worthless [rebirth]

I don't know who reported it to the officials. When Jiang Chi and the others went out, besides the Xiao family's nursing home, there were also a large number of official servants. The torches that Chen Ling saw outside the window were brought by those official servants.As soon as Jiang Chi opened the door, a bright torch was immediately held up in front of them, and the flames almost burned his hair.

Quickly tilting his head back, narrowly avoiding the torch, Jiang Chi blocked Chen Ling behind him, narrowing his sharp eyes slightly, not showing off his anger.Looking coldly at Xiao Yu standing in front of the officers and soldiers guarding the courtyard, and another middle-aged man who looked about forty and wearing an official uniform beside him, he smiled coldly and said, "Hey! Master Xiao What is the meaning of this?"

"Nephew, don't worry, a thief broke into the mansion in the middle of the night and a person died. I just asked Mr. Wang to investigate the case." Xiao Yu smiled kindly, but his eyes were full of calculations.

Jiang Chi said "Oh?", took a step forward, and said with a smile, "What? Investigate the case and investigate the case. Why do you surround my house in the middle of the night, or..." After a pause, he looked at Xiao Xiao. Wang: "Does the head of the family mean that the person was killed by my two brothers?"

"My nephew really wronged the old man by saying that!" Xiao Yu cried out, sighed helplessly, and said, "You two are new to our house, and I should treat you well, but now there are people's lives, and Cao Xun was not the one who died. No one knows that he is very popular in Chaozhou. If the news of his death spreads tomorrow, I will not be able to explain to the people. Don’t blame me, it’s only because someone saw that your brothers were in love with each other. The last two people Cao Xun met before his death, now he died unexpectedly... You two have to bear more burden."

"Died by accident?" Jiang Chi reached out to snatch the torch of the official who almost burned him just now.

"You..." The officer took a step back and looked at Jiang Chi with a wary look.

Jiang Chi gave Wang Jie'an a cold look.

"Give it to him." Wang Jiean said lightly.

"Yes, my lord." The officer promised obediently, and handed the torch to Jiang Chi.

"Heh—" Glancing meaningfully at Wang Jie'an, Jiang Chi sneered, thinking, although this Wang Jie'an is only a prefect, he can hold his breath better than many second-rank officials in the court. It's a pity, it's so good His psychological quality is not used on the right path.

Holding the torch, Jiang Chi walked to the board where the corpse was placed in the center of the crowd, and put the torch on Cao Xun's face.Under the light of the fire, Cao Xun's face, which had already lost all color, was as pale as paper, and his lips were black and blue, as if he had died of poison.Maybe it was because the poison was so painful that after death, his expression was ferocious, his facial features were somewhat displaced, and the protruding eye sockets were terrifying.

Chen Ling followed Jiang Chi, and subconsciously took a step back when he saw the tragic situation of Cao Xun's death, then turned to Jiang Chi and said, "Why is this happening? Wasn't he still fine three hours ago?"

"It's up to me to ask you this question. Three hours ago someone saw him leaving your room with a wine jug, and he died of poison not long after." Wang Anzhi waved to the officials, gesturing for them The body can be carried away.

"Even if he was poisoned, it can't prove that we poisoned him. Brother Cao brought the wine himself, and we drank it too." Chen Ling argued, seeing that Jiang Chi was accused of murder, but he didn't refute it. Chen Ling didn't understand what he meant, but Chen Ling, who had always said something, didn't want to be wronged like this.

Wang Anzhi glanced at Chu Ling lightly, and said: "Did I wrong you? I will know later that Wu Zuo found wine containing arsenic in Cao Qi's mouth. If arsenic is found in your room, the evidence is conclusive." .” As he spoke, Wang Anzhi called several officials to search the house.

Jiang Chi smiled and said, "There's no need to search."

"Wait." Wang Anzhi raised his hand to signal the officer to pause, walked up to Jiang Chi, and said, "Why, you are confident that they can't find any evidence, so you still want to quibble?"

"On the contrary." Jiang Chi shook his head, "They must be able to find arsenic, and even wine mixed with arsenic, but that doesn't mean much."

