The gate of the criminal palace is extremely solemn and magnificent, it is divided into two small gates, one side is smaller, called the punishment gate, which is used to carry out various torture instruments, and the other side is larger, called the law gate, which is the main hall for interrogating prisoners.

On both doors there is an eagle made of stone, which symbolizes discernment and resoluteness.

On the side of the Dharma, there is also a statue of an eagle sticking out, it has an open mouth, when it wants the help of the criminal government, it needs to put a piece of forging stone into it, the energy of the forging stone will make the statue make a sharp cry, which means to inform the people that the criminal government is going to do something, but after these forging stones are put in, they will be drained of energy and become an ordinary stone, which is also to allow the criminal government officials to be honest.

When the forging stone was put in, the cry of the statue made some people poke their heads out and peek, some shook their heads, some sighed, and some even took out some melon seeds.

After a short wait, the door was opened by the officials, who were dressed in a tight waist, a crown of hair, and a waist badge and a scimitar issued by the penal government, and he would look ahead no matter who was standing in front of him.

He was holding a wooden plaque with the word "solemn" engraved on it, which showed that the main hall was already doing business.

When the official walked away, the huge carved mural behind him came into view, which was also the appearance of an eagle, but this mural was even more shocking, it is said that when people who have made mistakes see the mural, they will become open-mouthed, and subconsciously say the facts they want to hide, but in fact, those people are just thieves, and those godlike statements are just the effect of transmission, and naturally they will not be exposed in this solemn environment, and for those who are strong-willed, it is useless.

The same is true for Qin Jingru and them, the follower of the palace official walked to the main hall, and a person wearing a ghost mask sat on the judge's platform, a dark red wide-sleeved coat, a silk hat interspersed with feathers, and a ruler was placed on the red hall table in front of him, with a brush, bamboo slips, inkstones, and official seals.

And when the three of them looked at the men kneeling on the interrogation chairs, they were dressed very familiarly—they were the same merchants who had entered the city yesterday.

Those people sat on special chairs, which made people feel anxious, which was also to make the prisoners involuntarily speak, and they also tied their feet to the chairs with chains to prevent the prisoners from running around.

However, these are all used for the alleged suspects, and the people who come to report to the police are ordinary chairs, which certainly do not make people feel like they are sitting on pins and needles.

Qin Feng asked in a low voice: "Sister Ru, why are they treated as prisoners?" ”

Qin Jingru shook his head, and the two of them looked at Qin Yue together, after all, his thinking was the most top-notch among the five, and Qin Yue lived up to expectations and said his opinion:

"Maybe they also wanted to report the misdeeds of the city guards to the criminal government, but the criminal government was bought by the city lord, so they used various reasons to condemn these merchants as sinners."

The judge suddenly slapped the ruler and said: "There is no basis for it, but it is necessary to repeatedly accuse, frame and frame, and even worse, disobey the discipline and be severely punished." ”

After saying that, their shackles were opened one by one and taken by the servants to the next torture cell.

After the merchants left, the judge said to Qin Jingru, "What do you have to report here?" ”

Qin actually bowed hand to hand, and then said: "For the city guard, he coveted money and forcibly accepted customs duties. ”

"In that case, do you have proof?"

He replied: "According to today's law, when multiple people report the same incident, the criminal government should take over the investigation, of course, if I have to prove it, I have a pair of blue bracelets that have also been taken away by the city guards." ”

After thinking for a while, the judge called the county magistrate to discuss countermeasures in a whisper, and finally said: "County Lieutenant Cao, you go to investigate this matter and bring the violators and discipline violators." ”

"Yes."

When the county lieutenant left, the judge speculated about the origin of the three people, and this move was discovered by Qin Yue, so he told the judge about the judge's moves, obviously, the judge was a little flustered.

Soon after, the county lieutenant returned, and they were indeed more numerous than when they left, but only one more.

Seeing this extra person, it is true that he had just collected money at the gate of the city.

The county lieutenant said: "My lord, after investigation, it has been found that the soldiers defending the city have imposed tariffs on one of them, and this is physical evidence. As he spoke, he placed the bracelet on top of the court case, and continued: "As for the imposition of tariffs, it is all because of the recent appearance of some unscrupulous people in the city, who have temporarily raised the tariffs in order to prevent further expansion. ”

"In that case, the case is closed, do you have any objections?"

This absurd reason is obviously not the first time it has been told, but there is nothing that can be done now, and if it is pursued, it will only end up in the same fate as those people just now.

So Qin Jingru took back the bracelet and left with the two of them, Qin Jingru said:

"Let's go, let's go find Qin Ji and Xiao Zhuo."

"Presumptuous." A roar suddenly came from the criminal office, "The court dares to be lawless, speak out without shame, increase the crime by one degree, and be punished with a slap in the mouth." ”

This was followed by a series of miserable shouts, which made people's scalps tingle when they heard it.

"But where do we find it?" Qin Feng asked, he kept looking elsewhere as he spoke.

Qin Jingru said: "I don't know, hey, Xiaofeng, are you looking for something?" ”

"Where's our horse?"

Qin Yue asked tentatively, "When we went in, didn't we tie the horses?" ”

These few people were speechless, it was inconvenient to go back and forth in the city, but the horses were stolen, and now they couldn't walk around, so they could only stay here and listen to the screams, waiting for Qin to come back.

