While Zhao Teng was asking questions, various news from the Internal History Mansion spread quickly to the outside.
After all, this case is too sensational.
First, someone sued the banished immortal who brought his own traffic, and then the real and fake Liu Ji appeared. It's almost as exciting as a TV series.
Everyone in Xianyang City who has some time is paying attention to the progress of the case.
Daqin Daily also followed the trend, and under Fu Yao's suggestion, a new method emerged.
We no longer sell newspapers. The newspaper comes out once a day, which is too slow.
Fu Yao hired a few people, mounted fast horses, and placed a large flag on the horse. There was a short sentence written on the flag summarizing what just happened.
The knight on the horse was running wildly and using a loudspeaker to inform the people of the progress of the case.
Now there is a fast horse with a big flag erected on it, which reads: Liu Ji of Shangjun Courtyard is true, and Liu Ji of Fertilizer is false.
The knight on the horse ran while raising his trumpet and shouted: "The latest news from Daqin Daily, the latest news from Daqin Daily. Liu Ji and his son, reunited after a long absence, reunited in the Imperial Palace. Liu Weng was pitiful, he was deceived, pretended to be his descendant, arrived The truth just came out today.”
Unlike newspapers, there is no charge for these messages and they are available to the public for free.
But Fu Yao didn't make any money at all. After all, the knight would run for a while and then shout: "Barley cakes, sweet but not greasy, you can't stop." Eat one piece and run eight hundred miles without feeling tired.
It was obvious that the horse was sponsored by Barley Pastries.
Now Fu Yao mainly earns money from advertisers.
In a small tavern, a group of idlers were drinking.
Since the banished immortal came, there have been more and more crops in the fields, and everyone no longer has to worry about going hungry, so the people actually have free time to gather together and chat.
After hearing the news from outside, someone said with emotion: "I knew a long time ago that Liu Ji, who falsely accused the immortal, must be false."
"He even dares to make false accusations against an immortal. How can such an ungrateful person be true?"
Another person said: "Exactly! This kind of people are often so bold that they pretend to have registered residence. It is normal."
Someone else said: "Perhaps after this incident, household registration will become more and more strict. For us, I don't know whether it is good or bad."
The man from before laughed and said: "We don't commit crimes, so what's so scary? Besides, now that the world is at peace and life is prosperous, there are fewer and fewer corvees, but there are more and more places to recruit workers. For example, when the Yellow River flooded last time, everyone who repaired the river embankments received a lot of rewards. In this case, it doesn't matter if the household registration is strict. "
Everyone around nodded: "Exactly, exactly."
Someone pointed at the person opposite and said: "Who are you? Are you so embarrassed to agree? Others have forgotten, but I have not forgotten. A few days ago, you said that Banxian's fertilizers were fake and Banxian's insurance was also fake. .”
The man pointed to the scar on his forehead: "I got into an argument with you, and you punched me."
The face of the person opposite turned red: "I was, I was..."
Other people who supported Li Shui immediately attacked this group of people: "What did you do at that time? You are an ungrateful person."
The man left in despair.
The rest of the people were sarcastic behind him.
This scene happened in many places in Xianyang City.
Those who supported the banishment of immortals finally felt proud today.
…………
The interrogation by the Internal Affairs Bureau continues.
The focus of the interrogation now falls on Liu Ji.
After all... Xiang Yu and Liu Weng have just recognized their relatives, which is basically conclusive evidence.
At least that's what it seems on the surface.
Because of Ying Zheng's will, Zhao Teng didn't bother to delve into this matter further. Liu Ji is not a good person anyway, so let him suffer a little.
Zhao Teng asked Liu Ji: "Who are you? Why are you pretending to be Liu Ji?"
Liu Ji was about to cry: "I am really Liu Ji."
Zhao Teng chuckled: "It seems that we can't do it without punishment. Someone, come here."
An official responded immediately.
Liu Ji was about to cry: How could this be possible?
Fan Kuai, Lu Wan and others all shrank their necks, thinking with some fear: Xianyang City is really terrible. Never come again.
Liu Ji was kicked to the ground, and the government servant next to him was about to beat him with a stick.
Li Shui said quietly: "Wait a minute."
Zhao Teng: "Huh?"
He thought Li Shui was just watching the show today, but he didn't expect... to actually intervene?
Li Shui smiled slightly and said to Zhao Teng: "Master Nei Shi, it's not good to surrender to the enemy."
Zhao Teng was immediately irritated: What a joke, what if the unyielding attack turns out to be a move? He is indeed the real Liu Ji. Didn't I just surrender to you just to clean up your mess? Are you still going to blame me in the end? Where the hell can you reason with this?
Zhao Teng scolded Li Shui hundreds of times in his heart.
