A few days later, Feng Che came to Shao's Mansion and asked to see the prime minister.

When Shao An saw Feng Che's post, he was still stunned for a moment. During the period when he was suspended, he thought about it behind closed doors, and no one dared to meet with him. Only Feng Che has always acted out of common sense, so he has to post to meet him at this sensitive juncture. In order to avoid suspicion, Shao An wanted to refuse, but Uncle Qin said: "Lord Feng must have something to do, the gentleman is frank, and the prime minister doesn't need to worry too much." ”

Shao An nodded, "Okay, please let him in." ”

Suddenly, Feng Che got started. He came this time for Liu Ruqing's matter, and last time Shao An wrote a trust payment, although the letter also explained what he knew, but Feng Che investigated, but found that the spearhead was directly aimed at Liu Ruqing, and it was probably difficult to be acquitted.

"This case is both difficult to say and easy to say. If you want to solve the case, you only need to know who Lord Liu handed over the holy decree to at that time, and find out the witnesses. Feng Che analyzed, "However, now that Lord Liu is in the prison guards, the lower officials can't see him." ”

Shao An thought more far-reaching, "Even if you know who Liu Ruqing handed over the holy decree to, if that person is timid and afraid, I'm afraid he won't stand up and testify." ”

Uncle Qin was listening, and suddenly mentioned: "I heard that Lord Sun was in the court at that time, and he also spoke for Liu Ruqing." ”

At that time, in the court, Sun Yi did testify for Liu Ruqing, saying that he had asked Liu Ruqing about the holy decree on the twenty-fifth day of July, and Liu Ruqing replied that it had already been issued.

Shao An understood what Uncle Qin meant, but he still shook his head and said, "Sun Jianming has good intentions, but it's a pity that he didn't see the holy decree at that time, so he can't be used as a witness." ”

"There is also a possibility that Liu Ruqing really hid the holy decree, and he said that he deliberately deceived Lord Sun and confused him." Feng Che said very straightforwardly. Although he was entrusted by Shao An to handle the case, at present, when the clues are not clear, he is absolutely neutral and impartial.

This Feng Che is really a tendon, Uncle Qin secretly glanced at Shao An, and sure enough, he saw that the Prime Minister had a gloomy face. However, Feng Che didn't feel that he had said anything wrong, and continued: "If Shao believes that Ren Xia Guan, Xia Guan is willing to take over the case. Besides, the punishment methods of the guard department, the prime minister should be clear. If it drags on any longer, I'm afraid it won't be good for Lord Liu. ”

Shao An didn't need Feng Che to remind him, so he naturally got angry with Chen Wu, and he said lightly: "Don't worry." As you know, I have a pretty good relationship with some of the people in the Guards. ”

Feng Che laughed dryly, he didn't expect the rumors to be true, but he still had to say: "Shao Xiang, let's transfer Master Liu to the Criminal Department or Dali Temple." The Guards Division, after all, is not a place to try cases. ”

"Naturally, I don't have an opinion, but the emperor ...... there"

Feng Che interrupted him and said firmly: "The emperor is there, and the lower officials will ask for it." ”

After Feng Che left, Uncle Qin was worried: "Will the emperor agree to let Feng Che try the case?" ”

"Except for the Guards Division, the emperor may only trust iron-faced and selfless ministers like Feng Che now." Shao An smiled bitterly, "Although I can protect him, I can't save him." To really clear Liu Ruqing's suspicion, he can only rely on Feng Che. ”

As everyone knows, Feng Che is upright and upright, and he is a good hand at handling cases. The cases that have been adjudicated by Feng Che's hands are generally ironclad cases, and almost no one has cried out for injustice.

And Liu Ruqing is Shao An's subordinate, so Shao An must avoid suspicion and must not blatantly interfere. Moreover, Shao An has a precedent of refuting the holy decree, and at this time, in the eyes of hundreds of officials, Shao An has long been the mastermind behind Liu Ruqing. After all, he is the one who dares to return the holy decree, and he still doesn't dare to suppress the holy decree and send it a few days late?

However, this time, when Feng Che requested that Liu Ruqing's case be transferred to the Criminal Department for trial, he hit a nail in the court that was neither soft nor hard. The reason is that Feng Che privately told the prime minister a few days ago.

