The night was dark, the heavy snow finally stopped, and the long-lost first quarter moon hung high on the eaves. It was too cold at night like this, and the number of pedestrians on the street gradually became fewer and fewer. Except for a few Royal Guardsmen walking through the streets and alleys, almost no other pedestrians could be seen.
In the dark secret room of Prince Ning's Mansion, the lamp on the wall was lit up. Five huge figures swayed on the wall and sat around the table. Sitting next to King Ning Liu Xun was his son Liu Xingzhi, and sitting opposite him were Cui Hao, the Minister of Punishment, and Yang Youxian, the minister of Dali Temple. Standing in the corner was the housekeeper Liu San'er. He was holding a huozhezi that was still swaying with a weak flame. Seeing that the indoor light was on, he quickly put out the fire, and then slowly retreated to the main entrance to look out.
Several people greeted each other. Cui and Yang had been smiling since they entered the secret room. Liu Xun also understood it. It seemed that these two people had brought the good news he wanted to know, so he asked: "Master Cui, Master Yang , how is the matter?"
Yang Youxian smiled and said: "Finally, I have lived up to the prince's trust. As soon as the prince said that you had something to ask us to help, the two of us hurriedly went to the archives of the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple to check the files from that year." After saying this, he raised his lips proudly, "My lord, what do you think the result will be?"
"how?"
"The files of the Ministry of Punishment record that in the autumn of the 11th year of Yuanheng, on August 18th, Dongping Hou Liuchang impeached Wu Qingfeng, the military governor, for using power for personal gain and evil intentions. All 124 members of the Wu family were imprisoned. Li Shizhi, the minister of Dali Temple, During the trial, it was found that Wu Qingfeng indeed had the intention of treason, and he beheaded him on the 23rd to show off to the public!" Yang Youxian said.
Liu Xun wondered: "It's really hard to tell with such a few words. Is there any problem with this?"
"The files from the Ministry of Punishments were handed over to the Holy Emperor. Although they only have a few words, they are the answers the Emperor wants! But at the same time, we also checked the files of other cases at that time, but it was extremely strange..." Yang Youxian touched his chin with his left hand. A deep thought.
"What's weird?" Liu Xingzhi stepped forward and asked.
Cui Hao said with a serious face: "We have reviewed a lot of information at that time, and among them there is a record that on the night before August 23, the eleventh year of Yuanheng, three people disappeared mysteriously, one of whom was a widow, and the other two were Her sons are all around ten years old. The widow Wang is a very restless person and ordered her two sons to steal the cattle next door, so she was arrested!"
"Oh..." Liu Xun lowered his head and exclaimed, "This crime is just a matter of being detained for a few days, so why did he disappear?"
Yang Youxian chuckled, "There must be something interesting in this!"
Liu Xun nodded noncommittally, "Have you checked Wang's background?"
Cui Haodao: "Check it! Wang's husband was just an ordinary farmer. He died eight years after their marriage, leaving three Wangs, mother and son, and no other relatives. But what is even more strange is that after the incident, the two men on duty The jailer also disappeared."
After hearing this, Liu Xun raised his head and looked at the swaying candlelight wall, his eyes sparkling, "There must be a problem! Can you two find a way to find those two jailers again?"
Cui Hao frowned and lowered his head and thought for a moment: "Since they have disappeared, they are either absconding in fear of crime, or they have been killed and silenced. Even if they are still alive, more than ten years have passed. I want to find them..." Cui Hao then shook his head. , "I'm afraid it's difficult!"
"We want to bring down Li Shizhi, but impeaching him for this matter is not enough. I can be sure that these two jailers must know the whole story. As long as we find them, everything will be done."
Liu Xingzhi took the initiative to ask for help and said: "Father, leave this matter to my son! Unless both of them are dead, my son will definitely have a way to find them."
Liu Xun glanced at his son noncommittally, smiled slowly, then patted his son on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Since you volunteered, I will leave this matter to you. This year is different from the past. Yesterday, it was reported in the Di newspaper that at the beginning of this year The ninth day is an auspicious day in the zodiac, and the Holy One has scheduled a meeting on the ninth day of the lunar month, so this matter must be investigated before the ninth day of the lunar month. Go ahead, can you complete it? "
Liu Xingzhi hesitated for a moment and said, "Father, don't worry, I will find out this matter before the ninth day of the Lunar New Year."
In the private room of Xinghua Restaurant, there was laughter and laughter, and everyone was drinking happily. Because his brother Lu Renxiang returned to Beijing to take up a post, Lu Zuo took advantage of it and held a banquet for guests and friends at the Xinghua Restaurant. However, he only invited his close friends, and there were nearly twenty people at the table. Everyone was having a good time at the banquet, so they started reciting poems, composing, and playing guessing games. Everyone was very happy. Lu Zuo was also very happy for the first time. When he saw someone coming to toast, he also wanted to drink one or two glasses of light wine, but the wine glasses were all covered with wine. Anjing Ruo was taken away from him, and Anjing Ruo simply called him a bottle of water. Everyone laughed when they saw this.
Just when everyone was having fun, there was a knock on the door, but the room was extremely noisy. Only Jing Jingruo and Lu Zuo heard it. The two looked at each other. This is the private room, and all the food and drinks have been served. It couldn't be that the waiter came to replenish the food, not to mention that he had just given the order not to let anyone bother him unless he called the waiter himself. At this time, there was a rapid knock on the door, and it seemed that there must be something wrong. So Lu Zuo stood up, pressed his hands, and made a silencing gesture to signal everyone to be silent. Seeing Lu Zuo's serious face, everyone fell silent for an instant. At this time, the knocking on the door outside the house became clearer, accompanied by someone calling softly: "Master, Master..."
People in the room looked at each other, as if asking whose servant was calling. Just when everyone was surprised, Gao Jun's face suddenly darkened, he stood up suddenly, then smiled apologetically and bowed his hands to everyone present, "This is my servant, please continue drinking, I will make it easier first."
There was an instant "crash" in the room and it returned to the noise just now, "Master Gao, please go first..."
Lu Zuo watched Gao Yun go away and saw that after he closed the door, he lingered at the door for a while and then left in a hurry. He couldn't help frowning. Normally, if Gao Yun had something to do and left, he would definitely turn around and say goodbye to everyone first. Yes, why did you leave in a hurry when you heard the servant calling? Something must have happened? So he softly called Yin Ji, who was sitting on the other side, to follow him and take a look. After a while, Yin Ji left and came back again. He replied with a deep face: "Master, Brother Gao asked me to come back first."
Lu Zuo asked with concern: "Did he say anything?"
"It was said that something happened to his elder brother, and he sent people everywhere to look for him. If I asked more carefully, he drove me back!"
Jing Jingruo saw Lu Zuo's eyes slightly closed and asked hurriedly: "What? What happened?"
Lu Zuo nodded slowly, "Something must have happened to Gao Han!"
