To The Land of Nevernight

I do not know when, the rain has stopped.

The ugly time has not yet arrived, and it should have been the curfew time, but the city of Cizhou is brightly lit.The imperial guards in armor held torches and ran around the city in unison.They were like robbers who robbed a house. They knocked on the door of a house, revealed their big knives, and went in to search.

In the dark night, the torches reflected the sky, shining so that the sky over Cizhou City was as red as blood.

By the early morning of the next day, the Imperial Forest Army had already confiscated all the mansions of Governor Zhang Feng and his henchmen.Zhang Feng sat disheveled on the floor tiles of Fu Yin's yamen, his expression was in a trance, he couldn't hear any sound, and he didn't know what he was talking about.Some people listened closely and found that they could not understand.

Shao Wenchao, the left general of the Yulin Army, ordered people to carry box after box of gold, silver and jewelry into the yamen. Just the wooden boxes for silver filled the entire courtyard.These were all stolen goods stolen from Zhang Feng's home, and some dirt was still stuck on the box.

Shao Wenzhao said: "My lord, it has been confiscated. These were dug out from the backyard of Zhang's mansion."

Wang Qin took a look at the stolen goods, then raised his head, looking at the stolen goods that had already been discharged from the gate of the yamen from a distance.His voice was distant: "Let's do it first."

"Yes."

At the third quarter of Yin time, Zhang Feng and some officials from Cizhou were arrested, put on iron chains, and stood in the middle of the yamen.

The highest seat in the yamen is Ji Zhi, the supervisor.Ji Zhi wanted to give up the position to Wang Qin, but Wang Qin smiled and said, "Master Ji, I was only temporarily sent by the emperor to check the progress of the ink corruption case. You should be the chief official here."

Ji Zhiben was a straight-hearted censor, even if he had ten mouths, he couldn't win against Wang Qin, so naturally he couldn't compete with Wang Qin, so he could only take the chief seat.Sitting on his left is Wang Qin.On the right side, Xie Cheng, the right servant of the Ministry of Industry, and Su Wenyun, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, are seated.As for Xu Linghou, the left servant of the household department, and Qin Si, the right servant of the household department, they sat on the side with Wang Qin, looking like they were the only ones looking forward to the Lord Shangshu.

Officials in the Song Dynasty had a very high social rank, and even if they committed a crime, they could not kneel down before being convicted.More than a dozen Cizhou officials stood under the hall, each looking like a concubine.Obviously yesterday she was still radiant, but today she looks haggard, with half of her foot in the coffin.

Ji Zhi knocked on the gavel: "Assassin Governor Zhang Feng, you can be convicted!"

There was a buzzing in Zhang Feng's ear, and he couldn't hear what Ji Zhi said at all.He raised his head in a trance, his eyes blurred for a while, and he couldn't see clearly the senior officials of the second and third ranks sitting in the hall.There were pictures in front of his eyes. It was the scene when he entered a private school on the first day when he was enlightened at the age of seven; then he had to take the examination for nine consecutive years before passing the provincial examination, and finally won the gold list in the palace examination and was born as a fellow Jinshi. .

His life was only over forty years, and he was once a senior official of the fourth rank, in charge of the prefecture's prefecture.

But now, he is standing here. In the future, he will kneel on the cold floor tiles of the Dali Temple in Shengjing. He will also kneel on the execution ground and be killed by the executioner with a knife.

There was a bang in my head, and everything was gone.

Zhang Feng fell straight down.

Ji Zhi could let him pretend to be unconscious. He ordered the officials to pour cold water on Zhang Feng to wake him up, and blamed him one by one: "Assassin Governor Zhang Feng, the two assassins who assassinated the posthouse today, why are you the nurse in your mansion? How do you explain it! In addition, where did the gold, silver and jewels dug out in the backyard of your Zhang Mansion come from? You may be related to the collapse of the Jinghe Bridge, and all of them were truthfully recruited."

Zhang Feng's throat was aching, but he couldn't say a word.

However, Ji Zhi didn't need him to say anything.

Ji Zhi then interrogated several other governor officials, and they were all terrified, and revealed all their greed for ink and bribery.

As long as the stolen goods are found, Zhang Feng can be convicted.Using the excuse of being an assassin, they forcibly searched Zhang Feng's mansion to find these treasures.Even though it was putting the cart before the horse, it was unreasonable, but with the Imperial Forest Army around, no one dared to say no.

Ji Zhi said sadly: "Eat the king's salary and share the worries for the king. Master Zhang, is this how you serve the court!"

