The emperor personally asked about Jun Buwei's matter, and he did so at the court meeting.
According to the system established by Emperor Dayu Taizu, officials below the fourth rank do not need to participate in the daily morning court.
There are four days of the Great Court Meeting every month. Officials of the fifth rank and above in Geling must participate in the Great Court Meeting.
The emperor mentioned this matter in the court meeting, which shows that this case will never be finished until it is investigated and brought to the bottom of the matter.
So Cui Fanye felt very uncomfortable, extremely uncomfortable.
He knew this was a trap, and no one knew better than him that he was innocent in the matter of Jun Buwei.
What also made him feel uncomfortable was...it seemed that the court's way of handling cases had changed a while ago.
Even if the methods of handling cases in the past were somewhat shady, they were not shady in broad daylight.
Naturally, the methods of forcing confessions and interrogations cannot be glorious, but these are all done in a darkroom and no one can see them.
Nowadays, the methods of handling cases have changed and become... full of charlatanism.
Cui Fanye was sure that this method could not be thought up by a serious official. It must be Lin Ye's suggestion.
But he could guess it but there was no evidence, and it would be meaningless if there was evidence.
Compared with what Jun Buwei was afraid of, he was more worried about Shi Jintang, who couldn't find anyone.
Shi Jintang is a greater threat than Lin Ye now, because Lin Ye's threat can at least be seen.
Shi Jintang disappeared, and so did Shi Jintang's cronies.
Cui Fuye knew that as long as there was a chance, the people he arranged around Shi Jintang would find a way to notify him.
However, a few days passed, and his people seemed to have disappeared into the sea, with no news at all.
This news is naturally hard to come by, because his people are almost out of shape now.
In fact, Shi Jintang did not leave Geling City, but Geling was too big, so if he just found a more private place to hide, no one would be able to find him easily.
At this moment, he was staying in an inn in the city.
This inn is Xibo's property. Xibo and Mr. Zhuo said that Shi Jintang is already an abandoned child.
But before Shi Jintang, the abandoned son, could play all the roles, Xibo was still reluctant to let him die.
Now that Lin Mufu has clearly sided with the Cui family, Uncle Xi, who is almost the same as Lin Mufu in terms of status, will not just admit defeat.
In the backyard of the inn, Shi Jintang stood in the sunshine, feeling the tenderness of early spring.
However, several of his close associates felt a chill that was even colder than the harsh winter.
These people were kneeling there, all looking bloody. Each of them had a rope tied around their mouths, so they couldn't make much sound.
Their kneeling position was uncomfortable, with their bodies crawling forward and their buttocks sticking out.
The reason for this is because their fingers were all nailed to the ground.
Their backs were all bloody and bruised from whips, and a man in a long gown was sprinkling powdered sugar on the wounds.
Sugar was sprinkled on the wounds, of course not to heal them, but to make the ants bite harder.
Shi Jintang didn't seem to care about such things at all, he was more willing to enjoy the gentle sunshine here.
"What on earth did Cui Fuye arrange for you to do next to Mr. Shi? If anyone wants to say anything now, just nod and I will loosen the rope. Whoever speaks carefully will have his wounds treated first."
The young man in a long coat asked.
Those people were nodding wildly, and it seemed like everyone was scared to the core.
At this moment, Mr. Zhuo came in from the outside and took a look at the scene. He just took a look. He didn't care about these bloody people at all.
"Not long ago, Xumi Pianruo and Lin Ye went to Jun Buwei. For some reason, Xumi Pianruo ordered to take away all Jun Buwei's account books, but they were intercepted on the way and burned down.
"
Mr. Zhuo watched Shi Jintang say these words and kept watching.
Shi Jintang still looked at the sky.
He said: "Mr. Zhuo is not thinking whether these people who burned the account books were arranged by me?"
Mr. Zhuo said: "You have never been out of love, nor have you been in contact with anyone. I know it's not you, but I think it's you."
Shi Jintang: "Thank you, Mr. Zhuo, for being able to praise me so highly now."
Mr. Zhuo said: "If it's not you, it's Lin Ye. It seems even worse."
Shi Jintang finally withdrew his gaze from the sky and looked at Mr. Zhuo: "Are you afraid of Lin Ye?"
Mr. Zhuo said: "If it is really Lin Ye who is interfering, then we have to suspect that what he wants to do has little to do with the current people and things. He may want to take advantage of coming to Geling to do something for Liu Ji."
Let’s settle old scores.”
Shi Jintang said: "That's okay, it has nothing to do with me. I was still a child at that time. If I died because of this, it would be very unfair and innocent."
Mr. Zhuo still looked at him like that.
Shi Jintang said: "It's useless to look at me. You were hoping it would be me, but it's really not me."
He looked back at the first person who was about to confess: "All the people I can use are here. Look, the guy who is about to betray his master was once a close confidant of mine."
Speaking of this, Shi Jintang looked at Mr. Zhuo: "If you think I am that capable, why not beat him a little longer and see if you can ask him anything about me."
Mr. Zhuo was too lazy to pay attention to him.
Not long after, the young man came over. He was Aunt Yue's most trusted subordinate... Mu Yunpiao.
"The only thing these people know is that Lin Fangchu, who is not afraid of you, is related to Cui Fanye."
Mu Yunpiao said: "I'll go and arrest Lin Fangchu."
Shi Jintang said: "I advise you not to do it. That would be to scare the snake away."
Mr. Zhuo nodded: "Don't touch Lin Fangchu for the time being. Maybe many people are staring at Jun Buwei now."
