In the evening, Lu Xiaoxian was pacing back and forth in the inn, waiting for news from Zhang Meng.

The old man I met during the day was definitely not a simple person, Luoyang City was not as good as Panzhou, the situation was complicated, and there was no room for a half-point difference, otherwise I didn't know how to die. Therefore, Lu Xiaoxian must find out the identity of the old man.

Zhang Meng came back and told Lu Xiaoxian the details of following the old man.

"What? Di Fu? ”

Surname Di? Lu Xiaoxian's heart moved, and he said to himself: "Could it be that he is Di Renjie?" ”

Di Renjie's fame in later generations is too big, and it is estimated that no one does not know him.

Zhang Meng nodded and said: "That's right, I asked the vendor on the street, his name is Di Renjie, and he said that he was the prime minister of the dynasty, but he was dismissed a few days ago!" ”

"Di Renjie!" Lu Xiaoxian muttered in his mouth, and a smile couldn't help but appear on his face.

I was worried about how to inquire about the news for Li Qianli, this Di Renjie was sent to the door, since he had been the prime minister, the internal relationship of the court must be clear, no need to use it in vain.

……

Luoyang City Shangshanfang is facing the Tianjin Bridge that enters the imperial city. Official offices such as Taishi Jian, Chongxian Pavilion, Zongzheng Temple, and Inner Servant Bureau are set up here, and the mansions of Princess Taiping and Wu Sansi are also here.

On the side of Shangshanfang and Xiuwenfang, there is an inconspicuous mansion, and the plaque at the gate reads the word "Di Mansion".

The owner of the mansion is named Di Renjie, and he is meditating in the study at the moment. If Lu Xiaoxian saw him, he must know the old man he met on Longmen Mountain during the day.

A month ago, Di Renjie also served as the official secretary of Fengge Luantai Pingzhang, and he was a veritable prime minister. But now, he has been dismissed from office and is at home, without any position.

If you really made a mistake, it's fine, but you lose your position because you were falsely accused by a cool official. Every time he thought of this, it made Di Renjie feel a little angry in his heart.

……

A month ago, Lai Junchen falsely accused Feng Ge Luantai Pingzhang Shi Shangshu Di Renjie, Feng Pavilion Shilang Ren Zhigu, and Dongguan Shangshu Pei Xingben and other seven people conspiring to rebel.

As long as the word "rebellion" is involved, Wu Zetian is always frightened, extremely sensitive, and hates to fight in one place, so he immediately issued an edict to allow him to try the case quickly.

In the afternoon of the same day, six important ministers were arrested and imprisoned. In order to end as soon as possible and avoid long nights and dreams, Lai Junchen announced a frank and lenient provision: those who ask are those who accept them, and they can avoid death.

In the torture room, the fire was blazing, and the hot oil in the oil pan was boiling and rising. All kinds of torture instruments were laid out one by one, and there were blood stains on the ground, walls, and torture instruments, and the thugs were shirtless and violent. There was a murderous aura in the air.

Di Renjie and the others were chained and led into the torture room.

Lai Junchen walked over and introduced his unique torture tools to several key criminals one by one: "This is the 'meat house food', this is the 'Pressing Stick', this is the 'Hedgehog Ball', this shelf is called 'Hanging Hair and Hair Ears', tie your hair on it, and burn lavender on both sides of your body until your hair is feverish, and you will naturally fall down, and there will be a large basin of filth below to follow you." This is an ordinary one, called 'flail wedge', but don't underestimate this flail wedge, after you go up, your foot bones will be broken immediately......"

