If Zhao Duo couldn't have imagined that a little Qin Hui could harm himself to this point, when he saw the one lying in the Wende Palace, his last trace of hope was finally gone.

- Xiao Huangmen collapsed to the ground, his five orifices were covered with condensed black blood, and his whole body took on a distorted shape.

"There was poison in that powder, and I think I accidentally inhaled it into my mouth and nose......"

Sun Zhaohe explained to Empress Dowager Zhang.

Zhao Hao had already sat up, although his face was still full of weakness, it did not prevent him from dragging his sick body to admit his mistake.

"It was the son who acted inappropriately and lost the witness...... Now that the witness is not there, it is difficult to find out the ...... behind the scenes."

This kind of thing, naturally, is no wonder Zhao Hao as a victim.

Zhao Duo, who was hurriedly announced, waited for a long time, but he didn't hear any explanation, he was embarrassed and irritable.

He wanted to say a few words to clear his suspicion, but he felt that his existence at the moment was really redundant.

Instead, Zhao Hao greeted him first and asked about several nephews and nieces.

Zhao Duo is like eating a fly, and he can't go back, and he won't go back.

He didn't know if his brother had heard the rumors of these days, but in front of the Empress Dowager Zhang, if he pretended that nothing had happened, it would seem that people would feel that the city was deep, but if he deliberately pointed out the matter, he was really a little stupid.

His dilemma naturally aroused Zhao Hao's suspicions and asked, "What's wrong with the fourth brother?" ”

He turned his head and said to the Empress Dowager Zhang: "The queen mother doesn't have to worry about this, her son is already good now, and there is a medical officer in the palace, it's really not good, and the fourth brother is also ......."

Zhao Hao woke up from a serious illness, his energy was low, and he was weak in one sentence, but the meaning was very obvious, but before he finished speaking, Princess Ji on the side suddenly interjected: "The fourth brother has also been busy for many days, and his nephews and nieces are still young, so you might as well go back first, just have me here." ”

One of the couples had the intention to persuade people to leave, and the other really wanted to keep people, one of them said three words politely and thoughtfully, and the other made up a sentence out of breath, forcing Zhao Duo to not know how to reply.

Zhao Duo didn't dare to respond, for fear that if he was not careful, his family would really have to accompany him in Wende Palace, and in the end, if something happened, he would get fishy again.

But he didn't dare to refuse - his brother was sick, and if he didn't take the initiative to serve his younger brother, he didn't even want to accompany him, and if he could spread it, how could he still have a reputation?

Empress Dowager Zhang sat aside, her face became more and more ugly, and after a while, she finally couldn't bear to send the rest of the people out, and only then did she ask Zhao Duo in front of Zhao Hao: "Fourth brother, now you don't have to hide it - the third brother has been in a coma for so long, and he was poisoned by drinking wine for the first time, did you provoke it?" ”

***

"I heard that several people from the Ministry of Rites jointly signed a letter, praising King Ji's benevolence and generosity, and his style of being an emperor."

It was still early, Gu Yanzhang rarely returned home on time today, Ji Qingling talked to him, and when he got to the end, he couldn't help but ask: "He was so sick that day, and now the days are still short, can he really get better?" ”

No one knows what happened in the Wende side hall after the last court meeting, but since this day, Zhao Hao, the king of Ji, finally woke up, and his body has been better day by day, but Zhao Duo, the king of Wei, suddenly contracted a cold, and took a lot of medicine to no avail, and has been sick in bed.

Gu Yanzhang was in the Criminal Division, not the Imperial City Division, so he naturally didn't know the situation in the palace, he heard Ji Qingling's question, and he couldn't answer for a while, so he only said: "I haven't seen him in the yamen, and I haven't seen him go to the court, if it's already good, I can't go back to the yamen, and I should go to the court?" ”

Ji Qingling said: "It is rumored outside that if it weren't for His Royal Highness King Ji's brotherhood and magnanimity, the four kings would have already been ruined." ”

Zhao Hao's reputation has always been not very good, but with his leniency for his younger brother this time, he has won the favor of many people, whether it is in the court or in the market, there is gradually a trend of saying good things to him.

For Ji Qingling, neither Zhao Hao nor Zhao Duo has left a good impression on her, especially the former, who can take Li Chengwei under his command and reuse it, you can imagine his character.

