When Zhang Shixun heard this, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly and he laughed to himself.
Go ahead and investigate. If you can find the real murderer, you will be considered capable.
"Finally, after much investigation, we found the culprit..."
"So, it was really the Wuyou Cave gang who did this?"
"The thieves from Wuyou Cave were indeed involved, but they were not the masterminds, but accomplices."
"What? Aren't they the mastermind?" Zhang Shixun was surprised.
"Do you still remember those two Wuyoudong fugitives you sent to Kaifeng Prefecture?"
"Of course I remember."
"Nie Shan took these two thieves very seriously. He sent several of Kaifeng Prefecture's most formidable criminals to interrogate them. Under the pressure of three wooden sticks, one of them finally gave in and confessed..."
"Tell me quickly, who is the mastermind behind this?"
"The man who offered a large sum of money to kill you two is named Wang. He claims to have a feud with you brothers and is willing to pay a large sum of money to kill you two. When the thieves in Wuyou Cave heard about it, they set their sights on you two brothers, and that's how what happened later happened."
"Has this man surnamed Wang been apprehended by Kaifeng Prefecture?"
"No, when the people from Kaifeng Prefecture found his residence, they discovered that it was already empty."
"So, the government is taking action against Wuyou Cave tonight, right?"
Gao Yanei glanced at him and shook his head, saying, "Brother, you think too highly of yourself. The government won't put so much effort into your case."
"So, what exactly is going on with the big fuss at Wuyou Cave tonight?"
"Because of your case, a shocking case was accidentally exposed."
"Wow! A shocking case?" Zhang Shixun was surprised.
"That's right. The man you captured also confessed something else. It was this incident that alarmed the court and the emperor."
"What's going on? Tell me more."
Gao Yanei lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "The fugitives from Wuyou Cave are actually colluding with the vegetable-eating demon."
"What the hell is a vegetable-eating demon?"
"How come you don't even know about the vegetable-eating demon?"
Zhang Shixun glared at him and said, "I've only been back from overseas for a few months. I'm completely in the dark and there's a lot I don't know."
"Oh! I forgot about that." Gao Yanei smiled apologetically and asked, "Brother, you may not know anything else, but you must know Fang La, right?"
"Know."
"The vegetable-eating demon is the remnant of Fang La."
After hearing this, Zhang Shixun finally understood a little.
The imperial court had gone to great lengths to wipe out Fang La, and now that Fang La's men had appeared in the capital, it was indeed making the imperial court nervous.
"Fang La is still being held in the Heavenly Prison and will be executed at the end of the month...Brother, think about it, with a vegetable-eating demon appearing in the capital, and connected to the Worry-Free Cave, how can the court not be nervous?"
Zhang Shixun nodded and quickly asked Xiaomei to search for the keyword "vegetable-eating demon", and found the result instantly.
The so-called "eating vegetables and serving the devil" is the Mingjiao, which originated from Persia, namely Manichaeism, which worships Mani as the god of light. After it was introduced to China, it was also called the Mingjiao.
Because its believers were too "noisy" and would rebel at any time, successive imperial courts excluded it and even labeled it a cult.
"Eating vegetables and serving the devil" was the official derogatory term used by the Song Dynasty.
Fang La started an uprising and took advantage of the Manichaeans to revolt, calling himself "Holy Lord". After the uprising, it shook half of the southeast.
Therefore, the Northern Song court hated the "vegetable-eating demons" so much that it transferred its most powerful Western Army to the south of the Yangtze River and spent countless money and food to suppress the uprising.
Now that the remnants of the vegetable-eating demon have appeared in the capital, how can the government not pay attention to it?
"After the Wuyou Cave thief confessed, old Nie Shan was overjoyed. So, he personally interrogated the thief and finally got what he wanted from him..."
"What do you want?"
"Haha! Ever since the emperor was assassinated in Fanlou, Nie Shan has had a hard time. He's as anxious as an ant on a hot pan."
"Haha!" Zhang Shixun apologized inwardly.
I didn't have any ill intentions. I was just bored and teasing the emperor was just for fun. I didn't mean to cause trouble for Mr. Nie.
Just bad taste.
"These days, Old Man Nie Shan has been so consumed with worry about solving the case that he's practically lost his appetite and has turned gray. When he read the confession of the Wuyou Cave thief, he was like a drowning man finding a lifeline. He was overjoyed. So, he personally interrogated the man overnight and finally learned from him that the assassination of the emperor at Fanlou was the work of the remnants of Fang La."
"So that's how it is." Zhang Shixun almost laughed out loud.
"When the emperor heard the news, he was furious and issued strict orders to Kaifeng Prefecture to capture the vegetable-eating demon in Wuyou Cave. To ensure absolute safety, he also ordered my father to lead the officers and soldiers of the Palace Front Department to cooperate with Kaifeng Prefecture in arresting the person. Not a single remnant of Fang La should be allowed to escape."
"Yanei, I have a question."
"What's the question?"
"I was there the day the Emperor was 'assassinated' at Fan Tower. Those two men had several opportunities to kill the Emperor. One even pulled out his beard, but in the end, they didn't kill him. If they were truly remnants of Fang La, could the Emperor have escaped?"
"The emperor was able to escape disaster because the two assassins only wanted to kidnap him, not kill him."
"Just want to kidnap the official?"
"As mentioned before, their goal is to rescue Fang La. If they kill the emperor, they won't be able to save Fang La..."
This makes sense.
"Oh! I see. Go on."
"In order to find out the whereabouts of the emperor, the vegetable-eating demon went to great lengths. Through a notorious bandit, he found the leader of Wuyou Cave and asked him to help him find the emperor's whereabouts. The leader was not stupid. When he heard that the emperor was involved, he immediately refused... Stealing a chicken, touching a dog, or even kidnapping someone is fine, and the government will not bother to intervene. But if you plot against the emperor, you will lose your head."
"The Vegetable-Eating Demon saw that he was unwilling, so he immediately offered a large sum of silver and said that he could only gather information and not do anything else. The leader, seeing the huge sum of silver, finally couldn't resist the temptation and finally agreed."
Gao Yanei described it with such detail, as if he had seen it with his own eyes.
Zhang Shixun listened with great interest.
"The leader of Wuyou Cave was a local tyrant who knew the capital city like the back of his hand. He knew the emperor liked to go on incognito visits, so he sent his minions to stake out the palace. The emperor went to Fanlou that night and accidentally revealed his whereabouts, which led to his being spotted by these minions. And then, the assassination at Fanlou happened."
After listening to this, Zhang Shixun secretly admired Nie Shan.
What Nie Shan reported was not so much a case as a bizarre story, which was so perfectly written that there was not a single loophole to be found.
It's really hard for him to be an official like this.
However, isn't he worried that he will be exposed in the future?
On second thought, since Nie Shan made up the story, he must have filled in all the loopholes.
If my guess is correct, the Wuyou Cave thief who confessed is already dead.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
