Dali Temple Small Dining Room

  Chapter 341 Fish Ball Soup (6)

  Wu Bucai glanced at the jailers who were working, sighed, and said: "They are all colleagues, if it is really found out that one of them was bribed..."

   When he said this, he stopped, and Wu Bucai just shook his head, and didn't continue talking.

   "I'll be the bad guy later." Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu didn't care about this, but they just frowned for a moment, as if they remembered something, turned and went into the cell to look for the jailer.

Not long after, the list of people who came to visit the prison was placed in front of the two of them: not only the suspects in the case that everyone is currently investigating are detained in Dali Temple, but also the suspects who have been investigated before but have not yet completed the process of being handed over to the other side. Those who have been sentenced by the Yamen; those who have been suspected of serious crimes over the years, but have insufficient evidence for certain things, and those who have never confessed, are still detained in the Dali Temple Prison. Not all suspects are not allowed to visit. These days are getting colder and colder every day. The Qin Tianjian has detected that it will snow today two days ago, and I am afraid it will be colder again. Therefore, there were four or five groups of people who came to visit the prison and brought some thick winter coats for some prisoners.

  The situation of these four or five groups of people is different.

"There are suspects in the unfinished case who still refuse to reveal the truth, well, maybe they are also living witnesses," the jailer said, pointing to the names on the roster, "this person named Jiao is almost The important suspect in the case of buying an official years ago, although his official position was not small back then, but if he wanted to accomplish this, I am afraid that he would not be able to do it with his official position..."

Speaking of this case, even though Bai Zhutong and Liu Yuan hadn't entered Dali Temple at that time, after entering Dali Temple, they were "familiar" with prisoners who had been imprisoned for many years, so they had some impressions of Jiao Zhongren: He looks very gentle on the face, and although he is wearing a prison uniform, he is always neat and clean, and his handwriting is excellent. Of course, it is not surprising that these things are placed on Jiao Zhongren.

"Back then, Mr. Jiao's talent was well-known among scholars after all, but once he was implicated in the case of selling officials, his reputation was discredited and he was put in prison. It caused quite a stir back then," Bai Zhu said. Speaking of which, after a short pause, his face suddenly became strange, "Speaking of which, the sensation caused by Jiao Zhongren's imprisonment is probably only comparable to the sensation caused by Wen Xuance's imprisonment in the past, but this matter of Jiao Zhongren Wen Xuance pierced it when it was shaken out..."

   It’s just that Jiao Zhongren’s case didn’t come to fruition, Wen Xuance went to prison first, and then only Master Wen and that Wen Xiutang who was redeemed by someone were left.

  I don’t know why this matter is brought up, but it always seems ridiculous when it is brought up, but...in the past, it is not surprising that it has become an unsolved case.

Looking around, seeing no one, Liu Yuan whispered: "The late emperor... er, those "practice men" who pretended to be gods and ghosts did not do much about selling officials? It was just through the mouth of the late emperor. It’s just a way of understanding.”

   "Keep your voice down," Bai Zhu glanced at him, then looked around, and said, "Speak carefully!"

  Liu Yuan nodded clearly: He understands, so keep your voice down!

"That's why Jiao Zhongren is so strange! A person who has a talent for poetry and is used to writing poems about immortals and gods really wants to sell his official position. Wouldn't it be enough to follow the muddleheaded path of the former emperor? Why bother to end it in person?" Liu Yuan said. , "Lin Shaoqing also said that this case is very strange. Jiao Zhongren's reputation has been ruined, and there must be someone behind it."

   It's just that this case has been under pressure in Dali Temple since the "sudden" sudden death and fire in the warehouse of several witnesses back then. After that, Wen Xuance's incident became even bigger, and Jiao Zhongren's incident was covered up instead.

