I am imprisoned in Kaifeng Mansion

Everyone was stunned by Cui Tao's expression. Could it be that some hidden weapon mechanism was missed and was only triggered now?Everyone tensed up in unison, staring at the wall in a defensive posture, and even prepared to run away quickly.

Cui Tao strode to the wall, bent down to pick up a palm-sized stone and came back.

"Let's go." Cui Tao said.

Li Cai was stunned for a moment, and asked Cui Tao for confirmation, "I just said 'wait' just to pick up a stone?"

"correct."

Everyone: "..."

After leaving the cave, Wang Zhao and other yamen servants investigated according to the clues.

After Cui Tao returned to the Han Mansion, she handed the stone she picked out from the pile of stones to Han Qi.

The stone is white, and some places look a little transparent, which is different from the yellow or blue stones in the cave.Of course, this difference can only be seen by careful and understanding people. Most people will only see it as a pile of useless broken stones, and there is no need to take a second look.

Han Qi had expected that what Cui Tao picked up would not be an ordinary thing, but when the stone fell into his hands, he was still somewhat surprised.

"Nitre."

This is a must for bomb crafting.

"I've checked other places in the cave, and there is no such stone anymore." Cui Tao expressed his speculation, "This piece of saltpeter was probably originally placed in the secret room. Because of our sudden sneak attack, when they hurriedly cleaned up the books, they put it away." This piece of saltpeter was thrown into the pile of rocks at the door of the secret room, and we don't want it to be discovered by us."

The more it is hidden, the more it means there is a problem. Han Qi ordered Zhang Chang to be responsible for secretly tracking down this line.

Three days later, according to the characteristics of the weapons seized in Anding Village, Wang Zhao and others investigated the source of the weapons, which came from two blacksmith shops in Quanzhou, Bai and Wen.The former is good at forging large weapons such as broadswords and spears, while the latter is good at small weapons such as hidden weapons and daggers.

The two shops are long-established shops in Quanzhou. They were originally in a competitive relationship, and the previous generation had conflicts, which were very unpleasant.Later, because the eldest son of the two families married a pair of sisters, they became brother-in-law, but the relationship became better.

Of course, this is what it looks like to outsiders.

In fact, because of the lobbying and instigation of the two sisters, one of the two blacksmith shops was forced to make money, and the other was forced to commit crimes. They had to choose to work for the Tianji Pavilion and secretly built a large number of weapons.Among them, the iron ore used in the manufacture of weapons was provided by a businessman named Chen Yifa, who had a big business in Quanzhou, including wine shops, rice shops, gambling houses, and brothels.Chen Yifa is very arty, and has made friends with many local scholars. He is willing to contribute money to help scholars who are in difficulties.

"I know this Chen Yifa." Han Qi said, "When I was studying in Quanzhou, several friends recommended him to me. He was in his 30s at that time, and his hair was grayer than his peers."

"Maybe because I have to manage so many industries, I am too tired to have gray hair early."

There is Chen Yifa’s household registration in the yamen, which says that Chen Yifa is from Qizhou. His parents died early and he was brought up by his elder brother Chen Qi. Later, his elder brother died of illness. He came to Quanzhou to do fish and carp business, so he took root in Quanzhou.According to the confession of people close to him, when Chen Yifa first came to Quanzhou, he did speak Qizhou dialect, was generous and generous, and often showed people with a smile, so he was very popular.

"I always show people with a smile..." Cui Tao mused, "It reminds me of Su Yuanwai. He is also a good businessman, and even married two 'daughters' to local high-ranking officials. In terms of age, Chen Yifa , Su Yuanwai, Jiaogu and Su Yuwan are all about the same age."

At this time, Wang Zhao presented evidence for the interrogation of Chen Yifa.

Chen Yifa refused to admit that he had a relationship with Tianji Pavilion, but only admitted that he was greedy for money, secretly mined iron ore, and supplied it to two blacksmiths, Bai and Wen.

