Dali Temple.

In a cell full of torture instruments.

Bang!

"ah!"

"Pei Xingjian, I advise you to give it honestly to avoid suffering from this flesh and blood."

Yuan Gongyu sat in front of Pei Xingjian who was being whipped, and said leisurely while drinking tea.

The Tang Dynasty has always advocated cautious punishment and less punishment, but that is only for the people, because the people are just humble people, and you have no pleasure in using punishment to the people, but for officials, this is not the case. Either if you don’t punish you or want to punish you, it is to punish you to death. Who told you to get so much salary and not whip you a few times will be ashamed of your official uniform.

As soon as Pei Xingjian and Li Jie came in, they were tortured and forced to confess.

"Bah, I have nothing to say with you and other villains."

Pei Xingjian gritted his teeth and glared at Yuan Gongyu angrily.

"You are still stubborn at this time, I want to see how capable you are." Yuan Gongyu ordered the soldiers again, "Continue to beat me, and beat me hard."

There were two people standing at the door of this cell, Xu Jingzong and Xin Mao.

"The Fang Yiai case was investigated in this cell."

Xu Jingzong stood at the door and looked inside and asked.

Xin Mao nodded and said, "Fang Yiai was imprisoned here back then."

Xu Jingzong smiled and said, "This is really a cycle of heaven and law, and there will be rewards!"

Xin Mao was the general, saying, "But these two people have a very tight mouth and don't even speak."

Xu Jingzong smiled and said, "There is no need to worry about this matter. We have to plan it carefully. You will tell Yuan Gongyu not to beat him so hard later. If he beat him to death, it will be more than worth the loss."

Xin Mao nodded.

Xu Jingzong said again: "By the way, what do you say about Meng Han?"

Xin Mao was going to say, "That guy was so scared, but he really didn't seem to know who the powerful man was?"

Xu Jingzong narrowed his eyes and said, "I don't know that we can let him know. Now that things have come to this point, we are not afraid. What else is he afraid of? If it succeeds, he will make great contributions."

Just then, a clerk came over quickly and muttered a few words in Xu Jingzong's ear.

Xu Jingzong nodded and said to Xin Mao again: "I'll leave this to you."

After saying that, he hurriedly left.

He came to a room behind Dali Temple, and there was a person standing in the house, which was Wang Dejian.

"How is the check?"

Xu Jingzong asked as soon as he saw Wang Dejian.

Wang Dejian first came to the door, stretched out his head, looked around and saw that there was no one outside the house, then closed the door and whispered: "It's been found out."

Xu Jingzong said: "What's going on?"

Wang Dejian took out some letters and said, "This was found from Pei Xingjian's home. If I was not mistaken, it should be that Master Pei Yan and others were afraid of being implicated by Tang Lin, so they planned to join forces with the Li family of Zhaojun to consolidate their power in the court."

Xu Jingzong frowned when he heard this and said, "So that's it."

Wang Dejian said again: "But there is a letter from Li Taigong of Zhao County, who Pei Xingjian intends to give to his teacher." As he said that, he handed a letter to Xu Jingzong.

Xu Jingzong took it and looked at it, saying, "This is just a very ordinary letter, nothing special!"

Wang Dejian pointed his hand up and said, "Look at how Pei Xingjian calls Li Taigong."

"Shi Shi?" Xu Jingzong frowned and said, "I am also familiar with Taigong Li. He is known as Taigong Zhao. He is a contemporary great scholar. Many of his disciples are officials in the court and are Pei Xingjian's teachers. There is nothing wrong with calling him Taigong Zhao."

Wang Dejian said: "Don't forget my uncle. Changsun Wuji was named Duke of Zhao."

Xu Jingzong was stunned and said, "This is too far-fetched. No one calls Changsun Wuji Master Zhao, who would believe this?"

Wang Dejian showed a thorny smile and said, "Uncle, you can't say that, you should say that, why did Pei Xingjian call Changsun Wuji the Master Zhao? Why didn't he call Taiwei openly? What is hidden here?"

This is the civil servant. This word game is perfect, and the tone changes, meaning is completely different.

Xu Jingzong's eyes flashed a few times when he heard this, and said, "But with this alone, I'm afraid there is still not enough evidence."

Wang Dejian said: "Don't we have three witnesses? As long as we burn the rest of the letters and leave only letters about Mr. Zhao, then this person's evidence is there, and Changsun Wuji will never escape this time."

Xu Jingzong said: "But the problem is that neither Pei Xingjian nor Li Jie are willing to speak."

Wang Dejian said: "Uncle, I have sorted out this matter. Pei Xingjian will naturally not provide his teacher. Li Jie's words, Li Taigong is his grandfather, and he will not say anything even more. But as far as I know, Li Jie was promoted to the Censorate by the relationship between Li Yi Mansion. However, as soon as Li Yi Mansion left, the Li family of Zhao County reconciled with the Pei family as before and helped the Pei family suppress the direct descendants of Li Yi Mansion. Meng Han was one of them, so Meng Han sued them for the two of them. From this, it can be seen that Li Jie was not loyal to Changsun Wuji and the Pei family. It was just because the situation was forced. He was different from Pei Xingjian, but he was a villain. If he had to choose between his grandfather and Changsun Wuji, he would definitely choose to give Changsun Wuji. Let him be the breakthrough point. If we force Pei Xingjian to confess his guilt, it would be much easier."

