Liu Yan was indeed in the official room and did not sleep.
He had been demoted for many years, his parents were dead, and his wife had already remarried. He was pardoned and returned to Beijing alone. After he became the Minister of Dali Temple, the emperor gave him a residence with slaves, but most of the time he lived in the government office.
Zhang Yuan rushed to his residence cursing and was stopped by two attendants outside the door.
These two attendants are both military guards and are not as easy to deal with as doormen.
"Roaring the official office, Zhang Yuan, although the Du Cha Si has occupied our Dali Temple prison, there is still room for you to pretend to be one!" they shouted.
Zhang Yuan stopped his hand and hummed: "I just have a loud voice and a lot of strength, so why am I roaring?"
This guy looked rude but not stupid at all. The two attendants thought to themselves what they were going to say, but Liu Yan already said, "Let him in."
Zhang Yuan was let in.
"Master Liu, it's not that I don't understand the rules, it's just that you are too hard to see." He said, and when he saw Liu Yan sitting at the table eating, he snorted, "Your Excellency is enjoying the delicious food..."
He came closer and saw the food on the table. He couldn't say the words "good wine and delicious food".
A plate of salted beans, a piece of hard biscuit, and a bowl of water.
This is too shabby.
"Is this what you're going to eat, sir?" Zhang Yuan frowned and said with a bit of suspicion, "You're not just showing off to me, are you?"
Officials' salaries are fixed, and most of them are not enough for a banquet in a luxury restaurant in the capital. Of course, not all officials live on their salaries.
Zhang Yuan knew that some officials like to appear honest and live simply.
But Liu Yan, your simplicity is a little too fake!
Liu Yan glanced at him: "Are you worthy?"
Zhang Yuan was ashamed and annoyed.
But what Liu Yan said was also true. He was a junior soldier in Jingzhao Prefecture, and he was nothing in front of a minister like Liu Yan who made decisions about state affairs in front of the emperor. There was really no need to show off in front of him to gain fame.
"What about your hard training in the middle of the night?" He muttered.
Liu Yan picked up a salty bean and put it in his mouth and said: "This is not bitter, this is a good remedy. I almost died from the filthy rice I ate in the prison cell of Prince Jin's Mansion, so someone taught me how to do it."
Eat like this..."
When the words "someone" slipped by, his voice seemed to be slightly stagnant, and Zhang Yuan couldn't help but notice. But just when he thought Liu Yan was going to introduce this person, Liu Yan's voice slipped over again.
"Eating like this not only made the prison guards more worry-free and able to exploit me, and no longer made things difficult for me, but also nourished my stomach. Sure enough, I survived, and during the ten years since I was demoted, I have been living in a barbaric and cruel land.
I’ve never had a bad stomach.”
He looked at Zhang Yuan.
"Of course, I only have this portion, so I won't invite you to try it. You can try it yourself after you get home."
Who wants to try this!
What a cure!
Liu Yan's journey as an official was bumpy. When he was young and passionate, he just entered the official career and was about to show his ambitions. When he arrived at the prince's fiefdom, which was the most difficult place to gain a foothold, he bumped his head against the prince's big tree and almost killed himself. Fortunately, he escaped death.
I was demoted to the barbaric land south of Lingnan and wasted ten years.
I have endured too many hardships, maybe there is something wrong with my brain!
Zhang Yuan did not argue with him, and was not interested in eating these dried bean cakes. He took a step forward and said, "Master Liu, how is your investigation of the murderer of the scholar case going?"
Liu Yan said: "Hasn't the case been investigated clearly and handed over to your Jingzhao Mansion? Why do you come to ask me?"
First, Huo Lian came to the door and pointed out that Liu Xiucai's death was caused by Mo Tu. Then the tenant's wife also found out the news. At first, the tenant's wife pretended to be confused. Later, when she heard that Liu Xiucai was dead, she laughed happily and admitted that she was responsible for the death.
Money buys evil.
"How much money do you, a convict wife, have?" the official there asked.
The tenant's wife laughed like crazy and plucked a silver button from her inner skirt: "I am rich. When I got married, my husband gave me two silver buttons. I always wear them close to my body. This is money."
With a bit of shrewdness and a bit of pride, he said, "It originally cost me two buttons, but I'm not stupid. I bargained, and in the end I only spent one button..."
It only cost a silver button to buy Liu Xiucai's life.
Liu Xiucai's life is only worth a silver button.
The questioning officials were speechless.
