ebookland Chapter 114 Assassination
Chapter 114 Assassination
The Ministry of Justice's prison is a mess.
Xie Ping walked over slowly, followed by a dozen guards. The guards were holding arm-sized weights on several seriously imprisoned prisoners, and the same was true for the people in the other cells.
The jailers standing by and unable to intervene looked surprised and puzzled. Some of them were brave enough to gossip and directly asked, "What's going on?"
"Is this a disdain for our prison's defense?"
"Isn't this another slap in the face of Master Zhang? How can we tolerate this..."
Before the discussion ended, the panicked guards separated and stood on both sides. Zhang Zhe walked in from outside, put his hands behind his back, looked behind him and nodded. After a while, he heard a voice from outside, "Master Xie is here."
Zhang Zhe said to the guards waiting in the cell, "Keep a close watch on him and make sure nothing goes wrong."
The guards responded, looking at Lord Zhang walking quickly in the distance. They thought that only those few people could be welcomed by the Lord in person. Sure enough, they heard someone say, "Lord Xie is here." The jailers were surprised and suddenly realized that this Lord Xie, as the Minister of Justice, was the first time to come to the prison. He didn't come before, not because of his busy official duties, nor because he disliked the dirty cells, but because Lord Xie's range of activities was limited to a few places, such as the imperial city and his own home. After all, in his cognition, these familiar places are safe and reliable. He would not see or go to unfamiliar places and unfamiliar people.
After all, a person who often encounters assassinations will be particularly careful about his life.
In the past few years, he almost died several times. Later, he was relieved after strengthening the guards. Because her official position was getting higher and higher, the guards became more and more strict. He even did not go back to mourn his mother. As a confidant, Zhang Zhe naturally understood Mr. Xie's habits. Although everything in the cell was under his control, it was always more satisfying to pretend to be strict.
Xie Ping did not go into the cell, but just stood outside with his hands in his pockets, like an idle old man, looking around the cell.
"Don't you think I can trust you? The Ministry of Justice is guarded as strictly as my home. There is nothing to worry about." He said disdainfully.
"Even if there are accomplices, we can just lure them over here. Wouldn't that be better?"
Zhang Zhe only asked the guards to disperse a little. These were only on the surface. It was unknown how many orders he had given to those in the dark.
It can be said that this cell is now so solid that not even a fly can fly in.
If Nian Shilan could kill his accomplices, then perhaps only a god could do that.
The furnishings in the room were very simple, completely different from Hu Gongye, who was born into a noble family and was a person who paid attention to food, clothing and daily necessities. Lord Xie, who had risen from the lower class, still maintained his mouse-like habits and did not care much about the environment. In fact, the dirtier it was, the more satisfied and relaxed he was.
Xie Ping sat down on the chair and said, "Bring it up."
Zhang Zhe gave an order, and then he heard the sound of footsteps and chains. Four guards came in carrying a prison cage. Compared with the tall and heavy cage, the man in the prison car looked even thinner and inconspicuous.
The sound of the cage falling to the ground made the person inside the cage raise his head. He seemed very curious about the environment outside.
Xie Ping said, "Nian Shilan, even if you have been wronged, you cannot kill people at will. But as long as you confess the real murderer, I can let you die quickly. Otherwise, I will add the punishment of slicing."
He looked relaxed, and his tone was casual yet somewhat friendly, just like a neighbor on the street, and what he said was truly sincere.
It is definitely impossible to survive after doing such a thing. The only thing you can do is to reduce the suffering while staying alive.
Nian Shilan shook his head, trying to part his hair so that he could see Xie Ping clearly. "Why are you the one in charge here?"
Xie Ping smiled and said, "I am the boss here, I have the final say, don't worry."
Nian Shilan said with a sigh, "I am the real murderer. Why don't you believe me? Isn't the blood feud enough?"
