Although Liu Jing was too lazy to pay attention to Liben, this was his eldest brother's mourning hall, and the etiquette should not be discarded.
So I could only endure my nausea and watch Shen Liben twist a stick of incense, light it and insert it into the incense burner. Then he pretended to face the eldest brother's memorial tablet and said:
"Liu Shenzheng, although you and I are just acquaintances, I know that you are upright and honorable, and your character is valuable. Just rest assured, if you have any grievances, I will definitely help you find out."
After a pause, Shen Liben lowered his voice and said: "If your death was just due to an accident, I will definitely help you to make things right. I won't let the world say that Liu Bowen's eldest son fell into a well due to drunkenness and died."
"My eldest brother usually doesn't drink!" Liu Jing finally couldn't help but said angrily: "Don't try to ruin his reputation!"
"Mr. Liu, don't worry." Shen Liben didn't worry at all and said in full imperial envoy style: "I have already said that I will definitely help your brother get through."
"You don't have to worry about it, he wasn't an alcoholic in the first place, and it's even more unlikely that he fell into the well on his own!" Liu Jing's face turned red in frustration.
"Mr. Liu, please be patient." Xiong Qitai also helped Shen Liben and said, "The imperial envoy will definitely investigate and will not tarnish Liu Shenzheng's posthumous name."
"Stop crying like a cat and pretending to be compassionate. It's you bastards who spread rumors all day long to smear my brother!" Liu Jing said with veins jumping on his forehead: "Get out! Get out of here!"
"Mr. Liu was a little agitated due to his grief. Let's not disturb him." Shen Liben still maintained his demeanor. In fact, he didn't care at all. These second-generation people were not very capable and had a bad temper.
All the officials laughed and said goodbye, leaving the official residence.
The door slammed shut behind them, and the officials shook their heads and sighed. "What kind of qualities do you have?"
"Forget it, I don't want to be on the same level as him." Shen Liben waved his hand and said calmly: "He doesn't care about decency, we still have to be honourable."
"Yes, yes, what is your status, sir? There is no need to argue with a dandy." Xiong Qitai nodded, bowed his waist and stretched out his hand, smiling and said: "Please come to the main office to serve tea."
"No rush." Shen Liben shook his head, pointed to the official house next door with a seal and asked, "Is this Cao's political house?"
"Yes. After the case of Liu Shenzheng falling into the well, this place became a haunted house. Cao Shenzheng and his family moved out that night." Zeng Tai replied: "Then, the inspector temporarily sealed the place."
"Well, the scene should be protected." Shen Liben nodded.
"Yes, yes." Zeng Tai smiled sarcastically.
"Go in and take a look." Shen Liben pointed to the sealed door.
"Yes." Zeng Tai quickly ordered someone to tear off the seal and open the door.
The officials gathered around Shen Liben and entered the official residence. The official residence was in a mess and worthless things were scattered everywhere. Apparently, they were left behind by Cao Shenzheng when he moved.
After a search and a move, all useful clues were wiped out. I can only say that the scene was protected and the loneliness was protected.
Shen Liben did not criticize Zeng Tai because he didn't care at all.
He let Zeng Tai lead him around the scene, looked at the well that killed Liu Lian, and left the scene without saying a word.
~~
Returning to the back hall of Zhengya, Shen Liben, under the arrangement of Xiong Qitai, washed his face, changed clothes, and took a short rest.
After he had washed away his bad luck and put on his scarlet robe again, Xiong Qitai came in to pay his respects.
But seeing Shen Liben's face looking a little unkind, he felt nervous and asked in a low voice, "Sir, is there something wrong?"
"Let me ask you again, are you hiding something from me?" Shen Liben stared at Xiong Qitai's seemingly loyal face.
"No. Really not." Xiong Qitai still denied it.
"Then let me ask you, that well is in such a remote location, how could a guy lead Liu Lian to that place?" Shen Liben suddenly raised his voice and asked, "What are you hiding?!"
"Yes, how did he do it?" Xiong Qitai looked confused, and then called out to Chong Tianqu and said: "Bizhi doesn't know either, but Bizhi only knows that he definitely did not hide it from your lord!"
"You really have a tough mouth," Shen Liben snorted and said with a straight face, "Well, if something happens, don't blame me for not protecting you!"
"I understand. It's just that I can see my heart for adults as bright as the bright moon!" No matter how hard and soft Shen Liben tried, Xiong Qitai just killed him and he didn't hide it.
"Let them all come in." Shen Liben had no choice but to reveal this section first.
~~
After a while, Deputy Ambassador Zeng Taifeng and other officials handling the case came to the hall to listen to orders.
"Let's all sit down." Shen Liben smiled warmly. He could not tell that he had just gotten angry with Xiong Qitai. He smiled and said to everyone: "I have called you all here to discuss how to handle the case of Liu Shenzhen."
After a pause, he looked at Xiong Qitai again and said with a smile: "I had a brief discussion with Mr. Xiong Fangbo just now, and I feel that we should put the overall situation first. We can't discredit Liu Shenzhen's political participation, we can't discredit Jiangxi official circles, and of course we can't discredit the imperial court. Okay. What do you think?"
"That's right, that's right. The superiors of the ministry and the superiors of the feudal lords." All the officials nodded hurriedly.
Zeng Tai originally wanted to go with the flow as usual, but His Royal Highness the King of Chu's instructions echoed in his mind - 'Anything they advocate, you will oppose; whatever they oppose, you will support!'
It’s really easy to say it, but do you know how difficult it is to do it? It’s very stressful to go against your boss in public...
"Since everyone has no objections, then our tone has been set..." Before Shen Liben could finish his words, Zeng Tai said weakly:
"I object."
"What did Zeng Lian go to say? I didn't hear clearly." Shen Liben looked at Zeng Tai in disbelief.
"Go back to the ministry hall. The subordinates said that I objected." He fired his bow without an arrow to turn back, so Zeng Tai could only grit his teeth and fight.
"What are you objecting to? What do you have to object to?" Shen Liben's face sank, but before he could speak, Xiong Qitai asked first, "What are your intentions? Do you still regard yourself as a member of Jiangxi officialdom?" !”
"The lower official objects to setting the tone before investigating the case." Zeng Tai is a teacher who is not good at work but is good at quarreling. "As an inspector, I am responsible for the punishment of a province. It is only natural that I demand to find out the truth! On the contrary, Xiong Fantai went online like this, what is his intention?!"
"Why didn't you object when you were drunk and drowned according to Cha Si's regulations?" Xiong Qitai turned on the roaring mode.
Zeng Taixin said that at that time, I was still dawdling around. Who would have thought that I would become His Royal Highness the King of Chu’s cat-teasing stick? But he had already thought of his words and said sternly:
"At that time, the Imperial Envoy had not yet come, and the case was reported in the Yamen. I was worried that if I objected at that time, someone would take risks and continue to commit crimes in order to destroy the evidence. In that case, things would get bigger and bigger!"
As he spoke, Zeng Tai cupped his hands towards Shen Libengong and said, "But now that the Imperial Envoy has arrived, the situation is different. With him sitting in charge, who would dare to act like a monster again?!"
Shen Liben didn't know whether to laugh or cry. All the rules in the world were dominated by Zeng. What else could he say? He could only pinch his nose and nod: "Zeng Lian is interested."
