Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 291
"Uh!"

"Snapped--"

On March [-]nd, when the clouds were moving in all directions, accompanied by a scream in the middle of the night, a person who was whipped and bruised all over his body appeared in the narrow and dark Nanzhen Fusizhao Prison.

"Tell me, who are your accomplices..."

Behind the dim candlelight, Hou Guoxing, who was leaning on the armchair, lowered his head and smelled the fragrance of tea in this damp cell with a hint of decay.

Behind him, two Jin Yiwei Qianhu stood, and in front of him, an official who had been whipped and bruised was paralyzed in front of the stake, his hands were chained so that he could not sit on the ground, and could only hang in the air.

Under the disheveled hair was full of blood stains, if not for the heaving chest, perhaps others would have thought he was dead.

"Don't say?" Hou Guoxing took a sip of tea, and said without raising his head after a while: "Continue..."

"Snapped!"

The long whip soaked in salt water continued to beat, but in the face of this kind of whipping, the man didn't make a sound, and for a while the torturers thought he was dead.

After a while, Hou Guoxing got up impatiently and said:

"Trash, I don't even know how to use torture!"

After finishing speaking, Hou Guoxing got up and walked in front of the official, rolled up his sleeves and said:
"I know that you civil servants want to save face and endure torture for the sake of Fu Yu's descendants, but Nanzhen Fusi's methods are not limited to these..."

"Hang him up!"

As Hou Guoxing opened his mouth, the man was immediately hung upside down by the other Jin Yiwei, and his face was revealed.

If you look carefully, this person is none other than Gu Dazhang, a member of the criminal department who handled one of the Huaibei famine cases together with Zuo Guangdou and Yang Lian.

Gu Dazhang was hoisted up, and then Hou Guoxing had someone hang him on a slanted bench with his head down and his feet down.

Before Gu Dazhang could catch his breath, a piece of wet cloth soaked in water covered his mouth and nose. Gu Dazhang choked on the instant influx of water while breathing, and subconsciously struggled to breathe.

But at the same time, he had not eaten for a few days, because of this posture, his stomach acid surged, and the trachea was stimulated by the acid flush, constantly urging Gu Dazhang to cough.

This kind of coughing is very fatal when covered with a water cloth, but after a period of struggle, Gu Dazhang's consciousness began to slacken, and everything became quiet, but suddenly...

Suddenly, Gu Dazhang felt his body shake, he was hung upside down, the wet cloth from his mouth and nose was also taken away, and the nasal cavity was filled with stomach acid.

"Cough cough..."

At the moment of coughing, stomach acid splashed Gu Dazhang's face.

The outflowing stomach acid also irritated his eyes, making him feel dazed.

Hou Guoxing approached him with a candle, and after noticing that his eyes were distracted, he immediately asked, "Finally, who are the party members..."

"..." Gu Dazhang didn't respond, which made Hou Guoxing instantly depressed:

"Strong-boned, right? Then let you be strong-boned!"

After all, Hou Guoxing took a piece of iron wire from the hand of the person next to him, then held the wire with a rag, heated the wire red with a candle, pointed it at Gu Dazhang's cheek, and with a puff sound, forced the wire into Gu Dazhang's cheek, from Wear it out on the other side.

"Ugh!!!"

Gu Dazhang regained some energy and let out a howl of pain, while Hou Guoxing pulled out his cheek with a wire, and then put it back on, repeating it many times.

Afterwards, he took out several wires, pierced Gu Dazhang's cheeks repeatedly, and built a wire frame in Gu Dazhang's mouth, trapping his tongue in it.

Any action like this would almost tear Gu Dazhang's cheek, and Hou Guoxing seemed to not care about Gu Dazhang's life or death in order to vent his anger.

He took out a new piece of wire, burned it red on the nearby candle, and carefully punctured Gu Dazhang's armpit, ribs, and inner thigh repeatedly.

In the end, he seemed to think that this was not enough, so he immediately brought a bronze mirror that was big enough to cover his whole body, and then put it in front of Gu Dazhang to let Gu Dazhang appreciate his own appearance.

Gu Dazhang, whose consciousness was lax, looked at the person in the mirror who was covered with twisted wires, and was a little dazed, and he couldn't even recognize the person in the mirror as himself.

It's just that whenever he loses consciousness, Hou Guoxing will come over with a document and say:
"You use a Chinese ink pen to circle the names of the people on it, and I'll let you out after you circle them..."