But on the surface, he still remained calm and indifferent: "Then what's the point of banishing an immortal?"
Li Shui coughed dryly and said, "Master Nei Shi's methods of investigating cases are definitely better than mine. How dare I teach Master Nei Shi?"
Zhao Teng: "..."
What the hell is this? This is just a shit stick. You have no solution yourself, but you deny my solution? Doesn't this cause trouble for me?
Zhao Teng sighed, and suddenly wanted to postpone the trial again. He wanted to go back and rest for a while, but his headache was terrible.
As a result, Li Shui said quietly: "But I feel that no matter what the real identity of this fake Liu Ji is, at least the evidence that he falsely accused me is conclusive."
"Should we finish this case first? Then give him a few hundred sticks?"
Zhao Teng was a little puzzled: "After all the charges are determined, wouldn't it be convenient to execute them together?"
Li Shui smiled: "I can't wait any longer."
Zhao Teng waved his hand to the Yamen servant impatiently: "Let's fight. Let's use the punishment of fake Liu Ji for falsely accusing the immortal first."
The officer was a little confused and asked cautiously: "How much?"
Before Zhao Teng could speak, Li Shui said quietly: "Beat him until he admits his true identity."
Zhao Teng: "..."
Isn't this still a surrender? It's just a different rhetoric.
So, the stick was raised, and the stick fell again.
Liu Ji was beaten until he cried like a ghost.
A quarter of an hour later, Liu Ji finally couldn't hold on any longer and shouted: "I've done it, I've done it."
Li Shui sighed and said seriously: "I'm not beating you to make you confess anything, but because you falsely accused me and I want you to be punished."
Liu Ji was so painful that he broke into a cold sweat: "Yes, the villain's name is Liu Si. He is the impostor Liu Ji."
After hearing this, Li Shui immediately said: "I think the beating is almost done. I am soft-hearted and cannot bear to see others being tortured."
Zhao Teng yelled, waved his hand, and told the executioner to retreat.
There was no need for Zhao Teng to ask any more questions this time. Liu Ji simply said: "My name is Liu Si. After the fall of Chu, I lived in no fixed place and made a living by begging."
"When I walked to Peixian County, I heard that Liu Weng had lost his child, so he went to pretend to be someone else, hoping to live in a house and have food to eat."
"My age is not much different from that of Liu Weng's lost child. But Liu Weng may be thinking about his son, so he doesn't have much suspicion. After all, we haven't seen him for many years, and I am living outside in the open, so it is completely normal for him to look older."
"Therefore, I settled down in Liu Weng's house. I can't believe that Liu Weng's son is still alive and has achieved such success in Xianyang City."
He looked at Xiang Yu and said these words fiercely.
When Liu Ji looked at Xiang Yu, he always felt that this man looked familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere.
But Liu Ji thought about it for a while and gave up.
Over the years, he had robbed merchants and met so many people that it was normal for him to forget.
Zhao Teng exclaimed: "I see, it is indeed wrong for you to pretend to be registered as a registered permanent resident. However, the governance of Chu State is in chaos and the people are miserable. Many people are displaced and have no fixed place to live."
"In order to survive, you can be forgiven for using your name as Liu Weng's household registration."
When Liu Ji heard this, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
This matter can finally come to an end.
Unexpectedly, one of the people watching said, "But how did you become rich? I heard you say before that you opened a treasure shop and made a fortune every day."
Other people asked one after another: "Yes, yes, what on earth is going on?"
The common people are concerned about this, not just because they want to help the government solve the case.
Most of them really wanted to know how Liu Ji became rich.
Since the banished immortal arrived, Great Qin has been prospering, and everyone has hope and feels that as long as they work hard, they will be able to live a good life.
They just don't know where to put their efforts.
Now that Liu Ji's living example is right in front of them, of course they want to know about it.
Zhao Teng said calmly: "Liu Ji, just tell us."
Liu Ji was sweating heavily on his head.
Liu Ji's folks were also a little nervous.
Liu Ji's first pot of gold came from robbing merchants. And these villagers also received some stolen money.
This kind of thing must never be said.
Zhao Teng said impatiently: "Liu Ji, where did your money come from? Could it be that you have committed some crime?"
Liu Ji wiped his cold sweat, humming like a mosquito, and said, "Yes... I got it by cheating."
"Huh?" Zhao Teng raised his eyebrows.
Liu Ji began to make up half-truths and half-false lies: "The villain...the villain is from a poor family and doesn't have enough to eat, so he thought of a crooked trick."
"I collected some useless hatchets, broken swords picked up from the wild, and discarded bamboo hats. Then I made up some stories."
"For example, this broken sword was used by King Zhuang of Chu. For example, this bamboo hat was worn by Wu Zixu when he fled. For example, this hatchet was Wu Qi's personal sword..."
