Chapter 29: The Bitter Meat Plan
Just after the fifth watch, for some unknown reason, dozens of people gathered early to watch outside the Chuzhou official office. He Jingzhu, the governor, received the report at his residence, but he was also confused. The visitor only said that Xu Kuangheng, a member of the judicial army, had a case to file a complaint, so
Not daring to neglect, he hurried over.
"Xu joined the army, why did he beat the drum and open the mansion?"
He Jingzhu was wearing an official robe, but there were slight wrinkles at the chest. It was obvious that he had been dressed in a hurry, and there was a slight resentment on his face at this time.
Xu Kuangheng's face was a little pale, he just cupped his fists in greeting and did not reply.
Just when He Jingzhu was wondering, Li Yuan and Liu Jiangsheng led several soldiers and escorted Ma Liu, who was tightly tied up, straight into the hall.
When He Jingzhu saw this young and familiar face, he glanced slightly at the man with a tight rope all over his body. His brows obviously trembled, and then he immediately returned to normal and asked with a smile: "Li Yuhou?"
"His Majesty, please come and be safe!" Li Yuan returned the greeting lightly. Then Liu Jiangsheng kicked Ma Liu down and said angrily: "Kneel down!"
He Jingzhu was obviously a little touched. He kept crossing his hands behind his back and asked tentatively: "Is this?"
Xu Kuangheng stepped forward and said respectfully: "Back to the governor, I went out of the city yesterday to supervise an important case. I passed through Huangmuling and was unexpectedly besieged by bandits. Fortunately, Li Yuhou led his army to rescue and killed sixty-seven bandits.
, and captured the bandit leader, and sent him to the government office today."
"Oh!" He Jingzhu hesitated for a moment, then hurriedly stepped forward, showing an overjoyed expression towards Li Yuan: "I would like to thank Li Yuhou for eliminating banditry for our people in Chuzhou! I have decided to go to the imperial court to serve Li Yu
Waiting for merit!"
Li Yuan had already expected He Jingzhu's calmness, so he said expressionlessly: "He Jingzhu, I'm here today, I'm not here to ask for credit!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Jiangsheng took out the ball of rags from Ma Liu's mouth.
"He, He Governor! Save me quickly!"
Hearing Ma Liu's howl, He Jingzhu's face suddenly darkened.
While observing He Jingzhu's reaction, Li Yuan glanced at Ma Liu who was kneeling on the ground with disdain, and said coldly: "Oh, it seems that you, a bandit, and the governor are familiar with each other!"
After being captured last night, Ma Liu had been thinking in his mind, thinking that no matter how arrogant Li Yuan was, he was just trying to bluff people for a while and would eventually go back to Jinling. How could he suppress local snakes like them? At this time, he met He Jingzhu.
The acquaintance was naturally very happy, so he cleverly turned around and said with a flattering smile: "He is the governor who guards Chuzhou. He is loyal to the emperor and loves the people. We and the people will naturally recognize him!"
Li Yuan's face did not change, and he followed the words and asked: "Oh? He Governor, do you recognize this thief?"
He Jingzhu was calm. After listening to Ma Liu's words, he secretly thought that this person knew his identity, so he straightened up and said loudly: "Ahem, there are tens of thousands of people in Chuzhou, but I certainly don't recognize him!"
"This thief is none other than the scar-headed Ma Liu who has been causing trouble for many years!"
I saw He Jingzhu hurriedly walked up to Li Yuan in two steps, pretended to examine Ma Liu for a while, and then made a look of surprise: "Ah, Li Yuhou is really powerful! This thief has been roaming the sea, killing the people and plundering the states for many years.
Mansion, the crime is extremely heinous! Your Majesty is so powerful that we finally captured this thief today. I and the people of Chuzhou would like to thank Li Yuhou for your great kindness!"
Li Yuan sneered and said to Ma Liu, who was kneeling on the ground but complacent: "Did you hear that? How dare you, a loser like you, let He Jishishi save you? The crime cannot be pardoned!"
