Chapter 51 Answer 3 "Go up."
Half an hour later, the two yamen runners came back.
"Sir, the investigation is clear. Fifteen people in Xuanyin Pavilion saw Xiao Shaoxian that morning."
Xia Zhi stood up slowly and said, "Sir, my memory is always good, I won't be wrong."
Zhu Song looked at Xia Zhi. She hadn't been worried since the two yamen runners left. She had been confident and confident, and certainly didn't seem to be lying. Zhu Song nodded. "You're in trouble today. Go back."
Xia Zhi bowed and said, "Your Excellency is very kind. I will return home first."
Xia Zhi left. Zhu Song looked at her back and pondered for a moment, then got up and went to the prison.
The Dali Temple's cells had become sparsely populated recently, leaving Xiao Shaoxian alone in a cell, sprawled on the roof of his cell to digest his overeating. Seeing Zhu Song approach, he hurriedly called out, "Master Zhu, Master Zhu, I truly have never met her. I'm innocent. Please help me."
Zhu Song was too lazy to waste time talking to him and simply asked, "I'm asking again, are you telling the truth or not?"
Xiao Shaoxian almost cried when he heard Zhu Song's words, "Master Zhu, I have always told the truth. It was that woman who lied and framed me."
Zhu Song looked at him expressionlessly, "More than a dozen people from Xuanyin Pavilion saw you. Did they say she framed you and gave you money?"
"I don't know, but I really didn't give her any money." Xiao Shaoxian shook his head, looking like he was about to collapse. "I'm still a virgin. If you don't believe me, you can call a doctor to verify it."
"I'm not that bored. Since you refuse to talk, then torture me." Zhu Song said as he called the yamen runners forward, "Torture me."
Two yamen runners opened the prison door and escorted Xiao Shaoxian out to the torture chamber. Xiao Shaoxian cried anxiously and reached out to pull Zhu Song, "Master Zhu, I am really innocent, Master Zhu, Master Zhu."
Zhu Song looked at him expressionlessly.
Arriving at the door of the torture chamber, Xiao Shaoxian looked at the room full of torture instruments and immediately cried out, "I confess, I confess, sir, I confess everything."
The bailiffs looked at Zhu Song, who winked at them and continued to lead Xiao Shaoxian into the torture room.
Xiao Shaoxian's legs went limp as he was dragged in by the yamen runners. He used all his strength to turn around and look at Zhu Song pleadingly, "Master Zhu, I really confess, I really confess. I'm weak and can't withstand the torture."
Zhu Song followed him into the torture room, and the bailiffs tied Xiao Shaoxian to the rack.
Zhu Song stood in front of Xiao Shaoxian and said, "Go ahead."
Xiao Shaoxian asked him, "What did you say?"
Zhu Song's face darkened, and Xiao Shaoxian quickly said, "Don't be angry, don't be angry. I'll tell you right away. It's about me paying for the music. I must have been drunk and forgot about it. I definitely went there."
Zhu Song asked, "Where did those two silver ingots you spent come from?"
Xiao Shaoxian glanced at the torture instruments in the room and said with a determined heart, "I won it in an underground casino."
Zhu Song continued to ask: "Who lost to you?"
Xiao Shaoxian looked troubled, but when he met Zhu Song's cold eyes, he trembled again, "It's been a while, let me think about it."
Zhu Song didn't urge him, but just stared at him and waited.
Xiao Shaoxian didn't dare to delay any longer. He thought about the people he knew and suddenly shouted, "It was Chen Liqi. I remember it was Chen Liqi who lost to me."
Zhu Song asked, "What's so special about those two silver ingots?"
Xiao Shaoxian immediately replied, "I was drunk that day, so I can't remember clearly. Anyway, it seems to be different from the usual silver."
Zhu Song ordered the yamen runners, "Arrest Chen Liqi."
The yamen runner responded and turned away. Zhu Song also left. Xiao Shaoxian quickly shouted, "Master Zhu, I've confessed everything. Please let me go. No, please let me go."
Zhu Song ignored him and walked away.
In the afternoon, Chen Liqi was brought back and Zhu Song interrogated him immediately.
"A month ago, you lost two silver ingots, totaling forty taels, to Xiao Shaoxian. Is that right or wrong?"
Chen Liqi immediately retorted, "Your Excellency, I caught Xiao Shaoxian cheating in the casino three months ago, and we haven't gambled together since. And how could I possibly lose money to him? Ever since I met him, he's the only one who's lost money to me."
