After Niu Decao was taken away, the officials looked at Wang Xingben with strange eyes. However, Wang Xingben was not willing to admit defeat and shouted: "I admit that I gave Niu Decao money, but as he said, I did this because I was afraid that my boss would hold me accountable for my poor handling of the case. At most, it is a crime of dereliction of duty. As for things like forging scenes, buying cows to testify, and killing cows, it’s all nonsense!”
Li Zhiyun sneered and said: "You really don't shed tears until you see the coffin. Later, I will make you fully confess."
Li Zhiyun turned to face the officials and continued: "When I was checking the file on the scholar's wife's disappearance, I found that the file was extremely simple. There was only one page with Niu Da's eyewitness testimony and the four words of 'Searching for Wushu' written on it. A word. I thought at the time, any case involving human life should not be closed so hastily and rashly. Even if it is a lie, the file should be more solid. If he is so careless, isn't he afraid that his boss will review him in the future? , can you see through it at a glance? There is only one possibility, that is, this person is waiting for something. After this thing happens, no one will pursue this case anymore. So, what is it? I think of it again I read the poem left by Zhou Shen. I have always had an intuition that there must be some kind of clue hidden in that poem, but I haven’t found the key to decipher it yet.”
"In order to find out the truth about Zhou Shen's murder, I talked to all the officials in the county government who had close relations with Zhou Shen. During the conversation with Director Hong, he accidentally said that he had borrowed Zhou Shen's "Book of Changes" "Yi Shu". I thought at that time, Zhou Shen likes to study the Yi Jing. Could the key to that poem be hidden in the Yi Jing? So, I asked Master Hong to bring that book. Zhou Shen is I went missing on the night of the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. I found the fourth hexagram of the Book of Changes. The lines of the fourth hexagram are Yang Yao Yin Yao Yin Yao Yin Yao Yang Yao Yin Yao. If you treat the Yang Yao as 1 and the Yin Yao as 2, you will get a Group number: 122212. Then take out the first word of the first sentence of the poem, the second word of the second sentence, and so on, and you will get a sentence: There is a mystery in the back mountain. Obviously, this is Zhou Shen’s hidden clues in the poem.”
"So, I sent Sima Zhang Zheng to the back mountain of Yinhua Mountain. Zhang Zheng found a warehouse containing weapons and flags in the backyard of Puning Zen Temple." After Li Zhiyun said this, he motioned to the soldiers beside him. The soldiers displayed flags and flags with the words "Mahayana Buddha Kingdom", "Mahayana Emperor" and "Propagate Dharma". When the officials saw it, they immediately started talking.
Li Zhiyun continued: "Later, I heard that Magistrate Xu was going to hold a fasting party, and sent Zhang Zheng to dress up as a wandering monk and enter a temple in Yinhua Mountain. Zhang Zheng found out from a drunken monk that Gao Tansheng planned to take advantage of the opportunity. Taking the opportunity of the Zhaihui, he led five thousand monks to coerce the believers to launch a rebellion, killed the county magistrate and all officials, then attacked the barracks, and then occupied the county seat of Xia County, established the Mahayana Buddhist Kingdom, proclaimed himself the Mahayana Emperor, and established the nun Jingyi as the Queen of Xieshu. The title of the year was changed to "Propaganda". After I learned about Gao Tansheng's conspiracy, I sent General Yuwen overnight with the general's command to mobilize 10,000 soldiers from neighboring prefectures and counties. Everyone saw what happened next."
When Li Zhiyun said this, all the officials whispered. Xu Tiecheng knelt down and saluted: "Thank you to the King of Chu for his sharp eyesight and his ability to deal with it appropriately. Otherwise, we and the officials in Xia County would all have died in the hands of these bald donkeys!" Upon hearing this, all the officials knelt down and thanked them.
Li Zhiyun quickly asked everyone to get up, and then said: "Let's talk about Zhou Shen's murder. The matter is already very clear. Zhou Shen accidentally discovered Gao Tansheng's plot and wanted to go to the county government to report to his superiors. However, he didn't know Is there any accomplice of Gao Tansheng in the county government? As a precaution, he wrote the poem and then left home to go to the county government. I checked the duty record that night and it was Wang Xingben who was on duty that night. .”
"Nonsense, Zhou Shen never went to the county government office that night." Wang Xingben wanted to deny it.
Li Zhiyun looked at him and said, "However, a nearby resident saw him entering the county government office. County Lieutenant Wang, do you want to check his testimony?" Upon hearing this, Wang Xingben became silent.
"After Zhou Shen entered the county government, he reported the situation to Wang Xingben. In order to stabilize Zhou Shen, Wang Xingben asked him to go home and wait for news. After Zhou Shen left, Wang Xingben went to the county government's woodshed and took an ax and followed Zhou Shen. Shen, killed him in Qi Chi Alley. Because he was in a hurry, Wang Xingben only cleaned up the blood stains on the ground but forgot to clean up the blood stains on the wall."
"In order to dispose of Zhou Shen's body, Wang Xingben hitched a donkey cart, put the body on it, covered it with firewood, and then drove the donkey cart out of the east gate. This was testified by the guards at the east gate."
