In the hall of Gongchang Mansion, Xiao Chen sat on a chair and frowned.
In my heart, I laughed involuntarily.
Thanks to the moment before, he had captured the leader of the caravan and got the true source of the gunpowder from his mouth.
Otherwise, facing Dingxi Hou’s step-by-step questioning at this moment, it is really possible to investigate Gong Changwei.
In this way, a lot of manpower was wasted and nothing was achieved in the end. It gave Dingxi Hou an opportunity to destroy all evidence of crime.
But Ding Xihou didn't know that his most trusted old subordinate, Song Yi, the leader of the caravan, had confessed. He also wrote down a written confession word for word.
"Even if this list can be faked, the official seal of the Ministry of War cannot be faked, right? I can clearly see the official seal of the Ministry of War on the list." Xiao Chen said lightly.
"Even jade seals can be faked, let alone the official seal of the Ministry of War."
As soon as these words were spoken, Ding Xihou felt regretful in his heart. But how could he take back the words he had already spoken?
"What, jade seals can be faked?" Xiao Chen suddenly stood up, "May I ask, Lord Marquis, where have you seen fake jade seals?"
"No, I haven't seen it before, I just said it casually."
Perhaps out of panic, Dingxihou suddenly changed the word "Benhou" he always called himself into "I".
The speaker has no intention and the listener has no intention.
The words "fake jade seal" caused waves in Xiao Chen's mind that were many times greater than any unexpected news he heard.
If jade seals can be faked, doesn't it mean that imperial edicts can also be faked?
In the Ming Dynasty, what did they want to do by making these fake things that represented top power?
Is it just for personal gain, or is there some shady conspiracy?
If there is really any conspiracy, and it can reach the height of Yuxi, this conspiracy is probably not trivial.
Moreover, the words "fake jade seal" came out of Ding Xihou's mouth.
Dingxihou must have seen this kind of thing before he said it casually.
The original plan was to use the Dingxi Marquis to make Gongchang Mansion officials take the blame, and to uproot them by secretly providing gunpowder to the caravan.
But at this moment, Xiao Chen had a vague feeling that there must be something unknown hidden behind Ding Xihou.
He couldn't die, at least not until everything related to him was clear.
Outside the hall door, there was a sound of footsteps.
According to the agreement with Xiao Chen, Duan Tianming estimated that the time was almost up and walked in with the written confession of the caravan leader in his hand.
Glancing at Dingxihou, Duan Tianming raised his hand towards Xiao Chen: "Sir, the leader of the caravan has truthfully confessed the source of his gunpowder..."
Before Duan Tianming finished speaking, Xiao Chen suddenly raised his right hand, interrupting his words: "Okay, I understand, you go down first."
"What about this confession?" Duan Tianming asked softly.
"Put it on the table."
"Yes." Duan Tianming responded, placed the confession on the table, and slowly retreated.
When Duan Tianming said that the caravan leader had confessed, the smile on the corner of Ding Xihou's mouth disappeared without a trace in an instant.
At this moment, he silently muttered in his heart: I heard wrong, I must have heard wrong.
The caravan is located deep in the Qinling Mountains. Except for local residents, ordinary people from the government may not be able to find the town where the caravan is located.
The people from Dongchang had just arrived in Gongchang Mansion and were busy with disaster relief. They would definitely not be able to find this place.
What's more, the caravan has a large number of people stationed there and has a series of weapons and equipment such as bows, crossbows and spears. It is not easy to take away their gang leader easily.
No, he must not be the leader of the caravan.
I must have heard wrongly.
Xiao Chen remained silent, picked up Duan Tianming's confession on the table, slowly opened it, and read it carefully.
Time passed by little by little, and the hall was extremely quiet. Occasionally, you could hear the rustling of rats secretly gnawing next to the grain bags.
On the ground, the body of the guard at Dingxihou was already stiff. His black and blue face looked sinister and terrifying.
The matching knife that fell to the ground seemed to have lost its "spirituality" after leaving the owner's body temperature. It looked dull and dull, like broken copper and iron, lying quietly on the ground.
Ding Xihou's face alternated between green and white.
