"My lord, are you going to wronged the villain? Saying that the villain is an accomplice to the murder, where does this start? I hope you will see it! Shopkeeper Lin shouted loudly, bowed his head and bowed, without even looking at the testimony brought by the scribe.

"This official has never seen such a scoundrel and fierce person! Since you haven't confessed truthfully, this official won't say much to you. Come on, get on the stick! "Meng Zhizhou has been an official for many years, and he has seen a lot of scoundrels and vicious people, but he has never seen anyone who killed 28 people in the city, and he will not be soft-hearted towards this kind of person, let alone have mercy.

When the shopkeeper Lin heard the word clamping stick, his face turned pale in an instant, and he shouted: "My lord, the villain didn't make a mistake, the adult can't torture me, and I will be beaten into a trick!" The villain is not convinced! ”

The servant, who had already prepared for the torture, ignored the angry cry of the shopkeeper Lin, directly clamped the stick to his ten fingers, and gently pulled the rope, and heard a miserable scream.

"Toast and don't eat and drink, it's not like the official hasn't given you a chance. Torture! Meng Zhizhou was shocked and snapped.

The two catchers, one on the left and one on the right, quickly grasped the ropes at both ends of the clamping stick, and were about to exert their strength to inflict the punishment, but they heard the shopkeeper Lin shouting: "Adults can't torture villains, the villain's family is also a famous person, and he is also an official of the imperial court!" ”

"Slow!" As soon as Meng Zhizhou heard this, his face changed slightly, and he immediately stopped.

After thinking about it for a while, he then asked, "Lin Mu, who is your master and what is your reputation?" ”

Shopkeeper Lin straightened up and said proudly: "The villain's family name is Tang, and the Tang family in the east of the city is, and the head of the family, Shilang, supervised the return of Yi Merit last year, and the official residence is eight products." ”

When Meng Zhizhou heard this, he couldn't help but sneer: "It's just eight grades, how dare you be presumptuous in front of Benzhou, even if he arrives in the lobby, he can't interfere with Benzhou's case, not to mention that you are just a subordinate, and if you make a big mistake and dare to pull the court officials to back your back, it is even more of a crime!" Torture! ”

"My lord, you can't, you are all officials, how can you punish the villain, I don't accept it...... Ah........h

The official will not care about the nonsense of the shopkeeper Lin, the adult calls for torture, then the torture will be used, and the two of them exert a little force, and the mouth of the shopkeeper Lin let out a miserable scream.

"Lao Tzu hasn't exerted his strength yet, but you're crying out for joy!" A servant scolded bitterly, on a hot day, it was supposed to be a time to enjoy the coolness, but when such a big case broke out, let alone rest, he was so busy that he couldn't even eat, and he couldn't find the murderer, so he was naturally angry and wanted to sprinkle on him.

After the officials finished speaking, they made eye contact with each other, and with a fierce force in their hands, they heard the shopkeeper Lin let out a scream like killing a pig, and the sound spread dozens of feet away.

The clamp stick was loosened and tightened, and after three consecutive times, Meng Zhizhou raised his hand, and the official paused.

I only heard that the shopkeeper Lin was sweating profusely, his face was pale, because of the pain, even his lips had become bloodless, his face was completely devoid, his expression was in a trance, his whole body was weak, he sat on the ground, and he didn't even have the strength to say a word.

Meng Zhizhou looked at the shopkeeper Lin who was sitting in the hall, and asked nonchalantly: "Lin Mu, you are a pharmacy shopkeeper and a decent person, no matter who you are instructed by, you still say it obediently in front of Benzhou, otherwise you will taste the torture tools one by one, and you will be covered with bruises, and your whole body will be covered in blood. You are also the head of the family, and there is a large family to support, as long as you obediently tell who is behind the scenes, who committed the twenty-three murders, as long as you don't kill people, this state can spare your life. Give you half a pillar of incense time to think about it, when the time comes, don't say anything, once you put on the torture instrument again, it's not like you can stop if you want to, you have to know that even if you don't say anything, you can't escape with the evidence in the hands of this state alone. ”

After speaking, he stared at him coldly and said no more.

Shopkeeper Lin sat on the ground slumped, sweat on his forehead like rain, his hands were shivering, his eyes were closed, and he didn't speak for a long time, as if he was thinking and making a choice.

After a long time, when the time for half a pillar of incense was approaching, he suddenly opened his eyes, reluctantly sat up, looked at Meng Zhizhou, who had unkind eyes, and said in a deep voice: "The villain recruits, can the villain really not die?" ”

Meng Zhizhou didn't seem to be in a hurry, and said slowly: "It depends on whether you are the mastermind or not, whether you let the murderer kill them." Let's talk about it when you're ready. ”

Shopkeeper Lin hurriedly said: "It wasn't the villain who killed it, the villain didn't let them kill, it was they who came to find the villain yesterday, and the villain just revealed some news to them, and their murder has nothing to do with the villain!" ”

"Who are they?" Meng Zhizhou immediately asked, although he could guess that it might be some people, but it was difficult to speak without evidence.

Shopkeeper Lin seemed to have a look of embarrassment on his face, and after hesitating for a moment, he replied, "It's General Hu in the city." ”

"Which General Hu? What's the name? How did you conspire? Meng Zhizhou was a little determined, and it was indeed done by the forbidden army in the city.

