Qu Shang's answer left Ma Su speechless for a while.
It is indeed difficult to expect a person with an upright heart to plot against another person, but it is also impossible to expect a person full of intrigues to arrange a just right crime for another person.
In any case, the eighteen-year-old Jia Chong was charged with the crime of rebellion, and the evidence was conclusive. Regardless of whether others believed it or not, Qu Shang believed it and was very proud of it.
Compared with Jiang Ziya, Zhuge Liang and Guo Jia, he is so confident.
Under severe punishment, Jia Chong quickly confessed everything.
To Ma Su's surprise, what Jia Chong confessed had nothing to do with not only the assassination case, but also had nothing to do with Sima Shi.
Jia Chong is the son of Jia Kui, the former governor of Yuzhou in Cao Wei. Because Jia Kui died early when Jia Chong was eleven years old, after Shu destroyed Wei, Jia Chong only eliminated one city gate official, so he claimed that he had no contact with the Sima family.
I don’t know Master Sima.
The reason why he was able to visit the residences of major officials was entirely due to the reputation of his father Jia Kui. He brought gifts to ask for recommendations and promotions, not for other purposes.
Among the high officials who visited, naturally included Fei Yi, the former Minister of Household Affairs - Jia Chong's position as city official was promoted by Fei Yi. So, when he saw Fei Yi at the city gate,
Only then did Jia Chong nod to Fei Yi.
After learning about this situation, Ma Su was very disappointed and decided to interrogate Jia Chong personally.
When I arrived at Tingwei's prison, I saw that this guy was covered in blood. He had been tortured all over and was sleeping on the rack in the cell.
Qu Shang found a whip and began to beat him. Jia Chong woke up from the pain and found that the person standing in front of him was the general Ma Di. He quickly begged for mercy and said: "General, the villain has never rebelled. The villain has been wronged."
Ma Su signaled Qu Shang to stop, looked down at Jia Chong from a distance of three steps, and asked in a cold voice: "Jia Chong, you have committed the crime of treason and should be punished for annihilating the three clans. How can you conspire with Fei Yi?"
If the assassination of this general is brought to you truthfully, I will spare the lives of your whole family."
"General, the villain and Lord Fei Yi are just official acquaintances and have never conspired to rebel."
"Do you know Master Sima?" Ma Di asked suddenly, out of the blue.
Jia Chong was startled for a moment, and a trace of panic flashed in his eyes, which was immediately replaced by confusion. "Back to the general, I recognize him. Sima Shi is the second son of General Chariot and Cavalry, but he probably doesn't recognize me."
Qu Shang whipped him over and scolded: "You are still pretending! I don't believe you don't know that Master Sima is the eldest son of a general of chariots and cavalry!"
Ma Su waved his hand, stopped Qu Shang again, and said to Jia Chong: "As long as you accuse Master Sima of conspiring with you in the assassination, your whole family's lives will be spared except you."
Jia Chong was silent for a while, then shook his head, "General, I really don't have any dealings with Master Sima."
Ma Di shook his head and walked out of the prison.
If you don’t know what kind of person Jia Chong is, you might actually be fooled by him.
Although the popularity of this era is soaring, people are willing to have their sides stabbed for their friends. When normal prisoners are faced with such a situation where they can survive by framing others, most of them would rather choose to die themselves than bite others...
…
But obviously Jia Chong is not among them.
The more he defends Sima Shi, the more it proves that the two have an ulterior relationship.
This was an intuition. Ma Su only asked Jia Chong one sentence and determined that the matter must be related to Master Sima... and began to think about how to punish Master Sima.
No matter when Jia Chong and Sima Shi met or what kind of relationship they had, Ma Di didn't care at all. He only cared about how to make the murderer who dared to assassinate him receive the punishment he deserved.
He thought that he still had to use Sima Yi's talents to sweep away Anxi, Rome, and the public opinion in the court was boiling at this time. It was really not suitable to deal with Sima Shi now. Ma Di nodded and decided to wait a few years.
Just when Jia Chong thought he was going to die, Ma Di asked someone to let him go. He was found guilty of "rebellion" and released without any solid evidence.
Judging from the surprised expressions on Xiang Chong and Qu Shang, they probably did not expect such a result.
When I came out of the cell, the winter sun had already risen to the middle of the sky, and the sky and the earth were filled with light. All the conspiracies, evil spirits, and evil spirits hidden in the darkness seemed to have been evaporated.
