The old east wind comes to dream

Chapter 30

That night, neither of them could sleep well.

Gu Zizhan suffered from insomnia for most of the night, and he didn't fall asleep until the light of day. After less than an hour, he got up to wash and go to the office in a daze.

Chu Lan doesn't need to go to the palace today, but she still has to go out——Daoist Yuan Hui is here.

During the whole day, Gu Zizhan was so busy that his feet never touched the ground.

Early in the morning, Xing Kang took her to watch the interrogation of Cao Yan.

Because Cao Yan was severely tortured when he was interrogated by the Jingzhao Mansion, and his body was seriously injured, Xing Kang naturally couldn't torture him anymore, and spent most of the day and still got nothing.Cao Yan bit him to death and he was just acting according to Cao Guangshou's arrangement. All the family's income was money embezzled from the East Palace, and Cao Guangshou entrusted him with the property title deeds for safekeeping. He had never been there.As for why there is a fake official bank and the source of the fake official bank, nothing is known.

Afterwards, Xing Kang ordered her to sort out the case files, and marked the specific locations of the house deeds and land deeds. In the evening, he took her to see the special clerk of Dali Temple and asked about the cause of Cao Guangshou's death.

The cause of Cao Guangshou's death is also very simple. It is consistent with what Jingzhaofu said. He died of weakness and convulsions, without external force or traces of poisoning.

When Wang Sicheng and others who went to search the houses of Cao Guangshou and Liu Shengwen together with Zhan Shifu in the East Palace came back, Xing Kang called Gu Zizhan to discuss matters together.

According to Wang Sicheng, Liu Shengwen's house is very clean, and the money found is not much, and it matches the accounts, so it should be his salary.But there is another world in Cao Guangshou's house.

The amount of silver found in Cao Guangshou's home was as much as ten thousand taels, which surprised everyone in Dali Temple who went to raid the house. What was even more unexpected was that these were real official silver.In addition, many letters between him and his uncle Liu Chong were found, many of which involved bribery of the guards of the Eastern Palace and the Imperial Palace, as well as falsification in the purchase and sale of old things in the Eastern Palace, and there were more than a dozen thick accounts.

Gu Zizhan hastily flipped through the accounts, and saw that the records on them were all the silver taels corrupted by the Eastern Palace, and the proceeds from doing business with those silver taels.The number is nearly ten thousand taels, which can basically be matched with the stolen money found.

During this period, Wang Sicheng hesitated to speak, and finally sighed: "Actually, this Cao Guangshou has another account, which was taken away by the people of Zhan Shifu. It is a secret account, which records the bribery of officials in the Eastern Palace. It's horrifying. It seems that even Zuo Shuzi Pei Wenqing was involved."

After hearing this, everyone in Dali Temple frowned.Xing Kang seemed to be in a hurry, and asked: "In this case, how can Zhan Shifu take him away?"

Wang Sicheng was helpless, and sighed: "Your Majesty has made a decree before, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will investigate and handle the matter of the East Palace. Zhan Shifu went to a Wupin Mansion Cheng, and led the Donggong Guards to take away the ledger and the stolen goods. The next official is really serious." It cannot be stopped."

Xing Kang was furious: "How unreasonable!"

For Cao Guangshou, this case seems to have become a simple Donggong case.Although it is also a major case, according to the previous will of Emperor Tianshun, Donggong should be responsible for all this.However, since the matter of bribing the officials of the Eastern Palace was involved, it seemed too ridiculous for the Eastern Palace to be responsible for it.Everyone knows this truth, but there is nothing they can do about it.

After Xing Kang got angry, he was also in a dilemma. He sighed and said to Gu Zizhan: "In this case, we can only report the truth and let the Siqing Lord decide! Gu Sicheng, you will sort out the case into a book, and the case will be settled." Write clearly! This matter is extremely urgent, it must be completed today, and then handed over to the official immediately."

Gu Zizhan quickly responded, and immediately began to copy the dossier and write it into a document.

In this matter, according to Emperor Tianshun's habit of favoring the East Palace, he must not directly accuse the East Palace of being suspected of covering up. Gu Zizhan can only word carefully and fully present the facts, so as to explain that it is not appropriate for the East Palace to continue to take care of it.

It wasn't until Youshi that Gu Zizhan finally finished writing, and after handing it over to Xing Kang, Xing Kang told her to stay at Dali Temple tonight and be on standby at any time, so he hurried to find Yan Junchi.

Gu Zizhan had no choice but to send the yamen servant to send a message to the family, telling Yu Wang and Chu Lan that she would not be able to go back tonight.Because Dali Temple often needs to work overtime to investigate cases, each official has his own dormitory.Gu Zizhan's official position is not low, and he has a spacious and clean single room.But living here for the first time, away from Chu Lan's familiar figure, and encountering such a difficult case, she couldn't sleep at all.

But this night, Gu Zizhan was not the only one who had trouble sleeping peacefully.

Xing Kang revised the document written by Gu Zizhan and gave it to Yan Junchi.After Yan Junchi read it, he pondered for a long time and began to write the playbook.

