Start with detective Li Yuanfang

Chapter 401 High-profile when committing the crime, low-key after the crime

"Yuan Zhen has worked hard!"

Ying'er flew back first, and another day later, Guo Yuanzhen and his men returned to Luoyang City in a hurry. Li Yan came to Dingding Gate to greet them.

"Lao Liulang welcomes you personally, I will be honored to wait! Haha!"

After all, Guo Yuanzhen was young and in good spirits. He hadn't seen him in half a year, but he was darker, with a hearty laugh, and a powerful physique. He seemed to be working hard.

Many of the inner guards under his command looked haggard, and some of them even looked sick, saluting feebly: "Leader Li Ge!"

In this day and age, traveling to and from Lingnan is really exhausting. Li Yan said sincerely: "I will always keep in mind your contributions. The family has already hosted a banquet, please!"

Everyone became excited immediately, and Guo Yuanzhen even laughed and said, "It's the most comfortable thing to do things for Liu Lang. Liu Lang will never treat us badly! Let's go, have a full meal tonight, and don't go home until you're drunk!"

When he was full of wine and food, Li Yan asked Xu Da to prepare high-quality cloth tea cakes, and sent them home to the inner guards, leaving behind Guo Yuanzhen: "How about the land of Lingnan?"

Guo Yuanzhen raised his eyebrows, patted his chest, and said proudly: "Although it's hot enough, I didn't get sick. It's far from being as terrible as others say!"

Li Yan thought to himself that in history, as a Jinshi, you worked there for more than ten years as a county lieutenant, and you still enjoyed it very much. There are not many people like this.

Under normal circumstances, the governors of more than [-] prefectures in the world are all third-rank purple robes according to their grades, but the governors of remote Xiazhou are not necessarily willing to let the sixth-rank officials in Beijing go. There is no doubt that Lingnan It's the place I don't want to go the most, not one of them.

Of course, there are not no talents there, such as Guo Yuanzhen in the original history, who was recognized by Wu Zetian's eyes, and can be regarded as the most representative scholar from a poor family.

But special cases are special cases. The real situation is that there are often vacancies for state and county officials in Lingnan. Many officials are unwilling to take office wherever they are sent.

Guo Yuanzhen also just mentioned this point, frowning and said: "The officials in Lingnan prefecture and county are seriously short of staff, and those in office are also procrastinating and pushing each other. If it weren't for their inefficiency, I wouldn't have delayed my return for so long. Look, Liulang. Have you gone through the case file?"

Li Yan took out the case file that Yinger had brought before: "I have read the information you have collected, and the biggest suspect at present is the 'Wu Wang' who was called in the courtyard that night, that is, Wu Guogong."

"In the fourth year of Yonghui, Wu Guogong was hanged and killed in Chang'an Palace. All four of his sons were underage, and they were all exiled to Lingnan. Four of his daughters were also punished to guard Xianling."

"About this son of Duke Wu, have you had any contact with him?"

Guo Yuanzhen said: "I have been in touch with those criminals who were exiled in Lingnan. I used the identity of internal guards, but I asked all the criminals I could see. It is not an exaggeration to say that I know more about those criminals than the Ministry of Criminal Justice. Prisoner."

Li Yan praised: "In your opinion, how about Wu Guogong's fourth son?"

Guo Yuanzhen said: "Wu Guogong's eldest son is forbearing and ambitious, the second son died of a disease in Lingnan, the third son is smart and calm, and is quite interested in my inner guard, and the fourth son is an ordinary young gentleman."

This summary is brief enough, and Li Yan secretly nodded at Guo Yuanzhen's understanding of people.

In history, Li Ke's four sons were pardoned only during the reign of Wu Zetian Guangzhai, and returned to Luoyang to attack the noble.

The eldest son, Li Qianli, was always very submissive during Wu Zetian's power, and made auspicious offerings several times. However, seeing that Wu Zetian was old, he brazenly participated in the Shenlong Revolution and overthrew Wu Zhou's rule.