She thought for a while and asked, "Fifth brother, isn't there any news about the Li family's case?" ”

Gu Yanzhang shook his head and said: "The case is already in charge of Dali Temple, and I don't want to urge it from time to time." ”

While the two were talking, Qiu Lu came out of the room, handed a slip to Ji Qingling, and said, "Madam, this is the festival gift to Liufu this time." ”

Gu Yanzhang just glanced at it and said curiously: "How can there be so much ink?" ”

Ji Qingling said with a smile: "In addition to the one for Mr., I also prepared some medicine for my master, and I went back to Dunzhou to find some good ink, saying that it can cure blood dysentery. ”

Gu Yanzhang nodded, and suddenly remembered something: "Do we have more left?" ”

Ji Qingling said: "You can still move a little, but what's the use?" ”

Gu Yanzhang said: "If there is any surplus left, send a little to Brother Du's daughter?" ”

Ji Qingling couldn't help but smile: "That child is only a few months old, others either give bracelets, or give some stubborn tools, you want to give ink blocks, and she can't even hold a pen at an age, why do you ask her to use ink?" ”

Gu Yanzhang said with a smile: "Now I will send it to his family to collect it, and it will be able to make it in three or four years, the pine smoke used in Yunzhou ink is very beautiful, and the aroma is stronger after a long time - the last time I went to my husband's house, he had already cut the paper for his granddaughter to learn calligraphy in the future. ”

Ji Qingling responded, and instructed his subordinates to go to the warehouse to wrap the ink block and send it to Du Mansion, and said: "Speaking of ink blocks, I used ink made in Yanxian County when I was a child, and it is better than the ones produced in these places today, and they all say that ink black is not difficult, but it is light but difficult, the color of the ink block is light, the fragrance is also light, and the writing is very smooth......

Gu Yanzhang nodded thoughtfully, and talked with Ji Qingling for a while with pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, and waited until the kitchen came to ask for food, and then he couldn't stop.

After two days, someone from Du Mansion arrived to thank him and gave him a return gift, but a few kinds of fresh fruits. Ji Qingling had a lot of miscellaneous matters, and asked Liu Muhe's mother and daughter to be in good health, so she put her mind at ease, and often asked her subordinates to come and go, and her family only passed once in three or five days.

Ji Qingling slept late at night, and got up late in the morning, she was still sitting in the side hall to eat breakfast, but the concierge came in to say that Du Guanren came to look for Gu Yanzhang.

Qiu Shuangqi said: "Didn't you say that Du Guanren was still in Xiangfu County two days ago, and he only came back today, why did he come to our house first?" ”

Ji Qingling also felt strange, so he hurriedly put away the table and invited people to the living room.

Du Tanzhi was still wearing an official uniform, and he didn't even change his boots, and his head was wet with snow.

Ji Qingling asked, "What is the important matter of Third Brother Du?" The fifth brother went to the Yamen, I'm afraid that he won't be able to come back until the evening, if it's urgent, I will ask someone to look for him? ”

Du Tanzhi hesitated slightly, and said, "It's indeed a troublesome matter, and I'm a little anxious......

As he spoke, he stood up and said, "If he is in the yamen of the Criminal Division, I will go and look for him." ”

I understood the question, but I didn't even drink tea, so I just said goodbye.

Qiu Lu came in for a while, and whispered to Ji Qingling: "I heard from Du Guanren's side that this one has been running errands outside for more than a month, and he hasn't even returned home this time, so he came to our house first." ”

***

Ji Qingling quickly knew the reason why Du Tanzhi left in a hurry.

The scroll copied from the yamen was placed on the table, and the handwriting on it was sloppy, but fortunately there were only a dozen thin sheets of paper, and it took her only a little time to read them all.

The case is not complicated, the complainant is Li Chengwei, the defendant's surname is Chen, called Chen Siqu, who was originally the big shopkeeper of a cloth village in Xiangfu County, and was accused of stealing cloth and stealing money.

The Xiangfu County Ya received the paper, and the officials came to search, and sure enough, they found a number of silver coins and dozens of fine Shu brocades in their homes.

Because the shopkeeper Chen refused to admit it, but the complainant had all the personal and physical evidence, he was taken into custody by the county government and imprisoned, and planned to be interrogated with torture after the performance was restored.

It was the middle of winter, and the shopkeeper Chen was very old, and he became seriously ill after only ten days in prison. It just so happened that at this time, the witness suddenly retracted his confession, and Chen's shopkeeper found evidence again, saying that the stolen goods that were searched by the yamen were all deposited by others.

The Chen family had been in Xiangfu County for some years, and several elderly people came forward as a guarantor to take the person out of prison. Who would have thought that this Xiangfu County Ya was still investigating the case, and the shopkeeper Chen just got out of the prison door, and he got dysentery, but after a day or two, the person was gone.

Since the defendant was no longer there, Li Chengwei also withdrew the complaint, and the Chen family made a big fuss a few times later, but somehow, it finally stopped.

There doesn't seem to be a problem with this case, not to mention that Shopkeeper Chen died of illness after he was released from prison, or he died in prison, and he was only reported to death.

