General Fan saw the housekeeper's panic, and his heart suddenly tightened, and he asked anxiously: "Where did the officers and soldiers come from? Did the leader say anything?"
The housekeeper wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said with some stuttering: "It seems that Qianhu, the head of the Dongchang, personally brought the servants... and asked you, Miss Nangong and Mr. Qin to go to the court to testify..."
General Fan was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then confirmed again: "Is it just me, Miss Nangong, and Mr. Qin?"
"Yes, that's what Mr. Qianhu said..." The housekeeper recalled it carefully and replied.
General Fan frowned and thought for a moment, then asked: "Then did he say anything else?"
The housekeeper shook his head and suddenly said: "He asked you, Miss Nangong and Mr. Qin to go to Dali Temple now..."
"Oh, I see..." General Fan said, walking up to Su Qiqi, Qin Chuan and others, and told everyone what the housekeeper said.
Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan looked at each other, feeling a little uneasy.
General Fan smiled faintly and said, "Miss Nangong, don't worry, the official officials coming from outside are all Eunuch Feng's people..."
Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan finally felt a little more at ease. They turned around to say goodbye to Zheng Miao, Ning'er and Granny Cui, and told them some things to pay attention to.
Before General Fan left, he repeatedly asked Vice General Zhang and Qingdai to lead the soldiers to keep an eye on Gu Zhongkai and Commander Xia, and beware of villains such as Lin Quan sneaking in to kill people and silence them, causing trouble.
Vice General Zhang and Qingdai took the order and left. Vice General Zhang led a group of soldiers to guard Commander Xia, while Qingdai went to a secret courtyard outside the city to protect Gu Zhongkai.
Seeing that everything was well arranged, General Fan felt relieved and got on the official carriage with Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan to Dali Temple.
When Su Qiqi came to wait outside the lobby of Dali Temple, she felt a little nervous and couldn't help but look at Qin Chuan. Qin Chuan patted her shoulder and comforted her: "It's okay, I'm here... ..." General Fan also showed a rare smile and said: "Miss Nangong, don't worry too much, we have made full preparations this time, and everything will be fine..."
Su Qiqi nodded and took a sneak peek at the situation in the lobby. I saw that the yellow cover had been raised in the hall, and a three-foot altar had been set up. Eunuch Feng was sitting in the middle, the important officials of the Three Laws Division were sitting on both sides, and the government officials were holding water and fire sticks on both sides. The solemn atmosphere made her feel flustered involuntarily.
The person who brought them here, Zhang Xing Qianhu, went in and reported his orders to Eunuch Feng, and then left in a hurry. Su Qiqi looked at his leaving figure and was stunned for a while, then asked Qin Chuan in a low voice: "Is it going to be interrogated soon?"
Qin Chuan nodded slightly and said, "It should be soon..."
Just as they were talking, the two heard a loud cry from the lobby: "Bring someone in!"
After a while, Su Qiqi saw several government officials escorting his father and brother, Uncle Qin and Master Meng over.
Su Qiqi greeted them in a low voice. Nangong Qin and others turned to look at Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan, nodded slightly, and then followed the Yamen servant to the lobby. Master Meng, who was walking at the back, paused for a moment when he passed by Su Qiqi, secretly handed her a few pieces of paper, and then walked forward silently.
Su Qiqi's heart skipped a beat, but she felt uncomfortable stepping forward to ask. I had to put the pieces of paper into the armholes first. After the yamen officer walked away, I took a sneak peek and immediately put the pieces of paper away. Then he approached the door and listened with bated breath to what was going on in the lobby.
She listened motionlessly, and could vaguely hear the three presiding officers, including Cao Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, asking about the case one by one, and then the voices of her father, brother, and others answering, but she was a little far away and could not clearly hear the content of their conversation.
After a while, the government servant's loud voice came out again: "Call Liu Chong, the right servant of the Criminal Department, and Wu Tianba, the Wusheng Escort Bureau!"
When Su Qiqi heard this, she quickly looked sideways at Liu Shilang and others who were walking slowly over, and an unknown fire suddenly rose in her heart. It was all these treacherous villains who caused my father and the others to suffer unjust injustice and suffered a lot in that dark prison cell. Let these people get the punishment they deserve when they turn around.
Just as she was thinking about it, Liu Shilang and others had already passed by her and walked towards the lobby. Su Qiqi approached the door again, carefully spying on the interrogation.
I saw Liu Shilang and others kneeling on the ground, and Eunuch Feng was accusing them of their crimes. At first, Liu Shilang was still trying to quibble, but when he saw clearly the confession of Honglu Temple Prime Minister Li Mo that Eunuch Feng handed to him, he suddenly lost his confidence and his speech became awkward.
Eunuch Feng is a man who has seen the world. One look at Liu Shilang's look and guessed that he must have a guilty conscience. So he chased after him and asked: "Liu Chong, why don't you recruit him from the truth? Who instigated you and Li Mojin, the Prime Minister of Honglu Temple, to offer poison pills to murder Concubine Zhang? And where is Lin Quan, the former prefect of Hangzhou Prefecture? ?”
