The Red Mansions

Chapter 489 Kneel down and slap your mouth!
palace garden
After receiving the order, King Zhongshun was very anxious, and followed Xu Guan, the chief supervisor of the Chonghua Palace, all the way to the Tihe Palace.

King Zhongshun looked at the palace in front of him, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet. Under the eyes of everyone, he followed the inner eunuch into the palace and turned into the bedroom. He went away and cried: "Father, the Mausoleum of Gong has collapsed, and the minister is guilty, guilty..."

Crying heart-rendingly, it is true that those who hear it are sad, and those who see it cry.

At this moment, Princess Jinyang is not far away from Empress Song, staring at the figure kneeling on the ground, a little joy flashed in her heart, hmph, is there today?
Empress Song was instructing the maid to remove the dishes on the table, and looked at King Zhongshun indifferently.

In fact, even Queen Song didn't have much affection for King Zhongshun. If King Zhongshun didn't take charge of the House of Internal Affairs, perhaps her relatives or sons would have the chance to take over.

"You still remember my father, ahem..."

Emperor Longzhi's face was like black water, he looked coldly at King Zhongshun who was walking on his knees, said in a cold voice, and then coughed violently.

Empress Dowager Feng hastily stroked the Empress Dowager's back, and secretly sighed.

King Zhongshun wiped his tears with his sleeves, and cried: "My son is terrified, the earth dragon is shaking, Gongling has been robbed, and my son is also terrified when he hears it, so he immediately went to the palace to report to the emperor... The mausoleum is weak, and I ask the father to come down!"

These words naturally attribute the collapse of the mausoleum to natural disasters, not man-made disasters.

"Have been robbed?" Emperor Longzhi sneered, staring at King Zhongshun, and sarcastically said: "During the palace confinement, the palace and the power of Meng Dilong's shaking have never collapsed. My mausoleum has been repaired for several years, but it never The earthquake will collapse! You mean, I have lost my virtue in all directions, and I have sinned in the world, so I deserve this reward?"

"I don't dare." King Zhongshun cried loudly, his heart was awe-inspiring, and he secretly thought that something was wrong. Sure enough, he said this, with a "bang", he slammed on the gold brick violently, and the forehead with the bright jade and emerald cap on it, suddenly Stains of bright red blood appeared, and the old body kept trembling, crying: "Father, the people below must be deceiving the upper and lower, this son will go back and investigate strictly, and give Father an explanation!"

Now that things have happened, I have to throw a few heads out to take on this matter before I can give up.

The Supreme Emperor looked up at the sky, stared blankly at the beams on the palace, and said indifferently: "Strictly investigate? No need, I have already selected someone else to investigate the culprits. You should stay in the palace and wait for the results of the investigation."

After being an emperor for decades, he has fought with his courtiers all his life. Once a seed of doubt is planted in his heart, it will take root and sprout immediately, and grow into a towering tree. How can it be possible for King Zhongshun to go through with it?

If you don't get involved in this matter, it's fine. If you are involved in the case, you can't say that he...

When King Zhongshun heard this, the old body covered by the python dragon robe shook violently, kowtowed like garlic, and cried bitterly: "Father, my son, I have been wronged, I have been wronged."

As he spoke, he suddenly looked at Emperor Chongping, who had a cold face and said nothing, Wang Zhongshun saw eagerness on his gray-haired face, and cried: "My lord, although there is something strange about the collapse of the imperial mausoleum, my brother didn't know about it. The people in the criminal department will investigate strictly, and they must investigate to get to the bottom of the truth!"

Emperor Chongping stared at King Zhongshun with cold eyes, feeling extremely disappointed. No matter how reckless his elder brother was, he could still tolerate one or two things, but what would happen to him, the emperor, if he tampered with the mausoleum?
After pondering for a moment, he said in a cold voice: "The safety of the mausoleum is no small matter. Now that it collapsed due to an earthquake for no reason, and buried so many people, I have to find out the source. As the supervisor of the construction, you are also suspected. It is not appropriate to investigate yourself."

King Zhongshun seemed to be killed by lightning, because he noticed some bad signs, was he suspected?
Does this mean to give up on him?
After being completely confused, he asked in a low voice: "My lord, who is going to investigate this matter?"

"Jinyi Mansion, Internal Police Factory." Emperor Chongping said coldly with a steely complexion.

Like a thunderbolt from the blue sky, King Zhongshun felt the coolness of early spring coming from all directions, and his heart trembled.

Let Jia Heng, who is in charge of the Jinyi Mansion, investigate. Wouldn't he... make things worse! ?

The Supreme Emperor interrupted King Zhongshun's complicated thoughts: "Take him down and kneel at the gate of the hall until the Jinyi Mansion and the inner guards find out the truth!"

