Chapter 72: Bite. "...Jun..."...
. "check."
After Yuan Rong finished speaking without taking a breath, Pei Ji's brows sank slightly, and hatred and anger flashed in his eyes. He must catch the person who did the evil, no matter who it was!
Yuan Rong followed his instructions and immediately went to the patrol camp to find Yuan Ming, informed him of the matter, and asked him to take people to investigate the house, and by the way, send another team to arrest Zhou Qi from Duke Zhou's mansion.
He left in a hurry, and Pei Ji's eyes fell on Lin Feng. "What do you want to say?"
"I informed His Majesty as you said. His Majesty did not say anything else. He just sent a lot of supplements as usual and asked me to pass on the message that the imperial physician is at your disposal. If anyone is found who has harmed the emperor, you can also deal with them." Only then did Lin Feng have the opportunity to speak out what he had done.
Pei Ji nodded slightly, being satisfied with the result. The reason why he used tough measures to detain the imperial physician was also to remind Emperor An that such a useless imperial physician could enter the Imperial Medical Bureau, which showed that someone was secretly manipulating it.
The position of imperial physician is an important one. Since they can bribe the imperial physician, they can certainly bribe the imperial physician to harm Emperor An's health.
Emperors are all suspicious, and such speculation is enough to make them furious, so naturally they will not be harsh on him.
"Keep the imperial physician tied up as usual. Wait until I capture Zhou Qi." Pei Ji chuckled, but the smile did not reach his eyes, which were even cold.
But the person who drugged He Zhiliao has not been found yet. One day... he will be cut into pieces.
Yuan Ming was already grateful to Pei Ji for his promotion, and when he heard the news, he didn't even doubt it, so he immediately split his troops into two groups.
He personally led people to Duke Zhou's mansion to arrest Zhou Qi, and sent a team of people to seal off the house they mentioned. He was sure to catch them all in one fell swoop!
Although the Duke of Zhou's Mansion had fallen into decline and there were no available officials in the court, the family was once wealthy. Even though it had lost some wealth, it still had some assets and was served by servants.
Seeing Yuan Ming and his men coming over, they immediately stopped him and said, "What are you doing? We at Duke Zhou's Mansion have done nothing wrong. How dare you surround the mansion?"
"I have been ordered to thoroughly investigate the corpse dumping case in the capital. His Majesty has given me the permission to do so. We must arrest Zhou Qi immediately! Anyone who dares to stop me will be killed without mercy!" Even though Yuan Ming was furious, he still explained the whole story to him.
Their patrol battalion controls the security of the capital and will never arrest anyone arbitrarily! Every arrest is based on reason and evidence, and they act uprightly!
After hearing what he said, the doorman began to tremble all over. He didn't bother to pay attention to Yuan Ming and turned around and ran away.
He must be aware of the inside story if he feels so guilty.
"Catch them! Break the door!"
Zhou Qi was about to run away when he heard the noise, but suddenly remembered something. When he saw Yuan Ming and his men coming in, he immediately stepped forward to greet them.
He smiled and said, "Master Yuan, what brings you here? Although my Duke Zhou's Mansion has been defeated, not just anyone can break in."
Yuan Ming patiently added, "So, today I am bringing Prince Zhou to question him."
"Who are you to dare to question me?" Zhou Qi squinted at him, like a poisonous snake slowly approaching, ready to wrap around him and spray venom at any time.
"Stop talking so much nonsense... just take him away!"
When this arrogant voice came, Zhou Qi and Yuan Ming looked at the same time and saw Pei Ji dismounting from his horse and approaching step by step with unique strength and dominance.
As soon as he finished speaking, Yuan Ming immediately raised his hand to signal his men to come forward and arrest Zhou Qi.
When Pei Ji takes action, he doesn't care whether he submits or not.
He curled the corners of his lips towards Zhou Qi, took two steps forward, pulled out the long sword from the guard's waist, and put it directly against Zhou Qi's neck. His tone was too cold, "I have to get some back first..."
With a little force, his neck was cut, and blood flowed out, soaking his collar in the blink of an eye.
Zhou Qi has always enjoyed committing violence, and used cruel methods against the men and women in his backyard and He Ruman who had passed away long ago, but no one dared to hurt him. He had never imagined that being cut by a knife would be so painful!
