Shi Yi returned to the Jinyiwei branch and walked into the guest room. The room was lit with candles. Mou Rongtian was still awake. He was sitting cross-legged on the kang, practicing his internal skills to pass the time, waiting for him to come back. Seeing that he finally came back, he asked: "Check the matter."
understand?"
Shi Yi said: "I found it out."
Mou Rongtian said: "Who is the assassin? Who ordered him?"
Shi Yi picked up the teapot, poured a glass of water, drank it all, and said, "That assassin is a veteran of the Kongtong sect. I don't know him. It was Li Yuanling who sent him to assassinate him."
Mou Rongtian said: "That old Taoist is probably the deadly swordsman Fei Chen." He guessed right, that old Taoist was Fei Chen. Li Pan was Fei Chen's disciple, so Fei Chen helped Li Yuanling.
Shi Yi said: "Li Yuanling is going to run away and is packing things in the house."
Mou Rongtian said: "We can't let this guy run away. Yanzi, hurry over and keep an eye on us. We'll be there in a moment." He woke up Baiyun Shuangjian and asked them to be responsible for protecting Haizhong Di. He also asked the guards on duty to go find Tan Qian.
household.
Tan Qianhu did not live in the branch office. He had his own mansion in the city, not far from the branch office. When the guard arrived at Tan's house, he said that Mou Rongtian wanted to see him. Tan Qianhu did not dare to neglect, so he came to the branch office and went to the guest room to see Mou Rongtian.
Said: "Master Mou, I'm here."
Mou Rongtian said: "Li Yuanling wants to flee. Please Tan Qianhu immediately summon brothers from the two banners and follow me to arrest him."
Tan Qianhu asked the guards to go to the dormitory and call the two flag captains. Mou Rongtian led his troops to ambush in the alley near Li's house. Shi Yi ran over, and Mou Rongtian asked: "They haven't left yet?"
Shi Yi said: "I haven't left yet, I'm packing my things."
Mou Rongtian said: "As soon as they come out, we will take action."
Shi Yi said: "What are you waiting for? Why not just rush in?"
Mou Rongtian said: "Wait until Li Yuanling brings out all the money before we start. This will save us the trouble of searching again."
After a while, the door of the Li Mansion opened wide, and large cars drove out. Mou Rongtian saw Li Yuanling sitting in the first car, and an old Taoist sitting next to him. He recognized that the Taoist was Fei Chen, and thought to himself:
"It's really you."
After the last cart drove out and the door of Li's residence was closed, Mou Rongtian gave an order and led the crowd out of the alley to surround the convoy.
Li Yuanling was shocked when he saw many guards in uniform appearing in front of him.
Mou Rongtian said: "Marshuai Li, where are you going in the middle of the night?"
Li Yuanling composed herself, pondered for a moment, and said: "My mother is in poor health, and I plan to send Quanzi back to my hometown to visit my mother."
Mou Rongtian said: "That's it. Commander, what are you pulling in this car? Can you let me check it?"
Li Yuanling said: "Mou Qianhu, what right do you have to search my belongings?"
Mou Rongtian said: "Commander, if I am not mistaken, the Taoist priest next to you is Taoist Master Feichen of the Kongtong Sect, right?"
Feichen had just been punched by Mou Rongtian, and he was beaten very hard. He was full of hatred for Mou Rongtian. When Mou Rongtian mentioned him, he said coldly: "Yes, Pindao is Feichen."
Mou Rongtian said: "Master Feichen, we haven't seen each other for a long time. The man in black who assassinated Master Hai just now was you, right?"
Fei Chen said: "Who is Mou who assassinated Mr. Hai? Who is Mr. Hai? I don't know, so don't spray blood on others and accuse me unjustly."
Mou Rongtian snorted and said: "Feichen, you want to deny it, but you can't do it." Then he said to Li Yuanling: "Marshal Li, you are suspected of instigating Feichen to assassinate the imperial minister, so go with me."
