ps: Thanks to the "True Super Saiyan" book friend for the 100,000-coin reward. Well, ten chapters in one go... The author's mood is very complicated.
In short, the current update status is [2/17].
The following text
Xu Rong, the minister of Dali Temple...that old man is really not simple.
With admiration for Xu Rong, Zhao Hongrun stepped into one of the warehouses where the official records of the Ministry of Personnel are stored, but in his mind, he was still recalling the scene just now.
Zhao Hongrun still remembers the last day he saw Zhou Yan, Minister of the Ministry of Justice, which was June 14th.
That morning, he went out at 2:00 a.m., and at around 3:00 a.m., he first went to the main office of the Ministry of Rites to ask for an audience with Du You, the Minister of Rites.
Zhao Hongrun's rescue of Wen Qi.
It was about a quarter past four when I left the main office of the Ministry of Rites.
Afterwards, Zhao Hongrun went to the main office of the Ministry of Punishment and met Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment.
After learning that Du You, the Minister of Rites, had acquiesced to the matter, Zhou Yan readily agreed to the matter. However, because he and Zhao Hongrun later talked about those bizarre headless cases, it took a little more time.
It was probably close to noon when we left the main office of the Ministry of Justice.
Zhao Hongrun thought that he would remember correctly, because after he left the Ministry of Punishment headquarters that day, he immediately went to the prison in Dali Temple to rescue Wen Qi.
After that, he took Wen Qi back to Prince Su's Mansion to have dinner together. It should have been three quarters past noon.
According to the officials of the Ministry of Punishment, Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, went out not long after Zhao Hongrun left. However, it was almost noon, and the officials thought that the Minister was returning to his own house for dinner, so they did not pay attention.
They were just surprised because Zhou Yan rarely returned to his house for dinner at noon, and usually dealt with him casually in the canteen of the Ministry of Punishment.
The time is right...
Zhao Hongrun muttered to himself.
When Zhou Yan arrived at the main office of the Ministry of Personnel, it should be after noon. During this time, Zhou Yan met He Mei, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who was wary of him.
Originally, He Mei, an old man, planned to go back home to have dinner and take a nap, but Zhou Yan's arrival made him change his mind, so he went to visit Cao Zhi, the former Minister of Industry and Industry who had retired.
This matter has been confirmed by Mr. Cao Zhi. Mr. Cao even revealed the topics of chat between him and He Mei at that time. For example, He Mei complained to him that the Ministry of Industry was supported by Prince Su. Another example is Mr. Cao Zhi.
Mi Tai He Mei is already an old man, so hurry up and get old.
Then, the two brothers had a "drink" all afternoon.
Yes, Lord He Meihe, the Minister of Civil Affairs, is absent from work.
After learning about this incident, Zhao Hongrun was speechless. He finally understood why when he asked He Mei when Zhou Shangshu left the Ministry of Civil Affairs, He Mei's expression suddenly changed.
It seems that He Meihe Shangshu couldn't tell anything about him and Cao Zhi. The two brothers drank all afternoon. As a result, Shangshu Zhou Yan of the Ministry of Punishment went to his official department and disappeared. How do you ask him to talk?
On normal days, this kind of thing would have passed by turning a blind eye. After all, He Mei was about to resign as a senior citizen. He might be here in the next two years. No one would do this.
It's time to target him.
But the problem is that this time there was such a big incident as the murder of Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment. If this happened to He Mei, wouldn't it be a serious dereliction of duty?
When the time comes, the imperial censor will give him a copy of the corpse's vegetarian meal, and He Mei's fame will be lost, and he will not be saved in the evening.
No wonder He Mei was panicking. Yesterday, he hurriedly found Zhao Hongrun, Xu Rong, Chu Shuli and others to provide clues.
Of course, these inside stories have nothing to do with this case. Zhao Hongrun only needed to learn from He Mei's words that the time when he saw Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, was close to two quarters noon.
This time is consistent with the time recorded in the record book about Zhou Yan's visit to the treasury: two quarters past noon.
The problem lies in the time when Zhou Yan left: at the second quarter of Xu.
it's out of the question!
Why? The reason lies in that oil lamp.
On this point, Zhao Hongrun admired Xu Rong, the minister of Dali Temple.
Because as far as he knew, around dusk yesterday, after Xu Rong and Chu Shuli, the chief minister of Daliang Mansion, led the soldiers to blockade the main office of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Chu Shuli hurriedly led a group of soldiers to search for Wang Ling, Ma Qi, and Su Li.
Official roster of others.
Xu Rong, on the other hand, paced to a squad room outside the warehouse, where the clerks who guarded the warehouse were on duty. Note: The squad room is equivalent to today's workplace and office.
In that squad room, Xu Rong found the book, carefully checked the people who had visited the official library in recent times, and then noticed the oil lamps in the room.
This kind of oil lamp is not the private property of the petty officials, but the public property of the official department. It is provided to the six departments of the imperial court for those who need to browse the official department's warehouse. Any warehouse has similar supplies of sundries.
From the dozens of oil lamps, Xu Rong found the one with the newest oil color.
This kind of oil lamp is different from the oil lamps in ordinary people's homes. It is a copper oil lamp made by the Smelting Bureau. It looks like a large teacup the size of a teapot.
In the center of the cup, there is an erected copper tube that does not exceed the mouth of the cup. Inside the tube is a wick about the thickness of a little finger.
