your career is over. But I couldn't refuse, so I was discouraged. After we got married, she behaved unruly, and I couldn't do anything about it."

In the officialdom of the Yin Dynasty, if you became a princess consort, you would no longer have the opportunity to hold a powerful official position. I don't know whether this was to prevent foreign relatives from interfering in politics or to prevent the princess' family status from being lowered.

Therefore, promising young men are basically unwilling to marry royal women.

However, for someone like Zhang Ji, who didn't get a good ranking in the exam, he should be thankful to have a sinecure offered by the princess.

His family was not considered a high-ranking family among the gentry in Nanzhou. It was not until the young and beautiful Princess Fuyang was worthy of him that she became his match.

Who could have thought that Her Royal Highness the Princess would reveal her hospitable nature after getting married?

At that time, he really had no qualifications and no reason to refuse.

"I was very depressed during that period of time." Zhang Ji recalled with a trace of pain on his face.

This is understandable.

After all, Princess Fuyang's hospitality was a bit exaggerated, and he couldn't do anything about it, so some of her symptoms were normal.

I can’t walk on the grass when I go out, I can’t see green vegetables when I eat, and in serious cases, the sun may even look green to me…

"It was at this time that I met my master. He said I had the talent of a mystic and he really helped me to open my spiritual consciousness. This gave me new hope. Since my career was hopeless, could I achieve something through spiritual practice?" Zhang Ji continued, "Besides asking me to keep it a secret, he taught me my magical skills without asking for anything in return. At first, I really thought he was a hermit. But later, he began to make demands on me."

"At first, he asked me to help him find out some things. Although it was a little sensitive, I helped him do it in order to let him continue to teach me. The magical skills he taught me are different from those in Wentian Tower. My progress in cultivation is very fast, so I dare not disobey him."

Wen Yifan frowned and whispered, "This will probably come at a price."

Zhang Ji nodded and said, "I later discovered that something was wrong. Sometimes I would have a headache and feel uneasy. At this time, he gave me the Mi Luo Xiang, saying that it was because I was advancing too fast in my practice, and this could alleviate my symptoms."

"After I gradually became dependent on Milo incense, he gave me a Milo flower and a prescription, and asked me and the princess to try to refine this substance and sell it to Nanzhou. After I recommended it to the princess, she also liked it very much. So according to the plan given by Master, she lived in Nanzhou for a period of time in the name of accompanying me back home. Taking advantage of the gathering, she let many Nanzhou nobles get addicted to Milo incense."

After hearing this, everyone in the Zhuxie Yamen understood.

If Zhang Ji did not lie, then his master should be the Jiuyang spy.

"By selling Mi Luo incense, the princess and I made a fortune, and we became more and more convinced of our master. But now he asked us to repeat the old trick and spread Mi Luo incense in the capital of the gods." Zhang Ji sighed and said, "But after a few years, mortals in Nanzhou who have been smelling Mi Luo incense for a long time have fallen seriously ill, and the realm of practitioners has generally declined instead of improved. The harm caused by this thing is probably not light. I am worried that selling it in the capital of the gods will cause big problems, so I am unwilling to help them anymore."

"But the princess agreed. She's crazy. She actually wants to leave me alone and find someone else to cooperate with to sell Mi Luo Xiang in the capital of the gods!"

Regarding this part of his speech, the people in the Zhuxie Division held a reserved attitude.

It is very common to put all the blame on the dead in a confession to clear one's identity. As to whether he is as righteous as he claims, further investigation is needed.

"Helping him contact the Ruyi Priest was the last thing I did for my master." Zhang Ji continued, "I had planned not to contact him again, and I had not returned to the princess's residence for many days. But today the princess told me that she had found a new partner who could vigorously promote the Mi Luoxiang in the Divine Capital, and she wanted me to come back to discuss it. I was afraid that if she continued like this, I would be implicated sooner or later, so I wanted to come back to see who was working with her."

Zhang Ji paused and looked around the crowd, probably because he didn't see Da Qiao.

He continued, "But I was led away by your people during the banquet, and they even used the True Word Spirit Mist to test me. Although I escaped, I didn't have time to investigate who the princess contacted."

……

"Besides you two, who else knows about the underground secret room in the princess' bedroom?" Liang Yue asked again.

"No more." Zhang Ji shook his head, "You should be the first outsider she brought with her."

Maybe not……

Liang Yue also holds reservations about this.

Princess Fuyang quite likes the feeling of being in the wilderness.

"The person most suspected of killing her is still you." Zhang Ji stared at Liang Yue and seemed not to fully believe what he said.

"I didn't expect the princess to tell you so many things. My hiding is meaningless. I have indeed done a lot of wrong things over the years, but I was not aware of it at the time. I have never done what you said."

After listening to his long speech, Liang Yue was silent and thoughtful for a while.

It is not only about sorting out the current information, but also about identifying which of his words are credible and which are not.

