Bastard's Counterattack [Rebirth]

"Nonsense!" He Shuo yelled unacceptably, exhausted all his strength, jumped out from the corner of the wall, and flew towards Rong Youtang, the handcuffs and fetters collided loudly.

"Bold!" The head of the guard stopped the criminal easily.Yao Sheng and the warden rushed forward to help, and together they held down He Shuo who was violently attacking the imperial envoy, and cursed: "Be honest!"

"Assaulting the imperial envoy again and again is simply courting death."

Rong Youtang stood firm and motionless, holding a candlestick, the candlelight was swayed by the wind blowing while He Shuo was struggling and shouting, and the strangely shaped dark projection stretched its teeth and claws.

"Nonsense, you nonsense! My son was tortured by King Qing. You are Zhao Zeyong's lackeys. You will die a terrible death. I will never let you go!" He Shuo refuted tremblingly.He finally couldn't sit still, he lay curled up on his side, his clothes were dirty and messy, his beard and hair were gray, and he looked old.

Rong Youtang said seriously: "Your father and son have committed a lot of evil, and they are destined to die. They have different positions. We do things for the country, for the public, for His Majesty and for the people. We will never do evil, so why be afraid of resentment?"

"You are so strange!"

Qi Zhiyang folded his arms, took a deep breath, fixedly looked at the trembling man, and asked wonderingly: "You hate us so much, don't you hate Youdang? Don't be suspicious, let me tell you plainly: His Highness King Qing has never Lynch and torture your son! What are you kidding? At that time, His Highness was busy dispatching troops to suppress the bandits and governing Shun County temporarily. How could he have the time to try He Zhongxiong's case in person? On the way back to Beijing that day, You Guanying took over the prisoner, and many soldiers witnessed it with their own eyes. I saw that your son can walk and jump, and he was not tortured at all!"

"The authorities are obsessed. He Shuo, haven't you figured it out yet?"

Rong Youtang cleared up the misunderstanding, and calmly informed: "You have been in close contact with You Guanying for a long time, and you must know him better than we do. Think about it carefully: after He Zhongxiong's accident, who will be eager to kill people? In addition, nine The Fengshan bandit leader didn't bite the traveling party, and according to the investigation, it was because You Guanying had left a way out for himself: he had a token of the bandit leader's illegitimate son in his hand, and it was not clear whether it was true or not."

"No, no." He Shuo shook his head frequently, huddled into a ball and hid in the corner, looking very cold, the dry grass rustling under pressure, and stubbornly denied: "Nonsense, extremely absurd! I know, you fabricate lies and want to If you want to get physical witness certificates, bring down You Guanying, get promoted and get rich, I won’t let you get your wish! I’d rather be brought to the bottom of the world than be a stepping stone for you. Hmph, two lackeys, are you crazy about wanting to be promoted? Zhao Xianchang’s dog ,Hahaha……"

"You—" Qi Zhiyang lowered his arms unbearably, furious.

"Brother Qi, calm down!" Rong Youtang hurriedly stopped his companion, frowned and said: "He is arrogant and thinks he has the Youdang under his control, but unexpectedly he is played around in circles, it shows that the wicked are even more tormented by the wicked."

"Hmph, you can't live without doing your own crimes, even if you die ten thousand times, you won't be wronged!" Qi Zhiyang scolded angrily.

It was almost dawn at this time, and it was supposed to be the time when he slept the sweetest and deepest.

"He Shuo, we've said everything we need to say, you can think about it for two days." Rong Youtang yawned wearily, and greeted: "Brother Qi, let's go back and take a nap for a while, Chenshi is opening for trial."

"Let's go!" Qi Zhiyang ignored He Shuo and walked out of the cell with his head held high.He was insulted as a "running dog and minion" by criminals several times, but he resisted the attack, which is already a good self-cultivation.

At the back of the hall, Rong Youtang ordered the guards who changed shifts early to guard the important criminals:

"Take care of him carefully. If you are on a hunger strike, give him some water and rice soup, and give him a quilt. Make sure to save his life."

