Qi Ning sneered and shouted sternly: "Zhou Bo, if you don't want to die, you must find out what happened, otherwise I will go to face the saint now."
Zhou Bo was so frightened by Qi Ning's shout that he almost collapsed on the ground and said in a trembling voice: "Master Bu Tang, I... I will confess to you all. I will never... I will never hide it. I only hope that Master Bu Tang can intercede for me. This Something...!"
Before he finished speaking, Da Xichong roared again and rushed towards Zhou Bo. Qining had already picked up the gavel on the table and threw it with his arm. The gavel was as fast as a shooting star and hit Da Xichong. At the crook of his leg, Da Xi Chong turned and fell to the ground. Qi Ning shouted coldly: "Get him!"
The official from the Ministry of Punishment immediately stepped forward and pushed Da Xichong to the ground.
Da Xi shouted angrily: "Qining, you avenge your personal revenge, you frame Zhongliang...!"
"Slap!" Qi Ning said coldly.
In normal times, the officials of the Ministry of Justice would not dare to attack Da Xi. However, although the officials of the Ministry of Justice are in an extremely humble position, they are not stupid people. They have seen that the current situation is doomed for Da Xi Chong. If he does not seize the opportunity to get close to Xiao Xi, Mr. Hou, I'm afraid that in the future, I won't even be able to have a bowl of rice as the official of the Ministry of Justice.
Without saying a word, a yamen official raised his hand and slapped Da Xi. There was a crisp "snap" sound, and all the officials around him were frightened. They secretly thought that the young marquis was acting vigorously today, and Cao Sen was detained and imprisoned. This It seemed that Da Xichong's life could not be saved.
Da Xichong was slapped, furious, and roared: "You... you dare to hit me!" He glared at the Yamen Chai, who was a little scared. At this time, he saw Qi Ning's figure spread out and floated up from behind the table. Holding a token in the lobby of the Ministry of Justice, he quickly walked up to Da Xi Chong, grabbed Da Xi Chong's hair, raised his face, and without saying a word, used the token to slap Da Xi Chong's mouth ten times in a row. Chong had no strength to resist at all, and the only sound of "slap, bang, bang" was heard in the lobby.
Everyone was even more frightened. Qining hit the wall and flew up again, showing extremely superb kung fu. It could be said that his skills shocked everyone. At this time, everyone knew in their hearts that this young prince was really not a kind person.
After more than a dozen blows, Da Xichong's mouth was already full of blood, his lips were swollen, and there was anger in his eyes, but more of fear.
Qi Ning withdrew his hand, handed the token in his hand to the officer, and said coldly: "It's not his turn to speak now. If he says a word, you can hit him. Anyone who disobeys the order will be punished for disobedience!"
The officer hurriedly grabbed the token, aimed it at Da Xichong's mouth, and waited until Da Xichong said a word before typing it down.
Qi Ning put his hands behind his back, stared at Zhou Bo, and said in a deep voice: "Why did Meng Chu escape death back then? Now tell me honestly. If you lie even one word, I guarantee you will not survive three days!"
Zhou Bo was lying on the ground, his soul was shattered at this time, and he said in a trembling voice: "Lord, it's all... It's all done by Da Xichong who forced him to take a humble position...!"
"You fart...!" Da Xi shouted angrily, but the yamen official was doing his duty faithfully. As soon as Da Xichong spat out three words, he used his token to hit Da Xi Chong's mouth three times with great force. Da Xichong immediately said no. As he spoke, blood flowed from his mouth, and the token was also stained with blood.
Knowing that the situation was over, Zhou Bo raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and said: "Meng Chu was put on death row and the execution date was set. Five or six days before the execution, Da Xichong found Beizhi and asked... Let Beizhi replace Meng Chu with someone. , humble position... humble position knows that this is a violation of the law. Once found out, it will be... a death penalty, so... so I dare not agree." He raised his eyes and glanced at Qining secretly, and saw Qining standing with his hands behind his back. Next to him, he continued: "But Da Xichong said that if Beizi couldn't obey his orders, he... He told Beizi to go back to his hometown to farm, and gave Beizi five hundred taels of silver...!"
Qi Ning said nothing, other officials also bowed their heads and remained silent, and the entire hall was silent.
"He is... He is a Shangguan. I dare not disobey him. I had no choice but to do it. Two days later, he handed it over to someone from my job. I... I could only replace him." Zhou Bo lowered his head and said, "That man looks exactly like Meng. Chu, if you don't look carefully, it's not easy to find flaws. On the day of execution, the executioner was Da Xichong. The prisoner was brought to the execution ground and kept hooded until the moment before execution, when he took off the hood before anyone could see it. If it’s clear, I’ll cut off my head…!”
Qi Ning sneered and glanced at Da Xichong, only to see that Da Xichong was slumped on the ground with a look of ashen.
