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Chapter 332 Too Late
Chapter 332 Too Late
Chapter 332 Too Late
After some comparison, Yu Niaoniao was proven to be right.
The ink on the other dossiers was old. Only the ink on these two dossiers was relatively new. If one sniffed closer, one would realize that the ink fragrance of these two dossiers was stronger.
Lo Pingsha looked at the dossier in his hand and asked, "Could someone have forged these two dossiers?"
Xiao Juan said calmly, "In order to make it easier to investigate the case, I specially asked the emperor for permission to borrow these dossiers from the Internal Affairs Division."
"Ever since they were moved to the Justice Department, they had been placed in the Qianji Building."
"There are only a handful of people who can enter the Qianji Building and come into contact with them. I don't believe they will betray me."
Yu Niaoniao said immediately, "It can't be someone from the Justice Department."
Lo Pingsha asked curiously, "How did you know?"
Yu Niaoniao pointed at the handwriting on the dossier.
"Look at this handwriting. All the dossiers have the same handwriting."
"It meant that the person who forged the dossier and recorded the information of the palace staff should be the same person."
"In order not to be discovered, he had specially chosen old paper. Even the bound cotton thread was used."
"Only the ink can't be faked. Even if he used old ink, there would still be a subtle color difference because of the passage of time. In order to hide this, the person who did this specially copied two entire dossiers."
The Eagle Guards who were in charge of reading the dossiers back then were only focused on reading the contents of the dossiers. In addition, there were too many dossiers. Those dense words made one dizzy. How could anyone pay attention to whether the ink color of two of the dossiers had changed?
Only Yu Niaoniao could discover the slightest abnormality with her photographic memory.
Lo Pingsha flipped through the dossier in his hand again.
"Only these two dossiers were forged, which means that one of these second-grade palace maids is very likely related to the mastermind. But they're already dead. How can we investigate?"
Xiao Juan said slowly, "Although the palace maids are all dead, the person who forged the dossier is still around. I'll go to the palace to take a look."
Yu Niaoniao hurriedly said, "It's getting dark. Why don't we eat first?"
Xiao Juan shook his head.
"No, the emperor is not in good health. He goes to bed early at night."
"If I'm late, I won't be able to get him to agree to let me interrogate the people from the Internal Affairs Division."
"If I wait until tomorrow, I'll be worried again. It wasn't easy to find a clue. In order to avoid any trouble, I'd better investigate this matter as soon as possible."
Yu Niaoniao knew that he was worried that an incident like what happened with Wang Xue would occur again.
She asked, "What about your dinner? You can't go hungry, can you?"
Xiao Juan opened the drawer behind the desk and took out an exquisite wooden box.
He opened the wooden box, revealing the heart-shaped cookies inside.
These were all made by Yu Niaoniao for him to eat as snacks. They could both fill and nourish his stomach.
Xiao Juan grabbed a handful of small biscuits, wrapped them in oil paper, and put them in his arms.
"These are enough for me."
Yu Niaoniao sent him out and reminded him, "Be careful on the way. Come back early."
When she turned back into the house, she saw Lo Pingsha staring straight at the exquisite wooden box on the desk.
She pursed her lips and smiled. She walked over to open the wooden box and grabbed a handful of small biscuits.
"I made these desserts myself. Try them too."
Lo Pingsha's eyes lit up visibly.
He took out the silk handkerchief he carried and wrapped it around the small cookies.
He tried a piece. It was crispy and sweet but not greasy. It was delicious!
Because Xiao Juan was not eating here, Yu Niaoniao did not plan to make dishes that were too complicated tonight.
She went to the kitchen and dug out the sweet potato noodles. When they were cooked, she added high soup. There was also vinegar, peppercorns, sesame oil, soy sauce, onions, garlic, chili noodles, peanuts, and other ingredients.
Soon, two large bowls of hot sour and spicy noodles were cooked.
It just so happened that the pickles in the cellar had been marinated. Yu Niaoniao went to the cellar to get a bowl of pickled radishes.
She cut the pickled radishes into cubes and mixed them with chili oil, onions, garlic, and white sugar to make sweet and sour radishes.
Sour and spicy noodles with sour and sweet radishes could be said to be very appetizing.
Lo Pingsha's face turned red from the spiciness, but he still couldn't stop eating.
Yu Niaoniao had grown up in Bashu. This bit of spiciness was nothing to her.
She couldn't help but laugh when she saw Lo Pingsha inhale as he ate.
"Why don't you eat less?"
Lo Pingsha spoke with difficulty. "It's okay. I can still do it."
Yu Niaoniao was afraid that the food would be too spicy for Lo Pingsha. After dinner, she brewed a pot of chrysanthemum tea for him.
After tea, Lo Pingsha felt much better. At least his mouth was not so numb.
Yu Niaoniao returned to the room, washed up, and went to bed.
However, because she was worried about Xiao Juan entering the palace, she could not fall asleep. Hence, she sat up, put on her clothes, and went to the kitchen to get two sweet potatoes, two corns, and a handful of chestnuts.
There was a small stove specially used for warming herself by the fire.
Yu Niaoniao placed the sweet potato corn chestnuts on the edge of the small stove and simmered them with the temperature of the charcoal fire.
Meanwhile, she sat by the stove in a daze.
Suddenly, she heard a crisp slap.
Yu Niaoniao immediately came back to her senses and realized that the chestnuts had popped.
She picked up the tongs and flipped the chestnuts.
At this moment, the door was pushed open from the outside.
The cold night wind blew in.
Yu Niaoniao immediately stood up and looked at the man who walked in.
"You're back!"
Xiao Juan untied his cloak and frowned. "Why aren't you asleep yet?"
Yu Niaoniao walked over and took his cloak.
"I can't sleep."
She hung the cloak on the screen.
Xiao Juan smelled the fragrance of food in the house and quickly noticed the corn and sweet potato chestnuts beside the small stove.
"Are you not full tonight?"
Yu Niaoniao pulled him to sit down beside the stove. "I'm full, but I'm worried that you're not. Coincidentally, these things are almost done roasting. Eat quickly."
Xiao Juan was indeed a little hungry.
That night, he only ate a small handful of cookies and had been running around since. He was so busy that he didn't even bother to drink.
He picked up the corn and sweet potatoes with the tongs and put them on the ground to cool.
Yu Niaoniao brought him a cup of hot tea and asked.
"How's your investigation going? Did you find the person who forged the dossier?"
Xiao Juan took a sip of tea. "I found him, but he's already dead."
Yu Niaoniao was stunned for a moment before asking.
"How did he die?"
"He fell into the lake and drowned."
Xiao Juan was too late.
Tonight, he obtained the emperor's permission and broke into the Imperial Attendant Division with his men. He interrogated all the eunuchs in the Imperial Attendant Division one by one and realized that one of them was missing. After asking, he learned that the eunuch was the person in charge of copying the information of the palace servants.
The Eagle Guards searched the entire Imperial Attendant Division and finally found the eunuch's body in the pond.
Xiao Juan said in a low voice.
"When we found him, he hadn't been dead long. I was so close."
Yu Niaoniao comforted him. "Although he's dead, it's not completely fruitless. At least it proves that our investigation is going in the right direction."