"That's it?" Xue Ji's gaze finally moved away from the lid of the cup in his hand.

Xu Lang lowered his head and replied to him in a deep voice: "Don't ask for anything else."

The current Shangshu of the Criminal Department is not someone else, it is Chen Shao. It is impossible to see Chen Shao on the surface, not to mention that Xue Jisheng will not bow his head and beg him, as far as Chen Shao's heart is concerned, it is impossible to agree to help him, if Xue Jizhen goes to him, I am afraid that he will turn his head and report to Qin Xu.

However, with Xue Ji's current power and status, it is not difficult not to alarm the Shangshu of the Criminal Department and protect one person in the prison of the Criminal Department.

Xue Ji shook his head with a wry smile, got up and walked to him, patted him on the shoulder, and sighed, "You have given me a problem this time...... I'll go out."

A hint of joy flashed on Xu Lang's face, and he got up and bowed to Xue Jizuo, his gratitude overflowing: "Thank you, thank you Qingzhi!" The words fell for a moment, and seeing that Xue Ji was about to go out, Xu Lang subconsciously called out to him and asked, "Where are you going?"

Xue Ji looked at the autumn mood in the courtyard outside, looked up at the sky, and said in a trance, "I'll ask Ru Qing about it."

"He...... Is it appropriate?" Xu Lang frowned slightly, his face a little hesitant.

Xu Yan is the trusted minister of the saint today, he is Qin Xu's eyes and ears in the court, Xu Yan has never been selfish in dealing with things for so many years, and he has worked for Qin Xu in every detail. Is it possible to ask him to do such a favor?

"I'll have to give it a try, maybe?"

There has always been a very inconspicuous department in the bureaucratic system of this dynasty - Menxia Province.

It stands to reason that the edict of the Holy Lord was drafted by the Zhongshu Province, reviewed by the Menxia Province, and then submitted to the Shangshu Province for execution and issuance.

It's just that I don't know when the positions of Zhongshu Province and Shangshu Province are often all saints' cronies, and Menxia Province has become a virtual reality.

Now this momentum is even worse, the Zhongshu Ling and the Shang Shuling are temporarily acting as prime ministers, and the Menxia Province has completely lost the need to exist, and has almost been reduced to a place for retirement.

When Xue Ji arrived in Zhongshu Province, Xu Yan happened to be in the main hall, the two took a look, and after the people on the side brought tea, they retreated with interest. Xue Ji's gaze swept over the official seal held in Xu Yan's hand, and he knew it in his heart.

It's really trouble-free, and the official seals of the province are directly placed in the Zhongshu Province.

Seeing that he was seated, Xu Yan temporarily put down the busy affairs in his hand, and chuckled, "I was about to say that someone will send this to you, and you came." After a slight pause when he said this, his expression became more serious, and he asked casually, "Why did you come to me suddenly?"

Xue Ji pointed at the table with his fingertips, lowered his gaze to collect the thoughts in his heart, and when he raised his eyes again, no one could see the clue. "Brother Ruqing, I heard that the prison of the Criminal Department abused torture to extract confessions, and the wailing in the prison can be heard in the prison prison party, but is there such a thing?"

"Indeed." Xu Yan didn't care, the Criminal Department didn't do this for the first and second year, and he was already surprised.

Xue Ji frowned, his forearm propped up the table, and his eyes were fixed on Xu Yan. "It's not a good thing, and the wind won't last."

Xu Yan was a little helpless: "It has been like this throughout the ages, even if you have the intention to rectify it, you can't do it."

Xue Ji was silent for a moment, and then quickly said, "You have been in the Criminal Department for several years, so you should know better than me about the disadvantages of this move."

Xu Yan looked at him, as if he wanted to dig something out of his eyes, but after looking at it for a while, he suddenly smiled. "You can say it bluntly, you and I are not sages, and there are some corners that have been dark for hundreds of years that we cannot illuminate."

Sure enough, I still can't hide it.

Xue Ji sighed secretly in his heart, since Xu Yan didn't want to hide it, then just go straight to it, thinking, and remove the disguise on his face.

"There is a Xu Tong sentence who was escorted from Xu Cheng to Beijing, can you let people take care of it?"

"What do you mean?" Xu Yan frowned and asked.

Xue Ji said bluntly: "I have known Xu Lang for 20 years and have a great friendship. He is Xu Lang's uncle, and he is too old to bear this, so he only asks for exemption from torture in prison, and nothing else."

When Xu Yan heard this, he suddenly laughed: "You mean, using my door to cover up?"

「

That's not true." Xue Ji sat up straight and looked at him with a straight face, and he had the posture of arguing. "Your Majesty only said that the officials involved in the case will be escorted to Beijing, interrogated one by one, and then convicted, and neither the holy decree nor the law clearly stipulates the article of 'extorting confessions by torture', how can it be regarded as a cover-up?"

"You let me think about it." Xu Yan retracted his gaze, and once again held the provincial official seal under the door, and came back to his senses to deal with the official business piled up on the table.

There is no refusal from Akari, and there is no direct statement to the Holy One, that is, there is room for reversal, or there is a possibility of agreeing.

That's half the story.

"Thank you, Brother Ruqing." Xue Ji got up and thanked him, bowed his head sincerely, and then turned around and left.