"Haha." Wang Anzhi laughed as if hearing some joke, and said, "I've only heard that people don't shed tears when they don't see the coffin, but I don't know there are people who still don't shed tears when they see the coffin! Go in and search!"

"Haven't your lord heard of the saying 'If you want to commit a crime, there is no excuse for it'?" Jiang Chi said calmly, without any sign of panic.

Wang Anzhi "hummed", walked back to Xiao Yu's side with his hands behind his back, and waited quietly for the search results.

Thinking that the salute was still in the room, Chen Ling was just a little angry at first, but now he became anxious. If it was just money, it would be fine. The key point is that the night clothes that Jiang Chi had just changed were still in the room, and it would be troublesome if they were found out.

As if seeing Chen Ling's worry, Jiang Chi leaned into his ear and whispered, "Don't worry, nothing will happen."

Looking at Jiang Chi with suspicion, Chen Ling finally chose to listen to the other party, and put his heart back a little.Jiang Chi had indeed lied to him many times, but when he thought about it carefully, that person seemed to be doing it for his own good, so today he said he was fine, so he was really fine, anyway, Jiang Chi is the emperor, it is really impossible to reveal his identity to Wang Anzhi Also dare not act rashly.

Just as Chen Ling was thinking about it, several officers and soldiers who went in to search had already come out, and the one who walked in front was carrying a bundle in his hand, which was their luggage.

"My lord, we found this bundle inside." The officer said as he shook out all the contents of the bundle. Apart from the night clothes and some silver, there was also a small blue and white bottle that fell to the ground.The man picked up the vial and the night clothes from the ground, showed it to Wang Anzhi, and said, "Please look, my lord, there is not only arsenic but also a set of black clothes in the bag."

The appearance of the blue vase seemed to be expected by Wang Anzhi and Xiao Wang, but the appearance of the night clothes was obviously unknown to the two of them beforehand, so when they saw the black clothes, their expressions were a little bit different. weird.Looking at each other, they all involuntarily thought of what happened in the ancestral hall an hour ago.

When he looked at Jiang Chi again, Wang Anzhi was not as calm as before, and even had a faint murderous intent in his eyes.

With a calm face, Jiang Chi said innocently, "Look at what I do, it's not mine."

Chen Ling didn't expect that Jiang Chi would be so calm when he really lied. His acting skills are really admirable. Compared with this, it's no wonder that Jiang Chi lied to him before but he believed him credulously.Of

"Is it said in the court, you can't help but admit it!" Wang Anzhi obviously didn't believe it, he snorted coldly, ordered someone to step forward to restrain Jiang Chi and Chen Ling, and said, "Bring them back to the magistrate's office for interrogation!"

"Yes, my lord!" The officer responded, stepping up to the left and right of the two of Chen Ling's arms to escort them to the yamen.

"Let go!" Chen Ling struggled, glaring at the officials who were overbearing.

Kicking one of them to the ground, Jiang Chi said coldly, "Don't trouble everyone, we'll go by ourselves!" He took Chen Ling's hand and took a step forward.

The man clutched his stomach and got up from the ground, not daring to step forward again. The others were also afraid when they saw Jiang Chi move his hand, and looked at Jiang Chi warily with their weapons in front of them.

"Don't stop him, let him go by himself!" Wang Anzhi said, "Take the corpse and the evidence found and go back to the Yamen!"

***

The sky was already bright in summer, and the distance from the Xiao Mansion to the Yamen was not too short, so it was already bright when Jiang Chi and the others arrived at the Yamen.

Jiang Chi calculated the time in his mind. It took about half an hour to walk from the Xiao Mansion to the yamen, and from the time he found Wang Anzhi in the Xiao Family Ancestral Hall to the time when Wang Anzhi led people to surround the Broken Jade Pavilion because of Cao Xunzhi's death. The longest will not exceed an hour, that is to say, unless Wang Anzhi returns to the Zhizhou Mansion immediately after leaving the ancestral hall, and at the same time someone in the Xiao Mansion discovers that Cao Xun is dead and reports to the officials, Wang Anzhi immediately takes people back to the Xiao Mansion to search after receiving the case. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to go back and forth between Xiao Mansion and Yamen within an hour.