First of all, what he said he did should have been what he actually did.

What he admitted were all very clever, such as helping to sell the Mi Luo incense and inviting the Ruyi Priest without knowing it.

These things do not sound like capital crimes.

But if you think about it carefully, you will find that he must have deliberately covered up something.

It was like when he told the princess the origin of the Milo flower tree, he only mentioned Baihu City and deliberately did not mention Mangcang Mountain. Although he did not lie, it sounded completely different.

Liang Yue was certain that he must have a plan to kill the princess.

The unusual movement of the Milo tree was most likely caused by Zhang Ji. He must have done something to loosen the seal of the Milo tree, so that it would wake up when it smelled the breath of a living person. Originally, only he and Princess Fuyang knew about this secret room, and he had not been back for a long time. In this way, as long as Princess Fuyang went down, she would be killed by the demon tree.

He was afraid that Princess Fuyang would sell Mi Luoxiang in the capital, and if something went wrong, he would be implicated. It was reasonable for him to go all out and create the illusion that the princess was accidentally killed.

If you think about it more deeply...

Who wants to continue selling Mi Luo Xiang in the capital? Who wants to stop?
This cannot be completely confirmed.

If he wanted to sell the Mi Luo Xiang in the capital, but the princess refused and was determined to expose the matter, it was not impossible for him to be cruel enough to kill the princess.

In this case, his involvement with the Nine Yang Spies becomes deeper.

……

Zhang Ji was taken back by the evil-killing yamen first, and his crimes could be investigated slowly. Anyway, he was confirmed to be guilty, and the exact number of crimes he had committed could be investigated slowly.

But the most important point he did not lie about was that he was indeed not the murderer of the princess.

Even if he had not been knocked unconscious at that time, he would not have brought a Qi Refiner with him to kill people again.

The timeline of the night...

It should have been the time when he and Princess Fuyang went down to the secret room. He heard that Senior Sister Wen and the others had taken action against Zhang Ji, and then he came to the bedroom to look for him, but didn't see anyone.

When the accident happened in the secret room, the mysterious Qi-refining master arrived, killed the princess, and pushed himself back.

Before leaving, Liang Yue asked Zhang Ji if he had any clues about the person the princess had found to discuss business with. Zhang Ji shook his head and said that he only knew that the person was among the guests that night, but he had not had time to ask.

As I was thinking, the morning light appeared.

"call……"

Liang Yue let out a breath of foul air.

"Relax." Wen Yifan said beside him: "At least now the most suspicious person has been ruled out, and the next step is also clear."

"Yeah." Liang Yue nodded and said, "The results of the investigation should be out soon."

On the other side, Ling Yuanbao, who had been following Liang Yue, was suddenly stunned, "What's the result?"

She felt like she was missing something. She had just finished listening to the story and was waiting for Liang Yue to think about it and tell her about the case. How come the result came out already?
Wen Yifan said: "Zhang Ji is not suspected of murder. No matter how much truth or lies he told, the murderer has basically been identified."

"That's right." Liang Yue said, "My colleagues from the Evil Slaying Division worked hard that night to identify all the guests that night."

"How did you lock it? When did you discuss it?" Ling Yuanbao asked confusedly.

Wen Yifan explained softly, "On the night of the banquet, the Princess's palace's priests and guards were guarding the perimeter, making it difficult for outsiders to enter. But people were free to move around inside, so the murderer was most likely among the guests."

Liang Yue added: "Although the murderer's cultivation is stronger than mine, it is still limited. It should not be easy to break through the outer security of the princess's mansion. So it is very likely that he is among the guests that night. Before the action here, Senior Sister Wen had already asked them to start investigating."

Wen Yifan continued, "As long as we can find out how many Qi Refiners there are among the guests that night, what realm they are in, and whether there is evidence of their absence, and eliminate them all, there shouldn't be too many targets left."

"Yes." Liang Yue smiled and said, "It's only been half a day now, there should be plenty of time."

"Oh..." Ling Yuanbao blinked and punched his palm, "So that's how it is!"

After a pause, she scratched her head and said, "How could you think of these things... so quickly?"

Liang Yue and Senior Sister Wen looked at each other and said in unison: "Isn't it always like this?"

……

Liang Yue rested in the Zhuxie Yamen that night. Early the next morning, Xie Wenxi hurried over with a result.

"Brothers investigated overnight and found out the results. There are four people who attended the banquet that night, have no alibis, and have Qi Refining levels above the third level."

He said one by one:

"The first disciple of Dragon and Tiger Hall, Du Jian."

"Zhou Xuanci, a Zen monk of the Southern School."

"The scholar taking the imperial examination, Wei Kangnian."

"Prince Dinggou, Jiang Yan."

　Good morning.

　　Someone is always urging me to set up a reader group, so I created one urgently and forgot to synchronize it the past two days.

　　Friends who are interested can come in.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)