Ma Di stood in the large courtyard of Tingwei Mansion, facing the sun, closing his eyes and thinking.
Xiang Chong stood behind him at some point and whispered: "General, do you really want to let Jia Chong and his family go? Why don't you wait for someone to intercede? Then follow this line.
Check next?”
Qu Shang added: "Those who come to visit Jia Chong must also be investigated."
Ma Su shook his head and said calmly: "No need, he is just a little shrimp, let him go, and his whole family. I already know the real mastermind."
Xiang Chong said with a smile: "The general is really wise and powerful. He only asked Jia Chong a few words and found out who was behind the scenes! Dare you ask the general, who is the murderer? I will personally take people to arrest him and interrogate him personally. I guarantee that he will be punished.
A solid case!"
"No need, I have my own opinion."
Ma Di shook his head and looked at Xiang Chong seriously, "Thank you, Mr. Xiang, for what happened this time. Don't rush to torture the prisoner next time. As this case ends, just pretend that nothing happened."
"
After giving the instructions, Ma Su took Qu Shang out of Tingwei's Mansion and took a car back to the General's Mansion.
On the way, Qu Shang couldn't help but ask: "General, what Jia Chong said is definitely not true, why should you let him go? In my opinion, he should continue to be tortured. If he doesn't confess, then his three clans will be executed."
, see if he says it or not!"
Listening to these cruel and ruthless words, Ma Su shook his head and laughed. Although physical torture and life threats can make most people reveal the truth, it is not absolute, and the credibility of words spoken under severe punishment is not high.
.
The most important thing is that he already knows who the murderer is, so there is no need to continue the torture.
This frame-up plan was full of loopholes and extremely exaggerated. Even thinking about it, he knew that it was impossible for a city gatekeeper to store yellow robes at home to rebel. Ma Di could already predict that in the court tomorrow, the civil and military officials would make a big fuss about this matter.
Criticizing Tingwei Xiang Chong, he also criticized him as the person behind the scenes.
But Ma Su wasn't too worried.
As a result, Jia Chong has been released and the matter has been revealed.
Secondly, with military power in hand, who can do anything to me?!
After all, a small incident of this magnitude would not have much negative impact on him at all.
You must know that he has always had the style of "revenge". It is understandable that he would overreact when he was assassinated.
It was precisely because of this that Fei Yi and Yang Yi were sent away three thousand miles away for "ordinary minor offenses".
After all, what could be more important than the general's life?
…
When it got dark, Jia Chong returned to his home in the east city of Chang'an Prefecture, an ordinary house.
He had just escaped from the edge of death and was covered in scars. As soon as he got home, he put away his confused expression and put away his depression after losing his official position.
His mentality was like that of a bird that had just escaped from the cage, breathing the free air with a comfortable expression on his face.
In Tingwei Prison, he withstood severe torture, withheld confessions, fear and panic, and calmly dealt with the cross-examination from the general.
It is hard to imagine that this is the psychological quality that an eighteen-year-old young man should have.
With this in mind, Jia Chong lay down on the cave and let the old servant give him medicine.
Before the medicine was finished, Jia Chong suddenly chuckled. He didn't know whether he was stimulated by the potion or because he was laughing at himself for escaping from the prison.
"Although you dealt with it very well, you still aroused the suspicion of the general. Zhuge Liang has returned to Chang'an. If this case is tried by him, it is almost impossible for you to hide it. I am afraid that he will notice it as soon as you open your mouth.
Flaw." The old servant who was applying the medicine suddenly reminded him.
"Well, this time it's a fluke..."
Jia Chong closed his eyes and slowly tapped the head of the bed with his fingers, making a "dang-dang-dang" sound. His face under the candlelight looked a little tired and painful. After a while, when the medicinal wine was wiped off, he seemed to have fallen asleep.
With great determination, I struggled to stand up slowly and walked outside.
"Are you crazy? Are you going out at this time?"
"My lord will not see you!"
The old servant's voice was full of surprise and confusion.
When Jia Chong heard his question, he stopped and said calmly: "Take a walk on the street."
After saying this, Jia Chong opened the door and walked out. Although his steps were staggering but firm, he soon disappeared into the boundless darkness outside the door.
The door that was not covered was half open, and cold wind blew in. The candlelight kept swaying, as if it would be extinguished at any time. The figures in the room also swayed, and a voice murmured to himself: "Let's take a walk."
