Just after the fifth watch, for some unknown reason, dozens of people gathered outside the Chuzhou government office early to watch. The governor He Jingzhu received the report at his residence, but he was also confused. The visitor only said that Xu Kuangheng, a member of the judicial army, had a case to file a complaint, so he did not dare to neglect and hurried over.
"Xu joined the army, why did he beat drums to open his mansion?"
He Jingzhu was wearing an official robe, but there were slight wrinkles at the chest. He was obviously dressed in a hurry, and there was a slight resentment on his face at this time.
Xu Kuangheng's face was a little pale, he just cupped his fists in greeting without replying.
Just when He Jingzhu was wondering, Li Yuan and Liu Jiangsheng led several soldiers and escorted Ma Liu, who was tightly tied up, straight into the hall.
When He Jingzhu saw this young and familiar face, he glanced slightly at the man with a tight rope all over his body. His brows obviously trembled, and then he immediately returned to normal and asked with a smile: "Li Yuhou?"
"His Majesty He is here well!" Li Yuan returned the greeting lightly. Then Liu Jiangsheng kicked Ma Liu down and said angrily: "Kneel down!"
He Jingzhu was obviously a little touched. He kept crossing his hands behind his back and asked tentatively: "Is this?"
Xu Kuangheng stepped forward and said respectfully: "Back to the governor, I went out of the city yesterday to supervise an important case. I was passing through Huangmuling and was unexpectedly besieged by bandits. Fortunately, Li Yuhou led his army to the rescue and killed sixty-seven bandits." , and captured the bandit leader, and sent him to the government office today."
"Oh!" He Jingzhu hesitated for a moment, then hurriedly stepped forward and looked at Li Yuan with an expression of joy: "I would like to thank Li Yuhou for eliminating banditry for our people in Chuzhou! I have decided to go to the imperial court to serve Li Yu Waiting for merit!"
Li Yuan had already expected He Jingzhu's calmness, so he said expressionlessly: "He Jingshi, I am not here today to ask for credit!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Jiangsheng took out the ball of rags from Ma Liu's mouth.
"He, He Governor! Save me quickly!"
Hearing Ma Liu's howl, He Jingzhu's face suddenly darkened.
While observing He Jingzhu's reaction, Li Yuan glanced at Ma Liu who was kneeling on the ground with disdain, and said coldly: "Oh, it seems that you, a bandit, and the governor are familiar with each other!"
After being captured last night, Ma Liu had been thinking in his mind, thinking that no matter how arrogant Li Yuan was, he was just trying to bluff people for a while to seek credit. He would eventually go back to Jinling. How could he suppress local snakes like them? At this time, I was very happy to see He Jingzhu, an acquaintance, so he cleverly turned around and said with a flattering smile: "He Cishi guards Chuzhou and is loyal to the emperor and loves the people. We and other people will naturally recognize him!"
Li Yuan's face didn't change, and he followed the words and asked, "Oh? He Governor, do you recognize this thief?"
He Jingzhu was calm. After listening to Ma Liu's words, he secretly thought that this person knew his identity, so he straightened up and said loudly: "Ahem, there are tens of thousands of people in Chuzhou, but I certainly don't recognize him!"
"This thief is none other than Scar-headed Ma Liu, who has been causing trouble for many years!"
I saw He Jingzhu hurriedly walked to Li Yuan in two steps, pretended to examine Ma Liu for a while, and then made a look of astonishment: "Ah, Li Yuhou is really powerful! This thief has been wandering around the Hai and Chu states for many years, killing people and plundering the states. Mansion, the crime is extremely heinous! Your Majesty is so powerful that we finally captured this thief today. I and the people of Chuzhou would like to thank Li Yuhou for your great kindness!"
Li Yuan sneered and said to Ma Liu, who was kneeling on the ground but complacent: "Did you hear that? How dare you, a bastard like you, let Governor He save you? The crime cannot be pardoned!"
