Once bitten, twice shy.
Although Jinling Qianhu Residence was not far from the palace, Zhu Jingxing still brought nearly three hundred guards, all of whom were wearing armor and armed with short soldiers and powerful crossbows.
There were 100 Dragon Guards coming to Jinling this time. These defense forces alone were definitely not enough, so the emperor also sent 1,500 sergeants from the Banner Guard.
As one of the twenty-two guards of Shangzhi, the main responsibility of the standard guard is to serve as guard of honor and bodyguard for the emperor when he travels.
Most of the time, the emperor stayed in the imperial city, so the standard guard was rarely used. This business trip to Jinling was even more rare.
However, of the fifteen hundred soldiers, one thousand followed Zhu Jingyuan to the front line, and only five hundred remained in the palace.
We took 300 people with us on this trip, and the team was already extremely spectacular.
When he arrived at the Qianhu Office in Jinling, Zhu Jinghong got off the sedan chair and walked out. He saw people kneeling on the ground outside the gate of the Qianhu Office. Everyone in the yamen who could come was here.
"See Thirteenth Master!"
"No gift!"
Zhu Jinghong didn't want to waste time and walked straight into the Qianhu Institute. Li Wenzhao and others followed immediately.
"Bring out all the people and objects you found and show them to me!"
"The prisoners are all in the cells, and the stolen goods are in the warehouse. Which one will Master Thirteen look at first?" Li Wenzhao asked respectfully.
"Go to the warehouse and take a look first!"
"Master Thirteen, please come this way!"
Li Wenzhao personally led the way, and Zhu Jinghong entered two doors in a row and arrived outside a small courtyard.
The warehouse of Jinling Qianhu Institute stores various weapons and armors, as well as files, physical evidence and other things, and is specially guarded by a small flag officer.
Normally, to get things in here, you have to have the signature of a thousand-household-level official, but at this moment, the door is open.
Li Wenzhao and two deputy Qianhu led Zhu Jinghong to the left and right and took him to a room.
"Master Thirteen, there's a smell inside. I'll ask someone to move the things out!"
"Um!"
Zhu Jinghong was not afraid of the smell, but he was afraid that there would be things inside that were "inconvenient" for him to see, and forcing him in would embarrass everyone.
Immediately, a captain brought a chair. Zhu Jinghong sat on the steps and watched the captains move things out.
"Thirteenth Master, these are the scriptures they recited. I read them carefully...there are some changes compared to the original ones!" Li Wenzhao explained.
There are quite a lot of so-called scriptures. Two stacks were moved out in succession. It is roughly estimated that there are at least hundreds of books.
Li Wenzhao continued: "Those White Lotus cultists are using these scriptures to confuse the world. They are really hateful..."
In addition to scriptures, there are also some flags, flags, and even some ritual vessels.
Especially the latter made Zhu Jinghong very curious, so he stepped forward to play with it himself.
"What are these things for?"
Li Wenzhao explained: "The rebels of the White Lotus Sect made the ritual utensils themselves and used them when they worshiped the gods. It is so nondescript and ridiculous!"
Nondescript is an apt description. Even if Zhu Jinghong is not a professional, he can see that these things should be the evolution of musical instruments.
"Why does it look like a musical instrument?"
Li Wenzhao couldn't explain it clearly, so he could only speculate: "I guess music was played during sacrifices, and over time the musical instruments became ritual vessels!"
No one can say clearly how many years the White Lotus Sect has been passed down, but it has existed for four to five hundred years, and it is normal for it to develop unique ritual instruments.
Picking up one of the pieces, it was obvious that it was a pipa. Zhu Jinghong plucked the strings, but the sound it made was very deep and astringent. It was obvious that this thing had not been tuned.
The lieutenants successively took out more things. After listening to Li Wenzhao's detailed introduction and the two deputy Qianhu's supplements from time to time, Zhu Jinghong understood how strict the White Lotus Sect was.
It was horrifying to think about being planned by these people for more than a month just to torture myself to death.
"Has the divine envoy spoken?"
Li Wenzhao replied: "He has already spoken. It is his confession that the White Lotus Sect is going to start an uprising in the capital!"
