Qiu Yizhi smiled and said, "Master Li, it's not interesting for you to talk like this." There were not only you and I who were present that day, but there were always twenty or thirty people, all of whom could be used as personal evidence, which could not be denied. ”

Qiu Yizhi said this, but Li Shenshi was relieved: Yang Qiao'er and the plaintiff Yang Ying'er who were present are sisters, and they should be recused according to the law; The words of Qiu Yi's subordinates are not enough to rely on; As for the officials who came with him, they were fed by themselves on weekdays, and most of them had something to do with the case, so of course they would not incriminate themselves.

Thinking of this, Li Shenshi calmly replied: "Since this is the case, Lord Qiu can send them to the court to testify." ”

Qiu Yizhi was prepared, took out a piece of paper from his arms, flattened it, shook his hand, and said: "This is the confession of Zhao Chengxiao, a subordinate of this official, with his signature on it, which can prove that it was indeed Li Shenshi who led people to murder Yang Qiaoer, who sued for his sister, and was rescued by him when he was patrolling the night. ”

This confession was written by Qiu Yizhi on time, and Zhao Chengxiao was specially asked to sign and press his fingerprint, which was originally to enrich the file and form a complete time chain on that day, but he didn't want Li Shenshi to deny it in court, so it finally came in handy.

Li Shenshi was speechless for a while, but he heard Yin Chengliang say: "This confession, can Lord Qiu let the official take a look at it?" ”

He took the offering paper handed over by Qiu Yizhi, glanced at it, and said, "Who is this Zhao Chengxiao?" ”

Qiu Yizhi replied: "He is the guard of the lower official and a friend of the lower official, I don't know why Lord Yin asks this?" ”

Yin Chengliang lightly put this confession on the table in front of him, and said: "This Zhao Chengxiao is both a friend and a subordinate of Lord Qiu, so it is really not surprising that he should be asked to give a false testimony. In the opinion of this official, this evidence is not credible. As he spoke, he half-turned to Zheng Xin and said slightly, "I don't know what His Highness wants?" ”

Zheng Xin didn't speak, pondered for a moment, and said, "Zhao Chengxiao's confession, can you show me?" ”

Of course, Yin Chengliang had no reason to refuse, and respectfully handed the thin piece of paper to Zheng Xin, while explaining: "Presumably, this person named Zhao Chengxiao is a soldier in the army, who can't read a few words, and has an old relationship with Lord Qiu, and he can't really do it if he signs and draws indiscriminately." ”

Zheng Xin didn't express his position immediately, and peeked at Qiu Yizhichao's eyes that he couldn't stop staring, and then said: "Lord Yin's words, I don't dare to agree. In my opinion, Zhao Chengxiao's words should be accepted without doubt. ”

Whether this confession can be accepted or not is related to whether the officials in the Jiangnan officialdom really deliberately covered up this case, and is the key evidence for whether the case should be implicated.

Therefore, of course, Yin Chengliang had to argue with reason, but he only heard him say: "The official has already said that this person named Zhao Chengxiao has a lot to do with Lord Tongqiu, and his testimony is not credible. ”

Qiu Yizhi listened to Yin Chengliang's words with a precise and conclusive reason, and he couldn't help but admire his thoughtfulness and eloquence.

However, after thinking about it for a while, Qiu Yizhi found a big flaw in his set of rhetoric, so he laughed and said, "Lord Yin's words are biased. Although Zhao Chengxiao has a good relationship with Xia Guan, Xia Guan is neither on the side of the plaintiff Yang sisters, nor on the side of the defendant Demon Dao Miaozhen, and has no interest in Li Shenshi. Therefore, Lord Yin's words, the premise is wrong, and the subsequent inferences are naturally not reasonable at all. From this point of view, Zhao Chengxiao's oral supply should be adopted. ”

This Qiu Yizhi has been unable to get along with Jiangnan officialdom since he was appointed as the commander of Shanyin County - so Yin Chengliang has long regarded him as a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh, and he must take it quickly. However, although they are enemies, they have not torn their faces on the surface, they are still ministers of the same court, and they are still harmonious, of course, they can't say that they are opponents of each other.

