Li You thought about it carefully and felt that Cui Jing's idea was indeed good and reasonable. On the one hand, he prepared to do what Cui Jing had done, and on the other hand, he asked people to find the officials and prisoners who had been to the rope hall before and after the crime.

Those Jinyi Wei Xiaoxiao are also very high, because Master Li has spoken first, and after the matter is concluded, he will be named and performed. They all eat the royal bowl of rice, and they can ignore anything else, but the opportunity to show their faces in the eyes of the Queen Mother and the Son of Heaven must not be missed.

Shi Saijiu's eyes widened and he was about to watch Lord Li stormy, but unexpectedly saw a gentle drizzle first.

For two days in a row, Li You kept visiting the doctors, scholars, and scholars in various scriptures and halls, and there was no other action, which could not help but give people the illusion that Lord Li had come to visit the front-line faculty and staff of Guozijian on behalf of the Queen Mother.

Everywhere he went, Li You first threw out a few opening remarks and said: "All the gentlemen are knowledgeable, the teacher is dignified, and he will not do evil, and the official is very admired and trusted in his heart." I hereby ask for help, who is good friends with the officials and students in prison? Don't hesitate to teach me! ”

These lines designed by Cui Jing for Master Li are very appetizing to the academic officials, and the results are good, and those who are academic officials will eat this set.

Two days later, through several methods, a total of 26 suspicious elements were circled, including 7 people in the rope hall, a total of 33 people, and 4 officials were removed, and 29 people could be tortured. Li You felt much more relaxed about this, this range was much smaller.

In the early morning of the fourth day when he was ordered to settle in the Guozijian, Master Li launched a surprise attack. All the suspicious elements were arrested and taken to the rope hall and temporarily detained in the front courtyard of the hall, where the Jinyi Guard was guarded with knives all around.

There is a saying that people are bold. If only one or two are caught, whether it is the real murderer or not, they will probably tremble in their hearts. But all of a sudden, so many people were concentrated, and they became restless by relying on the strength of the crowd.

There were more than a dozen junior colonels staring with waist knives in their hands, and these suspicious elements did not dare to move, but they still had the courage to make noise. What's more, these people are all natives of Beijing, and there is a small official who has more or less a bit of hands and eyes on errands, so he is naturally more courageous than ordinary people. On the spot, there were aggrieved and insulting, shouting and shouting endlessly, and the whole courtyard was boiling.

Li You walked out of the hall and stood on the platform, frowning at the noise in the courtyard.

Cui Jing, who was next to him, seized every opportunity to actively show that he was motivated, and he immediately shouted to the crowd: "Please be quiet!" ”

It's a pity that it's useless at all, it's still noisy when it's supposed to be noisy, but there is a tendency to get worse.

This Cui Jiansheng doesn't have any courage... Li You thought as he pointed to someone at the front of the crowd and instructed the left and right colonels: "Take down this person!" ”

The wolf-like colonel rushed into the crowd, took the man, and pressed him down the steps.

Li You turned a deaf ear to the surrounding noise, and instructed: "Fifty heavy rods!" Live or die. ”

The man cried out in horror, "Your Excellency! What a small grievance! ”

"Whether you are wronged or not, you will only know after you have beaten it."

The cane punishment was immediately begun, and the execution colonel was given the order and beaten very hard, and the screams of the tortured man continued. But when he had more than thirty strokes, there was no sound in his mouth.

"Lord Zhongshu, he's in a coma." After the execution, the small school said.

"Wake up with cold water, and then be punished with fifty canes, whether you live or die."

Those who can survive a hundred heavy cane punishments without dying, their bodies are very strong, and the one under the stairs is probably not sure of his physical fitness, and when he woke up and heard that he was going to continue the execution, he shouted with all his remaining strength: "Small move!" Recruited! ”

"How can you recruit now? It's never too late to make another move. ”

There were a few more screams at the bottom of the stairs, and then there was silence again.

The executioner was afraid of his life, so he loosened his hand a little bit, but Master Li pretended not to pay attention to this.

After the second execution, the colonel probed the prisoner's breath and reported: "Still alive." ”

"It's good to be alive, otherwise the execution will kill someone, and the official's one-year salary will be punished again." Li You understated.

Although Li You never said a word to the crowd from beginning to end, the crowd gradually quieted down at this time, and dozens of eyes looked at him in unison.

Master Li waved his hand, sent someone to throw the prisoner into the corner like garbage, glanced at the crowd a few times, and randomly designated one: "Take down this person!" ”

The unfortunate person who was pointed at let out a scream, turned around and ran out, but was still taken out by the little colonel of Jinyi Wei who was guarding the perimeter and put him at the bottom of the stairs.

"Dare to resist the official law, try to escape, first pick off the hamstrings to show the public! Wait for the fate later! ”

Another piece of garbage with broken hamstrings was thrown into the corner... The remaining twenty or so suspicious elements shuddered in unison. They finally understood that this adult who came to investigate the case seemed to have no hair on his mouth, and seemed to be able to make him helpless if he made a fuss, but in fact, he was by no means a weak and gentle civil official, who really took life and death for life, and did not take the lives of these miscellaneous officials seriously with the help of Yi Zhi.

After visiting Li You's means, Cui Jiansheng secretly wiped his sweat. It was really wise for him to run away immediately after the lawsuit with Master Li in the county, otherwise his fate would not be better than the two people in front of him.

