Gu Jiu hoped that his guess was wrong.
The result was really wrong.
This group of people are not really tomb robbers, but a group of green forest bandits.
Because of the bounty offered by the Sihai Trading Company, local governments have been cracking down on bandits and thugs, leaving this group of green forest bandits with no way to survive.
So he ran to the capital to find a job.
They had worked with Prince Consort Chen and robbed several officials and noble families passing by.
The Chen family also helped them sell the stolen goods.
It is said that the reason why he fought back desperately when he saw the guards of the palace was that he smelled a familiar scent on the guards.
The same scent was smelled in the Princess Huyang's Mansion in the past.
The guards who protect the royal family always have a similar aura.
They thought Hu Yang had changed his mind and wanted to kill them to silence them, so they fought back desperately.
"Is that so?"
Gu Jiu felt it was unbelievable, but also relieved.
Just don't rob a bank.
"From my humble judgment, it seems unlikely that he is lying. Why not just throw him into the Imperial Prison and let the Imperial Prison take action? Then it will be clear at a glance whether he is lying or not."
Gu Jiu shook his head. "The Chen family not only colluded with tomb robbers, but also had connections with bandits. They worked together to rob passing merchants and even helped sell the stolen goods. Could this Chen family be a den of thieves? If it was a den of thieves, how come no one in the capital had discovered it for so many years?"
I haven’t heard Huyang mention it either!
"Madam, do you mean these two are lying?"
Gu Jiu frowned, "I think this is too strange. It seems that we need to use professionals. Come, go and invite Qian Fu."
It's time for Qian Fu to come forward.
Qian Fu is a professional in collecting information.
He is different from Chang En. Chang En comes from the Ministry of Punishment. His interrogation methods are horrifying and he can squeeze out the information he wants from anyone.
Qian Fu is not an expert in torture, but he has a pair of sharp eyes that can distinguish the truth from falsehood in every word and tell who is lying.
He can unravel the mystery and find out the secret hidden behind a small clue.
Qian Fu understood what had happened and nodded, "Madam, please rest assured and leave this matter to me."
Gu Jiu asked: "When will the results be available?"
Qian Fu thought for a moment and said, "If he's a tough guy, I'll have to resort to some extreme measures. Two days, maybe. After two days, I'll definitely get a complete confession."
Only then did Gu Jiu realize that it was not that Qian Fu did not understand torture, but that in many cases he could extract the information he wanted without him having to do anything.
In terms of hands-on ability, I'm afraid Qian Fu is not much worse than Chang En.
It’s just that Chang En is a bloody person, and his interrogation scenes are always bloody.
Qian Fu is a graceful and elegant person. His interrogations, without any bloodshed, can drive prisoners crazy and make them regret having lived too long.
Gu Jiu sighed softly and muttered, "This lady underestimated Eunuch Qian. I thought he wasn't an interrogation expert, but it turns out he's already reached the highest level."
Oh, oh, oh!
Everyone around Liu Zhao is very secretive.
That’s too much!
She wanted to dig someone out, but she couldn't find anyone.
Tomorrow she will also select a few talents in this area from the palace.
Whether it's the bloody or the graceful school, as long as it's useful, it's fine.
…
When Qian Fu takes action, he is worth ten men.
It took less than two days to elicit confessions from the two men.
These two men were both bandits and tomb robbers.
At that time, Prince Consort Chen was imprisoned, the Chen family was confiscated and the people were beheaded. This incident caused a big uproar.
This group of tomb robbers had spies in the capital, who got the news immediately and quickly evacuated to avoid being caught by the government. They changed their appearance and started doing business as green forest bandits.
As a result, the good days did not last for a few years, and the government began to crack down on bandits and bullies.
Seeing that there was no future in being bandits, this group of people decided to return to their old profession and continue to be tomb robbers.
This time, they want to do something big.
Someone paid a large sum of money to ask them to come to the capital and steal something.
"What object?" Gu Jiu asked curiously.
Qian Fu looked around.
Gu Jiu waved his hand and asked everyone to leave.
Qian Fu still felt it was not enough, "Madam, please give the order for everyone to step back twenty steps."
"So serious?"
Qian Fu nodded. "This matter is of great importance. We must ensure that no third person knows about it except me and my wife. Afterwards, if necessary, I will commit suicide to keep the secret."
Gu Jiu's expression changed instantly.
"you……"
Qian Fu said expressionlessly, "Madam, don't worry. The two people who accompanied me in the interrogation are already dead. As for the two tomb robbers, their tongues have been cut off to ensure that the secret will not be spread."
Gu Jiu took a breath of cold air.
This is a definite murder to silence the witness, to block the secret at the source.
She took a deep breath. "Everyone, leave the courtyard and send guards to guard the gate. No one is allowed to enter the courtyard without my permission. Tell the guards that I am discussing important matters with Eunuch Qian, and they must ensure that not even a fly can fly in."
