Guoshi Chengshuang gl

Late at night, the candles flickered in the study of Prince Langya's mansion. Li Mingqing compiled the spies' confessions into a collection, held a palace lantern, and gently knocked on the door of the study.

"Come in." King Langya said softly.

The things were placed on the case of King Langya: "Father, today's matter has been investigated clearly, and it is consistent with the information obtained in the northern border. Northern Yi Wang Mengzhen has close contacts with important officials in Beijing, and he wants to use this to get the information of the sixteen counties in the northern border. military plan."

King Langya pondered, nodded and said, "Beiyi's ambitions are really great."

"Beiyi people live outside the Great Wall in a bitter cold and desolate place, lacking in food and clothing. For a long time, the Beiyi tribe has only harassed the northern border and robbed property. Why is it suddenly gaining momentum now?"

"Mengzhen didn't start suddenly, but actually planned it for a long time. In your opinion, who is Mengzhen targeting?"

Li Mingqing frowned, but did not speak.

"Let's talk." King Langya eased his complexion, his eyes seemed to have seen everything.

"Maybe it's the right party."

"Do you have any evidence?"

"No. But what the Right Prime Minister and Party have done, on the surface, is loyalty to the imperial court, but in fact there is a hidden danger."

King Langya smiled lightly: "There is no evidence in Nanlou either. It is precisely because there is no evidence that some people can still stay in their positions, use power, and manipulate the situation."

"The northern border—"

"We know Mengzhen's plan, and the northern border should be safe for the time being."

He reached out from under a pile of memorials and took out a criminal record.

"Look at it."

The corners of the case file had turned yellow and were slightly rolled up. The dust on it was wiped with a water cloth, leaving traces of marks.On the cover of the case file, "Changping 23rd Case" was written with a stone blue pen.

Her fingertips touched the haggard pages, and in the dim light, she saw a clear description.

Prisoner Jiao Shan, male, born in Jishan, aged 27.

Time flies, and it has been four years.

She closed her eyes. In the 21st year of Changping, she was 13 years old. She had to learn the art of piano in name from Mr. Jiaolu, a born master, but in fact she inherited the national policy of Jingwei.

When she saw Jiao Shan for the first time, it was in the tent of her master. Jiao Shan was standing behind the stove, holding a huge hammer, sweating profusely. He stopped and nodded at her. When she looked over, she felt that this man was steady and honest. , but it is not the roughness of ordinary blacksmiths, but reveals a strong bookish atmosphere.

It turned out that the person who repaired the Scarlet Firmament Sword for the emperor was such a person.

My thoughts gradually gathered.

In the 23rd year of Changping, that is, four years ago, Jiao Shan was imprisoned for wounding someone with a sharp weapon due to personal grievances. The injured person was Shi Junsheng, the son of Shi Ding, the governor of Songjiang County.

Without torture to extract a confession, Jiao Shan did not have any excuses for what he did, and directly pleaded guilty.

Because of this, Mr. Jiaolu wandered around in seclusion, no longer accepted disciples, and no longer paid attention to world affairs.

The sound of closing the file was like a weak sigh.

She asked: "During the first month, the senior brother should have been released from the Gyeonggi Prison. Is there something wrong?"

"Today, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Feng Feng, came to the palace to write a letter, bluntly saying that Jiao Shan would do something to his son Feng Tang, and he intends to use this matter to beat us in front of the emperor."

Fengtang's name suddenly popped up, making her thoughts clearer, and she even remembered that she and Fengtang had met once.

At a glance, Feng Tang is a man of elegant demeanor, quiet and refined, even though he is not young, but because of his family background, he has been taught to know etiquette very well. The most important thing is that this person was ranked second in the high school in this year's spring examination.

He is praised today: "Talent and learning are commendable", and he even intends to let him enter the cabinet and become a confidant.

Everyone in the court knew that "if you are in the court, you are a scholar, if you leave the court, you are a prime minister", and now it is intentional to cultivate Fengtang as a prime minister.

King Langya continued: "A few days ago, Ren Youfang, the son of the Minister of the Household Department, humiliated a lowly woman to death, and even took it for a mere 50 taels of silver. It has been more than a hundred years since the establishment of our dynasty. The official system is complicated, and the officials protect each other. , although the law is strict, but in practice it is so—unbearable."

"The governor of Guangdong and Guangxi is good at controlling power, because Mr. Jiaolu is my master and Jiao Shan is my brother? So he wants to use this to impeach the palace?"

"One more thing. Recently, Nanlou found out that the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi participated in the old case nine years ago."

Her pupils shrank suddenly, and the hand holding the case file trembled slightly.

Shen Yunting's face flashed in her mind.

Occasionally, they would bring up the old case nine years ago, and they would stop at the right time and stop talking deeply.

The old case nine years ago——

If she had the opportunity to get in touch with Feng Xunji right now, she might be able to find out other secrets about the old case nine years ago!

