Chapter 49 Section five

On this day, I went to the mansion to inspect the matter as usual and ordered Chen Tang to be called.Not long ago, I finally thought of a reason to release Chen Tang from prison, and now it's time to pretend to be interrogated. I remember when I met Chen Tang for the first time, he was a healthy young man. After several months in prison, he hardly changed, as if he lived like a fish in water in prison, which made me somewhat unhappy. I would rather see a prisoner The tortured prisoner, when I acquitted him in court, would offer weeping gratitude for it.Obviously the current Chen Tang can't meet my expectations. It seems that the life in prison is still too short for him.

I cleared my throat and said, "Chen Tang, are you very capable?" Fortunately, he immediately kowtowed and said: "The villain dare not. In front of Ting Weijun, the villain is really like a dog." He was so self-deprecating, somewhat beyond my expectation, I felt better, and said: "I don't think so, some time ago, a group of thieves and thieves wanted to come to Tingwei Prison to usurp you, luckily I saw the opportunity Good morning, almost all of them were shot. By the way, there is also a woman among them, who looks quite pretty, it seems that you are quite lucky."

"Before the villain was convicted, he had been serving the emperor in the palace. He never handed over knight-errants and thieves. How could someone usurp the villain? There must be a misunderstanding. Please look into it." He paused again. "Hmph, the name of the woman we shot and killed is Wan Xin, is it also a misunderstanding?" I emphasized my tone.His body trembled, and he stopped talking. I knew he couldn't pretend anymore, so I softened my tone and said, "Marquis Fu Ping thinks highly of you so much, why should you be willing to degenerate and join gangs of thieves?"

Hearing my gentle words, his eyes lit up, and he raised his face and said: "The villain is dull, sometimes it is inevitable to make friends with inhumane people, and he has failed Zhang Hou's expectations. If the villain can be as smart and wise as Ting Weijun, Those who come and go are the pillars of the country, and they will not end up in such a situation. The villain swears that if there is a chance in the future, he must follow the example of Ting Weijun, be clean and prudent, forget his family when he is in the country, and forget his private affairs when he is in public. effective."

There were tears in his eyes, and he didn't know who shed them for.His words made me sound very comfortable, although I faintly felt something was wrong.Yes, this person is a bit cruel and not honest enough.Although it was right not to make friends with bandits of rangers, those bandits of rangers lost seventy-eight out of ten of their lives for him, so there is nothing worthy of praise.Of course, he may have to follow my guidance to say this, but a true loyal and brave man cannot be unscrupulous and be led by the nose.I almost had the intention of giving up saving him, but when I remembered that Zhang Hou had told me earlier that Chen Tang was not a very good character, but his talent was indeed outstanding, I felt relieved.

So I dismissed my followers and said to Chen Tang: "How did you become enmity with Zuo Fengyi Wang Weng Ji?" Chen Tang was stunned for a moment, with righteous indignation on his face: "The villain has been wondering what happened. It turned out that the old Zhuzi was falsely accusing the villain." "Why would he falsely accuse you? Unless you have a grudge against him." I asked puzzled. He hesitated for a moment and said, "No." "If you don't tell the truth, then I can't help you. You know, although Zhang Hou mentioned you to me and asked me to save you, I can only agree to your prison affairs. If you really have grievances, I will of course I will try to clear the truth for you: but if you did collude with a group of bandits, I can't just forgive you, otherwise how can I be worthy of the emperor's trust?" I said seriously.

He subconsciously replied: "Yes, what Ting Weijun said is very true, what he said is very true." He suddenly raised his head and said decisively: "The villain is not sure, maybe he resented the villain because of that incident .” "What's the matter?" I asked. He was a little embarrassed, and said: "Of course the villain was wrong about that matter, but...but it's a bit too much for him to frame the villain as a death penalty for this. The villain's death is not a pity, even if it is for the sake of the emperor's clear law." If you don't want to be used by traitors, villains should also express their doubts in their hearts."

Seeing his hesitation, I felt very curious, and said, "Then tell me quickly." He said: "The thing is like this, the villain is from Xiaqiu County, Shanyang County, where Wang Wengji was the county magistrate at that time. Leshouli where the villain lives is adjacent to Fuguili, only an alley is separated. But Leshouli Most of the people who live in the rich and the rich are the rich. The villain is not talented. I met Le Ying, the daughter of the Le family in the rich and noble family, and they had a good impression of each other. They met and married. Le Ying's father, Le Wannian, thought the villain was poor, so he refused to promise Le Ying to the villain, but gave it to Wang Junfang, Wang Wengji's son. Although Le Ying was unwilling, it was his father's order."