After listening to the statements of the officials of the Imperial Historical Observatory, Feng Che explained bitterly again and again: "The minister went to see Shao Xiang just to understand the case. ”

"Lord Feng hasn't taken over this case yet, so he's in such a hurry to investigate?" Those officials did not budge at all, and made up their minds to embarrass Shao An and Feng Che.

Feng Che said coldly: "The Criminal Department is originally in charge of the criminal prison and the place where the conviction is judged. No matter what the case, the Criminal Department has the right to intervene. Is it possible to let the guard Si Yue take his place? ”

This is a bit of a reference to Sang scolding Huai and questioning the emperor's meaning, and the ministers didn't dare to speak for a while, but the emperor watched the scene below for a long time, and he didn't get angry. He smiled: "Feng Aiqing is still so straightforward, since Feng Aiqing insists, I can hand over this case to the Criminal Department." However, I only give you ten days, and if you can't solve the case within ten days, then let the Guards do it for you. ”

Hearing this, Sun Yi frowned slightly. And Feng Che also made a military order, and the case will be investigated within ten days.

※※※※※

Chen Wu was dressed in the clothes of the Guards Division, and came to the Guards Prison all the way unimpeded. A team of hidden guards guarding the prison watched him come in and wondered, "Fifth Master, why did you come to such a pickled place." ”

"I'll come over to see if Boss Ding is gone, are you lazy?" Chen Wu said perfunctorily.

"How dare you, our torture hall has the biggest rules, and you don't know it, Fifth Master."

"Okay, okay, I'm too lazy to bother with your team." Chen Wu waved his hand and got down to business, "It was the emperor who asked me to come and transfer Liu Ruqing to the prison of the Criminal Department." ”

"This is going to the Criminal Department?" The hidden guard is also strange, Liu Ruqing is really good at it, and he can successfully transfer away from the guard prison. You must know that most people come in vertically and go out lying down.

"It's not Shao Xiang's mediation, so that he can transfer out." Chen Wu suddenly remembered Shao An's entrustment, and asked by the way, "By the way, you didn't punish him heavily, right?" ”

"How can you?" The guards also watch people cook, Liu Ruqing is the prime minister's person, and Chen Wu also told him at the beginning, who would dare to lynch him.

Chen Wu was relieved, and asked again: "After being locked up for so long, have you found anything in the trial?" ”

The guard frowned secretly, "He refused to admit that he had seized the decree, and he said that in the early morning of the twenty-fifth day of the seventh month, he handed it over to his subordinate officials. ”

"Subordinate officials......" Chen Wu keenly noticed that something was wrong, "Who is that person?" ”

"Zhongshu Tongshi Sheren, Xu Changqing."

After Liu Ruqing was transferred to the Criminal Department, he still did not change his confession. Feng Che immediately arrested Xu Changqing, but Xu Changqing said that Liu Ruqing did not give him any holy decree. The two contradicted each other's rhetoric, and the case fell into a dead end.

There was no physical evidence, and the emperor only gave Feng Che ten days to try the case. Feng Che had no way to interrogate him in detail, and he investigated slowly, so he had no choice but to be ruthless and use the torture method he disdained the most.

On the second day of the court trial, Feng Che asked the officials to bring Liu Ruqing and Xu Changqing together. Liu Ruqing was dressed in a coarse cloth prison uniform and shackled to the lobby. He had a haggard face, and although he had not been tortured in the Guard's Prison, he had been in the cold, damp and cold dungeon for many days, which made him lose a lot of weight all at once.

And Xu Changqing has only been detained for three days, which is much better than Liu Ruqing's situation. He knelt down in the hall nonchalantly, not believing that Feng Che could judge what the result would be this time.

