It is never easy to adjudicate cases related to court officials, especially when the case also involves many criminals. Even the Criminal Department is quite troubled in the face of the current case, those suspects are arrogant and expensive, and they are entangled in good interrogation, which really makes the officials below at a loss, and can only slowly consume.

But it is consumed, and the criminal department can't afford to spend it, because those unscrupulous fathers and brothers can always find all kinds of reasons to come to disturb them, either that they have wronged their own children, or that their sons have hidden diseases and cannot be detained for a long time, and after three or four days, the yamen of the criminal department is about to be troubled by these people and can't even do normal official business.

At this time, Song Jiang finally got angry, and with an order, he directly transferred a team of soldiers and horses from the forbidden army to guard in front of the yamen, and idle people were not allowed to enter the yamen.

After all, he Song Jiang was also one of the several important generals when he first started the army, even if he was not in charge of the army now, he still had this power. It was precisely with the deterrence of more than 100 soldiers and horses that those officials and nobles did not dare to come to Luo Hao again, but his reputation in the officialdom fell again, and there was even a rumor outside, saying that Song Jiang had received Sun Tu's order and had to put these innocent children to death.

Such rumors did not have much impact on Song Jiang, but it made his subordinates feel pressure, and they could only interrogate each person involved in the case more carefully and in detail, in order to find more evidence. And at the end of May, the case took another turn.

On this morning, Ju Liang, the waiter of the Criminal Department, who was in charge of the case, came to Song Jiang with a solemn face: "Taifu, there has been some progress in the case. ”

"Oh? But what is it? Song Jiang's spirits were also lifted when he heard this, and he hurriedly asked. Obviously, the pressure on him during this period of time is not small, but it is not easy to show it.

"According to the confession of two of the suspects, they did not treat Xu Shangshu very respectfully that day, and even insulted him for flooding Qionglin Garden and their own manor, but they did not ...... it."

"Didn't do it? Could it be that Xu Shangshu's injuries were caused by himself? Song Jiang suddenly sneered.

Ju Liang swallowed and said: "Of course it can't be, in fact, there is someone else who hurt him, it is two broken hands." And afterwards, the two of them took advantage of the chaos to run away, but these gentlemen, because they were dressed brightly and were extremely eye-catching, were all taken by the officers and soldiers patrolling the city at once. Therefore, if there is a real condemnation, it should be those two. ”

"Hmph, can their words be used as evidence? At that time, there was a chaotic scene, even Xu Shangshu, who was beaten, couldn't see who hurt him, let alone those who beat him. I think this is clearly their rhetoric that wants to exonerate themselves. Song Jiang shook his head disapprovingly.

Ju Liang knew the real reason why he said this, even if what they said was true, it would be difficult to find those two broken households, even if they really found it, they would not be able to satisfy Sun Tu with these two people. However, since he dared to say it, he was naturally prepared, so he immediately said: "Taifu, those two sons are convincing, they both said that they can see clearly, and they all called each other's names correctly, one is called Zhang Hu, and the other is called Ji Biao, both of whom are famous playful characters in the inner city. So as long as you can take them and examine them carefully, you can always ask for a result. ”

Sure enough, as soon as he heard this, Song Jiang was also interested: "Can you really find those two murderers?" Then he looked at Ju Liang again: "It seems that you have already sent someone to arrest the two, right?" ”

"Taifu Yingming, that's true." Ju Liang smiled modestly: "If the time goes well, the person should be taken back soon." And the most important thing now is to pry their mouths open, and it is best to let these two people bear the charge of hurting people, so that we can at least give the court an explanation. ”

Song Jiang didn't see much of a smile, but said thoughtfully: "Really? If only it were that simple. ”

While he was talking, a subordinate outside came to report, saying that the two suspects had been arrested, which made Ju Liang even more happy: "Taifu, do you want to ask them in person?" ”

Song Jiang just wanted to refuse, but then nodded lightly: "Then bring them here." Also, the two suspects who identified their murderers were also brought along, so they were allowed to listen. ”

This order was passed down, and the people below quickly moved. This interrogation did not put on a big posture, and it was also carried out in the public office of Song Jiang in the second hall of the Criminal Department, with more than a dozen officers and soldiers on both sides, and a scribe to take notes. There was no slapping of the startled wood, and no one shouted the mighty Tang Wei, and the four prisoners were brought in one after another.

