Exclusive golden branch

Chapter 547 Tell the Truth

The bottom of the dungeon.

The guard pushed open the heavy iron door connected to the boulder, and a musty smell in the cell came out from behind the iron door.

The confidant eunuch who came to invite someone subconsciously took a step back after being choked by the breath, and raised his hand to cover his lips and nose.

As the powerful eunuch next to His Majesty, in the past, most of the places he invited people to go were the prisons of Dali Temple, and this was the first time he went to the prison in the Imperial City.

Although talking about the felons detained in the prison, the Heaven Prison is far from comparable to the Dali Temple Prison, and its status is far higher than the Dali Temple Prison.

But...the inside has a stale and musty smell, but it seems to be a dilapidated Zhuangzi that has been forgotten in some corner.

All of this... is really incompatible with its transcendent status.

"It smells bad inside." The guard who came out seemed to be used to the musty smell, raised his finger to the back of the door, and said, "Elder-in-law, please!"

A torch hung on the wall behind the door, dimly illuminating the situation inside.

A small path covered with moss and paved with slate bricks extends to the depths. At the end of the torch light, a few iron chains with the thickness of arms can be faintly seen, and the iron chains extend to the darker place inside.

Seeing this situation, the eunuch's heart skipped a beat. When he walked in with the guards carrying the lantern, he couldn't help imagining what kind of "three-headed and six-armed" monster would be chained up in his mind.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the empty dungeon. As the light of the torch faded as he walked forward, the eunuch couldn't help but feel palpitations.

Fortunately, before the light gradually ran out, the guards at the front walked to both sides of the passage and lit the torches on both sides with flints.

The flames faded away, illuminating the situation in front of him. The eunuch looked at the person in front of him with surprise in his eyes.

In front of him was a huge iron cage, and the iron chains he had seen outside just now were winding around the iron cage, wrapping around the entire iron cage densely.The people in the iron cage are also wrapped in iron chains. There are iron chains on the limbs, waist and abdomen, and the neck. The iron chains firmly tie the prisoner inside, making him unable to move.

But... the felon who is chained like this is not a monster in imagination, his half-white hair is tied up with a hemp rope, the prison clothes on his body are clean, and there is no mud in his fingers or nails .

This... is nothing. After all, he is a prisoner who was purposely imprisoned at the bottom of the dungeon. He has a special status, and His Majesty may have given him a special account.

What surprised him was people.

The person locked by layers of iron chains sat in the iron cage and looked up at him.

He has an elegant appearance, clear eyes, and sits there quietly, his brows stretched even more, and he looks more at ease than the guard with gloomy and irritable brows.

"Looking at the red robe on your body, I think you are the most useful confidant around Your Majesty." The man said, his voice was as gentle as his appearance, and he asked seriously, "Did Your Majesty ask you to come and find me?"

The clothes of the palace people in the palace have their own rules, and they are not allowed to dress indiscriminately.Most of the time, one can guess the identity of the person by looking at the robe on his body.

Such a gentle and polite person... If it weren't for the iron chains in front of him that couldn't be ignored, the eunuch felt that he was talking to the person in front of him in places such as the Imperial College and the Study, rather than in this prison full of damp and musty smell.

The eunuch was stunned for a moment, recovered his senses, suppressed the instinct in his heart to answer him, and said His Majesty's oral instructions to the person in front of him: "Your Majesty has an order, and Dali Temple Qingzhong will come to the imperial study to have an audience. .”

Under the imperial decree, even if it is a verbal order, one must kneel down and obey the order.

The guards knelt down on the ground together, but the bell sitting inside was chained and did not move. After the eunuch finished speaking, he pointed to his own legs and feet that were chained, and said with a faint smile: " Sorry! My legs and feet are broken, so I can’t kneel down.”

This is impossible.But the eunuch knew the importance, and it was not the time to worry about these trivial matters, so he said: "Okay! Our family knows. Please Zhong... Mr. Zhong, come with our family to see His Majesty!"

The guards got up to unlock the lock, Zhong Hui sat there without moving, and let them untie the chains on his body round and round, until the last layer of chains was untied, Zhong Hui suddenly said: "I don't think I will come back to this place. That's it." He said, "May I say goodbye to my cellmates?"

cellmate?The eunuch didn't react when he heard it suddenly, but when he did, he was startled: Is there another prisoner in this prison?

A guard got up and walked to a dark place beside him. After a sound of flint rubbing and a newly lit torch, the eunuch suddenly discovered that there was such an iron cage surrounded by layers of iron chains not far away.

There is also a person in the iron cage.

