The night is as cool as water, and a bright moon hangs on the screen in the sky.
A faint glow shone, reflecting Chen Ke's lonely shadow.
"Could he take a rest today?" Chen Ke was a little confused.
The night was shrouded, the lights on the streets were on, and the surroundings of Jingzhao Mansion were also bright.
It wasn't until late at night that Chen Ke saw a thin middle-aged man in purple robe walking out of the yamen, followed by several guards. Chen Ke recognized him at a glance. He didn't have many patches on his body, but his clothes were really old. Through the light at the yamen door, he could see that the corners of this official's clothes were somewhat frayed.
"Lord Long Tulong!" Chen Ke shouted loudly.
"Whoever is making noise, get rid of him." A guard said.
Long Tu waved his hand and said: "Maybe there are people who have grievances. Let them come over. Anyone who can wait for me to come out in the middle of the night must not have grievances against him."
Immediately, a guard led Chen Ke to Long Tu. Long Tu asked with a gentle face: "Little brother, what did you call me for?"
Chen Ke looked at Long Tu's concerned expression, leaned over and bowed deeply: "Chen Ke, a common man, begs Lord Long to seek justice!"
"There is no need to be polite if you are not in court." Long Tu waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, but if you are wronged, I will preside over it for you and give you justice."
Chen Ke felt warm in his heart. He seemed to have finally met a good official.
Chen Ke said: "In my village, there are 133 households and 472 people in Chenjia Village. All of them except me were silenced. The prefecture and county officials did not dare to investigate, blaming it on the flood. The common people had no choice but to come to Beijing. Seek justice!”
"What!" Long Tu looked shocked, and then he said angrily, "There is such a bad thing in our country of Zhao! Come into the house with me and tell me in detail!"
They walked into the government office together.
Under the dim light, Chen Ke recounted the evil deeds of the group of masked men who massacred Chenjia Village.
Not only Long Tu, but also the guards on both sides looked angry when they heard this.
"It's unreasonable that there is such a heartless evil thief in our country of Zhao." A handsome and handsome guard next to him clenched his fist and waved heavily.
Long Tu had a sullen face, and his thick eyebrows were squeezed together like blades. He looked at Chen Ke and said, "Don't worry, as long as what you tell is the truth, this government will definitely avenge you and issue a list to arrest these desperadoes nationwide." !”
Although Chen Ke's words were very miserable, Long Tu was not an ordinary county magistrate, let alone a passionate young man. He needed to judge whether Chen Ke's words were true.
"Bai Guwei, you take two people overnight and ride on a fast horse to Shanyin County to see if this little brother Chen Ke is so miserable." Long Tu said to the suave young man beside him.
"Don't worry, sir, I'll be right back." Guard Bai nodded slightly, turned around and walked out of the room.
Chen Ke talked a lot with Long Tu, but the only thing he concealed was the cross tattoos on the faces of those villains. He was worried that once he told about the cross tattoo, Mr. Longtu would give up investigating the case just like the magistrate of Junjiang County.
Long Tu saw Chen Ke's hesitant look and asked, "Is there any secret that cannot be told?"
Chen Ke looked at Long Tu and said, "I don't know if I can trust Lord Long. I did hide some secrets. I'm worried that once these secrets are revealed, Lord Long will give up on the investigation."
Long Tu laughed, and the other guards around him also laughed and said: "Brother Chen Ke, if I don't dare to help you redress your grievances, I'm afraid there will be no one in the entire Zhao country who can redress your grievances. It doesn't matter if you just say it, if it really happens Which prince or noble is involved in this matter? I have the Shangfang Sword rewarded by His Majesty. I can kill princes at the top and scoundrels at the bottom!"
Seeing this, Chen Ke didn't hide anything and said directly: "I once tore off a masked man's face scarf. He had a cross tattoo on the left side of his face. I wonder if you know the origin of the cross tattoo!"