"Yes!"

in no time

Rong Youtang finally left the cramped and stuffy cell, stood on the open ground, and took a few deep breaths of the refreshing and cool air.

"Brother Rong, let's go." Qi Zhiyang didn't go far, he had already adjusted his mood and returned to his usual calmness.

"Okay." Rong Youtang followed quickly, raised his sleeves and smelled it, and laughed at himself wryly: "Tsk, I haven't bathed and changed clothes for two or three days, it's strange that it stinks like this!"

Hearing this, Qi Zhiyang raised his sleeves and smelled himself, and said frankly: "I haven't bathed since I left Ningwei Ferry, no wonder my back is itchy."

"Hahaha~" Rong Youtang had fun in the bitterness, and urged with a smile: "Go quickly, go back and fetch water to wipe off, and you can still sleep for half an hour."

At the right time, the imperial envoy and his party were full of energy, and the two of Rong Qi sat on the head, with a large number of files spread out on the desk.

The gavel gave a "snap", and Qi Zhiyang commanded majesticly:

"Open the court! Come, bring the plaintiff and the defendant to court."

"Yes!" The head catcher, Yao Sheng, was dressed in a straight uniform, with wind under his feet, busy arranging for the catcher to rush to the prison to bring out a string of defendants—among them, he personally escorted his former nemesis Gan Xiaogang. : Hmph, Gan Xiaogang, you also have today?Crazy again?Jump again?Hahaha, your backer Gan Hongxin is going to be in bad luck...

"Kneel down! All suspects kneel down for trial." Yao Sheng yelled grandly, and secretly kicked Gan Xiaogang's knee hard until he fell to his knees.

In a blink of an eye, the defendant was kneeling all over the hall, and the plaintiff had to kneel too, but because there was no room, he could only retreat to the side and wait for interrogation.

The case was heard in public, and the gates of the state capital were opened, attracting many people to watch. The three floors inside and three floors outside were crowded outside the hall, crowded with people, discussing a lot, eager and excited, pointing at the defendant and observing the legendary imperial envoy generously.

Taking advantage of the time when the arrester was mentioning the prisoner, the imperial envoys read the files carefully, pondered carefully, and met to discuss a few words from time to time. The two traveled in modest clothes, without official uniforms, but they also won the sincere awe of the common people——

A Shangfang sword hangs high on the screen behind the two imperial envoys. The bright sun shines through the wide-open doors and windows, and the vividly carved five-clawed golden dragon is shining and eye-catching; The big and embellished Dongzhu; the six tall and strong inner court guards are tall and straight, with goose wings lining up the guards and imperial envoys, holding knife handles...all of them amaze the common people!Eye-opening sigh.

"Today's focus is to clarify the facts of the case, point out the crimes committed by the defendant, and first resolve the New Deal taxation riot case designated by His Majesty." Rong Youtang said softly.

"Exactly. We have to appease the people who are filled with righteous indignation, and at least let them understand the truth of 'Skynet is fully restored, not leaking'." Qi Zhiyang muttered, facing the files on the table full of teeny scripts, he couldn't help frowning, a little bit burnt out, Given a choice, he would rather pick up a knife and catch the criminal.

"However, we can only decide to send some criminals on the spot. For the rest of the grade, it is urgent to report the truth and report it quickly. Please make a decision whether to deal with it on the spot or take it back to the capital and hand it over to the Ministry of Punishment." Rong Youtang dipped his pen in ink, meticulously Added two lines of comments.

Qi Zhiyang nodded in agreement, and said distressedly: "Brother Rong, you can write the memorial. I'm used to holding a knife, and I can't hold a pen. I guess I can't explain it clearly after writing a few books."

"Let's go together." Rong Youtang smiled, turned his head and suggested: "The memorial will be divided into two parts. I will write the case, and Brother Qi will present the reason why he urgently called the Guan Zhongjun for assistance."