Since he had already said it, Shopkeeper Lin simply let it go, and immediately replied: "That general's name is Hu Kun, after receiving the medicinal materials at noon yesterday, he suddenly sent someone to find the villain, saying that there was an urgent matter to meet at the 'Qingning Teahouse', and the villain hurriedly went. After he went, he asked the villain for the names and addresses of the twenty-three people who transported medicinal materials from Jianning Mansion back to Jianpu, and the villain asked him what was the use, he said that they were suspected of discovering the secrets of the forbidden army, and they should be strictly monitored for a period of time to ensure that they would not leak the secrets, and they would not be monitored again, and he asked the villain to keep it secret, and not to talk to a third person about it. Although the villain thought it was strange, they were forbidden troops, and the villain didn't dare to ask more, so he told them all the information about the twenty-three people. I didn't expect them to kill everyone overnight, and when they learned the news this morning, the villain went to find them, and they told the villain not to meddle in his affairs, otherwise he would destroy the villain. The villain doesn't know that they will kill people, so he begs the adult to make the decision for the villain! ”

Meng Zhizhou's brows moved slightly, the forbidden army was so arrogant, but then he asked: "How did you know this Hu Kun, and how long have you known him?" Is there a trade of interest? All of them are made clear that this state can save your life, and if what you say is not true, this state can do nothing. ”

Since he has begun to confess, there is no point in concealing it, so the shopkeeper Lin replied: "The villain and General Hu were introduced to each other last year, and the villain has been in the medicinal materials business for most of his life, and he also wants to do the medicinal materials business, so he is very modest to ask the villain for advice, and he is very familiar with it after coming and going, and then I know that he is a general in the forbidden army." He didn't do the medicinal material business for a long time, he didn't run well, and he didn't make much money, so he wanted to ask the villain to help him, and promised to give the villain a dry share, and give dividends after making money, but the villain thought that his business was too small and had no foundation, so he didn't agree. Later, he said that as long as he followed him, within two years, he would account for fifty percent of the medicinal herb business in Nanjian Prefecture and eighty percent within five years.

The villain knows that he has a forbidden army background, and there must be resource relationship support behind him, otherwise he wouldn't dare to say this big thing, the villain has been doing the medicinal material business in Nanjianzhou for many years, and he can earn millions of yuan in medicinal materials every year, if he can account for fifty percent, the villain follows him, and he can make a lot of money every year. At this point he stopped, and did not continue.

"You are the shopkeeper of Renhe Pharmacy, and the treatment should be good, won't helping Hu Kun do business will affect Renhe Pharmacy?" Meng Zhizhou asked casually.

"It didn't have much impact, he didn't mix with the business routes of Renhe Pharmacy, and he didn't squeeze our share." Shopkeeper Lin replied.

"Let's talk about these deceased, Hu Kun asked about them before he came to you yesterday afternoon?" Meng Zhizhou changed his words and continued to ask about the case, he speculated that the convoy transporting medicinal materials encountered bandits halfway was not a temporary idea, so he wanted to get some information from the mouth of the shopkeeper Lin to corroborate.

Sure enough, as soon as this question came out, Shopkeeper Lin replied: "Lord Hui, General Hu did ask the villain, intentionally or unintentionally, about half a month ago, where Renhe Pharmacy buys medicinal materials, how many medicinal materials are generally accepted each time, how many people are sent to accompany him, and he asked if he has sent people out recently. The villain was very familiar with him, thinking that he wanted to learn from him, so he didn't hide that Renhe Pharmacy sent people to Jianning Mansion to purchase medicinal materials, how many people went, how many people took that road, and what day he came back, they all told him very clearly. ”

"In addition to Hu Kun, which forbidden army are you familiar with?"

At the banquet, General Hu also introduced a member of the army to the villain, the soldier's surname was Ming, and he had met several times before and after, but he was all with General Hu, and the surname Ming had a higher status in the army than General Hu, and some business matters would also be reported to him. Later, the villain learned that the soldier surnamed Ming actually controlled General Hu's medicinal herb business, and almost all major decisions were made by Ming joining the army, and then told General Hu to carry it out. The villain is not very familiar with Ming Senjun, and he can't say much, every time they meet, he is talking, the villain is listening, and occasionally the villain will make suggestions, but he generally won't listen. Other forbidden soldiers have also seen a few, all of them are ordinary soldiers, and the villain can't be named. Shopkeeper Lin's mood gradually stabilized, and 1510 spoke clearly.

"Lin Mu, after the medicinal herb convoy returned to the city yesterday, didn't you tell you what happened to them halfway? Have you ever seen the murder weapon left behind by the bandits? Meng Zhizhou's mind changed and he asked about the bandits again.

Shopkeeper Lin said: "I heard them mention it, and I didn't think anything happened at the time, so I didn't care." The murder weapon that the adults said, the villain has never seen it, and he has not heard them talk about it. ”

"Yesterday at noon, a young man named Song Cheng came to report the case, claiming that he had encountered 12 robbers on the way back to Jianpu to transport medicinal herbs, and he was carrying a murder weapon left by the bandits. Do you know that Song Cheng came to Yamen to report the case? Did you instigate it? Meng Zhizhou asked again.

Shopkeeper Lin immediately replied: "After the delivery of the medicinal materials, the villain asked them to go back to rest, Song Cheng said that he was going to the yamen, they walked in the field all the year round, and they had to deal with the yamen, and the villain didn't ask much." ”