"After the prisoner was sentenced to death, Da Xichong immediately ordered people to clear the scene. This thing was done from beginning to end without anyone noticing." Zhou Bo said: "Bizhi... Bizhi has always been frightened, but after several Nothing happened to Yue, so... So I just thought that no one knew about it. After a while, someone secretly sent money to Bei Zhi's house. At first, Bei Zhi didn't know who sent the money, so he didn't dare to use it. After it was sent for the second time, the lower official knew that it was... that Meng Chu had fled to Luling and sent some money here every year. Maybe... maybe he was worried that his humble position would leak out...!"
Everyone present knew that it was unclear whether Zhou Bo would survive after his confession, but Da Xichong would definitely not survive.
At this time, Chu Mingwei finally said in a cold voice: "As a rule, the officer who executed Meng Chu's execution was sent by a lower official, but Da Xichong took the initiative and asked to personally oversee the execution. It turned out to be this reason."
Qi Ning turned to look at Da Xichong and said calmly: "Da Xichong, what else do you want to say?"
Da Xichong's body was weak and his eyes were dull. He seemed not to have heard Qi Ning's question. Qi Ning waved his hand and said in a cold voice: "Put him in death row!"
The Yamen immediately dragged Da Xichong down. Qi Ning waited for Da Xichong to be taken down, and then said to Zhou Bo: "You should confess voluntarily. I have something to say first, and I will say a few words to the court for you, but how to deal with it still needs to be done." Do it according to the laws of the imperial court. You go and write a confession now." He waved his hand to the Yamen to take Zhou Bo down.
There was silence in the lobby. Qi Ning glanced slowly. Wherever he looked, every official stood respectfully and bowed.
The officials kneeling on the ground pressed their foreheads to the ground and did not dare to breathe.
"There is no rule without rules." Qi Ning said calmly as he walked back: "I don't know what rules the Ministry of Punishment has set, and I don't want to know. From now on, everyone will follow my rules and perform their duties. Fairness and integrity, these are my rules. Being an official in the Criminal Department is not an easy job. A slight negligence can be a matter of life and death...!" After a pause, he smiled lightly and said: "It is not only a matter of life and death for the prisoner, but also for everyone. A matter of life and death!"
Everyone's hearts trembled.
"Those who deserve to be punished will get it themselves, and those who need to do errands will do it themselves." Qi Ning waved his hand: "I don't want to say anything more. You are all smart people, and it is useless to say more."
The officials who were kneeling on the ground all stood up, hunched over and went out to receive their punishments. Other officials also saluted Qining one after another and returned to their respective offices.
Chu Mingwei was also about to leave, but Qi Ning had already said: "Master Chu, please stay." After everyone retreated, he went to the back hall with his hands behind his back. Chu Mingwei hesitated for a moment and followed him to the back hall.
Behind the lobby is a long corridor, which is only about 30 steps away from the back hall. Entering the back hall, Qi Ning sat down on a chair. After Chu Mingwei entered the room, Qi Ning pursed his lips. Chu Mingwei understood and turned around. Closed the door.
"Master Chu, please sit down!" Qining raised his hand and pointed to the chair next to him.
Chu Mingwei hesitated for a moment, then went over and sat down. Qi Ning stared at Chu Mingwei and said with a smile: "Master Chu, should I thank you today, or should you thank me?"
Chu Mingwei was startled, but still asked cautiously: "What do you mean, Lord Bu Tang?"
"You helped me get rid of Da Xichong and Cao Sen, and frightened all the officials in the Ministry of Justice. The so-called three things to do when a new official takes office, I took office very brightly." Qi Ning smiled and said: "But in other words, I I also helped you get rid of Da Xichong. If nothing happens, you, the right minister of the Ministry of Punishment, will soon transform into the left minister of the Ministry of Punishment."
Chu Mingwei's expression changed slightly, but he quickly stood up, stepped forward and knelt on the ground: "I'm so arrogant, please forgive me!"
"You don't have to think too much, you are not guilty!" Qi Ning helped Chu Mingwei up and said with a smile: "I might as well tell you the truth. When I came to take office in the Ministry of Punishments, Da Xichong was bound to be eliminated. He has sent people to search for him in the past few days. Looking for evidence of Da Xichong's crime, this person is definitely not clean, but it is not easy to find evidence of crime." He patted Chu Mingwei on the shoulder and said: "You, Mr. Chu, came to the rescue in time, and sent the evidence of Cao Sen and Da Xichong's crime to the gate of Jinyihou Mansion. It helped me a lot."
That night Qi Ning returned home from Tian's house, but found a package under the butt of a stone lion in front of the back door. When he went back to the house and took a closer look, he found that it was the evidence of Da Xichong and Cao Sen's crimes.
Chu Mingwei sighed: "Master Bu Tang is indeed very wise, and he could guess that it was the evidence of crime sent by the subordinate."
"Nothing happens without a reason." Qi Ning sat down and motioned for Chu Mingwei to sit down as well: "I found out that there were evidence of the two of them in the package, so naturally it was clear that someone wanted to help me get rid of them. Of course , the main purpose was to reach Xichong, and Cao Sen was just incidentally, but the emergence of Cao Sen’s evidence made me believe that it must be someone from the Ministry of Punishment.”
