As Zhang Ci's words fell, Zhao Jianzhi's smile froze.
Not just him, even Shen Jing himself was bewildered.
Fuck!
They invited him to assist in investigating the rebellion case?
Why didn't they say so earlier?
Why wait until now?
Was it just to spite Zhao Jianzhi?
No!
It wasn't to spite Zhao Jianzhi, this was purely to scare him!
He understood!
Zhang Ci was doing it on purpose!
Emperor Zhou had instructed him to do this!
He had gotten Emperor Zhou drunk, so Emperor Zhou instructed Zhang Ci to pull this stunt, specifically to scare him!
Damn it!
This dog emperor truly had a twisted sense of humor!
"You guys are so boring!"
Shen Jing complained, his face full of exasperation.
He had considered all sorts of possibilities on the way, but never this one!
"What do you mean, Young Master Shen?"
Zhang Ci looked at Shen Jing innocently. "It was Young Master Shen who exposed Zhao Jianzhi's collusion with Prince Ji in the rebellion case, so naturally, Young Master Shen needs to assist in the investigation!"
"Hehe…"
Shen Jing pursed his lips. "What can I assist with?"
"There's a lot."
Zhang Ci was no longer wearing his deadpan expression; he smiled and said, "According to the report from the Prefect of Huaizhou, Feng Min, Young Master Shen and the Du Family father and son jointly interrogated Zhao Ying, but Zhao Ying went mad on the way to the capital. Dali Temple cannot obtain a confession from Zhao Ying, so we can only ask Young Master Shen to come and talk."
"Furthermore, the Huaizhou government did not find Song Lianxin's body, so Song Lianxin likely escaped! I heard that Young Master Shen once had a romantic entanglement with Song Lianxin, and Young Master Shen was the first to arrive at the crime scene, so I naturally need to conduct a routine inquiry with Young Master Shen…"
Zhang Ci spoke with such conviction that Shen Jing almost believed him.
To scare him and still find such a grand excuse, this Zhang Ci was truly a talent!
Fortunately, Zhang Ci didn't say anything about who reported or who provided evidence, otherwise he would have really cursed!
"Alright, alright!"
Shen Jing looked at Zhang Ci helplessly. "Lord Zhang, just tell me directly what you need me to do!"
"Let's discuss that outside later!"
Zhang Ci, adhering to the principle of seeing a performance through to the end, said with a chuckle, "Bringing Young Master Shen to the prison was also to ask Young Master Shen to identify the imperial criminals, to see if these people are indeed the criminals themselves, to prevent anyone from being used as a scapegoat!"
Heh…
What a far-fetched reason!
Did he himself believe this flimsy excuse?
Forget it!
Zhang Ci had played the part to this extent; exposing him was pointless.
"Mm-hmm, I've confirmed it, these people are all the imperial criminals themselves."
Shen Jing said perfunctorily, just wanting to leave this stinky place quickly.
"Since that's the case, let's talk outside then!"
With that, Zhang Ci again raised his hand in invitation.
Shen Jing glanced at Zhao Jianzhi and his son, then walked out.
Soon, they arrived outside the prison. Zhang Ci ordered tea to be served and had some of the rebellion case files brought over.
"These are the confessions obtained from Zhao Jianzhi and several other imperial criminals. Young Master Shen can take a look first."
Zhang Ci handed the files to Shen Jing.
Shen Jing took the files with a chuckle and began flipping through them, secretly clicking his tongue.
As expected of Dali Temple!
Look, these confessions were much more detailed than the ones he had obtained from Zhao Ying.
They had almost interrogated these people down to when they were still wetting the bed at a few years old.
As he read, Shen Jing suddenly paused.
Zhao Ying's Titled Scholar status, was it really obtained through cheating?
Did Zhao Ying know the test questions in advance?
After a moment, Shen Jing looked up at Zhang Ci. "Does this also involve the imperial examination fraud case?"
"Yes!"