Yin Chengliang was speechless when he thought of this, looking at Qiu Yizhi's frivolous smiling face, he really wanted to kick him to death with a heartwarming kick. But at this time, in the lobby and in front of the prince, he could never do this.

So Yin Chengliang thought about it for a long time with a red face, but he still couldn't think of any quibbles, so he only said hatefully: "Then this Zhao Chengxiao is just an ordinary soldier, and his testimony is actually a testimony against the imperial court." According to the law, it is already a crime to sue the officials by the people, regardless of the district level. Please ask Your Highness to know this. ”

Zheng Xin said: "Lord Yin, I don't know anything. I know this Zhao Chengxiao, he is not an ordinary soldier, he had several relationships with his father in his early years, and made great contributions in the battle of rebellion. Oh, by the way, his original name was Zhao Heizi, the word 'Cheng Xiao' is still the name given by his father! ”

As soon as Zheng Xin finished speaking, there was an uproar in the lobby.

The officials sitting in the hall, no one thought that Qiu Yizhi, a small seven-rank county commander, actually had a dignified four-rank military general - you must know that Shi Changjiecai, the highest sergeant chief of Jiangnan Province, was only a fourth-grade substantive position, and he barely hung up the third-grade title because he was crowned a general.

Yin Chengliang also secretly complained: It's all because this Qiu Yizhi behaves strangely, and it is really unbelievable that there will be guards like a four-rank military general by his side, and he can't help but open his mouth and ask: "Lord Qiu is really unfathomable." But I don't know why this Lord Zhao would talk about being a guard in Shanyin County? ”

Qiu Yizhi smiled and said: "Oh, that is Zhao Chengxiao was injured last year, and the emperor specially arranged for him to go to the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River to recuperate." If Lord Yin doesn't believe it, he can go to Shanyin County and send him over to inquire. ”

Yin Chengliang suddenly realized: Since this Zhao Chengxiao is the name given by the emperor today, the official position hand-picked, and the special purpose to come to Jiangnan to recuperate, could it be that Shanyin County has made such a big turmoil, and it is all the mastermind of the current saint behind the scenes, and even the clever Qiu Yizhi in front of him is just his puppet?

After thinking about it for a while, he finally figured out why he had been operating in Jiangnan for a long time, and he had reached the point of covering the sky with one hand, but he had never been able to cover up this case - it turned out that the back of his giant hand was the bigger hand of the emperor Zheng Rong.

Thinking of this, Yin Chengliang had nothing to say, and sat down dejectedly and stopped talking.

Cai Min didn't have the insight of Lord Shi, but he also knew that the matter had reached a point of no return, so he had to keep his head down and not speak.

The hall was silent for a long time, Zheng Xin finally couldn't bear it anymore, and urged: "Lord Cai, you are the chief judge, and then ask!" The hour is not early, and any further delay will be of no benefit. ”

Cai Min was taken aback when he heard this, and then stammered: "Li ...... Li Shenshi, what did you want to do when you led the soldiers to the Yang sisters' house that night? And who is the master? ”

Li Shenshi had already guessed that Cai Min would ask this question, but when this question really came out of his mouth, he still couldn't help but tremble up and down, and he couldn't speak.

The real chief judge Zheng Xin was already impatient, and shouted: "Li Shenshi, you have no room for denial now, everything is for me to recruit from the truth!" If you don't confess again, beware of the three punishments and five codes, there is no official dignity! ”

It's not that Li Shenshi is hard-boned and reluctant to confess, but that he has been stimulated several times, and he is already heartbroken, and he can't react for a while.