After Li Xian came to power, he became king and held a high position, but he was addicted to coup d'état. Later, he followed Prince Li Xian to launch the Jinglong coup, which failed and was killed.

This kind of experience is almost exactly the same as that of Li Sichong, the son of Li Jingxuan in history. First, the Shenlong Revolution supported the restoration and was promoted to a high position. Then he followed Prince Li Xian's coup and wanted to resume his glory, which ended in tragedy.

Li Ke's third son was also quite capable later on. He successively served as the governor of the six states in the Wu Zhou Dynasty, and together with his brother Li Qianli put down rebellions in remote areas.

Li Ke's fourth son was relatively mediocre and did nothing.

Although Guo Yuanzhen's evaluation in a few words is not completely accurate, it roughly corresponds to the lives of several people. Li Yan is more at ease to accept his opinion: "Then what do these three sons think of the former Zhao Guogong?"

Guo Yuanzhen said: "Hate is definitely hated, it can be seen that they are quite calm about the death of the Changsun family, but if it is said that they take revenge on the Changsun family, let alone whether they have the courage, I don't think they have the ability. "

Li Yan nodded slightly: "What about the other clansmen of the King of Wu? His subordinates of the palace were also exiled a lot. What happened to those people?"

Guo Yuanzhen said: "Most of them died of illness. The land of south of the Five Ridges is okay for strong young people like me, but it is hot and humid, but it is not suitable for the elderly at all. There are mosquito bites, snakes and ants infested, It's really hard."

Li Yan's eyes flickered: "It was reported by the cable that before his death, Duke Wu scolded the former Duke Zhao, saying that he was evil, that the clan had spirits, and that the family was extinct not long ago. Is there such a thing?"

Guo Yuanzhen recalled it carefully, then shook his head: "I've never heard such words..."

This passage is very famous. Li Ke, the king of Wu, scolded before he died, saying that Changsun Wuji was stealing authority and harming goodness. If it is gone, it can be said that the retribution is not good.

But this passage actually came from a wild history novel, and was later quoted in "Zizhi Tongjian", so the authenticity can be imagined.

No way, the ancients especially liked this kind of prophecy. For example, when Shangguan Wan'er was pregnant, she had a fortune telling that "you should give birth to a precious son, and the country will weigh it." , as the occupier said, this passage is collected in the prose of the later dynasty, not official history, and its authenticity is doubtful.

Another example is that Li Chunfeng said that after the Three Dynasties of the Tang Dynasty, the Wu family rose and died. This passage comes from unofficial history.

To put it bluntly, they shoot the arrow first, then draw the target, and after the incident, they make up the prophecy of the year and declare the destiny.

Since Guo Yuanzhen didn't hear that Li Ke scolded this back then, it means that the possibility of reprimanding him face to face is unlikely, Li Yan frowned slightly: "Yuan Zhen, have you ever thought about it, if the motive of this case is really to avenge Wu Guogong, then Forget it, the two sides do have a big enmity, but if not, why did the murderer plant it on him?"

Guo Yuanzhen was a little confused: "Because Wu Guogong has the most status and hates the eldest grandson Fuji the most. Isn't it logical to plant the blame on him?"

Li Yandao: "This is a normal thought, but the question is, has the case been suppressed afterwards?"

Guo Yuanzhen nodded, and then recalled: "I understand Liu Lang's intentions. The murderer chose Wu Guogong to frame him. It is reasonable in terms of motives, but once these two are involved, the matter will become a big mess!"

Li Yandao: "That's right, that's why the lawsuit broke out and the files were burned."

"If the newly appointed officials notice the details of the case, once they report it to the 'former Zhao Guogong' and 'Wu Guogong', then the late emperor will definitely investigate the case. Stay safe."

"And it is precisely this point that also reveals that the murderer does not want this case to be paid attention to. This also conflicts with the details of King Wu's ghost's revenge. When the crime was committed, it was high-profile and low-key after the crime. Isn't this a contradiction? "

Guo Yuanzhen was in admiration: "As expected of Liu Lang, he can analyze so much with only small details. So, did some kind of accident happen during the crime, which led to the murderer having to make various cover-ups afterwards? "

Li Yan was a little helpless: "The above is still at the stage of guessing. The time is too long. We can only start with logical analysis. If there are more clues, it doesn't have to be like this..."

