When the Ministry of Punishment sent someone, the main meeting hall was already packed with people, and Zuo Qing was standing at the back of the crowd, negotiating with Yan Ling, the chief minister of Xuanting.
It was already dusk, but everyone had no intention of leaving. They crowded together excitedly, discussing the murder case with each other, and listening to some corner news from the Ministry of Punishment and Xuan Ting.
As the night fell, everyone finally dispersed. Suddenly, only Zuo Qing, Yan Ling, and Hong Jin, the left minister of the Ministry of Punishment, were left in the main meeting hall. After a while, Nangongque walked in quickly from outside and hurriedly saluted Yan Ling: "Master Yan
As the head of Xuanting of the Imperial Palace, I am really ashamed that I can spare my time to come here for this case despite my busy schedule!"
Yan Ling glanced at him sideways and nodded perfunctorily, unwilling to talk to him at all. Nangong Que was in a very difficult position. He was only the left minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and no matter how many leaders were changed in Dali Temple, he would not be able to get his turn. But he didn't expect that Rong Que would not be able to talk to him.
The emperor felt that Nangong's family had been wronged in the murder case, and specially promoted him to the post of Minister of Dali Temple.
However, the power gained through his son is somewhat unfair.
He lamented in his heart that he might never be able to lift his chest again!
"Recently, Your Majesty has been conducting strict investigations on official corruption crimes and collecting evidence from the public. The Ministry of Punishment has been very busy, and Dali Temple has also received a lot of prosecutions, right?" Zuo Qing said with a smile, to ease the embarrassment.
When Nangong Que heard this, he was very moved and hurriedly said: "Zhou Zhang is very knowledgeable about things. He has been really busy recently. He came in a hurry just after finishing something, but he still kept you two waiting for a long time."
He said with a long sigh, "The world is getting worse. The local officials took advantage of Emperor Tiangao to plunder the people's wealth and harmed countless people. In Liangshan and Jizhou alone, there were eleven complaints. Taking advantage of the opportunity of His Majesty's strict punishment, they sent
Come to Dali Temple. Once this kind of thing is thoroughly investigated, it will more or less involve those above the court..." He approached Zuo Qing and lowered his voice, "It seems that Lord Mo is among them!"
Zuo Qing pretended not to hear the name, and said with a slight smile: "After all, we are holding the royal rations, and we have to do things for His Majesty. Sir, it's just a few complaints here, but don't say it outside. If you are interested,
Once you hear this, a storm is inevitable."
Nangong Que felt regretful in his heart and said yes repeatedly.
Yan Ling looked at Zuo Qing calmly and thought: Although this person is not in the temple, his eyes and ears are spread all over the three provinces and six departments. Now he has conquered the Dali Temple Minister. His ability should not be underestimated. Then he smiled and said: "Sure enough, he is still in charge.
You have a clear mind and know what to say and what not to say."
Nangong Que broke out in a cold sweat and apologized repeatedly: "I just made you laugh, I just couldn't help but complain. However, I have always been cautious and honest, and I have never dared to do those things.
It's a private matter!" After saying this, he laughed awkwardly.
Yan Ling looked at him too lazy to look at him, and took a step away without giving up any dignity: "I saw that when you ran over, you were making a lot of noise, and you didn't think about being careful. From this, it seems that Master Nangong's words are not credible.
"
Nangong Que was extremely anxious. He knew Yan Ling's style of doing things, and he knew even more that when he worked beside His Majesty, he was the person closest to the Emperor. If he didn't explain this clearly, he wouldn't have the time to explain it to His Majesty again when it came to him.
Opportunity! But the more anxious he was, the more his mouth stuttered. In the end, it was Zuo Qing who smoothed things over: "Master Yan has been in Xuanting for many years and is the best sword by your Majesty's side. This sword is more powerful than black and white impermanence. It can kill corrupt officials and traitors.
Immediately lock your life! With this sword hanging over the heads of all officials, who dares to be presumptuous?"
Yan Ling took a few steps closer to him and asked him word by word: "Do you dare?"
"Just a little ant."
He took another step closer and spoke forcefully: "Master, you are under Lord Mo, and you have a lot of power. Don't you want to become an official in the court and enjoy the happiness that power brings?"
Seeing the tense situation, Nangong Que quickly spoke out to calm down: "Um... I heard that Duan Yunxuan found the body, and my officer immediately sent people to collect evidence at the scene. Now it has been determined that the deceased was the maid He Shuang who worked for Duan Yunxuan. The cause of death of the deceased is also
It has been determined that there are obvious strangulation marks on the neck of the deceased, and he died of suffocation. There are no other injuries on the whole body. In my humble opinion, the case is actually very simple. It is nothing more than a love killing, a vendetta, or a robbery. However, He Shuang is
He has been working in the academy for three years. He has always been kind to people in Duanyunxuan. He is not a domineering person and has never had any grudges with others, so vendetta is basically impossible. Heshuang has always been thrifty and has not left any surplus in the past few years.