Xie Ping didn't get angry and continued to nod, "I believe it. I believe it no matter what. But they didn't say you were the real murderer. You hired someone to kill someone to avenge your family. Everyone believes it."
Nian Shilan kept looking at him, as if examining the truthfulness of his words.
Xie Ping continued, "I think you may have misunderstood. What I want to ask now is, who killed Lu Gongqing." He even raised his hand and made a stabbing gesture, "Who is it? Tell me."
Nian Shilan added, "The outlaws, the bandits, and Lu Gongqing all died together on the spot. You saw it, too. Why don't you believe it?"
Xie Ping said, "It's not that we don't believe it, but the evidence is obviously insufficient." He sighed again and said, "Didn't you tell him what happened?"
Zhang Zhe said, "I only care about the interrogation method."
"Look at you, you are doing this job. No, hurry up and tell your brother what's going on."
Zhang Zhe agreed and recounted all the doubts about Lu Gongqing's autopsy.
Xie Ping put his hands on the armrests of the chair and said helplessly and sincerely, "Brother, look, this doesn't matter if we don't believe you, right? It's really because we can't explain ourselves if we haven't caught the murderer."
Nian Shilan looked puzzled and said, "But, this...is not me. If you put it that way, I don't know. I'm not very familiar with them. I don't know who has better martial arts and who has worse martial arts. I just gave all the money of my Nian family to them."
Xie Ping said, "Is that so? I am indeed not familiar with selling my life for money. What should I do? Otherwise, I won't be able to explain this matter." He paced back and forth in the prison with the image of a small person, as if there was someone above him in the prison who was pressuring him to do his job. He completely forgot that he was the highest official here.
After walking for a while, he stopped and looked at Nian Shilan again and again. "How about this, you just tell me how old those people are, what their accents are, and what they look like. It doesn't matter if you don't know their names, just describing their appearance is also fine."
"Then we'll send someone to look for it."
At this point he took another step forward and said, "Brother, how about this? Let's think of this way. They said that you killed Lord Lu, and you confessed that they were unjust. How about this? Just now you also said that they are all murderers and bandits, so they must be harmful to one side. Please tell me their details, and I will let the government investigate privately. If it is found that they are guilty, then they will be detained for nothing. If they are not guilty, they are bandits and will definitely harass the people. Appeal to the court and let the court suppress the bandits."
"Brother, do you think this is feasible?"
Zhang Zhe used torture to interrogate, while Xie Ping used verbal interrogation. Both are murderous knives...
"When Nian Shilan heard him say this, he didn't answer, but kept looking at him." But he didn't refuse either.
"You should know that my Ministry of Justice has more than 130 kinds of punishments. Even if you keep silent about them, they will be imposed on you one by one. How long can you hold out in the end?"
Silence is equivalent to consent. Xie Ping smiled and said, "That means you agree."
"My throat is damaged and I can't speak. You take the paper and pen and I'll write."
"Brother, is this right?"
There was a rustling sound in the room, and Nian Shilan stretched out his thin hands.
Xie Ping put his hand on Nian Shilan's shoulder and said, "Is this right? Look, isn't this matter resolved?"
The guards around him were nervous and ready to step forward to protect him. Xie Ping looked at Nian Shilan, who he could slap away with a single blow, and felt that his subordinates were skinny and... scholars. He shook his head and said, "Come on, untie him."
The guard hesitantly said "Sir." Xie Ping waved his hand nonchalantly and said "It's okay. How can you write if you don't untie it? Don't treat a scholar like this."
Zhang Zhe also nodded to the guard. Ever since Nian Shilan was arrested, he had always been under his control and posed no threat at all. Even his nails were specially trimmed by his orders.
The chains in the cage rattled. Xie Ping stood at the door and looked at the guards. Zhang Zhe walked up and said, "I wonder if he is describing those people from the Ironclad Army."