Shi Jintang said: "Just now you said that Lin Ye wanted to settle old scores for Liu Jigong. Did the Cui family intervene when Liu Jigong was in Geling?"
Mr. Zhuo nodded: "Yes."
Shi Jintang smiled: "Then this is fun. It turns out that General Lin Ye is here to take revenge."
Mr. Zhuo said: "Liu Jigong was seriously injured after the rescue fight. At first, the Cui family specially invited an excellent doctor to prepare to get closer to Liu Jigong."
"But not long after, Liu Jigong offered advice to the emperor, and the reason why this enlightened advice was spread was because of Lin Mufu."
Shi Jintang: "Why do you know so much?"
Mr. Zhuo said: "Do you know the little eunuch Gu Xiujin who is beside the emperor?"
"of course I know."
"The matter about Qi Mingce was leaked before he became a close relative of the emperor."
Mr. Zhuo looked at Shi Jintang: "That is Lu Chaotong, the original eunuch of the imperial study room. Lu Chaotong was executed by the emperor Lingchi, so there is now Gu Xiujin."
Shi Jintang thought for a while and understood.
"The late emperor was brought back to Geling by Lin Mu's Mansion. Of course, those around the late emperor were arranged by Lin Mu's Mansion."
Mr. Zhuo hummed: "Although Lin Mufu had already submitted his resignation before the rebellion, he knew everything about the palace clearly."
Shi Jintang said: "Liu Jigong offered advice to the emperor, and Lu Chaotong told the Lin Mu Mansion, so many people made such great efforts to get rid of Liu Jigong."
Mr. Zhuo said: "If it were you, what would you do?"
Shi Jintang: "It couldn't be me. I don't come from a wealthy family. I don't have such a good life. If I catch up at that time, maybe I will be on Liu Jigong's side."
He turned to look at Mr. Zhuo: "Believe it or not, if I had a choice, I would rather be in the Qiming Policy."
Mr. Zhuo knows this is the truth.
Shi Jintang asked: "If it were you, would you rather be a person like me now, or be a member of Qiming Celi?"
Mr. Zhuo did not answer.
He couldn't possibly answer.
Shi Jintang also knew that he could not answer, so he did not wait for Mr. Zhuo to give an answer.
He smiled and said: "Let me guess... At that time, many people, including the Cui family, wanted to get rid of Liu Jigong, but they couldn't find a suitable opportunity for a while."
He walked aside and sat down, as if he was very interested in this past event.
"It just so happened."
He looked at Mr. Zhuo: "At that time, Liu Jigong was ordered to form a cowardly army."
Mr. Zhuo nodded again.
Shi Jintang said: "So, people from various major families racked their brains to put their own people into the cowardly army. It must not be an easy task, because the soldiers Liu Jigong wants to recruit are all people from poor backgrounds.
, my life experience is clean and pure.”
Mr. Zhuo said: "But Liu Jigong underestimated his opponent."
Shi Jintang said: "So, more than ten years ago, Liu Jigong died in Dongbo... I have never understood why a brother who shared life and death with him would betray him..."
Speaking of this, he looked at Mr. Zhuo: "Now I understand, because those who betrayed him were the people who were put in by the major families when the Cowardly Army was first formed."
He exhaled slowly.
"Very poor."
I don’t know if the name he refers to is Liu Jigong or those who betrayed Liu Jigong.
Mr. Zhuo said: "If Lin Ye knows something, then it is no coincidence that the Cui family was targeted by him."
Shi Jintang suddenly asked: "Actually, those who want to kill Liu Jigong are not all in the same group, right?"
Mr. Zhuo nodded: "Yes."
Shi Jintang sighed: "It's true...it's even more pitiful to think so."
His pitiful words were referring to Liu Jigong.
Shi Jintang said: "One of the group of people is from a meritorious family. They are the group of people who followed Emperor Dayu Taizu to conquer the world."
"The other group of people rose from a humble family after Dayu founded the country, and gradually cultivated the family's power."
"If you think so, Liu Jigong and the others, who are both from a poor family, will not let go...how cruel."
Mr. Zhuo said: "They are no longer the same kind of people."
Shi Jintang looked back at Mr. Zhuo, with a look in his eyes that said, "I'm not afraid of anything now."
He asked: "Then, which group are we from? I guess we are definitely not from the meritorious family."
Mr. Zhuo did not answer this question.
Shi Jintang said: "If you think about it this way, I feel that our group is more hateful."
Mr. Zhuo answered this time with two words.
"childish."
Shi Jintang laughed.
He asked: "Where is the Yu family?"
Mr. Zhuo said: "You seem to have a lot of questions today."
Shi Jintang smiled and replied: "Do you know what kind of ghost is more pitiful than a starving ghost? That is a ghost who is kept in the dark. How long can I live? So I want to know more so that my death will not be so unclear.
Not white."
After a moment of silence, Mr. Zhuo replied: "Because the person who betrayed Liu Jigong was selected from the Yu family."
Shi Jintang stopped laughing.
He sighed again.
He sighed heavily, and then said: "It's a pity that I don't have a choice in life. If I had, I would stand on the side of the good people."
Mr. Zhuo frowned: "Good guy? Bad guy? You are still too naive. In the struggle for power, have you ever seen a good guy?"
Shi Jintang seemed to be careless, but he replied firmly: "Liu Jigong."
Mr. Zhuo cannot refute.
Liu Jigong, logically speaking, is their opponent, and he is an opponent they have already eliminated.
But as a beautiful woman, Mr. Zhuo cannot slander this opponent.