The next day, Qu Shaojie, who had been on sick leave for many days and had not been to the court, appeared at the gate of Guo Maohuai's house in Jinzhou without warning, and witnessed the change of Guo's mansion from shock to panic and then to strong self-composure.

Jin Ming is still imprisoned in the prison of Dali Temple. He was silent about Guo Maohuai's affairs, insisting that he didn't know anything. That confession was actually forged by Qu Shaojie. But when the Holy Chrysostom said it was true, no one dared to question it.

This is a complete conspiracy, designed for Guo Maohuai.

Before the attack, Qu Shaojie had already sent someone to secretly record the expenditure account of the Guo Mansion, so as to gain the support of the emperor. Judging from the accounts, Guo Fu spent money like water, and the expenditure of only one month far exceeded Guo Maohuai's income for a whole year. According to the registration of the Ministry of Households, Guo Maohuai did not have any land in his name. Where does this huge amount of money come from?

Guo Maohuai is not a fool, he will make people catch the handle lightly. Although he didn't have time to hide the valuables in the mansion, Qu Shaojie broke into the Guo mansion and searched it, but he didn't find any direct incriminating evidence. He dared to bypass Ding Chaozhen, unite with Yang Zhongxian, and create such a big move with the acquiescence of the saint, of course, he also had his own little abacus in his heart. He expected that he might return empty-handed, he was already prepared in his heart, with a smile on his face, waved his hand, and calmly commanded the people behind him, more than ten scribes immediately scattered into various parts of Guo's mansion, with a clear division of labor, brushed the pen, and quickly registered a piece of property that could be seen, and compiled it into a book according to the serial number.

Guo Maohuai's face suddenly stiffened.

As a result, the two naturally returned to the capital in the same car. Guo Maohuai was "invited" to Dali Temple by Qu Shaojie with a warm smile, and was forced to answer the source of each item in the booklet.

The large number of luxury items in the mansion is really disproportionate to the shabby Yulu, Guo Maohuai initially tried to use the "ancestral property" to get by, Qu Shaojie seemed to put on a curious look: "According to the household registration, Guo's grandparents did have some fields and gardens, but there were no them when my fathers were born." ”

Guo Maohuai was stunned and changed his words: "The other part is the dowry of his wife and concubine." ”

Qu Shaojie was even more curious: "There is a wife and two concubines in Lord Guo's mansion, right?" I just had tea with their mother's family last month, and judging by the lower officials, they don't seem to be able to come up with such a rich dowry. I heard that Mr. Guo was sympathetic to his in-laws and sent a lot of dowry gifts. Qu Shaojie said and patted his head: "Oops! Look at my memory, when it comes to the dowry of the three ladies, such a large amount of silver, I actually forgot to ask someone to record it! Mr. Guo, let's talk about it again, where did those dowries come from? ”

Guo Maohuai couldn't find any other excuse, so he had no choice but to confess: the shop under the name of Lu Chengye in Luo County was actually owned by him, and after Lu Chengye's death, it was taken care of by the Jiang family, and after the death of the Jiang family, it was moved to the name of Mrs. Jin Ming. Jin Ming obviously knew about it, so he refused to confide in him. This arrangement is both a bribery and a threat.

Qu Shaojie shook the Guo Mansion's property book with a smile, and asked with a little sarcasm: "Only one shop?" Then the profit of your shop is really frighteningly high. ”

Guo Maohuai gritted his teeth and confessed a few more. These shops are scattered all over Jinju, and ordinary merchants act as registered shopkeepers, handing over nearly ninety percent of their profits for the Guo government to squander.

Qu Shaojie insisted that Thirteen asked him to investigate Guo Maohuai, and he must have a deeper plan. However, after several months of overt and covert visits, he was only charged with "redemption", which made him extremely unwilling. He always felt as if he had touched something, a huge black hole hidden under the curtain on the surface, but he tried his best to tear through this black curtain.

In the middle of summer in July, Qiguo is the hottest time. The scorching sun made people feel anxious.

Guo Maohuai was held in a separate cell. That afternoon, Qu Shaojie came to ask Guo Maohuai for questioning, but he heard a report from the jailer at the door: Su Lihe had just entered. He is now a member of Dali Temple, and he has the right to interrogate prisoners, and the jailer will of course let him go.

After Qu Shaojie was slightly stunned, his mind suddenly became active: Maybe Su Lihe knows something?

"How long have you been in?"

"Less than half a cup of tea."

