first minister

Chapter 263
Find the real culprit in three steps.

Everyone was amused.

Not to mention whether you can actually find it out.

You really want to find it in three steps, so hasty, can you win people's trust?
Isn't that funny?

The prince is a fish on the chopping board, there is no way but to let you mess around, but we are not!

The attendant behind Da Zongzheng carefully reminded: "My lord, don't you need to stop it?"

Dazong said calmly, "How long does it take to get from here to Miyagi?"

The attendant was taken aback, "It's less than half a cup of tea."

Da Zongzheng said softly: "It has been far more than a cup of tea since this person stood up."

The attendant blinked his clear eyes that were not stained with much wisdom, "And then?"

Da Zongzheng didn't speak, but looked at Xia Jingyun with emotion. It seems that this young man's position in His Majesty's heart is very special!

Dazong didn't speak up, and the rest of the people had nothing to do with the prince, so Xia Jingyun could only let Xia Jingyun "play around" in this matter.

And the person Xia Jingyun invited was an eye-opener for everyone.

Well, it was really an eye opener.

I saw an old Taoist wearing Taoist robes and holding a dust whisk slowly walking into the arena.

Although the taoist robe on his body was old, it was completely clean, his beard and hair were white, and his tall figure exuded an air of immortality.

"Fusheng Wuliang Tianzun! Inconceivable merit!"

The old Taoist flicked his whisk and made a bow, "Gentlemen, this poor Taoist is being polite."

Everyone looked at me and I looked at you, with confused faces, they didn't know what Xia Jingyun was going to do.

Daxia has been established for many years, and in the early days, Emperor Wu exterminated Buddhism, so Buddhism has declined throughout Daxia.

There is only one White Horse Temple in Zhongjing City because of its high status, it is still operating cautiously.

And when Daoism was in danger of overthrowing Daxia decades ago, it sent many disciples down the mountain to help the poor. For every major event, Taoist envoys will come to hold ceremonies.

But on this occasion, why invite a Taoist priest?
Do you lead everyone to burn incense and pray to God for an oracle?

Xia Jingyun opened the mouth and said: "His Royal Highness, my lords, I met this Taoist priest on the street by chance a few days ago, he saw me and said that I can win the Huiyuan this year, and I knew at that time that this is an outsider! "

Seeing his serious nonsense, Qin Li couldn't help but chuckle, and many of the others shook their heads helplessly. They just felt that a serious public trial full of cunning, scheming, and leaving countless talking points, was born by him. The toss became a farce.

Zhongshu Shilang couldn't bear it anymore, and said: "Your Highness, although you are the presiding judge, there should be order in the courtroom. To try such a big case as the assassination of the grandson of Fengyang Duke in front of so many people is to condone this person." Such nonsense, how decent!"

"Hey! How do you talk?"

Xia Jingyun looked displeased, "Why are you in such a hurry? You are the real murderer, why are you afraid that you will be caught? Then ask Fengyang Gong, does he want to be decent or the truth?"

The old Patriarch Qin's face was dark, and he was still showing off his acting skills, "As long as I can find out the real murderer, I will do everything I can. But if Mr. Xia still can't find out after such nonsense, then don't blame me, the Qin family, for remembering you too." It's a deal!"

"Listen! Duke Fengyang completely agrees!"

Xia Jingyun opened his mouth as if he didn't understand the words, and then looked at Qin Sichao, "I think Mr. Qin is not afraid of the shadow, so naturally he wouldn't refuse to help find the real murderer of Mr. Qian, right?"

Qin Sichao had no choice but to smile bitterly, "I am willing to cooperate, but Gao Yang, you should first think about how to end this strange and chaotic matter."

"Young Master Qin, Gao Yi!"

Xia Jingyun also pretended to be obedient and only listened halfway, gave Qin Sichao a thumbs up, and then bowed to the Taoist priest, "Daoist, I hope you can help spy out the secrets of today's matter and find the real culprit."

"Wait!"

British Duke suddenly said: "When I was young, I also searched for seclusion and visited Sheng, and visited many Daoist masters. I don't know where the Daoist leader is from, what is his Daoist name?"

The old Taoist smiled slightly, "For a person outside Fang, it's nothing to worry about his name and surname, but since the nobleman asked, Pindao is one of the twelve disciples of Yuxu Palace in Kunlun Mountain, and his Taoist name is Taiyi."

"Kunlun Mountain Yuxu Palace? Have you never heard of such a place in Daomen?"

"I haven't heard of it, but you guys are so bold when you hear this name!"

