There was a big case in Bianliang City, Zhao Zhen's face really couldn't hang up, and it was a tragedy at every turn, and more people died at a time, so is this worth it? And it is aimed at important members of the imperial court, and if you don't govern it ruthlessly, the capital will soon become a place where bandits are raging.

After the murder, Zhao Zhen immediately summoned the Kaifeng Mansion to reprimand, and limited the circumstances of the case to be found out and the culprit arrested within ten days.

Wen Yanbo was also depressed to death, since the Yuzhanglou case, Kaifeng Mansion has spared no effort to strengthen law and order in the city, and a lot of petty theft has been arrested, and even the previous backlog of unsolved cases has been broken dozens of cases in one go, and the Kaifeng Mansion prison has been overcrowded; I thought that the public security in Gyeonggi would be greatly improved, but unexpectedly, there was another shocking case, and there was no need for Zhao Zhen to reprimand, and Wen Yanbo himself was not happy.

The emperor pressed himself, and he could only press down, Wen Yanbo strictly ordered the Kaifeng Mansion Criminal Department to investigate the case and dig deeply, and he must find clues; It was in this situation that the identity of the dead Yan San was actually exposed, this person was a rogue who had been arrested by the government for many years, and after verification one by one, at least nearly twenty of the dead people were Yan San's subordinates, all of whom were also rogues.

Wen Yanbo felt deeply troubled, how did these people get involved with Xia Zhu? According to the Xia family's servants, Yan San and his gang were hired to become the Xia family's nursing home a month ago, could it be that there is some collusion between Xia Zhu and these people? This discovery shocked Wen Yanbo into sweat.

Wen Yanbo is quite shrewd, he has no enmity with Xia Zhu, and he is not as excited as Ouyang Xiu when he encounters this kind of thing, but he feels extremely troubled, Xia Zhu came to be a famous courtier, no matter what his reputation is in private, but he has always tried his best in court affairs; In the past few years, Xia Zhu has been sitting in the northwest, and together with Pang Ji, Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, etc., he has tried his best to keep the western thieves out of the country, which can be called the mainstay, how can such a person have anything to do with these gangsters on the rivers and lakes?

After thinking about it, Wen Yanbo decided to report the matter to Xia Zhu and probe his tone.

Before Wen Yanbo came to visit Xia Zhu, Xia Zhu personally approached the Yamen of Kaifeng Mansion and brought a series of confessions after the painting.

Things suddenly took a 180-degree turn, Xia Zhu claimed that the case had been solved, because the appearance of key witnesses revealed the truth of the case, and a nurse named Liu Erkui of the Xia family suddenly appeared, and it is said that he also brought back Miss Xia, who Liu Erkui was a full-time guard specially arranged by Xia Zhu to protect Miss Xia in the backyard.

According to Liu Erkui's claim, Yan San's gang broke into Xia's house that night and looted, Zhang Heizi of Erjin led people to fight to the death, both sides suffered heavy casualties, Liu Erkui did not participate in the fight in order to protect Miss Xia, but later after Yan San and others broke into the inner house after the victory, Liu Erkui led more than a dozen people to kill the seriously injured Yan Sanyi and his gang in one fell swoop, and finally he was the only one left who was afraid that there would be more bandits coming, so he took Miss Xia from the backyard. The wall escaped.

At the same time, the servants of the Xia family all changed their words, and all the confessions confessed when they were summoned by the original Kaifeng Mansion were overturned, they all said that they were scared at that time, and their brains were also frightened, in fact, they didn't know Yan San at all, this person rushed into the house in the evening of the same day and took advantage of the heavy rain to rob him. robbed it, but this person called himself Yan San when he committed the murder, so he knew his name.

Wen Yanbo was confused, this reason is too far-fetched, and it is full of loopholes, and there are still many doubts that have not been clarified, such as Yan San's wounds, such as the climbing marks on the iron gate in the backyard, and then the broken tree trunk, and the two sunken ships that were accidentally discovered by fishermen in the lower reaches of the Bianhe River yesterday, some people know the two boats, saying that they are the boats of the boatmen Lao Wangtou and Lao Sun Tou, who delivered goods on the Bianhe River, and Lao Sun Tou and Lao Wang Tou also confessed, and someone bought his two small boats with a lot of money that evening, all kinds of signs show that The facts of the case are very different from what Xia Zhu said.

