Holding the case scroll in his hand, Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but frown.
After a while, he asked: "Do you have any relatives in Wang Ling's house?"
When Zhou Yan heard this, there was a hint of anger on his face, and he whispered: "Wang Ling has two sons. The eldest son Wang Xi is already weak. When he was traveling to and from Daliang a few months ago, he disappeared.
A few months later, I learned that he had been killed by a thief on the way; the second son Wang Yi, because his father-in-law Cui had no sons, he adopted the Cui family and inherited the family business. He also passed away a few months ago.
, while out playing with a group of Zhongyang companions, he accidentally fell off a cliff and died... In addition to the second-room concubine who was drowned and died in a bamboo cage, no one in the Wang family of six survived, and only the living room was left.
Mr. Cui is in Zhongyang, but Mr. Cui learned that his son-in-law, daughter, and grandson all suffered unexpected events. He was heartbroken and couldn't bear to fall ill... He also passed away a few days ago."
This is simply annihilation...
The more Zhao Hongrun heard, the more frightened he became. Like Zhou Yan, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, he also felt the strong atmosphere of conspiracy in this matter.
But the problem is, almost all relevant people are dead now, so where are there any clues?
At this time, Zhou Yan sighed at the side: "According to the practice of the Ministry of Punishments, this matter should have been closed long ago, but... the case was closed so hastily, Wang Ling cannot escape the stigma."
Zhao Hongrun remained silent.
Indeed, such a headless case could have been closed long ago with the simplest method: Wang Ling secretly communicated with South Korea, plotted to rebel, and committed suicide out of fear of guilt when his deeds were exposed.
But anyone with a discerning eye could see that Wang Ling, the magistrate of Jiyang County, had been framed, and the methods of those who framed him were so clever that even Zhou Yan, who was the Minister of Punishment, could not exonerate his old friend.
"Does this Lord Wang have any enemies?" Zhao Hongrun asked with a frown.
Zhou Yan sighed and said: "Wang Ling is upright. Now I can only start investigating from this aspect to see if I can find anything... In short, I never believe that Wang Ling will take corruption or bribery, let alone that he will
Having an affair with South Korea.”
"..." Zhao Hongrun opened his mouth, but in the end, all he could do was nod.
After all, even he couldn't give any good advice in a case like this with no evidence.
At this time, Zhou Yan took a long breath, calmed down the sadness on his face, picked up a case from the desk and handed it to Zhao Hongrun, saying: "Your Highness, please take a look at this again."
Zhao Hongrun took the case, glanced at it a few times, and then frowned unconsciously.
This case is about Ma Qi, the magistrate of Puyang County. Someone reported that the magistrate had connections with thieves in Guilin and instigated the gang of thieves to harass the territory of Wei State. Hou Weicheng, the leader of Wei State, was furious.
He sent someone to question Ma Qi, the magistrate of Puyang County.
After learning about this incident, Ma Qi, the magistrate of Puyang County, was furious. He led the county soldiers across the border to argue with Shougong Hou Weicheng. During the period, they had a disagreement and the two sides fought fiercely. As a result, Wei You, the youngest son of Shougong Hou Weicheng, was accidentally killed.
.
This is a more troublesome case than the one just now because it involves Weiguo.
However, because of his previous experience, Zhao Hongrun did not express his opinion rashly. Instead, he raised his head and looked at Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment. In his opinion, if nothing unexpected happened, there must be something hidden in this matter.
Sure enough, Zhou Yan, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, pointed at the case in Zhao Hongrun's hand and said in a deep voice: "Ma Qi, the magistrate of Puyang County, was also a capital official. He served as the right warrior in front of the palace in Daliang. He was very skilled in martial arts and quite brave.
…”
"This person was once the commander of the imperial army in the palace?" Zhao Hongrun asked in surprise. Note: Commander refers to a general term, not a specific official name.
You must know that although the Wulang in front of the palace is a military position belonging to Lang Wei, it is higher than the general guards and the commander of Lang Wei. He is an assistant officer directly under the president of the Three Guards Army.
"Hmm." Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, nodded and said seriously: "Ma Qi, the magistrate of Puyang County, was originally deployed by General Li Zheng."
After hearing this, Zhao Hongrun was extremely surprised.
To be precise, Li Zheng, the former Zongwei Chief of Emperor Wei, had never obtained the rank of general, but I believe no one would think that his status would be lower than that of the generals stationed in the Sixth Battalion.
After all, Li Zheng was the only one other than Emperor Wei who could mobilize the three armies of Bingwei, Imperial Guard and Langwei at any time.
Apart from him, even Zhao Hongrun could only mobilize part of the imperial guards and military guards under the order of King Su in emergencies, but Lang Wei could not be mobilized by him.
As the most valued son of Emperor Wei, Zhao Hongrun is like this for now, let alone others.
"How come General Li (Zheng)'s old army was transferred to Puyang County as the county magistrate?" Zhao Hongrun looked at Zhou Yan in confusion.
It's a pity that Zhou Yan didn't know much about this matter. He shook his head and said: "Zhou has not had much contact with Ma Qi, so he doesn't know much about this matter. However, I have heard people say that Ma Qi hates evil and has a strong temperament, so
No matter how you think about it, you don’t think that he will support the bandits to respect themselves, let alone instigate that group of thieves to invade the Wei territory..."
"..." Zhao Hongrun remained silent, just looking down at An Zong.
