Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

On the day when the rumor about the ghost killing people spread among the people, Li Chengqian's spies reported the matter to him.

At first Li Chengqian didn't care because this matter had nothing to do with him.

But now the rumors were pointed directly at him, which made him nervous.

Du He asked in a deep voice: "Your Highness, how much information do you have now?"

Li Chengqian turned around, picked up a secret report from the table, and then handed it to Du He.

"Du He, take a look for yourself. All the information I know is on it."

Du He took the secret report and looked at it carefully.

a long time.

Du He said solemnly, "Your Highness, even your spies can't find any clues. This group of thieves may have been planning this for a long time."

"At the court meeting tomorrow, His Majesty should ask the people from the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Justice, and the Censorate to take action."

The county government offices of Chang'an County and Wannian County were staffed by a group of ordinary officials.

It's ok to let them investigate small cases, but when it comes to major cases like this, they are like a bunch of headless flies and have no idea what to do.

Moreover, Li Shimin would not sit idly by if it was a major case involving imperial power, and would definitely send a higher-level department to handle it.

Li Chengqian frowned and asked, "Du He, do you think it was Li Tai who did it?"

Based on what Du He said to him at the beginning, who would benefit the most from this incident and who is most likely the mastermind behind it.

Now, whether it is the murder of the ghost or the subsequent conspiracy remarks, it is most beneficial to Li Tai.

So Li Chengqian thought of him first.

Du He nodded and said, "Your Highness, I also suspect that the King of Wei is involved in this matter, but I don't know if he is the mastermind or the secondary conspirator."

"Send more spies to monitor the King of Wei's movements. I will also find a chance to test Fang Yiai's opinion to see if he is involved in this matter."

In the past month, Fang Yiai has been very low-key.

Not only did he not stand up to criticize him, but he also didn't say much.

As for those old foxes like Wei Ting, Du Chuke and Cui Renshi, it is as difficult as climbing to the sky to get useful information from them.

"Whoo~"

Li Chengqian let out a long sigh and said with a heavy heart, "This is the only way."

After a while, Li Chengqian waved his fist unwillingly: "Li Tai is so lucky, the folk rumor has only been circulating for a month, and now it has been covered up by the murder of the ghost."

"From now on, I'm afraid the people won't criticize him much."

For ordinary people, the more thrilling, exciting, exaggerated and fresh the things are, the more interested they are.

The King of Wei had been whipped by them for a month and had gradually lost interest.

Du He smiled and said, "Your Highness, the bad thing that King Wei did has been deeply imprinted in the hearts of the people."

“Even if it’s three to five years, or even ten years later, as long as it’s brought up again, this memory will be instantly awakened.”

"And we can't expect the King of Wei to lose favor with your majesty just because of one mistake."

Du He was more open-minded and believed that a rumor could not completely destroy Li Tai's reputation.

In the past, Li Chengqian had been doing more mischief, and Li Shimin had to be patient and ask his trusted ministers to go to the East Palace to advise Li Chengqian.

Moreover, according to Li Chengqian's current performance, as long as Li Tai does not perform particularly well, or does not follow the Xuanwu Gate Incident and take action against Li Shimin and Li Chengqian, the possibility of him ascending the throne is very slim.

Next, the two discussed the matter of the murder by the Xie Gui for more than an hour.

It was not until dark that Du He left the East Palace with a tired look on his face.

...

The next day.

A meeting of hundreds of officials.

After the heads of the three provinces and six ministries finished reporting on government affairs, the two county magistrates of Chang'an County and Wannian County, who seldom spoke, stood up one after another and made reports to Li Shimin.

The Magistrate of Chang'an County: "Your Majesty, four days ago a civilian was killed in Chang'an County, and his chest was hollowed out."

"As of yesterday, 11 people in Chang'an County had been killed in the same way."

"After investigating the case, I found that the deceased had no grudges with other people, and had no bad habits such as gambling and whoring."

After a pause, the magistrate of Chang'an County continued speaking reluctantly.

"The circumstances of the deaths are consistent with the legend of the scissor-shaped ghost killing people. In the past few days, rumors of scissor-shaped ghost killing people have also been circulating in Chang'an County."

"And there are also inappropriate remarks about your majesty, the crown prince, and the court, which have already grown in rumors."

After the magistrate of Chang'an County had finished his report, he presented the written memorial to Li Shimin for his review.

After he sat down, the magistrate of Wannian County stood up and began to speak.

"Your Majesty, the situation in Wannian County is the same as that in Chang'an County. Four days ago, a case of a civilian's chest being hollowed out also occurred."

“As of yesterday, nine civilians have been killed in the same way, and we are investigating and punishing them.”

"I found that they had no enemies or debts, and were honest and decent people."

"I have also collected various rumors spread by the common people. I hope Your Majesty will take a look at them."

After saying this, he also presented a thick memorial to Li Shimin.

The two county magistrates investigated for several days and even met to discuss the matter for several hours, but in the end they still had no clue.

Now more and more people are dying, and rumors among the people are spreading more and more fiercely.

The case was so big that it was beyond the control of the two of them, so they had to speak about it at the court meeting despite the risk of being criticized.

Otherwise, if the crime is concealed and not reported, more and more people will die and the people will suffer from panic.

What awaits them is not simply punishment, but beheading.

Li Shimin also knew about the murder committed by Xie Gui, and he secretly sent people from the Hundred Cavalry Division to investigate, but there has been no result so far.

Because the Xie ghost is an evil ghost in folk legends, and the death circumstances of the murdered people are consistent with the killings by the Xie ghost.

Therefore, rumors are automatically made up by the people based on folk legends, and there is no need for anyone to deliberately spread rumors.

As Li Shimin read the rumors about him and the crown prince in the memorial, his expression became more and more serious, and his sword-like brows were tightly knitted together.

After reading the two memorials, Li Shimin swept his sharp eyes over the two county magistrates but did not punish them.

Now is not the time to hold anyone accountable, he needs to resolve this big problem as soon as possible.

Li Shimin said in a deep voice: "My dear ministers, the rumor that the ghost killed people has made the people of Chang'an City panic."

"Not only did the people not dare to travel at night, but they also had to put their swords next to their pillows when they slept to feel safe."

"Do you have any countermeasures?"

After hearing Li Shimin's words, all the civil and military officials lowered their heads to think.

This kind of thing is extremely troublesome to deal with.

Du He was also analyzing the reports from the two county magistrates.

The people who were killed in the same way had no hatred or debts.

The purpose of the person behind this is just to kill people indiscriminately and to cause panic.

In cases where there is no logic to the murder, it is extremely difficult to catch the murderer.

After all, Chang'an City is too big, and there are too many good and bad people.

"This matter is a bit tricky!"

Du He sighed inwardly.

Then he turned his attention to Fang Yiai, Wei Ting, Du Chuke and Cui Renshi.

Fang Yiai still looked depressed, while Wei Ting, Du Chuke and Cui Renshi all looked calm and there was no sign of anything wrong.

After watching for a while, I couldn't figure out what was wrong.