Chen Dong signaled the guards to put He Qing down from the torture rack. Dai Chang shook his head and said: "Okay, okay, don't worry about it for a few hours. A file with a confession is better."
He Qing said: "I would like to ask Ping Niang, mother and son, what should you do with them?"
As soon as he finished speaking, He Xiaoran rushed over and punched He Qing in the face. He Qing was already seriously injured. This punch caused him to fall to the ground, groaned, and cursed fiercely: "You traitor, you!" You rebellious son!" My sister He Xiaoqiao protected Mrs. He and said coldly: "You are not worthy of being a father at all. My mother was implicated by you and was punished like this, but you didn't care. You only thought about Luo Xiaoniang."
He Qing said nothing and turned his face away. Su Huangzhe smiled and said, "He Qing, Luo Pingniang and her son are being imprisoned in Cell C."
He Qing sighed and said, "Don't you want to know about the nobles in the capital?"
"It's not urgent. You start from the beginning. From the moment you find the Luo family." Su Huangzhe sat down and looked through the previous confession and the Luojia Village's account books, while gesturing to the paperwork next to him to prepare.
The jailer next to him fed He Qing some water, and He Qing calmed down and said: "I drank Luo Mao's tea during the Tea King Competition. The tea soup was as white as snow and sweet in the mouth. It was a rare good tea. The governor of Huzhou at that time Chen Xianlu is going to recommend Luo Mao's tea as tribute tea. This is a good achievement for his promotion. I have worked hard for many years, cleared the backlog of cases in the county, and organized the repair of the dam. All these achievements have been taken by Shangfeng. , he was promoted step by step, but I had been making wedding clothes for others in the position of county magistrate. So I thought of my senior brother Zhou Wenju. "
"Former Hubu Shangshu Zhou Wenju?" Su Huangzhe raised his eyebrows.
"Exactly. He is my fellow senior brother, and we have some friendship. But..."
He Qing struggled for a moment, and Chen Dong sneered and said, "But he is a little greedy for money. Your friendship is more useful than property, right?"
He Qing nodded and said: "That's true. At that time, my family was barely able to make ends meet, and I couldn't do anything to bully the people. But my senior brother loves tea very much, so I thought of Luo Mao."
"Luo Mao was worried all day long because of the tribute tea incident. After all, the tribute tea stalls of this small family often led to family breakdown. When I went to find him, he was already preparing to cut his arm to escape the tribute. Tea. I told him that even if he couldn't make tea, Mr. Chen would force his son to make tea. I told him not to worry, I would help him solve the problem, but he wanted to give me tea, and Luo Mao agreed. "
"Did you ask Luo Mao to plant the tea garden in the back hill of Shuanglin Village?"
"Not really. When I found Luo Mao, he had secretly planted a batch of tea trees in the back mountain. They were all cultivated from the tea seeds of these twelve wild tea plants. The quality is the same, and some are even better. He has been studying the tea trees. Cultivation and production.”
So I thought of a way to let Zheng Yishun buy those tea trees. The Zheng family's tea shop was big, and the tribute tea would have a good reputation, and it would not affect their livelihood. I spread the news about the frequent sightings of wild animals on the mountain and tried to reduce the number of villagers going up the mountain. After I sent the gift to the capital, my senior brother liked it very much. My official career became much smoother, and even those in higher positions did not dare to covet my political achievements. "
Su Huangzhe knocked on the table and said: "Wait a minute, you gave the Luo family's tea to Zhou Wenju, how do you sell it privately? It seems that you delivered a lot of money to the Luo family, and you are still nibbling on your wife's dowry. This money has never been Where did it come from?”
He Qing paused and said, "Do you know Zhou Wenju's sister Zhou Wenjing?" Su Huangzhe nodded and said, "The wife of the general of the Zhongce Army."
"Yes, her dowry included Honglou, the largest tea shop in the capital. I secretly sold tea to Zhou Wenjing. Her shop was big, so she usually spent a lot of money on tea cakes, and they were all good tea cakes. I sold them It’s not obvious there. These things are mentioned in our letters, and they are also in the letters they sent me.”
"Oh, then you burned the letters because they promised to protect Luo Pingniang?"