Liu Shilang was shocked and defended: "Xiaoguan is unjust. The poison pill thing was done by Li Mo alone. I was only entrusted to help hire a bodyguard to escort the pills. I don't know anything else..."
Eunuch Feng stared at Minister Liu for a moment, and then said quietly: "You really don't know?"
"I really don't know, my father-in-law, I ask you to investigate clearly!" Liu Shilang hesitated for a moment, but he still argued.
Eunuch Feng glanced noncommittally at Wu Tianba, who was kneeling next to Liu Shilang, and said with a smile, "Then why did you send people to hunt down Miss Nangong, Mr. Qin's brother and sister, and falsely accuse Mr. Meng?"
"This...this...isn't this official...there may be...a misunderstanding..." Liu Shilang rolled his eyes and came up with another plan to get through.
Seeing this, Eunuch Feng snorted coldly and said: "Based on these physical evidences alone, you might still be lucky! Our family will let you see the relevant witnesses in this case again and let them confront you in court!"
Having said that, Eunuch Feng asked the Yamen servant to summon Su Qiqi, Qin Chuan and General Fan to come into the hall to answer the question.
Su Qiqi and the others entered the lobby, walked up to Eunuch Feng and the important officials of the Sanfa Department, and bowed respectfully.
Eunuch Feng glanced at the three of them and said with a smile: "I heard that the three of you found important witnesses in the poison pill case. Is this true?"
Su Qiqi and the others clasped their fists and said, "It's absolutely true. Please give Eunuch Feng a clear warning."
Eunuch Feng pondered for a moment, then his sharp eyes swept across the faces of the three people again, and he said slowly: "Oh... where is the witness Gu Zhongkai now?"
As soon as Eunuch Feng finished speaking, Cao Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment also echoed: "Yes, where is Dr. Gu now?"
Su Qiqi composed herself and briefly described what she knew. Then she added: "For the safety of witnesses, we had to hide Dr. Gu in a secret place outside the city... In the lobby just now While we were waiting outside, I sent a message to my friends to escort Mr. Gu over... I also asked Eunuch Feng and all of you to wait a moment..."
After listening to Su Qiqi's words, Eunuch Feng nodded, then looked at the important officials of the Three Laws Division beside him, and whispered: "My lords, would you like to rest for a while and wait for witnesses to come before continuing the interrogation?"
Naturally, the important officials of the Three Laws Division had no objections, so they announced their withdrawal. I went to the back hall to rest with Eunuch Feng. A group of prisoners and witnesses were also taken away by the government officials.
About an hour later, the yamen servant came over and reported that Gu Zhongkai had been brought. Eunuch Feng and the important officials of the Three Laws Division were re-elected. The prisoners and witnesses also gathered in the lobby again.
Cao Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice glanced at Gu Zhongkai and asked: "Gu Yuyi, please tell me in detail what happened that day..."
Gu Zhongkai bowed and saluted, and then explained the ins and outs of the poison pill case in detail. As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Shilang shouted to him excitedly: "You are talking nonsense. I have never interacted with any experienced people, nor have I given you money to prepare elixirs! You must not rely on me randomly!"
Gu Zhongkai also became anxious and said: "I have the banknote as proof, and there are also letters written by you and Lin Quan to me... You can't even think of denying it!"
Gu and Liu had a tit-for-tat quarrel. Cao Shangshu was angry and slapped the gavel suddenly. The two of them became quiet and turned their faces away in dissatisfaction with each other.
Cao Shangshu softened his tone and said: "Gu Yuyi, have you brought the physical evidence?"
Gu Zhongkai nodded and presented the banknote and letter to Cao Shangshu. Cao Shangshu picked it up and showed it to Eunuch Feng and the other two presiding judges. Then he looked at Liu Shilang and said, "Liu Chong, what else do you have to say?"
Liu Shilang wanted to make more excuses, but Su Qiqi spoke first: "Your Excellency, I have a few pieces of evidence here..." After saying that, she took out a token from her sleeve, along with Liu Shilang, Li Mo, and Xia Xia. Secret letters exchanged between the commander and others in the past year.
Seeing these evidences, Liu Shilang's face instantly turned pale! He knew that the situation was over, and he fell to the ground limply. Wu Tianba also looked frightened like a bereaved dog.
Just when Wu Tianba was in despair, Eunuch Feng suddenly half-closed his eyes, looked straight at him and asked, "Wu Tianba, I heard that you made a deal with Lin Quan, is this happening?"
"Ah? I...I..." Wu Tianba, who had always been domineering, was speechless for a moment and looked helplessly at the equally embarrassed Liu Shilang.
Liu Shilang glared at him fiercely and ignored him, making him even more at a loss. Under the gaze of Eunuch Feng and the three chief interrogators, his psychological defense finally collapsed completely, and he confessed everything he knew about the poison pill case, and then he lay on the ground, shaking all over. It must be like sifting chaff.
