"That's not true." Li Bing shook his head when he heard this, and said truthfully: "Because the incident happened suddenly that day, and I didn't have many guards around me, so everyone stayed in Master Chen's Zen room, and the only sounds outside were There were noisy sounds of fighting, but I never saw the incident with my own eyes. I only found out what happened after hearing the reports from Lao Jianhua and Shan Tingxian."
"As expected." Shen Lie's face showed an expression of "I didn't expect it" and then asked Li Bingdao: "So, did His Highness send someone to check the battle scene and the assassin's body afterwards?"
Li Bing subconsciously looked at Shan Tingxian and responded: "Yes, yes, but... I once ordered the servants around me to examine the corpses. However, they were all servants of the palace and did not examine them. His experience in handling cases is definitely not very impressive.”
"Where is the body now? What's the situation?" Shen Lie asked.
Shan Tingxian, who was standing aside, replied impatiently: "It has been buried long ago. It's so hot that the body can't be put there!"
Shen Lie nodded slightly, then turned to Li Bing and said, "Your Highness, can you understand that the assassination incident at White Horse Temple was described by only two people from beginning to end. One was Lao Jian who was assassinated. Hua, and the other was Shan Tingxian who came to the rescue. Other than that, no one knows what exactly happened that day."
Hearing what he said, Shan Tingxian couldn't help but said angrily: "Shen Lie, what do you mean by this?"
"Shut up!" Li Bing glared at Shan Tingxian angrily: "Don't interrupt Shen Aiqing's analysis. Shen Aiqing, please continue."
Shen Lie smiled slightly: "What Mr. Shan means by asking me, it's actually very simple. What I mean is that the process, motives, evidence and inferences of this case are all based on the relationship between you and Lao Jianhua." Above the description. At least, we haven’t seen any stronger third-party proof yet.”
Shan Tingxian couldn't help but argue: "Master Liaochen, the abbot of White Horse Temple, is the third-party proof!"
"You are wrong," Shen Lie said with a calm sneer: "Elder Liaochen can only be regarded as a witness who was present at the time. However, as an outsider, he has no ability to judge and identify the identity of the assassin. and the target, and it is impossible to determine the details of the fierce battle between the two sides after the assassin appeared. In other words, Elder Liaochen himself is not sure what happened at that time. "
Shen Lie's words immediately aroused Li Bing's doubts. He couldn't help but have some new understanding of the case and frowned slightly.
Shen Lie did not wait for Shan Tingxian to refute, and continued: "Your Highness, the above is just the first doubt in this case, and the next one is Lao Jianhua. According to Master Shan, all of those assassins are highly skilled in martial arts. Desperate outlaws who are not afraid of death would rather commit suicide by taking poison than be captured without mercy. Then, I can't help but ask, how could such a group of terrible dead soldiers deliberately and deliberately attack Launching a sudden attack on the unsuspecting Lao Jianhua, how come Lao Jianhua was able to remain intact in the end?"
This question was naturally asked to Shan Tingxian, but Shan Tingxian didn't know how to answer it. In desperation, he could only falter: "Mr. Lao... Mr. Lao has a high level of martial arts. Of course... of course he has his own The ability to protect.”
Shen Lie chuckled and said calmly: "Okay, even if you are right, Lao Jianhua has great martial arts skills, let's put this doubt aside for now. However, the next third doubt becomes more interesting. That day in Baima Temple, Lao Jianhua's luck is really extremely good. Not only did he successfully avoid the assassin's first attack, but before he was completely trapped in a dead situation, you happened to be waiting for you, Master Shan, and his troops arrived in time. It was embarrassing. Rescued.”
"Yes, is there any problem with this?" Shan Tingxian said angrily: "Fortunately, Mr. Xie is wise and Mr. Lao is also lucky. Otherwise, if I listen to Murong Xue's evil arrangements, I will definitely be in trouble."
Shen Lie shook his head helplessly: "Oh, until now, you are still clinging to Murong Xue. You really don't know what you want? I want to ask you, even if Taifu Xie is so good at predicting things, he asked you to rush there as soon as possible. White Horse Temple escort. But when you led your troops to White Horse Temple, how could it be such a coincidence that the assassin attacked Lao Jianhua no sooner or later? When you discovered the assassin, how could you make accurate decisions on the spot? Based on your judgment, you concluded that those people were only targeting Lao Jianhua, but not His Royal Highness the Crown Prince? In terms of your identity and responsibilities, in that critical situation, shouldn't you personally lead the elite guards immediately? Rush to the monastery to check on His Highness's safety? Why did you leave the Crown Prince alone but first tried your best to protect Lao Jianhua until all the assassins in the backyard were subdued, and then ran to repay the favor? Could it be that Say, do you dare to conclude from the beginning that there were no other assassins running to harm His Highness?"
These fatal questions made Shan Tingxian speechless on the spot. Seeing that Prince Li Bing's face was getting darker and darker, he hurriedly knelt down and said, "Your Highness, I really didn't think well at that time. I only focused on fighting the enemy and failed to think of protecting Your Highness... I deserve death for my crime, and I deserve death for my crime." If you die, please punish me, Your Highness.”
