CH 100

Chapter 100 Fault

Dali Temple Prison originally did not separate groups, criminal and civil criminal suspects were all kept together.

But after all, the criminal department had many life lawsuits, and they were all vicious criminals. Naturally, there were many tortures and the wailing was non-stop, day and night, which often scared ordinary prisoners to fight with each other and can’t sleep at night.

It was said that Pei Dutong were framed by others back then, and in order to prove their innocence, they went to the Dali Temple prison by themselves.

Originally, no one had the courage to provoke this evil star, but when Pei Dutong was awakened by screams in the middle of the night when sleeping, he was furious and immediately kicked the wooden fence and had to change place to sleep.

With the remaining power of Pei Dutong, the prisons of the Criminal Division of the Civil Division were divided.

Liu Zhongming didn’t care about this before, but now he has tasted the sweetness of separation, so he can close the door and interrogate slowly without haste.

Perhaps it was to show his might off, after he took office, Liao Guangming did not return the stolen case, nor did he meet him at the banquet, as if he deliberately made it impossible for him to start.

He was not in a hurry, he was happy to have leisure time. He could figure out what was going on with Rong Jiuan right now, and he would settle the score with Liao Guangming later on.

With the foundation of the Liu family, he had plenty of ways to take care of Liao Guangming and get him to spit out things regarding Jinxiu Ying.

The file about Rong Jiuan was indeed not thin, he and Qu Chenzhou combed through it carefully for a few days, and they both confirmed one thing – there was a fault in the file.

It was impossible for Rong Jiuan not to mention Ren Rui, but there were only a few words in the paper that he said about him not being greedy for money. If it was just that, the people behind Ren Rui would not be willing to put him to death.

No matter if someone took away the things that shouldn’t exist, even Ling He couldn’t put in the things that should have been there, it was weird to think about it.

But when the people below asked for an interrogation, Rong Jiuan refused to say anything more.

Both Rong Jiuan and Ling He’s appetites have been aroused for a few days, and it’s time for him to show up.

“Rong Tanhua,” he brushed the file lightly with his hand, and in this dimly lit small room, as if he was just chatting with a friend, he asked with a smile to the person sitting next to him, “How was your tea today?”

Rong Jiuan’s hand chains have not been removed. He held the cup of tea, still silent, heart with apprehensive doubts.

He had dealt with Liu Zhongming before, and they barely had some friendship, but since he left the capital for more than two years, this friendship might have been blown away by the wind.

It would be fine if the other party just wanted to beat him into submission, but these few days he just sat and drank tea, and when he was finally sent back to the prison, he would let him see the anxious Ling He from a distance, but he couldn’t say anything.

He himself could endure any hardship, but he couldn’t just watch Ling He suffer.

Over the past few days, Rong Jiuan had his own considerations in his mind. Rather than saying that Liu Zhongming was patiently putting pressure on him, waiting for him to say something, it would be better to say that he finally got a chance.

It was true that he came to the capital to petition for the refugees in Jinnan Prefecture, and it was also true that he went to the capital for Ren Rui’s other matter, but the former had a response, but the latter fell into the sea like mud, and even the documents submitted by Ling He also resulted in silence.

If he only saw the surface in Jinnan Prefecture, this prison disaster made him even more sureb that things were not as simple as he saw.

“Shizi,” he lifted his eyes from the teacup, “Why don’t we be frank?”

Liu Zhongming smiled: “What is Rong Tanhua talking about?”

Rong Jiuan sighed: “Shizi, don’t you want to listen to what I have to say after spending so much time? “

“In my position, should I not want to hear something?” Liu Zhongming was a little innocent: “I just admire Rong Tanhua petitioning for the people, sacrificing his life for righteousness, so I don’t want to use rude methods.”

There was a moment of silence, as if Rong Jiuan  was making a final decision, but the words he uttered changed to a different question: “How is Ren Rui ?” 

He and Ren Rui had an anti-correlational relationship. If Ren Rui really had someone behind him to help him turn things around, then he would be very unlucky.

“Fengyu was impeached because of his personal affairs, and someone accused him of indiscriminately killing innocent people and pretending to be a war hero. Ren Rui took the opportunity to appeal for injustice, saying that he did not collude with bandits, and that the so-called bandits were nothing more than innocent people who were beaten into submission.” Liu Zhongming replied: “The dust will settle soon.”

Rong Jiuan said calmly, “How much time do I have left?”

Liu Zhongming didn’t shy away either: “At worst, after Autumn.”