I don't know when, the movement of Xu Yan's hand stopped, he looked at Xue Jiyuan's back, and subconsciously frowned. He pulled out the letter paper from under a stack of letters, lifted the pen hanging lightly beside him, and left a few words on the paper.

It's just that I paused before I got to the point.

Xu Yan hesitated for a long time, thought about it again and again, and finally put down the pen in his hand, crumpled the letter paper, and threw it into the brazier on the side.

Afterwards, Xue Ji himself didn't expect that Xu Yan would really help him in this matter, which was really unexpected.

At the beginning of the spring of the seventh year of Changning, those convicted officials were either exiled or executed, and then looking at the prison of the Criminal Department, there were few people left in the empty cells.

"Lord Chen, please—"

Only the screeching sound of the bronze door being pushed open was heard, and a beam of fire appeared in the dark prison.

A jailer walked in front with a lamp in his hand, and the person behind him was dressed in an official uniform, and he could identify him at a glance, this was Chen Shao, the secretary of the Criminal Department.

Chen Shao walked slowly on the corridor between the prisons, his eyes swept over the emaciated or skinny figures in the railing, and suddenly, his gaze fell on an old man with gray hair, and he stopped.

I saw that the person in this cell had disheveled white hair, his face was haggard and aging, but his body was neat and clean, and he seemed to be tough.

At first glance, it is very different from the others.

"What's the matter with him?" Chen Shao asked with a frown.

The jailer on the side suddenly felt tight, and he didn't know how to explain.

Chen Shao looked at the people inside, and then at the obviously panicked subordinates in front of him, and suddenly understood something, and scolded angrily: "Bastard thing! What time is it? How dare you do that? I'm afraid there's one less person to be detained here, aren't you?"

The man hurriedly shook his head in defense, and shouted wronged: "Wronged, sir! This, this is what Lord Xu said, saying that Xu Tong sentenced him to old age, don't toss him, just accumulate virtue and do good...... I also told that I should not report it."

Chen Shao was a little confused, Lord Xu, Xu Yan? He has been promoted to the middle book province, how can he still meddle in the trivial affairs of the criminal department? Xu Yan specially ordered that there was no need to report it, wouldn't that mean the saint?

Can...... Chen Shao looked at the Xu Tong judge inside, and still had doubts in his heart. What is the identity of this person? If Your Majesty wants to protect him, why bother so much, just let him go?

After pondering nothing for a while, Chen Shao withdrew his gaze, turned around and walked towards the exit, and did not forget to tell in a sharp voice: "Be careful, don't provoke right and wrong at this time."

After walking out of the prison of the Criminal Department, the bright light outside was a little dazzling for a while, Chen Shao covered his eyebrows slightly, and after a while, he gradually eased up, and then called the subordinate officials, and said in a deep voice: "Check the Xu Tong sentence that Xu Cheng brought in."

Late autumn of the seventh year of Changning

Under Qin Xu's iron-fisted rule, all officials in various places were swept away, exiled or executed, and those who were dealt with lightly were dismissed from their official positions and expelled back to their homes. Looking at the officialdom of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there are very few officials left who can still stand after this incident.

Xue Ji dealt with the stacks of government affairs that had piled up one after another, and stayed in Shangshu Province all night, so busy that sometimes he couldn't even see who was on the disposal list.

The sky was dark again, Wang Qu brought dinner and put it aside, turned around and lit a candle for Xue Ji, and was about to retreat, only to hear Xue Ji exclaim.

"Master, what's wrong?" Wang Qu raised his gaze slightly and asked tentatively.

Xue Ji clenched the list in his hand tightly, this was the Jiangling official who had just been disposed of, and there was a familiar name among them - Wu Yan.

For Wu Yan, Xue Ji is not very familiar with him, but he has also had a few acquaintances, this person is sleek and sophisticated, and he is good at officialdom, which is not intentional, but he just goes with the flow...... Unexpectedly, it was also on the list.

For a moment, I was in a trance.

"This Wu Yan, is it Wu Yan?" Xue Ji was a little confused in his voice, pointed to the white paper and black letters on the top, stretched out his hand to push it forward, and motioned for Wang Qu to come and see.

After Wang Qu took it, he looked at it carefully, and he was also very surprised in his heart, Wu Yan has a lot of fame in Jiangling, after so many years, after two dynasties, he actually fell......

"It's him."

Xue Ji held his forehead and lowered his gaze, rubbed his knuckles on both sides of his head, and secretly said that this was another troublesome matter, and Wu Huai'an was still by his side.

Speaking of Wu Huai'an, Xue Ji remembered something again.

When Wu Huai'an first entered the capital, he made great contributions to the matter of Xu Cheng's message, and now His Majesty has high hopes for him soon after he ascends the throne, and the meaning of cultivation is obvious, he showed his face in front of the emperor at a young age, and the future must be limitless!

It's just that Wu Yan has been convicted and will definitely be dismissed from his post and his family, and it is difficult to guarantee that Wu Huaian will not choose to return to Jiangling to fulfill his filial piety...... If he returned to Gangneung, wouldn't all his previous exploits be in vain?

He promised Wu Yan to take care of him as a young master back then, but now he can't abandon it.

Xue Ji had a lot of thoughts in his mind, he was really anxious and worried, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt a headache. After a while, he rubbed the corners of his forehead and ordered in a deep voice, "You go and call Wu Huai'an to come here."