Li Bing gritted his teeth and was about to have an attack when he heard Shen Lie continue his analysis: "After the incident, Mr. Shan, you didn't get even a single sentence of the assassin's confession. You only relied on a body that you didn't know where to find." The pocket crossbow, and the testimonies of several unknown people in the world, firmly concluded that the matter was related to the Nangong family in Sichuan. As a coincidence, Nangong Yuping, the son of the Nangong family, happened to be Murong Zhanshi's classmate Friend. As a result, this shocking case of assassinating a court official naturally involved Murong Xue, and a series of investigations were launched on it. To put it bluntly, my method of handling cases like yours is not good for me. After more than 20 years in the industry, this is unheard of.”
boom! Prince Li Bing slapped Long An and shouted angrily: "Shan Tingxian, how do you explain these issues Shen Aiqing mentioned!"
Li Bing was really angry this time.
Shen Lie's analysis just now made more sense to him the more he listened, and the more frightened he felt.
Those originally obvious doubts were completely ignored by him, the authority. At this moment, these abnormalities were clearly pointed out by Nilin Chief Shi Shen Lie. No matter how you look at it, the White Horse Temple Incident looks like an accident caused by Lao Jianhua. The purpose of the play directed and performed by Shan Tingxian was to trap Murong Xue in a place of eternal destruction.
And he, the dignified crown prince, turned out to be a tool for killing people with a borrowed knife. !
-
Objectively speaking, the whole story of the White Horse Temple case is actually very simple.
But until now, the reason why this matter has been so confusing is because there is a key factor that has been hidden intentionally or unintentionally by all parties involved.
And that key factor is the true identity of the assassins.
There is no doubt that those who participated in the White Horse Temple operation were the masters of the Nilin Division headed by Tao Yuan, the flag-bearer of the Luoyi branch.
But until now, the prince's imperial edict has been spread throughout the world, but their identities have still not been exposed.
From Murong Xue's point of view, he was naturally unwilling and did not dare to tell Li Bing the identities of Tao Yuan and the others, because no matter how he explained, it would be difficult to draw a clear line with Beiya Nilin Division. In this way, It may be difficult for the prince to trust him again in the future.
From the perspective of Prince Xima Lao Jianhua, he could not reveal the true situation easily. There are two reasons for this. First, Lao Jianhua was worried that if the prince found out that those assassins were Bei Ya Ni Lin Si, he would not be able to help but dig deep to find out why Ni Lin Si wanted to fight Lao Jianhua desperately. In this way, Lao Jianhua's secrets for many years may be exposed; at the same time, Lao Jianhua has a vicious plan in mind, hoping to use this rare opportunity to plot against Murong Xue and Shen Lie. Therefore, he concealed it from the beginning. He discovered the assassin's true identity and turned to Nangong Yuping as a scapegoat, muddying the waters.
Both parties had their own plans and agendas, and in the end, they came to a very tacit understanding of the key aspects of the case and made a paradoxical and upside-down operation. And it is precisely because of this approach of the hostile parties that the simple assassination operation, or arrest operation, suddenly became full of doubts.
Shen Lie, who has extremely rich experience in handling cases, grasped this key point and gave it a go without any scruples. He seized on Shan Tingxian's omissions in handling the case and attacked them repeatedly, successfully arousing the prince's suspicion of them.
-
In fact, Shen Lie was able to achieve his goal so easily because the opponent standing in front of him was too stupid.
If it was not Shan Tingxian who was facing Shen Lie's questioning, but Lao Jianhua, Xie Guang, or even Di Xian, they would not be suppressed by him inexplicably.
All the assassins are dead, so what? Didn't similar situations happen in the previous cases of assassinating high-ranking officials in the DPRK? Can it be said that it is self-directed and self-acted if there is no evidence to prove it?
Lao Jianhua was not injured at all, so what? The person who was assassinated was not allowed to escape unharmed. Is it reasonable to have his hands and feet cut off, vomiting blood and serious injuries? Otherwise, is it the crime of deceiving the emperor?
Shan Tingxian happened to arrive at the White Horse Temple and met an assassin. So what? There are so many coincidences in the world. Is it normal to be a little earlier or a little later?
If we didn’t send someone to escort us in time, so what? In the chaotic scene at that time, not to mention Shan Tingxian who rushed in from outside, even Prince Li Bing himself had no idea where he was or where he would be transferred next moment. If he didn't rush to the Zen room as soon as possible, what else could it mean?
As for the pocket crossbow, the Nangong family, and Murong Xue and Nangong Yuping being listed as suspects, so what? Everyone is dead, and there is only such a useful clue left at the scene. Follow the clues and make bold assumptions. Isn't this the usual method used by your department to handle cases?
Question after question, there are corresponding rebuttals.
It's a pity that Shan Tingxian, who is rude and straightforward, is in chaos because of his guilty conscience. He has no way to quickly sort out his thoughts and confront Shen Lie tit for tat. And his panicked and clumsy performance appropriately reflected Shen Lie's wisdom and insight, constantly deepening the suspicion in the heart of Prince Li Bing.
If Lao Jianhua witnessed this scene with his own eyes, Shan Tingxian would be so angry that he would vomit blood.
People are often like this. When faced with something full of doubts and misunderstandings, if the other party cannot argue and fully express their reasoning on the spot, it is particularly easy for a certain judgment to be solidified, so that no matter how hard the other party tries to explain it in the future, it will be difficult to explain it again. Easily reversed.
This is the situation for Li Bing at this time.
He no longer believed what Lao Jianhua and Shan Tingxian had said before, and at the same time, he also decided in his heart that the White Horse Temple issue could no longer be entangled.
Considering the overall situation, an end without a clear outcome may be the best outcome for the prince and the East Palace.