Feng Che knocked on the wood in shock, and said in a fierce voice: "The two of you, don't you confess?" ”

Xu Changqing preemptively said: "I already said what I knew yesterday, and I don't know anything else." ”

"Don't know?" Feng Che looked at Xu Changqing and repeated meaningfully. Then he looked at Liu Ruqing again, "What about you?" ”

Liu Ruqing said: "When the lower officials know that they are suspicious, they can't be self-explanatory. But the lower officials really haven't done it, so they have nothing to say and nothing to offer. ”

"I know that the suspicions are deep, and I can't tell myself. Then ......" Feng Che paused for a moment, looked at Liu Ruqing with a solemn face, then closed his eyes and said in a loud voice, "Punish him heavily, so as to set the record straight." ”

As soon as these words came out, the hall was silent. As we all know, Feng Che's trial has always been based on evidence, and he has never relied on torture to extract confessions. But this time he actually broke the routine and actually wanted to be tortured.

Liu Ruqing raised her eyes in surprise and looked at Feng Che on the main seat in a daze. In his heart, Feng Che has always been a good official, but now, he actually wants to torture to extract a confession!

"Left and right, pull Liu Ruqing down and hit sixty boards." Feng Che said, took out the red head from the sticker, and threw it on the ground.

Sixty? The officials were all stunned, they looked at the thin and weak Liu Ruqing, and they could beat people to death without even forty. Could it be that Lord Feng meant that the rod was killed?

Only the head of the squad among the officials was the calmest, and his eyes gestured to the officials who were fighting opposite him. Then the four of them came out of the ranks, two of them pressed Liu Ruqing to death, and the two of them raised their water and fire sticks and started fighting!

For a while, the sound of sticks in the hall came and went, and after a while, Liu Ruqing was beaten into a blur, and his critical teeth gradually groaned. Xu Changqing, who was kneeling next to him, saw this, his face was cold, and he couldn't cover his ears. In an instant, the sweat on Xu Changqing's back soaked a large part of the prisoner's clothes, and even beads of sweat the size of beans slid down his cheeks and dripped on the ground.

After twenty boards, Feng Che waved his hand to stop the execution and asked, "Have you thought about it, can you recruit or not?" ”

"Xiaguan...... There is nothing to say, nothing to offer. Liu Ruqing still said the same thing. He felt like he was going to die, but he would rather die. Even if he loses his life, he can't admit his guilt, otherwise they will splash sewage on Shao An's body.

"Proceed with the execution." Feng Che sighed secretly, and said in his heart that this person is really an unyielding tough guy.

The punishment continued, but this time it didn't last long, Liu Ruqing was already dying, and then gradually closed his eyes. The squad leader stepped forward to sniff and replied, "My lord, the prisoner can't stand the torture and is dead." ”

He's dead? Xu Changqing turned his head tremblingly, and the person was lying motionless on the ground, with blood behind him, his face facing the ground, and he couldn't see his last appearance clearly.

"Drag him down." Feng Che said coldly, then looked at Xu Changqing, whose face was like earth, and said, "It's your turn." ”

"I ...... I don't know anything, my lord, please...... No!!! Xu Changqing struggled violently, trying to escape the shackles of the servants, but it was a pity that he was a civil servant, how could he break free from two stout and reckless men. Xu Changqing was pressed to the ground, and the water and fire stick immediately began to slam his back.

"Ahh Xu Changqing couldn't support it after a few blows, he begged for mercy, "Don't fight, I'll move, I'll move!" ”

Feng Che waved his hand, and then said coldly: "Quick move!" ”

"Yes, the prisoner has seen the holy decree. It was a dereliction of duty and forgot to issue it. ”

"Forgot?" Feng Che frowned, "Do you think this official will believe your nonsense?" Say, who is behind the scenes? ”

Xu Changqing knew that he was in a catastrophe this time, and he was either killed or killed. He has no life, he just wants him to take the initiative to admit his mistakes, maybe the mastermind behind the scenes can still save his family. Xu Chang Qingsheng had nothing to say: "No one is the mastermind, it is my dereliction of duty and my negligence." ”

"You would be negligent in such a military matter?" Feng Che asked, "If you don't tell the truth again, you will be punished with another forty rods." ”

Xu Changqing cried with a sad face, and admitted his mistake: "It is a crime of official greed and misconduct, and no one instructs him." It's my sin that deserves death, one person does one thing and one person is responsible, I beg my lord not to punish my relatives. After that, he bit his tongue and committed suicide.

The head of the squad stepped forward again to probe his snort, and said helplessly: "My lord, this time I am really dead." ”