Seeing that Li Mingqing was silent, King Langya changed the subject and continued: "Jiao Shan is Mr. Jiaolu's most valued student. He has always been a very safe person. It's just that his luck was bad. In order to clear up the officialdom, he was ranked first. If he failed to become an official, if the incident four years ago hadn't hit him too hard, he should have made a lot of achievements. It's a pity—"

The case file is so simple, only filled with Jiao Shan's crimes.

The sound of ruts crushing on the stone road is soft and shallow, pulling people's thoughts back to four years ago.

"Prisoner Jiao Shan, male, born in Jishan, aged 27." The judge of Gyeonggi Prefecture sat under the plaque of the blue sky mirror, and read Jiao Shan's decree in a voice that did not fluctuate.

Standing in the crowd, she saw Jiao Shan kneeling in the hall, with shackles around his neck, thick chains dragging his hands and feet, his body was covered with whips, his skin was dark, his mouth was downcast, his eyes were silent, like someone who couldn't see the light. Plants, lost life.

"On the twenty-seventh day of the winter month, you wounded someone with a sharp ax at Pingjinkou and maimed him. Jiaoshan, can you plead guilty?"

"recognize."

That sharp-edged face was not without gloom.

There was an uproar, and there was a lot of discussion.

"I heard that Jiao Shan is still a disciple of Mr. Jiaolu! Unexpected! He is like a jackal!"

"I also heard that he jumped from the tree with a big axe, and chopped off the hand of the son of the Songjiang county magistrate!"

"Oh! You don't know! I happened to see it the other day when I was buying cloth at Pingjinkou! The blood was spattered three feet high!"

"That's how I'm still a scholar!"

The gavel slapped twice, and the judge said sharply, "Silence! Silence!

"According to the law of my dynasty, I will be imprisoned for four years and I will leave the court."

The token landed on the ground and flicked twice, the onlookers gradually dispersed, Jiao Shan slowly stood up from the ground, his expression still blank.

"Brother."

Jiao Shan stopped in his tracks, but did not turn his head: Princess, please go back. "

She was slightly taken aback, four years later, what remained in Li Mingqing's mind was that haggard back.

It has been four years since the incident, why——Senior brother wants to kill Fengtang?

The carriage was slowly driving on the lanes in the western suburbs of Kyoto, Zhaoyu turned around and said to the people in the carriage: "Princess, we are here."

Hirajinkou, located in the western suburbs of Kyoto, is closely adjacent to Huajinkou, but one is a back alley and the other is a spacious avenue.

The people living in Pingjinkou are common people, while the entire street in Huajinkou is full of rich and powerful mansions. Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi Feng Xunji's house in Kyoto is also in Huajinkou.

The side of Pingjinkou was full of goods, and it was difficult for the carriage to move. Li Mingqing got out of the carriage and took Zhaoyu to the alley.

A dilapidated turret, downstairs is a blacksmith's shop, the door is slightly closed, the flying flag has turned crimson, with a few fluffs scattered, the window lattice is covered with dust, if not for the "beep—— "The sound of the charcoal fire exploding made passers-by think that the turret had been abandoned for a long time.

"Princess—" Zhaoyu hesitated, looking at the three-story turret in front of her with a gloomy expression, and asked, "Is Mr. Jiao's home really here?"

Li Mingqing took a step forward and knocked on the door lightly.

No one answered.

"Will it go out?" Zhaoyu wondered, looking inside.

After knocking lightly three more times, the door creaked and opened a tiny crack.

"Ah—" Zhaoyu screamed and took a step back, gathering herself.

The fingers protruding from the ground were like white bones with some clods of skin stuck to them, and a pair of lifeless eyes were on the withered face, looking up at the person coming from the ground.

The two gathered their heads together, only to realize that it was an old man prostrated on the ground.

"Is Xiao Ning back?"

The old man's voice was very low, with deep expectations.

"My lord, what is he talking about?"

"Is Xiao Ning back?"

The old man repeated it again, and Zhaoyu didn't know how to respond, but heard a soft sigh behind her.

Even though four years have passed, Jiao Shan's father is still delirious and will always ask, "Did Xiao Ning come back?"

Zhaoyu helped the old man to the chair in the dance, and wanted to pour a bowl of tea for the old man, but found that the tea pot and water jar were covered with a thick layer of dust.

Li Mingqing looked around, she could feel that even though four years had passed, Jiao Shan was still suffering from the back pain of losing his child.

Zhaoyu managed to get a bowl of water from the courtyard behind the turret, and couldn't help asking: "Princess, who is Xiaoning he is talking about?"

"It's Brother Jiao's son."

"Then where did he go? Why hasn't he come back?"

"died."

Zhaoyu's hand trembled, half of a bowl of water was spilled, she was a little surprised: "That's too miserable——"

Li Mingqing murmured: "Yes, it's too miserable."