The suspicion in Shen Hai's heart inevitably showed up on his face, and he was worried that Shen Li had deliberately tied Shen Qi, Shen Jun and Shen Ling together in order to protect Shen Qi.
"How can you create evidence if there is no evidence? It's just a confession and a fingerprint. Uncle Hai can guarantee that Zhao Xianzhong will not take advantage of the situation and involve Shen Qi's matter on Shen Jun or Shen Ling?" Shen Li snorted coldly. .
It has been more than 40 days since the Japanese invaders entered the city. Shen Hai asked people to go to the Yamen five times and three times to complain, but Magistrate Zhao never showed up, leaving no room for accommodation. Shen Hai was already unsure, but after hearing this If you want to make sense, look at Shen Quan who is still kowtowing, stand up and stamp his feet, take the banknote in Shen Quan's hand, and say: "I'm going to go out and inquire about it! Money can make the world go round, but I don't believe that if you drop the money, it won't come out." Come with the right words!"
Even though I couldn't stand Shen Hai's mediocrity and irresponsibility before, now that he actually agreed, Shen Quan was truly grateful.
Shen Hai was worried about his son's safety and didn't care about anything else, so he hurried away. Shen Quan had to wait for news, so he didn't rush back and followed Shen Li and Shen Rui to the guest room.
Seeing blood oozing from Shen Quan's head, Shen Rui sighed and ordered someone to get ointment and apply it on Shen Quan.
Shen Quan closed his eyes, filled with regret. If he hadn't been so competitive, it would have been his second brother who stayed in the capital to prepare for the exam, not himself. In that case, wouldn't such a disaster have happened? But even if he had Wrong, the most hateful thing is the person behind this incident. What kind of blood feud does the Shen family have? He actually wants to bear a heinous crime on the Shen family.
Shen Qi is in trouble, and any words of comfort are empty now, but Shen Rui still said: "No matter what news Uncle Hai comes back after asking for information, third brother, don't be impulsive. There are still Qi's second sister-in-law and nephews waiting for him outside. Brother, go to the rescue.
Shen Quan opened his eyes, anger boiling inside, and gritted his teeth and said: "Second brother Rui, don't worry, at this time, I won't be confused, and I don't dare to be confused. Although I don't know who framed the second brother, but since it is a trap, then It won't be perfect, there will always be clues, and it won't be in vain for my second brother to suffer this prison sentence!"
Shen Qi's crime here is not just a matter of his own crime. It is no longer a secret that Qi's second wife was kidnapped. Chastity is the most important thing in the world. For a young woman to live in the hands of gangsters for more than a month, even if she is lucky enough to survive, the world will not tolerate it. Even if If you don't go to death, you can only die in the nunnery. They were originally a loving couple, but now they have to say goodbye or live apart. Seeing that the family is ruined. Of the two yellow-mouthed children, one is enlightened and the other is in the nunnery. As a baby, I still don’t know if the kidnapper has the patience to stay until now. If he is lucky enough to find him, he will return him. If he cannot be found, his family and friends will be separated, which will be a human tragedy.
The idea that soldiers and bandits pretended to be Japanese pirates was just the old man's lifelong experience and recognition, and there was no evidence. But even if Shen Qi escaped from prison, his family would be destroyed. Shen Rui sighed and said nothing more.
*
In Xinghua Hutong, Nancheng, there is an inconspicuous small house. Shen Hai quietly entered through the back door. This place was originally owned by the Shen family in the early years. In the early years, Shen Hai made a bet with Mr. Han, so he gave the place to Mr. Han.
Mr. Han is what Shen Hai calls a "family friend". He is now working as an official in the government office and takes care of the workshop among the six houses. Mr. Han took over the house and did not make it public. In his early years, he had raised a foreign family here, and later the foreign family died. At Changuan, this place has been empty for a few years, occasionally used as a place to entertain friends. Now the Shen family is attracting the attention of the people, and many people are staring at the Shen family. Shen Hai can't see people in the Shen family shop, so he sends people there The Yamen sent a message to Mr. Han, and he ran to this secret house to wait.