After introducing the torture tools, Lai Junchen said: "There are still a few unique skills, I haven't shown them, just wait to deal with those who are stubborn to the end, but until now, I haven't met an opponent, if you want to try, please go on, if you don't want to try, it's easy to do." I have said a long time ago that if you want to lead people to rebel, you should ask for surrender, and if you ask for it, you will have to reduce your death. If you don't let go and resist to the end, there is only one way to die! ”

After that, Lai Junchen paced in front of Di Renjie and said, "Di Gong, you have the highest official position here, what do you think?" ”

Di Renjie "confessed" quickly: "The Great Zhou Revolution, everything is new, the old ministers of the Tang Dynasty, willing to be killed, and rebellion is true." ”

Lai Junchen nodded and asked the others: "What about you?" ”

Several other people saw that Di Renjie had "confessed", so they also came to a good man not to suffer the immediate loss, and said in unison: "We are all willing to rebel after Di Gong." ”

Lai Junchen didn't expect the case to be handled so happily, he laughed happily, and immediately instructed Judge Wang Deshou: "Quickly record a confession for a few of his people!" ”

Di Renjie, who was locked in prison, knew very well that even if he accepted the rebellion, he deserved to die according to the law, and when he waited for a day, he would be one day closer to death, and he had to find a way to sue His Majesty as soon as possible, so as to save himself. He walked back and forth in the cell twice, frowning and calculating.

Di Renjie knocked on the cell door and called the jailer.

"Di Gong, what's the matter?" Di Renjie once served as Dali Cheng, and his judgment of justice is legendary, and people admire him, and even the jailers admire him. came to the door of the cell and politely asked Di Renjie.

"Lao Chen, can you bring me some pen and inkstone, I want to write some words." Di Renjie said.

"Pen inkstone?" The jailer Lao Chen scratched his head and said, "This villain doesn't dare to be the master, the paper, ink, pen and inkstone are very tightly controlled in the prison, and the judge on duty must approve it." ”

"Who's on duty?"

"Lord Wang Deshou."

"Please tell Judge Wang, and say that I have something I want to explain."

The jailer, Lao Chen, promised to leave with a bang.

Wang Deshou was also very happy when he heard that Di Renjie still had unfinished business, and hurriedly brought paper, ink, pen and inkstone to the prison. "Di Shangshu, what do you want to write?"

Di Renjie stood in the prison and said through the fence gate: "Since I was imprisoned, the judge has taken very good care of me, and I have not suffered any grievances in food and clothing. Renjie was moved in his heart and wanted to explain some more things to repay the judge. ”

Wang Deshou immediately ordered the jailer to open the cell door, hand in the paper, pen, ink and inkstone, and specially asked the jailer to bring a small table and put it in the cell, so that Di Renjie could write calmly.

Seeing Wang Deshou looking at himself with blank eyes, standing next to him and not leaving, Di Renjie said with a smile: "I have to think about it slowly, write slowly, and the judge will be busy first if he has something." ”

"Okay, okay, you're busy, I'll go, I'll go."

After Wang Deshou and the jailer left, Di Renjie took off the quilt, tore off a piece of cloth, spread it on the table, and wrote:

Guangyuan Wu'er: My father was imprisoned, falsely accused, and died in ten days. You can quickly go to Que with a book, to sue the emperor, and ask for a summons to be my father, so as to say that I am not innocent, father's word.

After writing, Di Renjie folded the silk book, stuffed it into a cotton coat from between the threads, sorted it out, and then knocked on the door and called the jailer who was guarding from afar.

"Di Gong, what's the matter?" The jailer walked over and asked.

"It's hot, please hand over the cotton clothes to my family, remove the cotton inside, and change it into a jacket."

The jailer looked embarrassed and said, "According to the regulations, this matter must also be reported to Judge Wang." ”

"Please help." Di Renjie said.

Wang Deshou heard that Di Renjie wanted to change into a single coat, how could he disagree, waved his hand, and ordered the jailer: "Run forward, quickly send the cotton clothes to Di Gong's house." ”

Di Renjie's son Di Guangyuan listened to the jailer's words, and felt a little strange, now it is only February, the time is cold and winter, how to say that it is hot, is it because there is a stove in the prison, it stands to reason that the cold prison is colder.

After sending the jailer away, Di Guangyuan took the cotton coat and tore it open, checked it, and sure enough, he found a silk book in the mezzanine. Reading his father's handwritten book, Guangyuan's tears fell, and he immediately decided to hold the book to complain.

Di Guangyuan hurried to the gate of the palace in a hurry, and said to the attendant on duty: "I am Di Guangyuan, the son of Di Renjie, the local official Shangshu, and there is an extraordinary incident, and I want to urgently ask to see the emperor!" ”

The inner servant did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly reported to Wu Zetian, who immediately sent an order to Di Guangyuan to see him.

