Huo Jing was so angry with him that he slapped the table and shouted, "You pimpy can quibble!" Who says you're guilty of breaking a few pieces of paper? I'm asking you for your motive for breaking those pieces of paper! ”

You Laoqi stopped quibbling, knelt on the ground and pretended to be wronged, holding his head, and kept shouting that he was wronged.

Listening to You Laoqi's voice as if calling his soul, Huo Jing had a headache, and he really wanted to rush down and give him a few slaps directly.

Wan Lin saw the anger on Huo Jing's face, and persuaded him: "The prince is a little restless, in the face of such a scoundrel, the more angry you are, the more proud he will be." Let's change the way to get him to confess. ”

Huo Jing said angrily: "I think it should be a different way." ”

After speaking, Huo Jing said to Xing Zhida: "Master Xing, don't be merciful to such a hard-mouthed scoundrel suspect, torture him!" ”

"That's what the official wants!" Xing Zhida said and threw a order sign at You Laoqi.

"Come on, serve this hard-mouthed pranky torture!"

After Xing Zhida finished speaking, the two officials walked to You Laoqi's side with water and fire sticks.

You Laoqi was still holding his head and shouting that he was wronged, but when he heard that he was going to be tortured, he quickly raised his head in fear.

"The little one is really wronged! It's just a few pieces of paper! Why are you making such a fuss that you want to kill people because of a few pieces of paper! ”

Yu Hongxin didn't expect You Laoqi to be such a clever and eloquent person, he suddenly felt afraid, and let such a person stay by his side for several years.

Xing Zhida angrily reprimanded You Laoqi: "You Laoqi, do you think we are willing to torture you? If you take the initiative to confess who instructed you to break those pieces of paper, not only will you not have to be punished, but you will also be able to make meritorious atonements! But you have to toast and not eat and drink! Then don't blame the official for being polite! ”

Xing Zhida didn't have time to talk nonsense with him anymore, and everything that should be said was finished, so he ordered: "Execution!" ”

The dignified Dali Temple is not a place for children to play at home, Xing Zhida gave an order, and the messenger immediately raised the water and fire stick.

"Wait!"

When the heavy and powerful stick was about to fall on You Laoqi, he suddenly shouted.

Xing Zhida immediately raised his hand and motioned for the servants to stop.

"You Laoqi, are you willing to confess?"

Xing Zhida looked at him coldly and asked.

You Laoqi was obviously not as calm as he was just now at this time, and said anxiously: "Just tell what you know!" But there is one thing, the little one really doesn't know what is going on with those pieces of paper, but just does what they are told. ”

As soon as he said this, everyone's eyes were focused on him.

Yu Hongxin couldn't help the anger in his heart, gritted his teeth and scolded: "You eat things inside and outside!" How dare you betray your master's house! See if I don't kill you! ”

"Dad, calm down!" Yu Wenyao hurriedly grabbed the excited father.

You Laoqi hid to the side, and hurriedly defended himself again: "Master, listen to me!" The little one didn't want to betray you, the little one thought at the time that it was just stealing a few pieces of paper, what trouble could this bring to the master's family? The little ones know that they are wrong, and the little ones don't dare anymore! ”

Wan Lin also comforted Yu Hongxin: "Master Yu, calm down and let him explain everything." ”

Yu Hongxin thought that he was still in the court, even if there was a great anger, he had to be contained, so he hurriedly arched his hand to everyone and retreated to the side in silence.

You Laoqi continued: "The person who asked the little one to steal these pieces of paper was a woodcutter who came to deliver firewood, and the little one had never seen him before. He said that he would give the little one ten taels of silver, and the little one agreed. Because the little one really didn't think it was just stealing a few pieces of paper, such a trivial matter would actually make trouble in Dali Temple! The little one really doesn't understand, what's wrong with these pieces of paper? ”

Xing Zhida didn't care if he was still pretending that he didn't know anything, and asked with a calm face: "Then do you remember what the woodcutter looked like, how old he was, and where he spoke?" ”

You Laoqi thought for a while and said, "He looks like he is in his fifties, and he sounds like a local accent in the capital. As for his appearance, he is a very ordinary appearance, with a gray beard. ”

After learning about the man's appearance, Xing Zhida immediately asked the painter to draw his portrait and sent people to the whole capital to look for him.

But You Laoqi doesn't know what it is, and it's still uncertain whether he is still pretending to be confused.

Xing Zhida discussed with Huo Jing and Wan Lin and decided to temporarily detain You Laoqi.

And now it is almost certain that Yu Wenyao is innocent.

The three of them discussed again, not planning to detain Yu Wenyao in prison and let him be temporarily grounded at home.

Yu Wenyao had no objection to such a request, and said that he would stay at home honestly and wait to cooperate with the investigation at any time.

The father and son of the Yu family are very grateful to the three of them, especially Wan Lin.

If he hadn't patiently and carefully discovered the clues, Yu Wenyao would probably have become a prisoner.

The key clue now is to find the woodcutter who bought You Laoqi.

