The bizarre murder of the three officials of the household department once again shocked the government and the opposition in the north, but to everyone's surprise, the court meeting in the early morning of the next day was as quiet as death.

The princelings did not take the opportunity to attack the civil official group, and the civil official group was also silent, and even the professional scolding imperial historians collectively lost their voices, and Emperor Hongwei sat high on the dragon chair, sneering and scanning the civil and military officials, without saying a word.

Silence is not exchanged for a moment of relaxation, everyone understands that the tacit understanding in front of them is just a rat trap, this is a big storm brewing, the quieter it is now, the more terrifying it will be when it erupts.

After the dispersal of the dynasty, King Yu and Lu Hua were left alone, and it is said that Emperor Hongwei roared for half an hour without a gap.

Immediately after the new Jinyi Guard commander who had just been in office for less than two months was dismissed, Liu Hongchun, the eunuch of the East Factory, was personally supervised by Wang Shun and scolded him with a cane, and he fainted several times, and finally was dragged away, and the blood marks were shocking.

In addition, several Dongchang eunuch chiefs who were in charge of Gyeonggi security were directly killed, the forbidden army replaced 36 officers above the sixth rank in a row, and the 12 guards of Gyeonggi under reconstruction began to change their guards on a large scale.

Everything was a sign that Emperor Hongwei's patience had reached its limit, and the butcher's knife hanging over everyone's heads began to crumble.

Things have reached this point, no matter which forces smell the crisis, but the arrow has to be sent, as long as they take a step back, they will be doomed, they can only grit their teeth and prepare for a life-and-death struggle.

And what is enough to affect the balance of victory and defeat is the "task force", and for a time countless pairs of eyes refocused on it.

Yuwang and Lu Hua received famous posts from all parties one after another, and there were countless people who came to "reason" and "speak well", even Xu Rui was anxious, and the pressure increased sharply, but now they still seem to be helpless against this series of cases.

At the same time, Xu Rui and Liu Haofei deliberately avoided everyone's eyes and ears and quietly came to Chanjuan Pavilion.

"Lord Xu, why are you still in the mood to come here to have fun?"

Liu Haofei wandered anxiously around the room.

Xu Rui drank tea lightly and said with a smile: "Lord Liu, if you come, you will be safe, don't care about those details, let's insist that Qingshan will not let go, but it will be faster than falling everywhere." ”

Liu Haofei's face changed: "To put it lightly, someone at the foot of the Son of Heaven actually killed three important ministers of the court in one night, such a horrific thing has never been seen before, how can it be a trivial matter?" ”

Xu Rui put down the tea bowl and shook his head: "Lord Liu, don't you think that the three adults were killed too coincidentally?" ”

Liu Haofei frowned: "What do you mean?" ”

Xu Rui was about to explain, when the door was suddenly opened, and Chanjuange's mother led a "girl" in.

"Two adults, Hong'er brought it to you."

The old bustard laughed flatteringly.

Xu Rui nodded: "Let's talk to him for a while, you go down first." ”

The old bustard nodded again and again, and respectfully withdrew, not forgetting to close the door tightly as he left.

Xu Rui and Liu Haofei had time to take a good look at this girl named Hong'er, what is surprising is that this woman is nearly forty years old, due to being too indulgent when she was young, her eye sockets are deep at this time, her skin is loose, and her waist has been fat, which is far from the expected "beauty".

Seeing her like this, the corners of Xu Rui's mouth hooked up a smile: "You are one of the girls that Tang Jiuguang has been raising for a long time?" ”

Hearing this, Liu Haofei was shocked: "What? Is that the woman? ”

Hong'er nodded, and complained: "The slave family's old Zhuhuang has frightened the two adults, don't hide it from the two adults, the slave family and the Tang family have known each other for a long time, he is kind-hearted, and he has indeed taken care of the slave family." ”

Liu Haofei frowned and looked at Xu Rui suspiciously.