King Zhongshun's heart tightened, and he opened his mouth to say something.

The chief eunuch Xu Guan approached and said in a low voice, "My lord, let's go."

As he spoke, he winked at the two inner eunuchs.

King Zhongshun felt weak in his hands and feet, and was dragged outside the hall with the support of two small eunuchs.

At this moment, the rain curtain outside the hall was locked, like a curtain like fog, the huge palace was vast, and the wind and rain were like darkness. The dome of sky above the body and hall is full of dark clouds, and the neck and eyes of the little beast on the roof are soaked by the rain, and a willow tree with new branches and leaves not far away is also swaying with the wind in the early spring of February. , verdant and verdant, full of greenery.

Ministry of Internal Affairs

In this yamen with copper rings, red walls and black tiles, a large number of guards from the Jinyi Mansion rushed into the official office and began to search for Luo Chengwang, the construction secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and his subordinate officials.

Because of the rain, Jia Heng and Dai Quan, surrounded by a group of Jinyi guards, entered the gate, passed through the Yi Gate, and entered the official hall. Because the rainy day was gloomy and the light was dim, the guards had already lit a lot of candles. In between, the spacious and tidy official hall was brightly lit.

At this moment, the official hall was full of people and noisy, and the frightened faces under the black gauze hats were flickered by the bright candlelight.

In fact, when the Fuwei of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Jinyi Mansion confronted each other in front of the gate, the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were all worried and suspicious.

The Jinyi Mansion sent people to arrest Luo Chengwang, the construction secretary. Is this going to be a big deal?
However, Zhou Changshi, the chief historian of King Zhongshun who was in charge of the mansion, actually strictly ordered all the officials in the mansion to secure their positions and not to move rashly.

Therefore, although a group of officials were as anxious as ants on a hot pot, they had nothing to do and could only do nothing.

Along with Jia Heng, Dai Quan, and a group of inner guards, black crowds poured into the hall.

The officials of the House of Internal Affairs, who were surrounded by three or five and chattered in a hurry, all looked over in panic.

"quiet!"

The guards of the Jinyi Mansion who were accompanying them opened their mouths and drank heavily, as if spring thunder was exploding in the official hall, everyone's hearts shivered, and the noise suddenly stopped.

"Elder-in-law, please sit down." Jia Heng looked at the case in the main hall of the official hall and invited him.

Dai Quan smiled and said, "Doctor Jia is the presiding judge for this case, so he should sit on the bench."

Seeing this, Jia Heng did not enter the case, but sat down on the chair on the left side under the case, and glanced at the officials, seeing the panic-stricken officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The House of Internal Affairs is a large-scale departmental government office, where the doctor is in charge of the secretary, the member and the foreigner are the assistants, and the chief and scribes are running around to handle affairs.

"Captain, Zhou Shun, Chief Historian of King Zhongshun, Xie Shan, Secretary of Kuaiji, and Du Jing, doctor of Punishment Division, have all been captured!" At this moment, a hundred households of Jinyi Mansion strode into the official hall, clasped their fists, and reported .

Jia Heng frowned, and said coldly: "Bring everyone over here, I want to question you."

The brocade-clothed family promised, turned around and called out to the corridor: "Bring the prisoner here."

Following a burst of scolding and arguing of "be honest", and quarreling, Zhou Changshi and two officials in five-rank green robes and black black gauze entered the official hall. The shape is staggering, and the official hat is askew.

The scolding and shoving clearly came from a middle-aged official with a burly figure and a dark complexion.

When a few people came to the official hall, one after another looked at the past and looked at the three of them.

Jia Hengjun frowned, cast his burning eyes on Zhou Changshi, and said, "Zhou Changshi is here all right?"

Zhou Changshi raised his head, looked at the boy in python suit sitting on the chair, his face was as gloomy as iron, he snorted coldly, and didn't talk to him.

Jia Heng didn't pay any attention, and asked in a deep voice, "Where is Luo Chengwang, the construction secretary?"

At this time, a family dressed in brocade clothes said in a low voice: "My lord, these two are Xie Shan, the doctor of the Kuaiji Division, and Du Jing, the doctor of the Punishment Division. Luo Chengwang is not among them."

Jia Heng nodded, looked at Zhou Changshi again, and said in a deep voice: "Zhou Changshi, I want to ask you, is it your intention to resist the order of the Household Guard to resist arrest, or is it the intention of King Zhongshun?"

Zhou Changshi's heart trembled, he looked at Jia Heng, and said coldly: "They have no decree, who knows if it is a false imperial decree? The prince is concerned about the safety of the secrets of the House of Internal Affairs, so he will not allow people from the Jinyi Mansion to enter the mansion. rash!"

