However, Zheng Xin couldn't say the reason for this in person, so he teased: "So, Lord Cai is still a meritorious man?" ”

Cai Min was taken aback when he heard this, and said again and again: "That's not what Xia Guan meant...... That's not what Xia Guan meant......"

Zheng Xin ignored him, squinted at the corner of his eyes and asked, "Cai Min, let me ask you: The matter has come to this, are you guilty?" ”

Cai Min no longer had the calm and calmness of Fang Cai when he heard Zheng Xin's voice, but was full of terrifying coldness and seriousness, his head couldn't help but sweat, but his mind was rapidly calculating: If he said his sins seriously, even if His Highness intended to be gracious, there was not much room for graciousness; If it is too light, it will inevitably anger Zheng Xin and make him more guilty.

What a problem!

Zheng Xin didn't wait for him to solve the problem, and said coldly: "It seems that Lord Cai is a little unfamiliar with my Han rules!" But it doesn't matter, I'm ordered to supervise the Criminal Department, but I have some experience, so it's better for me to give you the calculation. ”

As he spoke, Zheng Xin snapped his fingers and said: "First of all, he had an affair with Aunt Dao, and even gave birth to a child - this is a crime of betraying morality and fornication, and as an official of the imperial court, he must be severely punished, and he should be punished with a cane for forty and three months according to the law; The second is to mobilize troops to besiege Shanyin County without authorization - this is a crime of treason, and according to the law, the lightest is to behead and punish the nine clans; Finally, concealing the facts of the case when the case is tried in court - this is a crime of perjury, and according to the law, he shall be punished with 20 canes and 10 days in shackles; In addition, since I am the emperor's envoy, if you lie to me, it is a great crime to deceive the king, and according to the law, you will abandon the city and the three tribes......"

Cai Min listened to Zheng Xin's list of crimes one by one, and his face turned white in an instant.

Zheng Xin didn't seem to notice Cai Min's changes at all, and continued: "According to the law of the Han Dynasty law of combining punishment for several crimes, not to mention the two crimes of cane punishment and shackles, just one beheading and one abandoning the city is enough to be executed by Ling Chi and the nine clans. However, my father has always been merciful, and he may be able to read that there is no lack of political achievements when Lord Cai was in power, and he will only sentence you to Ling Chi. Aren't you still grateful? ”

Cai Min heard Zheng Xin talk about the emperor's honorific title, quickly got up, bowed to the ground and kowtowed a few times, and said: "Thank you Lord Longen, thank you Lord Longen!" ”

However, he thought about it: whether it was a disaster or not to his children and grandchildren, he himself could not escape the word "death", and it was the most cruel and cruel punishment of Ling Chi, his heart was already half cold, his legs could no longer support his weight, and the whole person was paralyzed on the ground, constantly panting in his mouth, as if he wanted to taste this not fresh air in the only time left.

Seeing his appearance, Qiu Yizhi knew that Zheng Xin was making a plan to knock the mountain and shock the tiger, and it was time to close the net, so he made a round and said: "Your Highness, although Lord Cai has some discord with the officials, he also has the same feelings as officials. Can you ask Your Highness to be extrajudicial and let Lord Cai go? ”

Zheng Xin pretended to be quite dissatisfied with what Qiu Yizhi said, and said, "What? Does Lord Qiu want to protect Cai Min? Don't forget that the Holy One had a special edict on officials to form parties and run private businesses. ”

Qiu Yizhi hurriedly pretended to be surprised and said, "Please forgive your highness!" However, Xia Guan really doesn't mean to sell favors, but he just thinks that Lord Cai is also a talent, and it would be a pity if he lost his life because of a moment of confusion. What's more, he has a young son at home, who needs to be taken care of by Lord Cai! ”

Since Qiu Yizhi went to Shanyin County to take office, he has been against Cai Min everywhere; Cai Min is also a subordinate who is not used to looking down on this young man's ambition. However, at this moment, Cai Min had never thanked Qiu Yizhi so sincerely as he did today, and he didn't even hear a single trace of such obvious ridicule in his tone.