A layer of sweat gradually broke out on his wrinkled forehead.
He reached out and picked up the tea bowl on the table, trying hard to calm the turmoil in his heart.
Suddenly he remembered that Xiao Chen had just said that this fresh bamboo leaf tea could dispel fever and relieve troubles. He no longer cared about whether this statement was true or not, so he raised his head and drank the tea bowl in a few sips.
Xiao Chen seemed to be unaware of all this and continued to look at the confession in his hand without saying a word.
The sun outside the door gradually turned to the west, Xiao Chen still held the confession in his hand, his eyes never leaving.
For Ding Xihou, today's day is an unprecedented torment.
He hoped that Xiao Chen would put down his confession, so that even if he was being held accountable, he could still quibble with him.
But there is none, there is only the still air, which makes people more and more depressed and irritable.
As dusk approached, Xiao Chen finally put down the confession in his hand and let out a long breath.
Ding Xihou didn't dare to say anything. At this moment, he didn't know what to say.
"I have always respected Mr. Hou and treated him as a hero, but Mr. Hou was cautious and concealed it from me in his heart. I am really powerless." Xiao Chen said softly.
"how do I say this?"
"I have found the source of the caravan's gunpowder." Xiao Chen said calmly.
Ding Xihou felt embarrassed on his face.
The rope was indeed broken at a small point.
Just now, I was filled with righteous indignation, swearing that Gong Changwei's list might be falsified. Now, the truth has surfaced, like a loud slap, hitting me hard in the face.
"This caravan leader has charged into battle with me before." After holding back for a long time, Dingxihou finally managed to choke out a sentence.
Xiao Chen was silent for a moment and slowly raised his head: "I have never planned to let Wang Kuan go. Even after accepting the gold and silver from Lord Marquis, I was still thinking about how to punish him. Otherwise, I will feel sorry for Gong Chang.
Thousands of people, I'm sorry for the emperor's trust in me. But Lord Marquis, I admire you from the bottom of my heart, and I will try my best to prevent Wang Kuan's case from involving you."
"However, after so many victims have died, I no longer have the face to plead with you in front of the emperor, so I asked you to go to the capital to speak to the emperor in person. At least, Taizu's face is still very important to the emperor. But now, it involves
When it comes to gunpowder, something that is strictly controlled by the imperial court, I really don’t know how to do it.”
Xiao Chen shook his head, his face full of "helplessness".
"The matter has come to this, and I have nothing to say. I have betrayed Taizu's trust. You can punish me according to the court's laws. I plead guilty and I have no complaints." Dingxihou stood up.
He tried to straighten his stooped waist, but he looked upright and courageous.
"No." Xiao Chen shook his head, "If we follow the imperial decree, I am afraid that the whole family will be executed. I can't do anything to the heroes who followed Taizu to conquer the country."
This sentence was beyond Ding Xihou's expectation.
Before, when he spoke about Kuan'er, his words were as unpleasant as possible, and he couldn't help but want to get angry.
But now, he actually can't bear to do something to himself?
Regardless of whether this was true or not, hearing this made Ding Xihou feel somewhat disappointed and slightly relieved.
"The credit belongs to the past, and one cannot live under the aura of the past all his life. So many years of comfortable life have destroyed not only my will, but also my persistence. Since a big mistake has been made, the Imperial Envoy should
Just deal with it how you want."
Standing tall, the gray cloth on Ding Xihou's body was as lonely as his state of mind.
"Well, you came to Gongchang just to see Wang Kuan. He is in the government prison. I will take you to see him."
Xiao Chen slowly stood up.
Hundreds of miles away from Tianshui City, unexpectedly, two figures sat on horseback and walked slowly towards the city gate.
"General, Tianshui City is ahead of us. We will stay here tonight and set off early tomorrow morning. We will definitely reach Gongchang before dark."
The speaker was none other than Wang Zhongzhen, the owner of Zhongzhen Inn in Beijing.
Next to him, the old man wearing a bamboo hat and cloth clothes was Mr. Zhang.
"That's fine." Mr. Zhang nodded, "We'll stay overnight in Tianshui."
