Datang: Hiding private money, exposed by Xiao Sizi

"The only people who knew about this were a few workers at the time, me and the minister. It's normal that Master Yuan didn't know about it."

Shen Lian nodded slightly.

He thought for a moment and asked, "Were you there when they were digging the cracked soil?!"

Zhang Cheng shook his head. "The Minister was worried that the news would spread and cause unrest, so he asked me to take charge of the situation, and then he led people to deal with it as soon as possible, so I was not there at the time."

Shen Lian frowned and said, "In other words, you only heard Qin He say that the crack was very shallow?!"

Zhang Cheng nodded.

Deshun saw Shen Lian frowning slightly, and something moved in his heart. He whispered, "Sir Shen, do you suspect Qin He was lying at that time?"

Shen Lian shook his head. "He may not have lied, but he may have lied. To know the details, we need to collect clues from various sources."

Shen Lian's words were ambiguous, but Deshun felt that Shen Lian in front of him had already determined the truth of the matter in his heart.

However, Shen Lian didn't want to say it, or didn't want to announce it now.

He has followed Li Shimin for many years. As the saying goes, "Serving the emperor is like serving a tiger." Over the years, he has always been trusted by Li Shimin. Although he is very smart, he is also very perceptive.

Therefore, no matter what he thought in his heart, he would not reveal it. Instead, he would help Shen Lian conceal it and support Shen Lian.

Deshun sighed, "It's a pity that Qin He has passed away. I'm afraid we will never know the truth."

Shen Lian glanced at Deshun and smiled slightly.

He also sighed, "It's a pity indeed. If only I had taken over this case three years ago."

After saying that, he looked at Zhang Cheng again and asked, "What about the third strange thing?"

"The third item..."

Speaking of this matter, Zhang Cheng's face turned pale before he even opened his mouth.

He subconsciously clenched his fists and pursed his lips slightly. Even though more than ten years had passed, he still seemed to feel frightened when he thought about it.

Watching Zhang Cheng's expression change, Shen Lian's conflicted expression also became deeper.

He could see how nervous and panicked Zhang Cheng was at this moment.

Clearly more than ten years have passed, but Zhang Cheng still feels nervous and panicked when he recalls this incident.

It can be seen what kind of psychological trauma this incident has caused to Zhang Cheng.

This made Shen Lian even more curious.

What happened back then that made Zhang Cheng behave like this?

Zhang Cheng took a few deep breaths and finally calmed down.

He looked at Shen Lian and said, "Back then, just a few days after we discovered the crack, someone suddenly went crazy."

"go Ape?"

Shen Lian raised his eyebrows.

Zhang Cheng said: "This man was a worker from the Ministry of Works. One night, he went out to relieve himself and passed by the unfinished Temple of Heaven when he suddenly heard some noises from inside the Temple of Heaven."

"So, he walked over curiously, and then he found...there was no one at the Temple of Heaven, but he heard many voices and the sounds of tools working."

"This frightened him so much that he ran back immediately. The next day, he told others about it, but they all thought he was talking nonsense. After all, the Temple of Heaven doesn't have any construction going on at night, so how could there be any construction noise?"

"Moreover, the Temple of Heaven under construction is not far from the warehouse where the building materials are stored. There are always guards guarding the door of the warehouse. They specifically asked the guards if they heard any noise last night, but the guards said there was no sound at all."

"This made others think that this person was deliberately talking nonsense to attract other people's attention, but this worker insisted that he really heard the sound and wanted to confirm it!!"

"After that, he found a few good co-workers and went to the Temple of Heaven together at night. However, they heard nothing for three consecutive days. The co-workers were very tired from working every day and were unwilling to fool around with him."

"He also thought he might have really been hallucinating. Then, a few days later, he went to the bathroom at night and heard the sound again when he passed by the Temple of Heaven. This time, he yelled and said there must be a sound. He quickly ran to the guards guarding the storehouse and asked them if they heard the sound."

"The guards thought the man was just fooling around and they didn't hear anything. But the sound of construction seemed to be right in front of them. This made the worker shudder. He felt that something was working at night."

"And he felt terrified when he thought about the construction going on during the day and other things being done at night, and it seemed like he was the only one who could see it."

