A moment later, Zhao Hongrun and his clan guards, followed by Zheng Xurong, the Ai Qing of Dali Temple, Chu Shuli, the chief minister of Daliang Prefecture, and other officials who were mainly responsible for the case, took the body of Zhou Yan, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishments, under the guard and protection of Yi Ganbing.
We arrived at the autopsy room of Dali Temple.
At this time, Zhao Hongrun also received an oral order from his father, appointing him as an inspector to assist in the investigation of the murder of Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment.
This incident surprised Zhao Hongrun.
Although Zhao Hongrun would continue to pursue the case even if his father did not allow it, but with the special appointment of "Inspector", it became more legitimate for him to pursue the case. At least, a guy like Chao Lidong could not
Find a way to remove Zhao Hongrun.
In the autopsy room of Dali Temple, several priests of Dali Temple took off the official clothes on the body of Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, and carefully examined the whole body.
Zhao Hongrun and a group of officials responsible for the case watched intently.
Originally, there was no need for Zhao Hongrun and other officials to be around for things like an autopsy. However, the person who was killed this time was the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, a first-class important minister in the court. Therefore, no one dared to take it lightly and must be careful.
I watched the entire autopsy results.
"My lords, there is a swelling on the back of Zhou Shangshu's skull. It was obviously caused by being hit hard with a blunt instrument..."
When an operator examined the back of Zhou Yan's head, he touched it a few times and made this inference based on experience.
In addition, several other gangsters also found traces of rope binding on Zhou Yan's body.
"... There are obvious rope binding marks on Zhou Shangshu's body. Judging from the depth of the rope, the thieves tied Zhou Shangshu extremely tightly, probably because they were afraid that Zhou Shangshu would break the rope and escape... Other than that, there were no external injuries.
"
Dali Temple's Ai Qing Zheng Xurong and Daliang Mansion's Chief Chu Shuli looked at each other, frowned and asked, "What's the cause of death?"
"... I suspect he was poisoned by taking medicine, but we can only confirm it after an autopsy." Several gangsters replied solemnly.
Hearing that the corpse was about to be dissected, Yang Yu, the young minister of Dali Temple, quickly said to Xu Rong and Chu Shuli: "My lords, my subordinates are keeping an eye on this place. Why don't you two lords go to the Ministry of Punishment headquarters to check it out first? Maybe in Zhou Shangshu's office.
What clues will be left in the house?"
He meant well. After all, the autopsy process was quite bloody, and Xu Rong and Chu Shuli were both over fifty years old. Shaoqing Yang Yu was worried about what kind of stimulation these two people would suffer.
Xu Rong and Chu Shuli nodded and accepted Yang Yu's kindness, but before leaving, they also called Zhao Hongrun in good faith. After all, although Zhao Hongrun was used to seeing dead bodies on the battlefield, it did not mean that Zhao Hongrun could accept autopsy.
process.
The two elders could tell that the young His Highness Prince Su did not look very good.
It has to be said that these two are indeed veterans who have been in the court for a long time. What they said is hard to find fault with: "His Royal Highness King Su, as far as I know, before Zhou Shangshu was killed, His Highness met with him.
Sir, why don't you go to the Ministry of Punishment headquarters with the old minister and others? By the way, the old minister can also ask your highness about the situation at that time, which may be of great help in solving the case."
"I will tell you everything I know." Zhao Hongrun quickly accepted the kindness of the two elders.
As a result, Zhao Hongrun, Xu Rong, and Chu Shuli followed Tang Zheng, the left minister of the Ministry of Punishments, to the headquarters of the Ministry of Punishments, while Yang Yu, the young minister of Dali Temple, stayed with Dan Ming, the right minister of the Ministry of Punishments, to watch the autopsy process.
.
Stepping out of the autopsy room, Zongwei Lu Mu endured the discomfort he felt in the room, took a breath of fresh air, and sighed: "What a thief, so audacious to harm Zhou Shangshu..."
After hearing this, Zhao Hongrun and the other sect guards were silent.
To be fair, among the six ministries of the imperial court, Zhou Yan can be regarded as one of the very few important ministers in the imperial court who have no interests linked to Zhao Hongrun, but still have a good relationship. Unlike Li Huan, the Minister of the Ministry of War, he actually hates Zhao Hongrun to death in his heart, but for the sake of the Ministry of War
, I just endured the attack for the sake of my son Li Jin’s future.
Zhao Hongrun and the Zongwei also had a favorable impression of Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment.
For example, just two days ago, Zhao Hongrun negotiated with the Minister of Justice because of Wen Qi's relationship with the Ministry of Punishment. At that time, Zhou Yan did not make things difficult for Zhao Hongrun. Once he heard that Zhao Hongrun would seek the acquiescence of Chui Gong Palace and the Ministry of Rites, he readily agreed.
about this.
Such a well-connected minister died unexpectedly, and Zhao Hongrun felt inexplicable sadness in his heart, followed by overwhelming anger. After all, regardless of the friendly relationship between the two, Zhou Yan was also a young man in the court, and only four
He took the position of Minister of the Ministry of Punishment when he was around ten years old, which meant that he could hold the position of Chief of the Ministry of Punishment for at least ten years.
The loss of such a relatively young and wise minister, a pillar of the country, was definitely a huge loss for the imperial court.
Under the guidance of Tang Zheng, the left minister of the Ministry of Punishment, the group came to the headquarters of the Ministry of Punishment and the room where Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, usually handles official business.
Because this statement was of great importance, Xu Rong and Chu Shuli did not dare to let the soldiers and guards participate in the search. Instead, they asked Wei Jiao and other Zongwei to assist. After all, Zongwei's loyalty was obvious to all.
Unfortunately, a group of people searched the room where Zhou Yan, the Minister of Justice, usually worked for a long time, but could not find any clues.
