(Ask for a subscription.) A lamp is like a bean, and the dark shadows in the dark room are shimmering, and they are extremely clear.

Li Yong sat quietly on the chair, his eyes slightly closed, as if he was asleep, as if he was awake but not awake. For three days, Li Yong was semi-house arrest in this small room at the west end of the back hall of the county government, except for walking on the patio outside to watch the sky, he could only sit here most of the time, silently recalling what he had experienced in his life. Those feasting, drinking, hunting, and full of friends; Those who laughed and scolded, drank and sang; Those days of beautiful wind and happy life flashed through my mind one by one, as if I was in a different world.

Li Yong knew very well in his heart that it would be difficult to escape the catastrophe in front of him this time, unless a miracle happened. There has been such a miracle before, and the savior who saved him that time was named Kong Zhang. But this time, Kong Zhang has already been demoted to Qiongzhou, and he doesn't know life and death, and no one can save him.

At a certain moment, Li Yong even resented Kong Zhang, if it weren't for him, he wouldn't have been able to get to this point, that time he escaped death did not give him a profound lesson, but made him feel that there was no hurdle in life that he couldn't pass, and the boat would naturally go straight to the bridge. So after that, I was even more unscrupulous, and finally fell in the same place again today.

Of course, this is just a momentary thought, and most of the time Li Yong is reflecting on his life. In this life, I am too indulgent and willful, and I think too highly of myself. The growth of age did not bring me precipitation, but instead boosted my temperament of being overjoyed, arrogant, and uninhibited to save face. Today's catastrophe is inevitable, and it is inevitable.

Li Yong hates that the older he gets, the more immature he becomes, he is already sixty-nine years old, and he is only one year away from becoming famous, but this year is the most difficult year for himself. Moreover, Li Yong deeply felt another kind of fear, from the day Yang Shenjin arrived in Beihai on the first day, Li Yong had a premonition that his case would be very big, and even involve other people. I don't know how many times he has seen this kind of thing in the ups and downs of the sea for decades, and finally, it is his turn to experience it himself.

In addition, in the afternoon of the day before yesterday, when Yang Shenjin decided to live in the back hall of the county government, Li Yong saw with his own eyes that dozens of people in his family were miserable and moved out with packages and futons, and Li Yong was almost about to collapse at that time. He suddenly realized that he had only cared about himself for so many years, and he didn't care about the people in his family in the slightest. There is also a conspicuous patch on the clothes of the old wife Chen. His eldest son had gray temples, and it was the first time he had seen him in the eye, and it was even the first time he had seen a big hole in the boot he was wearing.

Countless times Li Yong's mind flashed the eyes of his wife, children and grandchildren looking at him when they left the county office, and those eyes were full of indifference and even some resentment. As the head of the family, he did not bring happiness and prosperity to his relatives, but brought disaster to them. Before, he didn't think of his impression in their minds, but now Li Yong suddenly realized how ridiculous and failed he was in his life.

If there is room for redemption, Li Yong is willing to use everything to redeem it, but will there be any chance for this?

Outside the house, the light of a lantern slowly penetrated through the cracks in the vertical lattice windows, forming a pattern of intervals, which were printed on Li Yong's body. The lights moved, and the light flowed, illuminating Li Yong's slightly open face.

"Stand down, all of you. Guard the door, and no one shall come in without my orders. Someone commanded majestically.

Li Yong's eyes opened suddenly, he heard that this was Yang Shenjin's voice, Yang Shenjin was the first time to see him in three days, and he asked to see Yang Shenjin many times in these three days, but he was ruthlessly refused.

'Squeak', the old wooden door made a screeching sound, the light of the lantern shone in from outside the door, Yang Shenjin appeared in front of the door in casual clothes, the light of the lantern shone on his face from the bottom up, and the already potholed Yang Shenjin's face was illuminated by the light below, which was quite eerie.

"Ah, Yang Shangshu, the criminal officer Li Yong knocked to see Yang Shangshu." Li Yong hurriedly got up and saluted respectfully, this was the first time in his memory that he had saluted Yang Shenjin so politely.

Yang Shen hummed, hung the lantern on the pillar, and turned around to return the salute gently.

"Li is too polite, Yang came to see you tonight, you have been busy enough in the past few days, and you have been slow to treat you. Li Taishou is also a famous minister of this dynasty, so he shouldn't have been treated so slowly. ”

"The criminal officer ......is embarrassed," Li Yong sighed.

Yang Shenjin smiled slightly and waved his hand: "Sit down and talk, I didn't come as an investigator today, I just came as a colleague and wanted to chat with Li Taishou." In the past few days, because of the detention of the case, I have to let Li Taishou succumb to live here, and I can't help it. I don't know if my subordinates have treated Li Taishou slowly, or if they have any difficulties, Li Taishou can say it, and I will immediately punish them. ”

Li Yong hurriedly said: "No, no, they are very good to me, there is nothing disrespectful." ”

Yang Shenjin nodded and said, "That's good." ”

The two were relatively silent, and for a while they didn't seem to have much to talk about, or neither of them wanted to speak first. Li Yong lowered his head and didn't speak, while Yang Shenjin looked at Li Yong's white and haggard head with sharp eyes, and he didn't know what he was thinking in his head.

