"Tongzhi-sama ......"

Liu Shuban fell to the ground on his knees, tears rolling out of his eyes, in order to win Ye Yongjia's mercy.

"Liu Shuban, did you set the fire?" Ye Yongjia asked gently.

"By no means, there must be someone else, maybe the one who set the fire has already been burned to death......" After that, he himself felt ridiculous, and his heart was full of emotions. Cats generally look at Tongzhi-sama.

"How can he who set the fire burn himself? It must be a living person, a living person who escaped unharmed and retired......"

Liu Shuban looked at his body, there was not even a hole in his clothes, only a few untidy wrinkles.

"Look at it," he said, pointing down at a small crack on his head, "it's a broken wooden beam, not unscathed......

A few of the soldiers couldn't help but laugh. Ye Yongjia didn't want to laugh in this kind of scene. And they stopped.

"Alright. He was not necessarily the one who set the fire, and he was first detained in the prison room and waited for the verdict of the Lu Governor's Office. As soon as he raised his hand, several people tied Liu Shuban with ropes and walked towards the end of the prison. Ye Yongjia led the remaining soldiers back to the yamen.

Although this fire extinguished all possible leaks, it also brought immeasurable losses to Chenzhou. According to the planning room, a total of 12 people were burned in the fire, and no corpses remained, only Liu Shuban was spared; The books and documents were burned, and the number of registered land of the people of Huaining was gone; In addition, the usual number of local taxes and official salaries have been lost, not to mention that the houses have been completely destroyed and need to be rebuilt.

It's all for Lu Deguang's official prosperity, because it wants to soothe the prefect's fearful heart.

However, Zhao gave the news, so he went to distribute private salt with confidence, and recruited the people in Huaining with great fanfare. Just when Zhao Zhixian was making a lot of money, the yamen not far away also opened a hall, ready to find a legitimate reason for killing people.

As a fellow intellectual, Ye Yongjia was also sitting. Unlike the case of Wang Bo, which he had first seen in Chenzhou, this time he would personally participate in the trial.

"Register." Lu Deguang naturally spoke first.

"The villain's surname is Liu ......," Liu Shuban replied.

"According to Ye Tongzhi and others, you fled in a hurry that day, and your clothes were not messy, and there were no injuries on your body, which is very suspicious," he said Ye Yongjia, "Is there really something?" ”

"Only a small layer of scalp was rubbed on the Tianling cover, and there was no other injury." Ye Yongjia said.

"Looks like you're the first to escape?" Lu Deguang turned his head and questioned Liu Shuban.

"This is because the colleagues are asleep, and the villain can't sleep yet, so he can find out about the fire......"

"Wait," Ye Yongjia interrupted him and asked, "You mean you're still awake?" ”

"Yes."

"Won't you have a chance to set it on fire?"

"......" Liu Shuban was speechless for a while, and then reared: "I have no grudge against them, so why set fire?" ”

Lu Deguang nodded solemnly as if he didn't know, "Ye Tongzhi, do you really have any evidence to say that he set fire?" ”

"Absolutely." Ye Yongjia found out the fabricated evidence that ignored the facts, but suddenly showed a long-lost hesitation.

That fierce fire failed to shake his heart, why did he face Liu Shuban, besides, this is a villain who bends the law for bribes and blocks public opinion, but he doesn't dare to kill him? Perhaps he thinks this is a disregard for the facts, or perhaps he thinks it is a play on the law. But what could he change if he hesitated? Does this retreat of conscience give any comfort to a discredited person?

When he thought of this, he couldn't think about it anymore, and made the document public: "This is ironclad evidence!" ”

"This is a letter from Liu Shuban to the prefect the day before yesterday," Ye Yongjia pointed to the small characters on the document and said, "It accuses Wang Shuban of moving public property without authorization, according to the people I sent to investigate, it is just an uneven distribution of spoils, and the wicked people will sue first." At that time, I did not report it because I was concerned about the face of the house; You see that there has been no movement for a long time, and I am afraid that your colleagues will tell the truth, so they set fire to the house and kill people to extinguish their mouths, is this the truth?! ”

"I didn't write such a letter!" Liu Shuban was so anxious that he almost jumped up, but the people on both sides pressed him to death.

"Do you suspect that Tongzhi has falsified evidence?" Lu Deguang looked down at the file and said.

Liu Shuban shuddered, and kowtowed repeatedly: "Of course I don't mean that," he swallowed his saliva, looked at the faces of the officials, and then lay on the ground. "I confessed, I confessed. It's a fire that the villain burns...... Ladies and gentlemen, in that case, is it time to close the case? ”

Ye Yongjia looked at Lu Deguang.

"Case closed."

Lu Deguang packed up the file and handed it to Ye Yongjia, who handed it to the person who took the record, and then turned around and asked Lu Deguang: "How is this Liu Shuban's crime convicted?" ”

Lu Deguang thought for a while and said, "Murder is punished." It's a death sentence. There is also a case of embezzlement of stolen money, because the capital punishment has been committed, only the stolen goods will be recovered. However, it is necessary to wait for the transfer of the preparation room and the punishment room for discussion before the sentence can be determined. ”

After saying that, Lu Deguang stood up, patted the waking wood, and shouted "Retreat", and Ye Yongjia and the others also dispersed.

Later, the planning room discussed Liu Shuban's case, and they all had the same opinion as Lu Zhifu, and immediately questioned Liu Shuban. Lu Deguang was no longer anxious, thinking that the dust had settled.

But Li Yong is worried all the time. Lu Deguang often saw his embarrassment, so he asked the reason, and Li Yong sighed: "The matter of selling smuggled salt is small, and Liu Shuban can't open it, even if the voucher is passed out, no one can see it with his own eyes, so it is better to shirk it; But the burning of the house is not witnessed by one person, and once the province gets a confession, there is no excuse. ”

"Could it be that you want me to kill Ye Tongzhi?" Lu Deguang asked in confusion.

"These are your henchmen, and naturally they won't leak out. but the ten soldiers who were sent. Li Yong's eyes flashed slyly.

"Ten people, can't they all be called out and killed together, right?"

"There's a way to do it."

"What's the solution? How to kill? Could it be another fire? ”

Li Yong shook his head: "Since it is a soldier, there is another way." It just so happened that the military horses had not practiced for a long time, and the military appearance was not in order, why didn't the adults use this name to conduct military exercises, and then ......" Li Yong had not finished speaking, and when he saw Lu Deguang making a silent gesture, he hurried up and discussed with him in a low voice.

When the matter reached the Inspection Division, it was already early the next morning. The officers, who were the confidants of the prefect, gathered their men and horses, and drilled them; According to the prefect, he was going to go to the Xihua Jialu River to practice sailing, and the notice also wrote "to play a water war".

The prefect's election day was good, the wind and waves in Xihua County were calm, and the water surface of the Jialu River was like a flat mirror.

Ye Yongjia stood beside Zhao Zhu, watching this wonderful scenery, and he also witnessed the magnificent sea of fire a few days ago.

The boat was launched, and the river was stirred up, but the peace in Ye Yongjia's heart could not be shaken.