"With the reputation of these ancient and modern heroes, these rags can often be sold at a good price."
"I call this...antique."
The people all looked at each other, and someone whispered: "Chu people, are you so stupid?"
Someone else said: "Even if this so-called... this so-called antique was really used by heroes, but... who would be so stupid to buy such a thing?"
Liu Ji coughed dryly and said, "When selling antiques, I often make up some far-fetched stories."
"For example, if I want to sell a sword, I will say that this sword has the great luck of ancient heroes. The person who wears this sword will make great achievements and be unfavorable in every situation."
"I would also say that anyone who is a true hero can hear the roar of the dragon coming from this sword."
"After all, people who are willing to spend a lot of money to buy swords are either rich or noble. Naturally, they don't want to admit that they are mediocre people. So even if they don't hear it, they will say they heard it."
"In this way, my fake sword will become a real sword."
Everyone nodded and said with emotion: "This Liu Si really has some crooked thoughts."
However, someone soon said, "Huh? Why does this story sound familiar?"
Zhao Teng also came to his senses and asked Liu Ji: "Who did you sell this sword to?"
Liu Ji thought for a while and said, "Sell it to a man named Yi Huo."
puff……
Li Shui and Li Xin, who were watching the excitement nearby, burst into laughter.
Hahaha, the recently acquired sword? Is it the one that was once auctioned and sold for a sky-high price?
It turned out to be fake? Hahaha, so funny.
The newspaper reporter almost fainted with excitement and immediately wrote a short message.
Soon, more than a dozen fast horses began to shout in Xianyang City: the sword that was recently sold in the past was forged by Liu Si. Everyone, including Yi Huo, was deceived. This sword will not make the sound of a tiger roaring or a dragon roaring at all.
For details, please refer to Daqin Daily, which will be printed later.
The people of Xianyang ate another big melon.
On this day, the dignitaries in Xianyang City became very embarrassed, and most of them stayed behind closed doors.
After all, after Zhao Tuo bought the sword, many people went to his home to listen to the sword.
They all swore to lie, saying that they heard the sound of tigers roaring and dragons roaring. And the head depicted is Tao.
What now? Is this sword fake?
No sound at all?
Shameful, this is so shameful.
I really don’t have the face to see anyone.
Among the courtiers, Zhao Tuo was probably the calmest.
Since this guy became a disciple of Huaiguzi, he hasn't learned anything else, but he has learned to be thick-skinned.
After all... Li Shui had given him several tests.
Let him first ask Li Si for money, then ask Li Si for beauty, and then impeach Li Si in the court.
This combination of punches completely tempered Zhao Tuo's temperament.
Hehe, I'm already a bit of a nuisance in Xianyang City anyway. Is the sword fake? So it’s fake? The disgrace has been lost a long time ago, that's all.
…………
The next focus of Zhao Teng's interrogation was how Liu Ji deceived people, and Xiang Yu and his group were released on the spot.
Xiang Yu walked outside in a daze, his mind confused: What? So the sword is fake? So it’s possible for me to make a great contribution?
Suddenly, a glimmer of hope ignited in Xiang Yu's heart.
The fighting spirit that had been given up long ago came back a little bit.
He began to plan again in his mind, how to assassinate the immortal and how to raise troops to fight against Qin.
Just as he was thinking happily, Xiang Chao came over, dragged him into a deserted alley, and whispered: "Yu'er, do you know why you can get away with it this time? You spent all your family wealth for your father, bribed Got those witnesses."
"Now that I, the Xiang family, are completely impoverished, you must raise your troops to fight against Qin. Otherwise, we can only be the leader of Guizhou."
Xiang Yu nodded vigorously and whispered: "Don't worry, father, I will definitely..."
"It must be a piece of shit." Xiang Bo cursed beside him.
He sneered and said: "Are you really Liu Ji? Do you really think that the court can't find out? Do you really think that His Majesty and the Immortal can be deceived by you?"
"This time, His Majesty clearly intends to let you off the hook and turn a blind eye."
Xiang Bo patted his chest as if taking credit: "I paid for your lives with medals. I worked hard and collected ten medals. Please banish the immortal to intercede in front of Your Majesty. Your Majesty, considering my merits, this That’s why I agreed to spare you from the death penalty.”
Xiang Yu's head buzzed, and he said tremblingly: "You...you told them all?"
Xiang Bo said: "Yes. But don't worry, it seems that His Majesty does not intend to pursue it. You can live a good life in the future."
Xiang Yu suddenly felt like the world was spinning: It's over, it's over, the people of Qin already know that I am a rebel. I...I...what's the use of saving my life? I don't want to be successful in this life.
The glimmer of hope that had just been ignited was extinguished again.
Xiang Yu suddenly wanted to commit suicide.