"It is indeed a common name in the Taoist sect. I am afraid that this Taoist priest is a hermit, so he may wander down the mountain by chance."

Ying Gong originally planned to wait for the old Taoist priest to tell him a place he knew, and then try again, but he didn't expect that the other party would throw out a name of Yuxu Palace in Kunlun Mountain that he had never heard of before. It didn't look like it was fake, but he had no way to refute it, so he had to shut up resentfully.

Xia Jingyun cupped his hands, "The matter is of great importance, all nobles, for the sake of caution, it is not intentional targeting, I hope the Taoist priest will not blame you."

The old Taoist nodded slightly, full of air, "It's okay. Are there any suspects?"

Xia Jingyun said: "Right now, there are only Young Master Qin and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

The old Taoist flipped his palms over, and at some point in his empty palms he was already holding two cotton ropes, "Then please choose one of the two nobles."

None of the people saw how the two cotton ropes were conjured up, so they couldn't help being more interested in this old man.

No matter what else, just watch it for fun!
The prince glanced at Xia Jingyun, Xia Jingyun nodded slightly at him, and the prince simply walked down and chose one at random, which was extremely cooperative.

Still the same sentence, he has been driven to a dead end, there is no way to retreat, there is no other way but to believe in Xia Jingyun.

The prince was like this, Qin Sichao had no choice but to choose another one.

The old Taoist lifted up the two ropes, only to see that there was a copper coin on each end of the two ropes.

He was facing south, his eyes were slightly closed, and he was muttering words, as if he was praying, or praying to the gods for strength.

Then he opened his eyes abruptly, exhaled slightly, and said slowly, "The poor Taoist will burn him with fire. If he is a murderer, the rope will not stop, and the copper coin will not fall!"

As he spoke, he took out a torch, and lit two ropes from the bottom in front of everyone.

When the flame met the cotton, it ignited instantly, and then climbed up.

Everyone looked at the old man's hands, and subconsciously tensed up, as if waiting for the opening of the casino.

The rope on the old man's right hand suddenly couldn't withstand the fire, and broke silently, and the copper coin fell to the ground, making a crisp sound on the bluestone slab.

It was cotton thread belonging to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

The prince immediately beamed with joy!

But in the left hand of the old Taoist, the cotton thread belonging to Mr. Qin kept burning no matter how it was burned.

With the current level of science and technology and the public's cognition, such things are indeed easy for them to believe with a simple world view that this is an indication of the secret.

The fire on the cotton thread has been gradually extinguished, but the cotton thread is still hanging on the copper coins firmly, and there is no sign of half a break.

The old Taoist flipped his wrist and put away the cotton thread, "My lords, the result has been revealed."

Qin Sichao frowned slightly, as if thinking about the mystery.

"absurd!"

As Prime Minister Qin's hardcore supporter, Zhongshu Shilang naturally couldn't tolerate such a result, and immediately slapped the table, "This is nothing more than a trick of the rivers and lakes, how can it be used to convict!"

The old Taoist glanced at him indifferently, and the indifference in his eyes, which was as high as a god, made Zhongshu Shilang, a high-ranking official, startled.

"People in the world are stupid, and it is difficult to see the secrets of the sky. Anyway, since the poor Taoist is entrusted by Mr. Xia, he will do another method."

He took out a piece of yellow paper from his sleeve, held it in his hand, and walked around in front of everyone in the hall, "Everyone, please look, is there something strange about this yellow paper?"

Everyone stared and watched carefully, but couldn't see why, they all shook their heads.

The old Taoist put the yellow paper in front of him and asked people to find three sticks of incense.

He held the incense in his hand, lit it with fire, and knelt facing south, still muttering words in his mouth, as if he was burning incense and praying for God to grant him a pair of wisdom eyes, so that he can see clearly and clearly the truth of this disturbance.

"Blessed Immeasurable Heavenly Venerate!"

After a while, he shouted and put the burning incense in his hand on the yellow paper.

The yellow paper was quickly scalded with a hole, and then slowly ignited.

But the strange thing is that the fire that was supposed to spread out like ripples, seemed to have rocks in the water, bypassing various obstacles one after another and spreading to the rest of the flammable places.

After a few breaths, a burst of exclamation suddenly sounded, causing people outside the hall to crane their necks to watch.

The unburned yellow paper suddenly took on a shape.

It was in the shape of a word.

That word is written: Qin.

No one knows why this is, no one knows if this is the apocalypse, they only know that this is a result beyond their knowledge, this seems to be a scene of decree from the heavens, clearly identifying Mr. Qin as the murderer who killed Mr. Qian !
Such a situation has fatal persuasive power to them who still advocate the theory of ghosts and gods.

