There is a god in the sky

Chapter 335 Revenge 4

Xiao Ji and the Jinwu Guards lingered on the streets all night until dawn broke and the Jinwu Guards dispersed, at which point he returned to the yamen.

He intended to send someone back to the mansion to see if Shen Lan had returned, but when he opened the door, he saw Shen Lan lying on his desk.

The sound of the door opening startled Shen Lan awake.

She looked up and, in the dim light of dawn, saw Xiao Ji dressed in official robes. Somewhat disbelievingly, she asked, "Why have you come at this hour, sir?"

Xiao Ji brushed the dew off his clothes and asked calmly, "Why don't you go home?"

Shen Lan was embarrassed to admit that she went out to do bad things in the middle of the night and was afraid of being caught when she got home.

Moreover, she knew Xiao Ji would return to the yamen, so she came here to wait for him.

Xiao Ji took an outer garment from the screen and draped it over her shoulders, saying, "It's a bit chilly in the early morning; you'll catch a cold if you sleep like this."

"The adults' hands were also very cold."

Xiao Ji's hand touched Shen Lan's chin, and Shen Lan touched his slightly damp sleeve and asked, "Are you cold, sir?"

To be honest, Xiao Ji did feel a bit cold, but that was outside.

"It's alright. If you're sleepy, go to the back room and get some more sleep."

Shen Lan pulled out a chair for him and asked him to sit down. "No need. You must be very curious about what I did last night, right? Aren't you going to ask?"

Silent and on high alert, they awaited their fate.

"Is Liu Engui dead?" he asked the only question.

"Not at the moment, I need him to be a witness."

"So what are you planning to do next? Once you've taken action against him, there's no going back halfway."

This is why Shen Lan has never taken any action against Liu Engui; he is the most crucial figure.

Catching or killing him is not difficult; the difficult part is what to do next.

Shen Lan took out a petition from her bosom. "This is what I just wrote. Please take a look, sir, and offer your comments."

Xiao Ji took it with both hands and read it carefully, word by word.

This is a complaint filed by Shen Lan as the plaintiff. She clearly and concisely recounts what happened in Guli Town eleven years ago, including the ins and outs of the matter.

The whole incident stemmed from greed. Because of a prescription, the lives of all the people in a small town were lost, which is a horrifying thing in the eyes of many people.

But Xiao Ji knew that such a complaint could not be brought to court.

"Throughout history, no one has ever successfully sued the emperor or the crown prince."

Shen Lan understood his meaning, so she laid out a new sheet of white paper and wrote another complaint.

She didn't mention the Emperor and the Crown Prince, avoiding the fact that the prescription ultimately ended up in the Emperor's hands, and instead named the Tong family as the defendant.

It was all instigated by Tong Xiuqing to do Liu Engui's thing.

After Xiao Ji finished writing, he picked up his pen and added a sentence after her, making the matter more logical.

Shen Lan asked in surprise, "You mean, make Tong Yiwen the ultimate beneficiary?"

"Yes, don't you think it's very convincing?"

Indeed, setting aside his status in the literary world, many of his deeds are actually quite suspicious, and anyone who has seen him should be shocked by his appearance.

If this is attributed to the efficacy of the Shen family's prescription, then it makes sense.

"In this way, we might be able to use the power of the imperial court and public opinion to find out the secrets hidden behind Tong Yiwen."

"This secret may be related to the Crown Prince. Even if you don't mention the Crown Prince, this case will bring him to the forefront."

Xiao Ji glanced at the sky; it was time for him to go to court.

He instructed Shen Lan, "Let's discuss this further when I get back. Don't act impulsively."

Seeing that his hair was messy, Shen Lan combed it again, put his official hat on him, and saw him out.

Xiao Ji kept turning back, and for some reason, he felt that Shen Lan was exceptionally gentle today.

He imagined it as a wife seeing her husband off at the door, and a smile unconsciously crept onto his face.