The tenant's wife was supposed to be escorted to the capital, but the tenant's wife died that night after laughing like crazy. The widower investigated and found that it was either suicide or poisoning, or her body had withered. After the great sadness and joy, the only remaining string was broken.
If you die, you will die.
Now that the cause and effect of Liu Xiucai's case were clear, the Liu family was not willing to accept it. However, a group of officials in the capital first accused Liu Xiucai of having bad moral character. It can be seen that relying on knowledge alone without awareness cannot promote virtuous people. Then the Imperial Academy stood up and said that they would strictly investigate the candidates.
Character, if you are guilty, you should be punished, if you have committed a mistake, you should correct it, and you should not hide it or cover it up. Some students also came to the government one after another and asked to investigate themselves, so as to show the innocence of the scholars in the world.
It was noisy for a while.
In order to avoid being implicated too widely, under pressure from all parties, the Liu family ceased activities, and Dali Temple handed the case back to Jingzhao Mansion. The case owner and the murderer were both dead, and the case was closed.
"What kind of settlement is this?" Zhang Yuandao, "Is the tenant's wife the murderer? But she is also a victim."
"In other cases, she may be the victim, but in this case, she is indeed the murderer." Liu Yan said, glancing at Zhang Yuan, "You join the army as a judicial officer, so you can't ignore the law and reason."
Zhang Yuan sneered.
"She can be considered an accomplice at best. The real murderer and the one who tempted her to become the murderer was the Mo disciple."
"Now, scholars are afraid of delaying their exams, and officials are afraid of implicating themselves, so they turn a blind eye to the murderer and end the matter in a hurry."
"What's even more annoying? There are rumors in restaurants and tea shops about the case of the unknown scholar who was strangled, and the murderer turned out to be a heroic hero!"
He said here to look at Liu Yan.
"Mr. Liu, don't you also think that this murderer is a hero and his heroic act should not only not be punished, but should be rewarded?"
Liu Yan said: "The state-owned legal family has family rules, and lynching and killing people who violate the law is not a heroic act."
Zhang Yuansong said: "Sure enough, Mr. Liu still enforces the law impartially."
"I have suffered the consequences of illegal acts, so I naturally know the pain involved." Liu Yan said, putting the last bite of pancake into his mouth.
The harm of violating the law refers to the oppression by the power of the King of Jin. Zhang Yuan touched his nose and took a step forward: "Then Mr. Liu must also join me and continue to track down the murderer, right?"
Liu Yan drank the water from the cup and shook his head: "That's not my business, it has nothing to do with me."
This guy! Zhang Yuan glared again: "Is your Dali Temple just letting the law-violating criminals go like this?"
Liu Yan put down his tea cup and said: "Our Dali Temple only deals with matters that belong to us. Zhang Yuan, let me say it again. This case has been transferred to Jingzhao Mansion. You should find the right person and don't come to Dali Temple to make noise."
"
Zhang Yuan gritted his teeth and took a few deep breaths: "Liu Yan, everyone says you are selfless, I thought you wouldn't just sit idly by."
Liu Yan smiled: "I am not selfless. I used to think I should be selfless, but then someone taught me a truth, which is to act within your ability."
Act according to your ability? Zhang Yuan thought, what? It’s troublesome, so why not?
Is this the truth behind the arrest of King Jin’s brother-in-law, and then wasted ten years to learn the lesson?
"I guess I made a mistake." Zhang Yuan said, about to throw away his sleeves, but then stopped, "Then, show me the case file of the tenant family that you investigated in Qingzhou earlier."
The tenant's wife admitted that she paid for the murder. The murderer must be someone who had dealt with the tenant's wife and must have left traces.
If you don't investigate, he will continue to investigate!
He will not just stand by and allow the Mohists to lynch and violate the law.
Liu Yan hummed: "This is within my ability, I can show it to you." After saying this, he shook his head again, "You can't tell anything. The Mo disciples are extremely secretive. They have their own private messages with code words. The outside world
It’s hard to spy on.”
It's really a joke, can't you just stop doing it?
"Thank you, sir." Zhang Yuan raised his hand: "I will do my best."
Liu Yan smiled and didn't care that this sentence was sarcastic as he had just said that he should act within his ability.
"However, you can ask Ducha Si." He continued, "When the King of Jin rebelled, the Mohist tycoon led hundreds of Mohist disciples to help him."
In the end, they all died in the hands of Governor Huo.
Liu Yan lowered his head and saw another salty bean on the plate.
"Don't waste food."
There seemed to be a voice saying in my ear.
Liu Yan reached out and pinched the salted beans and put them into his mouth.