Li Chengfeng did not expect it to take him three days and three nights to search through archives like this!
Xiaobao, Han Tianxing and the rest felt their vision darken, the world spinning.
Since the beginning of the first year of the Tianqi era, they had to search through all the records of the palace maids, eunuchs and guards to find anything related to Consort Ming. This was no longer like finding a needle in a haystack, they had to find every needle in the ocean that was related to Consort Ming.
How many palace maids, eunuchs and guards were there?
There were three thousand concubines in the harem, so there were about three thousand people here. Including the maids and eunuchs who served them, there were more than ten thousand people here. Including the guards who guarded the Shenwu Palace, there were about twenty to thirty thousand people here.
Twenty to thirty thousand people's records were piled together, spanning almost twenty years. What kind of concept was that?
Li Chengfeng had never longed for a computer and a search engine as much as he did right now!
Moreover, the archives in the palace had always been based on time and region, not individuals. Unless the person was a princess, a prince, an empress or an empress dowager, only then would it be an individual record.
Although Consort Ming was doted on, she still did not have the right to have a special record. Only when she became the empress one day would all her records have the right to be retrieved and made into a separate file.
Li Chengfeng had been reading for three days straight and could not take it anymore. Every time he flipped a page, his vision would blur, the words in the book about to jump out and dance in front of his eyes.
Han Tianxing and Xiaobao had already fallen to the side, one covering his eyes as tears streamed down his cheeks, the other lying on the ground snoring.
On the other hand, Liu Sumei and Little Bell were doing fine. Although Little Bell was yawning non-stop, she still forced herself to look through the files. However, her speed was much slower than before.
Beside her, there was a large pile of archives related to Concubine Ming.
Liu Sumei, on the other hand, was no different from three days ago. She slowly flipped through every piece of information at the same speed. Her patience reminded Li Chengfeng of the first stage of the Spiritual Mountain Sect's assessment, the Stairway to Heaven.
Li Chengfeng then looked at Zheng Qiuyun. This old man had not slept for three days and three nights but was still in high spirits. His eyes were like torches as he scanned through the documents related to Concubine Ming that Li Chengfeng and the rest had compiled, then quickly jotted down notes.
Li Chengfeng saw that the book was filled with all sorts of sketches. Other than the person involved, no one else could understand the meaning.
He could not help but ask, "Did you find anything, Constable Zheng?"
Zheng Qiuyun rubbed his reddened eyes. He did not lift his head, only gesturing to Li Chengfeng to wait while he flipped through the documents quickly, taking notes at the same time.
Li Chengfeng knew Zheng Qiuyun must have found something, so he stopped talking and patiently continued reading while waiting.
Another day passed. Just as Li Chengfeng was about to explode, Zheng Qiuyun suddenly slapped his thigh, rubbed his eyes, and laughed out loud. "I've finally found it!"
Xiaobao and Han Tianxing, who were hugging each other, woke up with a start. Both of them sat up with sleepy eyes, scratching their messy hair and wiping the drool from the corners of their mouths. "Hm?
What's wrong? "
Little Bell was also asleep on Liu Sumei's thigh, snoring softly. She jumped up when she heard the noise and yelled, "Senior Sister, let's go, there's …"
Very quickly, she looked around before she unhappily relaxed and said, "You're not done yet?
When are we going to finish?! "
Zheng Qiuyun laughed. "You don't have to finish!"
Delighted, Little Bell quickly knelt next to Zheng Qiuyun and looked at his notes. "Constable Zheng, what did you find?"
Zheng Qiuyun said gleefully, "Look, there's a suspicious point in these files. It's the most unconcealable suspicious point in all of Consort Ming's files!"
Li Chengfeng immediately asked, "What is it?"
Liu Sumei put down the files in her hands and gently pinched her nose, then looked at Zheng Qiuyun.
Zheng Qiuyun flipped to the very beginning of the text that she had recorded. At the very beginning, she pointed to a sketch that she had recorded and said, "Look, this is the time when Concubine Ming entered the palace. It was the thirteenth day of the first month of the first year of Tianqi era. She entered the laundry workshop, but in the laundry workshop, there is no record of her … for a whole ten years!
