"Heroes, heroes, don't do anything, everything is easy to discuss! It's negotiable. ”

Zhao Liang probed the middle-aged man in front of him with his mind-reading skills, knowing that he was indeed anxious at this time, and he was by no means pretending, so he nodded to several companions, indicating that the situation was completely under control.

Half an hour ago, Zhao Liang, Li Erbai, Yang Zongbao and Little Apple, under the guidance of Yuanbao, came to a house on Wucheng Street in Kaifeng Prefecture.

This is a small but very delicate three-entry courtyard, and Yao Neng, the criminal prison director of Gyeonggi Road, lives in it.

Mr. Yao, who had just come home from work, didn't even have time to drink the hot tea when he saw the creditor coming to the door, not to mention how tired he was.

However, eating people with soft mouths and short hands, no matter how unhappy you are, you can't offend the God of Wealth. Yao Neng hurriedly let the ingots into the main hall, and while serving tea politely, he secretly speculated whether the other party had come to collect the accounts in advance.

Zhao Liang saw that Yao Neng was patronizing and chatting with Yuanbao, and he was not suspicious at all, so he secretly made a look, Li Erbai, Yang Zongbao and Apple understood, and left the living room quietly, each looking for a target.

After a while, the two maids, three old mothers, a cook, and two housekeepers in the Yao family's house were all tied up by them, and they were very sleepy.

When Li Erbai and Yang Zongbao calmly returned to the living room again, Zhao Liang knew that they had succeeded, so he opened his mouth to interrupt Yao Neng, who was talking: "Lord Yao, we are visiting today, in fact, there is something I want to ask you for help. ”

Yao Neng was stunned when he heard this, and subconsciously said, "Eh, please tell me something." As long as Yao can exert his strength, it will definitely be incumbent. ”

"That's good, that's good. Don't say it, I'm afraid only Lord Yao can help in this matter. A good friend of ours is being imprisoned in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment and will be sent to the execution ground tomorrow for interrogation. So," Zhao Liang's tone was very relaxed: "So we want to ask you to help rescue her tonight." ”

Hearing Zhao Liang's words, Yao Neng first looked confused, and then suddenly laughed, as if he had encountered an extremely funny thing, he couldn't stop uncontrollably, he pointed at Zhao Liang and said to Yuanbao: "Xiaodao Chief, your partner is so good at laughing, just at that moment, Yao almost took it seriously, hahaha." ”

Yuan Bao also followed Yao Neng and smirked for a while, and then said, "If Lord Yao is willing to help, it would be great." ”

As soon as these words came out, Yao Neng was stunned on the spot. He stared at the ingots for a long time, then looked at the three people next to him, and suddenly realized that the other party might not really be joking with him, and immediately said in surprise: "This, this, where does this start?" ”

Zhao Liang smiled slightly: "Actually, it's very simple, you accompany us to the prison of the Criminal Department tonight, and bring my friend out under the pretext of arraigning the prisoner." ”

"!" Yao Neng stood up suddenly, pointed at Zhao Liang's nose and shouted, "You are rampant!" Do you believe it or not, just by what you just said, this official can immediately punish you for your crimes?! ”

He turned around and said angrily to Yuanbao: "Xiaodao Chief, that's right, Yao Mou did borrow your money before because of his lack of money. But one yard is one yard, not to mention that little money, even if you move a mountain of gold and silver to give it to me for nothing, Yao will definitely not ignore the national law in vain and do evil for Er! The money owed to you will be repaid by Yao tomorrow, and there is no need to talk about anything else! Someone, send off! ”

"You don't have to shout, the people in your mansion have been tied up by us." Zhao Liang said: "I know that you are a good official, but our friend has been wronged in vain, and we can't watch her die." Therefore, today's favor, you have to help, and you have to help if you don't help. Apple! ”

With his shout, Apple came in from outside the house, holding a beautiful woman in his left hand and a steel knife in his right hand around the other's neck. The woman was already so frightened that she trembled and did not dare to resist at all.

When she saw Yao Neng standing in the living room, she immediately cried and shouted, "Xianggong, Xianggong save me!" ”

In the last second, Yao Neng still had a righteous and awe-inspiring, upright and majestic image, and the next second he immediately became a coward, seeing his beloved wife fall into the hands of the other party, the steel knife pressed his throat, and his life was in danger.