Zhongshu Shilang was also stunned. If it was a coincidence once, but what about twice?
Can it still be said to be meaningless?
His eyes fell on Qin Sichao's body. He, who had been as still as a mountain, frowned at this moment, fixedly staring at the word [Qin] on the ground that was swaying in the slight spring breeze.

It seems to be puzzled how the other party did it, and it seems to be thinking about how to break the situation.

At this moment, Xia Jingyun took the initiative to speak.

"Master Dao, the so-called thing is only three things. If we want to really win people's trust, we'd better come three times. After three times, if the result is the same, no one will have any objections."

The old Taoist raised his eyebrows, "Young Master Xia, the poor Taoist is destined to be with you, so I am willing to help you today, but you and I are only destined to help each other three times. Do it again, have you thought about it?"

Xia Jingyun had a serious expression on his face, "For the sake of fairness, for justice, for comforting the dead, and for arresting the real culprit, why should I be so scheming in the future! I only hope that the light of righteousness will shine on the earth!"

"In Mr. Qian's death, at first I was a suspect, then the crown prince was involved, and now Mr. Qin is also suspected. The first time I cleared my innocence, the second time I was the prince Zhaoxue, and the third time if it was not Mr. Qin, I asked the Taoist priest Return Mr. Qin's innocence!"

What he said made many people shake their minds, and couldn't help but think highly of him.

Those who are really powerful and experienced, such as King Qi, the old Patriarch of Qin, and Ying Yinggong, naturally do not believe such nonsense, but they have to admit that on such an occasion, in front of everyone with such a freely swaying gesture, they already have It's a bit of a demeanor for a big event.

"Hahahaha, fate comes and goes, meeting and parting are uncertain, the poor have already figured out that you will have such a request!"

The old Taoist twisted his beard and smiled lightly, "Qingfeng, Mingyue! Bring the things up!"

As soon as the words fell, two [-] or [-]-year-old Taoist boys came up from outside the hall, each carrying a tray. On the tray was a box-like thing, covered with a red cloth so that people could not see what was inside.

The old Taoist asked people to set up a table in the middle of the hall, then put down the two trays, took out a small bottle from his sleeve, and said to everyone: "This is unique to my Yuxu Palace. The same bottle, one in each of the two boxes, this is the mother bottle, and the other two are the child bottles. Next, the old Taoist will practice with my secret method of Yuxu Palace. The two nobles, put your hand into the unsealed side of the box, just hold it and touch the bottle, the real murderer's hand will immediately turn bright red."

As he spoke, he held the bottle in both hands, knelt on the ground, and chanted as before.

After reading for a while, he opened his eyes suddenly, "You two gentlemen, please hold the bottle!"

Everyone looked at the prince and Qin Sichao.

The prince hesitated for a moment, and with the confidence given to him by the first two levels, he put his hand into the box.

Qin Sichao pursed his lips, and also stretched his hand in.

The old Taoist waited for a while, and said, "You two noblemen, please hold back and show your palms!"

The two withdrew their hands at the same time and showed their palms to everyone.

With a buzzing sound, the discussion sounded immediately.

Because the palms of Qin Sichao, who had been judged as the murderer twice before, were clean, but His Royal Highness, who was about to clear his grievances, had a bright red palm!

The prince also sensed something was wrong in the eyes of everyone, turned his palm to look, and was dumbfounded, and subconsciously shouted: "Xia Jingyun, what's going on?"

"Hahahaha!"

Zhongshu Shilang finally found an opportunity, and broke the shock in his heart, "This Taiyi Daoist, can your family's apocalypse be different?"

Everyone was also discussing, looking at the immortal Taoist priest, their eyes were full of suspicion instead of the awe they had before.

King Qi shook his head, just now he thought there was something extraordinary about this young man, who knew that such a farce would be caused, he should have stopped him if he knew earlier, and shouldn't let them mess around like this.

The British official showed a sneer, and now he would be extremely happy as long as it was a scene that could make Xia Jingyun feel embarrassed.

As soon as this result came out, the prince was knocked down again, and by the way, Xia Jingyun was also notorious, it was like buying one get one free, wonderful!

The old Patriarch of the Qin family thought in his heart that he must have screwed up, after all he is still young, but he is on Xia Jingyun's side, so he has no way to have fun, so he can only continue to show his acting skills, and said with a puzzled and blank expression: "Mr. Xia, What's going on here? Why is the result different again!"

The Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice snorted, "Mr. Fengyang, do you need to talk about it? This fairy master who claims to be the Yuxu Palace in Kunlun Mountains is actually a wandering Taoist priest who was deceived and abducted. He put the bottle upside down and messed it up." It's ridiculous that we have such a large group of important officials in the court, and we still accompany him around here like fools!"

Only the head of the Black Ice Terrace looked at Xia Jingyun hesitantly. Judging from the information he received, this young man has always done things step by step and is extremely sophisticated. How could such a mistake occur?
He looked at the old Taoist priest again, and found that he also had the same calm expression, without any panic, could there be something else wrong?
Gradually, these human spirits calmed down from the initial ridicule and surprise, because they also found that Xia Jingyun and the old Taoist were a little strangely calm.

At this moment, Xia Jingyun finally spoke.

He looked at Young Master Qin, "Young Master Qin, I have to say, you are really smart, but unfortunately, you are not as smart as me."

He looked at everyone, "The reason why this time there will be a different result from the previous one is because"

He stretched out his hand suddenly, pulled the red cloth covering the box, and threw the two boxes on the ground, revealing the true contents inside the tray.

"Because the two bottles inside have already been covered with a layer of cinnabar! As long as you hold it, your hands will turn red! There is no exception!"

As he said that, he held the bottle that Qin Sichao should have held just now, and then let go and opened it to everyone, revealing the same bright red palm, and then looked at Qin Sichao, "Mr. Qin, I want to ask, why didn't you dare How about grabbing that bottle? Are you afraid that your real murderer's identity will be found out?"

Qin Sichao, who had always been calm and calm, finally changed his face. He suddenly realized that he had fallen into Xia Jingyun's trap!

The entourage beside King Qi whispered: "My lord, what does this mean?"

King Qi looked at Xia Jingyun completely differently from before, full of admiration and admiration, and said leisurely: "This represents four words: a guilty conscience."

He Nianxu sighed with emotion, "All the previous scenes are for the last one. At such a young age, he has already grasped people's hearts to such an extent. It's scary for future generations, it's scary for future generations!"

The head of the Black Ice Terrace also had a feeling in his heart that it really was so, that Xia Jingyun's scheme was still the same, always thundering in the flat ground, making it impossible to guard against.

The last trick is actually not complicated at all, it can even be said to be a cliché, if it is used directly, it is basically impossible for a smart person like Qin Sichao to be fooled.

But the ingenuity of Xia Jingyun's design is that he used two false moves in front of him.

These two false moves seem to be useless, but cumulatively, they put tremendous pressure on the real murderer in the field, making him afraid to touch the bottle, making this common trick suddenly wonderful , became a real killing move.

And such things are enough to convince everyone.

At this moment, the old Taoist priest waved his whisk, and said leisurely: "The first two times were indeed the secrets of the impoverished Daoist, but the last time, it was just to cooperate with Mr. Xia."

The prince also suddenly realized that his mood went up and down like a roller coaster, from the bottom of the valley to the peak again.

He laughed complacently, and said with a bit of self-praise: "I am so lonely that I sit upright and know that I am not the real murderer, so I dare to really hold this bottle. I am not afraid of the test, but some real murderers have a guilty conscience. Under the miraculous miracle, he didn’t dare to gamble, so he pretended to stretch out his hand, but he didn’t dare to hold it! Therefore, the hand that is stained red is innocent, and the palm of the hand is innocent, but the hand is stained with real blood!”

He looked at Xia Jingyun with admiration, "Xia Gaoyang! You are so capable and thoughtful!"

Xia Jingyun was neither happy nor angry, and looked at Qin Sichao, "Mr. Qin, this is the end of the matter, what else can I say?"

Qin Sichao slowly adjusted his mood, "I just don't want to be manipulated by this wandering Taoist to touch that bottle. Are you planning to convict me for this?"

Qin Sichao's words were just like the prince's self-defense before, which seemed weak and unconvincing.

But just like Xia Jingyun's rebuttal at the time, if you say that this thing can be convicted, everyone really can't say anything, but if you say that it cannot be convicted, it does lack some key evidence.

As long as you die, it's really hard to say much.

Therefore, after a moment of panic, Qin Sichao immediately adjusted his mood, saw the same loophole, and decided to resist stubbornly.

"Mr. Qin is worthy of being a dragon and phoenix among men. At this time, he can still have such a strong state of mind."

Xia Jingyun smiled, "It's a pity, I just happen to have evidence!"

