At this time, He Jingzhu was sitting weakly in the hall, and several state soldiers with him also obeyed the order and retreated outside the door.

Now that Xu Kuangheng had taken the initiative, he immediately summoned a group of government officials to separate the two sides, and quickly interrogated him in court. He just saw him angrily yelling: "Ma Liu, why don't you recruit from the truth?"

Ma Liu knelt on his knees, gritted his teeth and moved forward a little, stared straight at He Jingzhu who was already in the hall and shouted anxiously: "He Jingshi, you can't listen to them! The villain is wronged! The villain is wronged!"

Xu Kuangheng turned around and glanced at the absent-minded He Jingzhu, then raised his hand and shouted: "Okay, in that case, let's stick this thief twenty times first!"

Seeing the officer next to him push himself to the ground in an instant, Ma Liu's ferocious face immediately hit the ground with the tip of his nose, and couldn't help but exclaimed: "He's a governor! He's a governor!"

At Xu Kuangheng's signal, the two government officials each raised their sticks high, aimed them at Ma Liu's buttocks, and took turns swinging them hard.

Ma Liu suddenly felt like a plucked rooster that had been scalded with boiling water, and screamed: "Ouch...ah!..."

Li Yuan watched coldly from the side. He knew that the stick punishment at the turn of the Tang and Song Dynasties had its own secrets. Although the stick was not as good as the blade and looked light on the outside, it was actually painful. Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, people who died under the stick punishment

There are many ministers. Although Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, changed the part of the stick from the back to the buttocks, which reduced the fatality rate.

But in actual operation, especially after it is decentralized to prefectures and counties, it is not certain which part to hit.

Most of the government officials responsible for holding the cane were subordinates of Xu Kuangheng, a member of the judicial army. They were all clever. The boss immediately understood with a look, so Ma Liu's back and buttocks were hit at the same time, alternately.

After fifteen strokes, Ma Liu, who had always been so arrogant, obviously couldn't stand it anymore. He gritted his teeth and turned his head fiercely and cursed: "You bunch of dog officials! Dog officials! Beat me to death if you dare!"

Xu Kuangheng narrowed his eyes and sneered: "Oh? You still have the energy to speak arrogantly? Then just follow what the thief said and continue to fight!"

Li Yuanwu shook his head and simply turned to look out the door. Since He Jingzhu was pretending to be dead and Ma Liu was so stubborn, he might as well continue to let this thief get his skin torn apart.

So at Ma Liu's own "active" request, Xu Kuangheng added twenty more sticks.

After a while, even the two yamen servants were sweating on their backs. Ma Liu's buttocks and back were bloody and bloody, and severe pain spread to his head. He vomited blood and shouted: "He Governor... He Jingzhu

!Are you worthy of your employer? He Jingzhu!..."

He Jingzhu seemed to be shocked by these words, and uttered with a blue face: "This... this thief is crazy! Talking nonsense!"

"How dare you call the governor by his name? Keep beating him! Beat him until he confesses truthfully!"

However, the two government officials stopped, rubbing their sore and numb arms, and said in an embarrassed tone to Xu Kuangheng: "Xu Canjun, if you really hit me again, you'll be beaten to death!"

After seeing Xu Kuangheng raising his hand and adding twenty sticks expressionlessly, while He Jingzhu still looked like it had nothing to do with him, Ma Liu finally panicked, bared his teeth and yelled: "Fuck you, mother! I,

I want to see Mr. Zhang! I want to see Mr. Zhang!..."

Xu Kuangheng breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, waved his hand and said: "Stop! Who is Mr. Zhang? Recruit him from the truth!"

When Ma Liu called out the words "Shilang Zhang" just now, He Jingzhu's heart felt as if he had fallen into an ice hole in the cold winter. His guard was completely broken, and he immediately jumped up and shouted: "How presumptuous! Ma Liu is a thief, above the court."

, how can you be allowed to bite at will? Slandering the ministers of the DPRK is a serious crime!"

Ma Liu was already dying of pain. When he heard this, he looked up at He Jingzhu with extremely hateful eyes and shouted: "He Jingzhu, you shameless villain... You, you all wait, Zhang Shilang will not let go

It's your fault..."

Xu Kuangheng knelt down and asked in a deep voice: "Ma Liu, who is Mr. Zhang you are talking about?"

