It didn't take long for the doctor to come, treat Luo Youde's wounds, and feed some pills. Dai Chang said anxiously: "Luo Youde can say it, this will be another medical medicine, delaying the interrogation." It's too late to call the doctor after the trial is over. ”

Chen Dong looked at it coldly, Dai Chang didn't dare to make a sound, and picked up the cup to eat tea.

After some tidying up, Luo Youde's spirit improved, and after the doctor whispered a few words to Su Huangzhe, Su Huangzhe said: "You go to the back to decoct the medicine, he will be taken care of by you during this time." ”

Chen Dong sat down, motioned to the official next to him to help Luo Youde up, and continued to ask: "We searched the thatched hut in the back mountain, there are only some tools for making your tea, but the place is small, and we haven't found too many things, do you have other workshops?" ”

"It's just a place to pick tea and dry the tea leaves, and the tea workshop is in the village Yao's house, which is close to the foot of the mountain, far from the market, and no one goes there on weekdays."

An Ying thought about it, wrote a note and handed it to Guo Langzhong, Chen Dong glanced at Guo Langzhong, Guo Langzhong immediately understood, then took over the conversation and continued to ask: "What was the so-called selling of daughters before?" If this is the case, you are not short of money, but what is the matter of the lady? ”

Luo Youde paused for a moment, and said with a wry smile: "That's the hostage He Qing took from my house. If we leak the slightest word, we will kill my little daughter. ”

"Who is the tea cake sold to? How to sell? Judge Luo took over the interrogation, and Chen Dong picked up a chair and sat down.

"We didn't know about these things for the first 10 years. We made tea cakes and packed the baskets. He Qing will send someone to pick it up at night. We don't know what lies next. The people who came to fetch the tea cakes never said much. But after all these years, I have a guess in my heart. ”

"Oh, let's hear it." Guo Langzhong asked, He Qing is so careful in his heart, Luo Youde can also find a clue, but he is also a capable person.

"Three years ago in Yongkang, we were not sure that it might have been given to nobles in the capital. But three years after Yongkang, the tea cake should be transported to the summer country. ”

Guo Langzhong asked, "How do you know that it is destined for the Xia Kingdom?" ”

"Yongkang's tea cakes three years ago were simply wrapped in leaves, and then packed into a tube with a basket, which was easy to transport. Where to transport it, then take it out and re-wrap it, and sell it is no problem. After three years of Yongkang, when we were ready to wrap it with leaves as usual, He Qing sent someone to wrap it in paper first, and then wrap it in a layer of leaves. He also sent for rattan boxes. The person who delivered the rattan box that day probably didn't know what was going on, so he said to me, "This rattan box is sealed, and if you want to cross Weishui, the goods inside will not get wet." Do you think we have passed Weishui here, isn't it Xia Guo? ”

Luo Youde said a lot in one breath, a little panting, Huang Suzhe motioned to the official next to him to hand over water, he drank a lamp, and said, "Lord Xie Su." ”

Guo Langzhong asked again: "So it was only three years after Yongkang came to start shipping to the Xia Kingdom. Do you have any account books and the like to record the number of tea cakes you have made over the years? ”

Luo Youde nodded and said: "The amount of tea made every year is recorded, and the money of each family is also available." The account books are all with my eldest daughter, Qiao Niang. ”

"In this way, your eldest daughter Luo Qiaoniang has also been involved in the affairs of your family's tea cakes?"

"Yes. She has been helping the workshop since she was sensible, and she was in charge of the account books every year. ”

"So what was the matter with her poisoning? You say this, you have nothing to do with the Zheng family, and her incident makes us scratch our heads. ”

"Lord Guo, Lord Chen, and Lord Su, I really don't know why she did this? Not for a few days I don't want to ask her why? Luo Youde sat down again and even cried.

"Don't you want to take the opportunity to get rid of the Zheng family and move your family's tea cake business from the dark to the light?" Guo Langzhong asked.