He was afraid of Pei Ji. After all, even the princes and aristocratic families were afraid of him. It was normal for him to be afraid. In addition, he was injured at the moment and fainted.
Pei Ji sneered. With such little courage, he could actually do something like beating his wives and concubines.
"Master Pei!"
"Are you going to save us?"
A group of men and women rushed out of the mansion. Although it was not summer yet, they were already wearing thin clothes, showing off their beautiful figures.
Pei Ji looked at them sideways and said, "For now, we are just taking Zhou Qi away for interrogation."
"We can testify! He killed people, many people!"
"It's true, Master Pei! Many of our sisters have died because they couldn't withstand his beatings!"
Pei Ji was silent for a moment, then said to Yuan Ming, "Call a few more people and go to the Ministry of Justice to work together on the case."
"Yes!" Yuan Ming responded, and there was a hint of pity in his eyes when he looked at the girls.
They were either deceived by Zhou Qi or were pursuing false glory, but none of them deserved this punishment.
They each have their own sorrows.
Ministry of Justice Prison.
Jinyang brought him a chair, and Pei Ji sat down immediately. Looking at Zhou Qi who was being held up, he crossed his legs, supported his forehead with one hand, and looked a little too calm.
Zhou Qi looked at him drowsily, "How dare you bring the prince here so casually?"
"Hit him." Pei Ji said calmly.
Lin Shan immediately picked up a long whip with barbs soaked in chili water and swung it at him. As his skin and flesh were torn apart, the chili water also seeped into his wounds along the barbs. Zhou Qi screamed in shock instantly.
Everyone in the Ministry of Justice looked calm. After all, such things happened from time to time and were commonplace for them.
Pei Ji didn't call for a stop, so Lin Shan kept on beating with all his might, as if he wanted to vent all his anger on him. People who didn't know might misunderstand that there was a blood feud between them.
Zhou Qi was beaten to death. He wanted to continue to be tough, but things had come to this point and the pain in his body could not make him realize how horrible what he had done was.
"It was just the torture and murder of a few concubines, and you, the patrol battalion and the Ministry of Justice, are actually going to treat me like this? Aren't you afraid that I will report it to His Majesty one day?"
Pei Ji sneered, "You seem to have not figured out where you went wrong. I have already ordered the house where you committed the violence to be investigated. I think there will be evidence soon. Do you think you can get away with it so easily?"
"What mansion? This prince has no idea what you're talking about. You're clearly seeking revenge!" Zhou Qi roared softly, "It's just that your Lord Zheng was poisoned, and you're helpless and anxious, so you can only vent your anger on innocent people like us!"
Pei Ji raised his eyelids and his gaze fell on him. He stood up and walked towards him with his long legs. His handsome face was cold and ruthless, as if he was looking at a dead object.
His voice was uncharacteristically cold. "I have never told anyone that Zheng Jun was poisoned. How did you know about this? Did you recognize that you were the one who poisoned him?"
After hearing him ask this, Zhou Qi suddenly realized that he had spoken so carelessly. Now that the door had been torn open, he could not admit many things.
"So what if I poisoned you? Just kill me. I'm already in this state, so what else can you do?" Zhou Qi sneered, and it was obvious that he was like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water.
Pei Ji didn't believe that he could be so powerful. With the current state of Duke Zhou's Mansion, how could they find such a powerful person?
But since Zhou Qi knew some inside information, he was naturally not wronged. Besides, it was a fact that he had killed countless people, and it was also a fact that he would not be let off easily. But before that, we had to question his accomplices first.
"Do you think I don't know the strength of Duke Zhou's Mansion?" Pei Ji looked as if he was too lazy to listen to his nonsense, but he kept staring at his expression, trying to find out something fishy.
But Zhou Qi remained calm, even laughing smugly. "My Duke Zhou's Mansion may be declining now, but it was once a noble family. How difficult is it to train a few assassins? Those assassins are loyal and devoted. If we don't release them, they will die for us!"
This is the truth. The Pei family also has many assassins, and they are all the same.
Furthermore, the place where the guard disappeared earlier was indeed near Duke Zhou’s mansion.
Pei Ji frowned, "Have we, the Pei family, ever offended you?"
Zhou Qi heard his question as if it were a joke. "How could you ask such a naive question, Lord Pei? You know better than me that parties are different. Those who are not in the same party should die!"