Zheng Xin couldn't control so much, and as soon as he gave the order, seven or eight generals took out eight or nine kinds of torture tools such as clamping sticks, soldering irons, bamboo sticks, vises, and iron stools from lying down, and placed them in front of Li Shenshi one by one.

I only heard Zheng Xin say coldly: "Li Shenshi." I see that you are still a Sven person, and you are not willing to be tortured in court and embarrass you—I advise you to confess quickly, so as not to spend more time and suffer in vain! ”

In the judicial system of the Han Dynasty, torture was not excluded, so that there was an unwritten practice of who, what, when, and what kind of torture instruments were used.

Li Shenshi has been a county magistrate for more than 20 years, and he doesn't know how many cases have been tried, and now every torture instrument listed in front of him, he has instructed the officials to inflict it on the prisoner - he knows very well how powerful these torture tools are.

Therefore, when Li Shenshi heard the word "torture" squeezed out of Zheng Xin's teeth, the last psychological defense line finally tended to collapse.

I saw him lying on the ground all of a sudden, kowtowing hard, leaving a seal mixed with sweat, tears and blood on the white bluestone ground, and muttered in his mouth: "The offender is guilty, the offender is guilty!" With that, he fainted, and his whole body collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth.

Zheng Xin was shocked when he saw this, fearing that this Li Shenshi would die like this, so he hurriedly called the sergeant to come and rescue him.

There are experienced military doctors in the army, so they hurriedly came to the hall, felt their pulse, pinched the middle of the person, and poured a bowl of water, and Li Shenshi gradually woke up.

Qiu Yizhi was also afraid that there would be no evidence after Li Shenshi's death, so he hurriedly asked the military doctor: "Why did Li Shenshi fall suddenly?" Is it a loss of blood and gas, can the trial continue today? ”

If it were a folk doctor, Lang Zhong, he might still be cautious in his diagnosis, and he would suspend the trial today, and wait until Li Shenshi recovers tomorrow before the trial will begin.

However, the military doctor, accustomed to the torture and questioning of the prisoners in the army, waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "Your Excellency, rest assured, this person is just frightened and has not recovered in a breath, and then the interrogation will not come out of anything." If he is not yet sane, then it is easy to do, just pour a basin of cold water over his head. ”

Zheng Xin listened to their conversation on the side, smiled, waved his hand, and said to the military doctor: "Okay, it's none of your business, you go down!" ”

He said to Li Shenshi, who had already woken up and was sitting on the ground: "You understand what the doctor said?" I'm just thinking of Shilinsven, so that I can give you a little bit of decency. If you dare to refuse to confess again, then don't blame me for being unkind! ”

Things have progressed to this point, Li Shenshi has something to say, so he can only bow his head and admit: "That night, it was indeed Xia Guan who led a few familiar officials to Yang Qiaoer's house. Yuan didn't want to kill her, he just wanted to keep her in a secluded place for the time being, and then let her out after the limelight passed. didn't expect her to be so fierce, so she had to kill. ”

As soon as Li Shenshi said this, Zheng Xin and Qiuyi in the hall quietly breathed a sigh of relief; But Yin Chengliang and Cai Min both secretly complained; As for the other officials who were observing, some were implicated in secretly calculating a way out, some were gloating about the dissatisfaction with Yin Chengliang and others but knew a little about the inside story, and some were unrelated and waited to see what happened.

But he heard Qiu Yizhi ask, "Then why do you want to go to Yang Qiaoer's house?" What kind of limelight do you want to live? ”

Li Shenshi replied 1510: "The criminal officer just wants Lord Qiu to not be able to find the plaintiff in Bi Xiuwen's case, so that this case will completely become a case of beheading. ”

This was what Qiu Yizhi had guessed a long time ago, so he continued to ask step by step: "Then let me ask you, what do you have to do with the 'Dust Palace'?" What kind of friendship is it with 'Miao Zhen'? Do you want to fight for the official body, but also perfunctory the case for her? ”