He thought that once the case was over, he would tell his parents that he wanted to marry Shen Lan.

This may sound unbelievable, but as long as you enjoy it, worldly prejudices don't matter.

Unsurprisingly, the focus of today's morning court session was on Liu Engui's disappearance.

"Liu Qing has been kidnapped? Who is so audacious?" The emperor asked in surprise.

The security situation in Bianjing City is becoming increasingly worrying; even a high-ranking official of the imperial court has been kidnapped.

The Prefect of Jingzhao stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, as far as I know, Lord Liu first received a secret letter inviting him to meet at the City God Temple at midnight, and only allowing him to go alone. After that, he wandered around and took someone away to an unknown place."

Originally, the Jingzhao Prefecture had sent officials to protect them, but the other party was too cautious. For some reason, Lord Liu followed their instructions and didn't allow the officials to accompany them. Afterwards, they couldn't find them anywhere.

The emperor tapped his fingers lightly on the dragon throne and asked curiously, "What reason did that thief use to make Minister Liu willingly follow him?"

Not only was the emperor puzzled, but the court officials were also baffled.

But it was obvious that it must have been a major event that threatened Liu Engui's life or the life and death of the Liu family.

The fact that an official can be threatened in this way is most likely related to his actions in the officialdom.

Xiao Ji stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, based on my experience in investigating cases, if we want to find Lord Liu, we can first check whether he has offended anyone recently, or whether anything major has happened to the Liu family, so as to identify the perpetrator."

There is nothing wrong with this idea.

Minister Tong retorted, “Vice Minister Liu is my right-hand man. I know him best. He is magnanimous, kind and peaceful. He never flatters anyone, so how could he offend anyone?”

In my humble opinion, perhaps some thieves intend to kidnap Minister Liu to extort gold or silver, or to exchange it for something else.”

Xiao Ji directly refuted him: "Lord Tong, if this were the case, the Liu family should have received a letter demanding money by now, but they haven't."

The ministers felt that Xiao Ji's words made more sense.

Minister Tong said with a smile, "Chief Judge Xiao, why not hand this case over to you? I'm sure you can find Vice Minister Liu in the shortest amount of time."

Xiao Ji did not back down. He asked the emperor, "If Your Majesty feels that the Jingzhao Prefecture handled this case improperly and needs to transfer it to the Judicial Commissioner, I am willing to take on this case."

But as I said before, if we want to find out who the kidnappers are, we must start with the Liu family. I hope the entire Liu family will cooperate with my investigation.

The emperor did not immediately agree.

He observed the expressions on everyone's faces and wondered: Who promoted Liu Engui?

As an emperor, he was most wary of his ministers forming cliques and engaging in corrupt practices. He knew that many ministers in the court had close ties with the Tong family and were also the crown prince's allies.

He hadn't taken it seriously before, after all, the crown prince was his chosen successor.

But this time the crown prince had crossed him. If it weren't for the power behind the crown prince, he wouldn't have only confined him for three months.

"What did Minister Chen say?" he asked the Prefect of Jingzhao.

Chen Da hurriedly replied, "Your subject will do his utmost to search for Vice Minister Liu and strive to rescue him from this predicament as soon as possible."

No matter which government department handles this case, even if the person is not found in the end, they will not be convicted of a crime because of it.

"Alright, then let's hand it over to the Jingzhao Prefecture for now. The Jinwu Guard will cooperate with the search and send people to guard the Liu residence to prevent the thieves from harming anyone else."

Chen Da and Huangfu Ning, the General of the Golden Guard, received their orders at the same time.

"Dong dong dong..." The sound of drums entered the main hall.

"What is this sound?"

"It sounds like the Dengwen Drum has been sounded; someone is beating the Dengwen Drum!"

The civil and military officials were immediately in an uproar.

The Dengwen Drum was established to help people seek justice, but few people would risk striking it.

When Xiao Ji saw the imperial guards rushing in, his heart skipped a beat, and he had a bad feeling.