Chapter 228 Confession
Gong Tingen was out of Beijing for half a month on business and was unable to come to the Ji Mansion to pay his respects immediately.
The next day after returning to Beijing, he came to Ji's house early in the morning.
After delivering the funeral gifts, offering sacrifices to Ji Changqing, and expressing condolences to Madam Qi and Madam Feng, he was about to leave when he suddenly saw servants of the Ji Mansion carrying a man who was tied up and walking out.
The man's face was as red as an eggplant and his eyes were unfocused, as if he had just been punished.
He couldn't help but stop and asked Feng Qingsui: "Who is this person?"
Feng Qingsui looked at the two pottery jars placed in front of the steps of the mourning hall and sighed softly.
"They were temporary helpers we recruited. They drugged our midnight snack last night, brought two jars of tung oil to the mourning hall, and tried to set it on fire."
"Fortunately, my maidservant was away due to something urgent and didn't have her midnight snack. She happened to see this man committing evil and was able to arrest him."
"We interrogated him, and he confessed that he was an attendant of the former Prince of Ping, Zhao Bichang, and that he had sneaked into our mansion on Zhao Bichang's orders, waiting for an opportunity to poison and set fire to it."
"I guess Zhao Bichang holds a grudge against our Second Master for his previous involvement in the Prince Ping's Mansion, and wants to take advantage of Second Master's eternal rest to wipe out the entire Ji family."
Gong Tingen: “!!!”
Ji Changqing's body is still warm, and Zhao Bichang wants to massacre the Ji family?
It's so cruel and outrageous, it's intolerable!
"Leave this man to our Pursuit Division."
He said to Feng Qingsui.
"I will definitely give you justice."
Feng Qingsui nodded: "Then I'll trouble you, Master Gong."
Gong Tingen then took the man back to the office.
Zhao Mansion.
Zhao Bichang woke up with a sore back and a splitting headache, and found that he had slept on the table all night. He called the servant into the room and kicked him hard.
"I told you to remind me to go out after the second update, but you actually let me pass out drunk on the table without even helping me back to the bed to rest. You're tired of living, aren't you?"
The servant fell to the ground without daring to make a sound.
He was waiting for his master to drink last night and fell asleep unknowingly. When he woke up, it was already dawn. How could he dare to wake up his master?
Zhao Bichang was still not satisfied and kicked him twice more.
Then he looked at the sky outside the window, his eyes blazing with anger.
He had been looking forward to the grand scene of the Ji Mansion's mourning hall being burned down and Ji Changqing's body being buried in the fire along with his widowed mother and sister-in-law for several days, but he actually missed it.
This damn slave!
"Someone come!"
He was just about to order someone to drag the servant away and beat him to death.
Another servant suddenly rushed in and reported, "Master, Master Gong is here and wants you to go out and see him."
"What are you talking about, my Lord and my Lady?" Zhao Bichang said impatiently, "Get him out!"
You didn't even send him a visiting card, but you asked him to meet him by name?
Even if Prince Ping's title was stripped away, he was still a prince and a grandson of the emperor. Could he be summoned and dismissed at will by these insignificant officials?
The servant said weakly, "Sir, this is Lord Gong Ting'en, the commander of the Pursuit Division."
Gong Tingen?
Zhao Bichang's expression paused.
What did Gong Tingen ask him to do?
Did he suspect that the fire in Ji's mansion was related to him?
He deliberately found a martial artist who had no connection with Prince Heping's Palace and had a grudge against Ji Changqing, and asked Zhao Liu to conceal his identity to contact the martial artist, and let the martial artist sneak into Ji's Mansion and set fire. How could the pursuit department find out about him?
Did something unexpected happen when Zhao Liu killed the martial artist?
He frowned and ordered the servant, "Send Zhao Liu to see me."
The servant immediately went to the outer courtyard to find Zhao Liu.
After a while, he replied, "Master, Zhao Liu is not in the house."
"Where did he go?"
"The servant who waited on him said that he went out last night and never came back."
Zhao Bichang's heart skipped a beat.
When he saw Gong Tingen, he asked the Tiqi to put him in shackles without saying a word.
