Zhao Xun is a person who does not play his cards according to the routine, and his answer obviously surprised Wang Zhongyi.
However, Wang Zhongyi adjusted quickly, and his complexion returned to normal before long.
"In that case, Mr. Zhao, please start."
Zhao Xun was well prepared before coming, but he was still a little nervous. He took a deep breath and then asked: "According to the report of the imperial censor, Mr. Wang had many contacts with the Mobei Hu people during his tenure as the Jiedushi of Shuozhou. They even sold salt, pig iron and other materials to the Hu tribe in Mobei, and secretly colluded with people from the demon sect to plot evil."
"There is nothing!"
Wang Zhongyi was very angry when he heard this, his face turned red and his beard blew to both sides.
Wang Zhongyi has always wanted to know what crime he was arrested on, but since he was sent to the Ministry of Punishment Prison, officials from the Ministry of Punishment have been avoiding talking about it.
Wang Zhongyi had no choice.
I never thought it would be this crime.
Wang Zhongyi was angry and laughing, and raised his hands to the north and said: "I am deeply favored by the emperor, how could I do such a thing of collaborating with the enemy and treason? This is a frame-up, someone deliberately wants to frame me."
Since asking this question, Zhao Xun has been carefully observing Wang Zhongyi's expression.
A very important part of criminal investigation is interrogation.
A prisoner's microexpressions can often betray his true thoughts.
There are some things that you just can't pretend.
In particular, the left side of the face is easier to reflect the details of the heart than the right side of the face. If there is any abnormality on the left side of the face, the prisoner is probably lying.
From beginning to end, Wang Zhongyi's face showed no other emotion except anger.
No one except the specially trained can appear so truthful when lying.
So Wang Zhongyi is either telling the truth, or he is a very sophisticated old man.
Zhao Xun is more inclined to the former.
Not only because his mentor Wu Quanyi was optimistic about Wang Zhongyi and thought he was not the murderer.
It was because Zhao Xun went to the case file library before coming to the prison, and pulled out all the files about Wang Zhongyi and read them through.
The result after reading it was that Zhao Xun thought Wang Zhongyi was a good official.
If a few people say that there is a possibility of fraud, but the files in the archives are the result of the secret chess intelligence summary of countless bad people, there should not be much discrepancies.
Of course, it is not ruled out that Wang Zhongyi is too high-ranking and is so good at acting that he has avoided the eyes and ears of all bad people.
But Zhao Xun thinks this possibility is low.
If Wang Zhongyi was unjustly accused, then the censor who wrote the letter to impeach Wang Zhongyi must have been instigated by someone and had some agenda.
Who is the person behind him? Why point the finger at Wang Zhongyi?
These are all problems that Zhao Xun needs to solve.
But the meal must be eaten one bite at a time, there is no need to rush.
"Master Wang, please be patient. If you are innocent, I will definitely return your innocence. Now I have a few questions to ask, and please answer them truthfully, Master Wang."
"It's natural."
Wang Zhongyi could feel the goodwill from Zhao Xun, because if Zhao Xun did not want to handle the case impartially, he could conduct inductive interrogation.
"First, where were you and what were you doing on the night of He Yushi's death?"
According to Liu Yushi, who impeached Wang Zhongyi, He Yuanshan was killed by Wang Zhongyi because he had black information about Wang Zhongyi and wanted to write a letter to impeach Wang Zhongyi.
Wang Zhongyi thought he could sit back and relax, but he didn't know that He Yushi had given a copy of the black material to Liu Yushi before his death. Liu Yushi wrote down the black material and Wang Zhongyi's evil deeds of hiring and killing people in the memorial. Here, the emperor is presented to the emperor.
This set of rhetoric is fluent, persuasive, and logical.
But Zhao Xun is not gullible, because there are still flaws in it.
How did Liu Yushi prove that He Yushi told him the dirty information about Wang Zhongyi and did not make it up himself.
After all, these public officials are the guns of the big boss behind the scenes, and it is not impossible to work as a scheming agent.
"On what day did He Yushi die?"
Wang Zhongyi asked with some confusion.
Zhao Xun blurted out: "August 13th."
"That night...let me think about it."
Wang Zhongyi rubbed his forehead. It was almost ten days since August 13th. He had to think carefully.
"I should have been drinking with my subordinates in Dongshi that night."
"Tongshi...write it down."
Zhao Xun rushed to the document beside him and ordered.
He Yushi's home is near the West Market, and Wang Zhongyi said that he went to the East Market that night.
If what he said is true, it can at least prove that Wang Zhongyi has alibi.
Of course, it is possible that Wang Zhongyi paid a murderer or sent his men to kill someone, but these are assumptions based on the conclusion that Wang Zhongyi is guilty.
The Great Zhou Dynasty pursued the rule of doubting guilt, but Zhao Xun knew that the reasonable model was to lead beyond doubt of guilt.
Moreover, Zhao Xun had the impression that the cause of He Yuanshan's death was poisoning, but someone made it look like he was killed by a monster.
Zhao Xun felt that the possibility of Wufu poisoning He Yushi was very small. Wufu was always straightforward, without those twists and turns.
It is very possible to pay for the murder and then forge it afterwards, but what kind of person can Wang Zhongyi trust so much? Isn't he afraid that the assassin will take the money and sell him again?
There are too many doubts here.
But Zhao Xun is not worried. What he has to do now is to get as many clues as possible.
After comprehensive summary and systematic analysis, we can draw reasonable conclusions.
"Second question, where were you and what were you doing the night Wu Ci died."
This is the issue that Zhao Xun is most concerned about.
Wu Ci is a bad person and Jia Xingwen's good brother, so he cannot die without knowing why.
If it is proven that the murderer is not Wang Zhongyi but someone else, then Wang Zhongyi can basically be cleared of the charges.
If Wang Zhongyi fails to explain well, his suspicion will increase sharply, because this proves that the previous files about Wang Zhongyi in the criminal case database may have been falsified.
"Wu Ci...he must be a bad person."
Wang Zhongyi's answer surprised Zhao Xun.
"You know he's a bad person?"
Wang Zhongyi nodded: "He once served as my staff in Shuozhou for two years, and then he said goodbye and went to Chang'an."
After a pause, Wang Zhongyi continued: "When I was in Shuozhou, I felt that this person was extraordinary, because he not only had great strategy, but also had martial arts. It is strange that such a man with both civil and military skills would willingly serve as my adviser. What a waste of talent. But I didn’t think much about it at the time, because he later went to Chang’an.”
Wang Zhongyi smiled bitterly and said: "Who would have thought that three years later, when I met him again in Chang'an, it would be in Changlefang. At that time, he said that he was working in the house of a fifth-grade doctor. But he had an unparalleled evil spirit. This is unique to bad people.”
Zhao Xun was stunned for a moment.
Wang Zhongyi can feel the evil spirit of bad people, so... he is a practitioner?
…
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