There is a thin copper cover at the mouth of the cup. To be precise, it is a complete circle made of two semicircular copper sheets. The purpose is to prevent the oil lamp in the cup from spilling out and causing a fire, to adjust the brightness of the lamp, and to
Extinguish the oil lamp.
It is undeniable that this kind of oil lamp is very bright because its wick is very thick, but it also consumes a lot of fuel. Therefore, even if the smelting bureau deliberately enlarged this kind of oil lamp, the kerosene in the cup is still only enough to illuminate about two hours.
About an hour.
If Zhou Yan really stayed from 2:00 pm to 2:00 pm, which was a full four hours, there would not be enough kerosene in the oil lamp.
Without this kind of oil lamp, Minister Zhou would never have thought of rummaging around in such a dimly lit warehouse.
Some people may ask, what if someone added lamp oil to Zhou Shangshu in the middle?
However, Xu Rong blocked this point from the beginning. He asked several questions to the two clerks in the squad room last night.
First, there are several minor officials in the class room.
The two petty officials replied: There are only two petty officials.
Second, who received Zhou Shangshu.
One of the petty officials named Zhang Sanxiao answered that it was him.
Third, how many times have you met Zhou Shangshu before and after?
Zhang Sanxiao replied: twice, once for greeting and farewell.
Another petty official replied: He had never met Zhou Shangshu.
Then……
Then these two petty officials were taken to the execution room of Dali Temple overnight by the Dali Temple Qingzheng Xu Rong and were tortured.
This is what Zhao Hongrun admired about Xu Rong. From the moment he saw the record of Zhou Yan's arrival and return, he noticed something fishy in it, and then quietly questioned the two minor officials.
Only old people who have been immersed in trying cases and solving cases for many years have this experience.
Let's look at another old man, Chu Shuli, the chief minister of Daliang Mansion. So far, no clues have been found. Even the official registers of Wang Ling, Ma Qi, Su Li and others have not been found.
All I can say is that people who are not in this field cannot do this kind of thing.
"His Royal Highness King Su."
Just as Zhao Hongrun was sighing secretly, Chu Shuli, the chief minister of Daliang Mansion, who was directing the guards to search for clues in the warehouse, noticed him and came over to greet him.
"Master Chu." Zhao Hongrun also returned the gift and then asked: "Is there anything gained?"
I saw Chu Shuli opening a pair of tired eyes and saying with a wry smile: "I didn't gain anything at all... Nothing what the old minister said was true. I didn't find even a hair's breadth of clues..."
"Ha." Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but laugh out loud. He really didn't expect that Lord Chu Li Chu, the official of the Daliang Mansion, was actually a very interesting person.
"Master Chu, don't be anxious...don't be too hasty, this is what your lord is trying to persuade me to do." Zhao Hongrun comforted him with a smile.
Chu Shuli looked outside the house and sighed secretly.
Obviously, Xu Rong found important clues but he failed to find them, which made Mr. Chu feel a little depressed.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun changed the topic and asked: "Have you never found the official registration list of Wang Ling and others?"
Chu Shuli glanced at Zhao Hongrun, and then motioned for the latter to follow him to a deserted area outside the house. Then, Chu Shuli whispered: "All the soldiers and guards have been looking for the storage rooms in these rows of houses for a whole night.
I've almost searched through it all, but haven't found it... Now there are only two possibilities, either it has fallen into the hands of the murderer, or it has been killed by those two..."
Having said this, he looked around and whispered: "Your Highness, have Master Xu mentioned those two minor officials?"
Zhao Hongrun nodded and said concisely and clearly: "The traitor was still talking just now."
Chu Shuli also nodded when he heard this and said in a low voice: "The veteran has sent someone to find out the details of these two people. They are locals from the west city of Daliang City. They have lived here for at least ten years. Their situation is unknown to their neighbors.
Neighbors and officials in the Ministry of Civil Affairs all knew it roughly and said that these two people usually followed the rules... If Mr. Xu hadn't made a decisive decision, even the veteran officials would have been a little suspicious that they had arrested the wrong person."
After a pause, Chu Shuli said solemnly: "If the wrong person is arrested, it will be fine, but if the wrong person is arrested...such a treacherous and loyal person, the people behind them may have big intentions...
…”
After listening to Chu Shuli's words, Zhao Hongrun's expression became solemn.
Indeed, a native of Daliang, who had been an honest friend for more than ten years, actually helped to harm the Minister of Punishment of the imperial court. One can only imagine how deep this dark water is.
Zhao Hongrun intuitively concluded that the people or forces that harmed Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, might be the same anti-Wei forces that he had worked so hard to track down.
It seems that I was right in guessing that the anti-Wei force had already penetrated into the imperial court... Perhaps, it was a larger force than I imagined...
Zhao Hongrun took a deep breath.
He was already certain that Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, must have discovered some ulterior secrets of that force while investigating the cause of death of Wang Ling and others. Therefore, those people were so anxious to kill and silence them.
Wait a minute... If this is true, doesn't it mean that the case of Wang Ling and others is also the result of manipulation by that force? What kind of hatred and resentment do those people want to destroy the families of Wang Ling and other officials?
Cut off any heirs?
Zhao Hongrun vaguely felt that something was wrong with this situation. Because of the conspiracy involving interests, the other party would not do such a cruel thing.
In other words, this is revenge! (To be continued.)