Zhu Song frowned when he heard this. It was clearly a very clear chain of clues, so why didn't what each person said match?
Zhu Song slammed the table, "How dare you! This is a court. How can you use flowery excuses? Tell the truth."
Chen Liqi raised his hand and swore, "Sir, every word I said is true. If even one word is wrong, I can commit suicide to prove my innocence."
Zhu Song frowned slightly and ordered the yamen runner, "Bring Xiao Shaoxian up here."
While waiting, Chen Liqi said, "Master Zhu, Xiao Shaoxian is a coward, full of lies. He'll say anything for a little gain. I caught him cheating, and he holds a grudge against me. He's trying to get back at me this way. He's absolutely despicable."
Zhu Song asked, "Does Xiao Shaoxian have any close friends?"
Chen Liqi thought for a moment and shook his head, saying, "He's a fence-sitter, swaying with the wind. He'll just go along with whoever has money. I've never heard of him having any real friends."
A lonely man. Zhu Song frowned, this kind of person is the most difficult to deal with.
Soon, Xiao Shaoxian was brought up. As soon as he saw Chen Liqi, he pointed at him and said, "That's him, sir, that's him."
The movements and expressions looked exactly the same as Xia Zhi's.
Zhu Song observed the two of them without saying anything.
Chen Liqi rolled his eyes at Xiao Shaoxian first, then retorted with disdain: "Xiao Shaoxian, stop going crazy. Tell me what it is that is me?"
Xiao Shaoxian insisted, "It was you who lost forty taels of silver to me a month ago."
Chen Liqi snorted coldly, "Are you okay? We haven't gambled together in the past three months. Everyone in the casino knows it."
Xiao Shaoxian said, "You are the one with a problem in your brain. You lost twenty taels of silver to me ten days ago."
"Bullshit!" Chen Liqi cursed. "Think before you speak, damn it! When did I lose twenty taels of silver to you ten days ago?"
Xiao Shaoxian said, "If you lose, you lose. A man should take responsibility for his actions. Just because you deny it doesn't mean it didn't happen."
Chen Liqi replied: "I just don't deny it. These unfounded things never happened."
The two men argued fiercely, each holding their own opinion, neither able to convince the other. Zhu Song frowned and interrupted their quarrel, "Alright, since there's no conclusion on this matter, let's put them all in jail until the matter is fully investigated."
Chen Liqi was not at all flustered. "I'll just listen to you, sir."
Xiao Shaoxian was very dissatisfied with this handling method. "Why do adults believe what that woman said, but not what I said? Is it just because I'm a man?"
Initially, Zhu Song had no intention of paying attention to him, but he still answered this question, "Because what you said is just your own opinion. What Miss Xia Zhi said can be confirmed by more than a dozen people in Xuanyin Pavilion."
Xiao Shaoxian still refused to accept it, "Those women are all in the same gang. What if they all colluded to frame me?"
Zhu Song said, "If they are falsely accusing us, then what does what you just said mean?"
Xiao Shaoxian paused for a moment before saying, "It can be considered a confession under torture."
"I hit you?" Zhu Song raised his eyebrows and his eyes were stern. Xiao Shaoxian was so frightened that his neck shrank. He quickly said, "I...I was just scared."
Zhu Song asked coldly, "Did Chen Liqi lose to you?"
In fact, seeing Xiao Shaoxian's guilty look, Zhu Song already had an idea in his mind.
Xiao Shaoxian's eyes flashed, "That should be it."
Zhu Song slammed the table and raised his voice sternly, "This is the court, we're not kidding you. If it's yes, it's yes. If it's no, it's no. That's how it should be."
Xiao Shaoxian was so frightened that he shrank his neck and changed his story, "Actually, I was really drunk that day, so I can't remember who lost the money to me."
Zhu Song frowned, "No impression at all?"
Xiao Shaoxian looked embarrassed and asked cautiously, "Can you please stop torturing me if I say I didn't do it?"
Zhu Song said, "If you keep teasing me, I'll give you twenty lashes of the cane."
Xiao Shaoxian quickly waved his hands, "I really didn't play a trick on you, sir. I really can't remember."
Zhu Song didn't want to waste time with him anymore, so he asked the yamen runners to take him back to the cell, and then interrogated Chen Liqi again. However, Chen Liqi said that he didn't see Xiao Shaoxian that day, so he didn't know who was gambling with Xiao Shaoxian that day.