Where they couldn’t get involved, Ren Rui’s comeback was a foregone conclusion sooner or later, so Rong Jiuan’s charges cannot be cleared.

If it was someone else who complained, Rong Jiuan might just end up in exile and imprisonment, but if it was Ren Rui, he would never let it go.

“That being the case…” Rong Jiuan straightened his back, looked at Liu Zhongming, and said indifferently: “My words cannot be heard by the heavens, so I might as well tell Shizi. Whether it will rot in your stomach later, it is up to Shizi to decide.”

Liu Zhongming raised his eyebrows: “What about Ling He?”

“He doesn’t know,” Rong Jiuan had to seal each letter carefully, and at this time he didn’t mind confessing to Liu Zhongming: “Shizi has the power to protect himself, but Ling He doesn’t, so I can’t harm him.”

Liu Zhongming was noncommittal, waiting for him to continue.

Rong Jiuan looked at the file on the table, and only had a few simple words.

“Ren Rui colluded with bandits in Jinnan Prefecture and sold the captive merchant travelers into slavery. He committed a heinous crime.”

“But besides that, I found that almost all the people on the register of the Jinnan Prefecture Control Department were middle-aged strong men.”

Liu Zhongming’s heart skipped a beat.

As if to confirm his guess, Rong Jiuan said softly: “Have you guessed it? Besides the government soldiers, Ren Rui has other people at his disposal.”

“Although I left, I left a trusted friend in the government. They said, after Fengyu was ordered to hand in Ren Rui’s official seal, some people stormed Fengyu’s garrison and almost killed Fengyu’s camp.”

“There were countless casualties that night, and when it was light in the morning, it was found that the dead and injured were all civilians.”

“As soon as the Department of Control’s booklet was burned and if they did something about the body, they would be whatever they want them to be,” Rong Jiuan stared at the fire and sneered, “Otherwise, how could Fengyu be impeached for indiscriminately killing innocent people now?

“I didn’t know before why Ren Rui avoided the government’s military registration and recruited some other people to form the army, but now that he was convicted, it made me suddenly enlightened.”

A sudden flash of insight and all is clear…

Rong Jiuan was not the only one who was enlightened, Liu Zhongming knew more than him, and also understood it more clearly. Until he walked out the door, the sun shining warmly on his body, he still couldn’t stop the chills all over his body.

No wonder Qu Chenzhou said that not only did he need life experience, money and military power, but others also needed them.

Huai Wang behind Ren Rui couldn’t get the military power in the hands of Qi Wang and the Bai family, so he was having ideas outside the capital. Concubine Yu’s brother was also a salt and iron transport envoy, so it was convenient for him to move around.

Ren Rui was just one of them. Maybe there were countless “Ren Rui” in each state and government, setting up private armies under the guise of slavery.

He couldn’t help but think of Qu Chenzhou’s sneer – “Some people who hold military power want to rebel.”

Is he talking about Huai Wang?

It’s no wonder that Rong Jiuan’s account books will sink into the sea, no wonder Rong Jiuan must die, and he must die under the law as a matter of course.

It’s a big matter, but his mind was confused. It’s just a few words of Rong Jiuan, even if he can present it to the emperor, will the emperor believe it?

Certainly not.

Not only would he not believe it, but it would also make Huai Wang wary of him.

As expected, the ignorant are fearless.  The more he knew, the more he understood that his wings were not yet full and he was unable to fight.

Liu Zhongming tried his best to hold his breath, and waited for someone to lead the horse over.

Qu Chenzhou said that he was going to guard the road that Jingchen must pass today, and it seemed that it was time to go back to their courtyard. He needed to go back, immediately go back!

He habitually rubbed the ring on his thumb, and suddenly remembered that before going out this morning, Qu Chenzhou stuffed him with a sachet, saying to open it after Rong Jiuan’s interrogation.

It’s just that there was some kind of trick in the bag. Although there was indeed a piece of paper in the sachet, there were only four simple words on it – Xu Xu Tu Zhi*.

* slowly scheme

This familiar handwriting was like another extremely calm him, writing comforting words stroke by stroke, even writing the word “Zhi” so well.

The anxiety just now rolled like burning coals in the snow, and then went out with a snort.

How can this be good?

Should he be glad that he was so lucky, or should he lament that he had encountered such an inhumane situation.

Time and time again, he forced himself not to miss him, not to have extravagant hopes, but that person unknowingly hooked him, led him, and pulled him so that he couldn’t help himself.

A few days ago, they were at odds with each other and argued until they went to bed at night.

