Tang riddles

Earlier in the day, hundreds of officers and soldiers were waiting in the sky prison of the Ministry of Justice, and strict defenses were set up around the sky prison, which was airtight.The sky was gloomy, and there seemed to be dull thunder rolling among the thick dark clouds, but no raindrops were seen falling.The weather was so suffocating that everything seemed so oppressive.

Today is the day when Jingzhao Mansion transfers felons to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment.The so-called repeat offenders are the four suspects, Qin Zhen, Anyi, Tang Shisan, and Fei Liti, who were arrested and brought to justice yesterday. He was arrested and brought to justice for multiple serious crimes including terrorism and attempted treason.

Due to the cunning, cruelty, cleverness and unimaginable methods of the several suspects, which is unheard of, the Jingzhao Mansion is fully committed to the task of escorting the prisoners, repeatedly confirming every detail to ensure that there will be no criminals. Any accidents on the way.Before that, the forbidden army was dispatched to search the whole city, arresting all remnants who might be related to Qin Zhen and others.Because the suspect used a large amount of musk as fuel during the crime, the government focused on the spice market near Chang'an.Many spice shops in West City were seized, and several spice merchants were arrested and imprisoned pending investigation.The places where the suspect committed the crime were turned upside down, and all those with unknown origins were arrested and imprisoned.

Needless to say, no less than [-] suspects were found in this investigation. It has not been confirmed whether these people are related to Qin Zhen's gang, and further screening and investigation are urgently needed.

Fortunately, the four felons did not show any intention of escaping during the escort process, and there were no suspicious figures wandering around the security area. It ended in such a bland atmosphere, which made people feel a little dull. Is it because the expected and feared things did not happen and they felt disappointed?After Jing Zhaoyin Li Xian and the Ministry of Criminal Justice Li Shizhi completed the delivery procedures, such thoughts could not help appearing in their hearts.

When Li Xian left the prison of the Ministry of Justice, he suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.He looked back at the prison for the last time, but saw thick black clouds oppressing the sky above the prison, as if a heavy rain was coming, his hair stood erect, and he shivered involuntarily.

……

The sound of the heavy collision of the chains echoed in the sky prison, and the four prisoners in plain prison clothes were escorted to different cells.Annayi was sent to the female prisoner's single room alone, while Qin Zhen, Tang Shisan and Fei Liti were imprisoned in separate cells far apart.As a high-ranking official, Qin Zhen should have been interrogated by the Jingzhao Mansion last night instead of being detained directly.However, after Li Xian brought him back to Jingzhao Mansion, before he had time to interrogate him, he received a secret edict from the palace, requesting Li Xian to hand over the case to the Ministry of Criminal Investigation and not to interrogate the suspect without authorization.And deliberately mentioned that the four suspects are repeat offenders, and must be treated with the highest standard of prison, and no sympathy is allowed.Li Xian had no choice but to send Qin Zhen to the prison of Jingzhao Mansion, wronged Qin Zhen to sleep all night, and escorted him to the prison of the Ministry of Justice this morning.

Qin Zhen is like this, let alone other people.After entering the sky prison, it can be said that he has entered hell. From then on, life and death are up to fate, and there is no control over others.

Li Shizhi, the current highest official of the Criminal Ministry, immediately interrogated Qin Zhen in secret after the four suspects were imprisoned.The interrogation was in the prison. The head of the prison moved a bed and placed it outside the prison. Through the wooden fence, the iron-faced judge Li Shizhi questioned Qin Zhen, who was sitting on a straw mat in white clothes.Except for a servant Yushi sent by Yushitai as the third witness to take notes, everyone else avoided him.

Seeing that the senior official in the past, the high-ranking judicial official whom he admired so much has fallen to this point, Li Shizhi is actually horrified and hesitant, as well as distressed and confused.He really didn't understand why such a highly respected and important minister would commit such a thrilling and unimaginable crime.He should be the most law-abiding and law-abiding person in the world, but he knows how to break the law. If there is no big reason, how can he be prompted to commit a big crime.

He was sitting on one side of the fence, looking at the silent old man on the other side, he was at a loss for words because he was overwhelmed with thoughts and didn't know where to start.

After being silent for a long time, the censor at the side couldn't sit still, and reminded Li Shizhi:

"Li Shilang? Let's start."