"I remember that Jiao Zhongren's wife was also quite talented. After this happened, she had a heart attack in a fit of urgency, and she passed away not long after. Her unborn child, Jiao Zhongren, went with her. Because of this, the clansmen also felt that he was ashamed of the lintel and had broken ties with him, yet someone came to bring him a mattress?" Liu Yuan said, looking at the names and fingerprints left by the visitors on the booklet, " Jiao Da?"

   "Jiao Zhongren's old servant." Bai Zhu circled his name with a pen and said, "I'll look into this matter later, compared to Jiao Zhongren, this is him. I've only been in touch with him for a while."

  The name left on the roster is one of the murderers in the previous Beauty Lantern case——Jiang Chengzu. He used the ancestral lamp shop Qiandeng Shop as a cover, secretly found some young women to be buried and prayed for blessings, and "opened the altar" under the guise of gods to harm people.

"Didn't Mr. Zhao take over this case? I have seen those rich and powerful children who committed crimes beheaded and ransacked their homes. Why..." Bai Zhu couldn't help showing surprise when he said this, "He actually Still in prison? Wasn’t it sent away the first day? When was it sent back?”

   Liu Yuanzi couldn't answer these questions, but the jailer who was called in for questioning could answer them.

"The man surnamed Jiang was indeed sent away that day, but he was sent back that night. Mr. Zhao personally led someone to bring him in, saying that he might have something to do with other cases," the jailer said, "and at the last The cell inside is closed, and the old servant sent out by his Jiang family came here to bring the bed and bedding, I have checked carefully, and there is nothing in the things sent in."

   These words were heard by Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu as if they hadn't said anything.

   "What if some colorless and odorless poison is applied on it?" Liu Yuan said, "Wait until you can check it out?"

  The jailer showed embarrassment when he heard the words: "This... I don't know! Liu Sicheng reminded me closely, and things like this in the future..."

"It has nothing to do with you, but the old doctor from the Imperial Hospital is here, so why not sniff the mattress inch by inch, use silver needles, and medicine to test it?" Bai Zhu shook his head, asked the jailer, and mentioned the key point The question is, "When Mr. Zhao sent Jiang Chengzu back, did he confess that this person has a lot to do with him and that he should not be visited by random people?"

Hearing the words, the jailer immediately shook his head, and then seemed to be afraid that the two of them would not believe him, and waved his hands while saying, "No. Since Jiang Chengzu was one of the repeat offenders in the Beauty Lantern case, I was afraid that something might go wrong, so I asked Mr. Zhao wants to prevent others from visiting the prison, but Mr. Zhao said that it doesn't matter, saying that Jiang Chengzu is just an accomplice who obeys orders, let him go, and hurried away!"

After hearing this, Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu's brows became tighter and tighter. After the jailer finished speaking and raised his hand and waved the jailer away, Liu Yuan couldn't wait to speak: "Bai Zhu, this is not right, Zhao My lord, he..."

   Before he finished speaking, Bai Zhu nodded and said: "Master Zhao's reaction is indeed wrong. Criminals like Jiang Chengzu are not allowed to visit the prison even in the Beauty Lantern case, let alone now."

  Placing people here in such a grand manner... Liu Yuan rubbed his chin and said, "I don't know what kind of medicine Mr. Zhao sells in the gourd."

   "Master Zhao, if there is medicine in the gourd, it is still a good thing. It means that you should have another opinion." Bai Zhu heard this and thought for a while, but then shook his head and said, "I'm afraid it's not that there is medicine in the gourd, but someone behind it."

   Liu Yuan was startled when he heard this, and quickly pushed him, saying: "Keep your voice down, be careful!"

Bai Zhu let out a "hmm", suppressed his throat, and said in a low voice: "Bringing people back inexplicably, what Jiang Chengzu did was to open an altar. This is like the former emperor... Hey, after all, he has been in power for decades. I'm afraid that His Majesty's cleansing of the palace and Lin Shaoqing's wrists have not been cleaned up!"

  (end of this chapter)