In the early morning of the next day, the weather in Yanjing City was gloomy, and the sun was covered by thick dark clouds.

It's autumn again, I'm afraid it's going to rain, Zheng Wen is also wearing a thick coat, alone in the imperial study, reviewing the folds, but his mind is no longer on it.

……

The lobby of the criminal department at this time.

Zhou Kuo, the secretary of the Criminal Department, was sitting in the hall, and Yang Bo, the imperial historian of the left capital, and Guo Huai, the secretary of the Dali Temple, were sitting on his left and right.

Zhou Kuo saw that it was almost over, so he picked up the shocking wood on the table and slapped it before he spoke: "Come on, bring someone to commit Di Ping!" ”

After a while, Di Ping was brought up, and I saw that he was dressed in prison clothes, with a handsome face, gentle and elegant, but his mental state was not very good.

He knelt on his knees.

When Zhou Kuo saw it, he immediately spoke: "Di Ping, as the right servant of the household department, you are a member of the court, and you don't say anything about it, without solid evidence, without Your Majesty's edict, it is impossible for us to arrest you in court, tell me about you!" ”

Di Ping was silent for a while, and then said in a calm tone: "Yes, when I was arrested, I knew that my matter had happened, and the criminal minister also forced His Majesty to forgive my whole family, I only hope to beg Your Majesty to leave a root for my Di family!" ”

After a pause, he spoke again: "I think I, Di Ping, have also studied hard for more than ten years before I got the Jinshi and entered the officialdom." At that time, I was high-spirited, a young man, and my heart was also full of enthusiasm, I was determined to serve the country and the court, thinking that this officialdom was black and white, although there were also some corrupt officials and corrupt officials, but on the whole it was still righteous. ”

When the three officials who were sitting heard this, they were also filled with emotion in their hearts, and they were like this when they were young.

"But the criminal never expected that after I was awarded the Qiantang County Order, I happily went to the post, and vowed in my heart to be the master of the people, in order to repay the court's kindness. But after I took office, I realized that it was difficult to be an official in Jiangnan! ”

"At that time, I didn't take bribes, I didn't drink, I didn't take concubines, only my old wife, I ate coarse tea and light rice, and I wore cloth woven by my old wife. You may not believe it when you say it, but I was so honest and honest at that time that I can't believe it now. Dippin said with tears in his eyes.

When the three people in the hall heard this, they were booed, this is simply a copy of their youth!

"At that time, I was poor, and I still had the ideal of serving the country and the people in my heart, but my lords, you don't know how terrible that place in the south of the Yangtze River is!"

"When I first took over as the Qiantang Order, I was ostracized by the local family, and the government decree could hardly leave the county seat, but I could endure it silently. But do you know? ”

"The families in Jiangnan have a variety of ways to pull people into the water, and they are simply doing everything. When the criminal minister was an official in Jiangnan, he encountered the ...... of sending silver, houses, land, and women."

"I was caught off guard, I have also reported this matter to the court and His Majesty many times, but there is no news of it, and I have been squeezed out by the local forces in Jiangnan......"

"Later, I gradually couldn't bear it, began to take bribes, began to accept banquets from superiors and subordinates, Jiangnan local families gradually regarded me as their own people, they gave me gifts I am not afraid of, in Jiangnan my reputation is getting better, three years later I directly served as the county guard, and then I have served as the county guard in Jiangnan many times, and slowly become the spokesperson of the local forces in Jiangnan, and then I became the right servant of the court in one fell swoop, and I have been an official until now."

"I am indeed a corrupt official, but it is a bit reluctant to say that the crime is extremely evil, I have been corrupt, I have taken bribes, I have suppressed my colleagues, I admit this."

"But if you want to say that you have embezzled military funds at the border gates, embezzled disaster relief funds, and forced people to die, this official has never done it, and he doesn't bother to do it!" At the end, Di Ping's voice was a little intense.

When the three of them heard this, they were full of emotion, this is a young official with ideals and pursuits, who couldn't stand the loneliness of officialdom and embarked on the road of corruption and bribery. However, it was also heard that the local forces in Jiangnan were growing stronger and stronger, and the rule of the court over Jiangnan was becoming more and more loose.

Liu Jian listened and asked: "You have been an official for more than ten years, how much corruption and bribery have you had?" ”

Di Ping knelt on the ground, thought for a while, and then said, "The criminal doesn't know either, and he can't remember clearly." I remember one time, the privy deputy Xia Yong gave me 200,000 taels of silver tickets at one time. Another time, the Xie family of Jinling gave me 10,000 hectares of fertile land and a garden in the south of the Yangtze River. I can't remember any of that! ”

"Write it down, write it ......down," Zhou Kuo said excitedly, obviously he forgot that the trial was recorded.

Next, the three of them interrogated Di Ping, and somehow, Di Ping answered one by one very calmly, confessing to many things!

also implicated many courtiers, involved in the clan, and involved many great families in the south of the Yangtze River......

The three of them were shocked to see it, and their faces became more and more heavy, I am afraid that this is the largest corruption and bribery group in the more than 300 years since the founding of the country!

The three of them saw it, and even the others didn't interrogate, and hurriedly took these materials to meet Zheng Wen!

……

And in the hall of the Ministry of Rites on the other side, it was still the same people from yesterday.

But he also added Zheng Tong, the king of Zhou, which was ordered by Zheng Wen.

Since the situation is already so chaotic, it is better to be more chaotic and involve Zheng Tong, the king of Zhou, anyway, Zheng Wen is the biggest beneficiary.

Sit down.