In the middle of the night, when the memorial was written, Yan Junchi called Ma Chengda, and showed Ma Chengda the documents written by Gu Zizhan and the memorial that he had written himself.

Ma Chengda read it in a hurry, with a surprised expression on his face, pointing to the document written by Gu Zizhan, he asked, "My lord, is this written by that kid?"

Yan Junchi nodded, "Exactly."

Ma Chengda frowned and asked: "My lord, why didn't you follow what she wrote? Is there something wrong with this memorial you wrote?"

Yan Junchi rubbed his sore eyes, looked at him, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Ma Cheng said loudly: "Now we are only guessing that there is bribery and fraud in the East Palace, but you assert that someone may deliberately lure the case to the East Palace, and it is no longer convenient for the East Palace to intervene. Is it a bit presumptuous?"

Yan Junchi looked at him, smiled wryly and shook his head: "Zhiyuan, you have a strict temper, which is a good thing for investigating the case. But you have to understand that your majesty is one with Donggong and his son, and it is most taboo for someone to criticize Donggong. Now this case, Someone from the Eastern Palace has already been involved in it, if the Eastern Palace is not taken out, it will be really detrimental to the Crown Prince. I say this now just to give His Majesty an excuse, so as to save face."

Ma Chengda showed a puzzled face, and asked again: "But you often say that Dali Temple handles cases and should discuss the facts. You are not afraid of finding out that it is really related to the East Palace in the future, and you will lose the prestige of Dali Temple?"

Yan Junchi frowned, and said: "I have listed all the evidence involved in this case in detail, including the fact that Pei Wenqing had people take away the account books. There is an arbitrariness about right and wrong, but before justice is done, what else should I think about?" Only by doing it can we ensure that this justice can be allowed to exist to the greatest extent. Your Majesty shouldn't have involved the East Palace in the first place, but now I can only write this way to help the East Palace stay out of the matter, and to make Your Majesty no longer have any worries." Ma Chengda, Yan Junchi paused for a long time, and sighed, "Zhi Yuan, we are the king's salary after all. While upholding our heart, we should also learn to share your worries."

Hearing what he said, Ma Chengda did not relax his brows, for a long time, he could only let out a long sigh.

**********

That night, King Yu stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back.

Behind him, Hu Pei had just finished speaking the news he had received.

King Yu broke off a young bud in the flowerpot by the window, smiled lowly, "She is still soft-hearted, like this, it's hard to make a big deal."

Hu Pei smiled apologetically and said, "The young master is still young, and it's the first time he's on an errand, so he's a bit more compliant."

However, King Yu shook his head, "It's not so well-behaved, she is like this, she is still a little disobedient."

Hu Pei smiled awkwardly, "I'm afraid, she doesn't understand your previous point."

King Yu turned around, threw the buds in his hands casually, and said: "Forget it, I have never counted on her to bleed from the East Palace. You should pay more attention to the princess. Alright, go and order Come on, tomorrow, the imperial court must bite the East Palace to death, and Pei Wenqing must resign."

Hu Pei hurriedly agreed and wanted to leave.

King Yu suddenly called him to stop again, raised his chin out of the window and asked: "That girl of the Chu family is in the mansion recently, is she still doing well?"

Hu Pei bowed and replied: "The concubine Shizi is safe and never interfered with the affairs of the room. Liu An is still taking care of it."

King Yu nodded, raised his hand and told him to back off.

Soon, in the middle of the night, a courtyard in the capital suddenly caught fire. The servants rushed to put out the fire.

**********

The next day at court, Yan Junchi presented the notebook in public, causing an uproar in the hall.

Pei Wenqing, the left concubine of Zhan Shifu in the East Palace, angrily reprimanded Yan Junchi for slandering the East Palace and being disrespectful to the prince.

Yan Junchi was neither humble nor overbearing, and said: "Pei Shuzi is involved in it, and his words and deeds can't be counted. If you want to be innocent, you still need to hand over the account book!"

However, Pei Wenqing blushed and said angrily: "Why did you get the account book! All the account books and stolen goods checked yesterday were sent to your Dali Temple. Zhan Shifu only has a copy, and the other pieces of paper are not left. You don't want to spit it out!"

At this time, Zhao Wei, the servant of the Ministry of War, reported that according to the report of Wucheng soldiers and horses, a warehouse in the capital Zhan Shifu used to store old things caught fire last night. After the fire was extinguished, he went inside to check.

Pei Wenqing was stunned for a moment, and immediately understood, turned around and knelt down, and shouted to Emperor Tianshun: "Your Majesty, how could such a coincidence happen! Someone must be framing him!"

Emperor Tianshun raised his hand to stop him, and asked in a deep voice, "Will you be present when Zhan Shifu went to search the residences of Cao Shou and Liu Shengwen yesterday?"

Pei Wenqing paused, "The lower officials didn't accompany them, but—"

Emperor Tianshun interrupted him and asked, "Who went, pass it on to the palace."