"In the following days, he seemed to be possessed by a demon, and became thinner and thinner. One day, just after dark, when a group of workers had just finished their meal and passed by the Temple of Heaven, he heard the voice again. But when everyone around him looked at him with strange eyes, he suddenly collapsed and went crazy."

"later……"

Zhang Cheng took a deep breath and said, "The next day, he was found dead next to the Temple of Heaven. He ate rocks and died."

As soon as these words were spoken.

Deshun got goosebumps all of a sudden.

He couldn't help but brush off the dust on his body, looking at the Temple of Heaven with an uncertain gaze, and subconsciously moved closer to Shen Lian.

Yuan Tiangang and the others also had slightly changed expressions.

When Shen Lian heard this, his brain started working rapidly for some reason.

In a reasonable way, to guess the possible reasons for this incident.

Yuan Tiangang suddenly frowned and asked, "Why haven't I heard about this? You guys died, why didn't you tell me?"

Zhang Cheng looked at Yuan Tiangang and said, "This is the order of the Minister. The Minister thinks that this worker is crazy and talking nonsense for no reason. There is no need to delay the construction of the Temple of Heaven because of such a small matter."

"After all, compared to his life, if the construction period is delayed, everyone will be punished."

Yuan Tiangang frowned.

Shen Lian sneered, "The person who died was an insignificant worker, so it's a trivial matter that doesn't need to be publicized?"

Zhang Cheng said awkwardly, "I didn't agree at the time. After all, a person died. Even if he was a worker, it was still a life. But the Minister did not allow it, and I did not dare to disobey."

Deshun sneered, "Although it is normal for someone to die in the palace, it is also normal for palace maids and eunuchs to suddenly disappear."

"But this is normal because we know the cause of death for every person who died. But you are so different. You built the Temple of Heaven for His Majesty, and people died. You just covered up the news without even knowing the cause. Even His Majesty didn't know!!"

"Do you know that you have committed the crime of deceiving the emperor?!"

Zhang Cheng's face changed, and he said hurriedly: "Your subordinate, I admit my guilt."

Deshun waved his robe and said coldly: "It must be that Qin He is dead, otherwise we would have to capture him."

These words were filled with endless murderous intent, making Du Chuke and others feel extremely pressured.

However, Deshun turned to look at Shen Lian. At that moment, his fierce look turned into a smile, and he said, "Sir Shen, do you think Dali Temple should take over this matter?!"

After hearing Desheng's words, Yuan Tiangang and others also looked at Shen Lian.

Shen Lian pondered for a moment, and then he said, "Since it is a life, and the cause of death is so strange, then the Dali Temple will naturally investigate."

As he spoke, he glanced at Zhang Cheng and the others, and said calmly: "In my Dali Temple, there is a rule that human life is as important as heaven. For me, for any Dali Temple staff, nothing is more important than human life!!"

"Even if this is just someone without any status or position!!"

As soon as these words came out, Zhang Cheng's face turned pale.

He hurriedly said: "Your subordinate, I don't want to hide it, but I dare not disobey the order! !"

Shen Lian looked at Zhang Cheng and said, "No matter what the reason is, a life has been covered up." "I will investigate. If Lord Zhang was not involved in this and was forced to conceal it due to pressure from his superiors, then the responsibility for Lord Zhang will not be too great."

"But if Lord Zhang deliberately concealed something and misled my investigation, then Lord Zhang, you should know the consequences."

Zhang Cheng's face turned pale, and he quickly said: "I understand, Lord Shen, don't worry, I won't hide anything!!"

Shen Lian looked at Zhao Heng and the other ten people and said, "It's the same with you. The Temple of Heaven concerns His Majesty and the royal family. If you conceal anything, the consequences will be more serious than Zhang Cheng's."

These eunuchs and guards were all shocked. They shook their heads quickly and said that they dared not hide anything.

Shen Lian listened to their words and then nodded slowly.

He said: "In this case, I have some questions to ask you guys."

As he spoke, Shen Lian looked at Zhang Cheng first and said, "You said that the worker died from eating stones. Do you have any evidence?"

Zhang Cheng said hurriedly, "When we found his body the next day, his mouth was full of stones."

