Infrastructure masters in the red building

An hour later, the Yin of Shuntian Mansion held a hearing in the lobby of Shuntian Mansion to hear the case of fraud in the examination room.

This fraudulent case was originally reported to the Metropolitan Procuratorate by "on behalf of the author", but the Metropolitan Procuratorate did not have the power to directly try the case, so it was handed over to the chief officer of the area under its jurisdiction, Yin Linyan of Shuntian Prefecture, who was in charge of the trial. The case was a major case, and people from the Ministry of Criminal Justice and Dali Temple were all present for the trial. In the hall of Shuntian Mansion, two rows were crowded and crowded.

The third prince almost moved his seat to be parallel with Shun Tian Fu Yin, turned around and saw that the East Palace Prince had set up a chair behind Fu Yin.

The third prince smiled at the prince immediately: "Second brother is in charge of this test, should second brother avoid it?"

The prince immediately rolled his gorgeous eyes at his younger brother, and said: "Sitting here alone, just watching and not talking, isn't this avoiding suspicion?" During the trial in the Tianfu Hall, almost all the gavel trees were snatched there to take pictures. Mr. Fuyin is not just being treated like this by you, is he?"

Shuntian Mansion Yin Lin Decoration Yan suddenly looked embarrassed.Caught between two princes who are at odds with each other, he knows in his heart that he must have the consciousness of being a display, but he must not reveal his whereabouts as a display.At that moment, Master Lin Yan knocked on the gavel and shouted: "Quiet!" He never wanted to break the sound, not only failed to quiet the entire Shuntian Mansion, but made people want to laugh after hearing it.

The trial of this fraud case in the examination room began in a chaotic atmosphere.

The first prisoner summoned by Shuntian Mansion was Feng Yuan from the Mansion of General Shenwu. He had already pleaded guilty, confessed that he had received the test questions provided by Gao Shida, the servant of the Ministry of Rites, and gave the other party "Xie Yi" of 200 taels of silver in return. The process of writing the answer sheet on behalf of the writer.

Therefore, Feng Yuan went to court wearing a shackle, which means that after he pleaded guilty, all his fame has been taken away.Not long after Feng Yuan entered the hall, General Feng Shi rushed to the hall, kicked Feng Yuan over, and shouted: "The Feng family doesn't have a son like you!"

Feng Yuan immediately burst into tears, almost dying, hugged Feng Shi's leg and said: "Father, it's useless to be a child, but the child really only wants to earn some face for the Feng family..."

Feng Shi kicked Feng Yuan's heart again, and said angrily: "But now the Feng family's face has been humiliated by you..." Feng Yuan immediately vomited a mouthful of blood, and hugged his heart and curled up on the ground.

Even the crowd watching the trial couldn't stand it anymore, and someone immediately revealed the old background of the Feng family: "This is not the only concubine of the Feng family, but he was just thrown out to study, and he recognized it as the Feng family's son after studying well. Good son, if you can't do it, you can just fend for yourself outside, isn't it just making people take risks and change ways to get ahead?"

Rong Guogong Jia Daishan was acquainted with Feng Shi, so he hurried up to persuade him, and finally persuaded this bloody family ethics drama staged in Shuntian Mansion.

Then it was Jia Zheng's turn.

When Jia Zheng was brought into the hall, he didn't wear a shackle on his body, and he didn't have to kneel down when he saw an official. He just saluted everyone in the hall and called him "student".

But Jia Zheng looked at Feng Yuan's miserable appearance, and couldn't help sighing softly, showing an expression of hurting others.But when he came to the hall, his appearance was no longer as frightened as he was in the Grand View Garden earlier, he calmed down a lot, and his back was very straight.

Yin Linyan of Shuntian Mansion immediately began to question the case. Jia Zheng's words were exactly the same as what he said in front of the Hongxiang Garden, repeating the details verbatim, but at the end, Jia Zheng repeated like a wheel: "The students really didn't cheat, the students really didn't look at the test questions."

The third prince sat at the side, and started to interject at this moment, translating the words that questioned Jia Zheng earlier in front of Hongxiangpu.

Lin Yan immediately slapped the gavel in his hand, and said, "The Third Highness is very suspicious. Since you haven't given Gao Shilang any benefits, how can he give you the box containing the test questions?"