"Jin Yiwei is the son of the emperor's own army, and there are even inner guards accompanying him. The oral order is undeniable. As a servant of the emperor, you actually defied the owl's mirror and resisted arrest with the soldiers. It was because you resisted the order and did not obey it, which greatly harmed the prestige of the sage. How dare you make sophistication!" Jia Heng said in a cold voice, and shouted: "Kneel down, clap your mouth!"

The captain in Jinyi, who was pressing on Zhou Changshi's shoulder, first kicked Zhou Changshi hard at the crook of his leg, making him fall to his knees. Then, a hundred households rolled up their sleeves, swung their arms, and moved towards Zhou Chang Shi slapped his cheek hard.

"Clap clap..."

After several slaps, Zhou Changshi immediately let out a pained grunt. His originally thin cheeks were swollen up to half a finger high, and a little blood oozes from the corner of his mouth, dripping on the beard under his jaw and the front of his official robe, but the chief historian of the palace , staring resentfully at the boy in the python suit.

All the officials in the Ministry of Internal Affairs were terrified.

This is the chief historian of Prince Zhongshun, who was humiliated in public just like that!

Du Jing, who was still struggling, stopped struggling and lowered his head slightly.

Seeing this scene, Dai Quan nodded secretly.

They are obviously here to concoct you, but they are not trying to reason with you. Fighting against the guards of the Jinyi Mansion, causing the guards to confront each other, this falls into the eyes of outsiders, how do you feel?
In the words of later generations, it has greatly discredited the image of the royal family and shaken the prestige of the emperor!
Neither the House of Internal Affairs nor the Chief History Officer of Prince Zhongshun are considered court officials, and they have nothing to do with the "two-ranked Jinshi" scholars.

At this moment, Qu Lang came in from outside the official hall, cupped his hands and said: "Commander, when I just arrived, Luo Langzhong was hanged from the beam by Zhou Changshi's subordinates, and he passed out."

Zhou Changshi's entourage was obviously not stupid. They would not strangle someone to death first and then hang them on the beams. Instead, they just gagged and hung them on the beams. This would create the illusion of "suicide in fear of crime".

When Zhou Changshi heard this, his pupils shrank sharply, and his heart sank to the bottom of the valley.

Jia Heng said in a deep voice: "You have the guts to kill and silence the imperial court's criminals!"

Zhou Changshi's complexion changed suddenly, and despair hit his heart.

Jia Heng said in a deep voice: "In order to destroy the evidence, kill people, and harm the accomplices, the three of you are all part of Luo Chengwang's party, come here, lock all three of them into a prison car, take them to the imperial prison, and torture them!"

"Yes!"

Following the sound of the orders of the school captains of Jinyi Mansion, Zhou Changshi, Du Jing, and Xie Shan were all cut behind their backs, and they were escorted to the Imperial Prison of Jinyi Mansion.

Jia Heng turned his head to look at the other five ministers and the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and his eyes swept over the young and old faces one by one.

Everyone lowered their heads, their eyes dodged, their faces were pale, and they didn't dare to look at them.

"I have been ordered by the emperor to investigate the real culprit of the collapse of the imperial tomb. Since the imperial tomb was supervised by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Industry, the second government should be suspected! The relevant officials of the Ministry of Industry have all been sent to prison for interrogation. Luo Chengwang, the secretary in charge, as the chief officer, has committed a serious crime, and Xie Shan, the secretary of the Kuaiji department, is in charge of money and food, and he may not know it. Anyone who knows about the case can truthfully tell the truth. Whoever raises the crime together!"

The officials of the five divisions in front of them don't dare to say that they are all honest and good officials, but they don't all have anything to do with the case of the imperial tomb.

Because there are too many people talking, it is very easy to leak the wind.

At present, the two officials of the Ministry of Industry are all involved in the case, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs is directly responsible for the construction department Langzhong Luo Chengwang, and the doctor of the Metropolitan Inspection Department Xie Shan may have done some assistance work. As for other officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they know some secrets , but pretended not to know.

All the officials in the House of Internal Affairs, heard the young dignitary's words, their expressions changed, and they dared not respond.

Jia Heng ordered the experience department to take the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to Baoxia for questioning one by one.

After doing this, Jia Heng turned to look at Dai Quan, and said: "Eunuch Dai, now that the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are involved in the case, and all the affairs of the government office are stagnant, you still need to ask the emperor for his will."

The Ministry of Internal Affairs is a huge institution, after this incident, it is bound to be replaced by another person. Although he wants Li'er to take charge of it, this matter... can't even be planned, it can only go with the flow.