"Is it possible for a lowly official like you to inquire about the name of a noble person? Don't seek death!"

Xu Kuangheng snorted lightly, and without any further entanglement, he stood up and raised his hand: "In that case, I won't ask any more questions. Twenty more sticks!"

"Fuck your mother..." Ma Liu shook his head hastily, with fear in his eyes, and finally gritted his teeth and replied: "I say, I say! The owner who ordered me to sell private salt is, that's it.

Mr. Zhang..."

Xu Kuangheng had already ordered his left and right sides to get pens and ink, and asked seriously: "Name."

"Zhang, Zhang Yi."

Li Yuan obviously paused when he saw the pen in Xu Kuangheng's hand, then leaned closer and asked in a low voice: "Who is Zhang Yi?"

"Zhang Yi, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, the eldest brother of Concubine Zhang, Feng Yansi, the Taibao, and the cousin of Feng Yanlu, the deputy stay-at-home officer in Dongdu... Yu Hou, this matter is not easy to handle. Zhang Yi is a relative of the emperor...

..."

Seeing that Li Yuan and Xu Kuangheng were suddenly frowning and silent, and He Jingzhu's face was even more livid. Ma Liu seemed to be having a flashback, and suddenly became energetic. He shouted with a ferocious smile: "Oh, are you afraid? If you know the truth, let him go immediately."

Me! Otherwise, I don’t care about you, the governor Yu Hou, I will definitely teach you how to regret it later!”

Li Yuan pressed Xu Kuangheng's right hand that was writing, then strode up to He Jingzhu and asked sternly: "He Jingzhu, what do you think? This case is getting more and more interesting! This thief actually said that his boss was involved in the illegal salt case.

The mastermind behind the scenes is our Minister of Industry! The eldest brother of the current noble concubine? Ridiculous, ridiculous!"

When He Jingzhu saw Li Yuan suddenly throwing the conflict on himself, he wanted to refute it, but a strange thought suddenly came into his mind. Now that he knew the name of Zhang Shilang, could it be that Li Yuan also knew that he couldn't afford to offend him and wanted to give him a chance?

Down?

When he was doubtful about the letter, he wiped his cold sweat and pretended to be calm: "Li Yuhou and Zhang Shilang are important ministers in the court, how can they be allowed to be slandered by this thief? Don't believe such rebellious nonsense! In my opinion, this case is not serious.

It is clear that Li Yuhou is eager to return to Beijing, so it is better to retrial at a later date..."

But Li Yuan immediately responded: "Another date? It's another date! Why does Governor He always want to delay the time? Is there still something hidden in this case? I'm afraid that if I leave, Wang Jingguo and others will die unjustly!"

Seeing this, Ma Liu spat out a mouthful of blood with disdain and said viciously: "You are so ignorant of the Marquis of Yu! What Wang Jingguo, a few yellow-mouthed children, they died! What injustice? It's just their bad luck.

!”

Li Yuan turned his head instantly, with murderous intent on his face. Just when he was about to explode, a rough and familiar call came from outside the yamen: "Brother!"

Everyone looked for the voice and saw that it was Luo Erhu who had been ordered to rush to Yangzhou earlier. They saw this black man dressed neatly and striding up to the hall with a dusty appearance. This formation was somewhat majestic as a military general. When he walked to Li Yuan

, and instantly regained his humility: "The last general, Luo Erhu, pays homage to the Marquis of Yu! Meets the Governor He!"

Then Luo Erhu carefully took out a slightly sweat-stained letter from his breastplate and said in a deep voice: "Yuhou, this is a letter from Mr. Zhou."

What a timely gift for my third brother! Li Yuan didn't want to think too much, and quickly reached out to take it, opened the letter and glanced at it hastily, then shook his head gently, showing a relieved smile.

When everyone was at a loss, Li Yuan put the letter in his hand directly in front of He Jingzhu and asked meaningfully: "He Jingzhu, I have a letter here, why don't you take a look first?"

He Jingzhu swallowed his saliva and took it with a puzzled face. As soon as his eyes glanced at the title of the letter, it was actually written to him?