"Cross tattoo!" Long Tu paused for a moment, then looked to the left and right and asked, "You have also been in prison, do you know the origin of the cross tattoo?"
The guard on the left is a middle-aged strong man. He thought for a moment and said, "Sir, generally serious criminals must be tattooed when they are sent to the frontier, but the word 'traitor' or 'murderer' will be used."
The guard on the right is younger. He also said: "It is the law of this dynasty: Anyone who commits a thief will have a thorn ring behind his ear. If he is assigned to the southern state, he will be tattooed to the southern state. However, subordinates will not have cross tattoos. clear."
Long Tu frowned. Although he asked Bai Huwei to confirm the authenticity of Chen Ke's words, Long Tu already believed Chen Ke's words in his heart.
As the Yin of Jingzhao Prefecture, he was a first-rank official in the dynasty. Chen Ke cheated him after he was full. After being exposed, Chen Ke would be punished.
"Cross tattoo." Long Tu frowned and whispered, "I have also been a prison official, and I have seen tattoos on prisoners. But I have never heard of this cross tattoo."
Chen Ke's heart gradually sank. He didn't know if Long Tu really didn't know, or if he was like the Junjiang County Magistrate and didn't dare to take care of it.
Long Tu said: "But don't worry, brother Chen Ke, I am good friends with the Minister of Dali Temple. He is in charge of the law of punishment and prison, and all the tattooing crimes in the world are in his hands. I will take you to see him tomorrow morning. As long as this cross The tattoos are customized for mortals of this dynasty, so their identities can definitely be traced.”
Chen Ke felt a little disappointed, but Long Tu did not reject him, but wanted to help him continue investigating the case.
Chen Ke stood up and bowed heavily to Long Tu: "Master Long, I leave the blood feud to you in Chen Village. If you can't help me, there really will be no one in the world who can uphold justice for those who died tragically!"
Long Tu said seriously: "Brother Chen Ke, don't worry, I will not let you down, let alone let the evil thief go unpunished!"
"Thank you, sir." Chen Ke straightened up and said.
Long Tu looked at the middle-aged guard beside him and said, "Guard Zhang, you should stay with brother Chen Ke these days and protect him. Although those evil thieves say they won't show up, they still have to beware of those who are interested. . Chen Ke, it’s getting late, so you should go to bed early. I will take you to see the Minister of Dali Temple early tomorrow morning.”
The middle-aged guard said: "Yes, sir!"
After Chen Ke thanked him, Zhang escorted him out of Jingzhao Mansion and accompanied Chen Ke back to the inn. In the past few days, this guard Zhang should have been accompanying Chen Ke.
It is to protect Chen Ke, but also to monitor Chen Ke. Protecting nature means protecting Chen Ke's life, and monitoring is to make sure that there is nothing wrong with Chen Ke.
A village was massacred, and only one young man escaped alive. Long Tu had experienced various injustice cases for a long time, and he had rarely seen this kind of situation.
"Sir Zhang Huwei, do you know Mr. Chen Ying from the Ministry of Revenue?" Chen Ke remembered Sister Qin's ugly face when she came back, and planned to help Sister Qin find out what Chen Ying was like.
"Brother Chen Ke, I am not an adult. I am older than you. Just call me Brother Zhang." Zhang Huwei said with a smile, "As for the person you are talking about, Mr. Chen Ying and Chen, if I am not wrong, he is Three years ago, the new top scholar was selected as the consort by Princess Jin De. At that time, the whole capital was shocked. I even went to see Chen’s consort Jin Bang Kua Street!"
"Husband-in-law?" Chen Ke was startled and felt something was wrong, so he immediately asked: "Brother Zhang, how many Chen Yings are there in the Ministry of Household Affairs?"
Zhang Huwei said: "If this is the capital, there is only one Chen Ying and Chen's consort. He was a sensation in the whole capital at that time. He was the number one scholar in high school and was favored by the princess. It can be said that he reached the sky in one step!"