Li Yuanling held a knife at his waist, holding the handle of the knife tightly in his right hand, hesitating whether to draw the knife. If he drew the knife, he might be able to escape with his martial arts skills, but his wife and children would never be able to escape. Although his eldest son Li Pan
He has martial arts skills, but other children do not know martial arts. In a chaotic battle, these children are likely to lose their lives.
Li Yuanling pondered for a long time, got out of the car and said, "That's fine, I'll let you go, but don't embarrass my family."
Feichen pulled out his long sword with a "choking bang bang" sound, grabbed Li Yuanling, and shouted: "Commander, you can't do it. There are poor Taoists here. I forgive Mou Rongtian and I can't do anything to you."
Li Yuanling said: "Taoist Priest, in order to keep the whole family safe, this is what I have to do. You go ahead and don't bother me."
Feichen sighed and said, "Take care, Commander, I'll leave you alone." After that, he jumped away.
Shi Yi asked Mou Rongtian: "Brother Tian, do you want to pursue him or not?"
Mou Rongtian knew that it would be difficult to catch Feichen, so he said: "Let him go." Then he shouted loudly: "Everyone in the Li family, except Marshal Li, returned to the mansion and left all the carts behind. No one was allowed to take them with him."
Take away any property.”
Li Yuanling was escorted back to the Jinyiwei branch and put into a cell. When Haizhongdi woke up the next day, Mou Rongtian told him what happened last night, which frightened Haizhongdi into a cold sweat and said: "Rongtian, thank you. Without you, I would not be able to do this right now."
Already in the underworld."
Mou Rongtian said: "This is the responsibility of the lower official. Why do you need to thank me? Now that Li Yuanling has been captured, when will your Excellency bring him to trial?"
Hai Zhongdi said: "Don't be busy now. We will investigate the number of people who are eating free money and then interrogate them."
In the following ten days, Hai Zhongdi inspected each guard post of Wandu Division one by one and found that the list Luo Sigong submitted to Wanli was authentic and credible.
All the commanders of Wanquan's guard posts and thousands of households were arrested and interrogated one by one. Only a few of them were very loyal to Li Yuanling, shouldering all the blame for the crime and refusing to bite Li Yuanling out.
When the others saw that Li Yuanling had fallen, they all blamed Li Yuanling, saying that Li Yuanling had instigated them to do this, and that they were acting under orders and could not help themselves. These people all got the benefit of free wages, regardless of whether they were incompetent or not.
It is up to oneself to escape the blame.
Haizhongdi prepared all the evidence before interrogating Li Yuanling. In the face of irrefutable evidence, Li Yuanling could not deny it and confessed to the matter of free money.
Hai Zhongdi said: "According to my estimation, you have earned at least more than two million silver taels from your empty wages, but your assets are only more than 800,000. Where have the rest of the silver taels gone? Hurry and get the real money."
Li Yuanling said: "All those silver coins were squandered by me."
Hai Zhongdi said: "How to squander it, please tell me one by one."
Li Yuanling said: "I can't remember clearly."
Hai Zhongdi said: "I advise you to tell the truth honestly, so as not to hurt your flesh and blood."
Li Yuanling said: "I really can't remember clearly."
Hai Zhongdi said: "I didn't want to torture you. You asked for this. Rongtian, I'm tired and want to go back to rest. I'll leave this place to you."
Mou Rongtian asked Baiyun and his swords to send Haizhong Di back to the guest room to rest, and said to Zhou Junchen, the "King of Hell" of the Thousand Households of Fusi in Beizhen, "Old Zhou, it's up to you."
Zhou Junchen said with a smile: "Master Qianhu, please invite me." This man is of medium build, dry and lean, with a small head, a face with no flesh, an evil look between his eyebrows, and a smile on his face all the time.
of.
Mou Rongtian sat behind the table and watched Zhou Junchen torture Li Yuanling. After Zhou Junchen gave Li Yuanling the tiger bench and the soldering iron as an appetizer, seeing that he still refused to do it, he sneered: "Li Yuanling, I didn't expect that your bones are still there."