Zhu Song released Chen Liqi.
The case was stuck here. Zhu Song thought about it and decided that he could only take Xiao Shaoxian to the casino to investigate and find the person who happened that day.
After all, a casino is not a private place. There are many people gambling and many people watching, so there will definitely be witnesses.
He did what he said. At night, Zhu Song personally led the team and took Xiao Shaoxian to Jiuji Pawnshop.
Led by Xiao Shaoxian, the group arrived at a room across the street from Jiuji Pawnshop. Two guards stood at the door. Seeing Zhu Song, they stepped forward to stop him and said, "Please show me your invitation."
Xiao Shaoxian muttered quietly, "When...are we going to send out invitations?"
Zhu Song took out the Dali Temple badge and said, "The Dali Temple is handling the case. Please get out of the way."
The guard remained expressionless, "Sorry, you can't come in without an invitation."
Zhu Song raised his hand and called the yamen runner, "Go up."
Thousands of yamen runners were armed with swords, but the two guards remained motionless. The gates opened one by one, and a room full of guards rushed out. Zhu Song roughly estimated that there were about fifty of them, while they only had seven or eight. The other side looked like martial artists, so they had no chance of winning if they fought like this.
Zhu Song shouted, "Stop."
The yamen runners all stopped, and soon after they did, the other side also stopped. Zhu Song said, "Call your chief to come out and see me."
The guard said the same thing, "You can only enter if you have a request for advice. If you don't, please leave."
Zhu Song gritted his teeth secretly. He had been working in the Dali Temple for so many years, and this was the second time he was rejected so harshly. However, a wise man would not suffer a loss in front of him, so Zhu Song made a prompt decision.
"Walk."
Zhu Song and his men walked away. The fat shopkeeper came out of the house and snorted disdainfully at Zhu Song's back, "The Dali Temple is shit. Zhu Song is shit. Bah."
Zhu Song couldn't swallow this humiliation, so he rushed to Qu Mansion to find Qu Zhoubai.
Qu Zhoubai was almost asleep. Seeing that Zhu Song was so angry, he quickly recalled what had happened recently in his mind, but he couldn't think of anything that was worth Zhu Song's anger.
"What's going on at night?"
Zhu Song said hurriedly, "Bring your men with you and go with me to shut down the underground casino at Jiuji Pawnshop."
Qu Zhoubai's eyes widened immediately. "Are you kidding me?"
Zhu Song said, "Who's kidding you? Isn't it your Jingzhao Prefecture that manages the underground casino?"
Seeing Zhu Song's serious expression, with no sign of joking at all, Qu Zhoubai couldn't help but frown. "You found the underground casino again? Do you know who's behind that underground casino?"
Zhu Chan said: "Who cares who he is? How can he break the law and turn the world upside down?"
Seeing that he was angry, Qu Zhoubai knew he couldn't persuade him, so he just said, "I support your investigation. It's not that I won't cooperate with you, but we can't take down this underground casino just by the two of us. Instead of getting into a stalemate, why don't I do you a favor and take you inside? Just investigate whatever you want, but don't make a big deal out of it."
After hearing this, Zhu Song turned around and left. He didn't believe that he couldn't crack down on an underground casino.
Zhu Song braved the darkness and returned to the Dali Temple. As soon as he sat down, he began to write a memorial.
Halfway through writing, the yamen runner on duty came hurriedly to report, "Sir, Prince Su is here."
Zhu Song was startled. What was he doing here?
Zhu Song closed the memorial and had just stood up when Prince Su came in.
Regardless of what he felt in his heart, he still had to put on a show. Zhu Song went up to him and asked, "I wonder what important matter has brought you here so late at night, Your Highness?"
Prince Su sat down straight away, looked up at Zhu Song, and said, "Sit down."
Although Zhu Song was not sure what he meant, he still sat down as he was told.
Prince Su was unusually polite. "It's already past midnight. Master Zhu is still writing. What are you busy with?"
Zhu Song replied, "There have been several cases lately with complicated clues, and we're still sorting them out."
Prince Su said, "I heard that you took people to Jiuji Pawnshop tonight?"
Zhu Song didn't expect Prince Su to be so straightforward and bold.
"Yes, the clue led to the underground casino privately run by Jiuji Pawnshop, but the other party had too many thugs, which was beyond the capacity of the Dali Temple, so I couldn't get in."
