Volume 1 Zhangqiao Iron Coffin Chapter 38: Shocking Change (Part 2)
"Everyone," Chen Taiji introduced to everyone, "this is the head of the Inner Guard Bureau, Lord Cai Kun!"
In the Daxuan Dynasty, the Neiwei was a very powerful official position. Its function was somewhat similar to that of the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty. It was a huge and terrifying intelligence agency that made officials tremble with fear and no one dared to offend it.
The leader of the Internal Guard is of a higher rank than others. He is a close minister of the Empress Dowager and the Emperor and is deeply trusted by the royal family.
"Meet Cai Geling!"
Everyone immediately bowed their heads and greeted Mr. Cai.
Cai Kunze did not raise his head, but carefully put away the imperial edict, and then said expressionlessly:
"My dear colleagues, the Queen Mother's decree states that only in case of emergency can Cai handle this case. I think..." He glanced at everyone coldly, "This situation should be considered an emergency, right?"
"Yes!" How could everyone dare to object and quickly agreed.
"I already have a basic understanding of the Iron Coffin Case," Cai Kun said, "As for the assassin, I will send someone to report to the Queen Mother and ask someone to come and identify him!
"But there is one thing I can't figure out!"
At this point, he paused deliberately and glanced at everyone. After seeing that no one responded, he gestured with his hands and said:
"Such a large iron coffin would require at least a huge carriage and a lot of manpower to push it onto the stone bridge, right?
"Such an obvious target," Cai Kun stared at Qiu Yongnian and the others and said, "Can't you find any clues? Could it be... that it fell from the sky?"
"this……"
Qiu Yongnian and others looked at each other, trembling slightly, and no one dared to respond.
"Where is the magistrate of Shangyuan County?" Unexpectedly, the next second, Cai Kun suddenly shouted this.
“Yes… yes!”
Taimin was shocked and quickly agreed.
"Shangyuan County Magistrate, do you care about what I said?" Cai Kun asked.
"This..." Taimin's mind raced as he quickly answered, "I think the search should not be limited to Xinye County, but should be expanded. Um... investigate surrounding counties and traveling merchants to see if anyone has seen the iron coffin!"
"Humph! Hehehe..."
Unexpectedly, Cai Kun suddenly laughed, but his laughter was so gloomy that it made people shudder.
"In the Iron Coffin Case two years ago, you also investigated all the surrounding counties and prefectures. Let me ask you, did it work?" Cai Kun raised his eyebrows with a chilling smile on his face.
“This…” Taimin swallowed, not knowing how to answer.
"If it's as easy as you say, then the last iron coffin case should have been solved long ago!" Cai Kun glanced and said heavily, "It seems that you still don't realize that the problem actually lies within Xinye County!?"
ah!!?
As soon as these words were spoken, Qiu Yongnian immediately knelt down on the ground, and Luo Baiwan was so frightened that he almost fell to the ground.
Well, Xu Zun has the lowest official position, so he can only follow behind.
"Humph," Cai Kun snorted, "Such a big coffin, such a big case, and your Xinye County Court can't find any clues. If it's not someone in your group who is causing trouble, what other explanation is there?
"Come here!" He shouted at his men angrily, "Catch all these people from Xinye County Government! I want to question them!"
"this?"
Hearing this, Chen Taiji, who had been silent all the time, wanted to dissuade him, but after some ideological struggle, he chose to remain silent.
"Sir, you are innocent!" Qiu Yongnian quickly pleaded, "We have tried our best in this case, please show some mercy!"
"..." Luo Baiwan wanted to explain himself, but he just felt stuffy in his chest and couldn't say anything.
In a trance, he seemed to see the same scene as the Iron Coffin Case. There was no distinction between right and wrong, and they were just looking for a few scapegoats...
However, the situation this time was even worse. Everyone knew that the methods used by the Internal Guards were much more cruel than those used by the Ministry of Justice. If one was caught and questioned by them, he would most likely be killed!
It was like a flash of hell. We were discussing the case just a moment ago, but now we are all prisoners!
Seeing the inner guards coming towards him, Qiu Yongnian begged again:
"Sir, please give us a little more time, or... I beg you to tell me the details of the case," he begged bitterly, "We don't know what happened back then, which is very disadvantageous for investigating the case. I hope you can give us a chance!"
"Humph, back then?" Cai Kun smiled coldly, "Back then? Let me tell you, that case back then might have been done by an insider. It was because we were too soft-hearted that it became an unsolved case!"
"Ah?" Qiu Yongnian asked hurriedly, "Sir, where is the iron coffin now? Who were the 37 victims back then?"
"Oh, you're really brave to ask!" Cai Kun said with a smile, "Don't worry, I might tell you when we chat later!"
After that, following Cai Kun's signal, the internal guards rushed forward and detained Qiu Yongnian, Luo Baiwan and Xu Zun respectively.
"Cai Ge Ling," seeing the situation gradually getting out of control, Chen Taiji finally couldn't help but whispered to Cai Kun, "Mr. Qiu is a Jinshi Hanlin, and Mr. Xu is the son-in-law of Minister Shen, um..."
"Oh?" Cai Kun glanced at Chen Taiji and smiled sinisterly, "Master Chen, are you teaching me how to do things?"
"I dare not!" Chen Taiji hurriedly clasped his fists, looking embarrassed.
"Do you know why the Queen Mother sent me here?" Cai Kun leaned close to Chen Taiji's ear and whispered, "It's because she doesn't trust you people from the Ministry of Justice. If you mention Xu Changlin and Shen Tiande again, I will have no choice but to report the truth to the higher-ups!"
"Yes!" Chen Taiji quickly took a step back and dared not say another word, while his cheeks were already soaked with cold sweat.
"There are more than just these three people!" At this time, Cai Kun looked at Qiu Yongnian and others and said to the inner guards, "All the yamen runners and constables in the county government who have a little power, arrest them all!"
"Sir, it's unjust! Sir!" Qiu Yongnian was so anxious that tears came out. "Please give us a few days, we will definitely investigate the case thoroughly..."
Looking at Luo Baiwan again, he had already fallen to the ground, trembling all over...
Here, only Xu Zun remained unmoved and was still thinking calmly.
In his mind, he was filtering the entire case over and over again at high speed, starting from when he was framed by You Dalang, to the occurrence of the Iron Coffin Case, to the various accidents he encountered, the increasingly complicated case, and the life-and-death crisis he was facing now...
All these encounters seemed like a carefully designed trap, coming suddenly and fiercely, catching oneself off guard and unable to defend oneself.
However, the more this happened, the calmer Xu Zun became.
Because he seemed to see part of the truth through this mist!
Although he couldn't see the whole picture yet, he seemed to have thought of a way to escape.
However, just when Xu Zun thought that the situation could still turn around, an even more shocking and terrible disaster ensued.
Cai Kun was arranging the arrests by the inner guards when suddenly a messenger from the governor's mansion rushed into the hall, holding a letter and reporting to the governor Li Yan:
"Reporting to Lord Li, someone found a letter in the iron coffin, which said that the governor should open it personally!"
After that, the messenger handed the letter to Li Yan.
"oh?"
Li Yan first looked at Cai Kun, then at Chen Taiji, and then he hurriedly opened the letter and checked the contents.
Cai Kun and Chen Taiji were very close to each other, and they also came closer curiously and read the letter with Li Yan.
The content of the letter did not seem to be long. After the three of them finished reading it, they all looked at Xu Zun!!!