However, there is another explanation that sounds unbelievable but seems to be reasonable, that is, Wang Anzhi knew that Cao Xun would die a long time ago, and he never returned to the manor after leaving the ancestral hall.

But in this case, the only explanation is——Wang Anzhi and Xiao Yu jointly planned such a play, and Cao Xun was just unlucky to be that unjust dead ghost.Perhaps, even if there is no Cao Xun tonight, there will be Li Xun, Wang Xun, Zhao Xun... who will die.

Thinking of this, Jiang Chi suddenly had a bold guess about the whole matter in his heart. Maybe the people in Chaozhou were suffering, but the Chaozhou case was just a cover.

If his guess is proved to be correct in the end, then the things involved in this riot case will be too complicated. It is so complicated that he can do nothing but wait and see. It is so complicated that he can't even report his guess to Chu. Ling revealed nothing.

Chen Ling only thought that he and Jiang Chi had been involved in an ordinary murder case for no reason, and was focused on defending himself. He didn't want to be wronged and imprisoned like this.

"In the courtroom, why don't you kneel when you see me?" Wang Anzhi looked coldly at Jiang Chi and Chen Ling standing in the hall under the "upright and honest" position.

Xiao Yu was kneeling beside Jiang Chi, and next to him was Cao Xun's body.

Jiang Chi smiled lowly, turned the wrench in his hand, and said lightly: "It's not that I don't kneel, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to stand this kneeling, and I'll break your life later!"

"Bold! How can you talk to an adult!" A middle-aged man dressed like a teacher next to him said sharply. He was sitting behind a desk on the left side of the lobby, holding a brush in his hand, and he was probably taking a statement.

"Master Zhang." Wang Anzhi raised his hand to signal Master Zhang not to waste any time talking with Jiang Chi.

Master Zhang understood and lowered his head to record.

"Why, are you going to despise my court's law?" Wang Anzhi asked.

"Law?" Jiang Chi sneered: "If your lord really cares about the law, you won't conclude indiscriminately that it was my two brothers who poisoned Cao Xun. May I ask you, my lord, to let go of my Jiang country's laws again?" where?"

"Presumptuous!" Seeing that Jiang Chi not only did not kneel down, but also contradicted him, obviously ignoring him, Wang Anzhi was furious, and said, "Now that the evidence is solid, you are still quibbling!"

"My lord, you must seek justice for Cao Xun! Although he is dead now, he was a member of my family before he was alive. I can't let him die in vain!" Xiao Yu said at the right time, holding back tears.

"Come on! Let them kneel down!" Wang Anzhi ordered.

"My lord tells you to kneel, do you dare not kneel?" The clerk was obviously used to this kind of person who started to have a tougher temper than anyone else in the courtroom, and finally became obedient and kneeling after eating a few boards. He walked up behind Chen Ling with great experience and kicked him hard in the crook of the leg.

"Hmm!" Chen Ling snorted and knelt heavily.

"Zi Ling!" Jiang Chi stretched out his hand to help Chen Ling, when the yamen servant started to attack him.Pulling up Chen Ling who was on the ground, Jiang Chi turned around and kicked the man down. The hall fell into chaos immediately, and both sides started fighting.

The yamen servants were not afraid of Jiang Chi, relying on their large number of people and the fact that they had killing sticks and big knives in their hands.

Being in the royal family, although Jiang Chi practiced martial arts since he was a child, he only knew some common kung fu. After fighting with many government officials with his bare hands for a few rounds, he gradually lost the upper hand. He still had to protect Chen Ling to prevent the stick from hurting him , It didn't take long for the first blow to the shoulder, then the second blow, and the third blow to the body.

"Ah Chi... big brother." Seeing Jiang Chi being beaten, Chen Ling knew that he was being held back. He wanted Jiang Chi to leave him alone and concentrate on dealing with those yamen servants, but Jiang Chi would rather get hurt than let him go hands.

Xiao Yu got up and moved aside to avoid accidental injury, and then he just stood aside to watch the fun with Wang Anzhi.