In Chen Yifa's residence, Li Yuan searched the ledgers of Chen Yifa's transactions with two blacksmith shops, and confiscated nearly [-] yuan of family property.

The evidence of the crime of privately mining iron ore is conclusive, and the death penalty must be imposed, and the crime is unpardonable.

Han Qi ordered Wang Zhao to continue to torture Chen Yifa, no matter what method he used, as long as he could get more clues from him.

"Is it a profiteer who is greedy for money and privately mines iron ore for supply? Or is he also a member of Tianji Pavilion?" Cui Tao asked Han Qi which side he preferred.

"When everyone was writing lyrics and drinking, they joked about naming names."

Cui Tao reacted, only to realize that Han Qi went on to talk about his experience of meeting Chen Yifa under the recommendation of a friend.

"Chen Yifa said that he can be called Bingzhou old man, but he will grow old and strong."

"Old man in Bingzhou?" Cui Tao shuddered, "Bingzhou Village?"

Han Qi agreed that he and Cui Tao had the same thoughts.

When Chen Yifa said it suddenly, people who didn't understand the situation would naturally not notice the strangeness.But now that they know that both Jiaogu and Su Yuwan's hometowns are in Bingzhou Village, and they are both related to Tianji Pavilion, so people can't help but associate them with each other.

Of course, strictly speaking, Su Yuwan's hometown is actually in Gujing Village, which is just adjacent to Bingzhou Village. Gujing Village can also be counted as Bingzhou Village.

"Because I'm pale, I laughed at myself as an old man. But Chen Yifa is not from Bingzhou Village, why did he use 'Bingzhou' as his name? He also specially emphasized that he will be strong when he is old." Cui Tao had a bold guess in her heart, but she didn't say it immediately. In the eye contact with Han Qi, it was confirmed that Han Qi's thoughts were consistent with hers again.

In the execution room, Wang Zhao held Su Yuwan's portrait and asked Chen Yifa if he knew the woman in the painting.

After Chen Yifa was tortured, the corners of his mouth were bleeding, his breathing was weak, and it took a lot of effort to even lift his eyelids.When he saw Su Yuwan's flower-like beauty in the portrait, his eyes froze, and after a moment of distraction he regained his composure and lowered his head.

"do not know."

"That's not a coincidence. After we took you into the government office, a man came to identify you, saying that you were the one who insulted the woman in the painting."

Wang Zhao has rich experience in interrogating prisoners. Even though Chen Yifa deliberately concealed it, the sudden tense state of his body has already betrayed him.

"He was just a child back then, and he witnessed you attacking Su Yuwan on the way back from buying medicine. Later, when he saw you in Quanzhou, you were very popular and made friends with officials and nobles, so he didn't dare to expose you. But this matter It has always been his nightmare, and finally today, when he heard that you were arrested, your home was confiscated, and the government offered a reward for clues about you, he had the courage to come to the government and confess what he witnessed back then."

After Wang Zhao finished speaking, he called the young farmer up and made him confront Chen Yifa.

The man was dressed as a farmer, with green stubble on half of his face, wearing shabby coarse clothes, and dirty blue cloth shoes with holes in his feet.As soon as he saw Chen Yifa, he spoke with a thick local accent and shouted "that's him".

Chen Yifa lowered his head, not wanting the other party to look at his face again.

Wang Zhao sneered and asked, "Why do you look at it, you still seem to be ashamed?"

"He's got a bad head, he's an eel that deserves to be killed. Where is the shame? Poor that beautiful Cha was harmed by him!" The man finished cursing through gritted teeth, his emotions became even more agitated, and he wanted to kick him. Scolding Chen Yifa made him feel uneasy for so many years.

Wang Zhao hurriedly asked someone to stop the man, but the man refused. After breaking free, he kicked Chen Yifa's lower body.Chen Yifa yelled "Aww" in pain, and Wang Zhao hurriedly ordered his subordinates to pull the man out quickly.

The man still cursed and refused to listen, and he didn't stand up until he was dragged a long way outside the execution room.

