I was a princess in ancient times

Dali Temple Prison.

The existing direct descendants of the Yu dynasty and the offshoots of the Five Dynasties were imprisoned here. In order to make room for them, Dali Temple deliberately sent all the original prisoners to the Ministry of Punishment.

Soldiers temporarily transferred from Habayashi guard walked through the silent prison.

Sinners from aristocratic families were not imprisoned according to their surnames or the order in which they were imprisoned. First, a specific list was made according to official position, seniority, and status within the family, and then the minister of Dali Temple personally decided where to detain them.

The patriarchs of aristocratic families have a special status. Even the patriarch of the Yu family who is white can be imprisoned in the same place as Grand Master Cui, Duke Ying and other patriarchs with official positions.

There are seven other people in this prison cell, all of whom are holding official positions above the fourth rank and can be regarded as the core figures of the family.

Next to them are the female relatives, the old wives of each family, the headed wives, the daughter-in-law who assists in the head of the family, and people who hold official positions above the eighth rank.

On the other side are the eldest sons and eldest grandsons, who hold official positions above the sixth rank.

Farther away are the males of the direct line and the collateral line.

Like Qi Yanhe, there are a lot of direct line males who are not the head of the family, and they happen to be placed in an unusually small cell that can only accommodate seven or eight people, so they are "lucky" locked in the same room as the brothers with the same surname.

pity……

The Shaoqing of Dali Temple took the list of descendants of the aristocratic families who died yesterday, and personally sent them to the cell where the patriarchs of the aristocratic families were held.

The family's case involved the late emperor, and no one was sure whether Emperor Changping would let the family go because he wanted to keep the late emperor's 'innocence'.

Therefore, everyone in Dali Temple did not completely regard the son of the family in prison as a sinner who could not stand up.

Even those in charge of the interrogation have little-known concerns.Deliberately avoid harming the lives of the family members in prison due to cruel torture.

In case that in the future, Emperor Changping really let the family go because of the late emperor, the past events after they interrogated innocent court officials and nobles would become an insurmountable stumbling block on the way to promotion.

Among the sixteen people who died in the prison of Dali Temple, only one died suddenly due to a relapse of an old illness during the interrogation process.The rest returned to prison only after their injuries stabilized, and then died suddenly due to high fever, ruptured wounds, and sudden bumps into walls, etc., for various strange reasons.

A total of three people died suddenly yesterday, namely Qi Yanhe, Cui Qingpu and Zheng Mingyu.

The Shaoqing of Dali Temple not only despises the scandalous things done by the family as a minion, but also does not want to take the blame for interrogating sinners to death, so his attitude is very tough.He pointedly said, "If Duke Qi and Duke Cui want to know who caused them to die young, Dali Temple can interrogate them for them."

Don't think Dali Temple is a fool, these people obviously died at the hands of their fellow prisoners.

Yinggong and Mrs. Cui sighed long, turning a blind eye to the yin and yang of the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, and only sighed that the life of the deceased was miserable, and did not mean to question Dali Temple because of this.

Seeing this, Shaoqing of Dali Temple's tense face eased a little.

The servant behind him skillfully set up the table and brought brushes and ink.

Duke Ying, Grand Master Cui and the Patriarch of the Zheng family didn't use the urging of the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, and picked up the ink brush dipped in ink as well as kindly, and wrote down the causes of death of Qi Yanhe, Cui Qingpu and Zheng Mingyu recorded in the book below.

The Shaoqing of Dali Temple said in a deep voice, "Sorrow and obedience", and left in person with the rice paper that had completely dried the ink.

Although there is still no way to completely eliminate it, in the future because the family's son died suddenly in the prison of Dali Temple and was attacked by political opponents in the court, at least there will be a reason to defend Dali Temple.

Alas, I don't know when I will be able to send away the source of these troubles.

The poor Shaoqing of Dali Temple never expected that the moment he left the prison of Dali Temple, there would be guards chasing him and shouting, "Something happened!"

In just half an hour, three more women and two men died in the prison.

It was the mothers of Qi Yanhe, Cui Qingpu and Zheng Mingyu and the fathers of Cui Qingpu and Zheng Mingyu who died suddenly yesterday.

Hearing the words, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple immediately flipped through the rice paper in his hand, his eyes were almost on fire.

The direct descendants of the family!

Qi Yanhe, Cui Qingpu, and Zheng Mingyu belonged to the direct line of the family, so their parents were naturally also in the direct line of the family.