"I see." Pei Ji nodded thoughtfully, "Tell me about your accomplices."
"No." Zhou Qi answered without thinking.
Pei Ji sneered, "If you could just come up with one, I might still believe you and check it out, but now I'm not curious anymore. Do you want to leave here?"
Zhou Qi raised his eyes and looked at him, as if to tell him he was talking nonsense.
"Then you can go." Pei Ji said and laughed, "But only one of you can survive. Do you understand what I mean?"
Zhou Qi was shocked, "You are so vicious!"
Pei Ji smiled and said, "Thank you for the compliment."
Pei Ji always kept his promises. He said he would let Zhou Qi go, so he immediately ordered his men to release him, but Lin Shan also left with him.
Lin Shan is a smart man. He knows exactly what his superiors are thinking and can hit whatever they want. However, the whipping this time was a bit too severe. It can be seen that he hates Zhou Qi. Naturally, he has to let his subordinates vent their hatred. After all, he is a kind person.
"Lin Shan, just do what the master tells you to do." Jin Yang warned him that if he tortured Zhou Qi to death in Duke Zhou's mansion, it would affect their plan.
"I understand." Lin Shan understood that his master had given him this matter so that he could vent his anger, so he couldn't let his master down.
The Ministry of Justice soon became quiet again, and everyone looked at Pei Ji, waiting for his next instructions.
Naturally, everyone here is his man. Since Minister Meng is not allowed to participate in this matter, Pei Ji will be in charge of the entire Ministry of Justice.
They didn't dare to ask Pei Ji why he sent Zhou Qi away, but they all knew that Zhou Qi would have a hard time in the future.
Pei Ji let him go, but sent Lin Shan to Duke Zhou's mansion to keep an eye on him, but it was just a bait.
"Keep a close eye on Duke Zhou's Mansion these days. If anyone intends to approach, arrest them and take them to the Ministry of Justice. Even princes and princesses will be no exception!" Pei Ji said in a deep voice.
"yes!"
He was filled with hatred, but the murderer had not been caught yet, so he could only suppress it temporarily. Now that Zhou Qi had been caught, he would not have to worry about catching the so-called assassin.
Be patient, as long as we catch him...
"Master, I caught him!"
Pei Ji was holding He Zhiliao's hand when Yuan Rong came in hurriedly, even forgetting to lower his voice.
Pei Ji glared at him, and Yuan Rong immediately raised his hand to slap him on the face. He then whispered, "I followed your instructions and pretended to send the certificate away. Sure enough, I saw someone secretly assassinating me. I caught them red-handed. When I asked, I found out who sent them! They've been detained!"
"Very good." Pei Ji nodded.
It was already late at night, and the heavy weight on his heart finally eased a little. It made sense that the other accomplice was He Yao.
Pei Ji glanced over and whispered, "Interrogate him overnight and don't give him a chance to think. And re-detain Zhou Qi. I want to see them sign the evidence of their guilt."
"I understand!"
This matter cannot wait. Only if he solves the case as soon as possible will he have the opportunity to ask Emperor An for help. Perhaps it would be difficult for him to find the antidote for the bone-eroding incense by secretly working on his own, but if Emperor An could also help, it would be much easier.
Pei Ji couldn't even wait, so he took care of He Zhiliao and gave her medicine at night, then went out directly at night. He had to keep an eye on the Ministry of Justice in person, as any slackness might lead to omissions.
Zhou Qi, who had been released, cursed loudly, "What on earth do you want to do? You've already let me go, why are you bringing me back? Pei Ji, my ancestor!"
"The paper is full of your crimes. If there is no problem, just sign it." Pei Ji ignored his angry curses. He just wanted to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
"Bah!" Zhou Qi sneered, "You released me, which means I'm innocent. Now you bring me here again. Who knows what you're up to?"
Pei Ji frowned, "Lin Shan."
Lin Shan immediately stepped forward, picked up the barbed whip and was about to whip him severely.
Seeing that the situation was not right, Zhou Qi still fought stubbornly. His idea was simple: since He Yao had been captured, he only needed to put all the blame on He Yao and he would definitely survive.
He yelled, "It wasn't me who did it at all. It was He Yao! He was jealous of He Zhile's good life now, so he did that and borrowed the assassins from my house to harm him. It wasn't my order at all!"
