Chapter 650 The conspiracy is revealed!
Luoan, in the Supervisory Department Prison
“Ah! Ah! Ah…”
Screams were heard in the dim cell. A thin man who looked to be in his thirties was tied to the wall with his upper body naked. Beside him, two officers from the Inspectorate were executing him with a red-hot iron!
Faced with the scorching temperature of the branding iron, the prisoner fainted from the pain soon. Song Xiaode, who was sitting on a chair nearby and eating melon seeds comfortably, waved to his men beside him. After receiving the signal, the men immediately picked up a bucket of cold water and poured it on the prisoner.
The cold water immediately woke up the prisoner who had just fainted. He was shaking in pain. Seeing this, Song Xiaode showed no mercy and asked him wantonly:
"Huang Yougui, are you going to recruit him or not?"
Facing Song Xiaode's question, Huang Yougui immediately wailed:
"Sir, I really have nothing to do with the Coordination Office. I have never met anyone from them. How could I be bribed by them? Sir Song, you must understand this clearly!"
After listening to Huang Yougui's answer, Song Xiaode nodded slightly. Just when Huang Yougui felt a glimmer of hope, he only heard Song Xiaode say lightly:
"The people in the Coordination Office are really stubborn. They won't cry until they see the coffin. Someone, come and serve them well!"
"Yes!"
After hearing Song Xiaode's order, the officer beside him immediately picked up a whip, dipped it in cold water and walked over. Upon seeing this horrific scene, Huang Yougui immediately shouted with all his strength:
“Sir Song, it’s unfair! I’m really not from the Coordination Office. If I were related to the Coordination Office, our Huang family would be extinct…”
Song Xiaode seemed to have no interest in Huang Yougui's oath. He stood up and casually instructed his men beside him:
"Have some fun with him, and come back to me when he's confessed everything!"
"Please don't worry, sir!"
Upon hearing this, Song Xiaode walked out of the cell and left the prison, and came to his private residence in the north of Luoan. Although the house was not big and had only one entrance, in Luoan, where every inch of land is valuable, it cost 500 taels of silver, which was higher than the annual salary of Song Xiaode, a thousand households in the Supervisory Department.
But Song Xiaode didn't spend a penny. He got the title deed of this house and secretly kept the prostitute he had redeemed from the brothel more than a month ago here!
An incense stick later, when Song Xiaode was enjoying himself in his private residence, flirting with his mistress while resting his head on her thighs, his most capable subordinate, Li Wei, came to report.
Seeing Levi's arrival, Song Xiaode had no intention of getting up. He waved his hand lazily and said to Levi:
"What did you find during this investigation?"
Facing Song Xiaode's question, Li Wei bowed and said:
“Reporting to the captain, I have investigated the three houses, five shops and the granary under Huang Yougui’s name. According to my investigation, Huang Yougui does not seem to have any relationship with the Coordination Office. He is engaged in legitimate business…”
Hearing Li Wei's serious answer, Song Xiaode stood up helplessly, came to Li Wei, patted his shoulder and said:
"Brother, don't I know whether Huang Yougui is from the Coordination Office?"
"How can he be a coward like someone from the Coordination Office? He was so scared that he peed his pants just after I used some tricks on him! If the Coordination Office was full of people like him, would our Supervision Department still have such a headache like today?"
"How does the saying go? What crime has a common man committed? What is the use of a treasure in his possession..."
"The man is innocent, but he is guilty of possessing a treasure!" Li Wei reminded in a low voice:
"Yes, that's what I mean. You know more!"
After praising Li Wei, Song Xiaode lowered his voice and said:
"The grain price in Luoan is so expensive now. Someone from above has set his eyes on the grain in his warehouse, but this guy is ignorant and insists on asking for a high price. Since he doesn't know what's happening, don't blame us for being rude. The people in the prison will take care of the confession. You go to his house and shop to get some physical evidence. When we have the confession and the physical evidence, we will deal with him!"