After entering the court, after three bows and nine bows, Di Guangyuan submitted the silk book written by his father and asked Wu Zetian to summon his father and allow him to complain in person.

Wu Zetian decided to personally try the case, and sent a decree to escort Di Renjie and others to the court.

Di Renjie and the others were brought to the court, and the seven people knelt on the ground, shouting that they were wronged.

Wu Zetian asked: "If you say you are wronged, why do you accept it." ”

Di Renjie replied: "If you don't admit it, you have already died of torture!" ”

Wu Zetian asked again: "Then why do you want to write a thank you death form?" ”

When the seven of them heard this, they hurriedly said in unison: "None! ”

"None?" Wu Zetian sneered, ordered Shangguan Wan'er to take out the death watch, threw it in front of the seven people, and asked, "What is this?" Obviously, it has the signatures of several of you. ”

The seven people snatched the Xie Death Watch and looked at it, shouted that they were wronged, and said: "This Xie Death Watch is forged, fake, and wants to deceive the emperor." ”

"Fake?" Wu Zetian's handwriting on Shangguan Wan'er to the seven people.

Shangguan Wan'er brought paper, inkstone, pen and ink, asked each of the seven people to write a line, and after carefully verifying them one by one, she reported: "Your Majesty, the death table was indeed not written by these seven people. ”

When Wu Zetian heard this, he angrily asked Lai Junchen, who was following the seven people: "What's going on with this death table?" ”

Lai Junchen was already panicked on the side, and when he saw the empress asking, he hurriedly knelt on the ground with a "plop" sound, kowtowed a few times and said: "After these seven people rebelled, they refused to write a death form, and the minister did not dare to move the punishment, so he had to be hypocritical. ”

"Don't dare to be punished, you can't fake other people's death sheets!" Wu Zetian said.

"The minister knows that he will correct his mistakes, next time, next time he will not dare." Lai Junchen wiped the cold sweat on his forehead and said.

"Lai Junchen, as a royal historian, was careless in handling the case and deducted his two months' salary."

Wu Zetian thought that Lai Junchen had contributed to the country, so he was naturally reluctant to take him under the knife, but just symbolically punished him and made an appearance.

When Di Renjie saw that the case was overturned, he just looked at Wu Zetian with a blank eye, waiting for Wu Zetian's pardon order and the official reinstatement.

Wu Zetian pointed at a few of them and said in a deep voice: "According to the law of our dynasty, that is, the defendant, whether guilty or not, will be dismissed from office. ”

Although Di Renjie was indignant at Wu Zetian's verdict in his heart, he finally picked up a life, and he didn't argue anymore, so he had to kneel and kowtow, say thank you, and go down to the palace together.

……

Di Renjie, who was dismissed from office, was quite depressed, and went to Longmen Mountain to idle around to relieve the depression and anger in his heart, but he didn't expect to meet Lu Xiaoxian.

Although it was only a short time, Lu Xiaoxian left a deep impression on Di Renjie and aroused Di Renjie's curiosity.

While pondering, the butler of the Di Mansion gently pushed the door and entered.

"How? Have you made inquiries clearly? Di Renjie looked at the housekeeper and asked.

"Inquire clearly!" Steward Di hurriedly said, "They live in the Xinyuan Inn, I checked with the shopkeeper, they came to Luoyang five days ago, and they are the road guide from Panzhou!" ”

"The ...... who came five days ago Panzhou ...... "Di Renjie had words in his mouth, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

"Sir!" Steward Di whispered, "The two of them went to Longmen Mountain early in the morning, I asked Xiao Er to open their room and found this on the table, do you know if it's useful?" ”

Steward Di held a piece of silk paper in his hand, Di Renjie took it, looked at it for a long time, and frowned more and more.

After a long time, Di Renjie stood up and instructed the housekeeper: "Prepare the car!" ”

"Master, where are you going?"

Di Renjie spit out three words: "Dragon-Gate-Mountain!" ”

……