Chen Dong motioned to the guards to put He Qing down from the torture rack, Dai Chang shook his head and said, "Okay, okay, don't worry about these few hours, it's better to have a confession file." ”

He Qing said: "I asked Xia Huanniang's mother and son, how do you deal with it? ”

As soon as the words fell, He Xiaoran rushed over with a brisk step and punched He Qing in the face, He Qing was already seriously injured, this punch made him fall to the ground, moaned, and scolded fiercely: "Rebel, you rebel!" Sister He Xiaoqiao protected Mrs. He and said coldly: "You are not worthy of being a father at all." Mother was implicated by you and punished like this, you didn't care about it, but only thought about Luo Xiaoniang. ”

He Qing stopped talking, turned his face away, Su Huangzhe smiled and said, "He Qing, Luo Huanniang's mother and son are imprisoned in the C-shaped prison. ”

He Qingchang sighed and said, "Don't you want to know the nobles in the capital?" ”

"There's no hurry, you start from the beginning. It starts when you find the Luo family. Su Huangzhe sat down, flipped through the previous confession and the account books of Luojia Village, and motioned for the documents next to him to prepare.

The jailer next to him fed He Qing some water, He Qing stabilized his mind and said: "When the tea king was in the competition, I drank Luo Mao's tea, the tea soup was as white as snow, the entrance was sweet, it was a rare good tea, and Chen Xianyu, the governor of Huzhou at that time, was going to promote Luo Mao's tea into tribute tea, which was his good merit for promotion." I have worked diligently for many years, cleared the backlog of cases in the county, organized the repair of dams, and these achievements have been taken up by the upper peak, and he has risen step by step, but I have been making wedding clothes for others in the position of the county leader. So I thought of my senior brother Zhou Wenju. ”

"Zhou Wenju, the original household secretary?" Su Huangzhe raised his eyebrows.

"Exactly. He is my fellow brother, and he has some friendship. But ......"

He Qing was entangled for a moment, Chen Dong sneered, and said, "But he is a little greedy for money." It's more useful to have a little camaraderie or possessions, isn't it? ”

He Qing nodded and said, "That's true." At that time, my family was barely able to make ends meet, and I couldn't do anything to bully the people. But my brother loves tea very much, so I thought of Luo Mao. ”

Luo Mao was in a panic because of the tribute tea, after all, the matter of the tribute tea stall in this small family is often dragged down to the point that the family is scattered. When I went to look for him, he was ready to self-mutilate his arm to escape Gongcha. I told him that even if he couldn't make tea, Master Chen would force his son to make tea. I told him not to worry, I would help him solve this matter, but he asked me for tea, and Luo Mao agreed. ”

"You asked Luo Mao to plant the tea garden in the back mountain of Shuanglin Village?"

"No, when I found Luo Mao, he had already secretly planted a batch of tea trees in the back mountain, all of which were cultivated from the tea seeds of these twelve wild tea plants, and the quality was the same, or even better. He has been researching the cultivation and production of tea plants. ”

So I thought of a way to let Zheng Yishun buy those tea trees, the Zheng family's tea shop is big, and the tribute tea has a good reputation, and it will not affect the livelihood. I spread the news of the frequent occurrence of wild animals in the mountains, and tried to minimize the villagers going up the mountains. After I gave a gift to the capital, my senior brother liked it very much, and I had a lot of smooth careers, and Shangfeng didn't dare to be greedy for my political achievements. ”

Su Huangzhe knocked on the table and said, "Wait, you give the Luo family's tea to Zhou Wenju, so how to sell it privately?" Seeing that you handed over a lot of money to the Luo family, you yourself are still gnawing on your wife's dowry, where does this money come from? ”

He Qing paused and said, "Zhou Wenju's sister Zhou Wenjing, do you know? Su Huangzhe nodded and said, "The wife of the general of the Central Strategy Army." ”

"Yes, her dowry includes the largest tea shop in the capital - Honglou. I secretly sold tea to Zhou Wenjing, she has a big store there, and the cost of tea cakes is large on weekdays, and they are all good tea cakes, and I don't look out when I sell them there. These things are mentioned in our letters, and they are also in the letters they sent me. ”

"Oh, then you burned the letters because they promised to protect Luo Huanniang?"