Li Shizhi glanced at him, cleared his throat, and finally said:

"Prisoner in prison, is your name Qin Zhen?"

"Exactly." The old man replied calmly, neither fast nor slow, and his response speed was moderate.

"Are you eighty seventy this year, and are you from Wuxing Wucheng County, Huzhou?"

"Exactly."

"In May of this year, did you successively plan and execute the killings of Lu Bingwen, Zhang Tingle, Wu Guanzhi, Yuan Kai, Hu Yimin, and Zhan Feng?"

"I did plan to kill these six people, but I did not participate in the specific process of committing the crime."

Li Shizhi was taken aback. He didn't expect that Qin Zhen would admit his crime so readily. He was in a sudden chaos and his mind was buzzing.A moment ago, he was still trying to convince himself that maybe there was some grievance in it, but in the next moment, he only felt that the sky was falling apart, and something in his heart was shattered into powder.

"Then...then, who is the executor who specifically committed the crime for you?" Li Shizhi asked after a lot of effort before he could gather his composure.

"They were all arrested by you. There are three people in total, Anayi from Sogdia, Tang Ming, a former general, and Feiliti from Fushu." Qin Zhen carefully identified the identities of Annayi, Tang Shisan, and Feiliti. explained.

"Is there no one else?" Li Shizhi confirmed.

"Yes, but they are not under my control." Qin Zhen replied.

"What?! What does this mean?" Li Shizhi asked in surprise, his hair standing on end.

"Obviously, there is a mastermind above me. Being arrested does not end the killing, and the mastermind will continue to commit crimes." Qin Zhen patiently explained, like a teacher explaining problems to students.

"Who is the mastermind above you?" Li Shizhi frowned and asked, he didn't even notice that his volume had already been raised unconsciously.

Qin Zhen raised his white eyebrows, looked at Li Shizhi meaningfully, but kept silent uncharacteristically.

"Qin Zhen! Come from the truth!" Li Shizhi shouted violently.

"Li Shilang, go and ask the saint if I can tell who the mastermind is. If the saint says yes, I will know everything." Qin Zhen said quietly.

Li Shizhi was terrified, his mind buzzed, and he almost slipped off the bed.

"You! What nonsense are you talking about!" He stood up involuntarily, leaning on the fence, and his back was soaked in cold sweat for a moment.The attendant Yu Shi, who was taking notes at the side, was also pale, sweating profusely, and his hands shaking when he was writing.

Qin Zhen closed his eyes so far, and never spoke a word.

***

Time came to the evening of this day again, and the banquet at Prince Zhong's Mansion officially started.Li Jinyue and Shen Sui were invited by King Zhong to be guests of honor, and they sat at the first place under King Zhong's chief.The rest of the counselors of the Zhongwangfu are ranked second according to their qualifications and meritorious service.The maids shuttled through the banquet, and first served delicious wine and side dishes for appetizers. King Zhong and his advisers had almost exchanged greetings with Li Jinyue and Shen Sui.

"Mr. Bo Zhao said just now that he has some insights into the recent murder cases in Chang'an City. You might as well share it and give us all some insights."

Shen Sui knew that he would be the first to challenge himself, so he smiled and replied: "First of all, I want to make a statement. What I said during today's banquet is just my own speculation. The case will be heard by the Jingzhao Mansion. The specifics will depend on the Beijing government. How will Zhao Yin make a decision." Shen Sui first put aside the relationship, so as not to cause misfortune to come out of his mouth.Of course, her remarks also caused a lot of jokes at the meeting, most of these people thought that Shen Sui was really cautious to the point of timidity.

Today's banquet, King Zhong is to take back the military power in Youzhou that is held in Li Jinyue's hands.He is the ambassador of Shuofang, the military governor of Hebei Province, and the most powerful army of Shuofang is concentrated in Youzhou, but because Li Jinyue was the first to be exiled from Youzhou, he had the opportunity to let Li Jinyue take a share of the pie.Although the King of Zhong appears to be allied with Li Jinyue, he is actually quite afraid of it. He knows very well that Li Jinyue has been operating in Youzhou for many years, and her power is deeply rooted in Youzhou. King Zhong couldn't do it even if he wanted to infiltrate.And if the military power is not in his own hands, how can he sit back and relax.Right now, Li Jinyue's influence in the court is still very weak, few people will speak for her, and King Zhong controls a large part of the power of officials, if these people attack Li Jinyue, it is difficult to guarantee that Li Jinyue will not lose the current good situation.There is a gap between the saint and Li Jinyue. This is Li Jinyue's biggest weakness, and also the biggest bargaining chip of the loyal king. Li Jinyue has to be afraid.