"Zhao Bichang, you are suspected of instructing others to set fire to the Ji Mansion's mourning hall and murdering everyone in the Ji Mansion. Come with us back to the Pursuit Division to stand trial."
Zhao Bichang was furious: "This matter has nothing to do with me, why are you arresting me?"
Gong Tingen said calmly: "Your followers have already confessed."
Zhao Liu made his move?
Did something really go wrong when he dealt with He Jiu?
Even if Zhao Liu made a mistake and was caught, he would not admit to it, let alone give him up, right?
The lives of his family are in his hands!
It was not until he was escorted back to the Pursuit Division by Gong Tingen that Zhao Bichang realized that the Ji Mansion's mourning hall had not been burned at all.
And the person who sneaked into Ji's mansion and set fire was unexpectedly changed from He Jiu to Zhao Liu.
Zhao Liu actually admitted it. He was the one who bribed the servants in Ji's house, worked as a kitchen helper in Ji's house, and then waited for an opportunity to poison and set fire.
Zhao Bichang didn't know what medicine Zhao Liu had taken that made him go crazy, but he would not admit it.
"I never gave such an order, nor did I know he ever harbored such thoughts. This matter has nothing to do with me."
He had never had any contact with He Jiu, nor had he bought tung oil for He Jiu. Even if Zhao Liu admitted it, the Pursuit Division did not have enough evidence to prove that he was the one who ordered Zhao Liu to do it.
They could not condemn him.
Unexpectedly, Gong Tingen did not play by the rules.
"Zhao Liu also confessed to your other crimes and provided sufficient evidence. You can't save your head."
Zhao Bichang: “!!!”
He looked at Zhao Liu in disbelief.
"you……"
What kind of magic do the Ji family have!
Previously, he and the third prince plotted against Ji Changqing, and arranged for the maid who drugged him to rebel. Now his trusted followers have also been turned against him.
One by one, they were like crazy, completely disregarding the lives of their families and couldn't wait to betray him.
Zhao Liu had no expression on his face.
Anyone who suffered such cruel torture would ask for a quick death.
Besides, no one knows Zhao Bichang's character better than him. Now that things have come to this, even if he does not confess Zhao Bichang's other crimes, Zhao Bichang will not let his family go.
It would be better to take Zhao Bichang's life and try to gain a glimmer of hope.
Gong Tingen presented the case to the emperor, who handed it over to the Ministry of Justice, which sentenced Zhao Bichang and Zhao Liu to death.
On the day Zhao Bichang was convicted, Feng Qingsui handed He Jiu over to the government office.
He Jiu was also sentenced to death for killing his apprentice.
He was beheaded on the same day as Zhao Bichang and Zhao Liu.
Before his death, Zhao Bichang learned from Zhao Liu that he was captured and taken to Ji's house in the middle of the night and was tortured, which led him to take the blame for everything He Jiu had done.
"It turns out it wasn't Zhao Liu who made the mistake."
Zhao Bichang gritted his teeth.
"The Ji family guessed that He Jiu was behind this, so they kidnapped Zhao Liu to replace He Jiu in order to link this matter to me."
Moreover, they kidnapped Zhao Liu not to prove that he ordered the arson, but to lead the investigation into him so that the Pursuit Department could investigate him thoroughly.
He really underestimated the two widows of the Ji family!
The third prince also realized this.
He couldn't help but feel fortunate that when Zhao Bichang came to him that day to join forces to kill the Ji family, he only gave Zhao Bichang an idea, asking him to try to find unrelated people to attack, and did not get involved.
otherwise……
Ji Changqing is not easy to deal with, and his widowed mother and sister-in-law are not easy to deal with either. It is better to wait until he sits on the throne and then try to eliminate them.
The lockdown is lifted for now.
According to the regulations of Prince Daxi, Ji Changqing's body should have been kept for forty-nine days, but due to the hot weather and the fact that he was transported back from Hezhou, Feng Qingsui and Qi used the excuse that they were worried about the body decaying, so they only kept the body for fourteen days before the funeral.
After returning home from the funeral, Feng Qingsui breathed a sigh of relief.
"Finally, I can take a break."
Qi Yuzhen came to the door at this time.
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