These words were like a slap in the face, Zhang Feng suddenly sobered up.His eyes turned slightly in a certain direction, and before he could do anything else, his expression changed, as if he realized something.The next moment, he knelt down with a plop and cried bitterly: "The guilty minister is guilty, the guilty minister is guilty!"

"Come here, put a group of people in prison and wait for them to be released."

After Zhang Feng and the others were escorted down, Ji Zhi heaved a sigh of relief, but then showed a unwilling expression.He was silent, but some people were unwilling to be lonely.A sneer sounded: "The Jinghe bridge collapsed, such a big ink corruption case, can it really be done by a small fourth-rank official?"

Everyone looked at Su Wenyun in unison.

Su Wenyun sat under Xie Cheng's seat, and said with a smirk: "Do you believe me, my lords?"

Wang Qin bowed his head to taste the tea, the left and right servants of the household department saw that Wang Qin didn't speak, and ignored Su Wenyun.Xie Cheng, the right servant of the Ministry of Industry, looked gloomy, wondering what he was thinking.Only Ji knew: "Heh, what other ideas does Mr. Su have?"

Su Wenyun was about to speak when he saw a thin and thin figure quietly walking in from the corner of the yamen gate and standing among the crowd of officials.There was a slight pause in the voice, and after a while, Su Wenyun went on to say: "I dare not say so much. Mr. Zhang is so loyal, he shouldered all the responsibilities by himself, and did not confess a single accomplice. However, he didn't know, when he arrived in Shengjing, wait His is Dali Temple."

Everyone thought: the one waiting for him is your ruthless Su Wenyun!

Su Wenyun said: "In front of gold, silver and jewels, he had to plead guilty. But his accomplices are hiding behind him, unfathomable. But..." Su Wenyun deliberately elongated his voice, and looked at Ji Zhi with a mocking look. , looked at Wang Qin again.

Ji Zhi's eyes were sullen, but Wang Qin smiled slightly.

Su Wenyun: "However, if you find the account book they are greedy for ink, all the truth will come out!"

Ji Zhi couldn't laugh at all.

The ledger is the real evidence needed in the ink corruption case.

Even if the stolen goods were found from Zhang Feng's house, it would not prove that these stolen goods were all obtained from the government officials of the Assassin Province.The official silver has a number, but the jewelry does not, which can only prove that the stolen silver was allocated by the imperial court to build official roads.In addition, if you want to find other accomplices, you must have that account book, otherwise you can only rely on Dali Temple to use torture to pry Zhang Feng's mouth open.

Whoever can find the account book hidden behind will be the main contributor to the assassination of ink in the state.

The assassins who sneaked into Tang Shen's room last night were sent by Zhang Feng, and sent by Supervisor Ji Zhi.As an inspector, Ji Zhi finally got such a big job, how could he willingly hand over the credit to others.

At the beginning, he suspected Xu Linghou, the left servant of the transfer department, but then he suspected Zhang Feng, the prefect of the governor.But even though he searched everywhere, he couldn't find the account book.He observed secretly and found that Zhang Feng seemed to have been paying close attention to Su Wenyun, so he suspected that Su Wenyun had stolen the ledger in advance and hid it in Tang Shen's room.

The next day Wang Qin and the Yulin Army were coming, he had no chance to wait any longer, he had to get that ledger.So there was the incident of two assassins committing murder in the posthouse last night.

However, after thousands of calculations, Ji Zhi didn't figure it out. Not only was the account book not in Tang Shen's room, but Wang Qin had also arrived in Cizhou ahead of schedule!

The assassin from Ji Zhi's faction was also caught, but everyone knew that Ji Zhi had absolutely nothing to do with the ink corruption case in Assassin Province.He was in Shengjing, and he was only a low-rank official. The only connection he had with the collapse of the Jinghe Bridge was after the bridge had already collapsed.In fact, Wang Qin never doubted him, and even asked the Imperial Forest Army to let go of Ji Zhi's assassins.

Ji Zhi sat in the hall, looking at Wang Qin on the left, and Su Wenyun on the right.He suddenly felt that he was really old and couldn't play with these young people anymore.

Ji Zhi laughed at himself: "From Mr. Su's point of view, do you already know where the ledger is?"

Su Wenyun was about to speak when he heard a crisp sound.Wang Qin put the teacup on the table, he raised his head slightly, and smiled at Ji Zhi: "Of course, Mr. Su knows about it. A few days ago, Mr. Su found the account book in private. In order to prevent accidents, he secretly hid the account book. In the house of Mr. Tang Shentang, the living man."

Su Wenyun looked at Wang Qin as if watching the excitement, waiting for him to continue.

Ji Zhi: "Master Tang, is there such a thing?"

Tang Shen took a step forward, bowed his hands and saluted: "There is indeed such a thing."