Guo Yuanzhen hesitated and said: "Liu Lang, I also heard a theory, but it is not easy to deal with, and it has something to do with the empress dowager's relatives."

Li Yandao: "But it doesn't matter."

Guo Yuanzhen said: "I heard that the Empress Dowager's elder brother, Wu Yuanshuang, is the father of Zhou Guogong Wu Chengsi. His death is somewhat related to this case."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Li Yan's eyes lit up, and hurriedly persuaded him: "Liulang, that is Zhou Guogong after all, should we be a little more indirect when we ask, otherwise the Empress Dowager will lose face and give the ministers an excuse to attack."

Li Yan laughed: "You just came back, I'm afraid you don't know that the current Wu family's children are no longer the Wu's children before you went, and the empress dowager has also lost a little face..."

"Did they commit another crime?"

Guo Yuanzhen thought about what Wu Yizong committed before, and knew that these Wu clan sons were all trash, so it was not surprising that these guys did evil again, but he still said: "Blood is thicker than water, and their blood relationship with the Queen Mother cannot be parted after all. .”

Li Yan thought that this is what Empress Wu hates the most now, because the blood is predestined, even if she makes a gesture of disgust and rejection, every bad thing Wu's son does will be counted as a big part on her head.

Thinking that the next part would be his favorite part, he first recounted the previous fraud case and treason: "The two arrested Wu's sons will be executed in the Ministry of Criminal Justice. I will supervise, and you will come and see?"

Guo Yuanzhen was both shocked and amused, and said with a smile: "How can such a good thing be done without me, let's go together!"

The two rested for a while, and rushed to the imperial city when the time came.

Not surprisingly, Qiu Shenji arrived first, rain or shine, saw Guo Yuanzhen and said with a smile, "Yuan Zhen has come back from Lingnan? He's in good spirits, you're lucky!"

Guo Yuanzhen looked at Qiu Shenji's scarlet robe with some envy: "Isn't it what I have always wanted to be able to watch the execution with Qiu Jiyi?"

Qiu Shenji puffed out his stomach and let out a hearty laugh.

The officials of the Ministry of Punishment looked at them in fear, and really didn't understand how such a mentality was cultivated.

After all, this is the killing of the emperor's relatives and the immediate family members of the Empress Dowager. Even though Wu's son has long been discredited in the eyes of the nobles, for officials like them, it is still difficult to erase the class awe in their hearts.

Even the executioner's posture of waving the torture tools is no longer so high-spirited, rather cautious.

This kind of dawdling that cannot be cut with a sharp knife made Wu Chengye and Wu Yuanzong even more frightened, and they wailed endlessly until Li Yan thoughtfully pointed out.

It is no longer a stone, no longer a thin needle, but its own strength is bursting out, flying out like an invisible sword energy.

In front of everyone, but no one could notice, only felt a gust of cold wind blowing, quietly piercing Erwu's neck.

Wu Yuanzong fell first, followed by Wu Chengye.

[Do not cut nameless (take effect)]

[Wu Yuanzong's highest attribute is family background, failed to extract family background attribute points]

[Do not cut nameless (take effect)]

[Wu Chengye's highest attribute is family background, successfully extracting 1 point of family background attribute]

……

The executioner didn't know that his performance was robbed again, and finally broke the awe of the emperor's family and relatives, and cut him down with a single knife.

Looking at the falling heads and the blood splattered everywhere, even Guo Yuanzhen, who was smiling just now, fell silent and didn't say a word for a while.

Until Li Yan led him and Qiu Shenji away from the Ministry of Criminal Justice, he couldn't hold back at all with a leisurely expectation: "Once born and second time acquaintance, if the son of Wu's family does evil again, and his relatives ask and beheaded too much, then he will be punished when he executes the sentence again." will become more proficient.”

(End of this chapter)