Ma Liu glared at Li Yuan fiercely, then turned his head and spat arrogantly to the side: "Spit!"
He Jingzhu paused for a moment, seeming to be thinking about something, then turned around and said seriously to Li Yuan: "Marquis Li Yu, since this thief has been brought to justice, I will hand it over to my officer! I will wait for you for Yuhou's success in suppressing the bandits." Then I will personally submit a letter to the Yushitai!"
Others may think that this scene is harmonious. Li Yuan captured the bandit leader, He Jingzhu showed his merit, and then everyone was happy. But how could Li Yuan be tricked by He Jingzhu? Ma Liu and He Jingzhu, the officials and bandits, are singing in harmony. If they go in today and come out tomorrow, what's the use?
"Then thank you, Governor He! But Ma Liu's crimes probably go beyond killing and selling goods! He was the main culprit in the illegal salt trafficking case a month ago! Wang Jingguo and the other five were all deceived and framed by him!"
"The illegal salt case?" He Jingzhu's heart moved, he swallowed, then raised the corner of his mouth and sneered: "Haha, Li Yuhou, I know that you want to excuse Wang Jingguo! When did this scar-headed Ma Liu get involved with him again? Are you involved in the illegal salt case? Is there any real evidence?"
Li Yuan pointed to Liu Jiangsheng and several soldiers beside him, and then said calmly: "He Governor, if there is no real evidence, I would not dare to come here rashly! This thief appeared on the Huangmu Ridge yesterday. For smuggling smuggled salt! The whole battalion of forbidden troops under this Yuhou are all witnesses!"
He Jingzhu adjusted his collar absentmindedly, shook his head and responded: "Haha, that battalion of forbidden troops are all subordinates of Li Yuhou, I'm afraid there are not many such witnesses! Besides, even if this Ma Liu is really selling private salt, I will try another case on my own! Wang Jingguo’s case has already been tried and convicted, how can he be forcibly involved?"
Ma Liu was overjoyed and immediately cooperated. He shrunk his shiny head and shouted to himself: "He Cishi, there is absolutely no such thing! The villain is unjust! It is clearly Li Yuhou who framed the villain in order to seek credit! The villain has never done anything like this! I have never done anything like selling private salt!”
He Jingzhu then angrily shouted: "Shut up! I will make my own judgment in court! Take this thief down, I will choose a day for trial!"
If it weren't for the time limit, Li Yuan would have really wanted to award these two the best actor award at this time! But after all, He Jingzhu was the governor of this place, and Li Yuan, a Marquis of Yu, the capital of the Forbidden Army, had no right to interfere in local political affairs. At this time, the state soldiers who were watching He Jingzhu coming up to take Ma Liu away suddenly lost their strategy and could only watch with their hands firmly on their swords and gritted teeth.
Upon seeing this, Liu Jiangsheng turned his head silently and at the same time gave several soldiers a stern look.
At the critical moment, Xu Kuangheng suddenly spoke and stopped him loudly: "Wait a minute!"
He Jingzhu suddenly turned his head, glared and said, "What's the matter with Xu Canjun?"
Xu Kuangheng calmly raised his hands and said: "He Cishi, what Li Yuhou said is true! I am willing to testify for him!"
He Jingzhu secretly cursed that Xu Shenjun was notoriously insecure. He had always argued with him in court due to several cases before. Why did he show up again now? Could it be that Li Yuan saved his life and thought he had a backer? It's so ridiculous...
Thinking of this, He Jingzhu glanced contemptuously, and then said in a slightly warning tone: "Xu Canjun, this matter is very important, you have to think about it! According to the criminal law of the Tang Dynasty, officials who perjured themselves are not lightly charged. ..."
Xu Kuangheng just showed an unpredictable expression, and then said calmly: "He Governor, please forgive me for being rude!"