Then the possibility of this robbery and murder is very slim. It can be basically concluded that if it is not a manslaughter, then it is most likely a love killing. However, the sisters who the deceased spent time with in Duanyunxuan have all left the academy in advance, and the remaining ones who work there do not know her well.
Therefore, it is difficult to investigate from them, and the things left at the scene are all ordinary things. This... this case is quite difficult!" Nangongque finished speaking in one breath, blushing from exhaustion, and then continued after taking a breath
Asked Yan Ling: "I wonder what Mr. Yan has to say?"
Yan Ling snorted coldly and complained: "At first I was wondering why our Xuanting people had to be mobilized even after a maid died. Now I understand. It turns out that the Punishment Department is incompetent, and so is Dali Temple!"
Nangong Que did not dare to choke and turned his eyes for help to Zuo Qing. Zuo Qing felt funny and helpless at his incompetence. He shook his head and said: "What Mr. Yan said is exactly what the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple have repeatedly done over the years."
However, we must not let our reputation be ruined because of Mr. Nangong."
Nangong Que looked at him in disbelief, but then he realized Zuo Qing's intention. Under normal circumstances, as the person being questioned, no matter how he explains it, it is just sophistry in the eyes of the questioner. Nan Gongque, who has been an official for many years,
Gong Que knew this very well, so he shut his mouth, followed Zuo Qing's criticism, and nodded in annoyance and shame.
Zuo Qing continued: "However, this case is indeed difficult. It has been a few hours since the incident, and we are still clueless." He looked at Yan Ling worriedly, "Your Majesty wanted to use the martial arts contest to recruit a bride to stabilize the relationship.
Relations between neighboring countries, I did not expect that such a murder occurred. There were many important figures from various countries at the conference. In a few days, they will leave for home. If the case cannot be solved in a short time, people from various countries will spread the matter, which may threaten them.
To the reputation of Rongguo! Therefore, His Majesty can only use Xuanting’s power to assist the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple to find the murderer.”
"The master in charge has unique insights, which coincide with my own." Yan Ling was very satisfied with his explanation. "Then, please go ahead and ask Mr. Nangong and Mr. Hong to work together with me to bring the murderer to justice."
Nangong Que and Hong Jin agreed immediately. Nangong Que secretly looked at Zuo Qing and nodded to him movedly.
After leaving Duanyunxuan, Yan Sheng chased him out and whispered beside him: "Yan Ling asked me to give you a message, 'The Mo Party has many eyes and ears, so it is inconvenient to communicate. It is still business as usual, but if there is anything important, please let us know at any time.
, Ling will do whatever it takes to help the leader. Don't worry, sir, no one was present when Yan Ling told me."
"He is careful and openly opposes me, so that no one will think that Tangtang Xuanting and I will have an intersection,"
Zuo Qing had expected that Yan Ling would take this opportunity to meet him, so he left Yansheng as a microphone. When Yansheng asked what he needed to say in reply, Zuo Qing had nothing to say. Xuanting's purpose was
He has to be at the critical moment.
On the second day of the Duan Yunxuan corpse hiding case, there was no progress in the case. In order to cooperate with the investigation, Zuo Qing sealed off the entire academy, prohibiting anyone from entering or exiting, and at the same time imprisoned all the servants of Duan Yunxuan, awaiting trial.
Su Yan didn't pay attention to this matter. After all, it had nothing to do with him. However, everyone was talking about the corpse hiding case and he had no intention of studying the class. Su Yan had no choice but to move the case to the classroom and use this case as an example to teach some lessons.
Knowledge of self-preservation and conduct for others.
Ran Ying was always absent-minded. After the whole class, everyone was in high interest, except for her with a droopy face. If the absent-minded person were Chang Sun Yue, Su Yan would probably ask a few questions with concern, but it was different for Ran Ying.
As soon as she was quiet, the whole school fell silent. Su Yan only glanced at her curiously and stopped paying attention.
If Su Yan could put aside his past prejudices and estrangements at this time, maybe nothing would happen to Ran Ying in the future.
As night falls, there is a dead silence in the courtyard. It seems to be influenced by Duanyunxuan. Every corner of the entire academy has a strange feeling.
A dark shadow tiptoed out of bed and quietly left Yewuyuan. From time to time, he looked around and wandered like a ghost on the long and dark winding bridge, heading towards Duanyunxuan bit by bit.
The next day, the clouds were low and the westerly wind was biting. Xilou specially cooked a bowl of sweet-scented osmanthus soup and sent it to Lanshan Courtyard with a fragrant aroma. Su Yan looked at the things in his hands and thought to himself: If you don't go to the Three Treasures Hall for anything, you are either committing adultery or committing adultery.
Thief! However, Xilou leisurely turned the spoon, swirled in the soup, and told her about solving the case, and he was talking about the Duanyunxuan Corpse Hiding Case!
The murderer's purpose was very direct, which was to take the life of the maid. But Heshuang had no relatives and no reason to do evil to others, so why was Heshuang killed by the murderer?
The most terrible thing is that the situation on the day of the contest was extremely chaotic, with many people from the Jianghu, the royal family, and the royal family mixed together. If the murderer was mixed in the crowd, it would be difficult to locate the target. It is very likely that he would have taken advantage of the chaos and got caught in the crowd.
