Chapter 484: Defeat the Wise King
Li Leshan's head buzzed, as if a taut string had broken.
His mind was full of thoughts about how the judge could be poisoned while under the supervision of the secret guards.
He didn't care about Zhao Yi at all and walked quickly towards the secret cell where the judge was imprisoned.
The secret guards did not lock the judge in the secret cell of the Tianlao, but transferred him to the secret cell of the county governor's mansion.
This secret cell is very hidden and is located in Feng Zhihuan's study.
It was specifically used by Feng Zhihuan to deal with wealthy businessmen or common people who rebelled against him.
Li Leshan strode into the study, only to see the secret guard he had met before, wearing a black suit, standing in the shadow of Duobao Pavilion, almost blending into the shadow.
"What's going on?" Li Leshan demanded, "Didn't I tell you to take good care of him and not let anything happen to him?"
How can the virtuous king be cleared of his guilt if the Tongpan is dead?
I'm afraid rumours will spread.
The crime was nailed to the head of the wise king.
The secret guard explained, "This cell is airtight, with only one exit, the study. There are six of us, divided into groups of two, and we switch every two hours. Apart from us, no one else is allowed to come into contact with him."
"The food he ate and the water he drank were all prepared by us personally. They didn't go through anyone else's hands."
"Who knew that he ate a steamed bun at night, vomited a few mouthfuls of blood, and died a short while later."
As he spoke, the secret guard turned the jade lion placed in the Duobao Pavilion.
The wall next to Duobao Pavilion was removed.
The layout of the secret prison came into Li Leshan's sight.
It is more like a secret room than a secret cell, dividing it into two parts.
On the left side of the dark room is a cell where prisoners are held, surrounded by iron fences.
On the right side of the dark room is an interrogation room equipped with various torture instruments used for interrogating prisoners and forcing them to confess.
The secret guards stood in the aisle at the entrance of the dark room to monitor the prisoners.
Li Leshan walked into the cell, and in the dim light, he could clearly see the judge lying on the ground.
Blood flowed from the judge's eyes, ears, nostrils and mouth.
Perhaps because of the extreme pain, the fingers of his hands were twisted.
Li Leshan asked, "Where did the steamed buns come from?"
"I bought it at the restaurant." The secret guard took a steamed bun from the table in the interrogation room. "Our people brought six steamed buns. I picked one for him. Another person on duty and I ate four. This is the one left."
Li Leshan took the steamed bun, broke it in half, and smelled it.
The secret guard said: "We eat the same steamed buns as the judge. If the steamed buns are poisonous, we will also be in trouble."
Li Leshan threw the steamed bun on the ground, squatted down beside the judge, and pried open his mouth.
I saw that he had a mouthful of dirty blood in his mouth.
As his mouth was pried open, dirty blood flowed out from the corners of his mouth.
Li Leshan found that his tongue was bitten off.
Apart from this, I can't see any other way.
He withdrew his hand: "Please ask for the coroner."
"yes."
The secret guard left and invited the coroner over.
After the autopsy, the coroner told Li Leshan, "The deceased died of poisoning. The food in his stomach was poisonous."
The implication is food poisoning.
The Tongpan did not commit suicide by swallowing poison.
The secret guards' faces changed drastically, as the food had only passed through their hands.
So the person who poisoned them is among them?
Or in other words, one of the secret guards on duty tonight?
They were all royal secret guards who only followed the orders of the Northern Qi Emperor and would never betray their master.
Suddenly, they thought of something.
They had received a secret order from the Emperor of Northern Qi, asking them to assassinate Feng Zhihuan and his gang.
The name of the Tongpan was prominently listed.
However, when they were assassinating the judge, the jailer inspected the prison and found that Feng Zhihuan had been killed, which alarmed Jiang Chao and Jiang Mu.
In order to avoid any incident, they evacuated in advance.
After this assassination attempt, the prison was strictly guarded and they had no chance to kill the judge again.
Could it be that one of their people took this opportunity to kill the magistrate?
Thinking of this, the secret guard who was meeting Li Leshan waited until the coroner left before saying to Li Leshan, "Master Li, we will first examine our own people and let you know the results."
After all, it is inconvenient to reveal the secret order to assassinate local officials to Li Leshan.
Li Leshan also suspected that it was the secret guard who killed the judge.
As to whether they received secret orders from the Northern Qi Emperor or betrayed him, it is unknown.
When Li Leshan left the study, he saw Zhao Yi, Jiang Chao and Jiang Mu being stopped outside by his followers.
Zhao Yi asked, "Master Li, have you found the murderer?"
Li Leshan shook his head: "We're still investigating."
Now that the judge is dead, there is no need to keep an eye on Zhao Yi.
He said with a weary look on his face, "Your Highness, it's getting late. You should go back and rest early."
Zhao Yi seemed to want to say something, but when he saw Li Leshan's eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion, he swallowed the words back: "If you need me, just send someone to find me."
Li Leshan bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."
Zhao Yi took his men away.
Li Leshan stood there, looking at Zhao Yi's back as he left, always feeling that this matter was related to him.
He waved to his followers and ordered them to keep an eye on Zhao Yi's every move and report to him at any time if there was anything unusual.
After explaining all this, Li Leshan returned to the storage room and continued to look through the files while waiting for news from the secret guard.
Less than half an hour later, the secret guard arrived at the Jiageku and reported to Li Leshan, "Master Li, we have interrogated the two people on duty tonight, and they did not poison the Tongpan." After a pause, he expressed his suspicion, "I suspect the Tongpan hid the poison in advance."
Li Leshan tapped his fingers on the table, pondering, "Are you saying that the Tongpan was instructed by someone to betray the virtuous king at the execution ground? Was it to expose the virtuous king to public opinion and get him punished?"
The secret guard bowed: "Your Excellency is wise."
"He's going to die anyway, so why would the Tongpan be bribed?" Li Leshan wondered. "Perhaps there's another possibility. The Tongpan was coerced by the Xianwang into doing things for him. Now that the incident has been exposed, the Xianwang remains unscathed, while those who worked for him are facing confiscation of property and beheading. He harbors a grudge against the Xianwang, so he's dragging him down with him before his death."
The secret guard did not deny Li Leshan's guess, but he suspected that Zhao Yi killed the judge.
Once the wise king loses power.
Zhao Yi is the vested interest.
Therefore, the secret guard answered Li Leshan's previous question: "What if someone promised the Tongpan that they would protect his relatives and let him betray the virtuous king?"
Li Leshan ordered the secret guard: "Go and check the relatives of the magistrate."
"Yes." The secret guard took the order and left.
According to the laws of the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Tongpan should be beheaded for the crimes he committed, and his relatives should be exiled.
The secret guards found out that the day before the judge was executed, his relatives had been exiled with the main army.
In order to prevent the relatives of the Tongpan from being rescued during the exile, they rode out of the city at full speed, caught up with the exile team, and made sure that the relatives of the Tongpan were still in the exile team before returning to Yongqing County to report to Li Leshan.
At this moment, the secret guard learned the news that the secret guard on duty that night had died of poisoning.
The poison he was poisoned with was the same as that of the Tongpan.
Before they could figure out why the secret guard died of poisoning.
The news that the judge had committed suicide by taking poison spread like wildfire.
The people all attacked the wise king.
Public opinion intensified and spread to the capital at an extremely fast speed.
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