"Bring him to see me!" Zhu Jinghong said in a deep voice.
"yes!"
Li Wenzhao winked at Deputy Qianhu, who immediately turned around and took the people away.
Not everyone can bring up a key criminal like Wang Xianxiang.
After sitting back on the chair, Zhu Jinghong looked at Li Wenzhao and asked, "I remember this guy has a tough mouth. Why did he suddenly speak again?"
"Who has this ability?"
Originally, Li Wenzhao wanted to take credit for himself, but when Zhu Jinghong asked who had the ability, he could only answer honestly: "It's a small banner official of the Hundred Penal Houses, named Chen Yuntai... The Thirteenth Master has met him before!"
Zhu Jinghong nodded. The young man left a deep impression on him. He was indeed a capable and capable person.
"It turns out to be him!"
Soon, Wang Xianxiang was brought over. His clothes were stained with blood. He was two feet away from Zhu Jinghong and was escorted to his knees by the school captains.
"As long as you tell the truth, I can spare your life. It doesn't matter what they say about this matter. I can make the decision!" Zhu Jinghong said slowly.
Wang Xianxiang slowly raised his head and said with a dying breath: "Thirteenth Master, I have said everything that needs to be said, and they have also promised to the common people and promised to forgive the villain!"
During these three days, he suffered inhuman torture, and almost nothing about him was good. In the end, he finally confessed when he couldn't bear it anymore.
Regarding the White Lotus Sect's uprising in the capital, this news was Wang Xianxiang's confession to find a way out for himself.
He had a ten thousandth hope that if he really explained something, Jin Yiwei would let him go, but he didn't expect Zhu Jinghong to express his position like this again.
In other words, the way of survival that Jin Yiwei had promised him before, whether it was true or false, had been overturned at this moment.
This made Wang Xianxiang furious. These dog officials went back on their word, and he wanted to chop them all to death.
"Now I ask a question, and you answer it!"
Seeing that Wang Xianxiang did not respond, Li Wenzhao scolded: "Reply!"
"yes!"
"When did the White Lotus Sect start an uprising in the capital?"
"It should be this year, I don't know when it will be!"
Zhu Jinghong asked again: "How are they going to start an uprising? Are they trying to assassinate the king?"
"This matter is kept secret, but it was decided by the leader, and the villain doesn't know about it!"
Zhu Jinghong said coldly: "You have a high status in the White Lotus Sect. I don't believe you if you say you don't know!"
Wang Xianxiang replied in a deep voice: "In the sect, under the leader of the saint, there are the guardians on the left and right, as well as the four heavenly kings, and then there are the envoys such as villains!"
In other words, although Wang Xianxiang has a very high status in the White Lotus Sect, he does not yet belong to the core power level.
Zhu Jinghong asked again: "How can we catch your leader?"
"This villain has never seen the true face of the leader. The meeting place will be notified when it comes. There is no fixed location!"
"Now that the villain is caught, the sect already knows about it and will cut off all connections!"
"Take it down!"
"Yes!" Li Wenzhao waved his hand.
After Wang Xianxiang was taken away, Li Wenzhao asked: "Master Thirteen, do you really want to spare him?"
Zhu Jinghong stood up and said, "I don't think he has told the truth yet. I want to find a way to squeeze out more information. It's up to me how to deal with you!"
"I understand!"
Zhu Jinghong walked down the steps, and Li Wenzhao followed immediately.
"This case is of great importance. You have to investigate it carefully. Matters in the capital may be borne by you..."
Stopping, Zhu Jinghong turned to look at Li Wenzhao and asked solemnly: "Do you understand?"
If the affairs of the capital are on his shoulders, he must be transferred to the capital.
Going from Yingtian to the capital was definitely a promotion for Li Wenzhao. Opportunities were hard to come by.
"I understand that we have to rely on Master Thirteen for support!"
Zhu Jinghong said calmly: "Promotion is out of the question. Only if you do your job well will my memorial be easy to write!"
"There are some things I can say to the Holy One!"
"Yes, I understand!"