It is nothing to share the hardships side by side, but it is rare to share the joys and sorrows hand in hand.

In fact, imperial envoys had very few opportunities to show their faces in front of the emperor, but they were just hand-picked, presented, and returned to order. Rong Youtang did not want to leave the notoriety of "competing for credit".

Qi Zhiyang knew it well, secretly admired the modest young man, and nodded happily: "That's fine, I'll write the less wordy one, and explain to His Majesty the reason for the transfer of troops. Three pages can always make it clear."

"I will write a memorial after I leave the hall later, and send it to Beijing in an expedited [-] miles and by water." As soon as Rong Youtang finished speaking, he couldn't help covering his sleeves and yawned, his eyes were red and swollen from sleepiness, and he poured A big sip of strong tea.

"Okay!" Qi Zhiyang sniffed, and turned the page with a "stab" sound, his eye bags were black.

After a while, the head catcher Yao Sheng brought the prisoner as required, ordered him to kneel down, bowed his head, and was about to run briskly to report to the imperial envoy, but his footsteps suddenly stopped, and he ran to the side trial seat instead, bowing his head. He said to Ji Ping who was still wearing the magistrate's official uniform: "My lord, all the criminals have been brought here."

"..." Ji Ping turned a deaf ear and sat in a restless state with a pale face and dull eyes.Gan Hongxin couldn't bear the repeated blows and fell ill due to fear. He was lying at home under strict surveillance.

There is still one person sitting in the auditorium: Tongzhi Sun Qi of Guanzhou.He was calm and calm on the surface, but in fact he was panicked inside, for fear that the imperial envoy would not be able to bring down the Youdang after he broke the boat and made a whistleblower report!When the imperial envoy pats his butt and returns to the capital, what will his family do?

"My lord?" Yao Sheng respectfully approached and repeated: "My lord, the criminal has been brought here."

After all, he is the official of a state, and the emperor has not yet dealt with it formally. Yao Sheng will not kill himself and offend others first.

"Oh? Oh." Ji Ping, who was wandering in the sky, was awakened, raised his hand hastily, and accidentally knocked over the tea clock, and the tea soup overflowed, soaking his sleeves.Ji Ping opened his mouth to scold in an instant, but he forcibly held back, suffocated, squeezed out a smile, got up, endured the humiliation and walked to the place that should belong to him, and said respectfully: "Masters, the criminals have all been brought, you can The trial is on."

"Hmm." Qi Zhiyang didn't even raise his head, and concentrated on sorting out the files that he would use later.

"Okay." Rong Youtang put down his pen, and said rigidly: "Master Ji has spared no time to help, please excuse me."

Ji Ping hurriedly shook his head, smiled apologetically: "It should be, it should be, this is the job of a subordinate official."

Dismissal?Master Xiao Rong raised his eyes in surprise, hesitated to speak, and finally said nothing.

With a "snap", Qi Zhiyang slapped the gavel with the strength of a military general, and said loudly, "My colleagues and folks from Guanzhou, I was shocked to hear that there was a fight between officials and businessmen when the business tax was collected here last month. Your Majesty attaches great importance to it, and ordered me to come and investigate it quickly."

Rong Youtang put down the file, and sadly announced the facts that have already been circulated in the public: "According to the investigation, a total of 69 people were killed in the brawl, including three innocent people who were involved in the melee, and dozens of people were slightly or seriously injured."

"Many people were present at the time of the incident, and the reason for the public trial is to hope that those in the know will actively provide useful clues." Qi Zhiyang pointed out solemnly.

Rong Youtang said in a loud voice: "The plaintiffs are traders in Qingniu Village. The victim's sister Liu Lan and Qingniu Village official Liu Gui made the main statement, and the others added; Several arrests, headed by Gan Xiaogang, and some relatives who acted as thugs."