But compared to Zhong Hui's normal, this person seemed a little abnormal.The whole head of white hair was messy and scattered horizontally in the iron cage, and the face exposed by the messy hair was full of ditches, his eyes were half closed, and there was no sound.

With his mouth open, he seemed to be asleep, but also...dead.

The eunuch panicked when he saw it, but Tong Zhonghui, the guard beside him, was used to it.

After untying the iron chain on Zhong Hui, the guard brought Zhong Hui up on a stretcher, then looked up at the eunuch.

Seeing that the eunuch nodded indiscriminately, he carried the bell and walked to the iron cage.

Under such a big commotion, that person... still didn't make a sound or respond.

Zhong will speak, his voice is as gentle as before: "Chen Shi."

The person whose name was called finally moved and opened his eyes to look at him.

"I'm going out." Zhong Hui said, looking at the old man with white beard and hair in front of him, he said sincerely, "Your Majesty has seen me."

Chen Shi looked at him, was silent for a moment, and said: "This may not be a good thing. He allows you to tell the truth because he is not afraid anymore."

His voice was hoarse like a broken gong, as if his throat had been scalded by something.

"No problem!" Zhong Hui said, compared to the worry on Chen Shi's face, his expression was as calm as ever, "I just want to tell the truth and tell everyone, that's all."

Chen Shi raised his eyes, instead of looking at Zhong Hui's calm face, he raised his eyes to look at his eyes: the expression in those bright eyes was different from the calm face, and there was a hint of madness.

What a madman!Chen Shi sneered, and looked at Zhong Hui: "Be careful of him! Don't think he is a good person, if not... I wouldn't be imprisoned here by him."

Zhong Hui said "Yes" and said "Got it", then turned around and smiled at the bewildered eunuch: "Eunuch, let's go! I'm done saying goodbye!"

The eunuch: "...then let's go!"

The people in the prison that day were really not normal, and they didn't know what the two were talking about.

……

……

The eunuch went to the sky prison and brought back a person.

From the sky prison in the imperial city to the imperial study room, the Golden Luan Palace is the only way to avoid it. The adults who stayed in the Golden Luan Palace also saw the person who was carried back from the sky prison by the great eunuch.

He was sitting on a stretcher with his broken leg crossed beside him, just like an ordinary person sitting cross-legged.The wind blew his gray hair, revealing his true face, which was almost the same as 20 years ago except for a few wrinkles.

Looking at the face that suddenly appeared in front of his eyes: Ji Feng, who was surrounded by everyone, showed a look of astonishment, and blurted out in shock: "Zhong Hui is still alive?"

Yes!Chung will still be alive?This is the thinking of most of the old officials in the palace.

Some younger officials didn't know why, but they couldn't help asking curiously.

"Who is this clock?"

"It was my colleague back then." Ji Feng said, watching Zhong Hui who was being carried to the direction of the imperial study with a complicated expression, "He is very powerful, much better than me..."

It's always hard to admit that you're not as good as someone else.Ji Feng spoke a little awkwardly, but he still admitted: "He is the most powerful investigator I have ever seen. It took him only one year from an ordinary official in Dali Temple to Dali Temple official. There are not many old cases in the past."

One case after another, the facts are real and cannot be faked.Although such a fast promotion speed is enviable, it also makes people speechless.

Looking at this talented colleague who can be said to be crazy in investigating cases, Ji Feng was envious, and this envy reached its peak when Zhong Hui took a year to rise to the position of Minister of Dali Temple.

then……

"He served as the Minister of Dali Temple for three days. On the morning of the fourth day, he fell into the water while passing the Weishui River. Afterwards, he only found his clothes." Ji Feng said, "Although many people have questioned how he died, some people It is said that he was investigated by the murderer's relatives for revenge, and some people said that his colleagues were jealous of his promotion speed, but the matter finally came to nothing."

In 20 years, a Dali Temple Minister who only worked for three days was indeed forgotten by everyone.

Until now... Looking at Zhong Hui who suddenly appeared in front of everyone, Ji Feng had a complicated expression: "I didn't expect him to die..."

Not only did he not die, he was also taken out of the prison in the imperial city by the eunuch.

So...the disappearance of Zhonghui back then has been answered.Thinking about what happened after this matter, it seems that there is an answer.

Yi Zhong has the ability to investigate cases and find the truth, I'm afraid he knows too much!
"So, what happened at His Majesty's place?" Someone couldn't help being curious, and asked, "You actually raised the clock from the sky prison to come out to investigate the case?"

When he said this, the man couldn't help but look at Ji Feng who was being questioned by others.

It turned out that the Minister of Dali Temple mentioned by His Majesty did not refer to Mr. Ji, but Mr. Zhong.

