Tibet

In the morning, Censor Zhongcheng Yang Guozhong and Censor Jiwen came to the front of Yang Shenjin's house in Xuanyangfang.

The reason was that Yang Guozhong added a new charge against Yang Shenjin, the Minister of Household Affairs. Someone reported that Yang Shenjin was suspected of manipulating the prophecy, and she was Yang Shenjin's former concubine.

After Yang Guozhong reported to the emperor, Li Longji specially approved a search of Yang Shenjin's residence to look for evidence.

At this time, Li Dai's re-interrogation has not yet begun, so his previous testimony has not been overturned and is still valid.

Yang Shenjin is still in a state of suspension, between guilt and innocence.

However, the concubine Mingzhu's report against him was very damaging. If the content was detailed and the circumstantial evidence of other people was added, Yang Shenjin could be directly convicted without even needing evidence.

However, the charges could be lighter. After all, the various witchcraft reported by the concubine Mingzhu did not involve rebellion, but were rather absurd and unbecoming of official morality.

But if a prophecy is found, the nature is different. The prophecy usually contains content about rebelling against the king, and the charges will be much heavier.

"Yang Zhongcheng, I always feel that there is something fishy here!"

Shi Jiwen, the imperial censor, has always been Li Linfu's confidant. In the early years of Tianbao, he was still the magistrate of Xinfeng County. Li Linfu took a fancy to him and promoted him step by step.

Li Linfu took a fancy to him for his cunning, cunning and cruelty. Once the ministers were targeted by Ji Wen, all their families would be destroyed, and their wives and children would be separated.

The DPRK has always placed him alongside Luo Xishi, another cruel official, and called him Luo Xijiwang.

Yang Guozhong also valued Ji Wen's censor quite a lot. On the one hand, Ji Wen was naturally capable and he could sit back and relax no matter what he entrusted to him.

On the other hand, Ji Wen's own family has no background and relies entirely on relying on power. Today he relies on Li Linfu, and he can rely on himself tomorrow.

More importantly, Ji Wen is very smart and discerning, and never goes against the Yang family. Who doesn't like smart people?

Yang Guozhong smiled and said, "What does Yushi Ji think is strange?"

Ji Wen said slowly: "In Li Dai's case, Jin Long entered the cabinet, and Yang Shenjin's case also involved Chen Wei, but no alchemist involved in the case was found. If this important link is missing in the entire case, there will be a loophole."

Yang Guozhong felt that Ji Wen was reminding him, so he asked tentatively: "If this alchemist has escaped, can Censor Ji do anything?"

Ji Wen chuckled, "Just run away and catch him. It doesn't matter whether he lives or dies. As long as this loophole is closed, the case will be solid."

Yang Guozhong understood immediately and nodded, "Thank you, Censor Ji, for reminding me. I will send someone to arrest you right now!"

Ji Wen smiled and said nothing. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the emperor was going to attack Li Linfu, so why should he be tied to a dying tree?

When the two arrived in front of Yang Shenjin's mansion, five hundred search soldiers were already lined up. They were temporarily transferred from the Qianniu Guards, and even the Qianniu Guards general couldn't tell them secretly.

Five hundred soldiers had already bathed and changed clothes, and were conducting strict body searches. This system of searching homes was always strictly followed, even the cruel and cunning Ji Wen had to abide by it, and his home might be searched one day.

"Yang Zhongcheng, let me tell you something from my humble position. The Sou family has a system. We cannot enter. Only specialized Sou family soldiers can enter the house."

He lowered his voice and whispered to Yang Guozhong: "The sky is unpredictable, and no one can guarantee that the search will not fall on you, so everyone must abide by the system!"

Yang Guozhong also felt that it made sense, so he nodded and said: "The key point is to search his study. Confidential things are usually hidden in the study!"

"I think so too!"

Five hundred soldiers began to search the house, rummaging through boxes and cabinets, and digging three feet into the ground. A dozen soldiers were responsible for searching the study. All the letters were put into special letter bags, and the books were carefully read.

Suddenly, a soldier shouted: "There's a problem here!"

The soldiers gathered around and saw a thin strip of strange wood exposed behind the bookcase. They moved the wooden cabinet away and saw a wooden box hanging on the back of the cabinet.

The soldier opened the wooden box and found a book inside. The soldier immediately registered the number and put it into a red search bag, indicating important and suspicious items.