Hou Guoxing smiled, but Gu Dazhang's response to him was a mouthful of blood.

The expression of blood spat on Hou Guoxing's face made Hou Guoxing's expression instantly lose control. He was about to draw his sword when he got up, but it was Gu Dazhang who tilted his head, and there was no more movement...

"This...he's dead..." Qianhu, who was squatting down, tested his pulse and breath with his hands, and finally looked up at Hou Guoxing, swallowing hard.

"It's useless..." Hou Guoxing looked at the dead Gu Dazhang, and didn't bother to do anything to rescue him, but said directly:
"It's better to die with no evidence. Use his hand to press the indictment." Hou Guoxing wiped the blood on his hand with a handkerchief, then threw the handkerchief on the ground, turned around and walked out of the cell.

In the dark corridor, wailing and roaring sounded one after another. To these sounds, Hou Guoxing sneered, turned and walked towards the innermost cell.

But when he asked someone to open the cell door, Wei Liangqing who was inside appeared behind the door, and the two looked at each other and frowned.

"This group of Dong Lin's mouths are pretty tough..."

Wei Liangqing wiped his hands and walked out, while Hou Guoxing said:
"Whether he is tough or not, anyway, just press the fingerprint."

"It's also a way, but uncle's side is hard to explain." Wei Liangqing wiped his hands, but frowned and worried about Wei Zhongxian's side.

Even though he is Wei Zhongxian's nephew, he also knows that this kind of unconvincing matter has really reached the level of a joint trial by the three divisions. I am afraid that Wei Zhongxian will not hesitate to sweep him out and treat him as an abandoned son.

"Don't worry, foster father and the others are busy with other things right now, how can they care about Dong Lin's life and death..."

Hou Guoxing said, and incidentally said:

"At that time, I will tell my mother that the adoptive father will not pursue it too much, as long as we clean up Donglin."

"It's not easy to clean it up. Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Yuan Keli, Sun Chengzong, Xu Guangqi, and Sun Yuanhua probably won't be able to move..." Wei Liangqing is very clear about who can move and who can't.

These six people are more or less related to Zhu Youjian, if they are moved, it will inevitably arouse Zhu Youjian's anger.

Zhu Youjian's anger...it's not something they can bear...

"Then except for these four people, try to attack others." Hou Guoxing thought for a while, and then thought of a good way:

"Let's find a few people who will make His Royal Highness King Qi happy..."

"You mean..." Wei Liangqing narrowed his eyes, and Hou Guoxing also said slowly:

"Gao Panlong..."

------

"boom!"

"Master, it's not good, Jin Yiwei brought someone to knock on the door."

When the sound of violent kicking the door sounded in Lane [-], Guanshan Lane, Wuxi, South Zhili, in the early morning of March [-], the head of Gao's mansion, who ran from the front yard to the back yard in a hurry, hurriedly confronted Gao Pan who was standing in the gazebo by the Fuyuan lake. The dragon made a salute.

"What are you panicking..."

Gao Panlong's face was haggard at the moment, he was standing at the port of the gazebo ferry with his back to the manager, looking at the emerald lake in front of him in the mansion, his back was hunched, and he was indescribably lonely.

After a while, he fumbled for a handwritten letter from his pocket, handed it to the manager and said:
"You can take this manuscript to your wife."

"This..." The manager was a little speechless, he didn't understand that Jin Yiwei had come to the door, how could his master still have the mind to engage in such love affairs.

However, in line with his duty as a servant, he still took the handwriting.

When he took the handwritten letter, Gao Panlong waved his hand:
"Take Madam and the others to the main hall in the front yard and wait for the search. If Jin Yiwei breaks the door, let them come to the backyard to look for me by themselves."

"Yes..." The manager felt a little palpitated, he always felt that his master was different today, but he couldn't tell.

He could only follow Gao Panlong's words, went to the backyard to find all Gao Panlong's family members, and brought them to the meeting hall in the front yard.

When he finally led people to the meeting hall, Jin Yiwei from Wuxi Baihu Office also led people to break in, and the leading Jinyiwei Baihu also walked into the courtyard with his face upright and one hand on the Yanling Saber at his waist:
"According to the order of the factory owner, Gaodu please come with us during the matter."

"My husband is waiting for you in the backyard..." When many family members were too scared to speak, Mrs. Gao, who was in her fifties, came out and responded politely to the hundred household officials.

