When everyone gathered to look, the man's face was yellow, his eyes were blank, his beard was of different lengths, and his hair was still a little scattered.

"Grass people on the fifteenth day, long live you!" Zhou 15 didn't know the etiquette of the court, so he just snorted his head loudly, and then pressed his head tightly on the cold floor to show his piety, waiting for the emperor to ask.

"Raise your head!" Emperor Han raised his voice very majestically, and squinted at Zhou Thirteen with cold eyes.

Zhou 13 listened to the order and raised his head slowly, but he didn't dare to be a little lazy, and timidly deliberately avoided the emperor's sharp gaze.

"Are you the witness invited by Master Cui?"

"Positive...... Be! Zhou 13 tried his best to restrain his nervousness.

"Do you know the whole story?" Emperor Han sat on the dragon chair and slowly leaned back on the soft pillow, "1510 report truthfully, if there is a discrepancy or half a lie, it is a crime of killing the head!" ”

"Yes!" Zhou 13 was still a little nervous and excited, swallowed his saliva, and then continued, "Cao Min was originally an ordinary cell leader in the Kyoto prison more than ten years ago, and he has been conscientious until I heard that Wu Qingfeng was arrested for rebellion, and his family was all imprisoned in the cell under the jurisdiction of Cao Min at that time, and Wu Qingfeng was held alone in the heavenly prison. But it wasn't until August 22, the night before Wu Qingfeng's execution, that a man dressed as an official, with a veil on his face, went directly into the cell and talked to me about things, so we chatted separately in the gatehouse, and he said that there were three important criminals in it, and you were the emperor......" Zhou 13 said this, blinked timidly, and didn't dare to go on.

Emperor Han opened his eyes angrily and said, "Go on......"

"It is said that it is your emperor's will, and you want to exchange those three people secretly." Zhou Shisan had the courage to continue, "At that time, the grass people asked how to change it, and the person said that he would find three prisoners at random and drop the bag when no one was there, and the person who dropped the bag must use a knife to cut his face to the point that he is unrecognizable. So the grass people remembered that the three mothers and children who were imprisoned for stealing cattle shortly after that time had their bags dropped. ”

Xu Bingde, the secretary of the Ministry of War, followed up and asked: "Boldly Diao Min, I think it is clearly your dereliction of duty, how can a person casually go to prison and say that he dropped the bag, and you really helped drop the bag?" ”

Emperor Han also asked with some noncommittality: "Yes! Did you confirm his identity at the time? ”

"The grass people don't dare to lie......" Zhou Shisan buckled his head again and again, "There is ...... At that time, the official was holding a token in his hand that the emperor gave him a release token, otherwise the grass people would be nine heads, and they would not dare to release them privately! Moreover, the man also said that the matter was confidential and should not be passed on, and he left ten taels of gold when he left. ”

"Master Cui just said that you have an accomplice, where is he now?" Emperor Han continued to ask.

"Yes, there was originally another person, his name was Jin Wu, who was also a guard in the cell, and he was the most trusted deputy of the grass people. Because I was unable to act alone, I asked him to help, and after the deed was completed, I also gave him five taels of gold. ”

Emperor Han gradually began to believe what Zhou 13 said, "Then do you know who made you drop the bag?" Why have you been missing for so many years? And ......" Emperor Han paused, "who are the three people who were dropped?" ”

The officials in the hall, looking at Zhou Shisan, were all nervously waiting for his answer.

"The grass people didn't know who the people who asked us to do things were until after Wu Qingfeng's family was beheaded on August 23, and we jailers were busy until late at night after we counted the beheaded heads. When I just fell asleep, Jin Wu hurriedly came to my house, and said with a nervous look that someone was following him, saying that Shangfeng had sent someone to kill him? At that time, we were shocked and frightened, but fortunately neither of us had any families, so we packed up and found more places that night, and only then did we disguise ourselves as woodcutters and go out of the city at dawn. Zhou 13 recalled the past, full of bitterness, tears fell from the corners of his eyes, "But a few miles out of the city, I was still caught up by the officers and soldiers they sent." At that time, we were hiding in a ruined temple, and Jin Wu said that he was thirsty and wanted to go to the ancient well at the entrance of the ruined temple to fetch a bucket of water. At that time, I was resting in the temple, and when I heard the sound of horses' hooves outside the temple, I thought it was not good, so I quickly hid in the low wall that had collapsed. Unfortunately, Jin Wu was arrested by them, and Jin Wu was killed on the spot. They expected me to be in the ruined temple, but after looking for a long time, they didn't find me, and later learned from their conversation that they were the subordinates of Li Shizhi, the secretary of Dali Temple, and they were also from Dali Temple, and they came up with an idea in order to be able to give an account to Lord Li, that is, to cut off a head and a left hand of Jin Wu's corpse, and falsely claimed that they were cut off from the corpses of me and Jin Wu......"

Li Shizhi couldn't listen anymore, so he hurriedly stopped Zhou Shisan from continuing, and said angrily: "Ridiculous...... Zi Xuwu ......"

"Shut up!" Emperor Han stopped and said, "Let him continue." Emperor Han turned to continue to ask Zhou Shisan, "Who are the three people who were dropped?" ”

Zhou Shisan was a little trembling, he didn't dare to reveal the identities of these three people, because the stakes were very high, if he really said his identity, he would definitely set off a bloody storm, but if he didn't tell the truth, it would be difficult to get out of this palace gate today.

Emperor Han saw that Zhou 13 had scruples, so he said: "Just say, I will ensure that you are safe." ”

Zhou 13 waited for the emperor's words, "The three mothers and sons who dropped the bag were also the three mothers and sons of the Wu family, and the mother and son of the child who dropped the bag by the Wu family were Wu Qingfeng's wife, and the other two children were their sisters-in-law......"

"What ......"

As soon as the words came out, everyone in the Xuanzheng Hall was stunned at first, and then there was an uproar. If what the witness in front of him said is true, then Li Shizhi committed a felony of killing his head, not to mention the secret box operation, the person who released it was Wu Qingfeng's missing pearl, which is a big taboo.

Emperor Han still suppressed his anger, stared at Li Shizhi intently and asked, "Uncle Guo...... What do you have to say? ”

Li Shizhi's face was pale, his expression was nervous, and he wanted to defend himself, but when he looked up at the emperor's cold gaze, he couldn't help but hesitate again, and he couldn't speak for a long time.

Xun Mou saw the opportunity and knew that the prime minister had messed up, so he continued to question Zhou Shisan: "There is no evidence, how can you be convinced." Your Majesty, many years have passed since the incident, and with his red mouth and white teeth, I am afraid that he is sowing discord and slandering and framing! I think this Zhou Thirteen is clearly bribed by people with bad intentions to frame the prime minister. ”

"General Xun is right...... everyone echoed my words, "This person has bad intentions and should be executed immediately......"

Emperor Han looked at Li Shizhi suspiciously, looked at Zhou Shisan noncommittally, and continued: "Do you have direct evidence? ”

Cui Hao didn't wait for Zhou Shisan to speak, and then replied: "Your Majesty, the evidence is on the minister." ”