After taking a few steps back, with a "wow" sound, Xu Kuangheng untied his robe in front of everyone, and then forcefully tore off the blood-stained inner coat, revealing a horrific wound on his abdomen, with yellow and festering flesh and blood. Dark red blood beads continued to seep out, and everyone couldn't help but hissed and sucked in a breath of cold air!
Li Yuan's face was full of shock. Xu Kuangheng did not inform him in advance. Could this serious stab wound be the minor injury Xu Kuangheng said? Thinking that last night he went into battle with this injury to kill the enemy, and now he has his injuries examined in public for Li Yuan to solve the case, I sighed deeply in my heart! Staring at the beads of sweat on Xu Kuangheng's forehead, he must have suffered a lot, so he couldn't help but whisper: "Mr. Xu..."
Xu Kuangheng only responded to Li Yuan with a calm look, and then continued to point to his wound and said: "He has taken a good look at it. This wound is about three inches long and two inches wide. It came from the long knife used by Ma Liu. The assassin Order someone to check the edge of the knife and you will know! When the lower official was injured and in pain, he accidentally slipped and fell onto Ma Liu's private salt cart. He happened to get a small amount on it, which can be used as evidence. The salt was very rough and not pure enough. It is very similar to the illegal salt paid in the Wang Jingguo case! Just order the salt officer to check it."
As soon as these words came out, everyone changed their expressions.
Looking at the crystal white salt grains on Xu Kuangheng's wounds, Li Yuan was convinced and just smiled bitterly to himself. This Mr. Xu was too cruel to him! But I have to admire his plan for a rainy day. This painful trick has already defeated He Jingzhu's army.
He Jingzhu's lips twitched. In addition to resenting Xu Kuangheng, he was more suspicious of Ma Liu. Why didn't my boss tell me that this guy stole the goods last night? I couldn't help cursing secretly, even if you were waiting to leave the goods rashly, how could you leave such physical evidence! He also happened to fall into the hands of Li Yuan and Xu Kuangheng, seeking his own death. How stupid!
Xu Kuangheng's face was still pale, his hands were trembling, and he put on his robe, then gritted his teeth and said: "As a member of the judicial army, I am in charge of the prison in this state. Now that all the witnesses and material evidence are available, please ask the governor to retry Wang Jingguo's case immediately!"
Ma Liu was the first to panic, his eyes evading again and again, as if he couldn't believe it, and his mind was in confusion: "He Governor! He Governor! He is framing this! After the first month of the month, how can the villain never walk through the private salt market again? They pretended to be the boss to lure me. Go-"
He Jingzhu hurriedly shouted: "Shut up!"
Finally hearing the flaw, Li Yuan immediately sneered: "Oh? This thief is honest! Who is your boss?"
Ma Liu was stunned for a moment, knowing that he had lost his words, so he could only turn his eyes for help to He Jingzhu, who had a gloomy face. The Chuzhou governor was obviously confused at this time. He wanted to speak out but was stuck in his throat.
Li Yuan walked slowly to He Jingzhu's side and said solemnly: "He Governor, the matter has come to this. If the illegal salt case is not retried, I am afraid it will be unfair and wrong the good people! Although I have no right to interfere , but as a witness in this case, he also knows the laws of our court! He Cishi is guarding one side and must not betray His Majesty's trust..."
This statement is not alarmist. Now that the witnesses and material evidence are available, Ma Liu made a mistake again in public. He Jingzhu knew very well that the salt smuggling case was a major case that attracted the attention of His Majesty and the government and the public. If he forcibly blocked the retrial and unjustly killed people to take credit, once word of the incident reached Jinling, even if He Jingzhu had someone to look after him, he would not be able to be regarded as the governor. ! Now we can only hope that Ma Liu can withstand the punishment and stop biting randomly...
In the courtroom, He Jingzhu leaned on the table and fell down on the seat, closed his eyes and waved, "Alas..."
Xu Kuangheng understood, walked to the hall, waved his hand, and said loudly: "The governor has ordered that the case of illegal salt be re-tried immediately!"
