In fact, the case has reached this point, and it is no longer something that Taoxi County can deny if Feng An says no. What's more, in this era of the emperor's centralized power, the court officials are involved in the case, the evidence is not conclusive, and whether the suspect admits guilt or not is not the most important, the most important thing is how the emperor thinks. As long as the emperor thinks you are guilty, even if you say the flowers, you will still be in trouble.

As long as the emperor has an order, Ding Tang will take out his housekeeping skills and pry open the mouth of Feng An, the commander of Taoxi County. Although Feng An is only a mere seven-grade county order, in the end, he is an official of the imperial court, and it stands to reason that it is a normal process to be handed over to Dali Temple for trial. Now that Ding Tang is interrogating, it is actually not justifiable. Previously, the emperor asked the investigation of the case of Yuxiang's father and mother being imprisoned, and the questioning of Feng An was just a little bit after all, but it was necessary to be formally arraigned and punished, without the emperor's permission, if Ding Tang did it, he would definitely attract the impeachment of Yushitai.

Zhou Ying's gaze moved from Ding Tang, who was standing quietly and waiting, to the emperor who was indecisive, and finally withdrew his gaze, flipped through the file submitted by Ding Tang, and his heart moved, and asked: "Liu is seriously ill and unconscious, and he has no confession, why is there no confession?" ”

Ding Tang hesitated for a moment and said, "Princess Qiyu, this is also one of the suspicions, the square handle is missing. ”

Zhou Ying was extremely surprised, and asked repeatedly, "Shouldn't Fang Handle be locked up in prison?" The cell door is locked, the jailer is watching, how can these layers of guards disappear? Is it a jailbreak? He's a weak scholar, so he won't fly away, right? Or is there someone robbing the prison? ”

"There was no one to rob the prison, and there was no sign of a prison escape." Ding Tang glanced at the emperor hesitantly, was silent for a moment and continued, "And in addition to the square handle, the beggars and refugees who were arrested and imprisoned during the same period are also gone. According to the jailer, he was released after the expiration of his term. But the minister sent people to look for it, but he found no trace of even one person. And because these beggars have no relatives and no reason, no one has reported their disappearance. ”

"Are they really missing?" Zhou Ying thought that so many people had not been accounted for at the same time, and she was faintly panicked, she asked with a reluctant smile, "Could it be that they have all moved to other states and counties?" After all, Tai'an Prefecture clearly does not welcome beggars and displaced people, and they can't stay if they want to. ”

"The princess has a point." Dante Tang then said, "But there is no one who is secretly left, is this possible?" ”

Zhou Ying couldn't help but fall silent.

The emperor was not surprised, patted Zhou Ying's hand soothingly, and asked Ding Tang, "Then what does Aiqing think?" ”

Since the emperor asked, Ding Tang was very colorful, and replied: "Qiqi Xià, not only Taoyuan County, but also one state and four counties in Tai'an Prefecture, a month before His Majesty came to Tai'an Prefecture, a total of 784 beggars and exiles were arrested and imprisoned. These more than 700 people are not a small number, where they eat, where they live, and they don't have to show any rumors, this is not something that just anyone can settle. ”

Who else can cover the sky in a state? Ding Tang was obviously referring to the governor of a state. The emperor's face became solemn.

Ding Tang said again: "The minister thinks that the key to this is probably going to fall on the Taoxi County Order." ”

This is also the reason why Ding Tang hoped to get the emperor's permission from the beginning to torture Feng An, the commander of Taoxi County. Whether it is the detention of Yuxiang's family, the pursuit of the shop, or the unexplained disappearance of the beggar and homeless, or the Lord Xu Jinian of Zhizhou who is vaguely standing behind Feng An, all the transit points are on Feng An in Taoxi County, if he can be made to confess, he will be solved.

Of course, there are now all kinds of signs that Xu Jinian has nothing to do with this matter. But behind the scenes and not reporting the knowing, these are two different concepts. Ding Tang didn't want him to offend the ruthless people, and he would have a chance to make a comeback in the future.

Besides, the emperor is clear, if Ding Tang is not good and loses the emperor's trust, there are many people waiting to take him over.

Of course, Ding Tang wanted to do his best to solve the case, and after the emperor groaned, he agreed to Ding Tang's suggestion and ordered Ding Tang not to worry about it.

With the emperor's dictation, Ding Tang was relieved to boldly interrogate Feng Anlai, the commander of Taoxi County. However, what Ding Tang didn't expect was that Feng An looked like a wine bag and rice bag, but he unexpectedly had a hard bone. Eighteen kinds of torture passed, Feng An didn't say a word, only said that he was wronged.

A day later, when the emperor summoned Ding Tang again, Ding Tang reported in a difficult voice: "Your Majesty, Feng Xianling has not confessed his guilt. ”

The Emperor was slightly startled, obviously not expecting this answer.

Zhou Ying was also a little surprised on the side, although Zhou Ying had not seen Ding Tang's methods with his own eyes, he also knew a little about it.

Cai Sanying and others, who kidnapped her in Jinfu last time, went to watch the execution when they were executed. Cai Sanying and the others looked good on the surface, without any bruises, except that their faces were a little pale, just like normal people. But in reality they did not even have the strength to stand on their own, and as soon as the guards who escorted them let go, they collapsed on the execution table. Even when the head was cut off in the end, Cai Sanying and the others were not kneeling, but could only sit on their knees, but fortunately, the prison beheader was flexible, otherwise the punishment would not have worked.