Prince Su smiled and said, "How come Lord Zhu also believed this rumor? Jiuji Pawnshop is run by my distant cousin. Because of its good business, its peers spread rumors about it, saying there's a casino underneath. Even after years of debunking the rumors, some people still believe it.
The thugs Mr. Zhu mentioned are actually ordinary waiters. In a pawnshop, the waiters have to look scary to avoid a lot of trouble.
It was obvious that Prince Su wanted to protect Jiuji Pawnshop. Zhu Song became angrier and angrier as he listened, and he didn't say anything for a while.
Prince Su saw that he had no intention of asking for an answer, so he asked, "What clues are you going to Jiuji Pawnshop to look for, Lord Zhu?"
Zhu Song did not hide this matter from him and told him everything in detail.
Prince Su frowned upon hearing this. "Official silver? That's truly audacious. I'll have my cousin investigate this matter thoroughly and give Lord Zhu an explanation."
Anyone who doesn't take advantage of the opportunity is a fool.
Zhu Song said: "Thank you very much, Your Highness."
Prince Su smiled and said, "A man of insight is a man of character. Lord Zhu is worthy of being the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple."
Zhu Song said casually: "Prince Miao praised."
Prince Su stood up and said, "It's getting late. I won't bother you any more. I hope you can go back and rest early."
Zhu Song then stood up and said, "Farewell, Your Highness."
After watching Prince Su leave, Zhu Song turned back and continued writing the memorial, preparing to submit it to the palace tomorrow morning.
After writing the memorial and expressing his congratulations, he did not return home but slept in the Dali Temple for the night.
The next morning, before daybreak, a bailiff came running and knocked on the door. "Sir, something bad has happened, sir."
Zhu Song opened his eyes and jumped out of bed, opened the door and asked, "What happened?"
The bailiff said, "Someone in the underground casino attacked people with a knife. I heard there were several casualties."
Zhu Song frowned, "Has the murderer been apprehended?"
The yamen runner replied, "We don't know yet. The news has just been passed back."
Zhu Song hurried out and said, "Let's go."
Zhu Song and his men arrived at the scene. Changning Street, where the Jiuji Pawnshop was located, was already in chaos. Blood spread out for hundreds of meters from the shop. More than a dozen people were lying in the street. A middle-aged man covered in blood held a long knife and shouted, "Damn it! Damn it! Give me back my money! Give me back my money!"
"The government is here." "Quickly stop him." "Is this guy a lunatic?" "What lunatic? He must have lost too much money."
The onlookers were talking about it, and Zhu Song rushed forward with the yamen runners and subdued the man in a few moves.
Zhu Song kicked the man fiercely. The man knelt on the ground and wailed, "Let me go, let me go."
Zhu Song glanced at the chaotic Jiuji Pawnshop and ordered the yamen runners, "Surround it."
At this time, Qu Zhoubai also rushed over with his men. Seeing the situation at the scene, he almost blacked out and asked anxiously, "What's going on?"
Zhu Song raised his chin towards Jiuji Pawnshop. Qu Zhoubai looked over and immediately frowned, "I..."
Zhu Song ignored his broken mood and patted his shoulder, "Get to work."
When Zhu Song arrived at Jiuji Pawnshop, the fat shopkeeper was so frightened that his face turned pale. He no longer had the arrogance of yesterday and respectfully called out, "Master Zhu."
As soon as he entered the room, he smelled a strong smell of blood. It seemed that the casualties inside were even more serious. Zhu Song looked at him coldly, but did not speak to him. Instead, he ordered the yamen runners, "Take him back."
The yamen runner replied, "Yes."
Jiuji Pawnshop was packed with people. At a glance, there were no less than a thousand people, and many of them were covered in blood.
Zhu Song asked the man closest to him, "What's going on?"
The man replied tremblingly, "I don't know either. We were having fun when Zhang Mingcheng suddenly went crazy. He picked up a knife and started hacking people. We were so scared that we ran up from downstairs, and he followed us. Luckily, he ran away."
The man felt a sense of relief at having survived a disaster. Zhu Song narrowed his eyes and continued to ask, "Where are you going to play?"
The man replied, "It's right down there."
Zhu Song patted him on the shoulder and took him to the underground casino.
Zhu Song estimated that this underground casino was about two acres in size and was magnificently built. However, there were several people lying on the ground covered in blood. The yamen runners went forward to check their breath and found that they were dead.