So a soldier was called in. After saluting, he said: "My lords, I am the guard of the East Gate. I am on duty at the East Gate from Xu Shi to Chou on the fourth night of this month. At three o'clock that night, I saw Captain Wang driving a car out of the city gate. He said he was going to deliver firewood to his uncle's house. Because they were acquaintances, the villain didn't check."
After the guard finished giving his testimony and left, Li Zhiyun continued: "After Wang Xingben transported Zhou Shen's body out of the city, he buried it on a hill next to the official road, and the ax used in the murder was discarded nearby. In a mountain stream." He said and picked up an ax from the desk, "General Wang led his soldiers to find this axe. After identification by Director Hong, it was the one that was lost in the county government's firewood room."
When Li Zhiyun said this, Xu Tiecheng held up his hands and said, "King Chu, do you have any evidence that Wang Xingben and Gao Tansheng conspired to rebel?" Li Zhiyun looked at Wang Xingben and said, "There is a secret room in the Wei family in Wang County, which is decorated as a Buddhist hall. , what is hidden inside, Wang County Lieutenant knows best." Wang Xingben had to lower his head when he heard it.
At this time, Yu Wenxin walked in from outside the lobby, came to Li Zhiyun, cupped his hands and said: "Reporting to the King of Chu, the monks' rebellion has been quelled, and Gao Tansheng and his buddies have all been captured!"
"Okay, put them in jail immediately and keep them under strict supervision!"
After Yu Wenxin left, Zhang Zheng came over again and whispered a few words in his ear. Li Zhiyun nodded and said to Xu Tiecheng: "Magistrate Xu, ladies and gentlemen, please follow me outside the hall."
The officials followed Li Zhiyun out of the order hall and saw three women walking towards the barracks gate, led by several sergeants. Li Zhiyun said loudly: "My lords, these three women were rescued from the temple on the mountain by Zhang Zheng!"
Xu Tiecheng took a closer look and saw that one of them was Xiaoxiang, the maid who accompanied his wife to the mountain to offer incense. He quickly took a few steps to meet him. When Xiaoxiang saw him, she quickly ran over and knelt in front of him, crying and calling "Master." Xu Tiecheng helped her up and said anxiously: "Tell me, what happened?" Xiaoxiang wiped the tears on her face: "Master, that day I accompanied my wife to Longxing Temple to burn incense. We were getting ready after burning the incense. After going down the mountain, a monk came over and said to my wife that my wife's piety moved the Buddha. The Buddha issued a decree and asked my wife to go to the back hall to receive the decree. My wife believed it and went with him. When we came to the back hall, several people suddenly rushed up. A monk arrested us and put us in a dark room..."
"What happened next?"
"Later...then every night a monk with a round head and a big face came...to bully Madam..."
Xu Tiecheng's eyes widened and he yelled: "What about Madam?" Xiao Cui cried: "Madam didn't want to live in poverty, she died of not eating a few months ago..."
Although he had a premonition, Xu Tiecheng still shouted as if he was struck by lightning: "Madam——!" Then he fainted and collapsed on the ground. When Li Zhiyun saw him, he quickly ordered people to carry him into the lobby for treatment.
Of the three women who were rescued, the other two were the scholar's wife and her maid. Someone had already told the scholar, and the scholar hurried over. When he saw the lady, he quickly ran forward. The couple held each other's hands and cried, and everyone around them was sighing...
After quelling Gao Tansheng's rebellion, Li Zhiyun and Yu Wenxin were about to leave Xia County and go to the next prefecture and county for inspection. The next morning, they walked out of the city gate and saw Ding Guoyi, Chief Hong and several other county officials waiting by the official road. Ding Guoyi took the lead and walked over, cupped his hands and said: "Your Highness, King Chu, Magistrate Xu has already found out where his wife is buried and went to pay homage early in the morning. He entrusted his subordinates to see off the King of Chu and the generals on his behalf."
Li Zhiyun nodded and said, "How is Wang Xingben? Did he plead guilty?"
"Not yet. However, he will plead guilty sooner or later." Ding Guoyi paused and said, "I knew that he was very obsessed with Buddhism and Buddhism, but I never expected that he would be bewitched by Gao Tansheng and fall into this trap. What a shame it went so deep!”
Li Zhiyun also sighed and said, "He brought it upon himself... Okay, let's just say goodbye." After saying that, he was about to get on his horse. At this time, he saw a fast horse running from the city gate. There was a puff of smoke and dust. The fast horse galloped to the front, and the messengers dismounted and knelt down and said: "Report to the King of Chu that a messenger has been sent from Jinyang, saying that Liu Wuzhou's army has gone south to attack Bingzhou. The King of Qi asked the King of Chu to return to Jinyang quickly."
Upon hearing this, Li Zhiyun's face became solemn and he said loudly: "Okay, let's go back to Jinyang quickly!" He, Ding Guoyi, Hong Zhubo and others cupped their hands, turned around, mounted their horses, and hurried away with a group of people...