The cruelty of this Ding Tang's torture method can be seen.

Such a method actually broke in Taoxi County, could it be that Feng An was really wronged?

Zhou Ying shook her head in her heart, she didn't believe it.

Whether it is Yuxiang's father and mother being imprisoned, or Yuxiang being arrested, or even the confession of the master, or even the unexplained disappearance of the beggars and homeless people under his jurisdiction, it shows that the Taoxi County Order must be inseparable. If the emperor wants to be convicted by these, it may not be impossible, but looking at the emperor's appearance, he obviously does not want to listen to the nagging of Yu Shitai, and prefers to hear that the suspect has conclusive evidence of the crime and confesses his guilt in person.

Seeing that the case was about to reach an impasse, Zhou Ying didn't want the case to drag on indefinitely.

"Taoxi County Ling Feng An is now safe? This man has both a lotus tongue and an iron bone, which is really interesting, and I would like to see it. Zhou Ying looked at the emperor, tilted his head and smiled, "And the father Emperor Long is mighty, maybe Feng Xian Ling will recruit himself as soon as he is a saint?" ”

The emperor was immediately amused by Zhou Ying, and his dissatisfied mood dispersed a lot.

Although he is an emperor, he is not so pretentious as to think that as soon as he comes out, the bad guys will be able to bow down. Of course, he could see that Zhou Ying said this to ask the emperor to give her a chance, and she wanted to try to pry Feng An's mouth open.

The emperor thought about it, Zhou Ying has always been good at arguing and being clever, maybe this matter can really be done, but he didn't refuse. However, it is not in accordance with the rules to let the princess interrogate a court official. Zhou Ying never said it explicitly, but also to leave room for turnaround. The emperor simply didn't point it out, but just smiled and said: "Don't say it's you, I'm also curious about whether this Taoxi County Order is bold or really wronged." ”

The emperor instructed: "Qiao Rong, come up with the order of Taoxi County." ”

Ding Tang breathed a sigh of relief, although it has become a fact that his affairs are unfavorable, it is good to have a moment of room to turn around, if Zhou Ying can really interrogate the truth, the emperor can also be angry. Of course, Ding Tang didn't have much hope.

Now that the emperor had an order, Qiao Rong went to bring Feng An over.

After a while, I saw Qiao Rong report and entered the door. Qiao Rong was followed by two sturdy eunuchs, a middle-aged man with a big belly, who was none other than Feng An, the commander of Taoxi County. I saw that Feng An's eyebrows could vaguely see a little handsomeness when he was young, but he had been squeezed out of shape by the flesh on his face. The under-eyes are cloudy, the under-eyes are blue, and the cheeks are full of rough pores and redness that can't be eliminated by drinking too much.

Originally, Feng An may have been a little fat and a little official, but now that he was tortured, his whole body was languishing, and when he was framed, the fat all over his body drooped down, like a piece of white meat overnight, oily, greasy, trembling, and a layer of greasy grease on it, which made people sick and sick at a glance. I can't tell that this is a parent official, it's more like a full wine bag and rice bag.

The two eunuchs let go of their hands, Feng An sat down on the ground, his fat trembled, he suddenly bared his teeth in pain, but he didn't dare to cry out in pain, he hurriedly bowed down, tried his best to tighten the fat on his body, trying to make himself look smaller, "The criminal minister Feng An see Your Majesty." ”

After Zhou Ying saw Feng An's appearance clearly, she was really a little surprised. I didn't expect this guy, who looked like a wine bag and rice bag, to come up with such a brazen but impeccable defense. Is it really that people are not good-looking?

The emperor didn't call out, but only nodded at Zhou Ying and motioned for her to take care of herself.

In fact, Zhou Ying has always been a little puzzled, since Taoxi County ordered Feng An to come up with such a flawless defense afterwards, and even bited his mouth and did not admit his guilt, it shows that Feng County Ling should be a smart person, right, so why did he make frequent mistakes in the first place?

Later, Liu wore the neatest clothes and took all the silver taels in the family to redeem Fang Shan, but he was imprisoned for a trumped-up charge of pushing the official errand, which was after revealing his identity as a talented lady. This time not only arrested Xiucai, but also arrested Xiucai's lady, how could such a big thing be concealed again, Feng An must know.

Now that Feng An knows, whether to grasp or release, whether to cut the grass and eradicate the roots, or to appease and treat him well, should make a decision quickly, but Feng An has not made a move. Even including Yuxiang who later went to visit the prison, Feng An made a big deal to arrest people, but let them go again.

Will this undoubtedly be done by a smart person?

Unlikely.

Feng An's behavior was like two people, and the only explanation was that someone later supported Feng An behind his back, as for who that person was......

Zhou Ying pressed her finger on the file, her heart was slightly settled, and asked, "Master Feng, I have one thing here, and I want to ask you for advice." ”

Although Feng An had never seen Zhou Ying, he had inquired with Qiao Rong about the news on the way. Although Qiao Rong felt that Feng An was dead, it was not good for Feng An to know nothing, and offended the emperor and princess Tianyan, so he still pointed out with disgust.

So as soon as she heard Zhou Ying speak, Feng An guessed her identity, and hurriedly said: "Don't dare to ask for advice, the princess just asks." ”