It’s ridiculous to say how he had even forgotten what the cause of the quarrel was, only remembering that the two of them were facing each other tit-for-tat.

After he laid down, he was still out of breath, pulling the rope above his head and shaking it endlessly. Qu Chenzhou was so disturbed by the ringing of the bell above his head that he couldn’t sleep, so he tore it off and threw it out the window.

He was stunned, so stunned that he couldn’t even remember to rush out and lose his temper.

After a long time, he heard no sound outside, so he went out lightly, groped under the steps for a long time, and picked up the bell.

When he looked up again, he saw Qu Chenzhou standing at the door wearing a coat, silently watching him holding the bell. He couldn’t help but have red circles under his eyes.

What should he do?

He was clutching the sachet, and couldn’t help but smile a little at the corner of his mouth. Although he didn’t dare to expect too much, as long as he thought of seeing Qu Chenzhou every day when he went back, life would be more enjoyable than before.

“Zhongming!” Someone patted him on the shoulder from behind, and when he turned to the front again, his voice was full of envy: “I said why are you standing here, are you thinking about your little beauty again?”

Liu Zhongming came back to his senses, and when he saw someone coming, he had to greet: “Ning Wangye, how are you?”

Ning Wang pointed at him with trembling fingers, full of resentment: “Liu Zhongming, do you still have the face to call me? I see that you truly don’t want to help me. You know that I am sick, but you don’t know how to bring someone over to see me.”

“Bring a doctor?” Liu Zhongming asked knowingly, and then said: “How can those quack doctors in my shop compare to the imperial doctors?”

“Stop pretending to be stupid with me, I’m here to look for you and to go home with you,” Ning Wang waved his hand, and simply played: “I can’t touch it, but I can take a look right.”

As he spoke, the carriage had already arrived in front of him, and without waiting for Liu Zhongming’s objection, he directly pulled the man into the carriage, ordered “Go to his other courtyard”, and then sat back in the carriage.

Liu Zhongming wanted to get out of the carriage several times, but Mu Jingzhao held him back, so he had to give up.

“Why is Wang Ye so hard on yourself? You know that I can’t sell him.”

Mu Jingzhao waved his hands inexplicably, and sighed: “Zhongming, you are unkind, really. Now going back to look at the ones in the yard now, the fun of doing that is all gone.”

Liu Zhongming looked at him leisurely: “If Wangye can afford to wait, I will help Wangye find a good one to train?”

“Don’t play tricks on me. That face, those soul-calling eyes, can it be trained?” Mu Jingzhao regretted it when he mentioned it: “If I knew it was like this, I would have bought Qisheng building in the first place.”

Regardless of who is in that shell, the pearl, in the end, was still dug out by himself and carved beautifully. Liu Zhongming did not hide his pride.

“Wangye, there is no regret medicine in this world.”

“Zhongming, I don’t want too much today. Let me see and touch the hand, okay?”

“No!” Liu Zhongming refused straight away.

He knew Mu Jingzhao’s virtues too well. In the open, he would speak like a human being but behind the scenes, he would have a hot meal with Dan Lang, without any trace of guilt.

Today he planned to touch his hand in front of him, who knows what he will do later?

“Just a touch, just a touch, do you have a conscience? Can’t you see how sick I am?”

Mu Jingzhao knew he was wrong, and lamented: “By the way, Liao Guangming, that son of a b*tch, knew that he lost, and dared not show his face. I sent an invitation card to help you ask him out, so you must bring Little Chenzhou to come another day…”

Before he finished speaking, he heard a series of horseshoes clattering outside. It was close, as if it was coming towards their carriage.

The guard outside immediately yelled: “Who is it?”

The man raised his hand to rein in the horse, turned over, and bowed to the carriage on one knee: “Sorry for disturbing Ning Wangye, I hope you will forgive me. Dare I ask if Shizi is in the carriage?” 

Zhongming recognized the voice, and couldn’t help but thump in his heart.

He sent a few people to protect Qu Chenzhou in the dark. If there were no serious incidents, this person would not have left Qu Chenzhou for no reason and come to him in a hurry.

“Wangye, we’ll talk about it another day.”

Liu Zhongming said goodbye to Mu Jingzhao then without even asking any more questions, he jumped out of the carriage curtain.

“Shizi,” the two rode for a while, and the man leaned over and said in a low voice, “On the way back, Lord Qu went to the privy. When we all stepped back, he shook us off—now he’s gone.”

“D*mn it!” Almost in an instant, Liu Zhongming understood what Qu Chenzhou was going to do: “B*stard, how dare he!”