In the quiet night, the palace looked like a spider.
Palaces, roads, palace walls, government offices, residences, rivers, ships... are all on the lines of the spider web.
The wind moves and the water flows.
The spider web trembled slightly.
The inspector appears in the dark, who enters whose house, who invites whom to drink, who goes through whose back door, and who delivers letters to whom. Whenever there is a flaw, whenever there is a lack of vigilance, a strange head may appear in the darkness, staring with curious eyes, peering into the secrets of the night.
Its daybreak.
Gu Zhengchen slowly opened his eyes, feeling very sleepy.
Sleeping in prison is not as comfortable as at home. Not to mention the mosquitoes, there are also a lot of people snoring and talking in their sleep. I don't know if someone is grinding their teeth or someone has their toes gnawed by mice. There are people crying and howling in the middle of the night.
Wu Rong was quite energetic and was interested in doing some morning exercises. Seeing Gu Zhengchen wake up, he smiled and said, "Today's trial will probably be a fierce battle of words. Are you ready?"
Gu Zhengchen sat up and nodded calmly: "There is nothing to prepare, just let them go."
Zhao Yihui slept comfortably. It had been a long, long time since he had slept so naturally. Without the constraints and torture of shackles, sleeping was a kind of enjoyment.
"Looking at your impending misfortune, I apologize to you." Zhao Yihui stood up, stretched his muscles, and said to Gu Zhengchen: "I thought about it carefully last night and found that the seven dollars you spent will indeed benefit the people. Although there are some things that I haven’t figured out yet. But it’s obvious that you are not the corrupt person I initially thought. I apologize for my recklessness.”
Gu Zhengchen smiled, stood up and patted the hay on his body: "I accept my apology. When I come back, I hope you can tell me everything about Quanzhou in detail, from beginning to end, all the details."
"You don't think you can live much longer if you beat the imperial censor, do you?"
Zhao Yihui admired Gu Zhengchen's optimism, but did not understand the source of his optimism.
Not to mention the crime for which he was imprisoned in the dungeon, just beating Chen Ning was enough to cost him half of his life. As for the remaining half of his life, he would either be sentenced to prison or sent two thousand miles away.
Gu Zhengchen put on his coat, combed his long hair with his fingers, rolled it up casually, and put on his hat: "If my guess is right, you won't die this year."
Wu Rong put the shackles on Zhao Yihui, and the jailer came slowly, opened the cell door, and shouted: "By order of Li Yan, the Minister of Punishment, Gu Zhengchen is being interrogated."
Gu Zhengchen stepped out and strode towards the door.
Zhao Yihui frowned and looked at Wu Rong: "Who is he?"
Wu Rong sat down, feeling relaxed: "He is the husband of our two young masters..."
The lobby of the Ministry of Justice.
Li Yan and Liu Weiqian, ministers of the Ministry of Justice, Wang Zhongli, the minister of affairs, Wang Guangyang, the imperial censor on the left, and Chen Ning, the censor on the right, all took their seats.
Wang Guangyang looked at Chen Ning's somewhat uncoordinated face, holding a tea bowl, and ridiculed: "I heard that Dr. Chen Yushi fell down and almost lost his face. But I am very curious, how did he fall so that he lost half of his face?" Swelling without leaving scratches..."
Chen Ning's nose arched and he said in a strange tone, "You'll know when Dr. Wang Yushi falls down once."
Li Yan and Liu Weiqian naturally knew everything about what happened in the dungeon last night, but they did not dare to speak out due to Chen Ning's "gag order". However, both of them were shocked by Gu Zhengchen's almost reckless courage, and they were also shocked by Gu Zhengchen's almost reckless courage. I was surprised by Chen Ning's initiative to "keep things quiet".
"Take Gu Zhengchen!"
After Li Yan learned that Gu Zhengchen had been raised from the dungeon, he took pictures of the gavel.
Gu Zhengchen had no shackles on his body and no shackles on his feet. He stood in the hall and raised his hands in salute: "Gu Zhengchen has met several hall officials."
Li Yan didn't dare to ask Gu Zhengchen to kneel down. Not to mention that he was a civil servant, even the title of Quanzhou County Male was enough to prevent him from kneeling to anyone present.
Seeing that Gu Zhengchen's chest was straight and there was no trace of panic in his eyes, Li Yan looked at Chen Ning. Chen Ning gave him a stern look. Li Yan nodded slightly and said, "Gu Zhengchen, you have committed a crime." I am tired, today the Ministry of Punishment and the Yushitai will interrogate you. If you dare to openly resist, lie and deceive, your crime will be increased! Only by recruiting the truth, pleading guilty and obeying the law, can your family be saved!"
Gu Zhengchen was indifferent and raised his hand to sweep the folds of his clothes: "Interrogation is interrogation, what's the point of using family members to coerce you? You are the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. If you don't have this common sense, you might as well write to His Majesty to resign from the Ministry of Justice to avoid an unjust case. "
Li Yan stood up suddenly, his face was cold, and the gavel was slapped loudly: "Gu Zhengchen, it's me who is judging you, not you who is lecturing me! You are a prisoner in the hall, how dare you do this to me? say?"
Gu Zhengchen looked at the two scribes who were writing quickly and said, "Write it down. Li Yan, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, has a bad temper, is easily angered, and has violent tendencies..."
The scribe opened his mouth, looked at Li Yan, lowered his head and started to move the brush.
There is no way. Although today's court hearing is presided over by the Ministry of Justice and the Yushitai, this file is for the purpose of the emperor's imperial review. If any sentence is missed, it may be life-threatening.