Zhang Ci nodded lightly. "Not only the imperial examination fraud case, but also several major corruption cases have been uncovered. More than forty officials of the fifth rank and above are implicated, and these are just those who are to be executed by law. Some whose involvement is not too severe have not yet been included! People from all six ministries of the imperial court are involved…"
The most serious involvement was in the Ministry of Rites, which Zhao Jianzhi's brother-in-law managed.
Over sixty percent of the officials were imprisoned due to various cases.
Currently, the highest-ranking official in the Ministry of Rites was a Langzhong of the fifth rank.
The entire Ministry of Rites was practically paralyzed.
That serious?
This really was a case of pulling up a radish and bringing out mud!
Wiping out so many officials at once, Emperor Zhou must really have a headache, right?
Shen Jing lowered his gaze.
At this moment, he couldn't help but question Emperor Zhou's motives again.
Was it not just to scare him?
Did he also want him to look at these files and see how big an impact his exposure of Prince Ji's rebellion had?
However, he really couldn't be blamed!
Shen Jing thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, "By the way, is Yao Jian involved in any cases?"
"No comment."
Zhang Ci immediately reverted to his deadpan expression.
Alright!
If he wouldn't say, so be it!
However, he guessed that Yao Jian should be involved in certain cases.
It was just that now might not be the time to move against Yao Jian, or perhaps Yao Jian still had great use in Emperor Zhou's hands.
Shen Jing's mind wandered as he continued to flip through the files.
Only after roughly scanning the files did Shen Jing return them to Zhang Ci. "Very detailed, much more detailed than the confessions I obtained. Anyway, I didn't see any difference from the confessions I got from Zhao Ying."
"That's good."
Zhang Ci put away the files and formally asked, "Regarding Song Lianxin, does Young Master Shen have anything to say?"
"No."
Shen Jing shook his head. "Song Lianxin should indeed not be dead…"
With that, Shen Jing told Zhang Ci the specific situation of that night.
If the imperial court could catch Song Lianxin, he would even be happy.
"Alright!"
Zhang Ci didn't ask any more questions. "I have no further questions for Young Master Shen. Young Master Shen can stay overnight at Dali Temple, or if you need to go home, I will send someone to escort you back."
"I'll go back!"
Shen Jing smiled helplessly.
Emperor Zhou had pulled this stunt on him; Su Yourong and Chi Chi must be worried sick!
"Okay!"
Zhang Ci said, immediately ordering a few people to escort Shen Jing back.
Walking out of the main gate of Dali Temple, Shen Jing couldn't help but look back.
So, he had just gone through the motions at Dali Temple.
Half an hour later, Shen Jing returned to Su Manor.
Before Shen Jing returned, Madam Su, who had gone to the palace to see the Emperor, had already returned.
"Shen Jing!"
"Young Master!"
Seeing Shen Jing, Su Yourong and Chi Chi rushed over simultaneously.
Su Yourong, disregarding the presence of the servants, hugged Shen Jing tightly, her eyes glistening with tears.
Although Madam Su had told them that Shen Jing would be fine, both of them were still incredibly excited when they saw him.
Chi Chi didn't hug Shen Jing; she just came to his side, looking him up and down to see if he was injured.
"It's nothing, it's nothing!"
Shen Jing patted Su Yourong's back, then gently patted the head of a teary-eyed Chi Chi, who was still scrutinizing him. "The Emperor deliberately created this scene just to scare me, to get revenge for me getting him drunk!"
"This matter isn't over yet!"
Madam Su walked up. "The Emperor asked me to tell you to attend the morning court meeting on time tomorrow."
"What?"
Shen Jing's eyes suddenly widened. He looked at Madam Su in astonishment, for a moment doubting if he had heard correctly.
Ask him to attend the morning court meeting?
Had he gone mad?
He had no official position, so why would he attend a court meeting?
Was he going to be made to stand in the imperial court, or did he want to see him make a fool of himself in court?