Outside the mansion, Ji Wen was still chatting with Yang Guozhong. At this time, the leading general came out and said with clasped fists: "I report to Yang Zhongcheng, to the censor Ji. The soldiers found a dark box in the study room, and there was a book in it. It is said to be a bit like a prophecy. , has been numbered and collected."

Yang Guozhong was secretly happy and said with a smile: "Thank you for your hard work, everyone, let's try to finish the search before noon!"

Li Dai is no longer in the Tianlao underground prison, but has been transferred to a separate courtyard in Dali Temple. It is a house arrest prison. It is not that Li Dai is given preferential treatment, but that the emperor agrees to a retrial. Then Li Dai becomes a suspect. He is not convicted, but needs to control his body. free.

In the afternoon, the first interrogation was held at the Yushitai. Wang Gong, the censor Zhongcheng, personally tried the case. Wang Gong was a descendant of the famous Wang family in Hedong and was highly regarded by the emperor Li Longji.

Although Li Linfu recommended him to be the censor Zhongcheng, Wang Gong was not a member of Li Linfu's party, but an ally of Li Linfu. However, Li Linfu did not expect him to favor his son today, but he at least hoped that Wang Gong would be fair and prevent his son from falling into illusions again.

Sure enough, without the interference of illusion, Li Dai firmly denied that he set fire to the household document library, and that he had any relationship with Yang Shenjin. He also denied that the paper dragon found under the desk was related to him.

It is normal for the defendant to deny that everything is wrong. No one has ever taken the initiative to admit his guilt. For ordinary people, they are directly tortured and have to admit their guilt under torture.

However, Li Dai was a court official and was only suspended. Moreover, he was the son of Prime Minister Li Linfu, so it was impossible to use torture, so evidence must be found to prove that Li Dai was involved in the case.

First of all, there is the witness. Previously, the guarding soldier proved that Li Dai was in the Treasury of the Ministry of Revenue. However, this witness was rejected by Wang Gong. It is normal for a foreigner from the Ministry of Revenue to appear in the warehouse of the Ministry of Revenue. Just like you cannot say that a soldier was near the military camp, just It makes sense to assume that the fire in the military camp was caused by soldiers.

Unless the soldiers saw Li Dai holding a torch and lighting a fire with their own eyes, this could be called a witness.

The second step is evidence. The fire dragon controller must be caught, and then the fire dragon controller must produce evidence to prove that Li Dai is involved in the case.

In the end, Wang Gong discovered that the only item that could identify Li Dai as a suspect was the illusion paper dragon under his desk. It turned out to be evidence in court, and Li Dai needed to prove that the box of illusion paper dragons was not his.

Yang Shenjin was also placed under house arrest in the official room of Dali Temple. For two days in a row, he did not get a good sleep and paced back and forth in the room restlessly.

Especially when he learned that the imperial court had used prophecy to accuse him, he was even more frightened. He was not afraid of the Ministry of Household's deficit. He had no such thing at all.

But he was afraid of prophecy. He did like prophecy and was even a little addicted to it. He often discussed celestial phenomena with Shi Jingzhong to determine the political direction of the Tang Dynasty.

He even believed that the Sui Dynasty would rise again, but now the court actually used his prophecy to hold him accountable, which made Yang Shen panic all day long.

At this time, the door opened, and an old jailer came in to bring him food.

The old jailer placed the food boxes on the table and took away the old food boxes. He gave Yang Shenjin a meaningful look, knocked on one of the food boxes, and turned around to leave.

Yang Shenjin saw the jailer's eyes. After he closed the door and left, Yang Shenjin quickly stepped forward and opened the food box. It was full of rice. He picked through it with chopsticks, and sure enough, he picked up a note from the bottom. .

He took the note and went to the window and opened it. There was only one sentence in it, "After searching the study, there are no prophecies, only almanacs." ’

Yang Shenjin swallowed the note and after thinking about it, he gradually understood.

His home must have been searched, and someone had placed a prophecy book in advance, but the soldiers did not find the prophecy book, only an almanac. Yang Shenjin remembered that there was an almanac from the Northern Dynasties in his bookcase.

It was an almanac copied by Zhao Wenyuan, a calligrapher of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and he kept it. Could it be that someone secretly helped him to replace the prophecy with an almanac?