Dai Quan said with a smile: "Our family will go back and report to the Holy Majesty. Of course, when Ziyu presents the case to his face, he can also enter it."

As mentioned earlier, Dai Quan really positioned himself in the role of assisting Jia Heng.

Jia Heng looked at the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, sat on a chair patiently and waited for a while, and ordered: "Seal all the account books of the construction department and the account books of the Kuaiji department in the box, and move them all to Beizhenfu. Secretary, check and check, there must be no mistakes!"

This time, since we have to pull out the radish and bring out the mud, we should also check the accounts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

He handed over the sentence to Qianhu Jiyu, said yes, and then led people to the document warehouse of the Kuaiji Division and the Construction Division to search for account books and official documents.

Although...they are all fake accounts.

And when the official hall of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was shrouded in a dignified atmosphere, a guard of the Jinyi Mansion walked quickly from under the eaves, cupped his hands and said, "Captain, Luo Chengwang, the construction secretary, has woken up."

"Oh?" Jia Heng heard the words, his face softened slightly, and asked, "Where is the man?"

"Captain, people have been brought to the corridor." The guard of Jinyi Mansion responded.

Jia Heng said to Dai Quan who was on the side: "Eunuch Dai, why don't we meet together and see what he has to say."

Dai Quan nodded and replied, "It's good to meet you."

"Bring people in!" Jia Heng paused and shouted.

If there is Luo Chengwang's confession, then he "follows the vines" to search the Zhongshun Palace, and then finds out all the criminal evidence, and the process of getting the account books before him will be more natural, and will not arouse the emperor's suspicion of "reviewing the case afterwards" .

Not long after, a few Jinyi school captains supported Luo Chengwang, the construction secretary, and stepped into the official hall. At this moment, Luo Chengwang's official robes were messy, and on his fair cheeks, there was a "pig liver color" imprint left behind the hanging beams. fine.

Jia Heng waved his hand, signaling to Captain Jinyi not to force him to kneel down, and asked: "Mr. Luo, how does it feel to walk before the gate of hell?"

Luo Chengwang stood still, looked at the young man opposite, and said with a trembling voice, "But Mr. Jia is in person?"

Compared with Zhou Changshi and Jia Heng, Luo Chengwang, who works in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, has never met Jia Heng, but often listens to King Zhongshun and Zhou Changshi swearing behind his back, "Jia Heng's son" and so on.

Jia Heng said: "Luo Langzhong, you are a smart person, so I won't go around in circles. Gongling collapsed, something strange happened, and there must be corruption cases. As the official in charge, you should know the details. Don't hide what you know and see, speak the truth!"

However, Luo Chengwang closed his eyes and said, "I don't know what Mr. Jia is talking about. Gongling's bank transfers and materials are allocated, and the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Internal Affairs have account books and records. Your excellency can check it out."

Hearing this, Jia Heng took a look at Luo Chengwang, but it was quite different from what he had thought before. It is said that King Zhongshun wanted to get rid of this person, so shouldn't he turn against him at this time?
Xu Shi knew that he was going to die, so he refused to admit it, in order to keep his family safe?

There is no doubt that there was a corruption case in the supervision of the imperial mausoleum, and it basically wanted to kill the whole family.

If beans are poured out of the bamboo tube, I am afraid that they will not escape the fate of the Yi people.

In a flash, Jia Heng had already grasped his mind, and said to Dai Quan who was beside him: "Eunuch Dai, why don't you take him back to the Imperial Prison first, and then make a fuss about it?"

Like a "repeater", Dai Quan said, "Then take him back to the prison for interrogation."

Dai Quanyuan came here to supervise Jia Heng's handling of the case. In fact, even if the case was handed over to the three courts for joint trial, the Ouchi would send people to accompany the investigation and watch the case for supervision.

Jia Heng didn't say much, he waved his hand and said, "Push it over."

Since then, in addition to Zhongshun Prince's Mansion and the Ministry of Household Affairs, the relevant officials of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Internal Affairs involved in the supervision of the mausoleum have been arrested and interrogated.

"There is another place, the Ministry of Households..." Jia Heng frowned, thinking.

The imperial tomb project not only involved the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but also the Ministry of Household Affairs.

To sort out the construction process of Gongling, the Ministry of Households allocated money, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Internal Affairs jointly undertook the construction, and a prince of the country took charge of the affairs and coordinated the various ministries.

As the bank transfer party, the Household Department must be responsible for the whereabouts of the money, and according to Qi Guaner, Liang Yuan, the servant of the Household Department, was involved in the case.

However, the Taishanghuang's decree did not mention the household department, which is also a normal phenomenon, because it is not the person directly responsible.

(End of this chapter)