I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 433 No motive! No doubt about it! The last night of the five-day period

May 27th, early morning.

Bao Zheng set up a court in the front hall of the Nanjing Imperial College. The first person summoned was Zhou Yuan's guard captain, Peng Sheng, the head of the infantry division of the bodyguard.

In court.

Bao Zheng sat in the upper seat, and Su Liang sat in the side seat.

Below stood the Imperial Guard soldiers and four record-writers.

Vice Prime Ministers Wu Yu and Zhang Maoze were in the government office to check the reform situation in the entire city of Nanjing.

Peng Sheng came to the court hall with a depressed look on his face and spoke before Bao Zheng could ask.

"Bao Xueshi, Su Sijian, it's... it's my fault, it's my fault. If I could insist on following Zhou Zhengyan, something like this wouldn't happen that day..."

"boom!"

After all, as long as Zhou Yuan has an accident, whether it is a man-made murder or drowning, it will be a serious negligence on his part as a guard and he will be severely punished.

Compared to the local officials in Nanjing, Bao Zheng and Su Liang must have believed in Peng Sheng's words more.

Han Chong, the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture, walked in.

"Then, on the evening of May 6th and 7th, Zhou Zhengyan and Xu Jiancheng met privately. I don't know what they talked about, but I heard Zhou Zhengyan praise the implementation of the Sanshefa in Nanjing Imperial College. It is so good that the entire Song Dynasty should learn from the Nanjing Imperial College..."

"Zhou Zhengyan has been patrolling the countryside incognito without revealing his identity. We arrived in Nanjing on the first day of May, and then checked into the Imperial College on the afternoon of May 6th."

This matter seems to have nothing to do with Shi Qing.

Shi Qing, the general judge of Yingtian Mansion, went home to visit relatives in early April. He contracted a fever on the way and was not expected to return to Nanjing until early June. The city of Nanjing was now under the sole control of Han Chong.

Bao Zheng began to ask questions.

"I would like to ask you, when did you escort Zhou Zhengyan enter Nanjing? When did you move into the Imperial College? How many people know your identity?"

Han Chong's answer was very sincere, and neither Bao Zheng nor Su Liang found any problems.

"Bao Xueshi and Su Sijian, as the magistrate of Yingtian Prefecture, I knew that officials were inspecting Yingtian Prefecture in early March. However, this was normal, and I was not afraid of checking, so I didn't pay attention to it. I didn't know that the patrolman was Zhou Zhengyan. . It wasn’t until Zhang Tiju and Xu Jiancheng informed the officials that Zhou Zhengyan had drowned that I...I...I didn’t know that he had come to Nanjing..."

Peng Sheng answered truthfully, and there was no deviation from the information Bao Zheng and Su Liang had learned elsewhere.

Lean slightly.

"Peng Sheng, when I ask questions, you only need to answer. If I don't ask, you are not allowed to speak. Do you understand?"

"Yes...yes, I will obey the order!" Peng Sheng said. At this time, Peng Sheng has not been dismissed from his official position. He is still the head of the infantry army of the bodyguard.

When Bao Zheng asked Han Chong, Han Chong also looked aggrieved.

Followed by.

immediately.

Bao Zheng slapped the gavel on the table.

"On the afternoon of May 6, we went to the Imperial College. Only then did Xu Huizhi, the Prime Minister of the Imperial College of Nanjing, know that we had arrived in Nanjing. As far as I know, other officials did not know Zhou Zhengyan's identity..."

……

The third person summoned to court was Xu Huizhi, the Prime Minister of the Imperial Academy of Nanjing.

Xu Huizhi and Zhou Yuan had known each other for nearly ten years, and they often exchanged letters. Zhou Yuan also mentioned Xu Huizhi in front of Su Liang.

"Bao Xueshi, Su Sijian, Zixiong and I have been close friends for nearly ten years. I never thought that something would happen to him. On the evening of May 6th and May 7th, the two of us got together to talk about something. There were also private matters. From the reform of the Song Dynasty to the current scholars and students, they also talked about each other's children. During both times, they separated when they were close to each other. During this period, there was nothing unusual about Zhou Zhengyan. He also said that his son was married. When the time comes, I must go to Bianjing to congratulate him and bring him some good books..."

……

After the interrogation of these three people was completed, Bao Zheng and Su Liang began to interrogate the local officials below, as well as all the teachers and students in the Nanjing Imperial College who had had contact with Zhou Yuan.

