Being an emperor is not something he can do, so he can only rely on his connections.

At night, it was almost Chou time (around 1 a.m.) and the clerks from various departments of the government office had just gone off work. The prefect, who usually spoke very clearly, could actually talk nonsense for three hours.

This is also thanks to Zhang Jingwei. The assistant's job is to describe simple things in a complicated way.

For example, "The general manager will come to the workshop for inspection at 2 o'clock."

Zhang Jingwei's polishing made it become "In order to implement the first principle of safe production, our general manager will come to our department for inspection at 2:00 p.m., please ask each team leader..."

……

After most of the officials were detained, the fox's tail was exposed.

The yamen runner who reported the news was detained and soon confessed that the Wang Huang brothers had poisoned Zhu Banshan. However, the scene was too badly damaged and there was a lack of evidence, so Lu Hui was reluctant to order them to arrest him.

Now it all depends on whether Zhu Banshan is willing to cooperate.

In the Tongzhifu.

Just as Liu Yanzhi was about to fall asleep, a constable knocked on the door, and the clerk opened the door for him.

After seeing Liu Yan, the constable said, "Sir, Zhu Banshan can speak now."

Liu Yanzhi woke up instantly, put on his clothes and followed the constable out.

In the clinic, Zhu Banshan leaned weakly against the head of the bed.

Liu Yanzhi hurried forward and asked, "Zhu Banshan, I want to ask you, are you clear about the matter concerning Brother Wang Huang?"

Zhu Banshan nodded slightly and said with all his strength, "They...are asking for Zhuang's affairs...I know about it, so...they want to silence me."

Liu Yanzhi was delighted and quickly asked someone to bring pen, ink, paper and inkstone to record Zhu Banshan's confession.

"Wang Heng used my name to register two properties in Yaozhuang, one in the north and one in the south. At first, he wouldn't let me go to the north house and only let me wait in the south house until the goods were delivered. I delivered goods in Yaozhuang for three years, and I can't even remember how many times I went back and forth."

Liu Yanzhi interrupted him and asked, "What goods?"

"At first it was just some gold, silver and jewelry, then it turned into salt, medicine, food, and finally weapons and armor. Only then did I realize they were doing something that would cost them their lives."

Liu Yanzhi became nervous instantly, his hands kept shaking and his breathing became rapid.

But he immediately regained his composure and asked, "Where is the goods delivered?"

Zhu Banshan replied, "We went to Tuofeng Pass in Yingzhou, where someone received the goods. He said he was going to Shuozhou."

"Tell me about the house in the north of the village..."

"There are several cattle and sheep sheds in the houses in the north of the village. Under the sheds is a cellar, a very deep and long cellar that they have dug through to connect the river and the south of the village... cough cough cough."

Before he could finish his words, Zhu Banshan started coughing violently.

According to the doctor at the clinic, although he survived, he may suffer from tuberculosis for life, so try not to disturb him in the near future and let him rest for a while.

Liu Yanzhi quickly grasped the details and asked, "River? Is there water transportation?"

"I don't know. The Tongpan is in charge of Yunzhou's water transportation. This shouldn't be difficult for him. That's all I know... ahem."

Zhu Banshan said this as if he had used up half of his life... He only had half of his life left.

Liu Yanzhi organized the confession, and after Zhu Banshan signed it, he put it into his inner lining and kept it tightly.

At this time, Zhu Banshan asked, "Master Tongzhi, if the Wang brothers are executed, can you spare the lives of my eldest sister and her daughter?"

Liu Yanzhi said solemnly, "Privately storing armor is tantamount to treason. This matter is of great importance. The prefect and I will report it to the court. Even if the death penalty can be avoided, the punishment of life cannot be avoided..."

Zhu Banshan knelt on the bed and kowtowed heavily. "Then I will... first thank you, sir... ahem. Also... thank you for me, benefactor. If you need me, I will die for you."

Liu Yanzhi nodded and returned to the government office.

Liu Yanzhi did not call everyone over, but read the confession over and over again by himself, then took out a map and marked the places mentioned in the verbs and the river channels in Yunzhou.

He tossed and turned like this all night, until the cock crowed, then he rubbed his temples, stretched, and took a short nap on the desk.

Bang-!

His door was kicked open and Lu Hui walked in angrily.

Liu Yanzhi looked up at him and said unhappily, "Tsk, Master Lu, what are you doing?"

Lu Hui asked, "Were you interrogated last night?"

"I didn't bring it up for trial! I went to the clinic for trial." Liu Yanzhi deliberately dragged out the word "bring it up for trial".

Lu Hui continued to ask: "Aren't you afraid of alerting the enemy by doing this?"

Liu Yanzhi said: "I concluded that he would not believe that Zhu Banshan was still alive. The more realistic we made it, the more he would think we were deceiving him."

Lu Hui suddenly understood and said, "So you went to the clinic to deliberately expose a flaw. Let him think you were acting."

Liu Yanzhi proudly presented his notes and verbs to Lu Hui: "Yes, the confession is here, and I have also sorted it out. Please review it."

Lu Hui carefully examined the confession and the map, his brow furrowed.

"I can't believe that the Wang brothers are so bold!"

Liu Yanzhi said: "This case involves a wide range of people, we must be careful and cautious."

Liu Yanzhi continued his analysis: "According to what Zhu Banshan said, after leaving Yingzhou and then going to Shuozhou, he went all the way south to Fenzhou, Xizhou, and Jinzhou... Is he the King of Jin?!"

Liu Yanzhi was a little worried: "Since this involves the royal family, should I inform the Prime Minister?"

Lu Hui said: "It's better not to do that, unless the King of Jin comes out personally."

Liu Yanzhi asked, "Then...should we inform Zhang Jingwei?"

Lu Hui warned, "Yanzhi, I know you value this student, but in this situation, you must not involve him."

Liu Yanzhi nodded in agreement.

Lu Hui continued, "Because there's not enough evidence, it would be best if we could capture him in the act. Let's loosen the fishing line a bit to give him a chance to catch his breath."

"Can Captain Yang be deployed? Assign some tasks to Zhang Jingwei, and let him take care of Zhu Banshan."

In fact, he still wanted Zhang Jingwei to know about this matter, so now let him ask it himself.

Lu Hui nodded and said, "Well, then I'll withdraw the people who want to take over the village. There's no need to keep an eye on Zhao Hao anymore."

The unlucky Zhao Hao wanted to take his family back to Yaozhuang overnight after hearing the news of Zhu Banshan's death, but was detained by the prefect's men.

He is still in detention.

His wife slapped him in the face again and again.

"Zhao Hao, you good-for-nothing, what the hell did you do?"

No matter how he was beaten or scolded, Zhao Hao never said a word, nor did he dare to tell his tiger wife the truth.

He was originally a jailer in the detention center, and they were all colleagues, so they didn't make things too difficult for him. They just followed the prefect's orders and released him at dawn.

He also knew that if he missed another day, he would lose his job. The income of an official in that era was not high, only two taels of silver a month for full attendance. The officials above him took advantage of the situation, while he could not even get a sip of the soup.

He originally wanted to earn some money to buy a bigger house, but he was dragged into a major case.

Thinking back to when the magistrate asked him to teach Zhang Jingwei a lesson, he refused to accept the offer just for those few dozen taels of silver.