The more Ji Qingling looked at it, the more strange she felt, and asked, "Isn't such a long-ago case already closed, why did it suddenly come out again?" ”

"Brother Du inspected Dexiangfu County, and the Chen family came to the door, saying that they were suspicious that the Li family had bribed the doctor in the past, and the Chen shopkeeper was drugged to death." Gu Yanzhang explained.

Ji Qingling reacted immediately and asked, "Is it the news that Li Chengwei was arrested?" ”

Li Chengwei dared to file a complaint in Xiangfu County, and he had something to rely on. The shopkeeper Chen originally had to rely on the Li family to eat, no matter the wealth or power, it was unmatched, even if the Chen family felt wronged at that time, but if they wanted to go against the Li family, it was no different from hitting a stone with an egg.

When this case happened, the big Li family was still there, and then she was gone, and the Chen family saw that Li Chengwei was getting more and more powerful, and he was beaten again, how could he dare to act rashly, naturally honest.

However, this is not the case today.

As soon as Li Chengwei was identified by Chen Ducai, he was dragged to the grave to open the coffin, and in front of everyone's eyes, although he refused to admit it to death, he was taken into prison by the Kyoto government.

Second, Xiangfu Zhixian, who presided over the case of Chen Zhang, has long since left office, and now he is working in the Ministry of Industry.

As the saying goes, officials protect each other, the Chen family does not dare to find the current magistrate, after all, let the new official go over the original case, the original owner is still a court official, not only can not please him, but he will also offend people.

But after Fan Yaochen's new policy, Dali Temple relied on the investigation of old cases to rise to the top, and he couldn't count them on one hand, compared with the officials of Xiangfu County, Du Tanzhi was so eager to be promoted, and there was obviously more reason to find the stubble of the former county.

The Chen family may not be able to find any big backers in the capital, but they can tell that it was Gu Yanzhang who forced Li Chengwei to open the coffin in front of the grave that day.

“…… said that the person died strangely, and it was determined that the doctor of the day had poisoned him, and he was about to open the coffin for an autopsy. Gu Yanzhang said, "Xiangfu County took the case, opened the coffin, and the bones showed no traces of poisoning, just when Du Tanzhi heard the symptoms of the shopkeeper Chen before his death, it was really familiar, he pointed out to check it, and sure enough, it was ...... behind the neck of the corpse."

Ji Qingling couldn't help but sit up straight, and blurted out: "Da Li's ......"

Gu Yanzhang's voice was slightly cold, and he responded: "It's a long needle pierced the back of the neck and died......

"The doctor who consulted Chen Siqu was surnamed Zhang, who was also a little famous in Xiangfu County, but somehow, he moved to other places many years ago, and now Xiangfu Zhi County is called Jiang Chengde, and he has been transferred to three governors in the past, he heard the cause of death, and asked someone to interrogate Dr. Zhang's old - fortunately, he did not go too far, and he was still in Suozao County - so he hurriedly sent the officials to arrest people."

Ji Qingling held his breath.

Gu Yanzhang only paused, and then continued: "The official went to Sour Zao County and found Dr. Zhang, and all of his people were crying out for grievances, saying that the death of the shopkeeper Chen had nothing to do with him. ”

"This case involves human life, Tan Zhi has already raised the investigation difference, he entered Beijing this time, and after reporting to the deputy secretary of Dali Temple, he will return to Xiangfu County for review."

***

Just after the little cold, it began to snow again in Xiangfu County, and it did not stop for six or seven days. Early in the morning, before the o'clock arrived, a few people at the gate of the yamen dragged shovels to clear the snow outside.

The hour was early, the weather was cold, and the road was naturally empty.

A handyman squinted his eyes and glanced into the distance, and saw a few black spots suddenly coming at the end of the road, and said casually: "The Chen family came so early?" ”

Someone next to him looked over and said, "After waiting for so many years, it's easy to get an opportunity, can you not be in a hurry?" ”

"In the end, it's the revenge of killing my father."

Hearing the gossip of the two, the old man on the side interjected with a smile: "Not necessarily, when did the family surnamed Chen get along well, you two were born late, I'm afraid you haven't seen it, just ask Old Tang to know." ”

"Uncle Tang!" The two handymen turned their heads in unison.

One of them put the shovel in his hand on the ground, leaned over and said, "Uncle Tang, although the Chen family has eaten a little salty, there is nothing surprising about it." ”

The one called Old Tang was also a handyman, and looking at him about fifty or sixty years old, he spat on the ground and sneered: "Nothing surprising? At that time, the Li family had fifteen or sixteen cloth Zhuangzi in the county, all of which were taken care of by Chen Laoaxe alone, and they had been in charge for decades, and only four or five were left when the first two families went to the yamen, which was just 'salty'! ”

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