It's quite hard, it seems you want to have a taste of my feast."
Zhou Junchen ordered the guards to use an iron brush to brush Li Yuanling's chest and back until the flesh and blood were blurred, and washed his wounds with salt water. The pain caused Li Yuanling to scream and fainted.
After Li Yuanling regained consciousness, he still refused to admit it. Zhou Junchen had to resort to his special skill of "asking the emperor to enter the urn." This was an extremely cruel torture. According to legend, it was invented by Zhou Xing, a cruel official under Wu Zetian during the reign of Wu Zetian.
The empress Wu Zetian usurped the Li Tang Dynasty and established the Great Zhou Dynasty. Many people opposed her. In order to suppress these opponents, Wu Zetian appointed a large number of ruthless officials. Among them, the two most ruthless officials were named Zhou Xing and Lai Junchen.
These two men used all kinds of cruel and inhuman torture to kill a large number of loyal people.
One day, Wu Zetian received a whistleblower letter, the content of which was to expose Zhou Xing's rebellion. Although Wu Zetian felt that Zhou Xing was very loyal to her, she felt that Zhou Xing was very loyal to her.
Unaware of this, Wu Zetian did not dare to take it lightly, so she ordered Junchen to investigate the case.
Lai Junchen was a cunning man, so he was not in a hurry to arrest Zhou Xing for interrogation. Instead, he hosted a banquet for Zhou Xing at home. During the banquet, Lai Junchen said: "Brother, I am working on a difficult case recently. The criminal's bones are very hard."
Very, brother, there is nothing you can do against him, I wonder if I have any good ideas?"
When Zhou Xing saw Junchen coming to ask him for advice, he was very proud and said with a smile: "You can't do it either. It's not my boast. There is no prisoner that I can't take down. Even if he is made of steel and iron, if he gets into my hands,
You have to obey me."
Lai Junchen said: "How can a brother compare to an elder brother? In this palm punishment world, the elder brother is the second best, and no one dares to be the first."
Zhou Xing smiled proudly and said, "That's natural."
Lai Junchen said: "Brother Zhou can't watch my younger brother sitting on the wax. Please give me some advice."
"Hmph..." Zhou Xing said with a dark smile, "You find a big urn, grill it with charcoal fire around it, and put the prisoner in the urn. If he still refuses to confess, I will write the character Zhou upside down."
"Ha..." Lai Junchen said with a smile, "Brother Zhou, I really admire you. I admire you." Then he ordered the servant to bring a big urn and set up firewood for barbecue.
Zhou Xing didn't understand Lai Junchen's intention and asked: "There is no prisoner here, what are you doing with it?"
Lai Junchen sneered and said: "Brother Zhou, someone has exposed you for treason. The Holy Father has ordered my brothers to investigate the case. I'm sorry, so please get into the jar yourself."
When Zhou Xing heard this, his face turned pale with fright. He didn't want his flesh to suffer, so he had to confess. Since then, the torture and allusion of "asking you to put yourself in the urn" has been left.
Mou Rongtian saw Zhou Junchen resorting to inviting the emperor to enter the jar, and thought: "If this trick doesn't work well, things will be difficult to handle."
Li Yuanling kept screaming in the big urn, struggling in pain, and her life was worse than death.
"Hmph..." Zhou Junchen sneered proudly, "How about it? It's not a good feeling to invite you into a urn. Mr. Li, please hurry up and stop asking for trouble."
If Li Yuanling bites Tian Feng out, Dongchang will not let him go, nor will he let his family go. His whole family will die. Li Yuanling knows this very well, so he would rather endure torture than
Dare to bite Tian Feng out.
Seeing that Li Yuanling still refused to confess, Zhou Junchen became anxious and shouted: "If you don't confess, I will burn you to death!"
Mou Rongtian was disappointed when he saw that it was not possible to invite him to the urn. He was afraid that Zhou Junchen would get angry and kill Li Yuanling, so he said: "Old Zhou, stop it. I'll be here first today. Someone, please take Li Yuanling back to the prison."