Yan Qing sat in front of the case in his public office, looking at the various files about the fraud case in this meeting handed in by his subordinates, his eyebrows had wrinkled into a Sichuan character, and at the same time, his heart was also a mess. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

It's been five days, and although the people under the Criminal Department have done a lot of work, and they have carefully interrogated the suspects who came from Jinyiwei, but the clues they got are still pitiful. Except for knowing that the test questions were given to them by a mysterious person named Li Ji, several suspects couldn't say anything about the person's origin and identity.

What's even more infuriating is that when he asked these people what Li Ji looked like, they couldn't answer a little, only saying that he was an ordinary man with an ordinary appearance and an ordinary figure. As a result, the clues that I wanted to trace from this aspect were completely cut off.

In fact, as early as the beginning of the investigation by the emperor, Yan Shangshu knew that this case was a hot potato, not to mention the difficult investigation, and the pressure was still extremely great, and if he couldn't find out the reason, he would have to bear a lot of charges. But he didn't expect it to be so strange, and after a few days, there was almost no progress, and there was not even a person who could continue to interrogate.

He had also carefully questioned several invigilators, including Zhang Siwei, before, but as a result, nothing was found. And these people are only slightly suspicious, and even in Yan Qing's opinion, they are also more likely to be victims, which makes it difficult for him and his subordinates to really interrogate them in the same way as dealing with prisoners, and naturally it is even more impossible to ask for something.

At the same time, as the matter continued to spread and spread, all kinds of rumors had spread in the capital and even other places, which made the pressure on the imperial court even greater. Correspondingly, the pressure on the yamen of the Criminal Department has also been much greater, and this morning, the emperor once again inquired about this matter, and solemnly reiterated that the truth must be ascertained within the next 10 days, otherwise the officials of the Criminal Department will be severely punished.

Thinking of this, Yan Qing only had a bitter smile. To be honest, when he first replaced Wu Baipeng as the secretary of the criminal department, he was a little uneasy, he was not from the prison department, and his knowledge of this area was limited. It's just that at that time, I felt that the Shangshu of the Criminal Department didn't have to be good at judging cases, so I felt a little relieved, anyway, there are always those Lang Zhong and the like who can investigate the case, and then as long as you know people and do their jobs.

But this time, he realized how naïve his previous thoughts were. Indeed, for ordinary cases, only an interrogation is required, or an ordinary on-site investigation, and the officials under the Criminal Department are naturally competent and will not have any difficulties. But when encountering this kind of case with a precise arrangement and no clues for the government, things are not so easy.

In fact, not to mention that he is a half-layman, even those subordinates who are known for judging cases in the Criminal Department, they are helpless these days, and the only thing they can do is to visit and check the restaurants, hoping to find out the guy named Li Ji.

But unfortunately, this work has become useless. Not to mention that those restaurants are full of customers every day, and it is impossible for anyone to pay attention to the appearance of a stranger, even if someone has paid attention to it before, I am afraid that after so many days, it is impossible for them to remember each other's appearance. Those suspects are like this, how can others remember those who can't even remember them?

"How is this good? Could it be that I have just served as the secretary of the Criminal Department, and I am going to follow in the footsteps of Wu Baipeng? At this moment, Yan Qing was already a little desperate.

"My lord......" A soft shout outside the door finally made Yan Qing pull out of his thoughts, and glanced at the Langzhong Zhu Chen, who was considered his cronies, and he nodded and said, "Come in and talk." ”

When the other party came in, he said expectantly: "But have you found any clues?" "This Zhu Chen was originally a Lang Zhong of the Criminal Department, but Yan Qing knew that he was the best at judging cases in the yamen, so he had the heart to promote him and accepted him as a confidant. In the past two days, Zhu Chen has also been the most active, and seeing him coming over at this moment made Yan Shangshu's heart move.

But it's a pity that Zhu Chen still disappointed his boss, only to see him shake his head lightly: "The lower official is incompetent, and he failed to find any useful clues." Whether it is the shopkeeper in the restaurant or the regular customers who often go there, they can't remember that there is such a person named Li Ji. ”

Yan Qing had also expected this, so although he was disappointed, he didn't have too much dissatisfaction, but just smiled bitterly: "In this way, we can't investigate it at all?" Although there are still ten days left before the deadline given by His Majesty, I am afraid that this case will not be investigated. ”

"It's useless to be a lower official, please punish the adult!" Zhu Chen bowed to himself reproachfully.