Zhu Song arranged the follow-up and returned to the Dali Temple. Qu Zhoubai was left with a miserable life. Private gambling was under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Prefecture, and Liang State law strictly prohibited gambling. Now that thousands of people were taken back at once, the Jingzhao Prefecture prison cells were full.
Zhu Song already had a case on hand, and Zhang Mingcheng's knife murder was easy to investigate with basically no doubts, so he assigned it to his subordinates to take charge and he assisted in the management.
Because of this incident, the congratulatory memorial was written in vain.
The next day, Zhu Song took Xiao Shaoxian to Jingzhao Prefecture.
Qu Zhoubai was overwhelmed. He was sitting on the porch, looking up at the sky and sighing, "The sorrow of separation is endless~"
Zhu Song asked him, "Oh, who are you reluctant to part with?"
Qu Zhoubai looked back at him, then looked up at the sky again, "The happy days are gone forever, I will never be happy again~"
Zhu Song sat down next to him and said, "It's just over a thousand prisoners, is it that serious?"
"Isn't it just over a thousand? That's 1,983." Qu Zhoubai laughed, looking like he was crazy. After laughing for a while, he suddenly became serious. "How about I sentence them all to death and let you, the Dali Temple, conduct a review?"
Zhu Song rejected him mercilessly, "Come on, with so many people sentenced to death, I think your time as the Jingzhao prefect is almost over."
Qu Zhoubai knew it wasn't feasible, but being denied so bluntly still made him sigh dejectedly, "The Emperor summoned me to the palace yesterday, furious, and told me to get to the bottom of everything.
Two thousand people, I'd have to write a dossier on them, not to mention investigating them one by one and convicting them based on the amount of money involved in gambling. I don't think I'll have a good year."
Zhu Song knew that Qu Zhoubai was scolded by the emperor again yesterday, but this time Zhu Song did not sympathize with him. "If you had gone with me last night, this wouldn't have happened."
Qu Zhoubai curled his lips and said, "It's no use for me to go with you. If you can't get in, then neither can I. If it weren't for this, we would both be turned away at the door."
At this point, Zhu Song suddenly realized, "That's right, Jiuji Pawn Shop has never had any problems before. It just happened when I was investigating a case."
Qu Zhoubai squinted at him and asked, "What do you want to say?"
He chanted, "The wicked will be punished by heaven."
Qu Zhoubai snorted, disagreeing with his statement. "Come on, if it were really that effective, Xiangguo Temple would have built three thousand branch temples long ago. You might as well say that someone is helping you behind the scenes."
Zhu Song raised an eyebrow, "This isn't the way to help me. Besides, who else would be willing to take such a big risk to help me besides you guys?"
"You, Mr. Zhu, are a popular figure in Kyoto. Who knows where he got his romantic connections?" Qu Zhoubai said jokingly, and suddenly asked him, "Hey, you didn't come here just to laugh at me, did you?"
"Do you think I have so much free time?" Zhu Song asked him unhappily.
"Then why are you here?"
Zhu Song said: "What can the Dali Temple do? Of course, they investigate cases. What about those gamblers you brought back?"
Qu Zhoubai said: "He's already a gambler, how can I still worship him?"
Zhu Song stood up and said, "I'm not going to waste my time talking to you. I'm going to the prison to meet someone."
"Okay, go ahead. I'll sit here for a while." Qu Zhoubai knew what was going on, so he didn't go with him. He wasn't actually worried about the two thousand people, but about the underground casinos, or rather, the bosses behind them.
Xiao Shaoxian had already been taken to the prison. When Zhu Song came over, Xiao Shaoxian had already started chatting with others, and the conversation was in full swing. Only then did Zhu Song understand Qu Zhoubai's feelings. Two thousand people were locked up together and organized like a vegetable market, and the bailiffs couldn't even yell at them.
Because they had not been convicted, the bailiffs did not dare to torture them, and in the end they had no choice but to let them do as they pleased.
Zhu Song came to Xiao Shaoxian and asked him, "Have you found it?"
Xiao Shaoxian was chatting happily, but he suddenly became serious after hearing Zhu Song's words, "Master Zhu, I... I'm looking for it."
"Go ahead and look for it. I'll watch you do it."
Xiao Shaoxian couldn't laugh anymore, and he went out one by one. Under Zhu Song's gaze, cold sweat broke out in the hot weather.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
