Pan interrogated everyone at the excavation site individually, and concluded that they had no knowledge of the bamboo slips. So the work continued, as if nothing had happened.

Bao Jia reported to the king of Chuzhuang: "Nine years have passed since the rebellion of Prince Xie, and there is no indication that Doctor Dou Pan participated in the rebellion at that time, but the letter of alliance makes me have to believe it. If you want to find out the truth, you should also look for those who knew about it, but the rebels were either killed, escaped or exiled, and the ministers had to spend some time looking for them. ”

King Chuzhuang said: "Nine years have passed, and I don't care about this time, the master must find out the case." Dr. Ziyang's popularity is too high to be easily convicted. ”

It didn't take him a few days to find a "witness" who claimed to be a close slave of Peng Zheng who had been exiled to Yunmengze after the rebellion had been quelled. King Chuzhuang ordered Pu Jia and Pan Yu to interrogate this person as soon as possible.

Pan Yu had a keen premonition: Whether the identity of this witness is true or false, and whether his confession is true or false, there may be a huge conspiracy hidden in it. If you get involved, it is equivalent to carrying a time bomb with poor contact in your arms, and you will blow yourself to pieces at any time.

Pan Yi never liked to work with Bao Jia, and he always felt that there was an ominous evil aura in his gestures, which made him feel cramped and uneasy; In his every word there is a deadly trap that will fall to death if you are not careful.

As a result, Pan Yu sprained her waist that night and lay in bed for a month. In this way, it is impossible to participate in the interrogation: "Doctor Zong, you can play by yourself, forgive me for not accompanying you!" ”

The slave quickly confessed everything: he had indeed seen the "Dou Pan" doctor at his master's house, and that the Dou doctor had indeed taken the oath; His descriptions were as eloquent as if he had seen them with his own eyes; The place where the book was unearthed was the site of the Peng family, and later under his identification, Bao Jia dug several "sacrificial pits" elsewhere.

The investigation was carried out in secret, and the crime-like crime was soon confirmed. However, on the question of how to deal with Dou Pan, King Chu Zhuang and Bao Jia both felt very difficult: Dou Pan's prestige was too high, and his noble birth and impeccable conduct were obvious to all people in the country; Accusing him of treason could easily be seen as a conspiracy to provoke riots.

Did Bao Jia propose to King Chu Zhuang to ask for the opinion of Xia Doujiao? King Chu Zhuang nodded in agreement, and Dou Jiao had no knowledge of the conspiracy until now. When he heard that his cousin had been accused of a sinister crime so quickly, and that King Chu Zhuang was convinced of it, he was so shocked that he collapsed.

However, Dou Jiao immediately said that he would never tolerate Dou because of brotherhood (if there was still friendship between the two), and he would lead Ruo Ao to resolutely stand on the side of the royal family, and even complete the orders that the king of Chu "is not suitable for giving in public".

King Chu Zhuang was very satisfied with Doujiao's statement, and the three of them began to plan how to get rid of Dou Pan.

The old doctor, who had devoted his life to his duties, was still handling official business in the official office at the last moment of his life, until he saw Dou Jiao sneaking in through the crack in the door with poisoned wine. The murderer showed Dou Pan a parchment scroll with the seal of King Chu Zhuang, and the text on it was very concise: "Doctor Dou Pan, it's time for you to pay for your past sins, drink this wine, and sacrifice endlessly, otherwise you will die without a queen." ”

Dou looked at Dou Jiao in amazement, and only after a while did he look up to the sky and sighed: "Father! I didn't listen to your last words, I didn't be able to save Ruo Ao, this is the sin I want to pay! ”

Dou resolutely drank the poisoned wine, and then returned home. He left a letter for his son, in which he only told him to leave Chu as soon as possible, but did not say any reason, and then lay down with his clothes. The poison was slow to onset, struggled all night, painfully endured the punishment for disobeying Ziwen's teachings, and died at dawn. His death looked like a sudden illness.

When the bad news came out, the whole Chu country was shocked and grieved: passers-by were crying on the streets, women were crying on looms and mulberry trees, peasants were crying with hoes, and soldiers were crying at their posts. People mourn in various ways the man who was fair and honest all his life, dedicated his whole life, and dedicated everything to the motherland but did not die well.

Those who have received grace from him say that he is merciful, and those who have received his punishment say that he is just; Except for murderers and conspirators, there was no one who did not weep sincerely, and he received even more grief than his father, Ziwen.

King Chuzhuang held a grand state funeral for Dou Bang. Pan Yu also appeared in public, and he took part in the funeral with difficulty with the support of two attendants, carrying a cane, and returned home to lie down for another month because of his injuries. On the day of the burial, the alleys of Yingdu were empty, and people followed the coffin to send Lao Lingyin on the last journey with all kinds of natural sad emotions.

After Dou Pan's death, Dou Jiao was promoted to Ling Yin, and Bao Jia was promoted to Da Sima. Soon all kinds of rumors began to fly. Whatever the truth, the reality is that an upright man dies suddenly without warning, and is replaced by his political opponent (an extravagant and brutal villain who has always coveted the throne of Yoon); And our holy king can deal with it calmly. How can these illogical phenomena not arouse the suspicion of the Chinese people?

In order to stabilize the situation and transform the domestic contradictions, the Chu army went north to crusade against Lu Hun Rong and win the Central Plains.

As expected by the king of Chu Zhuang, when the Chu army triumphed, the people of Chu regained their former enthusiasm, cheering at the king and the army, throwing rotten vegetables at the captives, drinking and reveling, and praising the great achievements of the king and Ling Yin. When people can't find an answer, they lose patience and get bored, and they turn to the pleasant things, so they don't talk about it anymore.

When King Chuzhuang returned to his division, he ordered Doujiao to lead his troops to invade Zheng State, which was a precursor for the royal family to take action against Doujiao's henchmen in the country. But Dou Jiao had a premonition that a catastrophe was coming, so he found a high-sounding excuse to quickly return to the state of Chu. His actions bankrupted King Chuzhuang's secret plan of attack, and the two sides were at a stalemate ever since.

Dou Huang (Ben Huang, also known as Miao Ben Huang after exile in the Jin Kingdom) is the eldest son of Dou Jiao, and he has just completed the human ceremony. He is a tall and handsome gentleman, who talks elegantly and modestly, he does not have a little of his father's arrogance and arrogance, and his appearance and temperament are more like fighting than fighting peppers.

Dou Huang did not show ordinary grief when he died, and he lost a lot of weight after the whole funeral, as if his father died. Dou Jiao reproached him dissatisfiedly: "Emperor! Will you grieve as much as you mourn your uncle when I die? ”