Wen Yanbo vaguely raised his own questions, Xia Zhu laughed and patted Wen Yanbo's shoulder and said: "Wen Quanzhi, this official is thinking about you, this official really can't bear to lose everyone's black yarn hat for the case in my house." ”

Wen Yanbo was even more puzzled, and hurriedly asked, "Ask the adults to speak clearly." ”

Xia Zhu said: "The emperor has ordered you to solve the case for ten days, otherwise everyone in Kaifeng Mansion will be demoted to three levels, what day is it today?" ”

Wen Yanbo said with a sad face: "It's the seventh day, and the officials are incompetent." ”

Xia Zhu smiled and said, "There are still three days before you can solve this case?" Can you catch the culprit? ”

Wen Yanbo sighed dejectedly: "The only clue is the person who bought the boat that the two boatmen have seen, and the lower officials judge that they are the last to break into your mansion and rob Ling Ai, but it's a pity that the two boatmen are dazzled and don't see the faces of that group of people at all, so there is no way to start." ”

Xia Zhu sneered: "This is obviously a premeditated and planned action, how can it be easily found out by you; It seems that the remaining three days are also for you in vain, but after the ten-day period, you will be demoted to the rank of a small county magistrate with the size of sesame mung beans, and these officials under your command who follow you will all be demoted, and some people will rely on the mixed salary of the yamen to support their families, so won't it hurt everyone? Behind the scenes, these people won't scold the criminals, I'm afraid they're going to poke your back and scold your mother. ”

Wen Yanbo's face turned blue, what Xia Zhu said was indeed the truth, what should I do about this? I have no charter to speak of.

"So the official gave you a step down, just so that you can keep the black yarn, and have an explanation on the emperor's side, anyway, only you Kaifeng Mansion and the official know the case, and if the official doesn't break it, the case will be closed on the surface."

Wen Yanbo was shocked and said, "Isn't this a bully? ”

Xia Zhu sneered: "Wen Quanzhi is stupid to read?" This is an expedient workaround, can you still be an official if you don't know how to be flexible? The emperor has an explanation first, and the old man will not pierce your window paper, so that the case is closed openly and continues to investigate secretly, which is extremely generous in terms of time, and it is also a clever move from the strategy of investigating the case; Once the case is announced, do you believe that the real culprit can breathe a sigh of relief? In this way, it is easy to leak out, and it is also convenient for your Kaifeng Mansion to really investigate the case, do you forget it when you suffered such a big loss in the old man's house? Old man, this is completely for your sake. ”

Wen Yanbo was like an initiation, patted his head and laughed at himself: "Oh, look at my elm pimple brain, Lord Xia has a good intention, I actually became a donkey's liver and lungs; Listening to the teachings of adults is better than reading the books of sages for ten years. ”

Xia Zhu smiled and said: "It's good that you understand the trick, in fact, the old man doesn't want to hide it from him, but the murderer is so cunning, we must make strange moves; The old man knows that Yan San's identity makes you have questions about the old man, in fact, the old man also knows that Yan San is a habitual bandit wanted by the imperial court, the old man has been in the northwest for a long time to resist the enemy, and he knows the local affairs in Fujian. But fortunately, Yan San and his gang all gave the head, although Zhang Heizi and others in my family's nursing home also died, they could be regarded as sacrificing their lives for the imperial court, and the official could be regarded as a crooked fight for the imperial court to remove this scourge. ”

Wen Yanbo is completely convinced, this matter can be said to be a credit by Xia Zhu, and it is quite reasonable, just this ability to transfer flowers and trees is beyond his reach.

"Deputy Envoy Xia, this official hereby swears that he will find Ling Ai as soon as possible and capture the fierce chieftain, and live up to the love of the adults.

Xia Zhu was very happy in his heart, he picked up the grass and beat the rabbit by the way, and he easily persuaded Wen Yanbo, the scumbag, to stop tracking down Yan San, and by the way, he could also gain Wen Yanbo's favor, which can be regarded as a blessing after the catastrophe.

"Wen Quan knows where he said, you and I are officials in the same dynasty, how can we see that Wen Quan Zhi will be punished and not help like others, and besides, this matter started because of the matter in the old man's house, how can I stand idly by; There is no need to send, Wen Quan knows that the old man's kindness is. Xia Zhu laughed, patted his ass and said goodbye.

……

Xia Siling was rescued, Su Jin didn't dare to take it lightly, and sent Xia Siling to live in a manor of the Yan family in the west of the city early, thus avoiding the crazy search of Kaifeng Mansion in the next few days.

Although the officials' houses are generally not allowed to be searched, this time is different, such a big case, under the heavy pressure of the emperor, Wen Yanbo also does not care about face, the first few days of the search is indeed detailed enough, and even pulled more than a dozen female jailers from the prison guards in the female prison to search and arrest the official palace.

Thanks to Su Jin, he knew in his heart that the movement this time was too big, and there would be some toss, so he didn't show his stuffing, and the back house of the Su family naturally generously let the female jailers who came to search take a look around.

Xia Siling was just an expedient measure outside the city, Su Jin was about to go to Weizhou to take office, and Xia Siling's name was naturally added to the accompanying list, taking her to the northwest.