But I heard Zheng Xin say: "Okay, since it is Lord Qiu who intercedes, then I can't refute your face." ”

He turned his head to Cai Min again and said, "Cai Min! I ask you, the same is death, do you want to die quickly, or do you want to die slowly? To die happily or painfully? ”

This is probably the simplest question Cai Min has encountered in his life, only to hear him say repeatedly: "Be happy...... Be happy......"

"Good! Since you want to have a good time-" Zheng Xin deliberately dragged out his tone, "Then I'll point you a way to live." You have to know that this is your last chance, and if you are still indecisive or deliberately deceive you, then don't blame my men for being ruthless! ”

Cai Min listened, his just dry face was soaked with sweat again, and said: "Your Highness's grace to me is life-saving again, no matter how stupid and stupid I am, I don't dare to live up to His Highness's kindness!" ”

Zheng Xinmu nodded with a grimace and said, "That's your blessing!" Let me ask you, among the officials of Jiangnan Province, there are still those who have committed adultery and criminal acts, you just have to pick the important ones, which can be regarded as meritorious service, maybe I can be extrajudicial and leave you with a whole corpse. ”

Hearing this, Cai Min already knew very well in his heart that the so-called "guilty meritorious service" was to be an informant to expose the sins of Jiangnan Provincial officials.

Don't look at Cai Min's usual appearance of being elegant and kind, except for Qiu Yizhi, the relationship with any colleague is the best. However, at such a critical moment today, no matter which official's future is insignificant compared to his own life and death.

Therefore, Cai Min coughed lightly, and began to talk endlessly about the mistakes of the Jiangnan bureaucrats—only listening to him from the big things of corruption and bending the law, all the way to the small things of wasting paper and pencils; Even if an official ate an extra meal with a wealthy merchant and received a gift from a landlord, he took it as evidence.

Of course, these things are what Zheng Xin and Qiu Yizhi want to know, but what they really want from Cai Min's mouth is the bad deeds of Yin Chengliang, the supreme governor of Jiangnan Province. However, Cai Min was still telling some trivial mistakes of the petty officials, but he let Yin Chengliang go and didn't say anything bad about him.

Zheng Xin saw that it was very late, and he didn't eat well for dinner, so he was already quite hungry in his stomach, so he interrupted Cai Min and said, "Cai Min, what did you say about snakes, snakes, snakes, and scorpions?" The petty sins of such petty officials are not in my eyes, do you still want to forgive your sins by these things? ”

Cai Min was stunned for a moment when he heard this, he thought that he had said so much, and there was always one or two that matched His Highness's temperament, but Zheng Xin didn't expect that Zheng Xin was not satisfied, so he had to ask tentatively: "What does Your Highness mean?" ”

Zheng Xin listened and said impatiently: "What do you mean?" If you continue to talk like this, I won't cure you for a trivial and procrastinating crime, even if it's okay, do you still expect to be able to make meritorious contributions? I'll just ask you directly-among the officials of Jiangnan Province, who are involved in the Taoist aunts in the Taoist palaces and temples everywhere? ”

Cai Min trembled when he heard this—he knew in his heart that when his two lips touched up and down, countless official hats fell to the ground; However, he is still too busy to take care of himself, so how can he take care of the future of other officials?

So Cai Min pondered for a moment, reported the names of seven or eight officials to Zheng Xin, and said: "The above officials, they are all related to Taoist temples in various places...... Well—it's close. Some of them are seen by the lower officials with their own eyes, and some are hearsay, and I ask Your Highness to verify them carefully. If what I say is not true, please do not punish me for the crime of false accusation......"

"That's nature, just say it!" Zheng Xin's words were a little impatient.

Cai Min hesitated after Zheng Xin said this, and after thinking about it for a long time, he said: "There is another thing, Xiaguan is just a rumor - it is said that ...... Reputedly...... It is said that ......"