Thinking of Ji Feng who was sent back after making a special trip, the official wanted to comfort him, so he raised his hand and patted Ji Feng on the shoulder. Thinking of Zhong Hui who had lost his leg and was imprisoned in the sky prison, he felt that this was For Ji Feng's good fortune, Zhong Hui should be the one who should sympathize.

It may not be a good thing that Dali Siqing is too powerful!

"Brother Yan!" The moment he saw Zhong Hui, An Guogong couldn't help but gasp. As a veteran of the two dynasties, he certainly remembered such a person. It's not an exaggeration to be a genius. When he disappeared and fell into the water for no reason, he still sighed with emotion, "Heaven is jealous of a talent".
I didn't expect that Zhong, who fell into the water and died, would be imprisoned at the bottom of the dungeon, and I didn't expect that Ren Zhong, who His Majesty didn't care about at all, would appear in front of everyone in such a grandiose manner.

"Grandpa, don't worry!" Ji Chongyan stepped forward to support An Guogong, watched Zhong Hui's back, and said calmly, "We just wait to go home."

An Guogong nodded and sat back down again.

"Yeah, just wait to go home." Wang San and his party not far away heard the conversation between the two, smiled and echoed, and sat down, "It has nothing to do with us."

The events of the past, whether they were the past events or the current secret events, have nothing to do with them.

……

……

The stretcher was carried into the imperial study room and put down in a mess. After putting down the stretcher, the guard and the eunuch retreated back and closed the palace door.

Zhong Hui, who was sitting cross-legged on a stretcher, raised his head to look at the emperor standing there, and said softly, "I have seen Your Majesty. It's just that my legs and feet are broken now, so I can't kneel down to Your Majesty!"

The chief eunuch went to the prison to ask for his time, and everything in the imperial study remained as usual.

The old genius doctor Yan was still lying on the ground and passed out. On one side was the Second Highness Zhao Huan who also passed out and didn't know it. Next to him was the crown prince who was kneeling and trembling.

No one asked to take these people out, the emperor looked at Zhong Hui who was sitting on a stretcher, and said, "It's okay, it's not your fault."

"Of course it's not my fault." Zhong Hui sneered, patted his legs and feet lying around him, and said with a smile, "After all, your majesty broke these legs and feet himself!"

The prince who knelt on the ground and trembled trembled even more after saying a word.

The eyelashes of Second Highness Zhao Huan who passed out beside him couldn't help trembling slightly.

The wise and powerful ruler Renjun actually has such a cruel side?Even picking and killing an opponent on the battlefield is a simple and sharp cut. How could such an iron-blooded man treat a scribe like this?
Did this scribe do something terrible?Yes!It must be so.The father is an upright and iron-blooded son, and he will not hurt others for no reason.

If it hurts someone, it must be that the other party's behavior is too heinous!

It's a pity that Zhong Hui's next words completely cut off their thoughts.

He snorted lightly, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty personally appointed you as the Minister of Dali Temple! Tell the truth, you are the Minister of Dali Temple. I have always followed the teachings of Your Majesty's imperial decree. Every word I said is the truth! How come?" Now it's His Majesty's turn, can you really tell the truth?"

"It's not that I won't let you say it," the emperor standing there said slowly, "It's not time yet!"

At that time, the Great Zhou was newly established, the throne was unstable, and the hearts of the people were in turmoil. It was not the time to tell the truth.But right now, the people's aspirations and the stable throne can be said.

"Those who achieve great things don't care about small things, I am not afraid!" The emperor said, looking at Zhong Hui, nodded and said, "You can speak now. In the public, on the streets of Chang'an City, you can talk about it! I won't Stop it, and I will never let you have an accident because you told the truth!"

I am really not afraid!Zhong Hui couldn't help sighing when he heard this, but he wasn't surprised: How could he not think of what Chen Shi could think of?
"I want to talk about old things first, and then do new things!" Looking at the messy imperial study, how could he not guess what happened?

Zhong Hui sneered: "Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven. I am afraid that I will do something first, but Your Majesty will break his promise."

The emperor's golden mouth and jade words?fart!That's what the emperor is willing to admit, it's called Jinkouyuyan, and what he doesn't want to admit...I can't jump out and speak again.

What's more, what he wanted to say was too shocking.

"Conspired with the tyrant, murdered my brother, and then poured dirty water on the tyrant backhandedly, using the banner of avenging my brother to rebel against Dajing. I didn't expect that your majesty is not only a good player on the battlefield, but also in terms of conspiracy and treachery. Don't give way!" Zhong Hui couldn't help but sigh when he said this, "I admire you!"

(End of this chapter)