Left!
These days, if the city is under martial law, the Ministry of Punishment has already screened the rosters for contestants, but it is all in vain.
Su Yan suddenly thought of something and hurriedly asked: "Must those who compete in martial arts to recruit relatives be registered?"
Xilou said "Yes". Su Yan was full of doubts. He always felt that a string seemed to be broken or connected, and he still had no clue. He asked again: "Is there any clue on the roster?"
Xilou shook his head, also very disappointed.
Su Yan said: "Actually, the Punishment Department is completely wasting time. The murderer is not a fool. How could he let his name be registered? The Punishment Department will definitely check it. If you check it, the murderer will have a guilty conscience. Sooner or later, the matter will be revealed. I think, you just go and follow Zuo
Qing suggested that if you want to check, check for things that are not on the roster, such as the servants, students, and gentlemen of the academy. Even the officials present are more suspicious than the people on the roster. If you can't find out, it's probably haunted."
I shivered all over and felt that the temperature around me had dropped a bit.
Xilou said: "What you say is not unreasonable. It's just that according to the investigation conclusion of the Ministry of Punishment, vendetta and robbery are not possible. Now no one has a clue. This case is probably another open case."
Su Yan sneered and said: "I think the Ministry of Punishment is deliberately covering it up. You are just the head of Wanchaofang, so you definitely don't know these inside stories."
Xilou smiled calmly, "Now it's not a matter of shielding or not. Now His Majesty has issued a decree, and the culprit must be found within five days. If he fails to do so within five days, he will be severely punished. Naturally, it will be us little minions who will be punished."
Su Yan was surprised: "What about Xuanting?"
"Xuan Ting is the most important institution around Your Majesty. To Your Majesty, its credibility is higher than that of Mo Fei. How could Your Majesty possibly convict you? It will not be the Ministry of Punishment and Zuo Qing who will be unlucky then. If Zuo Qing steps down, our
The good days must come to an end." Although Xilou's words were serious, his face was calm and clear, as if he didn't care at all that one day his position would be lost. Could it be that he was sure of it? Based on this calculation,
There are some doubts in the west building.
However, he has always looked down on fame and fortune, and presumably he doesn't care about it at all, so that's why he has this attitude.
Su Yan smiled secretly, feeling that his idea just now was really weird.
Xilou added: "However, we arrested a person last night. He was not the murderer, but he was closely related to this murder case. Unfortunately, this little girl has a harsh mouth and will not tell the reason. The Ministry of Punishment has nothing to do.
He has been handed over to Xuan Ting for interrogation." He smacked his lips and then said, "Oh, he is a student of your Shuyoutang, his name seems to be... Ran Ying."
With a clang, the bowl in Xilou's hand was knocked to the ground by Su Yan who suddenly jumped up.
"Who are you talking about? Ran Ying?!"
"I knew you would be like this, so I put her story at the end. Don't worry, Zuo Qing has been following up on this case and won't let anything happen to her. Besides, Ran Ying is the niece of Princess Zhao.
Ting dare not touch her."
Su Yan didn't think so. If Ran Ying was just the daughter of an ordinary family in Rongguo, nothing would happen as long as she didn't participate in the murder. But it's just because she is the niece of Princess Zhao that it's scary! Thinking about it now, she always feels that this case
It's very strange. Murder, arson, rape and robbery have never happened in the academy. How could it happen so coincidentally during a martial arts contest to recruit a bride? At that time, people from all over the world were present. In full view of everyone, Ran Ying was arrested again the next day. Didn't this tell the world?
The niece of the Princess of Zhao killed someone! If someone continues to fan the flames and spread rumors wantonly, Ran Ying will most likely be rumored to be a spy sent by the State of Zhao. Once it reaches this point, it will not just be as simple as killing people. The King of Zhao is out of hiding.
If you do this, the ministers of the Rong Kingdom will definitely ask for an explanation, and it may eventually turn into a fight between countries.
Could it be... could this be just an excuse for Emperor Rong to annex Zhao?
Su Yan was horrified. When did his ideas become so unrealistic? When Ruoshui fought, Emperor Rong could clearly annex all the countries and achieve unification, but he did not do so. He still retained the rights of each country, and this decision also
It was indeed clever. After all, although Rong Guo had the ability to fight at the time, he did not have the energy to manage it. Emperor Rong's method not only solved the war, but also convinced the kings to become ministers at the feet of Emperor Rong. Decades later, except for
Linguo, which is far away, is still hostile, while the rest are living in peace.
In this case, how could Emperor Rong go back on his word and break the peace! In this way, he not only lost credibility, but also lost more than he gained.
At this time, Xilou stared at her worriedly, "What are you thinking about? People in Shu Youtang are in panic now. You must go back and take charge of the overall situation."
"Yes, yes! Now that Ran Ying has been arrested, those who don't know must regard her as a murderer. Then Shu Youtang will not escape the slander of everyone." Then an idea suddenly came to him, "By the way, can you help me see Ran Ying?"