Zhao Liang was afraid that he would cheat, so he deliberately used mind reading to probe, but he didn't expect Yao Neng to say one sentence again and again in his heart: "As long as you can keep your mother safe, don't say it's a robbery, it's his mother's rebellion, and Lao Tzu will do it!" ”

Yang Zongbao was a little reluctant in his heart, and said apologetically: "Lord Yao, our friend was indeed framed and imprisoned. We are also eager to save people's hearts, and we have no choice but to disturb you and Mrs. Zun, please forgive me for the offense. ”

Yao Neng had been talking to Yuan Bao and Zhao Liang before, so he didn't pay much attention to Yang Zongbao, and when he opened his mouth to apologize, he couldn't help but look at it carefully, it didn't matter, Yao Neng was suddenly a little stunned: "Huh? I, I seem like I've seen you before. After a moment's pause, he exclaimed again: "Oh my God, aren't you the grandson of Old Taijun She, the son of General Yang Yanzhao?" ”

Yang Zongbao didn't intend to hide his identity, so he said calmly: "It's Yang Zongbao from Tianbo Mansion below. ”

Yao Neng sighed in disbelief: "I'm my mother!" You are a dignified and noble son, how can you come here to do this kind of ...... This...... This kind of righteous thing? ”

Zhao Liang knew that Yao Neng originally wanted to say "this kind of rebellion", but his daughter-in-law was still in the hands of the other party, so he really didn't dare to anger Yang Zongbao, so he had to temporarily change his words and hold back a word "righteousness".

He couldn't help but feel funny, and hurriedly explained for Yang Zongbao: "Lord Yao, you asked a good question. Think about it, Tianbo Yang Mansion is full of loyal martyrs, why was their son forced into such a situation? ”

Yao Neng first glanced at Yang Zongbao, muttered to himself for a moment, and then asked Zhao Liang tentatively, "Is there really any grievance?" ”

Zhao Liang nodded, and then told Yao Neng about the case of the Mu family in Yingtianfu, many of which were detailed, and Yuan Bao added explanations beside him.

After Yao Neng heard the whole thing, he couldn't help frowning, and said to himself: "According to what you say, there are indeed many unreasonable things in this case, but ......" As he spoke, he turned around and ran into the study next door, rummaging through the volumes on the shelves as if no one was around. It took a long time for him to turn his head with a booklet in his hand: "There you are, here!" The criminal department's recent copy of the case file of the Criminal Division does record this case, but it is only a few words. ”

As he walked out of the study, he read: "I hereby respond to the Tianmu clan, exchange the military rations, use shoddy, and prolong the war of the loyal army with personal gain, and its evil will not be forgiven." After the supervision of the Privy Council, Mu Tiande, Mu Jinshi, and Mu Ling have been taken into custody and beheaded at a later date, so as to justify the punishment. ”

Yao Neng presented the booklet to Yang Zongbao, and then said: "I read this scroll a while ago, although I felt a little puzzled at that time, and felt that the relevant people and physical evidence could not be listed in detail, so I decided to be beheaded, which seemed somewhat hasty and hasty, but because considering that the Song Liao War was imminent, such a matter of stealing and exchanging military rations did have a very bad impact on the army, and it is estimated that the Criminal Department and the Privy Council are also in a hurry to knock on the mountain and shake the tiger, so they will do everything and deal with it as soon as possible." Therefore, the lower officials did not seriously ask. ”

Yang Zongbao scanned the volume with his eyes and handed it to Zhao Liang, but Zhao Liang didn't even mean to take a look, and said directly to Yao Neng: "Lord Yao, this case is obviously framed, otherwise why would you be so eager to kill people and kill people?" ”

"Hmm...... It's too early to say whether it was framed or not," Yao Neng hesitated: "Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that your friend really committed a crime, but if you want to straighten out the case, you have to carefully check it." He turned to ask Yang Zongbao curiously: "Young Master Yang, since there are flaws in the military rations case, why don't you tell Old Taijun She?" Or do you want to ask the adults in the court to come forward? Any one of them has more weight than the lower officials' words. It's really not good, and His Royal Highness the King of Chu is eight thousand years old, isn't it? ”

