It took a long time for Li Bing, who had a sinking face, to speak: "Well, since it was a misunderstanding and the situation has been clarified now, you should quickly withdraw the troops outside. Waiter, send the imperial doctor over, first. Treat Shen Aiqing's injuries."
The inner palace supervisor took the order and hurriedly found the imperial doctor on duty. He cleaned and bandaged Shen Lie's wounds in the imperial study room.
Li Bing, Shan Tingxian and others were waiting silently.
In a short time, all the seven or eight large and small wounds on Shen Lie's body had been taken care of, but his face was still slightly pale due to excessive blood loss.
Li Bing then ordered someone to prepare some hot soup for Shen Lie, and then asked: "Shen Aiqing, if you have anything to report, just tell it to me."
Shen Lie thanked the prince first, and then replied: "Your Highness, according to Weichen's investigation, the Xuanjia Army's forward battalion was indeed in Liangzhou when General He was killed. Considering their combat power at the time, they are suspected of committing the crime. Should be the biggest. However, the forward battalion may have a key alibi.”
"Oh? The key alibi?" Li Bing was confused: "What kind of proof is it?"
Shen Lie explained: "The situation is like this. Xu Youchang's forward battalion went to Liangzhou for exercises under the military order of Xie Guang, the commander-in-chief of the Xuanjia Army at the time. The area they chose for operations was a wilderness mountain forest that was clearly designated in accordance with the prior plan, so No one should have been able to provide a witness. However, when Wei Chen's subordinates were investigating the surrounding area, they learned that during that time, there happened to be an old court official who had retired and retired, and he brought several old friends to explore the joy of mountains and rivers. Two of them were The eminent Buddhist monk Jingde Zen Master and the famous northwest hermit Fang Qingyao. These celebrities all said that they had witnessed the Xuanjia Army roaring in the mountains, and that place was nearly a hundred years away from the scene where General He Da was killed. The time and place do not match up. In other words, Xu Youchang and others are probably not the murderers who attacked He Jingming. "
Li Bing suddenly realized after hearing this, nodded slightly and said: "I see. Master Jingde and Mr. Fang are both worldly masters, and they will never lie for anyone, so their testimony is indeed extremely crucial. But if that is the case, then why do you He also said that it might be proof, and he came to investigate the Xuanjia Army?"
Shen Lie respectfully replied: "Your Highness is clear. The testimonies of those experts were only reported by Wei Chen's subordinates. I have not yet gone to verify it personally, so I can only say that it is possible at the moment. As for the Xuanjia Army, it is more interesting. In the process of investigating the case, Wei Chen discovered that during that period, in addition to Xu Youchang's forward battalion, there was actually a unit of the Xuanjia Legion that also left the main camp for about a month. "
Li Bing frowned: "Oh? Where did that army go?"
"According to the records of the Ministry of War, they were ordered to go to Ezhou to escort grain and grass." Shen Lie smiled slightly and said: "According to common sense, this kind of task is very common in the army, and this group of people has the order, festival, and order recorded by the Ministry of War. The signs are all in place, the approval is complete and orderly, and the customs and defense seals of the various states along the way are also recorded one by one, so there is nothing suspicious."
Li Bing heard Shen Lie say that he was not suspicious, but he knew that there must be something hidden behind the matter, so he didn't answer and just waited quietly for him to continue talking.
Sure enough, Shen Lie changed the subject: "However, just because everything was normal, it became clear that there was something abnormal about this matter. The biggest problem lies in the customs seal letter of Zhe Chong Mansion. The one reported by that army On the marching route, there was a place that must be passed by, which was Wanzhou on Shannan Road. At that time, Wanzhou was seriously damaged due to continuous heavy rains and sudden landslides. Therefore, during that time, the postmen traveling between the north and the south were Horses, messengers, officials and troops all detoured to the nearby Xianzhou. However, after the Xuanjia Legion returned to camp, the seals they submitted to the Ministry of War along the way were still stamped with Wanzhou Zhechong Prefecture. But there is no seal of Xianzhou Zhechong Mansion. Your Highness, what do you think this is going on?"
Li Bing looked gloomy and snorted coldly: "This can only mean that they have never walked that road at all, let alone went to Ezhou!"
Shen Lie nodded: "Yes, Wei Chen thought the same way, so he decided to come and ask Mr. Xie in person, where did his mysterious troops go? What did they do?"
After listening to Shen Lie's words, Li Bing was silent for a moment, and then said with some embarrassment: "The assassination of General He is of great importance, and Shen Aiqing has worked hard to investigate it. However, Taifu Xie has already gone to Bianzhou to supervise river affairs. It's impossible to summon him back in a short while, I'm afraid...I'm afraid you will have to wait for some time. Or, take my decree, go directly to Bianzhou to find him, and ask him face to face?"
Shen Lie thought to himself: You want me to see Xie Guang to question him face to face? Doesn’t that mean a sheep enters a tiger’s mouth? Not to mention carrying the prince's handwriting, even with the emperor's edict, Xie Guang dared to find any excuse and chop me up on the spot. Mentioning the assassination case of He Jingming right now is nothing more than an expedient move to save his life tonight. Does the prince really take it seriously?