I don't think I have asked anything yet. Qu Shaojie thought in his heart, deliberately lowered his footsteps and followed, and heard Su Lihe and Guo Maohuai still talking about irrelevant topics, from eating and sleeping to personal hobbies, until Guo Maohuai showed impatience, he inadvertently turned to another topic: "Recently, a Jianghu organization has emerged, called Xiange, which specializes in killing people, I don't know if Master Guo has ever heard of it?" ”

Guo Maohuai half-closed his eyes, with a little anxiety that his patience was about to run out, and he couldn't see anything unusual: "It's a big rumor, of course I've heard of it." ”

"I heard that they specially collect young children, raise them in batches according to their age, teach them to kill people from an early age, and then once every five years, select elites with life and death, and then focus on training. These people who focus on training are all born killers, and they are extremely evil. ”

Qu Shaojie stood outside the cell, remembering the cold aura on Thirteen's body.

Guo Maohuai simply closed his eyes, expressing strong impatience.

Su Lihe pretended not to see it and continued: "Among them, there is a girl who laughs more beautifully than a fairy, and her killing methods are more vicious than the devil, and her name is Nineteen. ”

Qu Shaojie thought of the girl beside Thirteen. He didn't see her smiling, but he thought she must be a beautiful picture when she smiled.

Guo Maohuai didn't even bother to speak. Su Lihe's voice suddenly froze, and he asked with a few words: "Has Master Guo ever thought about the future?" ”

After a moment of silence, Guo Maohuai's eyes suddenly widened, and he straightened up and asked, "What do you mean?" ”

Su Lihe smiled, with a bit of unfathomable taste: "Lord Guo is a smart person, he must know what it means." I will take my leave here, and I will not disturb the rest of the adults. With that, he turned around and walked out of the cell.

Qu Shaojie's rank was higher than Su Lihe's, and when Su Lihe saw him, he saluted, he held his hands and accepted it calmly, until he walked out of the prison and asked slowly: "Something to do with the idle pavilion?" ”

Su Lihe couldn't figure out Qu Shaojie's attitude, and replied cautiously: "It's just speculation, there is no evidence yet." ”

Qu Shaojie stopped asking, waved his hand to signal that there was nothing wrong with him, and Su Lihe immediately bowed and retreated.

In fact, Su Lihe began to get anxious. He was convinced that Guo Maohuai was related to Xiange, and he wanted to get some inside information out of his mouth: only by knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent can one better help Twelve. However, Guo Maohuai's tone was too tight, and the interrogation in Dali Temple had not progressed for a long time, so he finally couldn't help it and decided to come over to explore the movement in person. Fortunately, Qu Shaojie has not discovered more inside information for the time being, and he has not embarrassed his overstepping.

In the prison, Guo Maohuai's face changed several times, as if he was thinking about something big in his heart. When Qu Shaojie came in again, he squinted his eyes and stared at him for a long time, as if he had made up his mind, and his face returned to calm.

Qu Shaojie smiled and asked, "Does Master Guo have anything to say?" ”

Guo Maohuai closed his eyes and put on an attitude of refusing to cooperate. If you keep silent, you may still have a way to live; If you betray the people behind it, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Qu Shaojie's expression remained unchanged: "Since this is the case, the lower officials will go up to the Ming Sheng." This case has been tried for so long, and it's time to give an explanation. ”

Qu Shaojie is a person who pays attention to efficiency, Su Lihe's words gave him inspiration, and as soon as his mind turned, he immediately thought of an idea and quickly put it into action. The "confession" he said fell into the hands of Guo Maojie three days later: he was dismissed from his post and imprisoned for life, and nine clans within five generations were not allowed to enter the office.

Guo Mao held the holy decree in his arms, the blood on his face faded, and he still pretended to be calm, trying to distinguish with Qu Shaojie: "This is not in accordance with the law!" Dereliction of duty is only a demotion at most, and it is impossible to implicate the nine clans! ”

At that time, the sun was setting, and the light in the prison was dimming. Qu Shaojie stood at the light source, making a teachable appearance, but his tone was very casual: "It makes sense." But this is the emperor's will, you go to the emperor to talk to him? ”

Guo Maohuai was dripping with cold sweat, and he realized that he had no way out.

"How many people know about this holy decree?" He asked quickly.

Qu Shaojie glanced at him lightly, his tone was arrogant, and there was a hint of warning: "Guo Maohuai, are you asking this official?" ”

Guo Maohuai knew that Qu Shaojie did it on purpose, but he had to endure this breath and lowered his posture and leaned over to confess. Qu Shaojie saw that he recognized the form clearly and that half of his purpose had been achieved, so he accepted the salute with satisfaction and told him another bad news: "The holy decree was in the court, and it was approved in front of hundreds of civil and military officials early this morning. Anyone who should know must know. ”

Guo Maohuai's feet were weak, paralyzed, and finally felt scared: no wonder no one had escorted him out for so long, it turned out that he was an abandoned chess piece. Now it is of no use to those people, and his life is in danger. Guo Maohuai gritted his teeth: If you are unkind, don't blame me for being unjust.

"Dare to ask Lord Qu: Who is the protégé of Deacon Su in Dali Temple?"