"That...... Dare to ask Yang Shangshu, when will I be escorted to Beijing to ask for the crime? Li Yong suddenly broke his silence and looked up and asked.

Yang Shen was stunned and smiled: "Listening to Li Taishou's words, it seems that he will definitely be convicted." Could it be that in response to Liu Ji's accusations, Li Taishou doesn't plan to defend his innocence? ”

Li Yong slowly shook his head and said, "Don't argue, I plead guilty." Liu Ji is not a false accusation, I did embezzle public money, and the amount is not small. I thought I could return the public money to make up for the hole, but I was powerless. Yang Shangshu doesn't need to inquire any more, I admit the crime of embezzlement of public money, and the other officials in this county also have to obey orders under my instructions, and the matter has nothing to do with them, I will bear it with all my might. ”

Yang Shenjin frowned slightly, and said in a deep voice: "So, Li Taishou is going to take everything on his head?" ”

Li Yong said: "I did it alone, of course I have to take it alone." ”

Yang Shenjin paused and said in a low voice: "It's a pity...... Li Taishou is afraid that he will not be able to handle it alone, your case involves many people, and if you want to take it alone, I am afraid that you will not be able to. ”

Li Yong's body trembled, raised his eyes to look at Yang Shenjin and said: "Yang Shangshu, the old man is already willing to admit his guilt, this case is my own responsibility, don't implicate the innocent." Otherwise, the old man will not be able to sleep and eat, and even if he dies, he will not be able to look away. ”

Yang Shenjin said coldly: "Innocent? Li Taishou, are you saying that I am confused in handling the case? Everything I said is evidenced, how can it be innocent? What you say makes no sense. ”

Li Yong looked at Yang Shenjin in a daze, but saw Yang Shenjin and said lightly with an expressionless face: "Li Taishou, when the official came to talk to you tonight, he gave you a thorough understanding in advance." Tomorrow morning, you will officially go to court for trial, before that, Yang feels the need to reach a consensus with you on some things, you hope that this case will be closed as soon as possible, and I also hope that it will be concluded as soon as possible, and we don't want to cause extraneous trouble. I don't want you to hide something that makes it difficult for me. I don't want to punish Li Taishou in any way. Li Taishou is an old minister of this dynasty, and his reputation is spread all over the world, and I don't want to do anything disrespectful to you. ”

Yang Shangshu ...... What do you mean by that...... Why? ”

"The matter is very simple, in the past few days, I have asked nearly 100 people from Beihai County, from Li Taishou down, hundreds of officials of all sizes have basically been in contact, most of them are not aware of Li Taishou's case, but some people have revealed shocking secrets. Do you want to hear about it? ”

"What's the secret? In addition to being dizzy and embezzling public money, what other secrets does my Li Yong have? ”

"Li Taishou, why do we bother to play dumb riddles? Zichuan Taishou Pei Dunfu has a very personal relationship with you, and there are frequent financial exchanges between the two of you, and you go to Zichuan for several months every year to feast with him, and he also comes to Beihai County for a few months every year to talk to you. The thousands of public money embezzled are not squandered by you alone, he probably spent a lot of money. In addition, some people have accused you of discussing government affairs more than once after drinking, and in front of many people, which can be described as extremely bold. Moreover, when checking the accounts, I found a lot of strange accounts, which flowed to some officials in the capital. Your subordinates, such as Sima, Changshi, Chronicle of the Army, and even Si Hu, have all testified that they were once appointed by you to bring money to Beijing to bribe important officials in Beijing, and they are all willing to testify in court tomorrow. ”

Li Yong stood up suddenly, and said with a pale face: "Blood spews people, how can there be such a thing?" Pei Taishou and I have a purely personal relationship, and there is only poetry and literature between him, and there is no financial exchange at all. There is nothing to talk about the government, you are framing. ”

Yang Shenjin said coldly: "It's not up to you to frame whether to frame or not, I said that there is evidence." The man sent to Zichuan has summoned Pei Dunfu to come to the church tomorrow; Moreover, Zichuan's accounts were also brought to the court for inspection. When the time comes, the evidence will be ironclad, and you will not be able to deny it. ”

"You are falsely accused...... Framed...... You guys are so shameless, so shameless. Li Yong muttered, his body swaying back and forth, barely able to stand.

"If people don't know what to do unless they do, Li Taishou, what's the use of saying this now? There is an even more exciting secret I want to tell you, you should know that Liu Ji accused Du Youlin of 'dying and proverbial, constructing the East Palace, and reprimanding the public opinion'. I'm afraid you can't get out of this matter. ”

Li Yong was shocked and frightened, his heart hurt, a mouthful of blood spurted out, and his body fell to the ground with a puff.