At this time, someone took advantage of Jiang Chi's unpreparedness and smashed the two of his hands with a stick. Jiang Chi couldn't help letting go of Chen Ling because of the pain.

"Stop!" Two yamen servants grabbed Chen Ling's arms and pushed him to the ground, while another put a knife on Chen Ling's neck.No matter how stupid they were, they could still see that Chen Ling was Jiang Chi's weakness, so they caught Chen Ling first and used it to blackmail Jiang Chi.

"..." Seeing that a thin bloody gash had been drawn on Chen Ling's slender neck by the blade, Jiang Chi slowly put down his hand without looking at it.

"Kneel down!" the yamen servant said arrogantly, sniffing at Jiang Chi.

Thinking that Jiang Chi had always been superior, how had he ever been threatened and insulted like this, his face turned livid with anger, and his fists were clenched, but he couldn't get angry when Chen Ling was in the opponent's hands.Looking at Wang Anzhi coldly, he said: "Bold Wang Anzhi! Do you know who I am? You, a little prefect, dare to make me kneel down?!"

"!" Chen Ling was startled, he didn't expect Jiang Chi to reveal his identity for himself.

"..." Wang Anzhi was stunned for a moment, as if he was thinking whether Jiang Chi's words were true or not, he exchanged a glance with Xiao Yu, and said, "How could the emperor, who is thousands of miles away from the imperial capital, come to Chaozhou, a remote place? You say you are the emperor, but what evidence do you have?"

"Evidence?" Jiang Chi sneered, took out a gold medal, and said, "This...may prove my identity?"

Those yamen servants had never seen such a thing as a gold medal, and they immediately knelt down to salute in panic, "The emperor is ten thousand..."

"Wait!" Wang Anzhi stopped, and then walked down the hall to take the gold medal from Jiang Chi's hand for inspection.

"Do you understand?" Jiang Chi said.

"I see." Wang Anzhi smiled sinisterly, and returned the gold medal to Jiang Chi. He returned to his seat and shouted coldly, "Come on, take this person down quickly! Pretending to be the emperor, you still want to win it!" A fake token to fool this official! It’s just an extra crime, death is not a pity!”

Hearing Wang Anzhi say that the token was fake, the yamen servants immediately breathed a sigh of relief, became unscrupulous again, stepped forward to hold Jiang Chi down and kicked him to the ground.

"Yeah!" Jiang Chi snorted, kneeling on the ground with one leg. He straightened his back and glared at Wang Anzhi, and shouted, "Who gave you the guts, even I dare to pretend not to know you!"

"This person is roaring in the courtroom, insulting the court officials, and slapping his mouth!" Wang Anzhi said.

"Yes, my lord!" Although the executioner was afraid of Jiang Chi's eyes, but with Wang Anzhi backing him up, he still had the courage to step forward and slap Jiang Chi twice.

"Ah Chi!" Seeing Jiang Chi being slapped, Chen Ling ignored the knife still on his neck, and struggled to stop the servant.

Without Wang Anzhi's order, the yamen officers would not have dared to kill Chen Ling. Seeing that he was fighting hard, they let him go. It was expected that he would not know martial arts and would not cause any serious trouble.

As soon as he was free, Chen Ling immediately ran to Jiang Chi's side, pushed away the executioner, and knelt down to wipe the blood from the corner of Jiang Chi's mouth. Although he didn't want to admit it, the distress in his eyes could not deceive anyone. , Seeing Jiang Chi being beaten, he felt more uncomfortable than being beaten himself.

"Didn't you say it's okay and you want me to rest assured?" Chen Ling said, with a trace of complaint.

Jiang Chi smiled at him helplessly, and said, "I meant to keep you busy... and I didn't say..."

"You..." Jiang Chi was still joking at this hour, and Chen Ling choked for a moment, but felt a little more relaxed.He wasn't complaining about Jiang Chi's inability to rescue the two of them, but he was angry that Wang Anzhi didn't know gold and jade, and he was talking nonsense with his eyes open, refusing to admit Jiang Chi's identity.He was worried that Qiu Suo didn't know what happened to them at the Yuelai Inn for the time being, and he couldn't come to help him. What if Wang Anzhi wanted to convict him for murder?