Li Yan almost exploded with anger. Before he even started to interrogate him, he actually used this method to "impeach" himself. If the emperor saw this, wouldn't it mean that the emperor underestimated him, and he might even be removed from the official position because of it? Hat, take off official uniform?
Liu Weiqian took a deep breath, with some fear in his eyes.
Gu Zhengchen's strength exceeded his expectations. He was like an unsheathed sword that could stab him at any time!
Chen Ning frowned, knowing that if this continued, Gu Zhengchen would probably turn his back on the guest. He coughed and reminded Li Yan: "Interrogate according to crime, prove each case one by one, and establish the verdict!"
Li Yan immediately calmed down and sat back: "Gu Zhengchen, you are now being tried for ten crimes. For one of them, you colluded with Buddhism and Taoism and stole a large amount of money from them. You are suspected of huge amounts of corruption. Can you plead guilty?"
Gu Zhengchen looked at Li Yan, then turned around and looked behind him, and asked: "Li Shangshu said that I have connected with Buddhism and Taoism. I dare to ask them where they are. Why don't they bring up their witnesses?"
"this……"
Li Yan was speechless, hesitated for a moment, and then said immediately: "There is news that you robbed four thousand guan of money from the eminent monk of Tianjie Temple, and you also robbed 8,000 guan of money from the Taoist sect! These coins must be recorded in the county It should be on the government account books. Do you have to wait until I take out the account books before you are willing to explain?"
Gu Zhengchen disagreed: "Having said so much, where are the witnesses? Tianjie Temple is not far from the Ministry of Punishment. It will not be difficult to find Zong Lai from Tianjie Temple. Li Shangshu has arranged for people to invite and inquire. In the end Did I rob Buddhists of their money, or were Buddhists grateful and gave a sum of money to the Jurong County Government?"
Li Yan didn't believe this at all. The monks in Tianjie Temple seemed to be compassionate, but none of them were economical. They had many fields and wealth.
Will the monks from Tianjie Temple give Gu Zhengchen money?
What are you thinking? Do you think you are a Buddha?
"You took money that you shouldn't have taken. This is corruption! I'm not afraid to tell you that the Ministry of Punishment has sent people to Jurong to seal all the accounts. As long as Buddhist and Taoist money appears in the accounts, your name of corruption will never be cleared! "
Li Yan insisted.
Seeing Li Yan's attitude, Gu Zhengchen couldn't help but laugh: "Okay, I admit that I took money from Buddhism, but it's not the four thousand coins you said, but six thousand coins!"
Li Yan's eyes were full of surprise, and he immediately looked at the scribe: "Write it down? Let him mark it!"
The clerk had just stopped writing and before he could speak, Gu Zhengchen spoke again: "I took 6,000 guan, but Jurong only left 4,000 guan, and I distributed the remaining 2,000 guan to my comrades."
Li Yan did not expect that the interrogation would go so smoothly, and immediately asked: "There are actually accomplices, who are your accomplices?"
Wang Guangyang squinted at Gu Zhengchen, and it was a bit unexpected for him to explain so calmly.
Liu Ji didn't say that this person was smart, but why he didn't call himself in when he came to this lobby, for fear that the recruitment would not be thorough enough, and even the party would be exposed.
Chen Ning felt something was wrong. If Gu Zhengchen could plead guilty so easily, it wouldn't be him!
Gu Zhengchen's eyes moved slowly, fell on Chen Ning, and said softly: "Emperor."
Chen Ning shivered and looked shocked.
Li Yan's body softened and he almost slipped off the chair. Your sister, Gu Zhengchen, you actually dragged the emperor into trouble. You, you...
Gu Zhengchen said very calmly, Lao Zhu had tricked him so badly, why did he drag him into the water? He didn't confiscate the money when he distributed it.
The reason for sharing the money in the first place was not to let Lao Zhu act as a shield at critical moments.
You have thousands of swords, as long as you hide behind Lao Zhu's shield, you can shout and play whatever you want.
A smile appeared on Wang Guangyang's face. Sure enough, this kid was very powerful.
No one doubted Gu Zhengchen's words, and no one dared to make fun of the emperor.
Liu Weiqian's hands were trembling a little. Damn it, why did he have to interrogate him? If this trial continues, he doesn't know whether he will die or not. He is afraid that he will be scared to death.
Wang Zhongli's face turned pale. This guy has become an ally of the emperor, and he asked the Ministry of Punishment to deal with it...
Gu Zhengchen took in everyone's expressions and said to Li Yan: "Li Shangshu, if you want to interrogate me for taking money from Buddhism and accuse me of corruption, you need to at least invite the eminent Buddhist monk Zong Lai and the emperor who is my ally here. , let Zong Lai testify that it was the Buddhist money that I stole, and let the emperor and I share the same crime."
Li Yan wanted to cry. Who dared to convict the emperor?
The emperor is here, who dares to let him stand in the hall?
Li Yan wiped cold sweat: "This, this, your Majesty will never wait like this with you..."
"Your Majesty took the money."
Gu Zhengchen said bluntly.
Li Yan's teeth chattered: "Gu Zhengchen, you can't talk nonsense..."
Gu Zhengchen did not change his words: "Your Majesty received the money, two thousand guan, as a gift from Zong Li. I still have letters at the magistrate's house in Jurong. Do you want to send someone to look for them? Jurong is a hundred miles away after all. It will take a day or two to find a letter and go back and forth. Your Majesty and Zong Long are here in Jinling City. Li Shangshu, when it comes to convicting me of corruption, you must not be careless. There must be witnesses and physical evidence, and accomplices must also be present. case!"