"Yes, the poisoning of tea cakes made the saint angry, and sent someone to Huzhou to investigate, and the senior brother sent someone to contact me in advance, because I can't escape the matter of tribute tea no matter what, even if I am lucky enough to fall into the crime of poor supervision, it will be the end of exile, and if the matter of private tea is involved, it will be a big crime to punish the three clans. He promised me to send Luo Huanniang to Xia Kingdom, and everything was completely cut off with me. ”

"Then you smuggled tea cakes to Xia Guo later, which is also Zhou Wenjing's channel? I actually didn't understand it, how did you solve the problem caused by this tea? From Huzhou to Xia Guo, you have to go through at least four cards, buy one and say the past, and the four checkpoints are under the jurisdiction of the four transfer envoys, so you can't buy four of them, right? ”

"I didn't think about going to Xia Country for private tea, just like Master Su thought, there is no way to do this level. When I was in the third year of Yongkang, my senior brother sent a letter, and the princess of Xia Guo came to the capital to make peace, but she fell in love with the champion Lang Louzhong, who was from my senior brother's door, and also liked the tea of the Luo family. After Lou Chong went to Xia Kingdom, he wrote to me to ask for tea. Every time the envoys of the Xia Kingdom came to Daqi, they had half a month to buy, and they did not have to pay taxes on the goods they brought. Lou Zhong asked me to hand over the tea cakes to the envoy of the Xia Kingdom. ”

Su Huangzhe muttered: "When the envoys of friendly countries visit, they are allowed to bring back some special products of the Great Apocalypse, but these quantities are limited, and they need to be certified by Honglu Temple, and the checkpoint must be inspected before returning to China, how can such a large number of tea cakes be checked?" ”

"Listening to the envoy from the Xia Kingdom, the princess of the Xia Kingdom has to buy a large amount of silk and brocade from Daqi every year, which is also the acquiescence of the imperial court. The messengers all hid the tea cake boxes in the cloth, and when they were generally inspected, the precious silk did not dare to be turned around. ”

Su Huangzhe nodded and asked: "Luo Youde said that you were rewarded by the nobles of the capital and gave you a box of treasures, I haven't heard of rewarding treasures for Xiafeng, but what Luo Youde said has a nose and eyes, what's going on?" ”

Dai Chang wiped his sweat very nervously, and secretly looked at Chen Dong again, still sitting there expressionlessly, Dai Chang felt that Chen Dong was a celebrity in front of the saint, and he didn't feel panicked at all in front of such a big thing.

"That's what Lou is rewarding. After all, he didn't go to the top of me, he just took tea from me. I heard that he was famous for being good at tea in the royal family of Xia Kingdom, and there were many nobles who bought tea or asked for tea from him, and the quality of tea that year was particularly good, so that he was in the limelight at the tea fighting conference in Xia Kingdom, and he rewarded me with a box of things. I remember that I also rewarded Luo Mao with a few pieces at that time, all of which were played by the nobles. Does it matter? ”

Su Huangzhe said without changing his face: "I heard Luo Youde describe that the box of things is worth a lot of money, and we don't know where the box is now, and how much it is worth." After all, this affects the amount of your final private tea, and we have to record it in the file. Everything is still in your hands now? ”

"What does it matter to me if there are thousands of taels or thousands of taels less, it's nothing more than death. I asked Steward Liu to make a booklet, in addition to rewarding Luo Mao, I also sent some to Zhao Transfer, Qiantang Mansion Yin, and the rest are in Wan Niang's place. ”

"Tell me about Luo Huanniang? I heard Luo Youde say and Luo Qiaoniang said, you took Luo Huanniang away and used it to blackmail the Luo family, why did you abandon your wife and children for this Luo Huanniang later? ”

"At the beginning, it was really used to blackmail the Luo family. Luo Mao was timid, and shouted to quit several times, and I had no choice but to take his young daughter away as a hostage. I began to raise her in Steward Liu, and she was taught by me how she played piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. ”

"Disgusting." Chen Dong said coldly, and the mother and son of the He family not far away also showed disdain.

