Placid Chang'an

Su Cen confronted all the officials of the Ministry of Rites in the yamen of the Ministry of Rites, and even alarmed He Zhongqing, the servant of the Ministry of Rites.

It is said that the first grade of official rank crushes people, not to mention that this is not one rank higher. He is a seventh-rank official of Dali Temple who went to the Ministry of Rites to show off his power. When he comes up, he needs the list of scientific examinations more than ten years ago. It is estimated that everyone will think that he crazy.

As soon as the gate of the yamen was closed, the two of them were surrounded by people from the Ministry of Rites. Xiao Sun couldn't stop trembling behind Su Cen, thinking that he must have not read the almanac when he went out today, so why did he offend this master?Seeing that Su Cen has no fear towards He Zhongqing, it means that if you don't hand over the list, I will stand here and not leave.

In the end, He Zhongqing sighed first, "Lord Su, it stands to reason that we should assist Dali Temple in handling the case, not to mention that there is the prince's will. But you should also consider us for your own sake. Our Ministry of Rites is not a daily Days are idle with nothing to do. The Double Ninth Festival is just around the corner. Your Majesty will give you clothes and a hundred ropes, and go to the altar to pray for blessings. The etiquette is complicated, and everyone in the Ministry of Rites is already too busy to touch the ground. It will be another four years for your Majesty to ascend the throne. Liu Xianghe The Empress Dowager attaches great importance to it, and the Ministry of Rituals is really incompetent. If we don't wait for the sacrifice to heaven, we will definitely send the list."

Su Cen looked sternly: "I want it today."

"Don't push yourself!" A small official behind He Zhongqing stepped forward.

He Zhongqing waved his hand and the man retreated, and He Zhongqing continued: "Not to mention the matter of Chongyang Festival, just like you who suddenly came up to ask for a list of more than ten years ago, you are the number one scholar in the new department, and you should know that the number of people who have taken the examination over the years has reached tens of thousands , what's more, this person hasn't been on the list yet, even if our Ministry of Etiquette works together for a day, we can't come up with this list."

Su Cen frowned: "Did he die in a strange way during the scientific research and the Ministry of Rites didn't record it?"

He Zhongqing said: "If he couldn't answer the exam questions, what kind of records should he file for his sudden death? Not to mention that we didn't file, even the Jingzhao Yamen of the Ministry of Punishment didn't file."

"If you don't have a record, then check it out," Su Cen said in a deep voice, "Check it out from the candidates sent up from various places, and check it out from the test papers of the scientific examination back then. I will see that person's name today no matter what."

He would like to see someone committing crimes under the name of Li Gui. Who is this Li Gui?

He Zhongqing sighed again, exhausted his good temper, waved his hand, "Throw people out."

"Who dares to touch me!" Su Cen took out the black jade wrench and pinched it in his hand, "I can't conclude this case today, so I will drag everyone from the Ministry of Rites to be buried with me! If Prince Ning's token is broken in the lobby of the Ministry of Rites Now, guess who the prince is looking for?!"

"You!" He Zhongqing was momentarily at a loss for words.

During the stalemate, the closed door of the Ministry of Rites was knocked open from the outside, and a person came facing the sunlight, eight feet tall, with a chilling aura, his faint eyes swept over the people in the hall one by one, and finally said to He Zhongqing: "Do as he says."

He Zhongqing didn't dare to say another word.

Although Qi Lin was just a bodyguard next to Prince Ning, everyone knew that he was from the Tuduo Sanwei, a Turkic man who killed people without blinking an eye, and slaughtered Ashina's remnants with a machete.Back then when he followed Prince Ning into the capital, the little emperor was frightened and cried. He was punished with fifty court sticks by the order of Prince Ning himself. After the execution, the man stood up and walked back to Xingqing Palace.Since then, he has been dressed as a Han Chinese, and the scimitar has been replaced with a long sword, but he still cannot hide his fierce demeanor, which makes people feel daunted.

This person is a knife without emotion, knowing that it is useless to talk to him, He Zhongqing can only respond: "Yes."

Just as he turned around, he heard a lingling voice behind him saying: "I want to see the list before Shen Shi."

He Zhongqing paused, sighed, and left slowly.

After coming out of the yamen of the Ministry of Rites, Su Cen secretly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like seeing the sun again.

Looking at Xiaosun again, his legs were shaking and he couldn't walk smoothly.

Su Cen cupped his hands at Qi Lin: "Thank you."

Qi Lin replied coldly: "It's just an order."

Su Cen then asked, "Did you bring it?"

Qi Lin replied, "According to your order, I'm locked up with Gao Miao."

Su Cen nodded, "Let's go, I'll meet that embroiderer."

Dali Temple Dungeon.

There were two people imprisoned in a cell, and one of them collapsed in a corner covered in blood. It was hot in summer, and the wound was already showing signs of festering. Even though it was simply bandaged, it still looked shocking.

On the other side, a hair on the sideburns was disheveled, and she shrank into a ball, carefully looking at the surrounding situation.

After looking at it for a while, Su Cen coughed lightly, and both of them looked up at him together, one with resentful eyes, and the other looked away in a panic for an instant.

