Ding Tang acted quickly, and in just a few hours, he found the letter Feng An said, and took Xu Jinian's official document and handed it over to Lord Lang Nian of the Ministry of Industry for inspection, and came to the conclusion that the two were not written by the same person. Ding Tang came to report, but the emperor asked Zhou Ying, "What if you stay?" ”

didn't expect the emperor to take the initiative to ask, Zhou Ying naturally couldn't ask for it, so she put all her mind on it, and considered: "Can I take a look at this Master Xu's resume?" ”

The Emperor smiled and said, "What's the matter? As he spoke, he raised his hand and motioned for Ding Tang to offer it.

Ding Tang had the heart to check Xu Jinian, of course these things had been prepared for a long time, although he was surprised that the emperor was so blue-eyed to Zhou Ying, but Zhou Ying had previously forced Feng An to ask the truth about Taoxi County, which could be regarded as a great favor to Ding Tang, so he did not make it difficult at this time, and submitted all the information.

Zhou Ying looked at it carefully, and her eyes were a little subtle, "This Lord Xu is really a rare good official, building water conservancy, building roads, and even fighting for several tax-free benefits for Tai'an Prefecture, no wonder the evaluation has been excellent for several years." Not to mention the beggars and displaced people, Tai'an Prefecture does look like the people live and work in peace and contentment, if there is no accident, after the return of the father's southern tour, Lord Xu's position should also be promoted. ”

The emperor nodded, but said in an accentuated tone: "If there is no accident." ”

Zhou Ying smiled knowingly, and then said: "Judging from the resume alone, Lord Xu does practical things for the people like this, if he is not promoted, who else is more qualified to be promoted." Father, you see, every day the rooster crows, that is, to the government office, late at night to return, especially for the official integrity, not greedy for money, not good for profit, not good at calligraphy and painting, not in love with wine and beauty, all put on the people. Such a person must not be a great loyalty, or a great traitor. ”

The emperor nodded at Zhou Ying and said with a smile: "You are not small, and you dare to say this." ”

Zhou Ying didn't care: "In front of my father, if I say something and hide it, then what's the point?" ”

The emperor's heart warmed, and he smiled helplessly: "You." She looked like she couldn't do anything, but there was intimacy between her eyebrows.

Zhou Ying accepted it when she saw it, and said, "It's a little suspicious." In addition to a part of the household allocation, there is also a small part of the shortage, which is paid by the governor out of his own pocket or collected. ”

The emperor was surprised, took the file and looked at it, "There is still such a thing?" ”

Zhou Ying said: "Although Lord Xu can do this, it is really selfless and should not be questioned, but I remember that Lord Xu's family is poor, and his wife is not prominent, just the daughter of a small family. And Lord Xu is upright and self-controlled, never accepts bribes, and his own income is only a little, and he has to support his family. Then I wonder, where did his annual donations come from? ”

The Emperor's brows furrowed.

Zhou Ying added: "And the amount of silver in this pen is really a lot, and it is by no means something that can be earned by having dozens or hundreds of acres of land at home, or opening one or two shops." What's more, there are rules in this dynasty, officials can't do business, and others may take advantage of loopholes and record them in the name of his wife's confidants, but Lord Xu has to be self-disciplined, and there is no such situation. ”

The emperor was only a little surprised, and after groaning, he took the school examination Zhou Ying and said, "Then what do you think, where does this silver come from?" ”

Zhou Ying sorted out his thoughts on one wall, and explained on the other: "No matter how the silver is obtained, he always has to do it manually, which is in line with Feng An's testimony, I am afraid that the matter of hundreds of homeless beggars missing in prison is really inseparable from Lord Xu." ”

But now after all, there is no evidence, so Zhou Ying first presupposes the premise, "Let's assume that Lord Xu is guilty." ”

Then he retorted, "Then earning a large sum of money as a source for the resettlement of the people of Tai'an Prefecture is the motive." ”

"Since Lord Xu's donation of silver began five years ago, this is probably not the first time that a criminal has disappeared. Compare the mortality rate of prisoners in Tai'an Prefecture with other states and counties over the years, and if there is indeed a discrepancy, we will focus on checking whether the excess is not some people who have no relatives, or who have been sentenced to decades, or even imprisoned for life. It's human hands. ”

In addition, Feng An didn't know anything about this matter, so it can be seen that Lord Xu was quite cautious about the placement of people. The resettlement of such a large number of people cannot be silent, unless there are two possibilities, one is hidden in the deserted houses and alleys, and the other is hidden in the deep mountains and old forests. ”

"It is impossible for Lord Xu to go to seal the house and the mountain openly, if people don't get close, there is a simple idea - haunting. So someone checked Tai'an, what is the most haunted place or something. Here's the location. ”

"The quick money is nothing more than salt and iron, Tai'an Prefecture has always had no mineral deposits, but it is a major source of official salt in this dynasty."