"Yes, the incident of poisoning tea cakes made the Holy Father furious and sent people to Huzhou to investigate. Senior brother sent people to contact me in advance, because I can't escape the involvement in the tribute tea matter anyway. Even if I am lucky enough to be found guilty of poor supervision, I will be confiscated and exiled. In the end, if the private tea matter is involved, it will be a serious crime against the three clans. He promised me to send Luo Pingniang to the Xia Kingdom, and everything will be completely settled with me."
"Then it was also Zhou Wenjing's channel for you to smuggle tea cakes to Xia Kingdom later? I actually didn't understand. How did you solve the problem of tea introduction? From Huzhou to Xia Kingdom, you have to go through at least four passes. It makes sense, since the four checkpoints are under the jurisdiction of the transfer envoys from the four places, it’s not like they can still bribe the four places, right?”
"I never thought about going to the Xia Kingdom for private tea. Just like Mr. Su thought, there is no way around these hurdles. In the third year of Yongkang, my senior brother wrote that the eldest princess of the Xia Kingdom came to the capital to get married, and it turned out that I got the number one scholar Lou Zhong. Lou Zhong came from my senior brother’s family and also liked Luo family’s tea. After Lou Zhong went to Xia Kingdom, he sent me a letter asking for tea. Every time Xia Kingdom’s envoys came to Daqi, they had half a month to purchase. , there is no need to pay taxes on the goods they brought. Lou Zhong asked me to deliver the tea cakes to the envoy of Xia Kingdom."
Su Huangzhe mused: "When envoys from friendly countries come to visit, they are allowed to bring back some specialties from Daqi. However, these are in limited quantities, and they require certificates from Honglu Temple and inspections before they can return home. How can such a large amount of tea cakes be verified? ?”
"I heard from the envoy from the Xia Kingdom that the eldest princess of the Xia Kingdom buys a large amount of silk and brocade from Daqi every year. This is also the imperial court's tacit approval. Even if the amount exceeds a lot, Honglu Temple will issue an inspection bill. The envoys always buy tea. The cake box is hidden in the fabric, and during normal inspection, the precious silk would not be tampered with."
Su Huangzhe nodded and asked: "Luo Youde said that you were rewarded by a nobleman in the capital and gave you a box of treasures. I have never heard of anyone giving treasures to Xia Feng, but Luo Youde said that you have a nose and eyes. This what happened?"
Dai Chang wiped his sweat nervously, and secretly glanced at Chen Dong. He was still sitting there expressionless. Dai Chang felt that Chen Dong was the popular person in front of the Holy Emperor. In the face of such a big thing, he didn't care at all. There was no feeling of panic.
"That's from Lou Zhongshang. After all, he didn't go to the peak with me, he just bought tea from me. I heard that he was famous for his tea in the Xia royal family, and there were many nobles who bought or asked for tea from him. , the quality of the tea that year was particularly good, which made him famous at the tea fighting conference in Xia Kingdom, so he rewarded me with a box of things. I remember that I also rewarded Luo Mao with a few pieces, all of which belonged to noble people. Just playing around. Is this important?"
Su Huangzhe said without changing his face: "Listen to Luo Youde's description that the box of things is worth a lot of money. We don't know where the box of things is now and how much it is worth. After all, this affects the amount of your final private tea. It is also in our file You have to record it clearly. Are you still in possession of everything?"
"What does a few thousand taels or a few thousand taels have to do with me? It's nothing more than death. I asked Butler Liu to make a book about the things. In addition to giving them to Luo Mao, I also gave some to the transfer envoy Zhao, the Yin of Qiantang Prefecture. , and the rest are all at Pingniang’s place.”
"Tell me about Luo Pingniang? I heard from Luo Youde and Luo Qiaoniang that you took Luo Pingniang away to blackmail the Luo family. Why did you abandon your wife and son for Luo Pingniang later?"
"It was indeed used to blackmail the Luo family at the beginning. Luo Mao was timid and shouted to quit several times. I had no choice but to take his youngest daughter away as a hostage. I started to raise her with housekeeper Liu, and her I personally taught piano, chess, calligraphy and painting."
"Disgusting." Chen Dong said coldly, and the He family's mother and son not far away also looked disdainful.
