He was still calm, without the slightest sign of anger, and it was precisely because of this calmness or indifference that Qin Ke felt extremely frustrated. It seems that this is none of my business?" Qin Ke thought to himself. After all, this is all Jing Wu's internal affairs, and he is an outsider, even if he is indignant, he is not qualified to point fingers.

"Go on. Zhuge Wanling said, "Say everything you want to say." I listened. ”

Listen, I'm not your teacher, I have to teach you. Although you are my master's brother...... But from this point of view, should you give me a lesson? Qin Ke rolled his eyes in his heart, come on, he is different from the master.

"I don't have much to say. Qin Ke said, but quickly overturned his previous words, "You shouldn't treat them like this...... Even if they are your subordinates, they have sacrificed their lives for you. The Ninth Master...... He could have left, but in order to take this bamboo slip with him, he preferred to stay. ”

"Wait. Zhuge Wanling stopped him softly, the light of the fire candle flickered in the darkness, he looked around and said, "Let's all go down." ”

"Yes. There were several responses from the hall, in addition to the old eunuch with an arched back beside Zhuge Wanling, six or seven eunuchs walked out of the darkness, slowly pushed open and walked out along the arch.

Abu watched the eunuchs walk out of the palace gate one after another, and thought of Qin Ke's unreal quarrel just now, and felt a little nervous: "Princess." ”

The old eunuch stood at the forefront, and all the eunuchs behind him were like rats, cowering without saying a word. And the old eunuch himself has gentle eyes, like a lazy cat.

He knew Abu, and a lonely old man like him also had some affection for Abu: "Abu, what's wrong?"

Abu looked at the old eunuch's kind face, smiled, and said with some concern: "What's the situation inside?"

The old eunuch shook his head, and didn't ask who the young man in Abu who yelled at Zhuge Wanling was, and his decades of experience in the palace made him understand the truth of "shut up" early: "The prime minister has his own judgment, don't worry." You also know the prime minister, what is there to worry about?"

"Of course I'm not worried about Sir, I'm worried about Ah Ke's ......" Abu said helplessly, but since all the eunuchs have been called out, Qin Ke shouldn't have any problems.

Thinking of this, he respectfully bowed his hand and said, "The prince is good to go." ”

The old eunuch smiled and led the eunuch away slowly, the night shrouded his back, the heaviness of the palace seemed to weigh down his back a little, but Abu felt that on that slightly rickety back, it seemed that he could carry the whole mountain.

In the hall, after there were no eunuchs on duty, the darkness in the entire room became more and more silent, Qin Ke had of course already discovered those eunuchs standing in the dark, and the wind vision technique brought the beating of their hearts into his ears.

And without these physically crippled people at this moment, Qin Ke was not very happy, but a little uncomfortable.

It's too cold in this palace, and it's chilling, and if there is no warm blood flowing, I'm afraid that everyone will be wiped out by loneliness.

And the person in front of him is like this, who is in the palace day after day reviewing national affairs, enduring endless loneliness?

If he is allowed to sit in front of such a green lamp every day, I am afraid that he will soon go crazy.

Thinking like this, Qin Ke felt a little pity in his heart, but soon, he felt ridiculous, people are always different, in his opinion, this is loneliness, maybe in Zhuge Wanling, he will be happy because he holds the authority of a country?

"Alright. Zhuge Wanling continued, "You go on. ”

Qin Ke didn't know what he should say, in fact, all he wanted to say was a few words. Looking up at the dark hall, Qin Ke thought for a moment and said a few words to the old master's mouth, "The wise kings of ancient times loved their loyal ministers very much. Relatives and virtuous ministers, far from the villain, so that there will be people who are willing to serve you......"

Speaking of the back, Qin Ke felt that his mouth was full of the rotten taste of the vintage, so he shook his head and said no more.

Zhuge Wanling looked at him and finished speaking, smiled, reached out to hold the bamboo slip, put it in front of the desk, and asked, "What is this?"