Liu Jian sat on the main seat, with a calm face, and took the lead in speaking: "In this case of the emperor's tomb, the official also said bluntly, so far no new clues have been found, and all the evidence points to Tang Wangye. I summoned you today, just to ......"

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Zheng Jiao, the Tang King whose face was still swollen: "Prime Minister, Prime Minister, this king has new evidence today to prove that this matter is not alone, but someone else!" ”

"Oh, then ask Tang Wang Ye to bring out the new evidence, and let us see it too." Liu Jian listened and said with some curiosity.

"Okay, come on, bring it!" Zheng Jiao said with a smile on his face.

After a while, I saw two samurai walking in with a man dressed in black, and I saw that he was burly, dark-faced, and a little honest.

Zheng Jiao said with a smile: "Last night, it was this person who came to see this king in the dark, saying that he knew about the mastermind behind the case of the emperor's tomb. His name is Xue An, so Gu met him, of course, the specific Gu will not be said. ”

"He told Lone a big secret, that is, the main messenger of the Emperor's Tomb case is Lone's good second brother Zhou King Zheng Tong!"

Zheng Tong, who was sitting on the chair, hurriedly stood up and said, "Lonely's good seventh brother, don't spew blood, this person is lonely, how can it be lonely?" Besides, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty all knew Lone's current situation. You're barefoot and not afraid to wear shoes, and you're going to drag Lone into the water if you live or die, Lone tells you, no way! ”

Everyone present almost felt that Tang Wang was biting indiscriminately.

Zheng Jiao smiled and said unhurriedly: "That's true, everyone knows your situation." But isn't it really what you did? Xue An told Gu, after Your Majesty ascended the throne, you planned this matter, the purpose was to slap Your Majesty in the face, but you didn't expect that there would always be accidents in the middle, you wanted to stop, but the matter had to be carried out at this point, but you also happened to exclude yourself. ”

"It's just that the sky net is magnificent, negligent but not leaky, this righteous man named Xue An is dissatisfied with the injustice suffered by this king, so he came to ask to see Lone, so that the truth can be revealed to the world."

"Editor, you continue to make up, this person doesn't know this king, how can he know about the king's situation, according to Gu, you are looking for someone at random, deliberately defiling Lone." Zheng Tong opened his mouth and said negatively.

"Lonely's good second brother, open your eyes and take a closer look, this is your palace guard!" Zheng Jiao said again.

At this time, a person who looked like the head of the guard whispered in Zheng Tong's ear, and Zheng Tong's face changed a little.

Only then did he speak: "It's Lone's palace guard, but there are more Lone palace guards, and this person really doesn't know Lone." This may be an undercover agent you planted in this palace, and you deliberately recalled him in order to clear your suspicion, and staged such a drama today. ”

"Unexpectedly, Lone's good seventh brother, you will do everything to clear your suspicion. I didn't expect your city to be so deep! ”

Zheng Tong found out that there was an accident, and his brain was not slow, so he spoke.

Zheng Jiao listened to it, and then said with a smile: "Okay, no matter how well Gu said it, I'm afraid no one will believe it." Xue An, you say, let everyone listen! ”

Xue An listened, then knelt on the ground and said: "The villain is indeed the guard on the Zhou Wangfu, the night before yesterday, the villain was patrolling the lotus pond of the Zhou Wangfu, and suddenly saw Zhou Wangye talking to a masked person, I suddenly wanted to retreat, but after listening to Zhou Wangye's words, I didn't dare to retreat, and listened to it with courage:

Zhou Wang Ye said: Has it been dealt with?

The man said, "My lord, everything is clean."

Zhou Wang Ye said again: Xu Yang really lived up to his expectations and successfully involved this matter on my good seventh brother. This time, I'm afraid he's going to be burnt out! Hahahaha......

The man said again: The prince is really far-sighted, he planned this matter, but he easily threw the pot on Tang Wangye.

Then there was another burst of laughter, and when the villain heard this, he was extremely frightened in his heart, and could only hide me as much as possible. Until the next day, my heart was always bearing, afraid that the prince of Zhou would find out and kill me, so I hurriedly rushed out of the palace of the king of Zhou, grabbed the day outside, and went straight to the palace of the king of Tang at night, and came to the prince of Tang to save his life. ”

Wait for Xue An to finish. The others were silent for a while.

Zheng Tong stood up and said, "This must be fake, the night before yesterday, Lone was in the study, and there were guards to testify." ”

"This must be a conspiracy designed by Lone's good seventh brother, so as to involve Lone and share the pressure for him!"

Zheng Tong saw that Zheng Jiao's rogue methods could be used, so he hurriedly defended himself, and what he said also went straight to the core, and he denied it when he opened his mouth!

In fact, everyone present didn't believe Xue An's words after listening to them. Damn, how could it be such a coincidence!

When Zheng Jiao was at his most anxious, someone came to relieve him.

In fact, Zheng Jiao was wronged this time, and this Xue An was indeed sent to the door by himself.

After listening to Xue An's words, Zheng Jiao also didn't believe it, and suspected that it was someone else's conspiracy, but what about him?

It can't be worse than now, so I caught it first, so I came out today.

Therefore, Zheng Jiao opened his mouth and said: "This is true, you ......"

At this moment, Xue An, who was kneeling on the ground, said loudly: "Everything the villain said is true!" ”

Then he stood up again, and while everyone was not paying attention, he took out a guard's waist knife, put the knife across his neck, his face was flushed, but his mouth said: "What the villain said is true, and the villain is willing to die to prove his innocence!" ”

After speaking, as soon as he said that, he wiped his neck, blood sprayed out, and the body fell to the ground.

When everyone saw it, they were dumbfounded.

But the people knew in their hearts that this was a dead man.

The situation is even more confusing!