Needless to say, these are not to be said in this dynasty, but those who serve in the local area have many ways to plant trees, build roads, cultivate iron, and so on. The labor in Tai'an Prefecture, in addition to water conservancy and road construction, is needed for people's livelihood, and only frying salt can create some additional value. Although the labor was collected into the national treasury, as the governor of a state, it was very simple for Lord Xu to understand the method of frying salt, and it was not necessarily impossible to even draw some veterans from it. Here's the modus operandi. ”

"To sum up, Lord Xu transferred manpower from the prison to secretly set up a salt pan in a remote, inaccessible place, and near a saltwater lake, so as to earn a large sum of silver." After speaking, Zhou Ying added, "Of course, this is under the premise that Lord Xu is guilty." ”

Zhou Ying closed the file and pushed forward, "What the truth is, it depends on Ding to lead the investigation." ”

The emperor had a smile in his eyes, and although he didn't praise it, he directly ordered Ding Tang: "Just follow the idea of the seventh princess to investigate." ”

Ding Tang promised to take the file handed over by Father-in-law Qiao. Although Ding Tang was skeptical of Zhou Ying's series of speculations, it was rare for a princess hidden in the deep palace to have such a clear and unique way of thinking, and she couldn't help but glance at Zhou Ying curiously.

Zhou Ying smiled back.

Early the next morning, Ding Tang's investigation had results. More than ten miles away from the city of Tai'an Prefecture, there is a barren mountain called West Mountain, and there is a saltwater lake at the foot of West Mountain, called Moon Lake. It is said that thousands of years ago, the Yellow River flowed into Tai'an, through this place to Jinan, later the Yellow River was diverted, this place of the river water was cut off, forming a lake, and because the water quality is clear, it is light cyan, the shape is like a crescent moon, and it is called the Moon Lake.

Next to this Moon Lake, Ding Tang found a private salt factory. However, there is a point that is different from Zhou Ying's speculation, there are indeed few people in the Moon Lake area, but it is not because it is haunted, but because of a beautiful but cannibalistic lake demon.

It is said that this lake demon is dressed in white veil, but it is extremely beautiful. Woodcutters and fishermen who enter by mistake will be seduced by the lake demon to enjoy a night of bliss, and then at dawn, they will be dug out of their brains alive, and they will die after watching the lake demon eat the last bite.

As for the people who were eaten, how did they spread the news that the lake demon was eating people, it is unknown. However, it is true that someone appeared near Moon Lake in this death, and the government has been unable to solve the case for a long time, so the rumors have become more and more serious. At the beginning, there was a bold Xiao who wanted to have an affair and came to Moon Lake to hit the luck, but no one survived, and gradually, this area became a forbidden place to talk about it.

If the rumors were artificially released, then the people who were killed by the lake demon in the story may also be victimized. These old cases are not easy to investigate, and Ding Tang is concerned about another matter. The saltworks were empty, living to be exact.

Ding Tangxian explained: "The salt produced in Tai'an Prefecture follows the ancient method of frying salt, and the lake water is concentrated many times by the plant ash to become brine, which is then introduced into the boiler room for processing, steamed in the iron pot several times, and finally added to the mother salt to condense into lake salt. ”

Ding Tang glanced at Zhou Ying and saw that she had no intention of retreating, so he said, "In those boilers, Chen found some teeth. ”

A chill ran on Zhou Ying's back, "Is it a human tooth?" ”

Ding Tang nodded, "According to preliminary statistics, there are hundreds of deceased. ”

This is clearly murderous. The emperor was furious and was about to get angry, but when he saw Zhou Ying's face pale, sitting in a daze, as if he was frightened, he couldn't help but feel very distressed. His face softened, but in his heart he hated this rampant, lawless madman even more.

But at this moment, the emperor was not in a hurry to get angry, he pulled Zhou Ying's hand and held it, only to feel that the tentacles were cold, and suddenly felt even more distressed, softened his tone, and comforted her: "Xiao Qi, don't be afraid, my father is here." Father assures you that these people will not die in vain. ”

The death of Cai Sanying and other traffickers can still be said to be deserved, but what about these people? Zhou Ying suddenly felt a little uncertain, and muttered: "Father, if I hadn't pursued this case, these people might have lived a little harder, but they wouldn't have died......

The emperor squeezed Zhou Ying's hand and interrupted her, "No, they will still die." ”

The emperor's eyes were warm and full of fatherly love, but the words he said revealed a chilling coldness and indifference, "Since Xu Jinian got them out, he won't put them back again, and he leaked the news in vain." Once their bodies are exhausted, they can no longer work, and the time of death will come. You're just freeing them for a few days. ”

Zhou Ying closed her eyes and said for a long time: "Okay, I listen to my father." As soon as the words fell, Zhou Ying felt as if something was empty in her heart.

The emperor rubbed Zhou Ying's hair and smiled, "This is my good daughter." ”

The dead are gone, but justice must be done to them, but ...... Zhou Ying rubbed her heart uncomfortably, and only frowned: "These people are all dead, and the evidence is ruined, how can we prove that Xu Jinian is guilty?" ”

The emperor smiled, "Xiao Qi, you remember, in this world, I want him to be guilty, even if he is innocent and comparable to a saint, he can only be guilty." ”