This kind of etiquette also improved the attitude of the hundred household officials a lot. He bowed to Mrs. Gao and said:
"Don't blame me, Ma'am, we are just on orders."

After all, he led a few people towards the backyard, but no trace of Gao Panlong was found.

"Baihu, not here!"

"Neither here!"

"Baihu! This..."

Suddenly, in the silence of the crowd, a Jin Yiwei stood in the pavilion and stopped, and this behavior also attracted the attention of the hundred household officials.

He hurriedly led people to trot to the gazebo, only to see six large characters written on the beams of the gazebo, and Gao Panlong, who had long died, was floating in the lake.

"I thought death was home"

Just six words, the Baihuguan and the other Jinyiwei looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

After a while, the hundred household officials waved their hands with mixed feelings and said: "Salvage the corpse and take it away, and report it to Hou Qian.",

"Yes..." After hearing the words, many Jinyi guards also started to salvage Gao Panlong's body, and when the body was carried from the backyard to the front yard, Gao Panlong's two sons, disciples, and family members all cried into tears.

They could only watch helplessly as Jin Yiwei carried Gao Panlong's body away, but luckily Jin Yiwei didn't raid the house and seal the door.

As Jin Yiwei walked away, Mrs. Gao opened the last letter left by Gao Panlong in her arms, and the content of the letter made them cry even more sadly:
"Although I was dismissed from office, I used to be a court minister."

"The ministers of Ming Dynasty cannot be insulted, because the insult of a minister is equivalent to the insult of the country."

"It has been thirty-four years since I served Emperor Shenzongxian. I have experienced three generations of emperors, but I can't control the chaotic officials, and I can't clean up the dirty officials."

"The imperial court wants to arrest me. I know that this is not what His Majesty meant. Your Majesty was young and grew up in the inner court. He was accidentally deceived by eunuchs. It cannot be blamed on Your Majesty, but that we, the courtiers, cannot check and balance the eunuchs."

"Right now, I can only bow respectfully to the north to emulate Qu Yuan's last wish."

"The only regret is that I have not been able to repay His Majesty's favor, and I only hope to repay it in the next life."

"I hope that my death will enable His Majesty to be close to virtuous ministers and villains in the future, and be wary of the courtiers around him."

"Chen Gao Panlong's last letter, I hope that the minister who read this letter can take this letter and return to His Majesty..."

"Bang—" When Gao Panlong's handwriting passed through his family and was delivered to Yuan Keli, the governor of Shandong Province, Yuan Keli, who had always been grand and calm, smashed things on a rare occasion.

The broken tea set and tea splashed all over the study, Yuan Ke was trembling with anger, while the other officials in the study were looking down at their noses and hearts.

"I have never heard of such humiliating officials!"

Yuan Ke walked left and right angrily. He and Gao Panlong had a good personal relationship. Although he didn't agree with Gao Panlong's views on politics, the two were friends after all.

When looking at Gao Panlong's last words, all kinds of scenes that the two of them experienced in the past flashed back in their minds, how could Yuan Keli not be angry?
"I want to go to Beijing with a handwritten letter!"

Suddenly, Yuan Keli spoke suddenly, which caused many officials to stop him:

"Mr. Jie Huan, the capital is a troubled place right now, so you should stay away from it."

"Yeah, it's better to wait for King Qi to return from sweeping north before going."

"Right now, everyone is in danger. If Mr. Go goes, he will fall into a trap."

"Your Majesty is under the care of His Royal Highness King Qi, but the eunuchs don't dare to do anything to you."

"Be careful..."

The dissuasion of many officials is not unreasonable, and Yuan Keli is not ignorant.

On the contrary, he actually knows very well that the safest people right now are those who are related to Zhu Youjian.

But if he simply struggles to survive and doesn't follow his own heart, then what's the difference between Yuan Keli and the eunuch?
To subdue to political opponents in order to survive?he can't...

"No more persuasion, I will send a handwritten letter to the capital, please Long Live transfer me to the capital."

Yuan Keli raised his hand to signal the crowd to stop persuading them, and to appease them, he also sighed:
"With my official position, I'm afraid it's not so easy to transfer..."

"Sir, if you come to Beijing, I am afraid that only the position of a cabinet bachelor is suitable for you..." other officials echoed.

With such approval, Yuan Keli sent a copy of the handwritten letter to the capital, and sent it to Han Yu, the person in charge who is currently in Jingdong Forest.

Regarding Yuan Keli's request to become an official in Beijing, Han Yu was worried at first, but then overjoyed.