Consort! Princess? The wife of a wretched family!
Chen Ke's heart sank, and he immediately understood that Sister Qin was in trouble.
I'm afraid it's a trouble that Sister Qin will never be able to solve in her lifetime!
"Brother Zhang, if you have a wife at home, can you marry a princess?" Chen Ke asked. Regarding Sister Qin and the princess serving the same husband, Chen Ke didn't have much trouble in his heart. He was only worried that the princess was not a concubine!
Zhang Huwei chuckled and said: "Brother Chen Ke, what is the status of the princess? How can she serve the same husband with other people? Even if she wants to take a concubine, she still needs the princess's consent. Your Majesty allows it."
"What if I already have a wife, and then marry a princess?" Chen Ke asked.
Zhang Huwei smiled and said: "I already have a wife, and if I marry a princess again, I will deceive the king and ignore my superiors. I will have my house confiscated and beheaded."
Chen Ke understood why Chen Ying and Sister Qin met in a hurry. It turned out that the answer was here.
Back at the inn, Sister-in-law Qin saw Chen Ke coming back and asked if nothing happened before turning around and going back to sleep.
Zhang Huwei also asked the inn to open a room next door to Chen Ke. He wanted to protect Chen Ke, so he used his public power and reported his identity. The innkeeper directly said that he could choose a room at will.
Feeling a slight pain in his chest, Chen Ke sat cross-legged and started his regular breathing.
"Don't tell Sister-in-law Qin about Chen Ying. If Chen Ying's incident happened, Sister-in-law Qin would also be arrested and imprisoned." Chen Ke guessed, and then stopped thinking about it and breathed quietly.
In the early morning, Chen Ke woke up from the nightmare of flames all over the sky again. He covered his heart and regulated his breathing.
After a while.
"Dangdangdang..."
There was a knock on the door, Chen Ke let out a breath, got up and got out of bed and opened the door.
"Sister-in-law Qin." Chen Ke greeted with a smile.
Sister-in-law Qin brought a bowl of noodle soup with an egg on it. She borrowed the inn's kitchen to make it herself. Sister-in-law Qin said with a smile: "Brother Chen, I have made too much. You have only been eating dry biscuits these days, so eat more. After a few days, Xiaobao's father gave it to me Money, I’ll take you to have a nice meal again.”
"Thank you, Sister-in-law Qin." Chen Ke said with a smile, as if he had never heard of Chen Ying becoming the consort.
After eating the noodles, Guard Zhang also came up from downstairs. There was another guard beside him. It was Lord Long Tu who sent someone to inform him to see the Minister of Dali Temple.
After Chen Ke said goodbye to Sister Qin, he immediately followed Zhang Huwei and the others to meet Long Tu.
It's still in the Jingzhao Mansion Office, but it's not in the front hall, but in the back hall. Long Tu has already invited the minister of Dali Temple.
When Chen Ke came in, he saw a middle-aged man with long hair hanging down his back sitting in the room. He had a beard, a kind face, and a pair of deep eyes looking at Chen Ke.
"Are you asking about cross tattoos?" the middle-aged man asked Chen Ke with a smile.
Long Tu stretched out his hand to introduce the middle-aged man and said: "Chen Ke, this is the first-rank official of the current dynasty, Lord Situ Guangxian of Dali Temple! Brother Situ, this is the Chen Ke I am talking about."
Chen Ke cupped his hands and said, "Common man Chen Ke pays homage to Lord Situ."
The Minister of Dali Temple smiled and said: "Little brother, I can tell you the origin of the cross tattoo, but are you sure you want to listen?"
Chen Ke said: "OK."
Long Tu frowned slightly. He just talked about the issue of the cross tattoo, which was also the minister of Dali Temple, and did not mention much about the grievances behind Chen Ke.
The Minister of Dali Temple smiled and said: "Okay, I will tell you the origin of the cross tattoo!"