The purpose of Li Jinyue's banquet this time is to deceive the trust of King Zhong, so that King Zhong has to join forces with her and give up seizing power with herself.In this way, with the loyal king mediating for her in the government and serving as her shield, she can proceed to the next step of the plan step by step.

The reason why King Zhong is so concerned about the recent frequent cases in Chang'an is because he also smelled something unusual from these cases.So many Lang officials who formerly controlled the Crane Mansion were murdered, perhaps there is a deeper court conspiracy hidden.And he had to confirm whether he would be drawn into this vortex.It is very unwise for Shen Sui to explain these cases to King Zhong, but not be able to tell the whole story.In the process of narrating, she had to lead Zhong Wang into panic, making Zhong Wang think that he was caught in a lot of conspiracy and had to rely on Li Jinyue to tide over the difficulties.Only in this way can the purpose of this trip be achieved, which is also the reason why Shen Sui agreed to go to the banquet, because she knew that King Zhong called for her to go to the banquet, not only because she knew that she was Li Jinyue's counselor, but also because she "snowed the knife clearly and decisively". With the title of ", he originally wanted to inquire about the investigation of Shen Sui's case.

Shen Sui's speech was not fast, while he was thinking and narrating, he seemed quite calm.The analysis of the case did not differ much from the facts until the introduction of Qin Zhen as the mastermind behind the scenes.But even so, it also stunned everyone present.Qin Zhen's arrest is a secret, and it has not been publicized yet, so even the loyal king does not know about it.

"What nonsense, Mr. Zhi Qin is a generation of important officials of the judiciary, who have been clean and upright all his life, you, with a red mouth and white teeth, actually slandered him!" Huangfu Weiming was the first to stop listening, and angrily scolded.

All the counselors whispered to each other, and most of them agreed with him. Suddenly, Shen Sui became the target of public criticism.At this time, King Zhong came out to smooth things over and said:

"Everyone be quiet, and listen to Mr. Bozhao. Mr. Bozhao, there is a basis for this statement. Why do you speculate that it is Duke Qin who planned all this?"

"Because Shen saw something in Duke Qin's study - a silver pot. Anyone who is familiar with Duke Qin must know that Duke Qin's name is Old Man Yinhu, and his study is Yinhu Zhai. The silver pot rescued Qin Yu. The story of Lang's reading is also well-known. But do you know who was the one who gave Mr. Qin the silver pot back then? The entrusted person has been investigating in Huzhou for many days, but found out the clue. This person is probably Wu Youzhi ah."

As soon as this remark came out, the audience was in an uproar.Everyone knows that Wu Youzhi is the father of Concubine Wu Hui and the grandfather of King Shou.King Zhong turned pale and said:

"What's going on, sir, please tell me in detail."

"Wu Youzhi traveled to Huzhou all the year round, and the time exactly coincided with the time when Duke Qin lived. Wu Youzhi had a house in Huzhou, which was very close to the mountain lake where Duke Qin used to fish. There was also a Wu Youzhi An old servant on the manor once said that the master Wu Youzhi lost a silver jug ​​when he went into the mountain once, and then sent him to make a new one. Of course, these are indirect evidence, but Shen believes that it will never be done again. There is no one more likely than Wu Youzhi. If you don’t believe me, you can go to Huzhou to check it out yourself, and you will know that what Shen said is true.”

"In this way, Qin Zhen turned out to be the henchman of King Shou..." King Zhong muttered to himself, and then asked again, "But why did he kill the official of the Crane Mansion back then? What does this have to do with King Shou?" relation?"

Shen Sui didn't answer immediately, but suddenly asked Zhong Wangdao:

"Your Excellency King Zhong, do you remember your aunt? Do you remember Li Chongjun, the deposed prince? Do you still remember that you were in danger of being aborted? Qin Zhen advised King Shou and killed the official of the Crane Mansion for Put the blame on you, you are about to be charged with treason. If you don't believe it, tomorrow will be revealed."

In the banquet hall, there was an instant silence.

The author has something to say: the bug has been caught.

Akashi, top-notch trickery.