He Qing raised his head, looked at Chen Dong and Su Huangzhe, and sneered: "Oh, how can you high-class children know the sufferings of poor families like us? The dirty work and hard work are all my business, but I don't get any credit." On my head. I served as county magistrate in Huzhou for five years. For five years, Chen Xiangu used my political achievements to climb up to the position of minister of the Ministry of Rites. I thought he at least considered my hard work and promoted me a little bit. As a result, he was just delaying me, asking me to wait, and evading all kinds of excuses when I asked. Neither Shaoyin nor Fu Yin had any background. The two only knew about intrigues all day long, and I was not the one to handle the daily affairs in the mansion. 1. When it came time for the performance appraisal, all the political achievements I had done appeared on their resumes in various ways, and I couldn't reveal even a single detail. There was no way I could tell Yao about this kind of aggrievedness, even though her father was the prefect of Piling. , but never helped me in the slightest. Once I told her that my career was not going well, she would frown and say nothing, which made me feel even more uncomfortable. It seemed that she was saying that I was incompetent. But Ping Niang was different. Whenever I complained to her, she would Comfort me, I'm not in a good mood, it's Ping Niang who makes me happy and makes me feel that this world is worth it after all." He Qing showed a bit of tenderness when he said this, which made Su Huangzhe feel extremely sick, but before he could wait, When he spoke, Chen Dong sneered and said: "You are so beautiful, you are so beautiful. You are so shameless when you say that there is nothing in this pile? You have a concubine who is not much older than your daughter. , what is it if it’s not lustful?”
Mrs. He on the side walked over with the support of her daughter and spit on He Qing's face. He Qing was angry, frightened, seriously injured and unable to move. Mrs. He knelt down in front of Su Huangzhe and said: "My lords, I know that private tea is a serious crime against the three clans, and we, mother and son, will not be able to escape the punishment no matter what. But I ask your lords, even if a few of us are sentenced to death, I I also want to be with He Qing and Li. Even if I were a lonely ghost, I would not be buried in the same cave with a beast like He Qing. I would rather be hungry and cold every day after my death than accept any incense from the He family." After that, He kowtowed three times.
The brothers and sisters He Xiaoran and He Xiaoqiao also kowtowed. He Xiaoran said: "We brothers and sisters are destined to die. This life can be regarded as repaying our father's life grace. After we die, please bury us and our mother together. We brothers and sisters." Invite yourself to leave the clan."
Su Huangzhe ordered someone to help the He family's mother and son up, and said, "I will report your situation to the Holy One, so don't worry."
Chen Dong walked over and kicked He Qing over and said, "I've seen shameless people, but I've never seen anyone so shameless."
Su Huangzhe asked again: "Luo Qiaoniang's confession mentioned that Luo Pingniang was going to be sent to the Xia Kingdom by you. Did you deliberately arrange this? Before the poisoning, were you planning to send Luo Pingniang to the Xia Kingdom?"
He Qing took a deep breath and replied: "Ping Niang is still a concubine here, and the child she gave birth to is just a concubine, and she will never be able to raise her head in her lifetime. I don't dare to use the money for private tea at will, but if I go to Xia Kingdom , with money at hand and the help of the building master, mother and son can have a world."
Su Huangzhe put down his tea bowl and sighed: "He Qing, He Qing, do you know why this poisoning case happened?"
He Qing shook his head and smiled bitterly: "This poison really has nothing to do with me. I also want to know who harmed me."
Su Huangzhe said: "Of course I know that the person who poisoned her was not you. The person who poisoned her was Luo Qiaoniang."
He Qing stood up in shock and pulled at the wound. The pain made him sweat. He endured the severe pain and asked, "How could it be Luo Qiaoniang? Why did she poison her so well?"
"Because she hates you for taking her little sister and giving her sister to merchants from Xia Kingdom. She hates you for manipulating the Luo family and letting the Luo family be controlled by you for the rest of their lives. She had no way to sue her, so she decided to injure herself eight hundred times. A way to injure a thousand enemies." Su Huangzhe walked up to He Qing as he spoke. He Qing's face turned gray little by little, and finally he lay on the ground and started crying. He didn't know what he was crying for.