"It seems you took everything I said to heart." Pei Ji laughed and turned to look at He Yao. "Did you know I told him that only one of you can survive?"
He Yao had originally been disheartened, but upon hearing that he might survive, he immediately stood up. He pointed at Zhou Qi angrily, "It's you! It's you who killed those people and dumped their bodies! You even treated my own brother like a monster! You were jealous of Pei Ji, and knowing his weak spot was my eldest brother, you deliberately had someone poison him!"
After he finished speaking, he looked at Pei Ji and said earnestly, "Pei Ji, big brother! He was the one who framed me. It wasn't my fault! I was just implicated. I just went to Yuliu Pavilion frequently, but I didn't mean to harm him. Even the murder certificate thing was ordered by him!"
He Yao was afraid of Pei Ji. Pei Ji had never shown mercy when dealing with him. He knew how far the other party could go for He Zhiliao. Of course, he was not afraid if someone died with him. But if only one person could die, it definitely couldn't be him!
Seeing him like this, Zhou Qi was confused and furious, and immediately started cursing at him, "Bullshit! Isn't it time for you to beg me to take you out to play? You shamelessly sent women to my bed just so I could take He Ruman's body back so you wouldn't get scolded! Now you're turning your back on me? Even if I die, I'll take you with me!"
"Bah! It's all your fault! What can you, a murderer, say in defense?" He Yao also cursed.
Both of them wanted to put all the blame on the other, but they didn't realize that the more they pushed, the more hateful the other person became.
Pei Ji listened quietly. It was easy for people to reveal something unintentionally when they lost control, but now everything they did was exactly the same as what he had found out, without any flaws.
The two of them started out attacking each other for being inhumane, but later on they comforted each other's ancestors. These twisted people even curse at others.
Pei Ji really didn't want to listen anymore, so he ordered his men to force their hands to sign. He had plenty of ways to deal with it, he just wanted to see them fight each other.
After signing the agreement, the two men completely collapsed, unable to even utter a curse word. They eventually collapsed powerlessly in the prison, not even noticing the dirty hay on the ground.
Pei Ji immediately took the signed evidence into the palace and told the whole story.
"presumptuous!"
"I was merciful in sparing the lineage of Duke Zhou's mansion, but I never imagined he would dare to do such a thing. He deserves to be torn into pieces by five horses!"
"And that He Yao! He was a loser before, and then he got into such a shameful scandal. Now you dare to collude with him and do evil!"
Emperor An was so angry that he slammed the table loudly, wishing he could smash the two of them into pieces like the table!
Pei Ji remained silent and didn't want to speak out to appease him. The angrier Emperor An became, the more he felt he owed him. Waiting until the other party opened their mouths before making a request would be more effective.
Emperor An took a deep breath and said, "You have done well in this matter. As I promised you before, I will hand them over to you for your disposal in private. Is your Majesty feeling better?"
Seeing that he finally asked about this matter, Pei Ji's knees immediately went weak and he knelt down.
"What does this mean?" Emperor An became alert.
"Your Majesty, please ask this humble servant, Zhengjun, for help. He has been poisoned by the Southern Territory's Bone-Eroding Incense, and the antidote must be found within half a month." Pei Ji kowtowed as he spoke.
There has never been a day when I kowtowed more devoutly than today.
He needs Emperor An to save He Zhi, even if there is only a glimmer of hope.
Emperor An looked down at him silently. In his opinion, Pei Ji was truly loyal and a used dog. He was usually very respectful to him, but today he noticed his urgency.
If you want the horse to run, you have to feed it grass.
"I have agreed to this matter. I will write a letter and ask the royal family of the Southern Region to hand over the antidote." After Emperor An finished speaking, he coughed. Pei Ji did a good job, and that was his help.
The Southern Region has always been on good terms with Tianqi, so they would definitely be willing to help with such a small matter.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your mercy! I will serve you with all my heart and soul, until my death!" Pei Ji kowtowed in thanks, then added, "The bone-eroding incense was able to sneak into Tianqi quietly. This is all due to the negligence of the court officials."
This is particularly interesting.
Silently.
Emperor An looked up at him. Although he didn't say much, he could tell from his suddenly changing eyes that he already had some guess in his mind.
It is better to kill someone by mistake than to let him go!