"You don't have to be like this, whether you have the heart to do it or not, the official is looking at it. There are some things that are barely of any avail, and it is not your fault. However, even if the official has the intention to defend it at that time, you will inevitably be implicated. As he spoke, Yan Qing sighed a little lonely.

"My lord......" Yan Shangshu's words made Zhu Chen feel ashamed, and even his eyes couldn't help but turn a little red.

"By the way, what are you here to see this official for?" Yan Qing thought of this and asked casually.

This made Zhu Chen come back to his senses, and he quickly cleaned up his mood and said, "The lower official is here to give you a suggestion." ”

"What advice? Is it about this case? ”

"Exactly. Judging from all the clues we have so far, just because we want to find out the truth, I am afraid that it will be impossible to arrest the murderer......" Speaking of this, Zhu Chen paused his words and glanced at Yan Qing with some concern.

Seeing that Yan Qing was not angry because of this, he continued: "So if we want to make progress, we must find someone to help." In this capital, Xia Guan feels that the only person who can help us in this matter may be Yang Zhen of Jinyiwei. I don't know what adults think? After explaining his meaning in one breath, Zhu Chen glanced at his boss with some uneasiness.

He did have reason to be uneasy, and now the officials in the imperial court had always been prejudiced against such a special institution as Jinyiwei. And they are a dignified yamen of the criminal department, and they actually want to ask Jinyiwei for help in the matter of judging the case, which really weakens the meaning of their reputation. Maybe your boss will be furious and reprimand yourself.

But this time Zhu Chen was a little too worried, after listening to his words, although Yan Qing frowned slightly, he didn't mean to be angry, but fell into deep thought. After a while, he said, "Do you think Jinyiwei can help us?" And are they willing to help us with this? ”

"If there is still someone in the capital who can find out the truth of this case, it is only Yang Zhen, the commander of Jinyiwei. Adults, you've probably heard of some of the things he did before, right? Xia Guan has also seen his ability to solve cases, and he is indeed higher than Xia Guan, and even all the officials of our Criminal Department! ”

"Well, the Lantern Festival arson case a few years ago, as well as the nameless female corpse case, this official has also heard of it......" After a little muttering, Yan Qing nodded in agreement. Although he was not a criminal prison official before, these two cases are so big, he naturally will not be unaware. Looking back now, this Yang Zhen does have some means.

In fact, the lower officials have also read the files of the two cases, and they think that under the premise of the same clues, the lower officials may not be able to find the murderer. Therefore, if you talk about the ability to investigate and judge cases, the lower officials must not be able to compare with Yang Yanshi. Zhu Chen didn't shy away from being inferior to others, and said honestly: "So now we can't find out anything, maybe they can find out what Yang Yan is doing." ”

"There's some truth to what you say." Yan Qing's expression also became serious at this moment: "But do you think they are willing to help us?" Our Criminal Department and Jinyiwei still had some festivals before, will they help? Moreover, this case is too big, and for others, I am afraid that it is too much to avoid, right? ”

Zhu Chen knew that Yan Qing was referring to the previous Shangshu Wu Baipeng helping the Xu family, but he didn't have any confidence in his heart: "At this point, the lower officials don't know, but you can give it a try." Moreover, in this fraud case, Yang Yan was actually involved in it, and Xia Guan felt that with his consistent style of acting, he would not want to let the people behind the scenes go unpunished. ”

Yan Qing thought for a while again, then looked at the other party and said, "What you said also has some truth. Moreover, things have come to this point, we have to try everything, so let's do what you want. You Zhu Langzhong will go to the Zhenfu Division on behalf of the official, and ask Yang Yan to help us in the face of the ministers of the same court. ”

"Yes, the subordinate will be ordered!" Zhu Chen's heart was suddenly relieved, and he hurriedly agreed. Originally, he was really a little apprehensive in his heart, but now it seems that this Yan Shangshu is much easier to talk than those adults before, at least in front of business, this adult knows how to be flexible.

You must know that in this way, the face of the Criminal Department will be completely lost. As the first position in the criminal prison yamen in the imperial court, the criminal department actually turned to Jinyiwei for help when he encountered a case that could not be solved, once the matter was publicized, I was afraid that it would not only make others laugh off their big teeth, but also be regarded by some people as a crime of inaction, and it was normal to eat a few impeachments.

However, he didn't know that Yan Qing also had his own considerations for making this choice. Compared with such a loss of reputation, the punishment of being blamed by the emperor or the cabinet, or even being demoted and transferred abroad for this is heavier. The lesser of two evils, he naturally has no need to put his entire officialdom into it for the sake of a little fame.