Su Cen said, "Open the door."

The jailer opened the door, Su Cen squatted down beside Xiu Niang, and asked, "Do you remember me?"

Xiuniang looked at him shyly, then grinned at him: "Brother Zhuangyuan, I am the wife of Zhuangyuan."

Su Cen smiled and sat down on the spot: "Don't pretend, I know you're not crazy."

Xiu Niang was stunned for a moment, then grabbed the grass on the ground and put it on her head, "Brother Zhuangyuan, you dress Xiu Niang."

Su Cen took the straw and played with it in his hand, "Speaking of which, you are also a smart person, but you are unlucky and entrusted to the wrong person. Knowing that you will inevitably be beaten back and have to continue the previous flesh and blood business, you simply pretend to be crazy, wait for people to relax Be vigilant and plan ahead.”

"It's just that you didn't expect Lu Liang to be such a petty person. Before leaving Beijing, he was afraid that you would ruin his reputation, but he wanted to silence you to prevent future troubles. Fortunately, someone helped you kill him."

After hearing this, Xiu Niang shrank back, put her hands on her knees, and howled in shock: "It's the evil spirit, it was the evil spirit that killed him! I didn't do it, it was the evil spirit that killed him!"

"I know you didn't kill the man," Su Cen grabbed one of the man's arms, "but you are the only one who has seen the murderer!"

"Lu Liang wanted to kill you, but he suddenly appeared, killed Lu Liang, and saved you. You are grateful for him, and in order not to confess him, you say that the evil spirit killed you!"

"I don't know, it was killed by the evil spirit..." Xiu Niang put her head in her arms, "I don't know anything..."

Su Cen pulled him up and pulled him to Gao Miao's side: "Look at him! He's just an official who entered Beijing to take the exam. His family has been a butcher for generations. It's hard for him to come out as a scholar who has studied hard for ten years and only wants one year. The court reached the throne, but was framed, framed and beaten into a trick! Now the person you protect is still at large, but there are innocent people suffering here for him! If he is dead and sleeps every night, can you feel at ease?!"

Xiu Niang raised her head and took a look at Gao Miao. Her already fat face was swollen from the beating, and she couldn't see the facial features clearly.Then he lowered his head and remained silent.

Su Cen squatted down and gathered Xiuniang's messy temple hair behind her ears, revealing her childish face, looked directly into Xiuniang's eyes, and said, "I don't have time, he will be sent to the prison of the Criminal Ministry after sunset. People in the capital are in panic. Once he is sent in, it is impossible for him to come out alive. I created him today. If he dies, I will bury him with him. At that time, I will add the three officials who have died. Five lives. You are the only one who can save him now. I know you didn’t kill anyone. I have no right to lock you up here. Someone will let you go when I resign tomorrow. I just want you to watch, if he He was really taken away by the people from the Ministry of Punishment, and it was you who brought him to the knife's edge step by step."

The embroiderer bit her lip, her head buried tightly between her knees.

"Think about it." Su Cen got up and left.

Wu Deshui's colleagues and neighbors were still being interrogated in the lobby, and they knelt down in the hall and shivered, except that they didn't know or didn't know.

It was almost noon, and there was no progress at all.

It was Hou Ping, the monkey spirit who was interrogating that day. He was taken aback when he saw Su Cen approaching, and turned towards Su Cen, "My lord, it's me, my lord."

Su Cen nodded: "I remember you."

"My lord, please let us go. We don't know anything. Wu Deping usually has his eyes on his forehead. He looks down on us and doesn't associate with us. We really don't know him well."

Su Cen took his seat in the hall and asked, "Do you still remember what happened to Wu Deshui on the eighth day of April?"

Hou Ping thought for a while and replied: "Nothing unusual, just as usual, holding two jars of wine, took the key to the northwest gate and left."

Su Cen stood up abruptly: "Wine? What kind of wine?"

"Ah?" Hou Ping was stunned for a moment, "The two rhubarb jars were sealed tightly. I remember that someone teased him at that time and said, 'Wu Laolai, I won't give you so much wine'. He cursed, 'A bunch of bastards, go drink your piss', and left with the wine in your arms."

Su Cen recalled that there were several large wine jars in Wu Deshui's house that day, but he was in a hurry to come back and had no time to observe carefully.

"Have you experienced Wu Deshui's corpse?" Su Cen asked.

Wu Zuo at the side replied: "I've tested it, the body is full of alcohol, and the internal organs are soaked to a bad shape."

"Did people drink to death?"

"That's not true," Wu Zuo said, "it was choking to death. The wine poured into the nose and mouth, blocking the windpipe, and people were suffocated to death."

"Are there any other wounds on the body?"

"There were finger marks from pressure on both sides of the lower jaw, two on the left and one on the right, but they were not fatal."

Su Cen lowered his head in thought.It should be that someone held down Wu Deshui's jaw and poured him the wine, during which Wu Deshui choked on the wine and died.

Hou Ping smiled flatteringly from below: "My lord, you see that I have said everything I need to say, can you let me go..."

"Continue with the interrogation," Su Cen ordered his subordinates, "Qi Lin will follow me to Guiyifang."