The onlookers listened attentively.In fact, many people knew the truth very well, because they witnessed the whole process with their own eyes, but they dared not publicize it due to the government's majesty. They all thought to themselves: Let's see if the two imperial envoys are fair and strict!

The gavel gave a "snap", and Qi Zhiyang ordered solemnly:

"Plaintiffs Liu Lan and Liu Gui, which one of you will state the case first? Be sure to tell the truth. If false accusations are discovered, don't blame me for severely punishing them!"

"My lord, let's talk first!" Liu Lan choked and screamed, her voice hoarse and rough, and she walked out on her knees. She lost three brothers in the scuffle, and her sick mother was beaten to death that night, and lost four in one day. My dearest relative cried so much that his eyes were almost blinded, and he was so wronged that he almost vomited blood.

"My lord, if a woman tells a single word of lies, she will die in this life!" Liu Lan knelt straight, with delicate features, strong and decisive eyes, dressed in white filial piety, extremely excited.

Rong Youtang slightly raised his hand, and instructed: "Plaintiff, calm down, and state the case carefully, and you can add circumstantial evidence later. However, no one is allowed to disturb the court."

"Yes." Liu Lan nodded indiscriminately, cleared her weeping throat with difficulty, and said in grief and indignation: "On the morning of the 22nd of last month, I went to the city with my brothers to sell vegetables, and my eldest brother carried half a penny for my mother's medicine. The family’s savings for more than a year was used to save lives. But those tax collectors who killed thousands of dollars didn’t listen to explanations and didn’t make sense. , They always say: The emperor stipulates that the harvest is [-]%, but I want to charge as much as I want! They touch me and talk dirty, my brothers protect me--" Liu Lan said at this time , burst into tears, choked with sobs, covered his face for a while, and then continued to state: "The uncles and aunts in the village, the customers present, and the passers-by nearby can all prove that they were the ones who started the attack! My brother was beaten to the head with a short stick. Bleeding, they still didn’t let me go, and they became more and more proud, saying that there was a big backer in the yamen, and they were not afraid to file a complaint. Later, the second brother and the third brother were also beaten, and later, they drew their knives to kill, and everyone started fighting After Liu Lan finished speaking, she fell to the ground and cried bitterly, out of breath, and everyone else sighed and sympathized.

Afterwards, Qingniu Village came out to identify a few policemen and bastards, and added a few points.

Half an hour later, the cause of the riot was found out, and the witnesses and material evidence were all available.

Rong Youtang picked up the gavel, slapped it hard, and shouted: "Silence!"

Yao Sheng hurriedly led the officials to block the people who were getting more and more crowded out of the hall, and ran to maintain order.

"It has been found that since the implementation of the new business tax policy, 13 people headed by Gan Xiaogang have robbed property, often beat and insulted vendors for no reason, molested women, etc., and have committed a lot of evil deeds. He announced word by word, in order to appease the anger of the people, he shouted: "The facts of the case will be reported to the imperial court according to the facts, waiting for His Majesty's will. Come here, drag Gan Xiaogang and others down, and give them [-] slaps each! Then they will be imprisoned and await punishment."

"Yes!"

All the officials responded, dragged 13 people to the open space outside the hall, lined up, held up the torture sticks, and carried out the punishment in a down-to-earth manner.

"Ouch—"

"Sir, spare your life!"

"Forgive me, my lord!"

……

The 13 people deliberately didn't gag them. In an instant, they wailed bitterly, crying for their father and mother, tearing and tearing, which made the plaintiff and the onlookers utter a bad breath.

The thirteen defendants were imprisoned after being sentenced, and the trial has come to an end. In view of the evidence and the scope of power, even if the imperial envoy finds out the Youdang, according to the level, most of them will be handed over to the Ministry of Criminal Justice.

"My lord, my lord imperial envoy!" Liu Lan was deeply saddened, and walked a few steps forward on her knees, raised her face and reminded sadly: "Are they the only murderers? Those are just lackeys under the hands of corrupt officials. I beg you to help the dozens of people who died tragically in the village. People decide." After speaking, he kowtowed heavily.