Because it is clearly written in the case: Magistrate Ma Qi of Puyang County was horrified when he saw that he had mistakenly killed the youngest son of Shoulong Hou Weicheng. For fear of causing conflicts between Wei and Wei, he resolutely committed suicide and paid for it.
Shougong Hou Weicheng.
How can such a person support a thief and respect himself?
After the incident, Ma Qi's eldest son Ma Xing and several able-bodied servants in the mansion disappeared. Not long after, when Weicheng, the Marquis of Shougong, was burying his youngest son outside the city, he was attacked by a group of thieves.
attack.
Shougong Hou Weicheng was killed on the spot, and the thieves who attacked his team were also chased and killed by Shougong Hou Weicheng's personal guards.
Among the corpses of those thieves was Ma Xing, the eldest son of Ma Qi, the magistrate of Puyang County.
Afterwards, Wei Jing, the crown prince of Shougong Hou, sent people to Wei State Daliang to cry out about the incident, and the Ministry of Punishment then took people to Puyang County.
But the problem is that the magistrate of Puyang County, Ma Qi, his eldest son Ma Xing, and the Marquis of Shougong, Weicheng, were all dead at the time, and the clues were all gone, so there was no way to investigate.
All in all, it is another unsolved case.
"In recent months, Wei Jing, the crown prince of Shougong Hou, has been sending people over to urge me to bring the criminals to justice, but the magistrate of Puyang County, Ma Qi, and his eldest son are dead, so there is no way to investigate, so Zhou has no choice but to
Dragging..." As he spoke, Zhou Yan sighed and said with a wry smile: "The Ministry of Rites has sent people over to appease this matter, but Wei Jing, the crown prince of Shougong Marquis, is unwilling to give up and will ask the Ma family to pay for it.
In short...this matter is very difficult!"
"..." Zhao Hongrun frowned deeply and turned to look at the other cases on the desk.
Only then did he realize that these cases were all unsolved cases with no clues, but the victims were exactly the people recorded in the cases, and they were all officials of the imperial court.
Some hold local posts, and some are officials in the capital of Daliang; some have committed inexplicable crimes, and some have been killed by thieves in an unbelievable way.
In addition, the date and location of the incident are uncertain, and almost all of them result in family destruction and death within a few days, and no trace can be traced afterwards.
In addition, these cases have one thing in common, and that is: it seems that the whole thing makes sense, as if someone deliberately left "answers" for the Ministry of Punishment that are sufficient for communication, but if you think about it carefully, these "answers" are not
It doesn't stand up to scrutiny, it's really strange.
When Zhao Hongrun told his judgment to Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, Zhou Yan also showed a look on his face.
But specifically, Zhao Hongrun can't help. After all, these cases are all unsolved cases, and tracing them is tantamount to finding a needle in a haystack.
Zhou Yan obviously also understood this truth. After a while, he forced a smile and said: "I feel sorry for delaying your time, Your Highness. It's getting late. Your Highness, please go to Dali Temple to pick up someone first."
"What the hell, I can't help you." Zhao Hongrun was a little embarrassed. After all, he could see that the Minister of Justice in front of him thought highly of his intelligence, so he made an exception and showed these cases to him.
look.
But now that Zhao Hongrun has not done much to help, it is inevitable that he feels ashamed that he has not trusted others."
"In this case, I will take my leave first..."
"Your Highness Prince Su, walk slowly."
After sending Zhao Hongrun out of the office, Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, returned to the house, sat behind the desk and continued to examine the headless cases on the table, muttering to himself: "His Royal Highness King Yisu is so smart that he failed to see these things.
The connection between the cases. Then, either these cases are actually not related, or the other party is smarter than I thought and made some cover-ups in advance... In other words, some of these people are actually not
It's the target, it's just a cover used by the other party to mix things up..."
As he spoke, Zhou Yan stared at the cases attentively and slowly groped with his hands.
"Wang Ling, Ma Qi, Su Li... These people are all officials transferred from Daliang. There must be some connection between them... Wang Ling used to be the Minister of the Literary Selection Department of the Ministry of Personnel, and Ma Qi was the front-line official.
Youwulang, Su Li once served as the governor..."
Closing his eyes, Zhou Yan rubbed his forehead with his hands and thought hard.
After a long time, Zhou Yan suddenly opened his eyes and murmured to himself in surprise: "Come to think of it, why were these people transferred from outside?"
Thinking of this, Zhou Yan stood up immediately. He felt that it was necessary to go to the Ministry of Personnel and check the official registration list of the Ministry of Personnel to see what the reasons for Wang Ling, Ma Qi, and Su Li were.
Being transferred externally.
Perhaps, the connection between these people can be found.
At the same time, Zhao Hongrun had arrived at Dali Temple, and with the order of Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, he came to the cell where Wen Qi was being held.
After three years of absence, Zhao Hongrun is no longer the Eighth Prince he was back then. His gestures and movements have greatly increased in majesty and momentum. Wen Qi is no longer the elegant candidate three years ago.
People are cynical and have a sense of incompatibility between being detached and outside of others.
The two looked at each other for a long time, and finally Zhao Hongrun took the lead to break the deadlock: "Long time no see, Mr. Wen."
"you……"
Wen Qi, who had disheveled hair and was covered in dirt, raised his head and looked at the young man with surprise and uncertainty. He knew at first glance that he was not an ordinary person. His originally indifferent eyes gradually showed a hint of sparkle, and then, these sparkles quickly turned into
indignation.
He stood up suddenly, rushed forward and grabbed Zhao Hongrun's lapel.
"It's all you! It's all you who brought me to this point!" (To be continued.)