He said three "supposedly" on his face, and then he made up his mind to wake up and said, "It is said that Lord Yin ...... It's a rabbit! ”

"What!" Zheng Xin and Qiu Yizhi said in unison, and at the same time stared at Cai Min with wide eyes.

Cai Min was no longer afraid after his words were spoken, and repeated: "It is said that Lord Yin is a rabbit. ”

(Legend has it that rabbits can mate regardless of whether they are male or female, so they are also synonymous with homosexuality.) ）

The dignified Jiangnan Provincial Assassin Yin Chengliang - the world's top feudal official - is not only so inappropriate in private, but also has the good of Longyang, which can be said to be the first scandal in the world.

Once this matter is verified, the black gauze hat on Yin Chengliang's head will naturally not be able to be saved, and the head under the black gauze hat may not be able to be comprehensive, and even the face of the Han court will be lost by him.

Therefore, Zheng Xin also had to be cautious, and in order to confirm it, he asked again: "Cai Min, you can't be honest, this matter is very important, if there is no evidence, you can't afford to be guilty!" ”

"What if it's true?" Cai Min didn't know where he got the courage to ask rhetorically.

Zheng Xin glanced at Cai Min and said, "If you can get rid of this beetle for the imperial court, then I will definitely be able to save your family, and naturally I can also give you a happy death." ”

When Cai Min heard the words "protect the family", his eyes suddenly lit up, he thought about it, and suddenly said with a happy face: "Your Highness wants to verify this matter, but it is not difficult, you just need to go to the 'Qingya Temple' where Yin Chengliang lives to find out." Fortunately, now Yin Chengliang has been placed under house arrest by His Royal Highness, otherwise someone will report the news, and the old and young Taoist priests in the 'Qingya Temple' will disperse in a hurry, and there will be no proof of death. ”

When Zheng Xin heard this, he ignored Cai Min, didn't say a word, got up and walked out the door.

Seeing this, Qiu Yizhi also hurriedly followed out.

Zheng Xin Yuguang caught a glimpse of Qiu Yizhi following behind him, and he didn't look back to talk to him, walked straight back to the meditation room where he was staying, and then retreated from the people around him, and said to Qiu Yizhi: "This matter is not trivial, before finding out the truth, you must not make a noise!" ”

Qiu Yizhi also knew the joints, and hurriedly agreed: "Although this matter is a political matter, the twists and turns are no different from military affairs, and the younger brother will definitely keep his mouth shut." ”

Zheng Xin also knew that although Qiu Yizhi was open-mouthed, he was a cautious person inside-some of the confidential things he knew didn't even know about himself-so he nodded reassuringly, and suddenly said with a long sigh of relief: "What a Cai Min, he actually handed such a hot potato to me." ”

Qiu Yizhi groaned: "I can't control so much now, and I ask the eldest brother to use the Great Seal of Qinchaguan to mobilize reliable soldiers to block the 'Qingya Temple' - not only to prevent the Taoist priest in the Guanzhong from absconding in fear of crime when he gets the news, but also to prevent people with ulterior motives from slandering the reputation of the court." ”

Zheng Xin listened very carefully, knowing that Qiu Yizhi's words were a primary strategy, and agreed: "Reasonable", so he hurriedly greeted the personal guards outside the door, personally wrote a note and stamped the two seals of Qincha and the eldest prince, and handed it to the guards to ask him to act according to the plan.

This guard was born as an old Youyan Dao officer, and he was old in military affairs, and he didn't ask the reason for it, so he trotted down to do things after giving a military salute.

Zheng Xin saw him leave, and said to Qiu Yizhi: "This matter is very difficult to handle - if a bed of brocade is covered up, then this case can only be discussed on a case-by-case basis, and an official in Jiangnan can't handle it, which is equivalent to a white trial; If it is exposed, it will damage the dignity of the court, and the gains outweigh the losses. Alas! This Yin Chengliang, looking at your usual morality, is actually such a wolf-hearted person, I see that you will never be able to turn over! ”