Levi was a little surprised when he heard this, and said after a moment of hesitation:
“Sir, this is not a good idea. What if someone finds out…”
Seeing that Li Wei was a little afraid of wolves and tigers, Song Xiaode said with some regret:
"If you don't tell me and I don't tell anyone, how can anyone else know? Besides, the person above is very important this time, so even if there is something wrong, it will be suppressed. After the matter is settled, I will give you fifty taels of silver. Don't talk nonsense!"
After hearing what Song Xiaode said, Li Wei nodded and said:
"My Lord, I understand. I'll arrange it right away!"
Song Xiaode nodded in satisfaction after hearing this. The next second, he seemed to remember something and asked Li Wei, "How is the investigation of the case in the Ministry of War going?"
Facing Song Xiaode's question, Li Wei thought for a moment and replied:
“The case is being investigated, but there are some things I need to look up in the case library, but I don’t have the token authority…”
After Song Xiaode hesitated for a few seconds, he found a token and handed it to Li Wei, saying:
"Take my token and go to the archives to check the files. Levi, check them carefully. Whether we can show our faces in front of my uncle depends on this vote!"
Li Wei took the token with both hands respectfully and promised Song Xiaode very seriously:
"Please rest assured, my lord, I will definitely live up to your trust!"
Song Xiaode nodded slightly when he heard this, and then he started to explain:
"I'll be staying here for the next few days. If that bitch of mine asks about it, just say that I'm on an important case outside and can't come back. This bitch is the most cunning one. I don't know what my uncle likes about her and wants me to marry her. By the way, if my family needs anything, Li Wei, just buy it for them. When you go back to the government office to claim reimbursement, just say it's for office use!"
Hearing what Song Xiaode said, Li Wei nodded in agreement on the surface, but he was secretly complaining in his heart.
Because he was an insider planted in Luoan by the Coordination Office, Li Wei initially took the initiative to contact Wang for the sake of the mission. However, human nature is made of flesh and blood after all. As the two of them got along well, Li Wei also developed some feelings for Wang. He couldn't bear to drag Wang into the water, so he took the initiative to distance himself from Wang.
However, what Levi never expected was that the small spark he unintentionally ignited in Wang’s heart would burn this resentful woman with anger. Wang also saw that Levi was deliberately distancing herself from her, so she found Levi directly and told him that if he dared to play with her, she would abandon her. She would expose her affair with Levi to others and then hang herself, and no one should think about it...
Seeing that Wang wanted to perish along with him, Li Wei had to comfort Wang from both physically and mentally before he could finally stop her. He originally wanted to handle the matter coldly so that everyone could calm down and finally let the matter go, but now it seems that he will have to be entangled with Wang again!
After bidding farewell to Song Xiaode, Li Wei took his token and walked towards the file library of the Supervisory Office. The case of the Ministry of War case mentioned by Song Xiaode was about an officer of the Ministry of War who supplied inferior military rations to the front line and embezzled tens of thousands of taels of silver. When this matter was exposed, it immediately aroused the anger of the Prime Minister, who immediately ordered the Supervisory Office to intervene and investigate the matter thoroughly.
However, just when the Ministry of Justice was preparing to hand over this military officer to the Supervisory Office, this military officer committed suicide after writing a letter of confession in the prison of the Ministry of Justice!
Although the criminal was dead, the case still had to be investigated. Song Xiaode, who was eager to make a contribution, took the initiative to ask Chen Jingyu to investigate the matter, and Chen Jingyu agreed to it. Song Xiaode, who got the case, naturally handed it over to Li Wei.
According to Levi’s investigation, this matter seems far from being as simple as it seems. The perpetrators do not seem to be the only one with experience in the military department. This person was just a scapegoat. In addition, there are very few clues, which makes Levi hesitate as to whether he should continue investigating...
However, Song Xiaode's repeated urging forced Li Wei to come to the case library to look for new clues. Although Song Xiaode had promised Li Wei that he would help him become a centurion in the Supervisory Department, the operation takes time. Therefore, Li Wei could not enter the case library with his rank. However, with Song Xiaode's token of a thousand households, he could enter.
After entering the archives, Li Wei immediately found information about that person's experience in the Ministry of War. This person's name was Liu Xishan, and he was from Guanzhong. He was a Jinshi in the seventh year of Anhe. His father and three generations before him were all farmers who worked hard in the fields. After he became a Jinshi, he directly entered the Ministry of War and served as a Langzhong in the Ministry of War. What experience!