"Also, his teeth were covered with stone evil, but because the stone was hard, several of his teeth were broken. It looked very scary."

Shen Lian narrowed his eyes, "Are there any other wounds on his body?"

"This……"

Zhang Cheng hesitated a little and said, "I don't know about Xiaguan."

"I don't know?"

"In fact, after I found the body, I didn't have time to examine it carefully before the Minister of State called me to block the news. The rest of the matter was handled by the Minister of State, so I didn't actually take a close look at the body."

Shen Lian nodded slightly.

Now, he doesn't need to say anything.

Desheng and his companions also noticed that something was wrong with Qin He.

No matter how you look at it, Qin He seems to be deliberately not wanting the truth to be discovered.

Deshun whispered, "Master Shen, this man... was it Qin He who killed him?"

Shen Lian shook his head and said, "If he killed him, why would he let the body be discovered?"

"Moreover, if he had killed her, he would have been more fully prepared. Zhang Cheng wouldn't have seen it, and he wouldn't have covered it up so abruptly."

Deshun thought about it and then nodded.

As the Minister of Works, Qin He was the highest-ranking official in the Temple of Heaven when it was being built.

If he wanted to kill someone, it would not be difficult at all, and he could even cover it up with an accident.

Instead of using this method of eating stones to commit crimes, which would be considered weird by everyone and could easily spread.

"What exactly happened? Did he really die from eating rocks? Also, were those sounds he heard real or fake?"

Shen Lian narrowed his eyes and did not answer Deshun.

Instead, he continued to ask Zhang Cheng, "What happened next? Did anything weird happen?"

Zhang Cheng shook his head. "After this incident, the Shangshu ordered that no one should go near the Temple of Heaven at night. Even if they need to go to the toilet, they must stay near where they live."

"In addition, the Minister also asked the guards to guard the Temple of Heaven and prevent anyone from approaching. After that, nothing like this happened again."

Shen Lian nodded slightly.

He looked at Du Chuke and asked, "Master Du, which part of the Temple of Heaven was renovated ten years ago?"

Du Chuke had already read the files. He pointed in a direction and said, "It's that area. The stones there are cracked a lot, and the palace is leaking and dilapidated."

Shen Lian's eyes flashed, and suddenly a bright light flashed in his mind.

Many clues have been connected.

Now, all that’s missing is the most crucial piece of evidence.

If everything is really as he expected...

Shen Lian glanced at everyone present with a deep gaze.

The truth is very interesting.

At this time, Fatty Zhang returned from the right side hall.

He said to Shen Lian: "Sir Shen, no traces of any mechanism were found in the side hall. It may be that I am not clear about my ability, but it is likely that there is no problem with the warehouse."

Shen Lian nodded slightly.

Fatty Zhang's words made Shen Lian's speculation even more certain.

He said, "I understand. You've worked hard. Take a rest first."

Fatty Zhang nodded and said no more.

Deshun saw Fatty Zhang coming out and asked Shen Lian, "Master Shen, what happened?"

Shen Lian smiled and said, "Some results."

"Oh?!"

Shen Lian's words immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Even the usually peaceful Yuan Tiangang asked curiously, "What did Lord Shen find out?"

Shen Lian showed a mysterious smile, "Please allow me to keep you in suspense. Next, we have to wait for someone. When he comes back, the truth of the matter may be revealed."

"Waiting for someone?"

Everyone was confused.

Suddenly, there was a sound of footsteps outside, and then Lu Shisan was seen walking quickly towards them.

Seeing Lu Shisan returning, Shen Lian's eyes lit up slightly.

Lu Shisan bowed to Shen Lian: "Master Shen."

Shen Lian said: "Let's talk about it aside."

The two avoided others and came to the side of the Temple of Heaven.

Shen Lian said: "How is it? Have you found out what happened to Qin He?"

Lu Shisan nodded. "Qin He is the Minister of Industry. Even if he resigned and retired, his every move was secretly monitored by the shadow guards. Therefore, his affairs were recorded by the shadow guards, and I found them quickly."

When Shen Lian heard this, a smile immediately appeared on his face. He asked, "How is it?"

When Shen Lian heard this, a smile immediately appeared on his face. He asked, "How is it?"

(End of this chapter)