Xie Ping said, "The image of that person is engraved in my bones. If they really did it, they would definitely know him as long as they had contact with Nian Shilan. We don't necessarily want to catch them, we just want to confirm whether it is them through his description."
Zhang Zhe asked, "Will you start after you finish writing?" This could be considered a way to give him a good rest.
Xie Ping stroked his beard and said, "Of course not. I'm not a scholar, so why would I talk about morality?"
Xie Ping's answer was straightforward and Zhang Zhe was not surprised. Xie Ping himself was not a kind and moral person, and this was not the first time such a thing had happened. As an official of the Ministry of Justice, he often extorted officials who had made mistakes because of his good relationship with Hu Gongye, saying that he was helping to say good things. Once the money was obtained, it was normal for him to turn his back on them. In the end, even some people who had not made any mistakes were inevitably extorted.
Nowadays, how many people in the Ministry of Justice have nightmares every night.
After the guards over there asked for instructions, Xie Ping looked over and saw that the chains in the prison car had been removed. Nian Shilan was placed under the pillar of the prison car. Looking at the paper and pen placed in front of him, he reached out to pick them up. It seemed that he had not written for a long time, and the hand holding the pen was trembling slightly.
Xie Ping said, "Don't worry, let's write slowly." He walked over and watched Nian Shilan slowly write down a word. Even though his hands were shaking, the words were written particularly beautifully.
Xie Ping said, "Good calligraphy, good calligraphy, not bad."
Nian Shilan continued writing. Xie Ping turned his head to look at him, wanting to see what people he was writing about and the real people. With just a few strokes, the images of these characters appeared on the paper. Xie Ping praised again, "Not bad, not bad."
Nian Shilan put down the pen after writing for a while and said, "But Sir, there is one more thing." He said softly, "What?" Xie Ping was carefully looking at the names and portraits of the people he had written. When he heard him ask this question, he moved his eyes from the paper to his face. He leaned forward and was about to ask again, "What is it?" As soon as he finished speaking, he heard Zhang Zhe shout, "Sir, be careful!"
Xie Ping's heart trembled and he stepped back hastily, but he was still a step too late. Nian Shilan had already jumped up, grabbed his arm, and was about to bite his throat.
The hardest part of a person's body is not the nails, but the teeth. "Xie Ping, the one I want to kill from the beginning to the end is not Lu Gongqing but you!"
Nian Shilan's eyes were red, and he spoke sternly, like a devil from hell demanding his life. During this period, he had endured all kinds of torture, and had lost his body, just for this moment.
"Haha, I finally got you."
I finally meet you, Xie Ping who is always among the crowd, Xie Ping who never leaves Beijing, and Xie Ping who no one can approach.
Zhang Zhe couldn't uncover the secret and couldn't get the answer he wanted. He couldn't behead him in Mo City, so he could only take him to the capital. After confirming again and again that he was a weak scholar, a little lamb that was completely harmless, he finally brought him in front of Xie Ping.
Nian Shilan's hand tightly grasped the iron railing of the prison van. His not-so-strong arm felt that Xie Ping was trembling. He moved closer to Xie Ping's face, saw the face distorted by fear, and heard the snoring in his throat due to excessive repression. Just one bite, just one bite away, and he would be able to bite him down.
However, he heard a loud bang and someone kicked him on the head. Nian Shilan's open mouth fell on Xie Ping's arm. The huge impact made his eyes go black and blood immediately gushed out of his mouth and nose.
Just one step, just one step, his teeth had bitten through his clothes, he just needed to bite down hard, but the next moment the impact came, and Nian Shilan was like a broken straw, with a click, countless swords and knives came in a whirlwind.
Blood and flesh flew everywhere. The guards who rushed in didn't know why and stepped on the broken limbs and flesh on the ground... The bloody scene made them turn pale. They surrounded Xie Ping in three layers.
All this happened so fast, as if in the blink of an eye, so fast that Xie Ping held his arm and angrily said, "Kill him, kill him."