As soon as everyone in the hall heard this, they all knew that this Shuntian Fu Yin was the answer to the appointment of the third prince today.Sitting behind Fu Yin, the prince couldn't help but snorted softly.

Who knows that Jia Zheng replied: "Returning to my lord, the student is not Gao Shilang. How can the student know why the other party gave the box to the student?"

This Jia Zheng is pedantic and upright, and he doesn't know how to adapt, but he is so stubborn that people can't look directly at him.No matter what this Shuntian Fu Yin asked, Jia Zheng insisted that he had never bribed Gao Shida, and he didn't know which muscle Gao Shida made a mistake at all, so he had to give him the test questions—he didn't know whether the test questions were true anyway. See, don't know either.

The crown prince sighed quietly in Shuntian Mansion: "This Gao Shilang has never been brought to justice, so the truth cannot be found out!"

The governor of Shuntian was right when he thought about it, so he urged people to inquire about Gao Shida's whereabouts.On the other side, the third prince has already discussed with the people of Dali Temple: "The imperial examination fraud cases have always been suspected. Even if there is no real evidence in this case, there is no reason for the scholars involved in the case to be famous. .”

Suspicion is always there, but it is better to kill by mistake than to release by mistake, let's ignore the three-seven-two-one and take away Jia Zheng's reputation, and then send him to the prison to process slowly, worrying that he will not speak.

At this moment, a yamen servant came in from the outside, rushed to Shuntian Fu Yin's side, and whispered a long series of words in his ear.

Shuntian Fu Yin's expression changed, until the end, he made an exaggerated expression and said: "Really?"

The Fuyin lord himself was overwhelmed with surprise before he bowed his hands to the officials of the surrounding ministries and the royal princes: "I found the trace of Mr. Gao Shilang from the Ministry of Rites."

All of a sudden everyone became excited: it was nothing to catch a few scholars who cheated, but it was justified to dig out the source of the test questions leaked by the Ministry of Rites.Jia Zheng once mentioned that it was because Xia Shengshen "valued" Jia Zheng's talent that Gao Shida gave away all the uncommon test questions.Whether Jia Zheng's testimony is the truth or an excuse can be confirmed as soon as Gao Shida appears.

"Then what are you waiting for? Invite Mr. Gao to the court!" The prince finally gave orders before the third prince.

At this time, Master Yin Lin of Shuntian Mansion showed embarrassment and pain, and said slowly: "Yesterday, a body was found in a posthouse 130 miles away from the capital. After checking the identity of Lu Yin, I found out that it is Master Gao."

Everyone in Shuntian Mansion was shocked, everyone was looking forward to the appearance of this mysterious figure to give testimony, who would have thought that this would be the result now.

Jia Zheng was dumbfounded at the side - since Gao Shida died, his testimony became "solitary evidence" and sounded extremely suspicious, so would he also be "suspected" and directly convicted?Didn't the high hopes placed on him by the Rongning Second Mansion, and the joy and joy in the mansion after being named on the gold list, immediately come to nothing?

"However," Lin Yan continued, "Two bank notes were found on Gao Shida's body—one was 200 taels, and the other was 2000 taels."

These two figures, together with the comparison of the economic strength of General Shenwu's Mansion and Rongguo Mansion, immediately aroused countless associations.

The yamen servant who rushed to the hall earlier respectfully presented the evidence, and added: "Besides, Mr. Gao did not find any gold or silver treasures. ——But these two banknotes were issued by the Tonghui Bank in Beijing, and it may be difficult for the thieves to exchange them, so they kept them with Mr. Gao and did not take them away."

At this time, a cold sigh sounded from the hall, and everyone followed the sound, but it was Shui Xian who rarely spoke out on such occasions.

"I said, why am I the only one being bullied in this matter?"

From Shuntian Fuyin down, everyone who listened to the case in the hall was a bit stupid-why was it that King Beijing was bullied by himself?

"Wan Qing Lou is the shop I opened, and Tonghui Bank is also the bank I opened..." Shui Xian pulled out his fan from his sleeve, shook it anxiously, and said, "This is really not aimed at my Beijing Palace. of?"

The crown prince finally remembered: "Ziheng, you said earlier that Wanqinglou may be able to find out what Jia Zheng said, the box containing the examination questions of the Ministry of Rites, and even witnesses can be found. How are you doing now?"