"Peng Tongmin! Pass on my decree: Duke Zhou's mansion shall be confiscated and executed. All property shall be deposited into the national treasury and distributed to the relatives of the deceased. He Hongan of the Marquis of Jing'an's mansion was abducted and his title as Marquis was taken away. His property shall be confiscated and he shall be imprisoned! All his slaves shall be sold!"
Peng Tongmin was slightly shocked, but he quickly reacted and hurried to ask the Hanlin Academy to issue an imperial edict.
"Kneel down and go back to the mansion to take care of your Lord. If I find the antidote, I will send someone to deliver it."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Pei Ji bowed again to express his gratitude.
After he finished speaking, he left in a hurry. Now the burden on him was lighter, and he finally had enough time to accompany He Zhi.
For this purpose, he deliberately locked Zhou Qi and He Yao in the dark room of Pei Mansion.
Emperor An no longer cared about their lives or deaths, and had left it entirely to him to deal with. He had to do this well in order to ease the hatred in his heart.
He Zhiliao has been drowsy for the past two days. When he wakes up, the poison in the bone-eroding incense will take effect. Only if he takes the medicine again will he fall asleep again and the effect of the medicine will be dormant.
Pei Ji felt that it had been a long time since he had seen his bright eyes. In fact, he often dreamed about the scene in his previous life when He Zhiliao saw his head falling to the ground on the guillotine.
He couldn't scream or shout, he could only cry silently, and then fainted after vomiting blood.
Every time he woke up, Pei Ji would be covered in cold sweat and trembling with fear, as if he had crawled out of ice water. At this time, only when he felt He Zhiliao's breath would he feel that he was alive.
He finally understood why he always avoided those bright and flawless eyes.
Because he was afraid that those beautiful eyes would never look at him again.
late at night.
Pei Ji woke up from his sleep again. This was the tenth night he had trouble sleeping, and also the tenth day He Zhiliao had to endure the pain.
He touched the other's cheek lovingly, wiped away the water that had fallen on his face, and then entered the dark room as he had done a few days ago, venting his anger on the person inside with extreme torture.
But today, he really couldn't hold on any longer. He came out of the dark room and turned to another place.
A small house where the tablet of Liu Qingxuan is placed.
It was he who accompanied Xiao Zhiliao to personally welcome her in.
Pei Ji knelt on the ground and kowtowed devoutly in front of the tablet. Tears flowed from his tightly closed eyes. He begged in a hoarse voice, "Mother, please help me, save him. If you are still alive, please bless him. I really..."
The incoherent and suppressed sobbing echoed in the house, as if the most devout believer was praying with blood, and every drop of it stirred emotions.
It was all his fault. If he had ignored him from the beginning like he did in his previous life, not letting outsiders know his importance, not letting him come into contact with all kinds of people, as long as he lived safely in the Pei Mansion, as long as he lived well...
He shouldn't have been so stupid as to drag him into this again.
dark place.
Yuan Rong and Lin Feng looked at each other, and they both saw seriousness in each other's eyes. Lin Feng said, "Everyone feels sorry for Zheng Jun. Yanhua has been working hard to develop an antidote for the bone-eroding incense..."
"That thief hasn't been found yet. How despicable!" Yuan Rong was furious. "I'm going to torture him again. I don't believe I can't find out!"
"Um."
The Pei Mansion has been very quiet recently. Everyone is doing what they can, and Emperor An finally sent someone to deliver the antidote!
Pei Ji took the antidote and rushed to He Zhiliao. He wanted to feed the antidote into him all at once, but he hesitated inexplicably.
He ignored the obstruction and poured one of the bottles of antidote into his mouth, quietly waiting for the time. During this time, everyone stared at his expression, and the court doctor and Yuanhua took his pulse back and forth. Only after half an hour passed and there was no problem did he dare to let He Zhiliao take it.
The poison of bone-eroding incense only needs a wound as small as a needle tip, but if you want to detoxify it, you need a bottle of powder.
After feeding him the antidote and water, a group of people gathered around the bed and looked at him expectantly, even though they knew he wouldn't wake up immediately and that he still needed to slowly open his eyes.
He really opened his eyes.
"...Jun..."
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The author has something to say: His body is quite special, which will be explained later. [Let me see][Let me see][Let me see]
Liu Qingxuan: I have no other choice. My son-in-law has come to me for help. It’s so pitiful… [melted][melted][melted]
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