The worry is whether Yuan Keli's arrival will involve the Qi royal party in this party struggle. The great joy is that Yuan Keli's arrival may help them resist the eunuch's offensive.

No matter what, Han Yu finally delivered the letter to Zhu Youxiao, and Wei Zhongxian and Wang Tiqian didn't dare to stop it during this period.

When this letter was delivered to Zhu Youxiao on March [-], he frowned and read Gao Panlong's last letter in Yuan Keli's letter.

He doesn't have a good impression of Gao Panlong, just because he has impeached his younger brother too many times.

Therefore, regarding his death, Zhu Youxiao didn't have any other senses except that Yuan Keli was involved.

"Yuan Keli's memorial, you have all read it."

In the Hall of Mental Cultivation, after putting down Yuan Keli's memorial, Zhu Youxiao looked at Wei Zhongxian, Wang Tiqian, and Liu Ruoyu.

"The servants and others are in the prison of ceremonies, so naturally they have seen it before handing it over to you, Long Live."

Wei Zhongxian knew how to judge the situation. He said that he had read it, and then handed over the memorial to Zhu Youxiao after reading it. Obviously he was saying that he didn't think there was anything wrong with his actions.

Even though he saw Yuan Keli's insults to the eunuchs and eunuchs and some crimes in the letter, he still handed over the memorial to Zhu Youxiao.

This kind of behavior also shows that he is a qualified loyal dog, and will not keep Zhu Youxiao in the dark because of his own affairs.

Zhu Youxiao was also very satisfied with his behavior, so he threw the memorial on the table, and then leaned on the armchair and asked:

"The matter of Gao Panlong and the torture of many officials, do you think there is no problem?"

"Long live back..." Wei Zhongxian knelt down, presented a memorial with both hands and said:

"The servant girl thought there was no problem, because under the investigation of Yang Huan, the governor of Nanzhen, and You Fengxiang, the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, all the officials were related to the case of Li Shi, the Zhejiang tax supervisor."

The Li Shi case was a false accusation case that Wei Zhongxian brought up to attack Donglin officials.

To put it simply, he used Zhejiang tax supervisor Li Shi to take the initiative to play, and then sent Jin Yiwei to investigate the hometowns of Donglin officials in Jiangnan, Henan, Huguang, etc., and involved a large number of false accusations that Donglin concealed taxes and embezzled tax money.

Officials of the Ming Dynasty could engage in reasonable corruption because of their reputation as "Runbiyin". Wei Zhongxian knew that he couldn't do anything about it, so he simply falsely accused them of embezzling tax money.

"really?"

Sure enough, when Zhu Youxiao heard that corruption and taxation were involved in this matter, his expression was a little wrong.

Right now, there are wars going on outside the Ming Dynasty, and there are refugees migrating inside. They just need money, and corrupt officials have obviously become the thorn in Zhu Youxiao's side.

Wei Zhongxian used Zhu Youxiao's personality to guide the other party, but he also knew that Zhu Youxiao was very smart, and he would not believe the lie if it was not made up reasonably.

Therefore, Wei Zhongxian also hurriedly said after his inquiry:

"Some officials started to use torture only after confirming it, and Gao Panlong should be taken back for investigation, but I didn't expect him to throw himself into the lake."

What Wei Zhongxian said was very good. If the other party committed suicide, it would fall under the scope of the investigation, creating the illusion that the other party committed suicide in fear of crime.

If the other party did not commit suicide, then take them back to the capital and let Hou Guoxing and Wei Liangqing make them confess.

His thoughts and thoughts are very good, but Zhu Youxiao still narrowed his eyes and said:
"Is Gao Panlong guilty?"

Zhu Youxiao's question made Wei Zhongxian's heart skip a beat, and his mind was running fast, but Wang Tiqian suddenly stepped forward and said:

"According to the investigation by Jin Yiwei of the Wuxi Hundred Households Office, Gao Panlong is not guilty, but had several correspondences with the guilty."

"The servants and others never thought that he would choose to throw himself into the lake..."

"Since you are not guilty, why did you throw yourself into the lake?" Zhu Youxiao questioned Wang Tiqian, and Wang Tigan was speechless:

"On this point, Jin Yiwei is also investigating, and people from the East Factory have also been sent out, but no traces have been found."

"However..." Wang Tiqian hesitated, making Zhu Youxiao's brows furrowed even tighter: "Say!"