Ma Liu glared at Li Yuan fiercely, then turned his head and spit arrogantly to the side: "Spit!"
He Jingzhu paused for a moment, seeming to be thinking about something, then turned around and said seriously to Li Yuan: "Marquis Li Yu, since this thief has been brought to justice, I will hand it over to my officer! I will wait a moment for Yuhou's success in suppressing the bandit."
Then I personally wrote to the Censor’s Office!"
Others may think that this scene is harmonious. Li Yuan captured the bandit leader, He Jingzhu showed his merit, and then everyone was happy. But how could Li Yuan be tricked by He Jingzhu? Ma Liu and He Jingzhu, the officials and the bandits, sang together. Today
If you go in and come out tomorrow, what's the use?
"Thank you very much, Governor He! But Ma Liu's crimes probably go beyond killing people and selling goods! He was the main culprit in the illegal salt trafficking case a month ago! Wang Jingguo and the other five were all deceived and framed by him!"
"Illegal salt case?" He Jingzhu's heart moved, he swallowed, then raised the corner of his mouth and sneered: "Haha, Li Yuhou, I know that you want to excuse Wang Jingguo! When did this scar-headed Ma Liu get involved with him again?
Is there any involvement in the illegal salt case? Is there any real evidence?"
Li Yuan pointed to Liu Jiangsheng and several soldiers beside him, and then said calmly: "He Governor, if there is no real evidence, I would not dare to come here rashly! This thief appeared on the Huangmu Ridge yesterday.
In order to smuggle smuggled salt! The whole battalion of forbidden troops under this Yuhou are all witnesses!"
He Jingzhu adjusted his collar absentmindedly, shook his head and responded: "Haha, that battalion of forbidden troops are all subordinates of Li Yuhou, I'm afraid there are not many such witnesses! Besides, even if this Ma Liu is really selling private salt,
I will try another case on my own! Wang Jingguo’s case has already been tried and convicted, how can he be forcibly involved?”
Ma Liu was overjoyed and immediately cooperated. He shrunk his shiny head and shouted to himself: "He Cishi, there is absolutely no such thing! The villain is wronged! It is clearly Li Yuhou who framed the villain in order to seek credit! The villain has never done anything like this!
I have never done anything like selling private salt!”
He Jingzhu then angrily shouted: "Shut up! I will make my own judgment in the courtroom! Take this thief down, I will choose a day for trial!"
If it weren't for the time limit, Li Yuan would have really wanted to give these two the best actor award at this time! But after all, He Jingzhu is the governor of this place, and Li Yuan, a prince of the forbidden army, has no right to interfere in local political affairs. At this time, he is watching helplessly
He Jingzhu's state soldiers were about to come up and take away Ma Liu, but for a moment they lost their strategy and could only watch with their hands firmly on their swords and gritted teeth.
When Liu Jiangsheng saw this, he turned his head silently and at the same time gave several soldiers a stern look.
At the critical moment, Xu Kuangheng suddenly spoke and stopped him loudly: "Wait a minute!"
He Jingzhu suddenly turned his head, glared and said, "What's the matter with Xu Canjun?"
Xu Kuangheng slowly raised his hands and said: "He Cishi, what Li Yuhou said is true! I am willing to testify for him!"
He Jingzhu secretly cursed that Xu Shenjun was notoriously insecure. He had always argued with him in court due to several cases before. Why did he suddenly show up again? Could it be that Li Yuan saved his life?
, you think you have a backer? It’s really ridiculous...
Thinking of this, He Jingzhu glanced contemptuously, and then said in a slightly warning tone: "Xu Canjun, this matter is very important, you have to think about it! According to the criminal law of the Tang Dynasty, officials who perjured themselves are not lightly charged.
..."
Xu Kuangheng just showed an unpredictable expression, and then said calmly: "He Governor, please forgive me for being rude!"
After taking a few steps back, with a "swish" sound, Xu Kuangheng untied his robe in front of everyone, and then forcefully tore off the blood-stained inner coat, revealing a horrific wound on his abdomen, with yellow and festering flesh and blood.