The answers given by the interviewees all felt very real and no problems could be found.

……

late at night.

The back hall of Yingtianfu government office.

Wu Yu, Bao Zheng, Su Liang, and Zhang Maoze gathered together to share information with each other about the investigation.

If Zhou Yuan was really murdered, the murderer would definitely have a murderous motive.

The most likely motive for this is that Zhou Yuan found some problems during his inspection.

But now.

Wu Yu and the others did not find anything suspicious except for the crossed-out sentence "Ask the canal how clear it is, so that there is a source of running water."

If there were no suspicious circumstances, Zhou Yuan's drowning might have been a pure accident.

After Wu Yu and the others have finished reading the content summarized today. Wu Yu said: "Bao Xueshi, Jingming, according to the current progress, in three days, we can interrogate all the officials involved in Nanjing City and verify the status of all reforms in Nanjing City."

"If after five days, we still can't find anything unusual or a motive for Zhou Zhengyan's murder, we will close the case immediately, lift the ban on Nanjing City, and then announce that Zhou Zhengyan died by accidental drowning. How about that?"

Bao Zheng and Su Liang both nodded.

The closure of Nanjing was to consolidate the imperial power, and now the goal has been achieved.

If the city is closed for a long time, Nanjing's commerce will be greatly affected, which will be of no benefit to the court, local officials, and local people.

It is impossible for Su Liang and others to continue investigating for a long time. This five-day period is very reasonable.

……

The next day, the verification was as usual.

Wu Yu, Bao Zheng, Su Liang, and Zhang Maoze are all extremely serious and meticulous people.

They cooperated with each other and learned more and more, but no clues were found.

Three days later.

After the interrogation was over, the reform situation in Nanjing City was also carefully investigated. The diagnosis results of the prisoner, Zhou Yuan's handwritten documents, and the investigation results of multiple government officials were all screened.

The result is more and more likely that Zhou Yuan lost his footing and drowned, and died accidentally.

The next two days.

Wu Yu and the other four will act separately to check for any gaps. If no problems are found, it means that Zhou Yuan drowned accidentally and had nothing to do with others.

On the fifth day, late at night.

In a room full of paperwork.

Wu Yu, Bao Zheng, Su Liang, and Zhang Mao gathered together again to share each other's investigation results.

The final result was that Zhou Yuan actually lost his footing and drowned.

Wu Yudao: "We have been checking for several days, and it's time to end. Tomorrow I will announce the lifting of the ban on Nanjing City and inform the people of Nanjing that Zhou Zhengyan accidentally slipped and drowned. Then, we will return to Beijing!"

Hearing this, Su Liang frowned.

He looked at the two crossed-out verses that had been placed in front of the table, still feeling suspicious.

Bao Zheng looked at Su Liang and said, "Jing Ming, you have to believe in the evidence."

Su Liang nodded.

"I understand that if no doubts are found, it can only prove that Zhou Zhengyan was unlucky and slipped and drowned!"

"Okay, everyone has been very tired these past few days. Let's have a good rest tonight and sleep more tomorrow morning."

After saying that, Wu Yu stood up and walked towards the bedroom.

In the past few days, everyone was very tired from the continuous and intense inspections.

Zhang Mao left immediately, and Bao Zheng patted Su Liang on the shoulder and left.

Su Liang was the only one left in the house.

At this time.

Sun Sheng came over and said: "Boss, do you want to rest now? I have ordered people to boil hot water. Do you want to wash your feet to relieve fatigue, or take a bath? Or do you want to eat some food?"

Su Liang thought for a while and looked at the two crossed-out lines of the poem.

"I still have no intention of giving up. Just give me one more night. If there are no new discoveries, I will believe that Brother Zixiong really drowned!"

Su Liang looked at the pile of documents surrounding him, and he was ready to flip through them again.

Sun Sheng did not dare to persuade him any more and immediately withdrew.

Su Liang rubbed his face with both hands to make himself more awake, then sat in front of a pile of documents and began to read through them again.

Wow! Wow!
Paper clattered.

Messages flashed across Su Liang's eyes.

At this moment, Su Liang actually believed that Zhou Yuan drowned accidentally.

But before announcing the final decision.

He still wanted to look for more doubts, otherwise he wouldn't be able to sleep even if he went back to the house.

His mind was filled with those two crossed-out verses, and he always felt that they were the evidence Zhou Yuan left for him.

(End of this chapter)