Ji Zhi: "Where is the ledger?"

Tang Shen: "I have given the account book to the Minister of the Household Department."

Wang Qin stretched out his hand, and the officer behind him handed him an account book.

Ji Zhichang sighed, knowing that the major contributors to this ink corruption case had already fallen on the heads of Wang Qin, Tang Shen and Su Wenyun, and had nothing to do with him.

However, when a sneer sounded, Su Wenyun said with a smile: "My lord, are you sure you are holding the ledger of the Jinghe bridge collapse case? You are the current minister, in charge of the imperial treasury. The account book, of course, cannot escape your eyes. But this matter is of great importance, and I advise you not to open this account book now and take a closer look. room to turn around."

Wang Qinqing had a dignified look on Yaxiu Lang's face. He pretended to ponder solemnly for a while, and said, "What Master Su said is that you can't be too careful with the evidence handed over to the Holy Majesty. So, Master Qin and Master Xu, Both of you read the ledger separately to make sure it's correct."

Qin Si and Xu Linghou: "Yes."

The two took the account book and started to reconcile the accounts at the same time.

Tang Shen stood under the hall, looked down at the ground, and said nothing.

Su Wenyun looked at Wang Qin with an expression of watching a play, but when he looked at Tang Shen, he was no longer so mocking and disdainful.No matter how vicious Su Wenyun's mind was and how ruthless his methods were, it would not be possible for him to throw stones at Tang Shen at this time.He knew that he had used Tang Shen, and by the way, he was not prepared to give Tang Shen a piece of the pie.Let Tang Shen become a target, of course it is impossible for him to leave the real account book in Tang Shen's house, otherwise, once someone finds out, the matter will be lost forever.

He plotted Tang Shen mercilessly, used Tang Shen, and even used Tang Shen's life to stand in front of him.He doesn't blame himself at all, but he doesn't try to mock either.

After half an hour, Qin Si and Xu Linghou looked at each other.Qin Sidao: "Report to Master Shangshu, the officials have checked with Master Xu, this is the real account book."

Su Wenyun's expression changed suddenly, and Wang Qin's tone was gentle: "Thank you, my lords."

Both Qin Si and Xu Linghou were servants of the household department, and they dealt with the accounts every day, so it was impossible for them to make a mistake.It is also impossible for them to deceive people, because as long as the fake account book is sent back to Shengjing and handed over to the emperor, it will be revealed.

Su Wenyun's pretty face was bloodless, and he stared at Wang Qin with wide eyes.After a long time, he gritted his teeth and popped out a few words: "Really...true, account, this?"

Qin Si looked at him strangely: "Can there be mistakes?"

Wang Qin smiled and said, "Why don't Lord Su see for himself?"

Everyone knew that Wang Qin was just casually saying polite words, but Su Wenyun stood up directly, walked up to Wang Qin, picked up the account book and read it.He flipped through the pages, carefully reading each word.The more he looked, the colder his heart became.By the time he finished reading it, he could no longer keep smiling.

Thousands of thoughts flashed through his mind, and suddenly, Su Wenyun turned his head and looked at Tang Shen who was standing under the hall.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, Tang Shen also raised his head and looked at him quietly.

Xu Linghou, the left servant of the household department, looked at Su Wenyun's reactions one after another, and faintly noticed something.He observed Wang Qin's expression and decided to help out: "Why, this account book is real, Mr. Su can't recognize it? Could it be that this is not the one you hid in Mr. Tang's house? This account book is not yours Is it for Master Tang?"

Su Wenyun had a hard time.He wanted very much to say that this ledger was not the one he gave Tang Shen, and that the real ledger was hidden in the mezzanine of his wardrobe, but he couldn't say it!Once he said it, how would he explain the fact that there were two ledgers, how would he explain why he hid a fake ledger in Tang Shen's house?Could he just say that he used Tang Shen as a target to attract firepower for himself?

After a long time, Su Wenyun said: "Of course not, this is the one I entrusted to Mr. Tang for safekeeping."

Su Wenyun walked down the high platform, walked up to Tang Shen, and stood still.

He smiled and curled his lips, and his eyes were also bent, but the words he said were so angry that they seemed to pop out from between his teeth.

"Tang Shen, Master Tang. Tang Jingze, Master Tang... It's really hard for you to keep this account book for me."

Tang Shen bowed and said, "Your Majesty Su's order, I dare not resign."

Su Wenyun looked at Tang Shen, and suddenly smiled: "Jing Ze."

Wang Qin slightly raised his eyes.

Tang Shen looked at Su Wenyun calmly.

Su Wenyun: "I want to thank you very much...you and Mr. Wang!"