The jailer was trembling with fright at the ugly face of the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, and his voice suddenly became softer, "Qi Yanhe's mother died of poisoning. When Cui Qingpu's mother found her dead, she was wrapped in cloth strips, her left arm was broken, and her body was completely stiff." , the cause of death needs to be determined by the work. People in the same prison said that she couldn't accept the news of Cui Qingpu's death and went crazy on the spot. They couldn't bear to see her hurt others and herself, so they tore off the skirt and tied her up Zheng Mingyu's mother committed suicide with a hidden hosta, and when she found it, she was completely stiff."

Dali Temple Shaoqing sneered, "What about their father?"

"Cui Qingpu's father was originally depressed because of his son's sudden death, and suddenly heard that his wife had also died, and said something abnormal, and suddenly hit the wall... After seeing Cui Qingpu's father hit the wall, Zheng Mingyu's father took out a dagger from nowhere , suddenly rushed towards Patriarch Zheng, and when the others tried to dissuade him, they accidentally thrust a dagger into his chest." The jailer shook his head, and the fear in his eyes grew stronger.

Eight people died in two days, two families of three, a mother and a child.No matter how you look at it, it looks like an evil spirit.

Especially in places like Dali Prison where people often die.

How can people not think too much?

"Is there another person?" Dali Shaoqing slapped his thigh fiercely, "How about Qi Yanhe's father? Go get someone to bring him out alone!"

His vision is far better than that of the jailer. Even if he encounters such a strange thing, he will not subconsciously think about ghosts and gods.

People's hearts are always more terrifying than ghosts, this is clearly killing people to silence them!

They must know something that the family doesn't want to disclose.

The jailer was stunned and stammered, "Qi, Deputy Captain Qi is fine! He just hugged our brother's leg and cried loudly, he didn't seek death..."

"Go!" Dali Siqing almost fainted from the anger of the jailer who didn't understand.

I didn't seek death before, maybe I just didn't find the right opportunity, but it doesn't mean that I won't seek death now and in the future.

Because of the sudden deaths of people one after another, the Dali Temple Prison was in a panic for half a day.Everyone had to face Habayashi Wei's body search again, and the cell was almost dug three feet into the ground.

As the only living member of the family of three, Deputy Qi immediately became the key interrogation target.Even if he hugged Qi Baizhi's waist and didn't let go, he still couldn't escape the fate of being carried to the execution room by the Habayashi guards.

Even Ying Gong, Cui Taishi and others were ridiculed by officials of Dali Temple because of this.

If Emperor Changping hadn't decreed to remove the Duke of England's title and Taishi Cui's first-rank official position, the officials of Dali Temple even wanted to punish them.

Duke Ying and Grand Master Cui had amulets, so they didn't need to worry about interrogation for the time being. People like Patriarch Zheng and Patriarch Yu, who were both patriarchs but didn't have amulets, naturally became punching bags.

The Yu family, whose entire family has no official position, is the first to bear the brunt.

Except for Yu Feng's family, who was always locked in a small prison alone, from the head of the family to the offshoots of the Five Generations, none of them escaped the torture.

It is a pity that the sudden expansion of the interrogation did not allow the Dali Temple officials to obtain more useful information.

All insiders insisted on the original confession and confessed to the evil things they did.Claiming that it was because of the emperor's order that he had to obey and did evil as a last resort.

Since ancient times, it is difficult to have both loyalty and righteousness, they chose loyalty.

People who couldn't find anything in the interrogation, even if they were emotionally broken, deliberately talked nonsense according to the lead judge's guidance, in order not to be tortured, and revealed from the details that they really didn't know anything.

Ji Xinxue and Yu Heng occasionally looked through the documents assigned from Fengxiang Palace to Yuhe Palace, and couldn't help but be amazed at the unity and toughness of the aristocratic family.

Not only the patriarchs of the pampered families confessed completely according to the negotiated content during the tortured interrogation by the presiding judge appointed by Emperor Changping, without revealing half the truth.

Even Deputy Lieutenant Qi, who was recognized as a waste in Chang'an in the past few decades, was able to withstand the torture of Dali Temple when he lost his son and wife first.

People like Princess Yiyun, who don't know anything, even keep saying that they believe in their husbands, that the matter is related to the late emperor, and that they can understand her husband's concealment.