The tone of this letter is quite polite, but the handwriting is a bit sloppy, but it describes three things. One of them is about the illegal salt case in Chuzhou. It is such an important case that the government and the public attach great importance to, but the main culprit who was submitted to the third division for review is Five

A boy of 14 or 15 years old has been reported to the officials of Yushitai. Secondly, Feng Yanlu, the deputy left-behind of Dongdu, was suddenly ordered to return to Jinling to meet the saint recently. Thirdly, Li Yuan, the Marquis of Yu, the direct capital of the palace, is about to get married.

His Royal Highness the King of Yan will come to congratulate you in person when he arrives. The last letter is signed at the end of the letter, and the Eastern Capital will stay with Zhou Zong.

Who is Zhou Zong? Everyone in the court knows that he is the veteran minister who established the foundation with the late emperor and then held the power of salt and iron in the country for many years! Even if He Jingzhu is calm today, now he can no longer control his trembling hands. Look,

After taking a look at the calm Li Yuan and the arrogant and stern Luo Erhu beside him, he sighed deeply. This letter of credit was so detailed that even His Majesty's eldest son, His Royal Highness King Yan, moved out, and he was just a mere governor.

That's all, you must make a wise and appropriate decision at this time, otherwise you may lose more than just your hat!

For a moment, He Jingzhu seemed to have returned to the majesty of the Chuzhou governor in the past. He slapped the tree and shouted loudly: "The bandit Ma Liu has gathered people to rebel against the imperial court. He has caused trouble in the state capital for many years and killed countless people! This time he openly sold smuggling goods.

Yan, you have framed important officials of the imperial court and implicated innocent people. Your crime is unforgivable! I order you to recruit them quickly, otherwise you will not blame me for being ruthless!"

Just one letter left He Jingzhu with nothing to do and he fell completely to the other side. Ma Liu opened his mouth in disbelief and howled angrily: "He Jingzhu! You, you are not afraid of Mr. Zhang——"

"You still dare to bite randomly? Left and right! Palm your mouth! You will be punished!"

"He Jingzhu! Even if I become a ghost, I will still haunt you until you have no peace..."

...

Now that He Jingzhu had compromised and took over personally, he was the governor of Chuzhou after all, and the decision could be made with just one word. Li Yuan and others simply retreated outside to wait.

After a while, the screams of Ma Liu inside suddenly stopped, just as Li Yuan and others expected, He Jingzhu rushed out respectfully, holding his fists with a sincere face and said: "Li Yuhou, that Ma Liu

I have confessed that selling illegal salt was the work of this thief and his men! Wang Jingguo and others were lured to the smuggling place by this thief, and then they were innocently framed. None of these five people knew about it, and they were not guilty! I am the official

The state government has been ordered to re-record the file and submit it to the third division. As for the thief’s talk about important officials in the court, it is actually false, and I will convict and punish him together!"

Li Yuan smiled faintly. He Jingzhu was not only quick with his hands and feet, but also with a quick mind. In a few words, the real murderer Ma Liu was brought to justice. Wang Jingguo was cleared of the crime, and Zhang Shilang and himself also escaped. It was a wise move for both parties not to offend.

In any case, Wang Jingguo has been saved. Li Yuan doesn't want to, nor can he push further. After all, Zhou Zong's letter is not easy to write a second time. At the same time, he sighs in his heart, his future father-in-law,

Not only did they take action in time, but they also moved out the mysterious His Highness Li Hongji, King of Yan, who was really well hidden...

All in all, there was such a big commotion in Chuzhou this time. People like Zhang Yi, Feng Yanlu and even Zhang Guifei behind him have become friends with themselves. After returning to the court, there may be more unknown things.

The danger is yet to come...

Li Yuan sighed, and then returned the greeting to the trembling He Jingzhu: "He Jingshi judged the case fairly and dealt with it with measure. Today, I have opened my eyes. I admire you, I admire you!"

The big stone in He Jingzhu's heart dropped in panic, his brows widened, and he responded: "Ah! I'm so lucky that Yu Hou is here this time! I was really confused and almost wronged a good person! Please forgive Yu Hou!"

"What crime is there? It's just that Ma Liu's crime is extremely heinous. I hope the governor will deal with it impartially and bring him to justice as soon as possible! By the way, I also ask the governor to release Wang Jingguo and other innocent people as soon as possible. Is this Yuhou's girl still waiting?

!”
Chapter completed!