It is true that Shi Xiushen had to be suspicious, or to put it nicely, defensive because of his job, but this was not his complete nature. Therefore, when he saw Ye Yongjia crying so bitterly, he couldn't help but let down his guard.
When he saw Ye Yongjia was about to stand up, he stretched out a hand and said with a smile on his face: "Nice to meet you. My name is Shi Xiushen. My name is Mingzhen."
Ye Yongjia looked at his face, then grabbed the strong hand and stood up. "My surname is Ye, my double name is Yongjia, and my courtesy name is Tinglong."
"Your merits are great," Shi Xiushen said. "You should be remembered as the first meritorious deed in this campaign to suppress the rebels. I heard Li Yong say that you have been tired from the past few days. Go out." "
Ye Yongjia stood in the yard, looking at the clear and open sky above his head pushing white waves of clouds, gradually extending into the distance with no end in sight, making his originally gloomy and desperate mood become clear and open-minded. He suddenly felt as if he had been reborn in the past few days, and all the things he should have been worried about were now swept away in his mind.
"How is Lu Deguang?" Ye Yongjia asked.
"He's being held in prison, don't worry. We'll have to rely on Tinglong to interrogate him in a few days." Shi Xiushen said with a sly smile.
"Me?" Ye Yongjia looked at him doubtfully, "I'm just acquainted with it. You shouldn't be responsible for such a big case..."
"It's okay, I think you are more suitable for this job than me," he patted Ye Yongjia trustingly, "I'll just listen."
After Ye Yongjia heard this, he felt quite panicked, and his mind was confused: he would eventually have to face those mountains of irrefutable evidence. For him, what he wants to judge may not be Lu Deguang's crime, but his own crime.
This is no easy task. When he sat in the lobby facing Lu Deguang, he could not help but feel uneasy when he opened the incriminating evidence that he had prepared.
"What an injustice, sir! What a injustice, sir..."
The people outside started making a loud noise and wanted to rush into the court, but were beaten on the head and face with water and fire sticks by several government officials. But there were many people, and some people took advantage of the chaos and slipped under the government officials' arms. The government officials quickly grabbed them behind. The people in front bumped into them again, leaving them at a loss.
"Send a dozen more people!" Shi Xiushen ordered an officer.
Seeing this situation, Lu Deguang became hardened: "Ye Yongjia, you despicable villain! See how much the people love me! Look! Yes, I am a rebel, a rebel, but what I am rebelling against is The treacherous minister Liu Zhennian! That common man who brought trouble to Chao Gang!" He turned around, raised his arms and shouted, "Look, a loyal man is about to die generously!"
"Shut up." Shi Xiushen said sternly beside Ye Yongjia.
When Ludgwang saw his calm and self-confident look, he immediately became silent like a mouse hiding behind him.
"Tongzhi, you can convict me now." Shi Xiushen said.
"Why?" Lu Deguang asked from below.
"It's just that you resisted the government. Isn't that enough?"
"I don't think about it enough." Ye Yongjia looked at Shi Xiushen with a determined expression.
Even a capable man like Shi Sijin, who had experienced strong winds and waves, could not figure him out. He could only spread his hands and said, "If you want to interrogate him, I can't stop him."
Ye Yongjia knew the outcome of the interrogation. But when he faced this person, Lu Deguang, who had ruined his family and tortured himself mentally, it was difficult for him to remain calm. He gritted his teeth and hated, and his strong desire for revenge almost exploded at this time. If reason had warned him to pursue conscience before, then today it was anger that induced him to kill this enemy. He would first expose his face in front of everyone, then chop off his head with a sharp knife and let him take it with him. I feel ashamed and fall into what Buddhism calls the endless hell.
He thought, since his struggling morality caused him to lose his loyal Kou Zhong and become a lingering ghost that gradually undermined his aspirations, why not just sink into despair to satisfy his own selfish desires? !
So, he picked up the first piece of evidence, which was the statistical document on the burning of households.
"Master Prefect, you still remember this, right?" Ye Yongjia smiled at Lu Deguang, but his hands holding the evidence were trembling.
"The case of arson in a house..." Lu Deguang suddenly realized what Ye Yongjia was going to say. "I'm telling you, this matter will drag you down..." Lu Deguang said slyly.
"Who are you dragging into the water? Criminal Lu Deguang, please tell me the name of that person!" Ye Yongjia shouted.
"If you dare to speak, then you have the ability to say it!" Lu Deguang did not show weakness and shouted.
"You think I don't dare," Ye Yongjia's hands were still shaking, "Isn't that the one..." He swallowed, "Ye Yongjia! Ye Yongjia, a colleague of Chenzhou! He led his troops to burn down the houses and burned ten people to death. You two! Do you all know?" After he said that, he lay back on the chair, shook his head, and his eyes were dark red.
The originally noisy courtroom suddenly became silent, and everyone looked at him.
Shi Xiushen was also moved and turned to look at him in surprise.
"Understood...?" Ye Yongjia's voice was weak, "I understand..."
Shi Xiushen was stunned for a moment before sneezing.
"Please continue talking, colleague," he said quietly.
"Okay." Ye Yongjia calmed down and looked down at the file, "Liu Shuban of the household knew something disgraceful, so let's talk about it separately. Lu Deguang then had murderous intentions and sent his colleague Ye Yongjia to lead his troops to burn down the house. In order to kill people and silence them."
"You burned down your own house, and you blamed me? It's ridiculous!" Lu Deguang smiled contemptuously, but there was no confidence in his laughter.
"Prefect Lu is ridiculous! How can a fellow prefect have the right to mobilize troops? The soldiers I lead are from the Inspection Department, and they only follow the orders of the prefect!"
"You..." Before Lu Deguang could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Ye Yongjia: "Me? If you want to say that I lied about your order, show me the evidence! If there is no evidence, I can only assume that I was sent by you. "
After hearing this, Lu Deguang opened his eyes wide. After all, he had nothing to say.
"There is also your servant Li Yong. If you dare to talk nonsense with your eyes open, you can call him over at any time." Ye Yongjia's voice was fierce, forcing him to almost no way out.
"Let's talk about Liu Shuban again. Liu Shuban was banned from selling it with his own eyes because he witnessed a piece of paper, which was equivalent to a voucher, given to Xihua County Magistrate and now the Governor of the Governor's Office, Zhao Shuo, so that he could sell it with great fanfare. personal salt, not to mention that the salt was inferior; so these stories were derived in order to extort confessions.”
"Who wrote this so-called 'voucher'?" Shi Xiushen asked.
"It was also written by fellow magistrate Ye Yongjia...in accordance with the instructions of magistrate Lu Deguang." As soon as Ye Yongjia finished speaking, Shi Xiushen next to him noticed that his breathing was not stable.
All the people turned their attention to Lu Deguang and gave him various looks; Magistrate Lu's face became increasingly ugly.