He Qing raised his head, looked at Chen Dong and Su Huangzhe, and sneered: "Heh, how can you children of high-ranking families know the suffering of poor families like us. It's all my business, but I don't get the credit for it. I have been a county magistrate in Huzhou for five years, a full five years, Chen Xianyu used my political achievements to climb to the position of the waiter of the Ministry of Rites. I thought he was at least thinking about my hard work and promoting me a few points, but he kept delaying me, making me wait, and asking all kinds of excuses. Shao Yin and Fu Yin have no background, the two of them only know intrigue, and I don't handle the daily affairs of the house. When it came time for the performance appraisal, the achievements I did appeared in their resumes in different ways, and I couldn't confide in half a point. This kind of grievance, I have no way to tell Yao, although her father is the prefect of Biling, but never helped me half a point, once I confide in her career, she will be sad, not much words, make me more uncomfortable, as if to say that I am incompetent. But Wan Niang is different, every time I complain to her, she will comfort me, I am not in a good mood, it is Wan Niang who makes me laugh, making me feel that this world is worth it. Speaking of this, He Qing showed a little tenderness, which made Su Huangzhe feel extremely disgusting, and before he could speak, Chen Dong sneered and said: "You are so beautiful, you are beautiful, you are so beautiful, you still want to be shameless?" Isn't it lustful to take a concubine who is not a few years older than your daughter?"

Mrs. He on the side walked over with the support of her daughter and spit on He Qing's face, He Qing was angry and frightened, and his body was seriously injured and unable to move. Mrs. He knelt down in front of Su Huangzhe and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I know that illicit tea is a serious crime against the three clans, and our mother and son can't escape punishment. But I beg you, even if a few of us are sentenced to death, I will reconcile with He Qing, and I, Yao Qing, even if I am a lonely soul and a wild ghost, I am not willing to be buried in the same cave with He Qing, a beast, I would rather be hungry and cold every day after death than suffer from the He family's incense. With that, he kowtowed three times.

He Xiaoran and He Xiaoqiao, brothers and sisters on the side, also kowtowed, He Xiaoran said: "Our brothers and sisters are destined to die, this life can be regarded as repaying the father's kindness, after we die, please bury us with our mother, and our brothers and sisters invite themselves to leave the clan." ”

Su Huangzhe ordered someone to help up the mother and son of the He family, and said: "I will explain your situation to the saint, you can rest assured." ”

Chen Dong walked over and kicked He Qing over and said, "I've seen shameless, I've never seen such shameless." ”

Su Huangzhe asked again: "Luo Qiaoniang's confession mentioned that Luo Huanniang was going to be sent to Xia Guo by you, did you arrange this on purpose?" Before the poisoning, you were going to send Luo Huanniang to Xia Kingdom? ”

He Qing took a deep breath and replied: "Wan Niang is always a concubine here, and the child she gave birth to is just a concubine, and she can't hold her head up for the rest of her life." I don't dare to use the money for private tea at will, but if I go to the Xia Kingdom, I have the money by my side, and I have the help of the building, and their mother and son can have a piece of the world. ”

Su Huangzhe put down the tea bowl and sighed: "He Qing, He Qing, do you know why this poisoning case happened?" ”

He Qing shook his head and smiled bitterly: "This poison really has nothing to do with me." I also want to know who harmed me. ”

Su Huangzhe said: "Of course I know that the person who poisoned it is not you. The person who poisoned it was Luo Qiaoniang. ”

He Qing stood up in shock, pulled the wound, and the pain made him sweat densely, he endured the severe pain and asked, "How could it be Luo Qiaoniang, why did she poison it so decently?" ”

"Because she hates you for forcibly occupying her young sister, and wants to give her sister to the merchants of Xia Kingdom, she hates you for manipulating the Luo family and letting the Luo family control your hands for the rest of your life. She struggled to complain, so she came up with a way to hurt 800 enemies and 1,000 enemies. Su Huangzhe walked up to He Qing as he spoke, He Qing's face turned gray little by little, and finally he lay on the ground and cried, not knowing what he was crying about.