Fortunately, Qin He didn't let the three of them wait long, and with the arrival of a sound of horses' hooves, Qin He and Qin Zhuo, who were regarded as saviors, arrived on horseback, but the first thing he asked after seeing the four of them was: "Where are your horses?" ”

……

Qin Jingru ignored him and said, "The entire Peak Cliff City is filled with the aura of corruption, it seems that we have to go directly to the City Lord's Mansion." ”

Suddenly, the gates of the penal palace were opened, and the officials escorted the merchants out, who were now bloated, in tatters, and with a few blood stains.

Qin Zhuo asked suspiciously, "Aren't they those businessmen from yesterday?" How did you become a criminal? ”

Qin Ji also looked puzzled and asked, "Actually, what did they do?" ”

Qin Jingru also shook his head, but at this time, the county lieutenant Cao came out and gave a few orders to a servant, Qin Feng, who was closest to them, heard the conversation, and he whispered to the others:

"It looks like the businessmen are going to be put on trial for concealing something."

Public trial, which means a public trial, is to inflict punishment in public in front of the people as a warning to the people.

"What." Qin Qi's surprised tone almost made him jump up, "What the hell is going on?" They are so good that they are going to be put on trial? Also, didn't you go to the criminal palace to report it, but what was the result? ”

A series of doubts Qin Jingru could only answer with a sigh, she said: "That's it, Qin will go back to the hotel to get something, and we will go directly to the City Lord's Mansion to find out." ”

Qin Qi said angrily, "Aren't you going to the hotel with the two of us first?" I quarreled with the shopkeeper for a long time for a house, and there were about sixty energy forging stones left in Manchuria, but I used another thirty points all of a sudden, and now I don't rent it, aren't you kidding. ”

Qin Jingru just spread out his palms and said: "Well, our horse has been stolen, just going to the City Lord's Mansion is troublesome enough, and I don't know how long it will take to go to the inn with you, besides, the forging stone is not going to come back, okay, so be it." ”

After speaking, he led Qin Yue and Qin Feng to run in the direction of the City Lord's Mansion, but Qin had no choice but to turn his horse's head and go back to the hotel to get back the forging stone.

Since there were no horses, Qin Jingru and the two of them could only trot all the way in coats that were not suitable for running.

After running for a while, Qin Feng panted and said, "Sister Ruru, how far is it?" If you keep running, you're going to be tired! ”

Qin Jingru said: "Aren't you usually quite active, why is your physical fitness so poor." ”

"But running so far at once, you will definitely be tired, not to mention wearing this merchant's clothes."

"It's okay, just hold on a little longer, there's only one kilometer left."

"What! It's so far away, ah~"

With a miserable scream, Qin Feng suddenly collapsed on the ground.

"Hurry up, don't be embarrassed here, you're not afraid of other people's jokes."

"Okay."

Qin Feng stood up with the ground very reluctantly, but as soon as he stood up straight, Qin Feng screamed again, sat down again, and hugged his left leg with his arm.

Qin Jingru was obviously not confused by this clumsy acting skills, and said helplessly:

"Okay, it seems that I'm too eager, let's slow down."

"yes." Qin Feng suddenly stood up and shouted as if he had been beaten, with an expression of excitement.

Qin Jingru grabbed his ears and said, "You give me a little noise, this is not a busy city, you can shout casually." ”

"Hey, Qin Yue, what are you thinking?"

At this time, Qin Yue looked at the place where they came from, looked intently at the road he had run, and came back to his senses when he heard that he was like a scream, and he whispered:

"I always feel like someone is following us."

"Ahh

Suddenly a man who was unsteady appeared beside them, and he staggered backwards, and soon fell to the ground, and two strong men came out of the door, one of whom said:

"Hurry up, you dare to come here to order food if you don't have money, and you don't weigh whether your cloth bag is qualified or not."

After saying that, the two strong men returned to the store.

The man who fell to the ground stood up and patted the dust off his body, he was wearing a silk wide-sleeved coat, if it wasn't for the scene just now, he really thought he was from a rich family.

He said to the three of them kindly: "Let a few people laugh, I don't know if a few can help pay for the banquet under the table, Gao is grateful." ”

Just when the three of them were puzzled, this person continued: "Here is the eldest son of the Gao family in Fengya City, our Gao family has always liked to associate with merchants, and they have done some big business, and they came here to taste the dishes today, but unfortunately they couldn't bring enough money, and now they still owe twenty points, and they were kicked out of the door, and I hope that Brother Tai can help." ”

Seeing that the three of them were still unmoved, he still said kindly: "Seeing that you haven't eaten yet, if a few of you can help, I will definitely invite a few people to Gaofu to eat and drink, and I will not be treated badly." ”

But the three of them did nothing, so he said:

"Is there something urgent about this? I have horses in my house, and I can give them to a few people as a gift in return. ”

Impatiently, he turned his head and asked Qin Yue: "Xiao Yue, do you still have forging stones?" ”

"No, I handed it over when I entered the city."

Qin Jingru said to this person: "See, we have already paid the customs duties of the forging stones when we entered the city, and there is no money left." ”

This person smiled and said: "It's okay, since a few people are willing to help, Gao is grateful, if you don't have anything important, please come to the house and sit down, and introduce yourself, my name is Gao Lei." ”