I smiled: "I'm afraid this small matter is not enough for Wang Wengji to harm you?" Chen Tang said: "Ting Weijun is wise, maybe because the villain and Le Ying were married before, Wang Wengji knew about it, so he was very jealous of the villain." "Well." I mused, "So, the reason is reasonable, but between a man and a woman, love each other to the point where you can't control yourself, and there are many people in the world who are married. As for the hatred accumulated to death." I paused for a moment, stared into Chen Tang's eyes, and continued to ask: "Do you really think there is no other reason? , what I dislike the most is being deceived, just think about Tian Yannian in the previous dynasty."

I'm referring to the matter of Da Honglutian Yannian during Emperor Zhao's reign. Back then, he was highly respected by General Huo Guang because of his great achievements in supporting the new emperor. But once he was accused of embezzling 30 million yuan. Huo Guangzhao asked him if it was the truth. The truth, as long as he admits it face to face, Huo Guang will spare him.But he actually said: "I was picked up by the general, how could I do such a thing?" Huo Guang was very upset, so he said: "Well, since there is no one, I have no choice but to send officials to track it down." Embezzled 30 million, Huo Guang no longer polite, put Tian Yannian in prison, Tian Yannian was forced to commit suicide.

Chen Tang obviously understood what I meant, kowtowed and said: "Ting Weijun is really a smart official, unparalleled in the world, there is nothing to hide. The villain does have secrets, not intentionally to deceive, but also doubts in his heart. Villain At that time, Le Ying and Le Ying were not only husband and wife, but they were careless for a while, and maybe Le Ying became pregnant. According to the time calculation, she should have married into the Wang family with a pregnancy. Maybe Wang Wengji later found out that Le Ying's birth was not his son's. flesh and blood, so it is possible to resent the villain and want to put the villain to death." I nodded: "That said, the matter is clear. The bride I married is pregnant with someone else's child. It is already considered a shame and a shame for ordinary people, let alone an official family like Wang Wengji. Of course, the root cause of this matter cannot be entirely blamed on you. I can only blame Le Wannian for disliking the poor and loving the rich. I still have a question, are you colluding with a gang of thieves? Don't worry, since I promised Zhang Hou to save you, I will do my best, but if you are perfunctory Me, don't blame me for being helpless." "Ting Weijun," he said, "it's really a misunderstanding about this matter. In fact, it was the villain who saved Wang Wengji that time, and Wang Wengjien revenged himself with blood, which really made the villain very angry." I said: "Tell me the cause and effect of the matter one by one." He nodded and said: "At that time, the villain came to Chang'an with the chief planner of Shanyang County. He was going to learn the scriptures from the doctor. When he passed the Jingxing Canyon, he found that the canyon had collapsed and the road was blocked. There were many corpses of county officials lying on the road. There are also some common people and dozens of released prisoners tied up by the roadside. The villain knows the group of released prisoners. They are from Xiaqiu County, the villain’s hometown. Because of crimes, they were exiled to Yuzezhang, Dunhuang County as guards. Therefore, the villain hurriedly helped them untie the rope. These people said that a group of thieves came just now and claimed to be looking for Ma Wengyi, a villager in Shiyi County. Search nearby. When I heard this, I was very angry, thinking that I am a majestic man in the world, the emperor is holy, and a group of bandits dare to attack and kill county officials in broad daylight. Is it tolerable? I don’t want to attack the group of robbers with me, to relieve the worries of the emperor, and at the same time, I can beheaded for meritorious service. The prisoners all said they were willing, and the villain boldly discussed with the planners, distributed the weapons in the car to the prisoners, and led them We went to search together, and soon, we found traces of thieves and robbers at the Jingyan Pavilion on the nearby hillside. Just in case, I didn't immediately order the prisoner to follow me to attack the pavilion, but went to investigate by myself first, but It was accidentally discovered that the thieves had kidnapped Fuping Hou Zhang Bo and the soon-to-be appointed Zuo Fengyi Wang Weng Ji, including my former lover Le Ying. The villain knew that a hard attack was not feasible, and there were 20 or 30 thieves. Under the circumstances, I am afraid that all the hostages will die unexpectedly. But at that time, the villain suddenly discovered that Sun Meng, the leader of the bandits, had a relationship with the villain." I couldn't help but interrupt him and said: "Since that's the case, Wang Wengji doesn't count as framing you." Chen Tang said: "Mr. Tingwei didn't know something. The villain just saved his life by accident, but at that time the villain didn't know that he would become a group of robbers later. According to the "Law of Robbery": I don't know how to be a group of robbers, but communicate with him They are just like torturers. Wang Wengji wanted to take the villain's life because of this, the villain is really wronged!" I said: "What you said is not bad, what happened later?" Chen Tang said: "At that time, the villain suddenly decided to take a gamble, so he ordered the guards to lie in ambush on the hillsides on both sides and wait for the villain's order. If I didn't come out and the thieves wanted to escape, they would forcibly attack the pavilion. There is no way to take hostages into consideration. After the warning, the villain broke in alone, at this time the leader of the thieves, Sun Meng, was about to behead Zhang Hou, but the villain stopped him in time, and declared that he was willing to die instead of Zhang Hou." I shook my head: "What is the use of your method? If a thief wants to kill someone, he will at most kill you first, and then kill Zhang Hou. How can he be polite?" Chen Tang said: "Mr. Tingwei still doesn't know something. At that time, the villain was lurking aside, and he had already heard that Sun Meng said that he only robbed money and women, and didn't want to kill more people. But he must kill a sacrificial knife, otherwise it will be unlucky in the future. So Xiao That's how people decide." "No wonder Zhang Hou repeatedly told me to help you get rid of the crime before he died." I admired Chen Tang in my heart, and asked, "You know that Sun Meng owes you a favor, do you think he might spare your life?" Chen Tang said: "Actually, the villain would never dare to expect Sun Mengzhen to forgive the villain. Since he is a thief, the villain will not join him when he dies. The villain just wants to subdue him when he relaxes his vigilance. Sure enough, he turned around Recognizing the villain, he happily called the villain to join the gang. The villain pretended to agree, took advantage of his unpreparedness, grabbed his waist knife, and put it on his neck. He was frightened and immediately ordered his disciples to go out , released the hostages. His disciples left the courtyard and were immediately divided and surrounded by the guards brought by the villain. The villain also lost two fingers during the fierce battle. If the villain was colluding with a group of robbers, how could he be injured? ?” "According to your own words, you can be regarded as brave and resourceful. However, since you successfully lured a group of thieves, it is considered meritorious service. Why didn't Zhang Hou ask for credit for you after arriving in Beijing?" I was a little puzzled. "Well, this matter is complicated. It turns out that Zhang Hou went out of the customs to hunt without permission, which violated the law that Liehou is not allowed to go out without permission. If you report the villain's affairs, you will definitely hurt Zhang Hou. Besides, we At that time, we fought fiercely with bandits, but we didn't gain any advantage, because the bandits had excellent weapons, we suffered more casualties, so we can't really call it meritorious." He lowered his head and kept sighing. "Well, if everything you said is true, you are indeed wronged." I said to myself, and suddenly thought of another question, "If Wang Wengji wants to kill you, it may indeed be because of your lover. But how could he Knowing that your lover is pregnant with your child? And I heard that he is now in love with his grandson, and it doesn't look like he knows that the child is not his own son's flesh and blood." Chen Tang nodded and said: "The villain is just guessing. But at the Jingyan Pavilion, when the villain broke in and lost two fingers in the melee, Le Ying saw it and screamed in fright. I'm afraid it's this kind of concern that aroused Wang Wengji's suspicion." I looked at his pitiful appearance with torture tools, and said regretfully: "I have seen your lover before, she is really beautiful, and Wang Wengji's son is not good enough for her. That Zhuzi stutters and is stupid. He is not good looking. Strange, if he is walking towards you, the chin will already be there before he arrives." Hearing what I said, Chen Tang couldn't help laughing: "Ting Weijun's words are really vivid, too vivid, he just looks like that, and Le Ying also said that his chin is like an open drawer." I couldn't help but smile: "Her comparison is more brilliant, what a pity for such a beautiful woman." I sighed, and then got back to the topic, "So, maybe Le Ying is pregnant with your child, which is fulfilling Wang Wengji's wish. He I think as long as you get rid of him, no one will ever know who his grandson's real father is." Chen Tang said: "Tingwei Jun is really talented, the villain is so admired. But ghosts and gods don't enjoy non-kinship, even if Wang Wengji succeeds, I'm afraid it's just a bamboo basket to fetch water." I suddenly became interested: "Oh, do you also believe in ghosts and gods?"