Yin Linyan of Shuntian Mansion listened: There are so many evidences?Jia Zheng's testimony may not be impossible to check.He glanced at the third prince beside him, seeing that the other party frowned and remained silent, he hurriedly handed over to Shui Xian: "If the prince's subordinates can provide relevant evidence, can you please present it in court immediately?"

Shui Xian still frowned and said: "Isn't this delaying people's business?"

The third prince and all the officials in the hall immediately felt that this guy was extremely hypocritical. No one knew that Prince Jing's business was making a lot of money every day, even if it was delayed for a long time, it would not make him less money.

Not long after, the shopkeeper of Tonghui Bank under Shui Xian came first, and came to the hall. Before paying homage to Shuntian Fu Yin, he paid homage to his master's house first.Shui Xian waved his hands with a temperless look, "Whatever the superior asks, you just say what you say."

Then the shopkeeper respectfully paid homage to the governor of Shuntian, and asked: "Your Excellency told the grass-roots people to come, dare to ask what's the matter?"

Lin Yan asked someone to hand over the two silver bills to the shopkeeper, and asked, "These two silver bills are the ones issued by your ticket number?"

The shopkeeper took it with both hands, looked at the bank notes carefully, and said, "It is indeed. Wait for the villain to think about it... These two tickets were signed out on the first day of April."

There was the emblem, stamp and serial number of the ticket number on the silver ticket, and the shopkeeper had a really good memory, so he memorized the time when the ticket was signed.

"Look at these two in the hall, you may recognize them?"

In front of the shopkeeper was only Feng Yuan, who fell to the ground with his shackles on his shoulders, crying all over his face, and Jia Zheng, who was standing in the hall with a face of righteous anger and refused to confess his guilt.

The shopkeeper recognized it for a long time, and said: "There are many people who go to the ticket office every day, these two... I am sorry that the villain can't recognize you."

It seems that the clue to the ticket number has been broken, and the third prince and the officials of the various ministries are all discouraged - but think about it, how can the children of the government like Feng Yuan and Jia Zheng run the ticket number in person?

"But Caomin remembers that the person who signed these two silver bills was a tall man, about 35 years old, with a Jingli accent, and a red mole on his cheek at the left corner of his mouth. Caomin was very impressed."

When the shopkeeper said this, the officials in the hall were startled at first, looked at each other, and finally someone said: "Isn't this... is it Mr. Gao?"

Gao Shida went to the bank to exchange the bank notes in person?

The governor Linyan patted the gavel again: "Quiet...Feng Yuan, Jia Zheng, I want to ask you, Gao Shida came to see you, what day and when?"

Both said it was the second day of April.This means that Gao Shida got the money before meeting Feng Yuan and Jia Zheng.These two banknotes were not money directly used by Feng and Jia for bribery, nor were they cashed in by Gao Shida after taking the money.

Since the bank note was redeemed by Gao Shida, it proved that he was ready to run away.

Things seemed to gradually become clear. Gao Shida received the money first, and then went to find Feng Yuan and Jia Zheng to "send warmth".Regardless of whether Feng Yuan and Jia Zheng would offer him something in return, Gao Shida was already prepared to run away, so Jia Zheng's testimony seemed a little more credible.

After the shopkeeper of Tonghui Bank retreated, the shopkeeper of Wanqing Building carefully held a box, and brought a clerk up to the lobby of Shuntian Mansion, to meet the governor, and presented the box.

"My lord, at this time, the store found it from the lost items left by the customers the day before yesterday." The shopkeeper explained respectfully, "The store has a good reputation, and any items left by customers will be kept in the store for one year. Unclaimed items will be sent to the warehouse for further storage—as long as the visitor can tell what year, month and day, what was left behind in the lounge or the lobby, the store can find it.”

This service attitude really makes people feel comfortable.

King Dongping immediately convinced Shui Xian: "It's strange that Ziheng's business is so big, so it turns out that honesty and trustworthiness are the first principles of business."

Shui Xian nodded with a smile, and said casually: "It's convenient for others, but also convenient for yourself." The convenience given to the guests of Wan Qing Building is naturally rewarded in money for this restaurant.

Master Yin Linyan of Shuntian Mansion felt relieved for a moment, and then suddenly woke up: This is his lobby of Shuntian Mansion, not a place where Wanqinglou advertises.

"Then when and when was this box left by a guest?" Lin Yan cleared his throat and continued to ask.