So taking advantage of the break, Xu Rong, the minister of Dali Temple, asked Zhao Hongrun about what happened when he met Zhou Yan two days ago, hoping to find some clues from it.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun did not hide anything. He came behind the desk in the room and sat on the chair where Zhou Yan usually sat. While recalling the scene at that time, he truthfully told Xu Rong and Chu Shuli what happened.
"Your Highness, did Zhou Shangshu reveal his past identity at that time?" Xu Rong asked with a frown.
"No." Zhao Hongrun shook his head, and while tapping the desk with his hand, he shook his head and said: "When I left, Shangshu Zhou was still..."
At this point, his voice stopped suddenly, and his eyes carefully looked at Zhou Yan's desk.
"Your Highness?" Xu Rong and Chu Shuli looked at each other, quickly stood up from their chairs and walked over, asking: "Did your Highness remember something?"
At this time, Zhao Hongrun was seen carefully looking at Zhou Yan's desk, and then he turned back to look at the cabinet behind him and the vase where the scrolls were temporarily placed. He frowned and said, "A few things are missing..."
As he spoke, he stood up abruptly and ordered the sect guards: "Wei Jiao, look for the case sects of Wang Ling, Ma Qi, Su Li and others for this king." He announced a series of names.
, Xu Rong and Chu Shuli looked at each other in confusion.
"Yes!" The sect guards did not dare to neglect and hurriedly rummaged through the boxes and cabinets to look for it.
At this time, Xu Rong and Chu Shuli came to Zhao Hongrun. The former asked doubtfully: "Your Highness, what are you..."
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun explained to the two ministers: "Two old gentlemen, when I came, although I had never heard Zhou Shangshu say where he was going, he did hear Zhou Shangshu mention it and learned that Zhou Shangshu was here.
Pursuing several headless cases. I have looked at those files, but when I came back today, I never saw those files..."
"Could it be that Zhou Shangshu stored it after His Highness left?" Chu Shuli asked.
Zhao Hongrun shook his head, frowned and said: "Lord Chu, I don't know that those strange cases are all strange cases that Zhou Shangshu has been pursuing for a long time but with no results... Furthermore, there is an official named Wang Ling among them.
He is an old friend of Zhou Shangshu. Looking at Zhou Shangshu's appearance at that time, if the truth cannot be traced, Zhou Shangshu will never easily close the case... Therefore, it is impossible for him to send those closed cases to the Treasury of the Ministry of Punishment...
"
At this time, Xu Rong, the minister of Dali Temple, stroked his beard and said with slightly shining eyes: "However, when we found the body of Zhou Shangshu, we could not find any case..."
Looking at Chu Shuli, the two elders also participated in the search.
Unfortunately, after everyone searched for a long time, they could not find the cases Zhao Hongrun mentioned.
Seeing this, Xu Rong, the minister of Dali Temple, said to Zhao Hongrun: "Your Highness, can you write it silently?"
Perhaps for others, this is a difficult thing to do, but Xu Rong, Chu Shuli and other ministers in the court knew the abilities of His Royal Highness Prince Su before them. This man was definitely a genius who could never forget anything and could read monuments at a glance.
I still remember that three years ago, during the court banquet on Dragon Boat Festival, His Highness Prince Su wrote word for word the book that Prince Hongli of the East Palace used to make his speech. This strange thing was talked about in the court.
road.
"Boss, please wait a moment."
Zhao Hongrun immediately found some pieces of paper and spread them out on the table. He asked Wei Jiao to grind them and write quickly on the paper. He wrote down the cases of Wang Ling, Ma Qi, Su Li and others word for word according to his memory.
Not to mention that Xu Rong and Chu Shuli were amazed by what they saw. Even Tang Zheng, the left minister of the Ministry of Justice, who was originally standing in the outer room to avoid suspicion, couldn't help but walk in, hoping to witness this incredible scene with his own eyes.
After a long time, Zhao Hongrun put down the brush in his hand, lowered his head and blew the ink on the paper, stood up and said: "Two elders, please."
"It's just...incredible."
Xu Rong and Chu Shuli looked at the densely packed sheets of paper on the table, and then looked up at His Highness Prince Su in front of them, looking at each other quite a bit.
You just read it once, and you didn't deliberately remember it at the time, but you could write it down word for word? Are there such geniuses in the world?
"I really can't believe that when the Ministry of Rites was compiling the library, His Highness Prince Su was not invited..." Chu Shuli was surprised and made a joke.
At this time, Xu Rong, the minister of Dali Temple who was presiding over the case, was already sitting on the chair without hesitation, carefully reading the cases written down by Zhao Hongrun, nodding from time to time and saying: "Yes, these cases I have
My impression is that the murderer was either missing or died unexpectedly, so he was not handed over to Dali Temple for trial, but it is true... I thought that Zhou Shangshu had closed the case, but he was still pursuing it...
"
Having said this, he turned to look at Zhao Hongrun and asked doubtfully: "Your Highness, do you suspect that these unsolved cases are related to the murder of Zhou Shangshu? But as far as the veteran knows, these cases were the earliest
One incident happened the year before last, and the most recent one was several months ago, but Zhou Shangshu was killed only two days ago. This..."
"Perhaps it's Zhou Shangshu's latest discovery." Chu Shuli, the Prime Minister of Daliang Mansion, said thoughtfully.
At this moment, a government servant walked in outside the house and reported: "My lords, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, He Meihe, asked to see you. He said that he came here for a case involving the Minister."
"Congratulations to Mei from the Ministry of Official Affairs?"
Zhao Hongrun, Xu Rong, Chu Shuli and Tang Zheng looked at each other, feeling a little surprised.
Could it be that this case also involves the Ministry of Officials?