Seeing this, the other family members of the deceased swarmed into the main hall from the side, knelt down and begged: "I beg the imperial envoy to investigate thoroughly and bring all the murderers to justice."

"Gan Xiaogang's backer is Zhizhou Gan Hongxin, and their cousins ​​have been gangsters and have been tyrannical for many years."

"That's right, it's Gan Hongxin!"

"I beg my lord to at least punish Gan Hongxin severely."

……

"Silence! Silence!"

Qi Zhiyang held the gavel in his hand, and said earnestly: "Everyone, please be safe and don't be impatient. You have to eat every bite, and you have to investigate each case one by one. Now the trial is about last month's tax collection bloody case."

"As for the whereabouts of the money collected by the defendants and others, the truth about the mysterious deaths of [-] vendors in Qingniu Village, and the fact that some local officials allowed cronyism to commit crimes, etc., we are currently conducting a thorough investigation, and we will definitely find out the truth!" Rong Youtang explained solemnly. Listen to the plaintiff who is extremely hostile to the government.

Ji Ping and his cronies were ashen-faced, drenched in cold sweat the whole time, feeling like they were sitting on pins and needles, being condemned by the people, they kept silent for fear of saying too many mistakes.

When the courtroom was noisy and noisy, two officials suddenly squeezed in at the gate of the yamen, terrified, and habitually shouted at Ji Ping: "My lord, my lord is not good!"

"A large group of soldiers came from outside, all of them were armed, and they said they were the Guanzhong Army who had been ordered to come to aid the imperial envoy."

It's over.Ji Ping sat down slumped.

ho-

Has the imperial envoy dispatched troops from Guanzhong to help?

The people onlookers were suddenly surprised and excited, and they scrambled to turn around and turn their heads. As soon as the official who reported the letter finished speaking, the crowded crowd at the door suddenly separated automatically. Sang Jiacheng, a general of Guanzhong in light armor, who was in a hurry to help, walked in quickly.

"General! The last general is looking forward to you."

Qi Zhiyang was overjoyed, and immediately got up, walked out of the table in a hurry, and quickly walked forward to meet the former Shangfeng, and without saying a word, he would kneel down on one knee to pay homage——

"Hey, stand still!" Sang Jiacheng supported the old department firmly, smiled, and feigned anger: "Zhiyang, why are you being polite? You are an imperial envoy now, I can't stand your courtesy." After finishing speaking , He first performed the monarch and minister ceremony according to the rules to the hanging Shangfang sword.

"Where are you talking?" Qi Zhiyang happily followed, bowed his head respectfully and said: "Thanks to the general who has been cultivated for many years and has been supported many times, if the last general is ungrateful, he should be struck by lightning."

"Haha, you brat! How's the investigation going? We're not late, are we?" Sang Jiacheng smiled gratifiedly, and patted the proud old department on the shoulder, full of pride.

"General Sang is really just in time."

Rong Youtang answered the words at the right time, and he walked down the hall right after him. After the other party exchanged a few words of greetings, he cupped his hands and said, "Long time no see, how is the general?"

"It's not bad. After I received the secret letter, I reported it immediately, ordered [-] soldiers, and came all the way in the starry night. I'm afraid that you will fall short due to lack of manpower." Sang Jiacheng put his right hand on the shoulder of the old department, and patted Rong Youtang with his left , Shaking vigorously, praised: "Master Rong is amazing! It's been half a year since I left, it's a pity that I couldn't congratulate you on the top prize in high school."

Rong Youtang said humbly: "It's just a fluke to give up in the same year, it's nothing. Sigh, a few of us were almost killed by bandits who blocked the way, and you still have to help us."

"Oh?" Sang Jiacheng was shocked, and quickly asked concerned: "How about the casualties? Have the bandits been caught?"

Qi Zhiyang replied: "Fortunately, there were no casualties, and the leader of the bandits was captured alive, but a few bandits escaped in the scuffle."