The government office is a hard-nosed clerk and a fast-moving official. Therefore, unless it is the right day when the chief official is promoted to the court, other times it is just midnight and there is no need to stay up until night. Therefore, Shen Hai did not wait long, but within half an hour, Mr. Han hurried over.
"I heard that the number one scholar from the Great Shen Empire is back. Brother Hai should relax this time." Mr. Han said with some warmth.
Originally, the officials and people of Songjiang respected Shen Li as the "No. 1 Scholar", but since Shen Jin also won the No. 1 Scholar this year, everyone started to talk about it as "the Great Shen Scholar" and the "Little Shen Scholar". Rong Yan.
Mr. Han is only in his fifties. He prides himself on being young and powerful. He has been an official for many years. His family cannot be said to be very wealthy, but he still has hundreds of acres of fertile land, enough for his children and grandchildren to eat and drink. His only obsession is to be an official. Since he was young, he has not been able to do so in half his life. He had given up on becoming an official. Therefore, no matter what Magistrate Zhao did this time to bite the Shen family as if he had taken medicine, Mr. Han had no intention of breaking off the relationship with Shen Hai, but he moved around less openly and still kissed in private. They were affectionate and affectionate, calling each other brothers and sisters, in order that one day, with the help of the Shen family, he could become a serious official.
Shen Hai was so anxious that he ignored the small talk and asked directly: "Brother Han, please give me a happy word. Is Shen Qi really on death row or is he dead?"
This question was asked without any reason, but it made Mr. Han change his expression. He did not dare to look directly, and turned his head and said perfunctorily: "Why did Brother Hai think of asking this? There is no trial or sentence, so where would he be if he was not in prison? "
The two of them had been interacting with each other for half a lifetime, but Shen Hai had noticed something bad and said with a cold face: "No matter what Zhao Xianzhong said, it is not his turn to dominate the Songjiang Mansion. Don't stop saying that the prison house official is Zhao Xianzhong Zhao Xianzhong can keep the news secret for a while, but whether this person is alive or dead can be concealed for a while, but not for the rest of his life. There will always be a day when the case is brought to trial. At that time, this person will Whether it’s life or death, you have to decide for yourself!”
Seeing that Shen Hai was really going to fall out, Mr. Han couldn't help but be anxious, but considering Zhao Xianzhong's previous warning to insiders, he didn't dare to really leak the news. Whether the relationship between the Shen family can be used in the future will be If Magistrate Zhao were to find out that he had leaked the secret, the boss of the workshop would be doomed immediately. Except for the military room, all the other six rooms were full of oil and water, and Mr. Han was reluctant to let go.
Shen Hai also knew that Mr. Han was greedy for money, so he accepted Shen Quan's banknotes. At this time, he would not have the idea of leaving any money behind, so he directly took out a thick stack of banknotes and handed them to In front of Mr. Han: "Shen Qi's brother has also come back with Shen Li. This is his money, whether it is life or death. I just want an accurate word!" As for the remaining ten thousand taels promised by Shen Quan, Shen Haiti also mentioned it. I didn’t mention it, this is not the way to spend money. Not to mention a mere official in the district government, even in front of the magistrate’s hall, you can hear the sound even if you go down to 10,000 taels, so why spend another 10,000 taels?
The first one was a thousand taels of silver. Even though Mr. Han was used to eating and handling it in the Yamen, he couldn't move his eyes away now. He did not hide his greed in his eyes and carefully looked through the banknotes below. Thousand taels, adding up to a total of ten thousand taels, is actually richer than Mr. Han's wealth, which he spent half his life in the government office.
Regardless of friendship or whether he could keep his job as the head of the workshop, Mr. Han grabbed the banknote and gritted his teeth and said: "Since he is in death row, it is difficult for the news to spread. I just heard that on the 30th day, your Excellency will summon you." After being sentenced to death row, some servants gossiped that the house behind the government office originally had an icehouse, but it was inexplicably closed at the beginning of this month. Now I buy ice from outside every day. The prefect's wife complained twice and said she disliked it. The ice outside is dirty, so I don’t feel safe using it.”