"Someone heard from Gao Panlong's house that Gao Panlong once said that Long Live intends to be the king of Qi, and this is the way to harm the country..." Wang Tiqian said this suddenly, which made Wei Zhongxian's heart rise in his throat.

"Presumptuous!" Zhu Youxiao suddenly scolded softly, frightening everyone in the Hall of Mental Cultivation to kneel on the ground.

Everyone looked down at their noses and hearts, while Zhu Youxiao turned his head to look at the couch in the Hall of Mental Cultivation after lightly scolding.

I saw Zhu Ciran and Zhu Shu'e lying on the couch and resting in the morning, and when seeing the two children, Zhu Youxiao slowly stretched his brows, and finally turned his head to look at Wei Zhongxian and the others and said:
"Apart from this?"

"Yes..." Wang Tigan gritted his teeth and said, "Gao Panlong said that in the Zhiye court, we only know that there is King Qi, but not His Majesty. In the capital, we only know that there is King Qi, but not His Majesty."

"King Qi is so famous, even if His Majesty doesn't give in, I'm afraid he will take the throne for himself in the future!"

"Heh..." Zhu Youxiao laughed, with a hint of sarcasm and a slight sneer.

If Zhu Youxiao still dubiously believed what Wang Tiqian and Wei Zhongxian said before, then he has no doubts about the current sentence.

Because it is impossible for these words to come from Wei Zhongxian and Wang Tiqian no matter in terms of tone or tone.

Zhu Youxiao didn't believe that these two slaves dared to deceive him. On the contrary, when Gao Panlong was still alive, he often used this tone to impeach his younger brother and provoke the relationship between his younger brother and himself.

"Who else is involved in these words?" Zhu Youxiao relaxed his posture, which relieved Wang Tiqian, Wei Zhongxian and others, and then used it immediately:
"Li Tengfang, Chen Yuting, Wei Dazhong, Yuan Huazhong, Zheng Sanjun, Li Banghua, Sun Juxiang, Rao Shen, Wang Zhicai and other seventeen people are all related..."

"..." Hearing what Wang Tiqian said, Zhu Youxiao frowned, subconsciously feeling a little unlikely.

Li Tengfang and Chen Yuting were elected by Zhao Nanxing to the Ministry of Officials to assist in the election of officials, while Wei Dazhong and Yuan Huazhong were in charge of the imperial examination.

Zheng Sanjun, Sun Juxiang, Rao Shen, Wang Zhicai and others are also well-known upright officials in the Ministry of Officials, and in the past, their memorials to impeach their younger brothers were relatively few and relatively moderate. Logically speaking, it should be impossible to participate in this kind of In the case and in the words of treason.

It's just that Zhu Youxiao's hesitation didn't last long, Wang Tiqian said quickly:

"These [-] people only exchanged letters, and the specific contents of the letters need to be carefully investigated to know whether they were involved."

"Hmm..." Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao nodded slightly, then picked up a memorial and said:

"You guys continue to investigate this matter, but anyone who provokes the relationship between me and my brother will be ransacked and exiled!"

Zhu Youxiao rarely used the self-proclaimed "Zhen", which shows that he still attaches great importance to this matter, while Wang Tiqian and Wei Zhongxian bowed to him when they heard the words.

"Go down, Ruoyu stay..." Zhu Youxiao said without looking up, and Wei Zhongxian and Wang Tiqian also retreated after seeing this.

After they completely exited the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youxiao frowned and looked at him and said:

"You investigate this matter independently, and you will serve as the admiral of the West Factory from now on..."

"The maidservant takes orders..." Liu Ruoyu was terrified, he didn't expect the emperor to reopen the West Factory.

This also shows that the emperor may have a little distrust of Jinyiwei and Dongchang.

If the emperor doesn't trust Jinyiwei and Dongchang, doesn't it mean that the imperial power has control over these two...

Liu Ruoyu didn't dare to think too much, and Zhu Youxiao also lowered his head and continued to deal with the memorial: "Go on..."

"Yes..." Liu Ruoyu obediently withdrew from Qianqing Palace, but after he withdrew, he saw Wei Zhongxian and Wang Tiqian looking at him from the corner.

He looked at the two of them, frowned slightly, then bowed slightly to salute, then turned and left the long road of Qianqing Palace. As for Wei Zhongxian and Wang Tiqian, they watched his leaving back with displeased expressions on their faces...

　Update between [-]:[-] and [-]:[-]
　　
　
(End of this chapter)