Tang Dynasty detective

Chapter 402
"What kind of testimony?" The Minister of the Ministry of War was stunned for a moment, and asked a little puzzled.

"My lord will naturally know after a while," Li Canghai said.

The Ministry of War Minister nodded, and ordered people to take Li Canghai to the wing room, and then went to find the remaining five ministers.

There is a relatively remote room in the courtyard on the right side, and there are several soldiers standing outside the room.

After seeing Li Canghai coming, they all joined him and saluted.

Li Canghai whispered a few words to Tao Ruozhu, then pushed the door open and walked in.

There were two people in the wing room, both of them were wearing armor, and they exuded a killing spirit unique to soldiers.

One person was sitting at a round table, holding a roast chicken in his hand, and was gnawing on it, his mouth was full of oil.

The other person was lying on the bed with his legs crossed, and was holding a flagon in his hand and kept dangling.

"Who are you?" Seeing Li Canghai coming in, the man who was gnawing on the roast chicken was stunned for a moment. He casually wiped the oil stains on his mouth and asked.

Before Li Canghai could speak, the man lying on the bed drinking suddenly jumped down.

"Damn it, someone has come here, what is the reason for locking us in this room?" The man rushed to Li Canghai with a wine jug, cursing.

This person opened his mouth, and suddenly a gust of alcohol spewed out, together with saliva, all sprayed on Li Canghai's face.

Li Canghai frowned, wiped the spittle off his face with his sleeve, and said calmly, "You two don't know what's going on?"

"Damn, we have been imprisoned here since yesterday, and no one has explained to us, how do we know what's going on?" The man with the jug stared at Li Canghai, angrily .

The man who was eating the roast chicken blinked his eyes, and hurriedly stepped forward to smooth things over and said, "Talk slowly if you two have something to say, why get angry?"

"Feng Maodian, you don't have to be a damn fool here. When you were locked in, didn't you have the same angry face?" The man carrying the jug snorted displeasedly.

Feng Maodian grinned, took a bite of the roast chicken, and said slowly, "Zhao Ye, what you said is not right. Although we are imprisoned here, we have food and drink. We are not in prison, so why should we get angry?"

He paused, swallowed the meat in his mouth, and then said: "Besides, since Master Shang Shu locked us up, there must be a reason. Now, finally came a master who can tell us the reason, you should be courteous Treat each other."

The man named Zhao Ye snorted and scolded: "I just look at you as a hypocrite! Ahhh!"

Zhao Ye spat violently, stared at Li Canghai, and shouted, "Who are you? Where is Lord Shangshu? I want to see him!"

However, Feng Maodian bowed to him and saluted him very politely, and said: "My lord, please sit down, the last general Feng Maodian, what should I call you?"

The corners of Li Canghai's mouth rose slightly, and he said flatly, "Li Canghai."

"So you are Master Li? Disrespect, disrespect!" Feng Maodian was so surprised that his expression became even more respectful.

Zhao Ye was also taken aback suddenly. He looked Li Canghai up and down, and said in surprise, "Are you really Li Canghai?"

Li Canghai smiled indifferently, and said, "It's guaranteed to be true."

"The last general, Zhao Ye, is meeting Lord Li!" Zhao Ye hurriedly saluted him, and he said excitedly, "Master Li turned the tide with his own power, not only saved the Holy One, but also saved the Tang Dynasty! Your reputation has already spread throughout the world. All over the world, it is Zhao Ye's luck to see you now!"

Li Canghai had checked the information of the two of them in advance. They were General Xuanwei and General Mingwei, and they were ranked fourth in the official rank.

The two are the generals of the Shenwu Guards on the left and right.

The Shenwu Army and the Longwu Army were responsible for the emperor's east tour, but during the Luoyang Rebellion, these two teams were all outside Luoyang City, and the two of them were also outside the city.

When Di Qing went to mobilize the army with the military talisman, in order to prevent turmoil, the two were left in the barracks on guard, so they never met Li Canghai.

Li Canghai never thought that he would become so famous that even the army knew about it.

"You two generals don't need to be polite, please sit down!" Li Canghai narrowed his eyes and said.

Zhao Ye and Feng Maodian stopped arguing, and the three of them exchanged a few words of courtesy before sitting down.

"My lord, I don't know why you came here this time?" Feng Maodian asked.

"Yes, my lord, I heard that you were entrusted with a heavy task by the Holy One to investigate the rebels, why did you have time to come here?" Zhao Ye became more polite at this time, but still asked with a puzzled expression.

