Liu Yu quietly listened to the lamentation of the hidden guard, did not speak for a long time, and only after a while did he order: "Wang Gu, you come forward and knock on the door!"

The guard, Wang Gu, was stunned when he heard this, then turned over and dismounted, trotted all the way to the closed door of the Punishment Department, and began to knock on the door.

The messenger in the courtyard of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs heard the sound outside, hurriedly ran out to open the door, and politely welcomed everyone into the courtyard.

The officials of the criminal department had already gathered behind the door, and when they saw Lord Zhengqing arriving, they all prostrated on the ground and bowed to the horse's head: "See Lord Zhengqing!"

They had already received an edict from Zhongshu Province and knew that the Dali Siqing would personally come to interrogate the prisoners today, so they specially recalled some of the messengers who were resting at home to come back to do business. As for Lord Shangshu of the Criminal Department himself, it is said that he still stayed in his yard to fight crickets, and he had no intention of coming to the court.

"Well, let's all get up!" Liu Yu sat on horseback and raised his hand at the officials of the Criminal Department.

He glanced at these people a few times, and saw that among the officials of the criminal department who came, the highest-ranking person was just an outsider, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

After listening to the order, these officials of the Criminal Department hurriedly got up, they all looked at Lord Zhengqing of Dali Temple in front of them stupidly, and their eyes lit up, "Don't dare, don't dare, Lord Liu, please!"

Due to the financial constraints of the imperial court, the salary of the criminal department has been cut off for several months, and these people are already very poor in their families.

They had heard that the salary of Dali Temple was as usual, and they coveted it, and they happened to meet Lord Zhengqing at this moment, how could they not try their best to get close to it.

These people surrounded Lord Zhengqing, some led the horses, some led the way, and some protected the sides of the horses, saying some things in their mouths, hoping that Lord Zhengqing would favor him and transfer himself to Dali Temple as an errand.

Of course, Liu Yu knew what these people were thinking, but he knew very well that if the situation continued to deteriorate, it would not be easy to maintain even the salaries of these officials and servants under his own command, and if the population increased again, I am afraid it would be difficult to support it.

After all, he can't go to Ouchi to trouble the emperor again and again for silver, if he does this repeatedly, King Kui will definitely take action against him in advance.

Therefore, although he had sympathy in his heart, he could only smile and reject all these people, and went straight to interrogate the palace maid Ah Zhen. Once he thought that Ah Zhen's father Lu Yi died at his own hands, he had a very complicated feeling.

Surrounded by a group of officials of the Criminal Department, he went to the lobby of the Criminal Department, sat upright in the Taishi chair behind the public case on the steps, and sipped tea one by one, hoping to eliminate the uneasiness in his heart.

After about half a cup of tea, the two officials escorted the palace maid named Ah Zhen to the hall of the criminal department.

He saw that this Ah Zhen looked quite white, with a pair of watery black eyes flickering, and the whole person was like a little squirrel that was frightened after being hurt.

He sighed secretly: "Anyone who sees such a cute little girl will only think that humans and animals are harmless, how can she be a so-called rebel, so what does Li Zi want to do?"

The two officials squatted down and gently removed the shackles on the feet of this Ah Zhen, and the movements were very careful, for fear of hurting half of the woman's hair, and then silently retreated to the side with the shackles.

Ah Zhen saw Liu Yu, who was the chief judge in the hall, and fell to her knees with a thud, "My lord, the slave and maid really didn't rebel, they were wronged." It doesn't matter if the slave is dead or alive, you can spare my family!"

Seeing that this woman's face was plump and her demeanor was normal, Liu Yu couldn't help but feel a little surprised in his heart. Generally speaking, most of the prisoners suspected of rebellion will be beheaded after the autumn, and there will be no comeback, so they are not favored by the prison officials, and the treatment in the prison is extremely poor.

He didn't speak, but carefully observed the expression of the palace maid lying on the ground, and felt that this woman was really a kind and gentle person. If that's the case, I really don't know how she managed to keep herself safe in prison.

Just when he was suspicious, a cell head of the criminal department who wanted to please him quietly approached, "My lord, don't torture this woman, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable!"

"Why?" asked Liu Yu with a smile.

"When the woman was first arrested, some of the guards insulted her, and several of them took her to a damp cell and gave her some unpalatable vegetables. As a result, these people either died violently in the class room or at home that night, and none of them survived to the next day. As soon as this incident came out, who dared to despise her, we discussed, and the cell did not dare to let her live, so we had to find the cleanest duty room to lay out the bedding, invite her over, and serve her with good food and drink every day. Even with all our care, a few of the jailers died for no reason because of the slightest carelessness in serving the woman. My lord, can you still torture a palace maid with such a background?

"I see, then do you know who is protecting her behind her back?" Liu Yu put away his smile and asked.

"I really don't know, it's just that this person once left a note, saying that if this woman has a slight accident, then he will kill all the people in our prison of the Criminal Department. The cell boss replied honestly, and his body shuddered.

"Where is the note now?" Liu Yu's eyes lit up, and he thought that maybe he could use the handwriting on the note to find out the person behind the scenes.

"Hey, my lord!" the man had already expected this, and he left a message saying that we must burn the note after we read it, and not half of the paper corner will be left, otherwise the head will be ruined!" said the cell boss with a palpitating expression on his face.

After hearing this, Liu Yu nodded, "This person has thought carefully, so in your opinion, what should be done with this woman?"

"Hey, what a dilemma! If we let this kind of repetition go casually, if His Royal Highness King Kui asks for guilt in the future, he will definitely kill our heads. But if you keep this woman, it will be very inappropriate. Don't you know, my lord, this woman is delicate, she often cries and cries at night, and when she can't think of it, she will commit suicide by hitting her head against the wall, we are really afraid that we will not entertain her well one day, and we will not stop her, and in the end we will lose our own life!"

Seeing this, Liu Yu smiled slightly, "If that's the case, then let me interrogate her!"

He motioned to the officials under the steps to help the palace maid Ah Zhen on the ground up, and asked him, "Are you Ah Zhen, get up and ask." ”

The palace maid was like a frightened little squirrel, stubbornly afraid to get up, and whispered: "My lord, the slave and maid are guilty of sin, this ...... How can this be?"

Liu Yu simply stood up from the front of the case, walked down the steps, came to the front of the woman, helped her up, and said in a cordial tone like the big brother next door, "Since you have not been convicted, then you are not guilty, why not stand up and speak?"

Unexpectedly, his rather ordinary words caused huge waves in Ah Zhen's heart.

Ah Zhen raised her sleeves and couldn't help crying, "My lord, I really didn't rebel. It doesn't matter if you kill me, please let my mother and my family go, they are all innocent, woo!"

"Can you tell me in detail what happened, so that I can clear your name. Liu Yu guided with a pleasant face.

Ah Zhen wiped her tears, "My lord, I haven't done anything bad. I did go to the Dead Man's Street many times, but only to give food to a beggar there, and as a result, others accused me of secretly conspiring with the bandits outside the city, and tried to rebel against me, so they arrested me. ”

Liu Yu looked strange when he heard this, "There are so many poor people on the street of the dead, why do you have to give food to one of the specific beggars every time, I really can't figure out what his name is?"

Ah Zhen raised her face, and her big eyes flashed very moving, "Because I have very little silver, it is not enough to help so many poor people." And among so many poor people, he is the most pitiful. He told me that his surname was Cao, his name was Cao Dongli, because of the war, his family was ruined, and now his legs are broken, and he can only walk by climbing. If I don't help him, he'll die soon. Since he said so, how can I not help him, woo!"