"You have the skills to control your subordinates, and you can get everyone to protect you without hesitation, so that the investigation of the case is difficult. At the same time, you are also relying on His Royal Highness to plot the Qin family, and you are hiding in the bottom, which is even more difficult to guard against, but!"

He looked at Qin Sichao, "There is a fatal omission in this, that is, these people under your command are not saints, they also have emotions and desires, and they are willing to die for you, presumably you have helped them arrange their families so that they have nothing to worry about worry."

"The Ministry of Criminal Justice, Black Ice Terrace, and Jingzhao Mansion are full of expert investigators. They will naturally know to investigate the family members of these people, but without exception, they found that these people have no family members, right?"

The head of the Black Ice Terrace and Jing Zhaoyin both nodded, and the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment was tense and did not move, but Xia Jingyun ignored him, but continued: "The third division has many cases to investigate and many clues, and you threw them away in time. There were clues to lead them to the prince, so they didn't dig deep, but unfortunately, I was imprisoned in the Black Ice Terrace, and the people under my hands were willing to help me investigate with all their might. It really found something."

"The owner of the Fenghe Pavilion entered Beijing eight years ago, married a wife and had children, but a year ago, the husband and wife turned against each other, and the wife took the children away and disappeared."

"The groom, who has been in the Qin family for several years, already had a wife and children, but also more than a year ago, because he took in a new concubine, the husband and wife turned against each other, and his wife and children left without a trace."

"But my people have found their whereabouts. They are all living in a remote Zhuangzi more than forty miles outside the city. The Zhuangzi is hidden and far away from many important roads. It seems to be isolated from the world. It is the retirement home prepared for me by the steward of the Prime Minister's Mansion!"

"I believe that as long as someone is sent to apprehend and interrogate him, the truth will be revealed within a day! Mr. Qin, do you want to bet?"

As soon as the voice fell, the audience was in an uproar.

Compared with the previous things, this evidence is the most direct thing!

If the groom's relatives are all adopted by the Qin family, then who does the groom take orders from?

Your Qin family can argue that it was the steward's own behavior and has nothing to do with me, but are you all fools when you are your majesty?
Combined with all the signs just now, everyone can almost be sure that the mastermind behind the assassination of Qin Yuwen from the Qin family is the young master of the Xiangfu with the same surname as the Qin family who has been staying out of the matter at first.

The head of the Black Ice Terrace bowed his head silently. With the pervasive intelligence network of the Black Ice Terrace, he actually knew some clues, but he couldn't say it, and he didn't dare to say it.

Because speaking out is not necessarily a good thing.

Because His Majesty hoped that the crown prince would fall, with such a case, he might not be able to bring down Prime Minister Qin, so he made his choice.

But he didn't expect Xia Jingyun to be able to find out such a secret, and push it out so hard. He was a little curious about how this matter would develop.

The same judgment was born in the mind of the Duke of England.

With the development of the matter at this point, the identity of Qin Sichao's real murderer can almost be clarified.

But is it enough?
This crime was able to bring down the prince because behind the scenes, there was His Majesty who wanted to make use of the issue to dethrone the prince.

But will His Majesty let Prime Minister Qin step down because of such a thing?
After all, it can be said that Prime Minister Qin didn't know about this matter, and his son committed crimes, and then he was punished with three glasses of wine for the crime of dereliction of duty.

Have there been fewer such things in history?
What's more, His Majesty hastily removed Prime Minister Qin, and there was no suitable replacement. The court situation he had carefully built would be ruined!
Therefore, the British Duke gradually came to a conclusion, and he decided to give it a go!
Help Qin Sichao speak, save Qin Sichao, sell Qin Xiang a great favor, and then pave the way for the future to win him over.

But this is often the case in the world. Thinking very well is the first step.

When Britain opened his mouth, he spoke out for Qin Sichao: "I see today's affairs, the public is right and the wife is right, so why not report it to His Majesty and wait for another day for trial."

But as soon as the words fell, Xia Jingyun turned his head and looked at him with lightning eyes, "Mr. Yingying, don't you want to know how Lu Fengyuan, the most outstanding heir of your Lu family's next generation, died?"

The British official was taken aback when he heard the words.

Qin Sichao's complexion suddenly changed.

"It was Mr. Yuhu who killed him in the street town. But he was the one who instigated him and Concubine Shu to participate in the Zheng family's rebellion!"

Xia Jingyun stretched out his finger and pointed straight at Qin Sichao.

"It's this Mr. Xiangfu who hides behind and provokes the situation! This is the man behind the rebellion in Sishui Prefecture!"

The whole hall suddenly fell silent.

　Big chapter! or2
　　
　
(End of this chapter)