"Lord Hui, our tea cake business is firmly in He Qing's hands. Whether it is in the dark or in the light, we have to listen to He Qing's arrangement. What's more, He Qing is now the governor of Huzhou, how can we escape from his palm. ”

Guo Langzhong asked some other details, and when he saw that Luo Youde couldn't say too much, he was about to let someone take Luo Youde down, when Su Huangzhe suddenly asked: "The Yongkang you said was probably sent to the nobles in the capital three years ago, how do you guess this?" ”

Luo Youde thought for a while and said, "This is what my father mentioned when he was alive, but I didn't know it myself. One year, probably the first year of Yongkang, He Qing took the tea cakes made by my father and gave them to the nobles in the capital, I heard that the high-quality tribute tea in Fujian was compared, the nobles were very happy, so they rewarded He Qing with a box of things, and it happened that my father went to He Qing's house that day, and happened to meet He Qingzheng to reward the treasures in this box, He Qing was very happy at that time and couldn't help but say a few more words, and rewarded my father with a few things. ”

A flash flashed in Su Huangzhe's mind, and he immediately asked, "Is it the crystal mountain in your study?" ”

Luo Youde nodded and said: "There is indeed a crystal mountain, as well as a tooth bone fan and a copper incense burner, I have given them to Qiao Niang as a dowry." ”

After Luo Youde was taken down, Chen Dong asked, "Why did you suddenly ask about Crystal Shanzi?" ”

Su Huangzhe pointed at An Ying and said, "She saw it in Zheng Ping's study that day and felt that something was wrong, so I asked Xiao Yi to take it and check it." That's right now. ”

"What do you mean?" Chen Dong raised his eyelids, he was most annoyed that Su Huangzhe would not make his words clear.

Xiao Yi came out and said: "Back to Lord Chen, I checked the major jade shops in Huzhou and Hangzhou that day, and several shopkeepers said that they had never seen such a good crystal material, not like a folk thing." I just think it's a big deal, I have an acquaintance who works as an errand in the jade work in the capital, and I am in a hurry to go over, and then I know that this piece of crystal material is exactly the same as the batch that entered the palace a few years ago, and it should be collected from the same place. After checking the old files, about ten years ago, Ganxian County, Jiangxi Prefecture, picked a piece of fine crystal, and made twelve pieces of Shanzi at that time. The emperor rewarded six pieces, and now there are six pieces left in the palace. In addition to the royal family, there is only Wang Qianyi, the former crown prince. ”

After hearing this, Dai Chang's face was as white as paper, and he grabbed Guo Langzhong and said, "Old Guo, why did this matter get to Mrs. Wang again." It's worth it. ”

Chen Dong chuckled: "The nobleman in the capital is actually the old man Wang, and it will be troublesome to close the case now." ”

Su Huangzhe scratched his head and said: "This case has not been tried yet, why Luo Qiaoniang wanted to poison this is the most critical question." Don't forget, we started investigating the poisoning case. ”

Chen Dong glanced at An Ying, who was sitting in the corner, and said, "Miss An, it's very good that you can notice that mountain." An Ying, who was suddenly praised, only laughed dryly.

Guo Langzhong said: "Then bring Na Luo Qiaoniang to the first trial for retrial." ”

Chen Dong said: "Wait a minute, bring He Qing first." ”

"After all, He Qing is an official, and he is cautious and tactful, and he has been smuggling illicit tea for more than ten years, which must be a capital crime, and it is the most difficult to judge. I'm afraid I won't say anything. Guo Langzhong said: "After all, Luo Qiaoniang is a woman, and she has a young daughter and parents, so it should be easier to judge." ”

Su Huangzhe said: "Lao Guo, this case has been investigated until now, don't you think we are being led by the nose by this Luo Qiaoniang?" ”

Guo Langzhong was stunned for a moment and said, "It's really true that you say that." At first, I almost believed her. But do you really want to judge He Qing first? He Qing heard that he had not said a word since he was held in solitary confinement, and he had secretly sought death several times. Such people generally can't judge anything. ”