Xu Rui patted Liu Haofei on the shoulder and asked Hong'er: "I heard that Tang Jiuguang's family had an accident half a year ago, and he didn't even care about the two top girls, but he still doted on you, is there such a thing?" ”

Hong'er nodded and said: "There is indeed such a thing, Lord Tang gave me 1,000 taels of silver every month until an accident happened." ”

Saying that, there were faint tears flashing in Hong'er's eyes, as if she was quite grateful to Tang Jiuguang.

"Why doesn't Tang Jiuguang even want the first card, but keeps giving you money, does he have any handle in your hand?"

Out of sensitivity to the case, Liu Haofei immediately thought of almost the only possibility.

"Never."

Hong'er hurriedly shook her head and said, "Lord Tang doesn't have any handle in the hands of the slave family, and the slave family will never harm him." ”

"Hmph, if he didn't have a handle, could he Tang Jiuguang be a benevolent person? Selling property to make a living, and actually giving you a thousand taels of silver every month? ”

Liu Haofei snorted coldly and said fiercely: "You'd better confess honestly, otherwise those cold torture instruments in the Criminal Department can pry your mouth open!" ”

Hong'er's face changed, and she said in horror: "My lord spares my life, the slave family really didn't hold Lord Tang's handle, I beg my lord to see it." ”

Liu Haofei sneered, and was about to continue to intimidate, Xu Rui hurriedly smiled: "You don't have to be nervous, we are here to help you, I believe you did not blackmail Tang Jiuguang, because with his means, there are a hundred ways to kill you before you betray him."

But you have to understand that now that Tang Jiuguang is dead, if he has given you something, it may lead to death for you, you might as well hand them over to me, I can guarantee your safety. ”

Hong'er was shocked, but she still gritted her teeth and shook her head.

Liu Haofei had already heard the clue from Xu Rui's mouth, and then looked at Hong'er carefully, and suddenly found that there were patches of bruises on his wrists, and his heart suddenly moved, and he said in a deep voice: "Has anyone come to you recently?" ”

Hong'er's pupils shrank, and she quickly retracted her wrist into her sleeve and shook her head in panic.

"Someone!"

As soon as Liu Haofei gritted his teeth, he wanted to call the outside officers to come in and take Hong'er back to the Criminal Department.

He finally understood why Xu Rui did not investigate the murder of three household officials, and had to bring him to find this woman.

Whether it is the treasury case, the door destruction case, Wan Guilong's "accidental" death case, or last night's murder case, the center of all cases is Tang Jiuguang.

All kinds of signs show that there must be an unknown connection between Tang Jiuguang and this woman, which may be the key to the breakthrough of the case.

Now this woman is the only breakthrough, and obviously there are other people besides herself who are also eyeing her, and if she is not protected, she will probably be eliminated by the mastermind behind the scenes.

"Wait!"

However, before the errand outside heard the news, Xu Rui shouted first and stopped Liu Haofei.

Liu Haofei looked at Xu Rui in surprise, but Xu Rui said with a smile: "Red girl, I don't want to arrest you, but you have to understand that we are the court officials who were ordered by the Son of Heaven to thoroughly investigate the case of Tang Jiuguang's annihilation, and we are also your only life-saving straw."

To tell you the truth, the court officials have been killed one after another recently, and even those big people who are in and out of the prime minister are dying, do you think you can escape? ”

Hong'er gritted her teeth and trembled, as if she was terrified, but she still didn't speak.

Xu Rui sighed: "Okay, since you don't want to say it, I won't force it, you can go, and I'll help you collect the body at this time tomorrow." ”

After speaking, Xu Rui waved his hand and signaled that Hong'er could leave.

Hong'er stood up tremblingly, stopped talking, and struggled to turn around and walk towards the gate.

"Lord Xu!"

Liu Haofei saw that she was really leaving, and he was anxious, but Xu Rui grabbed his wrist and stared at Hong'er with his eyes.

Finally, Hong'er didn't know what to remember, her spirit suddenly collapsed, and tears welled up in her eyes.

She suddenly turned around and knelt on the ground with a "poof", crying: "My lord, please save the slave family, please avenge Lord Tang!" ”

Seeing her say this, Xu Rui and Liu Haofei breathed a sigh of relief at the same time and smiled.