"Responding to my lord, it was left by the guest in the last private room on the second floor of the shop on the second night of April."

"Is there any evidence?"

"Responding to my lord, this villain is the guy who served that private room on the second day of April." The guy next to the shopkeeper took half a step forward and kowtowed respectfully.

"The guests of that day, are you in the hall now?"

The guy immediately identified Jia Zheng: "One of them is the second master Jia Zheng of Rongguo Mansion."

"Tell me about the situation that day in detail." Lin Yan protracted his voice instructions.

"Yes, my lord."

So the guy told how Jia Zheng came and drank tea alone in the private room for a long time. Later, Mr. Gao Shida from the Ministry of Rites came and found this private room, and the two talked alone.The clerk was outside the door, and he only heard a few words such as "Master Xia appreciates it", "The talent of the country's pillar", "I must never accept a single article from you", "Otherwise it is reasonable and I can't explain it clearly".

Then the guy said that Gao Shida left, Jia Zheng sat alone in the private room for a long time, suddenly got up, laughed three times, and said: "Is the fame I have gained in this way really what Jia Zheng wants? If this is the case, what is the difference between me and those people who are despised and despised..."

When Jia Zheng heard others repeat what he said at the time, he immediately straightened his back a little more, with a proud expression on his face - if he hadn't had a clear mind at that time and kept the bottom line, he would really be like Feng Yuan, forever unable to stand up. The Rongguo Mansion will also be ashamed because of him.

Now with circumstantial evidence, most of the people in Shuntian Mansion Hall believed Jia Zheng's words.The prince said: "Mr. Rong's family education alone is willing to believe."

The third prince always questioned: "Was the guy in the private room or outside the private room? If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes in the private room, how would he know that Jia Zheng hadn't opened the box and read the contents? "

"For scholars who are about to take the exam, what's so difficult about reading the exam questions and memorizing them by heart?"

The more the prince thought about it, the more excited he became, and his voice became louder and louder: "Perhaps Jia Zheng had foreseen that this matter might be exposed in the future, so he opened the box in the private room and silently read the test questions inside. Keep it in mind. Then, when the buddy is nearby, he expresses his emotions in the private room, as if he is an honest gentleman, but in fact he is the real scheming and duplicity cheater. This kind of moral character is both shocking and chilling. I can only say that Feng Yuan is not worthy of mentioning a boot to this Jia Zheng!"

The third prince finished speaking in one breath, and found that the hall of Shuntian Mansion was very quiet.

Everyone is looking at each other.After all, there are quite a few people in the hall who know a thing or two about the second young master of Rongfu, and the three of them, Tanhua, the No. [-] champion, have been together for a few days, and they are quite familiar with each other.The rest of the people, even if they didn't recognize him, at least watched Jia Zheng's previous performance.

Is this guy a treacherous and evil hypocrite? ——When he became vicious, the sows would fly into the sky.

But no one can refute the words of the third prince.After all, the buddy made it clear that first, after Gao Shida left, only Jia Zheng stayed in the private room; second, Jia Zheng stayed in the private room for a while before expressing his emotion of "the battle between heaven and man in his heart" As the third prince said, it is not impossible.

Unexpectedly, Shuntian Fu Yin said at this time: "According to my official opinion, it is true that Jia Zheng did not peek at the test questions of this meeting beforehand."

This Lord Lin Yanlin took out a piece of paper sealed with wax varnish from the box. The paper was sealed in a bunch with wax lacquer, and the wax varnish was intact. It is absolutely impossible for someone to open the bundle of paper in advance.

But at this moment, whether it was Yin Linyan of Shuntian Mansion, Prince Donggong, or the third prince in charge of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, they all let out a "huh".

Because on the wax varnish of the bunch of paper, there is a stamp specially used by the Ministry of Rites to seal the examination questions, and the stamp printed on the wax lacquer is six words: "Respectfully present to the East Palace for personal viewing".

The crown prince was sitting behind Yin Linyan of Shuntian Mansion, at this moment he opened his mouth in surprise, but couldn't close it.

The third prince got a chance to attack his brother for no reason, but at this moment, he felt as if he was hit by a pie that fell from the sky, he was so dizzy that he couldn't react at all.

This fraud case in the examination room is simply poisonous. It was originally a seemingly simple and straightforward case, but now it is getting bigger and bigger, and the involvement is getting wider and wider. It seems that Dong Gong is also involved.