Li Canghai smiled calmly and said, "I am here this time because I have something to ask you two for advice."

The two looked at each other, with doubts in their eyes at the same time, and hurriedly said: "Don't dare, don't dare, if you have anything to ask, just ask, the general will know everything, and you can say everything."

Li Canghai nodded, and said: "That's very good, then the official said straight to the point. In the 28th year of Kaiyuan, the two of you were stationed in Guazhou and Anxi respectively, and served as captains, responsible for the safety of the two places. The officer is right, right?"

The two froze for a moment, glanced at each other, frowned slightly, and nodded at the same time.

"That year, Tubo took advantage of Huaihua General Qin Fu's return to Luoyang, and suddenly sent troops to occupy Guazhou and Anxi with lightning speed. However, you didn't resist at that time, didn't you?" Li Canghai looked asked calmly.

The faces of the two changed slightly, as if they had noticed something.

Feng Maodian frowned and said: "My lord, what do you mean by that? What happened back then... Your Majesty already knew that this matter was not our fault, and we were just following orders."

Li Canghai smiled, and said lightly: "Yes, back then you retreated without a fight and were taken back to the Ministry of War for trial, but the strange thing is that not only did you not get dismissed and investigated, but you were promoted step by step in the following two years, which made me It makes some sense."

"It's because we have sacrificed meritorious deeds and received grace from the Holy Grail that we were promoted. This is a normal thing!" Zhao Ye said with a serious expression on his face.

"Let me guess, what is the so-called 'discounting crimes'? Is it a bloody battle with Tubo? Or is it accusing Qin Fu of collaborating with the enemy and treason?" Li Canghai's tone was flat, as if he was saying that something was normal. Things.

The bodies of the two suddenly trembled involuntarily, and they looked at each other with shock in their eyes.

"My lord, what do you mean?" Feng Maodian pretended to be puzzled.

"Don't you understand?" Li Canghai smiled lightly and said, "Then I will explain to you one by one."

"In the 28th year of Kaiyuan, Qin Fu went home to visit his relatives, and was sent to prison on the charge of collaborating with the enemy and treason. At the same time, Tubo invaded and occupied Guazhou and Anxi, and he was convicted of collaborating with the enemy and treason. The Holy One was furious, writing Dali Temple, Ministry of Officials, and Yushitai tried Qin Fu in Luoyang Mansion. At that time, there were more than ten witnesses and several pieces of physical evidence, all of which proved Qin Fu's crime. Coincidentally, those witnesses Among them, there happened to be two names, if I did not guess wrong, this is where the credit lies, right?" Li Canghai said lightly.

The faces of the two changed drastically, and only then did they realize that Li Canghai didn't come here to let them out, but to find fault.

Zhao Ye frowned, his chest was heaving violently, he grabbed the jug and drank wildly.

Feng Maodian lowered his head, fiddling with a wine glass in his hand, wondering what he was thinking.

"My lord, you accuse the junior general so unreasonably, but the latter is going to play the Ming sage!" Feng Maodian said solemnly: "We two made mistakes, but now this position is indeed obtained by fighting in the battlefield. General Qin knows us well Thank you, how can the two of us identify him?"

Li Canghai sneered, and said lightly, "Since that's the case, when Tubo attacked Guazhou and Anxi, why didn't you fight with troops, but let them enter?"

"This... This is General Qin's plan, to close the door and beat the dog!" Feng Maodian said with some panic.

"Closing the door and beating the dog?" Li Canghai said coldly, "Beat the dog with meat buns? Qin Fu is a general of Huaihua, how can he be so stupid?"

Li Canghai changed the subject, and suddenly shouted: "Do you think no one knows what you did back then?"

"My lord! What evidence do you have to prove that we have identified General Qin?" Feng Maodian shouted.

"It's true that no one knows what happened back then. Qin Fu has been copied and killed by everyone, and all the relevant documents have long since disappeared. But if you think that what you did can deceive the world because of this, you are wrong!" Li Canghai stared at the two with fiery eyes, and said in a deep voice, "To tell you the truth, I was ordered to investigate the case of Qin Fu collaborating with the enemy and treason 14 years ago, and now I have made great progress. The reason why I came to talk to you , to give you a chance to reform yourself!"

"My lord, General Qin Fu colluded with the enemy and treasoned the country, but we did not participate. What does this have to do with us?" Feng Maodian frowned.