"oh?"
"The first time I came to the Ministry of Punishment last time, Cao Sen was very disrespectful to me. Only people from the Ministry of Punishment knew about it at the time." Qi Ning said with a smile: "So the evidence of Cao Sen's crime was not for the real purpose of overthrowing him. He just wanted me to have a reason to breathe out."
Chu Mingwei sighed in admiration: "Master Bu Tang is really shrewd."
"Since it was the evidence of crime sent by someone from the Ministry of Punishment, who would be most beneficial to Da Xi Chong's collapse?" Qining smiled and said: "Of course it is you, Mr. Chu, but that alone does not prove that it is the evidence of crime that you sent. The key is The evidence of Da Xichong's crime is extremely detailed, and he obviously spent a lot of effort. The Ministry of Punishment has the ability to collect so much evidence, and it is impossible for ordinary officials to do so."
"Xiaoguan thought he was doing it secretly, but he didn't expect the minister to know everything." Chu Mingwei said with a bitter smile: "Da Xichong has helped Qian Raoshun to do evil things over the years. There have been many unjust cases in the Ministry of Punishment, but Xiaguan...!" He shook his head. , then said: "Back then, when Da Xichong stole the news and asked for execution, the official had doubts in his mind. After the prisoner was sentenced, the official found a chance to check before his body was disposed of, and found that it was indeed someone else. From then on, he secretly investigated the matter. A case."
"Some of the case files have turned yellow. Has Mr. Chu collected the evidence long ago?"
Chu Mingwei nodded slightly: "In recent years, if Xiaguan was just a decoration in the Ministry of Justice, he was not trusted by Qian Raoshun. He was a low-key person, which did not make Qian Raoshun annoying, so they never cared about Xiaguan, who secretly did it They didn't pay attention to anything. It was not difficult to collect the evidence, but it took a lot of effort to find Meng Chu's whereabouts. Fortunately, in October last year, they finally found out Meng Chu's whereabouts. The officer did not act rashly."
"Since we have evidence of the crime and know the whereabouts of Meng Chu, why didn't we report it to the court?" Qining asked.
Chu Mingwei shook his head and smiled bitterly: "The power of the lower official is weak. At that time, Qian Raoshun and Da Xichong were working together, and the Ministry of Punishment was also under their control. Moreover, Qian Raoshun was still the confidant of the King of Huainan at that time. If the lower official acted rashly, he would be If we don't defeat them, we will destroy our family."
"In that case, why did you send the evidence of crime to me again this time?"
"I dare to speak out for two reasons. One is because Da Xichong and his gang are really lawless and know the law and break the law. If Da Xichong is not eliminated, the Ministry of Punishment will never have peace." Chu Mingwei said seriously: "The other reason is that I also want to Let’s see if Master Bu Tang is really serious about rectifying the Punishment Department.”
Qi Ning asked with great interest: "How do you say this?"
"If the minister is just a passer-by and is afraid of the Duke of Zhenguo behind Da Xichong, then even if there is evidence of guilt, I am afraid he will not really attack Da Xichong." Chu Mingwei said slowly: "If this is really the case, I will punish you Just think that these two years have been a waste of effort, if the civil and military officials in the court don't even care about this matter, no one will dare to take action."
Qi Ning smiled slightly and said nothing.
"But if Lord Bu Tang really wants to rectify the Ministry of Punishment, he must establish a foothold in the Ministry of Punishment. I believe that Lord Bu Tang will never let go of this opportunity." Chu Mingwei's eyes were profound: "First, Da Xichong has formed his own line in the Ministry of Punishment. , there are many party members, and he is also the official of the town. If this person is not eliminated, the Ministry of Justice will have many difficulties in the future. Secondly, the Ministry of Justice has just arrived. If he does not find an opportunity to establish his power, it will be difficult to intimidate the Ministry of Justice. This group of people, so as long as the Lord of the Ministry of Justice is ready to establish a foothold in the Ministry of Punishment, he will definitely seize the evidence and bring down Da Xichong!"
Qining clapped his hands and said with a smile: "Master Chu is indeed shrewd, sophisticated, and candid. That's good. I like dealing with you like this."
"The Lord of the Department today promoted one person, dealt with three people, and punished a group of people. There were rewards and punishments. It is extremely clever." Chu Mingwei admired: "With this power, the next step is to rectify the punishment department, which will definitely get twice the result with half the effort!"
Qi Ning laughed, and then his expression became stern: "Master Chu, whether you are motivated by publicity or selfishness this time, I am very grateful for your help this time. You want the Ministry of Justice to become a pure land, and I appreciate your attitude. , but I want to see your future actions more. If you really want to help me, I will naturally entrust you with important tasks. I will give you whatever Qian Raoshun didn't give you, but if you go against your original intention, your words and deeds No, don’t blame me for being ruthless in the future!”
Chu Mingwei stood up and knelt on the ground with a solemn expression: "I am determined to follow the Lord of the Ministry wholeheartedly. If you have any different intentions, you will be punished by heaven and earth!"