But according to You Laoqi's description, it is not easy to find such a person in the huge capital.

The woodcutter's beard is likely to be fake, which makes it even more difficult to find the woodcutter.

But anyway, the case still has some clues, because Huo Jing is mainly in charge of this case, so Xing Zhida did not follow him and Wan Lin into the palace to report the case to the emperor.

The emperor was already waiting in the palace very anxiously, and he wanted to know the outcome of the case quickly.

As soon as Wan Lin and Huo Jing came, the emperor couldn't wait to ask them.

But after listening to the report of the two of them, the emperor still had doubts.

"Do you really believe what You Lao Qi said? What if you can't find that woodcutter in the capital? Isn't the case at an impasse again? ”

Huo Jing was suddenly in trouble, but Wan Lin said calmly: "Your Majesty doesn't have to worry too much. Although the woodcutter in You Laoqi's mouth is suspected of disguise, as long as you inquire about his whereabouts, it is possible to find him. Don't forget, when You Laoqi talked about the woodcutter, he talked about a detail. ”

The emperor frowned, "Oh? What details did he say? Why didn't I notice? ”

Huo Jing also cast a puzzled look at Wan Lin.

Wan Lin smiled faintly, "Hehe, it turns out that neither His Majesty nor the Prince of the World noticed the details of what You Laoqi said. In fact, this is indeed a detail that is easy to overlook. The woodcutter can tell You Laoqi to go to the study and deliberately break a few pieces of paper with Wenyao's handwriting, and he can also know which words on the paper can be picked out and written as secret letters. This shows that the woodcutter knows Yu Wenyao very well, and even went to the study, so he only knows which pieces of paper to let You Laoqi steal. In this way, can the identity of this woodcutter be narrowed down a bit? ”

"Lord Wan, you are really careful and have noticed such details."

Huo Jing first admired Wan Lin, and then raised questions.

"But even so, where should the scope of the identity of the Kishi woodcutter be narrowed?"

Wan Lin didn't answer immediately, but asked rhetorically: "Then what do Your Majesty and the Prince think?" ”

The emperor and Huo Jing frowned in unison.

After a while, the emperor said excitedly: "I know! In my opinion, the woodcutter must be a snitch. He came to Yu Wenyao's house in advance to step on it, and then asked You Laoqi to steal the paper. ”

After the emperor finished speaking, Wan Lin didn't have much reaction.

Huo Jing continued: "Your Majesty, it is not unreasonable for you to say that the woodcutter is a snitch. But in Yichen's view, the woodcutter is more likely to be someone next to Yu Wenyao, or someone who is very familiar with him. At least someone who has been to his study and knows where he keeps his letters and articles on weekdays. ”

After Huo Jing finished speaking, the emperor suddenly had a feeling of enlightenment, and immediately asked Wan Lin for confirmation.

"Wan Lin, you think the same way, right?"

Wan Lin smiled and nodded, "What the prince said is exactly what the minister guessed. In fact, only this is the most reasonable, otherwise since the snitch has the ability to sneak into the Yu family quietly, why not steal a few pieces of paper at the right time, and buy the Yu family's subordinates? Isn't this an extra move, and it's easy to startle the snake? ”

Hearing Wan Lin's words, the emperor suddenly became alert.

If you say that, this person must be Yu Wenyao's friend! I heard that he is very close to Dou Xianxu's youngest son, but this incident should be ruled out as the Dou family's doing, right? ”

Wan Lin said approvingly: "What Your Majesty said is that the minister is not very suspicious of the Dou family now. The most important thing now is to investigate the people who have close contacts with Yu Wenyao, especially those who have been to his study. ”

After the case had a clue again, the emperor's mood was also a lot better, "Okay, you can go and investigate!" The gold medal is in hand, if I am here, if any family does not cooperate with you, you will let him come to me! ”

"Yes, the ministers understand!"

With the support of the emperor and new clues, Wan Lin and Huo Jing are more combative.

They came to Yu's house first and carefully asked Yu Wenyao if any of his friends had ever been to his study.

Yu Wenyao was a little confused when he was asked, "Two adults, do you suspect that your friends have something to do with this matter?" ”

Wan Lin said without hesitation: "We do think so. So please ask Yu Gongzi to know everything. Now is not the time to talk about righteousness, this matter is related to the stability of the court, it is not a trivial matter! ”

Yu Wenyao nodded slowly, carefully recalling the friends who had come to his study recently.

After Yu Wenyao recalled for a while, he showed a skeptical look.

"I thought of a person who didn't have a lot of contact with him before, but he has been getting close to him recently. Our friends often discussed poetry together, so when he came to look for him, we stayed in the study. ”

"Who's that man?" Wan Lin and Huo Jing asked anxiously at the same time.

Yu Wenyao replied: "He is General Guo's nephew, Guo Yi. ”

Hearing Yu Wenyao's answer, Wan Lin couldn't help but be stunned.

"General Guo? Are you talking about General Guo the elder brother of Concubine Xian and the uncle of King Jie? ”