As for whether the Shen family would cause trouble after getting the news, or whether the prefect would investigate, Mr. Han didn't care. With these ten thousand taels of silver, he was willing to go home and become an old man.
Because he had thought that Shen Qi was in danger, Shen Hai was not surprised when he heard this. He was indeed more and more worried about his son, and asked hurriedly: "Where's Jun'er?"
Mr. Han hurriedly said: "Brother Hai, don't worry, I have been keeping people's eyes on me for a long time. Although I have not seen my second nephew with my own eyes, I have heard the news there. Shen Ling was seriously injured due to torture and has no family members to move around. It is still Renyi who is my second nephew. , he shared half of the food given by Mr. He Er. The cell leader had a personal relationship with me, and he also praised him in front of me, saying that his second nephew was benevolent and righteous."
Having food and drink, and being able to take care of his clan brothers, Chen Hai relaxed a little and wanted to ask more questions. Mr. Han didn't hide anything, he told everything he could, and he didn't know anything else. After all, he was left by his predecessor. The old official was not a close confidant of the prefect. All of the above was just because he was an old man in the government office, and he did have a relationship with Shen Hai, so he paid special attention to the case, so he knew a thing or two.
Shen Hai asked all the questions he could and consciously lived up to Shen Quan's request. He still escaped through the back door and was afraid of being followed. He walked around the street twice before arriving at his old house at dusk.
Although several clan nephews were here, Shen Li was here and he was still expected to come forward to fish Shen Jun out. Shen Hai couldn't pretend to be an elder. He was smelly of sweat and didn't bother to wash up, so Shen Hai went to the guest room. .
It was already dinner time, and the table had been set in the guest room. The three brothers were sitting together, but no one touched their chopsticks. Seeing Shen Hai coming back, the three brothers all stood up.
Chen Hai looked at Shen Quan and sighed: "Although I can't say anything truly accurate, but listening to what my old friend said, your second brother is probably in trouble." He also compared what Mr. Han said to the thirtieth of last month. The death row and the government icehouse will be closed the next day.
Now that it is hot summer, it is common for prisoners to die in prisons. The purpose is to verify their identity and then send them back to their hometowns or directly to the torture field. Only the suspects who have not yet been brought to court will have to wait until the court to judge whether their life or death will be judged. It is necessary to preserve the body.
Shen Ling was also imprisoned, and Shen Ling was beaten. Master He Er visited Shen Jun, and there was news. Only Shen Qi, who was on death row, had no definite news. If there wasn't something fishy, why would it happen? If you want to hide your death like this, even if you are really convicted and waiting to be beheaded, there is no reason to prevent your family from visiting.
Shen Quan only felt a fishy taste in his mouth, and his teeth made a "gurgle" sound, but he could not utter a single word.
Shen Li said: "I heard that Zhao Xianzhong was also a guest of Uncle Hai before. Now he is acting so resolutely, so he should be here."
Regardless of whether Shen Qi really "committed suicide out of fear of crime" or "committed suicide due to fear of crime", with this human life involved, the relationship between Governor Zhao and the Shen family will be difficult to reconcile. After all, Shen Qi is not Shen Ling without identity and background, she is Not to mention the identity of the person, his brother was a close official of the new emperor, and he was on good terms with the second wife of the Shen family, and his in-law was also a magistrate. No matter how Shen Qi died, there must be an explanation. Rather than admitting that he was a fool, he suspected that someone was watching. Killing someone to silence them would ruin their future if they were not careful. Of course, Magistrate Zhao was more willing to blame the matter on Shen Qi. Therefore, he concluded that he probably "died by suicide." Otherwise, he would not have kept the body just to get there. During the trial, the corpse was used as evidence to shirk responsibility.