Two slightly haggard children of the official family were put aside, and the other two strong men with horizontal meat on their faces and who were not good at first glance were pushed into the hall, and then knelt down in front of Song Jiang. At this time, Zhang Hu and Ji Biao lost the domineering energy that they used to run rampant in the market, and they looked panicked, and kowtowed again and again: "The little one has seen the old man, we don't know what happened, and we were arrested by the government." ”

"Why, do you two still want to hide your quibbles now?" Song Jiang's gaze was as sharp as a knife, and just one sweep on the two of them made them feel unprecedented pressure and fear, and their bodies trembled even more: "No...... Don't dare, although Xiao has bullied people on weekdays, he doesn't dare to do illegal things. Obviously, these two people are far from being as unbearable as they appear, they are all old fritters who have been in the official office many times.

"Really? The official is going to ask you, where were you at noon on the 21st of this month? ”

"...... at noon on the 21st" both of them looked thoughtful, and only after a while did they say successively: "The little Xu is drinking in the royal hotel in the city......

"The little one should play money in the auspicious gambling house, or drink in the Li Hotel...... Anyway, it's just a few places to go......"

"But some people said that they saw you on the edge of the imperial city that day, and they also injured the court officials." Song Jiang's words immediately made the two of them tremble, and then screamed and denied: "Lord Qingtian, you are wronged...... Even if we have the courage to do something to injure the officials of the imperial court......"

Song Jiang's eyes narrowed, and he looked at the two official children on the side. Sure enough, as soon as they denied it, these two became anxious, and some of them screamed even more urgently: "Fart, Zhang Laowu, Ji Laojiu, you two dogs actually dare to lie to your face!" My son remembers it clearly, that day he gathered more than a dozen of your brothers to wait outside the imperial city, just to block that Xu Huo! Later, when you were pushing, the two of you rushed ahead, not only pushed down Xu Shangshu, but also gave him two kicks...... Now I actually want to clear myself, can we really be blind? ”

As soon as they heard this, the two pranksters were shocked and wanted to refute, but they didn't know how to talk about it for a while, and they screamed for a long time before they called out again: "Qingtian Lord and Little Wrong, this matter, we are also forced to be helpless, they give money, and they are all noble, we can only listen to them." But our brothers also know what their identity is, how dare they be rude to a big man like Xu Shangshu, let alone hurt him......"

This time, it completely turned over their previous remarks about clearing themselves, which also made Song Jiang's brows furrow even tighter. If what they have just said is not credible, how can they be believed now? In other words, it is really possible that the two of them are the murderers who injured Xu Hui......

Thinking of this, he slapped the table and shouted: "Zhang Hu Ji Biao, do you still want to deny it now?" Just if you dare to besiege the high-ranking officials of the imperial court, you are already guilty of unforgiving, not to mention that you may even hurt Xu Shangshu. Also, don't think that no one knows what you did, except for these two sons, there must be other people at the scene who saw it, as long as the official investigates carefully, he can always find out the truth. If you two refuse to tell the truth, you will have no choice but to torture you. Come! ”

With this fierce shout, four messengers stepped forward at the same time with a bang left and right, quickly grabbed the two of them and knocked them down, and someone shook the torture instruments such as sticks and boards in front of them with a bang, which made the two splashes who seemed to be unable to enter the oil and salt even more frightened, and their faces were full of entanglement and fear.

"This official will ask you one last time, people, is it you who were injured!" Song Jiang asked in a cold voice. And with his question, an errand officer had already put the clamp stick in the crook of the two legs, and as soon as the rope was pulled, he would be tortured.

This time, he finally smashed the last bit of the two of them, and immediately cried one after another: "The villain is guilty, we ...... We did make a move on Xu Shangshu because of a moment of excitement......"

Hearing this confession, Song Jiang went down, and almost everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Obviously, this case is really clear this time, and it can finally give everyone a satisfactory explanation. As long as Xu Huo was not injured by those sons and brothers, then their crimes must not be big, and the court will be able to pardon them as appropriate. As for Zhang Hu and Ji Biao, since they died by themselves, they can't complain, and there is only one way to die.

Song Jiang immediately slapped the table, asked people to hand over the confession to the two splashers, watched them press their handprints and debut them, and confessed the guilt, then waved his hand and ordered them to be taken into custody with the two sons.

When the case was over, he smiled at Ju Liang again: "This time, thanks to you, Ju Shilang, everyone can sleep peacefully tonight." ”

Ju Liang also had a happy face: "It's too much of a praise, and the lowly position is just doing his duty." ”

"By the way, the Japanese official will also report this result to Mrs. Sun, you can go with you." Song Jiang then said with a smile, which made Ju Liang even more happy, this was obviously to ask for credit for him in front of Sun Tu.