Shen Lie was worried that Li Bing would be so zealous that he would go to Bianzhou to question Xie Guang. He would sign some bullshit "manuscript" to him on the spot, so he really had to go even if he didn't want to.
So, he quickly changed the topic and tried to stabilize the prince first: "Your Highness, this matter is not in a hurry. I have another thing to report to you."
When Li Bing heard what Shen Lie said, he couldn't help but feel curious. At the same time, he was also interested in the other party and asked, "Oh? Is there anything else Shen Aiqing can report?"
In fact, Shen Lie was making nonsense just to frustrate him. For a moment, he really didn't know what to report to the prince. His mind was spinning rapidly, secretly forcing himself to quickly find a good topic that could be compared with the "He Jingming case".
In the midst of the lightning and flint, the witty Shen Lie suddenly had an idea. Murong Xue's appearance flashed in his mind, and the idea of "killing two birds with one stone" suddenly came to mind.
"Your Highness, I would like to share some thoughts about the White Horse Temple incident." Shen Lie said calmly.
His words immediately shocked the person next to him, Shan Tingxian.
When Shen Lie introduced "He Jingming's Assassination Case" just now, Shan Tingxian was already sweating while listening to it. He had been secretly worried about Xie Guang and Lao Jianhua. At this moment, Shan Tingxian felt even more shocked when he saw that the unlucky guy Shen Lie suddenly brought up the "White Horse Temple Case" again.
The resourceful Mr. Lao is not here, and he is a big boss. Who else can control the thoughtful and eloquent Nilin Changshi in front of him?
Prince Li Bing's reaction was completely different from Shan Tingxian's.
Since the investigation of the "White Horse Temple Case" was the prince's edict, the civil and military officials of the imperial court almost knew the ins and outs of this matter very clearly, and it was not considered a secret.
Although Li Bing had appointed Shan Tingxian, Huangmen's minister, to be responsible for investigating the case, His Royal Highness still attached great importance to the opinions of Shen Lie, the "top case-handling expert" of the Holy Tang Dynasty, and he really wanted to hear what Shen Lie had to say. Good advice.
Therefore, before Shan Tingxian could find an excuse to object, Li Bing smiled and nodded, asking Shen Changshi to speak freely.
Facing the prince with earnest and focused eyes and Shan Tingxian with a gloomy and uncertain expression, Shen Lie secretly let out a long breath.
He had made up his mind at this moment, planning to take advantage of the rare opportunity that Xie Guang and Lao Jianhua were not in Luoyi, the eastern capital, and rely on his rich experience in handling cases for many years to simply give Murong Xue a headwind in his unfavorable situation. Comeback!
"Your Highness, I believe that there are several doubts about the White Horse Temple case as follows."
Li Bing heard Shen Lie say that there were doubts about the Baima Temple case, and there were several more, and he couldn't help but become curious. To be honest, in the past month or so, because Murong Xue was involved in this case, it also caused a lot of trouble to Prince Li Bing.
On the one hand, Li Bing felt deeply disappointed and frightened because Murong Xue made such an extreme move against Lao Jianhua; on the other hand, because Murong Xue was unable to effectively check and balance Xie Guang's faction during the suspension investigation, resulting in Li Bing always feels a little powerless when dealing with important government affairs.
And there is another point. After Shan Tingxian, the minister of Huangmen, started investigating the case, more and more people were involved in the case. Among them were officials from the imperial court and sects in the world. It was very outrageous. .
It was difficult for Li Bing to judge for a while, how many of them were the real suspected murderers, and how many were innocent grievances deliberately framed by Xie Guang and the others. When the case is finalized in the future, how to deal with this large number of messy guys will also give Li Bing a huge headache.
Now Shen Lie mentions the White Horse Temple case, let alone what his position is. This person's case handling experience and unique vision alone can provide powerful help for Li Bing to accurately grasp the whole story of the White Horse Temple incident.
Therefore, the words of Nilin Director Shi completely attracted Li Bing's attention, and he temporarily forgot about the handwriting.
Shen Lie thought to himself for a moment to clear his thoughts, and then he said leisurely: "Your Highness, after the White Horse Temple case was issued by the Eastern Palace, although there was a special order, Shan Tingxiandan, the minister of Huangmen, was ordered to investigate with full authority. , but according to the Criminal Law of the Holy Tang Dynasty, the whole story of the case was reported to the Ministry of Punishment and our Dali Temple as soon as possible. Therefore, Wei Chen still has a certain understanding of the basic situation of this case."
When he saw the prince nodded in approval, he continued to say confidently: "Before Weichen expresses his humble opinion, there is another important matter that I would like to verify with His Highness."
"Well, if Shen Aiqing has anything to ask, just ask." Li Bing was very cooperative.
Shen Lie smiled and glanced at Shan Tingxian who was standing next to him. He cupped his hands to Li Bing and said, "Your Highness, please forgive me for being bold. Did your Highness witness the whole thing in White Horse Temple that day?"