"What else do you have to say now?" Seeing that the hall became quiet, Wang Anzhi said.

"It's clear that it's useless for us to say anything." Chen Ling said, "We have nothing to say."

"En." Wang Anzhi nodded, and said, "If you have nothing to say, you are pleading guilty? If that's the case, let's sign and pledge. Master Zhang!"

"Yes, my lord." Master Zhang got up, and brought a piece of paper full of confessions to Jiang Chi.

Jiang Chi only took a cursory look and saw that it recorded how he poisoned Cao Xun, how he killed Cao Xun, and how he escaped from the scene. If he didn't know that he didn't say anything, he would think that he really didn't know anything. Recruited.It wasn't until this moment that Jiang Chi confirmed his previous guess, and the other party obviously came prepared.

Chen Ling was also full of surprises. This was the first time he heard of someone handling a case like this.Knowing that signing the confession is tantamount to pleading guilty, Chen Ling looked at Jiang Chi worriedly, and said, "Ah Chi..."

"I did this alone, and it has nothing to do with Ziling." Jiang Chi said, pressing a fingerprint on the confession as he spoke.

"Isn't pleading guilty early enough to avoid the suffering of flesh and blood?" Wang Anzhi smiled with satisfaction, ordered someone to put away the confession, and said, "Come here, send this murderer to death row, and ask him to be executed after autumn. You!" He looked at Chen Ling: "Even if you didn't kill the person, but if you don't report what you know and cover up the criminal, you will be sentenced to three years in prison according to my dynasty's regulations, and you will be punished with a stick for thirty!"

"Wait a minute!" Jiang Chi stopped several yamen servants who came forward.

"What else do you want to say?" Wang Anzhi said.

Jiang Chi said: "Zi Ling took orders from me to help me hide it. This matter has nothing to do with him. Moreover, he was weak since he was a child, and he might not be able to withstand thirty spine sticks. Those thirty sticks... I'll do it." Take it for him!"

"Ah Chi!" How could Chen Ling be willing, but Jiang Chi stopped him with a look just as he was about to speak.

Wang Anzhi nodded and said, "That's all right, then you will suffer. Execution!"

"Crack!" "Crack!" "Yeah!"

The two yamen servants on the left and one on the right each held a killing stick, and smashed them alternately on Jiang Chi's back. The dull sound of the stick was mixed with Jiang Chi's muffled grunts.

"No... Ah Chi..." Chen Ling wanted to stop him, but someone held him back.

Until the thirty sticks were completely beaten, the back of Jiang Chi's blue clothes was already soaked with liquid that didn't know whether it was sweat or blood, and his lips were bitten until they turned white, and he couldn't even open his eyes.

"Take it down! Withdraw!" Wang Anzhi said.

Two clerks dragged Jiang Chi, who was in a semi-conscious state, past Chen Ling, "Ah Chi!" Chen Ling shouted.

Pulling a pale smile at Chen Ling, Jiang Chi's lips moved, as if he had said something to him.

"Let go of me!" Chen Ling struggled, finally got in front of Jiang Chi, put his ear to Jiang Chi's mouth, and said, "What did you say?"

"Fool... Didn't you always want to leave me before? If I die in prison... you will be free... Why do you still show this expression..." Jiang Chi smiled weakly: "You should be happy..."

"..." Chen Ling's body shook, but he didn't know what to answer.

"Stop the ink!" Yacha said impatiently.

Chen Ling stared blankly at Jiang Chi being taken away, but didn't recover for a moment.

"Qiu Suo will come to pick you up from the prison in two days, then you can go with him, don't worry about me, I will find my way out." These were the last words Jiang Chi said to him before he was taken away, but he What matters more is the previous sentence.

He knew that Jiang Chi was just joking, but he couldn't laugh.That's not the case, Chen Ling said silently in his heart, if Jiang Chi was really beheaded, he would indeed be free, but what would happen without Jiang Chi's freedom, Chen Ling hadn't thought about it before, but now he doesn't dare thought about it.

The author has something to say: Two-in-one, it can be regarded as compensation for broken updates