Not long after, Xu Sheng, the Chancellor of Zhan Shi's Mansion, and the right guard of the East Palace led the official Xiao Cheng into the hall.

Both Xu Sheng and Xiao Cheng replied that the left concubine Pei Wenqing was not in Zhan Shi's mansion yesterday, so they left letters and first left the ledger and the stolen goods in the government office.At the time of application, Pei Shuzi came to Zhan Shifu and gave a reply on the letter they left, asking them to move these things to a warehouse in the capital, and after they were counted, they would be registered in a book and then handed over to him to report to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

In order to prove themselves, the two of them also brought Pei Wenqing's approval document.

At the same time, the two also stated that the yard where the fire broke out last night was the Zhan Shifu warehouse where they had stored their things before.

Hearing this, Pei Wenqing could not stand still.He exclaimed in disbelief: "That's not the case, that's not the case!" Pointing to Xu and Xiao, he shouted in a trembling voice: "It is clearly written in the letter left by the two of you that you have handed over all the things you have investigated to Dali. Temple disposal, my official only approved a word of 'good' after seeing it! As officials of the Eastern Palace, why did you speak up and make false accusations! You——" "Enough!"

With a loud shout, Emperor Tianshun lost his patience.Looking at the prince who was standing silently at the side, he said, "Prince, you can ask yourself about your East Palace."

The crown prince stepped forward in response, took the letter of approval from Xu and Xiao, looked it over, and asked someone to show it to Pei Wenqing, saying: "Pei Shuzi, take a good look, is this Qing's handwriting?" Stopping what he was about to say, "No hurry, you read first, Gu will ask you later."

He looked at Xu Sheng and Xiao Cheng again, "Among the things you two investigated yesterday, is there any account book that records the bribes accepted by the officials of the East Palace? Does Shuzi Pei be involved?"

Both Liu and Xiao said: "Your Highness, there is indeed such a thing."

The prince's face turned cold, and he reprimanded: "Since this happened, why don't you avoid suspicion!"

The faces of the two were pale, and they lay on the ground, looked at each other, and then looked at Pei Wenqing.Seeing that the crown prince's face was not good, Xiao Cheng boldly replied: "It's Pei Shuzi. Pei Shuzi once said that if you find anything that is harmful to the reputation of the East Palace, you have to let him have a look first."

As soon as these words came out, there was silence in the hall.

Pei Wenqing fell limply on the ground, his eyes were already lifeless.

The prince hated that iron could not be made into steel, and gritted his teeth and cursed: "Pei Shuzi, you are confused!" Finally, he couldn't bear it, he turned to Emperor Tianshun and said, "Father, this matter is due to the failure of my ministers to control my subordinates. Please forgive me, sir. The minister will thoroughly investigate this matter."

Just as Emperor Tianshun was about to answer, a censor from the Metropolitan Procuratorate suddenly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty Qi Zuo, there is something wrong with this matter. Pei Shuzi has not yet answered the letter of approval, whether it was written by him or not!"

Hearing this, Emperor Tianshun and the crown prince both looked at Pei Wenqing.

Pei Wenqing was stupefied at this time, knelt down on the ground, and replied tremblingly: "The handwriting is indeed the same as my minister's, but it is true that I have never written these things. I don't know what happened to this thing."

Seeing him in such distress, the crown prince couldn't bear it, and was about to speak when Zhan Shi Xu Ruogu shook his head at him.

The crown prince felt sad, closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, knelt down slowly, and said to Emperor Tianshun: "Father, the incompetence of my son and minister caused these chaos in the East Palace. My son begged my father to hand over this matter to Dali Temple to take full responsibility." , others are not allowed to ask."

When the officials saw the prince kneeling, they all knelt down too.

Emperor Tianshun was silent for a long time, and slowly replied: "Yes."

At this moment, a sudden change occurred.

Pei Wenqing jumped up suddenly, almost insane, and laughed wildly: "I have a clear conscience! It's the villain who hurt me!" After finishing speaking, he slammed into the palace pillars!Before everyone could react, they heard a loud noise, blood spattered, and Pei Wenqing fell limply to the ground.His head was split open, his face was completely stained with blood, his neck was crooked, he twitched a few times, and then died.Soon, crimson blood mixed with white foam spread from the place where he fell, staining the hall red.

Everyone panicked, the few people who were close to him screamed and retreated, and the hall was in a mess.The dragon riding guards immediately stepped forward and stood in front of Emperor Tianshun and the crown prince.

Emperor Tianshun's face was ashen, his eyes were round and angry, and he shouted sharply: "Check! Where is Dali Temple! Check it out! Check it out, it's clear!"

After the next court, Yan Junchi had a cold face, ignoring the fearful or searching eyes around him, and strode out.

Back at Dali Temple, immediately sent people to investigate the burned courtyard, the fire burned it to ashes, but found nothing.

So far, because of Pei Wenqing's death, the whole case has once again been plunged into a cloud of fog.

That night, the weather that had just warmed up suddenly changed, and there were heavy snowfalls, which fell all night.