Seeing this resume, Li Wei couldn't help but feel a little confused. The Ministry of War is one of the six ministries of the imperial court and an important department of the imperial court. It is not a department that a Jinshi can enter just because he wants to. Not to mention a Jinshi from an ordinary peasant family, even a Jinshi from an official family would find it difficult to get a job in the Ministry of War.
There must be something wrong if I tell Levi about this matter directly. It is very likely that someone is secretly behind this, but who could this person be?
Realizing this problem, Li Wei pondered for a while and flipped through the file of Li Wei's wife, Mrs. Jiang. Jiang was Liu Xishan's first wife. She married Liu Xishan at the age of seventeen. She was the daughter of a merchant from the same hometown as Liu Xishan. Naturally, her family did not have the energy to move Liu Xishan to the Ministry of War...
Since Liu Xishan was not from his wife's family and was a poor scholar, and had no powerful teachers to help him, who could have arranged for him to work in the Ministry of War? To be able to arrange for a Jinshi to work in the Ministry of War, someone with such ability was not a simple person!
Levi realized that as long as he figured out this question, he would be able to find out the key behind this matter. He pondered for a long time but couldn't come up with an answer.
At this time, he was bored and looked up the information of Liu Xishan’s parents. Liu Xishan’s father, Liu Dajun, was a farmer and there was nothing to find out, but his mother, Li, was...
Looking at the records in the file, Levi's eyes briefly flashed with a gleam of light, and then he seemed to understand something, and immediately searched through the files. After a moment, he found what he wanted and murmured in a low voice:
"If that's true, then if I'm not mistaken, they are the masterminds behind Liu Xishan!"
After finding the mastermind, Levi also wanted to know more about the other party's background. However, when he flipped through the other party's file, a line of words attracted his attention. Levi couldn't help but show surprise on his face, and subconsciously murmured in a low voice:
"How could this happen? Is this a trap?"
After whispering in disbelief, Levi read the line of words carefully again. After confirming that he had not read it wrong, Levi gradually closed the file. His face became gloomy. After a moment, he put the file back to its place and walked out of the document library quickly, making up his mind!
"This matter must be reported to the higher-ups as soon as possible! We must not let the Supervisory Department's conspiracy succeed!"
・・・・・・・・・・・・・
・・・・・・・・・・・・・
In the grass in the back garden, Ye Mingsheng, who had already pinned Jinyu to the ground and was about to teach her a lesson, looked at Xiao Ruolan who suddenly appeared. His expression was initially surprised, then turned into a hint of embarrassment, and he subconsciously put on his clothes.
Watching Ye Mingsheng put on his clothes, a hint of resentment emerged in Jinyu's eyes. Ye Mingsheng hadn't "taught her a lesson" for several days. She had finally asked Ye Mingsheng out today, and was ready to play some exciting games with Ye Mingsheng and try to please him. She didn't expect that all of this was messed up by that bitch Xiao Ruolan.
Although she was very reluctant, seeing that Ye Mingsheng had already put on his clothes, Jinyu had no choice but to put on her clothes as well.
After walking out of the bush, Jinyu glanced at Xiao Ruolan standing beside her with disgust, then held Ye Mingsheng's hand and rubbed Ye Mingsheng's arm with her little rabbit, while speaking very aggrievedly:
"Master!"
Subconsciously pulling his arm out of Jinyu's hand, Ye Mingsheng said soothingly:
"Go back first and we'll talk to you in the evening!"
When Ye Mingsheng mentioned "evening", Jinyu, who was very aggrieved a second ago, suddenly showed a hint of joy in her beautiful eyes. She didn't care that Xiao Ruolan was beside her, and immediately said to Ye Mingsheng:
"My dear, I will wait for you in the courtyard tonight. You must come!"
After saying that, Jinyu bit her silver teeth and glanced at Xiao Ruolan beside her, then leaned close to Ye Mingsheng's ear and said:
“Husband, Yu’er can do what Sister Bai can do, and Yu’er can also do what Sister Bai can’t do…”
(End of this chapter)