Dark red blood beads continued to seep out, and everyone couldn't help but hissed and sucked in a breath of cold air!
Li Yuan's face was filled with shock. Xu Kuangheng had not informed him of this move in advance. Could this serious stab wound be the minor injury that Xu Kuangheng said? Thinking of how he went into battle with this injury to kill the enemy last night, and now he did not hesitate to test it in public in order to overturn the case.
He was hurt, and suddenly he had mixed feelings. Looking at the sweat on Xu Kuangheng's forehead, he must have suffered a lot, and couldn't help but whisper: "Mr. Xu..."
Xu Kuangheng only responded to Li Yuan with calm eyes, and then continued to point to his own wound and said: "He has taken a good look at it. This wound is about three inches long and two inches wide. It came from the long knife used by Ma Liu. The assassin
Order someone to examine the edge of the knife and you will know! When the lower official was injured and in pain, he accidentally slipped and fell onto Ma Liu's private salt cart. He happened to get a small amount on it, which can be used as evidence. The salt was very rough and not pure enough.
It is very similar to the private salt paid in the Wang Jingguo case! Just order the salt officer to check it."
As soon as this statement came out, everyone's expression changed.
Looking at the crystal white salt grains on Xu Kuangheng's wounds, Li Yuan was already convinced, but he just smiled bitterly to himself. Mr. Xu was too cruel to him! But he had to admire his precautionary measures and this cruel trick.
He has already captured He Jingzhu's army.
He Jingzhu's lips twitched. In addition to resenting Xu Kuangheng, he was more suspicious of Ma Liu. Why didn't the boss tell me that this guy sold the goods last night? He couldn't help cursing secretly. Even if you wait to sell the goods rashly, how could you do it?
Leaving such physical evidence behind! And it happened to fall into the hands of Li Yuan and Xu Kuangheng, seeking death. How stupid!
Xu Kuangheng's face was still pale, his hands were trembling, and after he put on his robe, he gritted his teeth and said: "As a judicial officer, I am in charge of the prison in this state. Now that both witnesses and material evidence are available, please ask the governor to retry Wang Jingguo's case immediately!"
Ma Liu was the first to panic, his eyes evading again and again, as if he couldn't believe it, and his mind was confused: "He's the governor! He's the governor! This is a frame-up! After the first month of the month, how can the villain never walk through the private salt market again? They pretended to be the boss to lure me.
Go-"
He Jingzhu hurriedly shouted: "Shut up!"
Finally hearing the flaw, Li Yuan immediately sneered: "Oh? This thief is honest! Who is your boss?"
Ma Liu was stunned for a moment, knowing that he had lost his words, so he could only turn his eyes for help to He Jingzhu, who had a gloomy face. The governor of Chuzhou was obviously confused at this time, and he felt like he was stuck in his throat when he wanted to speak out.
Li Yuan walked slowly to He Jingzhu's side and said solemnly: "He Jingshi, in full view of everyone, this Ma Liu has already let it slip. The matter has come to this, if the illegal salt case is not re-tried, I am afraid it will be unfair, and it will be unfair."
You have wronged the good people! Although I have no right to interfere, as a witness in this case, I also know the laws of our court! He Cishi is guarding one side and must not betray His Majesty's trust..."
This statement is not an alarmist statement. Now Xu Kuangheng is publicly examining his injuries and Ma Liu is making a mistake in public. He Jingzhu knows very well that the illegal salt case is a major case and has attracted the attention of His Majesty and the government and the public. If he forcibly blocks the retrial and unjustly kills people and takes credit for his actions, he will be punished afterwards.
Once the news reaches Jinling, even if He Jingzhu has someone to take care of him, I am afraid it will be difficult to stop Youyou's mouth...
Now we can only hope that Ma Liu can withstand the punishment and stop biting randomly...
In the courtroom, He Jingzhu was in a state of confusion. He leaned on the table and fell down on the seat. He closed his eyes and waved his hand, saying: "Alas..."
Chapter completed!