"Bamboo slips. Qin Ke replied.

Zhuge Wanling did not speak, but looked at him quietly.

Qin Ke thought for a moment, and then said, "It's a piece of criminal evidence about officials corrupting the law and destroying embankments and flooding fields to defraud disaster relief food. ”

Zhuge Wanling was still smiling at him, as if waiting for him to give another answer.

Qin Ke couldn't think of it even if he wanted to break his head, and he was irritable: "What are you fighting again?"

Zhuge Wanling shook his head with a smile, just like that, on the table, slowly spread out, those names appeared one after another under the light of the fire candle, and there seemed to be shadows swaying on it. These people who were hiding in the shadows are now exposed, and they seem to be panicking, otherwise they would not have done something murderous.

"It's a bamboo slip. Also lists. Zhuge Wanling took out a roll from the dusty bamboo slips on the side, put it on the desk, and slowly spread it out.

Qin Ke looked at the bamboo slips that were spread out in the second volume, and there were also some names on them, and some of them were also circled with red cinnabar. There were some names that were particularly familiar to him, and he compared them, and soon found the similarities between the two volumes, that is, some of the names, which were actually the same.

If there are so many people with the same name and surname in this Jing Wu, perhaps the two volumes of the list have nothing to do with each other. But Qin Ke knew that this kind of thing was unlikely, and naturally understood that these same names actually referred to the same people.

Zhuge Wanling continued: "But this is one human life after another. ”

"Of course. The destruction of embankments and flooding of fields has caused many people to lose their lives and can only starve to death on the side of the road, which is really ...... The sin is terrible. Qin Ke thought of his hunger when he was a teenager, thought of the bowl of meat that he didn't understand where he came from until he grew up, and thought of his dead parents, and his stomach hurt inexplicably.

"Nope. I'm not talking about these lives. Zhuge Wanling shook his head, "What I'm talking about is just the lives on this list." ”

"What do you mean?"

"Since these officials have done these things, according to the law of the country, they will be sent to the army at the least, and tortured to death at the worst, isn't it human life?"

Qin Ke frowned: "Isn't it an axiom to pay for your life?"

Zhuge Wanling nodded: "It is indeed an axiom to pay for killing people." But there are some things that are not axioms. Where did I Jing Wu come from? Gao Changgong's victory with the Tang State back then was naturally one of them, but if it weren't for the unity of the large and small warrior clans of the Wu State, it would not have been possible to have such military strength, and no matter how strong Gao Changgong was, he was just one person. Even if he can kill a thousand, two thousand, or three thousand people, it is impossible for this Wu country to become today's Jing Wu. ”

"What does this have to do with this matter now?" Qin Ke inexplicably felt a little heavy and asked in a low voice.

"Of course it does. Zhuge Wanling looked at the flickering firelight, and said softly: "In the past, the appointment of officials relied more on the recommendation of the township and the Shi clan, and there were many Shi clans in Jingwu, and almost everyone in Jingwu had the blood of the Shi clan on their bodies. ”

He stretched out his hand and stroked the names one after another on the bamboo slips: "The name on this seems to be just one person's name, but behind these people are the interests of the entire Shi clan." If you kill to pay for your life, how many people will you kill?"

Qin Ke was unconvinced: "Whoever is involved in this matter will be killed." Isn't this very clear? The Ninth Master was killed, and the people in the oil shop also died, not to mention the people who were flooded in the fields, and the scholars could get away with it?"

"Of course, the scholars cannot go unpunished, but the existence of the law is dependent on the state and this temple. If I easily raise my sword and kill him, it will be tantamount to declaring war on the nobles. If Jing Wu falls into infighting, the Tang State Canghai Mo family will definitely not watch from the wall, they will also wait for the opportunity to observe, as long as there is the right time, they will open their minions and tear off a piece of meat from the rich land of Jing Wu. When the time comes, it will be the people who will suffer. Zhuge Wanling said in a deep voice, "If that's the case, kill or not?"