Why? "
Li Chengfeng and Liu Sumei looked at each other. "Maybe it's because the laundry workshop isn't that important, so there's no record?"
Zheng Qiuyun chuckled. "Although the laundry workshop is the most inconspicuous place in the palace, the birth, death, and old age of the servants there are all recorded.
But in these ten years, there's no record of Consort Ming!
And … the most crucial thing is, in this, the servants who were assigned to the same washing room as Ming Fei … all died in a fire! "
This time, even the yawning Xiaobao and Han Tianxing perked up, their eyes widening.
Li Chengfeng gasped. "All died?"
Zheng Qiuyun huffed. "This fire was recorded, it killed many people. It shocked the capital at the time."
Liu Sumei whispered, "But what if this fire was just a coincidence?"
Zheng Qiuyun revealed a strange smile and said, "But … the strange thing is … this fire happened in the 10th year of the Tianqi era … that is … there are clear records that it was the year that Concubine Ming first met the Emperor and was favored by him."
After he said that, the entire Archives Building became extremely quiet. It was as if everyone's breathing had disappeared!
Li Chengfeng's hair stood on end. He hissed, "You mean …"
Zheng Qiuyun twirled her short beard. "If I'm not wrong … Consort Ming did not enter the palace in the first year of the Tianqi era like the records say!"
Li Chengfeng was excited. "This fire was to silence the witnesses, to cover up the exact time Consort Ming entered the palace?"
Zheng Qiuyun nodded and said, "The Imperial Palace is so big that many palace maids have only seen a few people in their entire lives. In the Imperial Harem, if a girl was sold to the Imperial Palace at the age of ten and hid in the palace's laundry workshop for a few years, no one would be able to see her. Only those who lived with her would know of her existence.
Coincidentally, at that time, Consort Ming was assigned to room number 17 of the laundry workshop. There were a total of ten palace maids and servants who worked and lived with her. These ten people, including her wet nurse … were all burned to death in the fire! "
Liu Sumei said, "But this only proves that Consort Ming is a bigger suspect, we can't pin her on her!"
Zheng Qiuyun snickered. "Look, if Consort Ming was a palace maid in the laundry room, what right and ability did she have to meet His Majesty?
I heard that the person who led His Majesty to Consort Ming was a eunuch called Huang Yun … and this eunuch suddenly left the palace after Consort Ming's meteoric rise … "
Li Chengfeng sprang to his feet. "Find this eunuch Huang Yun immediately!"
Although they had not slept for four days and four nights, Xiaobao and Han Tianxing were still in high spirits. They stood up immediately. "Where is he? I'll go get him!"
Zheng Qiuyun said, "According to the records, he lives on Zhongguan Road like most of the old eunuchs. You should be able to find him if you ask around.
Remember, be quick!
If we're too slow, we'll be too late! "
Li Chengfeng agreed. "Alright, I'll bring them there!"
The three of them did not hesitate. Ignoring their exhaustion, they quickly left the Archives Tower and sprinted towards Zhongguan Road.
Zhongguan Road, as its name suggested, was filled with eunuchs. This was also the only street in the entire Divine Capital that didn't have the word 'God' as its name. The true meaning behind it was that eunuchs had low statuses and were not worthy of the word 'God'.
Most of the eunuchs in the Li Palace no longer had the power they once had. To survive, they lived together, huddled together and supported each other. Over time, they gradually formed a large and strange group.
Li Chengfeng and the rest galloped into Zhongguan Road, heading towards Huang Yun's residence according to the address they found. However, just as they arrived at this alley, they saw a funeral procession marching out, beating drums and gongs. A group of elderly and young eunuchs in mourning clothes were gathered together, bawling their eyes out.
Li Chengfeng's heart thumped. He quickly dismounted and grabbed one of the eunuchs, asking anxiously, "Who's the funeral procession?"
The eunuch looked to be in his fifties, his face fair and clean. He wiped his tears. "It's Huang Yun, Eunuch Huang …"
Li Chengfeng's jaw dropped, his heart filled with rage and shock!