Li Yuan and Li Cai, who were pulling Zhang Chang, let go of their hands, couldn't help laughing, and sighed that Zhang Chang was so good at learning, they really couldn't tell it was him at all.

"Just a farmer!"

Zhang Chang touched the green stubble on his face, and said with a modest smile, "It's better to cover it up well, so no one will be able to recognize it if you put it on your face."

In the torture room, the interrogation continued.

"Privately mining iron ore and selling ironware is already a capital crime. No matter how many crimes are imposed on me, the result is still death. You can do whatever you want. Any unsolved and difficult cases will be placed on me. Anyway, as long as I die gone."

Chen Yifa's complexion was very bad, it could be seen how painful the man's kick was just now, and big beads of cold sweat were streaming down his temples.After he finished his words weakly, he closed his eyes, with the attitude of "no matter how you torture and frame me, I don't plan to open my eyes again".

It was obviously a disaster, as if he had been wronged so much.Wang Zhao was so angry that he wanted to give him a few more whips.

"Old man Bingzhou."

In the damp and dark interrogation room filled with the smell of rust and blood, a pleasant and clear male voice suddenly sounded, and these four words really shocked Chen Yifa's heart.

Chen Yifa opened his eyes slightly, looking at the person coming.

I saw an ugly boy pushing a handsome man into the torture room.The man wore a scarlet official robe, showing his identity and status.

Chen Yifa recognized Han Qi at a glance, and when Wang Zhao and others in the torture room saluted Han Qi respectfully, he was even more sure that he was right.

Chen Yifa couldn't help laughing at himself, "When I first met Han Tuiguan, Han Tuiguan was still an immature boy, he was not good at talking at the wine table, and sat alone. We chatted a few words. See you now, I don’t want to be in such a situation, one official and one prisoner. Why do we need 30 years from east to west? Three to five years is enough.”

"You are not from Bingzhou Village, but you want to have this name, but for some reason, you have always missed someone in your heart?" Han Qi ignored Chen Yifa's "reminiscing about the past" and continued his questioning, but Chen Yifa closed his eyes again .

It seemed that he could escape all problems by closing his eyes, so as not to let others see his guilty conscience.

"Su Yuwan is dead, did you know about it?" Han Qi's tone remained the same, and he didn't seem to see Chen Yifa's resistance, and asked the question as before.

Chen Yifa still closed his eyes slightly, but from his extremely tense face, it can be seen that he knew about it, and was very angry, trying very hard to bear it.

"Did someone tell you that Su Yuwan was killed by Kaifeng Mansion?"

Chen Yifa's eyeballs buried under his eyelids moved twice, and he frowned.

"The Kaifeng government spends so much time investigating the Ji Pavilion and Di Zang Pavilion. It is not a last resort. It will not be so stupid as to kill the bandit leader before many things have been investigated. Besides, with Su Yuwan's intelligence, she proposed it on her own initiative. The transaction, the chosen location, won't you leave yourself a way out?"

Chen Yifa opened his eyes.

"The Tianji Pavilion has long been eyeing Su Yuwan, but they needed an 'opportunity' to take her in and successfully teach her. So you became the tool to trigger this 'opportunity', and after Su Yuwan suffered a lot of humiliation, she voluntarily Submitted to Tianji Pavilion. People are often more powerful in anger, and even forget the pain of the body. This is what is said in the "Que Yingshu" passed down by Tianji Pavilion. If today Ji Pavilion lied to you about Su Yuwan's death, it seems to be to use you The 'unforgettable old love' towards Su Yuwan makes you even angrier and more loyal to Tianji Pavilion."

Han Qi snorted lightly.

"You are all smart, but you are all being played like monkeys."

Chen Yifa still stared at Han Qi warily, feeling that he was provoking him, and repeatedly warned himself not to be fooled.

"I'm a little curious. Why did you choose to serve Tianji Pavilion in the first place? Have you ever thought about whether your 'opportunity' was arranged and planned just like Su Yuwan?"

This question hits the bullseye like a fast arrow.

Chen Yifa's eyes widened.