"This officer has a list of witnesses from the past, which recorded in detail your identification of Qin Fu at that time. Since you did not participate in this matter, how did you identify Qin Fu?" Li Canghai took out a list from his arms, Cold and authentic.

"This... It is an indisputable fact that General Qin colluded with the enemy and treasoned the country, and I don't want to believe it, but we have never identified General Qin..." Feng Maodian said dryly.

"Enough!" At this moment, Zhao Ye, who had been silent and drinking non-stop, suddenly roared.

He threw the jug on the ground and shattered it into pieces. With red eyes, he roared in a low voice: "Brother Feng, I have been hiding this matter for 14 years, and I have had enough! What happened back then...we are sorry General Qin..."

"Zhao Ye! Shut up!" Feng Maodian suddenly stood up and shouted.

"Brother Feng, have you had a stable life in all these years? We saved the whole family and got promoted and made a fortune, but can we have a stable life?" Zhao Ye's eyes were bloodshot, and he clenched his fists firmly. He whispered: "We owe this to General Qin, and now, it's time to repay it!"

"Ah~." Feng Maodian opened his mouth, he let out a long sigh, and then sat down again.

"It's been more than ten years, and I didn't expect this matter to be brought up again. Forget it, forget it, maybe it's God's will!" Feng Maodian raised his head and sighed, with a look of sadness on his face.

He glanced at Li Canghai, shook his head and said, "My lord wants to know anything, just ask!"

Li Canghai nodded. He didn't expect the two of them to be so forthright, so he said: "I have already guessed about what happened back then, and I came here this time just to verify whether the guess is correct. If my guess is correct, then You deliberately let Tubo attack, and you identified General Qin, you were ordered by others, didn’t you?”

Zhao Ye and Feng Maodian looked at each other, and Feng Maodian sighed and nodded: "My lord's guess is correct. We were indeed instructed by someone to let Tubo enter the border, but that person was not General Qin."

"Who ordered it?" Li Canghai asked.

"Luo Xishi!" Feng Maodian said.

"Luo Xishi?" Li Canghai frowned.

He has heard of this person before, this person is good at torture, he is Li Linfu's confidant, he managed the prison together with Jingzhaofa Cao Jiwen, and he did not know how many loyal officials and generals he had persecuted. People at that time called it "Luo Tong Ji Wang".

"According to what I know, Luo Xixi was only serving as the censor back then, and the affairs of the Ministry of War were not managed by him. Why did you listen to his orders?" Li Canghai asked.

"Your Excellency, I don't know. The letter Luo Xishi sent to us bears... the stamp of the then prime minister, Lord Li. We can only follow suit." Feng Maodian sighed.

"Li Linfu, I know you're up to something!" Li Canghai cursed in a low voice. After thinking for a while, he asked, "Since you know that General Qin did not collude with the enemy and treason, why did you accuse him?"

"This..." Feng Maodian hesitated to speak, and he smiled wryly.

"Although the two of us were promoted by Li Linfu, we have been reused by General Qin. General Qin has shown us the grace to know each other. If we were not forced to do nothing, how could we betray the general?" Feng Maodian Shaking his head and sighing.

"Damn it! Anyway, I don't want to live anymore, and I'm not afraid of offending anyone, so let's tell the truth! These are all Li Linfu's tricks in the dark! He threatened us, if we don't do what he said, we will be killed." Our family..." Zhao Ye's eyes were red, and he suddenly raised his fist and punched himself hard on the chest.

He beat his chest with great force, and he was so merciless to himself that blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

"I, Zhao Ye, am sorry for General Qin! In order to protect the whole family, I have harmed General Qin's family! These years, I haven't lived a single day of peace. Whenever I close my eyes, I can always see General Qin. His mother is an ungrateful villain!"

Zhao Ye's eyes were red, two lines of tears flowed down from his angry eyes, and he cursed himself tearfully.

Feng Maodian closed his eyes, took a deep breath, nodded and said, "Whether other people are like us, I don't know, but since the tragic death of General Qin, the two of us have never had a peaceful life. My lord may not know , General Qin and I not only have the kindness of knowing each other, but also have the feeling of saving lives. General Qin never despises anyone, even the most ordinary soldiers, he regards him as brothers. On the battlefield back then, if General Qin had not sacrificed his life to help each other Help, the two of us have already turned into a pile of bones. Every time I think about this in these years, the two of us feel guilty, and wish we could die."

(End of this chapter)