Chen Dong sneered and said, "Before, this Luo Youde couldn't judge anything. Isn't this going to be a trick too? ”

An Ying had been looking at the confession on the ground before, Chen Dong didn't care about her coldly, and then looked at her carefully and asked, "Miss An, what do you see?" ”

An Ying got up and said, "Are you separating Luo Qiaoniang, Luo Youde, Luo Youcai, and the farmers in Shuanglin Village?" ”

Xiao Yi returned: "Yes, Luo Youcai doesn't seem to know anything, and there are not many single rooms in the prison, so he and more than 40 families in Shuanglin Village are imprisoned in the military prison outside the city. The others were held in solitary confinement in the government jail. ”

An Ying said: "Can you put Luo Youde in the prison of the Luo family and those farmers in Shuanglin Village, and bring this Luo Qiaoniang over." Listen carefully. ”

Dai Chang said impatiently: "What are you doing, the top priority is to bring people out?" These tricks are all women's tricks. It sounds like a short quarrel among parents. ”

An Ying was a little tired of this Dai Chang, he was confused, he always couldn't figure out the point, and he bullied the soft and was afraid of the hard, every time he aimed at himself, he was about to refute, when he heard Chen Dong say: "You think of it with Master Su." Master Su has already arranged it like this just now. ”

An Ying looked at Su Huangzhe in surprise, and said with a smile when she saw him: "It seems that we have the same idea." He turned his head and said to Guo Langzhong and Dai Chang: "Just now Lord Chen gave Luo Youde a confession from the villagers of Shuanglin Village. Why did Luo Youde break through the defense, because he worked hard for the Luo family and dozens of people in Shuanglin Village, and he was dealing with He Qing, thinking that it was to protect these dozens of people. He detained the villager with an iron fist and did not allow him to leak money, but do you think, with thousands of silver in his hands, he can eat chaff and vegetables and wear homespun cloth, how many people can stand it? But Luo Youcai secretly helped the villagers buy some things. Miss An, you found out from the Shen family's account books that the cost of purchasing dowries for those families was secretly purchased by Luo Youcai. So those villagers only remember that Luo Youcai is good, and they have been complaining about Luo Youde behind their backs. ”

An Ying answered: "Indeed, I also saw the confession just now. Luo Youde is a cautious person that I expected. If the income from smuggling tea in the past 15 years is hundreds of thousands of taels, I can find out 30,000 taels from the books, which shows how careful he should be on weekdays. Judging from the confessions of the villagers, Luo Youde has been very strict with the villagers in order to cover up these incomes over the years. He should have done a lot of things for those villagers, so when he saw these confessions, he couldn't accept them, and if he faced them face to face, he would be able to pull out more things from each other. Especially this Luo Qiaoniang, judging from Luo Youde's performance, he didn't know about Luo Qiaoniang's poisoning, and Luo Qiaoniang was the bookkeeper of the Luo family's tea cake business, so he should be deeply trusted by Luo Youde. ”

"So let Luo Youde ask Luo Qiaoniang, so that we can ask what we can't ask." Su Huangzhe said.

Guo Langzhong suddenly realized: "So we will interrogate He Qing first." But He Qing hasn't said a word since he was imprisoned, how can he make him speak? The longer this case drags on, the more unfavorable it will be for us, and there are too many details to know. As he spoke, he stroked his sparse beard

Su Huangzhe touched his nose and looked at Chen Dong before he said slowly: "Lord Chen has his own means of our criminal department, Lao Guo, don't worry about it." ”

Chen Dong raised his eyebrows, glanced at An Ying, and said, "Take people to room D, and I'll bring people over later." ”

Su Huangzhe turned back to Guo Langzhong and said, "Old Guo, you and Miss An will go to the military prison outside the city together." Lao Dai, a few of us will go to judge He Qing. We act at the same time, and we will inform each other if there is any important news. Xiao Yi, you are responsible for the intermediate delivery. ”