At the same time, ensure that no one is left behind and that everyone has left the upper room. If anyone is found to have secretly lingered in the upper room and not left, regardless of whether they eavesdropped or not, they will be killed without mercy!
At Gu Jiu's command, the highest level of security measures were implemented in the upper house of the East Courtyard.
They checked each room one by one, counting everyone to make sure everyone had left the upper room. Then the guards sealed the upper room to ensure that not even a fly could fly in.
"You can speak now."
Qian Fu's face turned pale. He took a deep breath and said solemnly, "According to the two tomb robbers, their group originally had about 20 people, and tomb robbing was a family tradition. However, some of them died in the past few years, leaving only 11 or 12 people.
The four of them would lead the charge, keeping watch and providing a diversion. Officially, they would rob the Xinmin County branch of the Shaofu Bank, but in reality, they were going to steal an object from the imperial mausoleum. Both cases were scheduled to be completed on the same day.
"Robbering the imperial tomb? Are these people trying to kill themselves?" Gu Jiu felt like he was hearing a fairy tale.
The imperial mausoleum is heavily guarded.
How did this group of people avoid the defense line and enter the imperial mausoleum?
"Someone offered fifty thousand taels of gold. Please ask them to do it."
Money can move people's hearts.
Fifty thousand taels of gold, how could these tomb robbers who couldn't even be bandits not be tempted?
Gu Jiu's heart was pounding. "Do you know who is behind this? What did they steal?"
Qian Fu nodded. "One of the two surviving tomb robbers happened to know about this. The person who paid them to come out wanted them to enter the imperial mausoleum and steal an item from Zhongzong's tomb.
They even provided a map of the tomb, indicating where the object was. They also said that the object had a special mark that no one in the world could replicate. "You can tell whether it's real or fake by looking at the mark."
"What exactly is that object?"
Qian Fu opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
"What?"
Gu Jiu asked again.
Qian Fu opened his mouth again, but still no sound came out.
This time, Gu Jiu finally understood what Qian Fu was talking about.
Her face changed drastically, she covered her chest and fell directly into the chair.
"real?"
Qian Fu nodded, "It shouldn't be fake. The old servant confirmed again and again that the tomb robber described the object's shape, texture, and location in the tomb in detail.
He also said that the person who paid for it had given him a portrait of the object, which was in the hands of his eldest brother. They were brothers, so he saw the portrait of the object in his eldest brother's hands.
Based on his description, I boldly judge that it could not be anything else but that thing. These tomb robbers have no chance of ever seeing that object. If he can describe it so accurately, it must be right.
"How is that possible!"
Gu Jiu shook his head repeatedly.
Jade seal!
What this group of tomb robbers wanted to steal was actually the jade seal!
The person who paid only gave the portrait and did not tell the tomb robbers the name of the object in the portrait.
As a tomb robber, it is indeed extraordinary to say that he is knowledgeable.
To say that he is ignorant is indeed ignorant.
At least they didn't recognize that the thing in the portrait was the imperial seal.
These days, information is seriously lacking.
Ninety-nine percent of the people in the world have never seen a jade seal, let alone what an imperial edict looks like.
Only in later generations, with the explosion of information, can people see what the imperial edicts looked like and how they were written in museums and on the Internet.
As for the imperial seal, I'm sorry, I've only heard of it or seen a simulated version on TV.
Who has ever seen the authentic imperial seal?
What the imperial seal actually looked like is all based on legends and imagination.
This has been the case in later generations, let alone this era.
Even among the people in the palace, most of them have probably never seen what the imperial seal looks like.
It is not surprising that tomb robbers did not recognize the objects in the portraits.
Gu Jiu took two breaths. Influenced by Qian Fu, she didn't dare to utter the word "jade seal".
She whispered, "If I understand correctly, isn't that object in the palace? The imperial edict of succession left by the late emperor is indeed stamped with the seal of that object."
Qian Fu whispered, "There are only two possibilities. Either the one in the imperial mausoleum is fake, and the one in the palace is real. Or conversely, either the imperial mausoleum is real, and the one in the palace is fake. Another possibility is that someone offered 50,000 gold to buy these tomb robbers to die."
"Just a few tomb robbers, let alone 50,000 gold, even 5,000 taels of silver would be too much."
How can the lives of a few tomb robbers be worth fifty thousand taels of gold?
"Yes! So I have to doubt that one is true and the other is false."
Gu Jiu frowned, "Then you've never considered that there might not be that object in the imperial mausoleum at all. This is all a lie fabricated by someone who wants to stir up trouble and make a big fuss about it."
Qian Fu hesitated. "When I was in the palace, I heard a rumor, but I never took it seriously. Now that I've encountered these tomb robbers, perhaps that rumor isn't false."
"What rumors?"
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