"Damn it!" Sang Jiacheng raised his eyebrows, and with a fiery temper, he scolded on the spot: "I just wiped out thousands of people at the beginning of the year, why are there bandits again? What are the local officials doing here? Even the imperial envoys can't protect them well." !"

Ji Ping, who was about to go up to say hello, was extremely embarrassed, at a loss, his face turned blue and red, which made the onlookers secretly laugh.

Rong Youtang suppressed a smile, and told Yao Sheng: "Show General Sang some tea."

"Yes!" Yao Sheng didn't dare to neglect at all, turned around and trotted.

"The few of you stay here, and the rest rest and wait for orders in the open space in front of the yamen." Sang Jiacheng made arrangements vigorously and resolutely, and the five hundred soldiers were neat and orderly.

Next, the trial will continue, and there will be a large number of guards, and the people will not dare to shout and abuse, and will observe the imperial envoy's interrogation in a well-behaved manner.

After retiring, the soldiers settled down and had a simple meal. It was already night, and the two imperial envoys immediately began to concentrate on writing the memorial.

"General Sang brought 500 men, that's great!" Rong Youtang's heart fell to the ground.

"Hmph, now I want to see who is not afraid of death and dares to obstruct our investigation!" Qi Zhiyang gritted his teeth.He held the pen, dipped it in the ink, stroked it, thought hard, and only wrote one or two lines after a long while, which was quite strenuous.

"Last night, about the summer house on Tong'an Street reported by Miss Ji, I have asked Xiao Shan to invite some brothers from Guanzhong to investigate. If it is indeed the outer house where Ji Ping secretly hid stolen goods, it should be strictly guarded." Rong Youtang mentioned, lying on the desk Write fast.

Qi Zhiyang moved the candlestick closer, and then moved it further away after a while, always feeling uncomfortable, frowning and thinking hard about his words, he said slowly: "Corrupt officials must have ransacked the house, saying that they can't confiscate a large ship of gold and silver treasures."

As soon as the words fell, a third person's voice suddenly sounded in the quiet study room:

"Won't that make a lot of money? Can the ransacking of the house bring me along?"

"Who?" Caught off guard, Qi Zhiyang threw away his pen and stood up with a knife.

Rong Youtang hurriedly reassured: "It's okay, my own." He raised his head to look at the beam, and said helplessly, "Song Shen, come down."

The beam was more than two feet above the ground, Song Shen jumped, landed silently, walked to the desk with a playful smile, and asked, "Why does General Qi turn his face and deny anyone?"

You weirdo, trespassing in the backyard of the government office, and still questioning me?

Qi Zhiyang shook his head, sat down again, took up writing again, and explained: "It's not that Qi is forgetful, but I just met yesterday, and I didn't remember your voice for a while."

"You don't need to apologize, don't see anyone else! Will you take me with you when you ransack the house?" Song Shen smiled, holding the candlelight in front of Rong Youtang with his palms.

It was dark and hard to see clearly, so Rong Youtang had no choice but to raise his head and said: "The evidence is not enough, how can the family wealth of the imperial court order officials be copied at will? We will have a final conclusion after we send the memorial to His Majesty for review."

Song Shen curled his lips and was about to speak when Li Xiaoshan, the guard who was in charge of searching the summer residence, came back with a wooden box in his hand. Seeing King Qing's subordinates, he was stunned, but his interest remained undiminished, and he happily told: "My lords, Xia Xiaoman was very interesting, she confessed very readily, saying that she was coerced by Ji Ping to do evil! Here, this is the poison she voluntarily handed in, it's very scary." Then she opened the wooden box to show it.

Song Shen probed for a while, his face suddenly changed, and he picked up a bottle to take a closer look at it like lightning.

Seeing this, Rong Youtang was stunned for a moment, then blurted out in surprise, "Do you recognize them? Do you know Xia Xiaoman?"