After more than half a month, Emperor Changping, who had been sick for a while, was finally able to support his sick body and deal with the family's slander against Emperor Yanguang.

He called the courtiers who were qualified to participate in the small court meeting, Ji Jingrou who was on errands, officials of the family who presided over the trial, Ji Xinxue and Yu Heng who had been reflecting for many days, to Fengxiang Palace.

Facing Emperor Changping's expectant gaze, Ji Jingrou, who was in charge of quelling the rumors, knelt down guiltily, and said in a low voice, "Aye, calm down, my son..."

No, there is no reason to ask Emperor Changping to spare her.

After her unremitting efforts, the rumors that were originally spread in Gyeonggi broke through the barriers of Shannan Liangdao, Guannei Dao, and Hedong Dao, and quickly swept through the entire Yu Dynasty.

Ji Xinxue coughed lightly, and told Emperor Changping that Ji Jingrou was powerless in the most euphemistic language he could think of.

Emperor Changping's expression gradually disappeared. Looking at the presiding officer hiding in the crowd, he said in a deep voice, "Your Excellencies have been interrogating criminal officials for many days. Is there any evidence that they slandered the late Emperor?"

The five presiding judges appointed by Emperor Changping knelt down like dumplings, and said in unison, "Your Majesty is guilty, please appease your anger."

After their day and night interrogation, they are confident that they have dug up all the evidence in the hands of the family.To prove the authenticity of these evidences.The imperial envoys successively asked six ministers and nine ministers to verify the authenticity of the evidence.

...without exception, all are true.

'Snapped! '

Emperor Changping picked up the teacup Songnian was holding, threw it on the ground viciously, and looked at the six ministers with a hostile expression, "Why don't you report it to Mingwu first, and then go to verify it?"

Ji Xinxue and Yu Heng secretly exchanged glances, and honestly knelt down to blame, "Aye's condition hasn't improved for a long time, and my son is afraid that Aye's anger will cause his condition to recur, so he decides to use Aye's A small seal for my ministers, and an excerpt from the six ministers."

Facing the angry eyes of Emperor Changping, Ji Xinxue shrank behind Yu Heng as if frightened, and said indiscriminately, "I never thought that the first emperor could do such a... ..."

Yu Heng covered Ji Xinxue's mouth in time, pressed Ji Xinxue's back, and bowed his head in unison, leaving only the two dark and cute heads of Emperor Changping.

If there is no way to explain it, you will be punished directly.

After a long silence, Emperor Changping's gaze passed over Ji Xinxue and Yu Heng who kowtowed side by side in turn, and landed on the six ministers, "Are you guys going to verify the evidence yourself?"

The six ministers knelt down in unison.The leader of Jiusi knelt quietly behind.

This...Your Majesty does not know that the evidence sent by Dali Temple is filled with [-] large wooden boxes that can hold two adult men. They are not idlers with nothing to do, so how could they verify the evidence in person?

Hearing the 'sophistry' of the six ministers, Emperor Changping's eyes became colder, "You handed over the errand to the minister?"

The ministers nodded their heads, the unconcealable guilty conscience between their brows not only did not decrease, but intensified.

The servants of the six departments who were fortunate enough to participate in the Xiaochaohui immediately knelt down, wishing to find a crack in the ground to hide their figures.

Seeing this, the few people who still did not kneel down quietly mixed into the crowd.For fear of being noticed by the angry Emperor Changping, he would become a punching bag.

"En." Emperor Changping calmly replied, "You are busy with military affairs, national affairs, major affairs, and the minister must have time to verify the evidence himself."

The old Shangshu with white hair and beard closed his eyes in despair, and began to think about the possibility of pretending to be in a coma.

His Highness the Fifth Highness swore to them that the late Emperor, as the Ninth Five-Year Lord, would never do stupid things like collaborating with the enemy and treason.They are required to cooperate with Dali Temple to find out evidence that the late emperor did not collude with the enemy and betray the country.Only in this way can the stain of the late emperor killing his father and seizing the throne be concealed.

Liubu Shangshu felt that it was reasonable, and specifically told the assistant minister that the unfinished work can be handed over to the people below.

So...almost all the officials of the Six Minutes and Nine Temples were involved in the process of verifying the evidence.

Foolish people are only under the influence of rumors, believing that the first emperor killed his father to seize the throne, colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country.

In the eyes of the courtiers, this is already a well-documented and indisputable fact.