Zhang Zhe and others were anxious to see his injuries.
Fortunately, he only took a bite. Before he could finish his words, he suddenly raised the knife in his hand and slashed at Xie Ping.
No way, no way, could it be...
This sudden change caught everyone present off guard. All they heard was Xie Ping's scream, and a piece of flesh with the robe on it fell to the ground, and blood gushed out like a fountain.
Zhang Zhe's knife had already fallen to the ground, and he quickly covered Xie Ping's broken arm with both hands.
"My lord, the teeth are poisonous," he shouted.
All the guards standing outside rushed out together, and the noise was so loud that it could shake off a layer of dust on the cell wall. The jailers were surprised and frightened, wondering what kind of villain could hurt people amidst all the layers of defense.
And with the troops from the Ministry of Justice outside dispatched, the entire Shangjing is about to face another storm.
There were people and horses constantly running on the street, and the noise of people, cars and horses was so noisy that it could stop the conversations of people in the house.
In early winter, the shop windows were closed and the servants who were gathering information kept going upstairs to report the latest news.
"Minister Xie was assassinated."
This news was commonplace to them, but the next words surprised them all. "Master Xie is injured."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the room stood up with expressions of surprise. Such an injury was a rare thing, and the lady of the zither also stopped playing the zither.
Someone asked, "How is the injury?"
As night fell, the towering imperial palace cast a shadow under the sunlight, dimming people's vision. However, Hu Gongye's duty room was brightly lit, with several huge luminous pearls making the room as bright as day.
Hu Gongye was sitting on his usual tiger-skin chair. He was not busy with government affairs at this time, but leaning on the chair as if he had fallen asleep.
There were seven or eight officials sitting in the room, their expressions frozen and they kept silent, not daring to breathe.
The door was opened and someone came in hurriedly. The officials sitting in the room all turned around to see, "What's going on?"
The man saluted and said, "I don't have any kung fu. I just tested the poison on myself. My teeth contain a deadly poison."
Is there such a method in the world?
"Well, it's not surprising. It is said that a long time ago, Daliang had a method that used this method. They used their own poisons and were not afraid of poisons. They enjoyed driving away snakes." Hu Gongye's voice slowly said, "It is commonly known as dying and coming back to life."
It's a life-and-death struggle, which shows how terrible this method is.
"How long does it take to become like this?" asked an official.
"At least four years."
Four years, such a long time, I don’t know how they managed to survive, something is not right, several officials stood up at the same time.
Hu Gongye had already said at this time, "He is not the real Nian Shilan."
You have to know that when Nian Shi was in trouble, that was when Lu Gongqing had just started dealing with them. As a member of Nian Shi, she had been outstanding in studying since childhood. Why would she spend four years cultivating poison in her body? The only reason was that she was not Nian Shilan.
He just used Nian Shilan's identity to carry out the assassination.
"At that time, I heard that Nian Shi did have a descendant who was on the run, but there was no news about him, and no one ever talked about him. Nian Shi had a grudge against Lu Gongqing, so it was the most reasonable thing for Nian Shi to assassinate him."
"Besides, he is nominally a scholar and is powerless. It is understandable that Lord Xie has let down his guard. As long as he survives Lord Zhang's punishment, he will be sent to the capital, and Lord Xie will personally interrogate him. All of this is part of the plan."
An official said with a gloomy look.
"So his ultimate goal was not to assassinate Lord Lu, but Lord Xie. If Lord Lu had not died, he would have lost his chance. But once Lord Lu died, his chance came."
Hu Gongye sat up straight and said, "You really put a lot of effort into the assassination. Not bad, not bad." He praised the moment generously, not because he didn't care about Mr. Xie, but because he admired the moment as an opponent. "The man who killed Lu Gongqing was really worth it. Killing one person also resulted in another going to jail and another being injured."
"Well, how is Mr. Xie's injury?"