Xu Jingzong thought for a while and said, "But you know me, and the Pei family knows it too, if they..."

Wang Dejian smiled and said, "Uncle, don't you understand these high-ranking families? Everything is based on the interests of your own family. If this matter is so big, if the Pei family dares to fall into the trap, I am afraid that the Pei family's power in Chang'an will be pulled out. I guess they will not come out to confess their guilt. On the contrary, when we attacked Changsun Wuji, the Pei family and the Li family would not stand up to help because they are guilty, which can reduce our resistance."

Xu Jingzong laughed and said, "Your brain is still fast."

You should know that the word "think tank" comes from the giant tumor on Wang Dejian's neck. This is real, and it is definitely not a false reputation!

He also expected that it was right. Although Master Pei Yan and his team were like ants on a hot pan at this time, they could only sit at home and do nothing. If they had any movement, wouldn't they not be able to tell themselves?

.........

Taiwei's Mansion.

Changsun Wuji stood in the courtyard, carrying his hands on his back, looking at the sunset in the west from afar. The winter sunset did not emit much afterglow, which could not cover the sad face on his face.

After a while, the old housekeeper next to him came over and bowed and said, "Master!"

Changsun Wuji sighed long, withdrew his gaze, turned his head slightly, and asked, "How is the matter done?"

The old housekeeper said: "I believe Han Yi has received the secret code, but---!"

Changsun Wuji frowned slightly and said, "It's just what?"

The old housekeeper said, "It's just that there are many more spy lines around our mansion. If you want to avoid them tonight, it's a lot of trouble. But please don't worry, the villain is sure to avoid them."

The housekeeper around Changsun Wuji is not an ordinary person. He really doesn't take those little sparrows outside seriously.

Changsun Wuji narrowed his eyes, remained silent for a while, and said, "There is no need. It is really not easy for them to work hard to stare at me, the old man outside. Give them some news so that they can go back and report their lives."

The old housekeeper was shocked and said, "Master, if you are not prepared for this, the relationship between Master and Han Yi may be known to the other party."

Changsun Wuji was silent for a little while and sighed: "But if I die, then no one in the world will know this secret."

.......

That night, late at night, Han Yi arrived as promised.

As before, Changsun Wuji was packed in the hut early, playing Go alone there, and he didn't put down the chess piece until Han Yi arrived.

"Taiwei, things may be a little bad, you have to make a decision as soon as possible." Han Yi said with a hint of eagerness.

Changsun Wuji said: "You are referring to the case of Li Jie and Pei Xingjian's clique."

Han Yi nodded.

Changsun Wuji said frankly: "This matter has nothing to do with me, and I am not aware of it."

Is this the point? This is not an investigation of the case, it is obviously a frame-up. Han Yi said: "If this matter is really related to the Taiwei, I think the superiors would not send Xu Jingzong and the others to investigate, but Wei Siqian would investigate."

Changsun Wuji smiled faintly and said, "This pure one will be clear. If they want to frame the blame, I will not be able to stop them."

Han Yi frowned slightly and said, "Does the Grand Marshal plan to sit and wait for death?"

Changsun Wuji smiled and said, "I have always been cautious in my actions. They can't get evidence to prove me."

Han Yi said: "But cases like cliques are specious, and evidence is just the second."

Changsun Wuji nodded and said, "You are right. Clash-related cases are indeed specious, so my fate is now in the hands of one person. Do you think he will take my life?"

This person is naturally Li Zhi. In fact, when they talk, they often avoid Li Zhi and don’t talk. The main thing is Wu Meiniang. But you should know that Wu Meiniang has no power to dominate Changsun Wuji’s life and death. She can only add fuel to the fire from the side and add fuel to the fire. The real decision is always in the hands of Li Zhi. At that time, Li Zhi decided it. Wu Meiniang could only secretly make trouble and create a reason for Li Zhi. The two cases were actually very similar.

Han Yi hesitated for a while and shook his head and said, "I don't know this either."

Changsun Wuji smiled bitterly without showing a hint of difficulty in wiping away the corners of his mouth, saying, "Then let him decide." His tone was very firm.

Han Yi said in surprise: "Does the Taiwei plan to do nothing?"

"I am nearly 70 years old and don't have much life anymore. I have long been indifferent to this life and death."

Changsun Wuji sighed softly, but a hint of unwillingness flashed in his eyes, and said, "The only thing I am worried about now is that if the result is not good for me, I will involve many innocent people because of me, many of them are loyal ministers and righteous people in my Tang Dynasty, including Pei Xingjian, Wang Fangyi, Zhao Chiman, Zhang Daxiang and others. If I really have the deadline and cannot escape, I hope you can save them from being implicated. No matter what, I have to keep their lives."

Speaking of this, he closed his eyes and sighed, "There are too many treacherous ministers in the court now. Your Majesty needs such a group of loyal ministers and righteous men around you to remind him and help him, so as not to be deceived by the traitors and ruin the great rivers and mountains of the Tang Dynasty."
Chapter completed!