"I can't wait so much." Yang Zongbao said apologetically: "I also hurriedly returned from the front line for Miss Mu Ling, and I planned to collect evidence to clear her name, but I didn't expect them to be escorted to the execution ground tomorrow." Now I go to ask my grandmother to come forward, or ask for help from the lords in the court, there is no strong basis, I am afraid it will be difficult to save Mu Ling in time. Zongbao had no choice but to make this decision. ”

Yao Neng nodded, looked at his daughter-in-law, and sighed bitterly and helplessly: "Well, Xiaguan understands." For now, the only way to get the person out is to avoid the severed knife, and then look for a chance to solve the case. ”

He paused, and then said: "I won't tell you that Yao was full of poetry and books, and when he was young, he was determined to serve the country and the people and support justice. Later, by the grace of His Majesty, he was awarded the post of criminal and prison department in Gyeonggi Road, and he did not dare to slack off in the slightest, but only conscientiously and conscientiously investigated the case, for fear that he would miss any grievances, hurt the livelihood of the people, and misunderstand the foundation of the society. Today's matter, in fact, you don't need to force each other, and Yao will definitely not stand idly by. ”

Apple was overjoyed when he heard this: "So, do you have a way to keep people under the knife?" ”

"No way." Yao Neng pouted: "I don't know if you know if you know, what is the meaning of 'strict legislation, forgiveness in the use of law'?" ”

Zhao Liang and the others looked at each other, not knowing what Yao Neng was referring to, so they only listened to him continue to explain: "My Great Song Dynasty inherited the legislative idea of 'using heavy codes in troubled times' during the Five Dynasties period, and there was a tendency to 'heavy punishment and strict law' in legislation, and there were many crimes for which the death penalty was applied, about 500, which was more than double the 240 capital crimes in the "Tang Law". However, Emperor Taizu ruled the country with benevolence and filial piety, compassion for the heavens and people, and cared for the common people, so although the criminal law was severe, when dealing with death row prisoners, he was often merciful and unwilling to kill the killer easily. In the third year of Taizu's Jianlong, the Great Song Dynasty imitated the Tang Dynasty and adopted the system of three repetitions of the death penalty, so that 'the power of life and death comes from above': that is, whether the death penalty is executed immediately or after the autumn, it must be repeated three times. The recital generally adopts two categories and three modes according to the nature of the case and the place of execution. For the execution of the death penalty in the capital, the official in charge of the execution must request the emperor's approval five times in a row before the execution; Two of the recitals were performed the day before the execution, and three more recitals were performed on the day of the execution. In the case of a death sentence executed in a foreign country, the execution must be repeated three times in a row by the criminal department in place of the executing official. Only when His Majesty's repetition is allowed will the death penalty be truly carried out. In this way, in fact, there are many death penalty cases that can be extended and pardoned in the end, and are not necessarily actually hanged or beheaded. Therefore, this is the so-called 'strict legislation and forgiveness of the law'. ”

Li Erbai couldn't help but sigh: "Immeasurable Heavenly Venerable. I am a monarch of the court, and I am really merciful, and I have a glimmer of life with others, which can be described as immeasurable merit. ”

Yuan Bao said curiously: "So, Miss Mu Ling is not in danger?" ”

"No, no," Yao Neng shook his head: "I just said that there are only two modes, and there is another situation, I'm afraid the rules of the triple repetition will not apply." The law is cloudy, and all serious crimes that endanger the interests of the state, such as rebellion, rebellion, collaborating with the enemy, and rebellion, are all carried out in a repeating manner, and they are often carried out immediately, without waiting for the autumn to be beheaded. A case like Miss Mu's involves the military affairs of the Great War, and the Privy Council directly intervened, presumably it has already been submitted to the Imperial Court for decision, and I, as the Prison Division, have no right to obstruct it. ”

Zhao Liang asked, "Then if you go to the prison to pick up people, will the jailer be obedient?" ”

Yao Neng pondered for a moment and replied frankly: "Their rank is very low, and they don't know the specific details of the case, so they shouldn't dare to deliberately embarrass them." ”

"In this case, I still have to ask you to make a hard trip." Yang Zongbao said: "Since you can't stop it, you can only keep people first." ”

Zhao Liang saw Yao Neng's embarrassed face, and said with relief: "Lord Yao don't worry, after the matter is completed, you only need to say that you were abducted and coerced by us, and then you have no choice but to go, and it will definitely not implicate you." ”