This official has worked as a servant, served as an inspector, and served as a pusher, all of which are errands for dealing with prisoners and bandits, and trying to compete with this official is the biggest mistake of you lowly people... Li You instructed Cui Jiansheng: "The following is entrusted to you, and each person will be given a cane for fifty before giving a pen and paper." Those who can summon clues or admit guilt may be exempted from liability by 50 later, and those who cannot summon clues and only defend their innocence will be punished with 50 more canes to see the after-effects. If you don't recruit anything, you will be killed! ”

Although he didn't quite understand the deep meaning of Master Li's arrangement, Cui Jing still replied without thinking: "Obey the order!" ”

For a while, the sticks in the courtyard flew over, like hell on earth.

There were many good deeds in the Guozi Prison who patrolled outside the courtyard to see the excitement, but they only heard wailing, screaming, and moaning endlessly, one after another, and lasted for more than an hour without stopping. Imagining the tragic situation inside, I was suddenly horrified. Looks like I'm going to die a few today... When the news reached Yilun Hall, Master Shi's staff member Master Gao also happened to be visiting the owner of the Guozijian, and when he heard this, he suggested: "Your Excellency's opportunity to become famous has arrived!" At present, it is in Beijing, Xu Tianguan deliberately refreshes the weather, everyone in the Beijing officialdom is in danger, and no one dares to impeach Li You. Why don't Dong Weng rise up and play him a tyrannical and cruel one, which will definitely attract attention from China and abroad! In my opinion, Li You doesn't care much about being impeached in his heart..."

Shi Saijiu sighed: "This move will be discussed after the case is concluded, now is the right time, I have promised not to interfere with his investigation of the case." Besides, he has a purposeful hand. ”

It was nearly noon, and Li You was poring through a batch of confessions in the rope hall. Most of these confessions are self-confessed, and few can provide clues. Suddenly, a small school guarding the Taixue Gate came to report: "There is a prisoner who wants to forcibly go out and has been detained. ”

Li You was secretly happy when he heard this. Fortunately, he was worried that the soldiers he borrowed from the Terracotta Division would not be reliable, so he arranged a monitor from the Jinyi Guard Colonel at the gate.

After eighty percent of the prisoners who dared to move against the wind were powerful, the Soldiers and Horses Division might not dare to provoke them, but the Jinyi Guard belonged to the royal army, and the generation generation was self-contained, so there was no need to be afraid of a rich and noble prisoner.

Escorting the prisoner to the rope hall, Li You looked at him as if he was only in his twenties, and he could be sure in his heart that this was indeed the so-called shadow prison official, and he didn't know which powerful family he was descended from. Generally, the people who are imprisoned with tribute students will not be young, and the twenties are the time to work hard to take the imperial examination, how can they come to prison, and only the descendants of the powerful will be so young.

"You ridiculous dog! Treat my student as a prisoner! The prisoner roared.

You say "I'm too student" instead of "I"? Li You was keenly aware that there was an article in this.

The prisoner kept scolding, Li You's face was gloomy, and he wanted to compete with him? However, the identity of the prisoner is different from that of a small official, he is considered a scholar, and he, a foreign official, cannot be punished casually, otherwise it will easily cause criticism from Shilin. After thinking about it, he didn't bother to ask his identity, so he ordered: "Give thirty palms first!" ”

"Dog officer dares!" The prisoner scolded.

Thirty blows made the prisoner's lips swollen and cracked, and his voice was much quieter.

Li You continued to order: "Peel off your coat and cut off the flat scarf on your head!" Escorted to the middle of the Guozi Prison to supervise the public! Set an example! ”

Cui Prison came in with a new stack of confessions, and when he saw the prisoner out, he couldn't help but persuade: "My lord, you must save some dignity for the scholars." ”

Li You said while receiving the confession: "From my point of view, this person's surname is reckless and self-righteous, and he must be encouraged by others. The official arrested him and wandered in prison, intending to fish out this instigator and see who was behind the ghost! This ghost trickster must have a ghost in his heart, and a ghost in his heart must be inseparable from this case! ”

Cui Jiansheng didn't say anything more, and arched his hand: "The people in front of the hall have all been tried, including the previous two, and the confessions have been completed, please show me." ”

"I'll talk about it when I see it."

Cui Jiansheng retreated to the door and was about to go out, but he heard Master Li shouting: "Sure enough! Cui Jing is back! ”

He turned around and returned to the front of the case, and Master Li took out two confessions and handed them to him, "Take a look at these two." ”

Cui Jiansheng flipped through it, and it was all the kind of rhetoric that justified his innocence.

It turned out that the officials who wrote these two confessions were surnamed Zhang and Fang, and their residences were adjacent to each other. In both confessions, it was mentioned that they did not go out at home on the night the prisoner was poisoned. But the difference is that the small official surnamed Fang is evidenced by the small official surnamed Zhang, and the small official surnamed Zhang is evidenced by the small official surnamed Fang.

Li You smiled proudly: "If it is a coincidence, there is a possibility, but this official would rather not believe that it is a coincidence." The officer assumed that they had agreed in advance that if one person was suspected, the other would come forward to testify, but they did not expect to enter the courtyard together and be tortured, and there was no other reason for this coincidence to come up with this coincidence. ”

Cui Jiansheng suddenly understood why Master Li wanted these suspects to defend their innocence, and he was a little excited to see that the case had progressed, "Not bad! If they are calm and selfless, why would they prepare an alibi in advance? There's a doorway to this! Now bring the two of them in! ”

(To be continued)