Qu Shaojie didn't expect him to ask Su Lihe, and he suddenly became suspicious in his heart, so he played Tai Chi with him: "Born in the imperial examination, he is naturally a protégé of the Son of Heaven." Don't you know? ”

Guo Maohuai's original intention was to ask which powerful courtier Su Lihe was working for. Without the recommendation of important ministers, he could not have been promoted so quickly. And "protégé of the Son of Heaven" is a title, collectively referring to all scholars from Jinshi, which cannot be regarded as an answer at all. - Unless Su Lihe really gets the favor of today's son.

Guo Maohuai didn't have much hope, and it was not an accident that he was detoured by Qu Shaojie, all kinds of thoughts in his mind turned quickly, and all kinds of possibilities were quickly filtered out, turning into another question: "The Holy One did not execute me." If I die unexpectedly here, don't talk about Lord Qu, I'm afraid that everyone in Dali Temple will be to blame, right? ”

Qu Shaojie found that he had the intention of relenting, and he was immediately overjoyed, and his face did not show half a point: he deliberately persuaded the emperor to deal with it severely, just to force Guo Maohuai into a desperate situation, so as to trap his words. He stiffened his face and asked, "How do you say this?" Does anyone dare to commit murder in Dali Temple? ”

Guo Maohuai snorted coldly: "Lord Qu, I have to say that this holy decree of dismissal you invited is very useful. ――Don't be in a hurry to deny it, if you hadn't forged Jin Ming's confession, how would I have fallen into such a situation? If no one advances and slanders in the Holy Place, the most I can do is to be demoted and reflected. But now, without the identity of Jinju Taishou, I am of no use to them, but because I know too many secrets, I will become the biggest threat. By dawn tomorrow at the latest, I'll be a dead man who can't leak secrets. ”

Qu Shaojie looked around suspiciously, but did not immediately ask who "they" were, but asked cautiously: "Can they even enter Dali Temple?" ”

Guo Maohuai disdainfully: "Even the palace can be entered, what is a small Dali Temple?" ”

Qu Shaojie's face suddenly sank, pacing back and forth. The prison of Dali Temple is full of repeat offenders, and the defense is tight, if what Guo Maohuai said is true, the severity of the matter is beyond imagination.

"I want to face the saint." Guo Maohuai paused word by word, and said it very seriously.

Qu Shaojie pays attention to doing things steadily. He had doubts in his heart before, but now he finally forced Guo Maohuai to let go, of course he was unwilling to let go of the opportunity. He stood at the door of the cell, raised his hand and beckoned a close confidant, and lowered his voice to give a few orders. The cronies took his waist card and hurried away.

Half an hour later, it was completely dark. The cronies returned with lanterns, followed by more than a dozen guards, and the group escorted Guo Maohuai out of the prison cell of Dali Temple. Qu Shaojie walked in the middle of the team, and it looked solemn in the night.

Qu Shaojie was born in martial arts back then, and the people who served around him also had some kung fu foundation. He is very confident in his kung fu and only takes one person with him on weekdays. Guo Maohuai insisted on seeing the emperor before he was willing to confess, and Qu Shaojie, in order to prevent accidents, prudently asked his cronies to transfer a team of agile people to serve as guards. They moved quickly, but there was still an accident.

Not long after leaving the prison of Dali Temple, the lights of the palace were already in sight, and a frightened horse suddenly rushed out of the night and went straight to Guo Maohuai in the middle of the team. Qu Shaojie brushed out his saber, ordered the guards to protect the witnesses, and then reached out to feel the signal fireworks prepared on his waist, and when the startled horse rushed to his eyes, he quickly ignited it and threw it into the air, illuminating half of the street.

In a moment of light, Qu Shaojie saw six figures, taking advantage of the chaos to approach the team, dressed in black and masked, dressed as a typical killer. The guard in front of him slashed off the horse's head, and warm blood splattered into the air, and the thick smell of blood spread in the night wind.

"Abandon the lights!" Qu Shaojie gave an order, and the guards threw away the lanterns in their hands, and the candles lit the cover, which was clearly eye-catching in the night. The blades in the hands of the guards were unsheathed, flashing with cold light in the night.

Guo Maohuai was surprised to find that this Dali Siqing had some means, so he didn't panic, let Qu Shaojie carry his back collar, quickly swept out of the encirclement, ran to a stone wall on the side of the street and stopped, and then didn't rush to move, just quietly stood by his side with a knife. Guo Maohuai remained silent cooperatively and did not make a sound.

In the darkness, the killers rushed into the encirclement only to find that the target was missing, and they did not want to entangle with the guards, so they immediately scattered around, looking for Guo Maohuai's whereabouts.

A shrill whistle sounded in the distance. The soldiers on duty were attracted by the light of the fire and issued a warning when they were patrolling. After getting no response, he began to move closer to this side. At the feet of the world, if something big happens, these soldiers will be deducted a big hat of negligence, so no one dares to slack off

(l~1`x*>+``+