Gao Guan stood there coldly, and the corner of his black cloak occasionally fluttered in the wind. He was always indifferent to everything and turned a deaf ear to Shangguan Qing's angry rebuke.
Shangguan Qing was a little irritated by Gao Guan's attitude. He rushed to Gao Guan and was about to hit him.
On one side was Shangguan Qing, who was dressed in black and had silver-white hair draped over his back. On the other side was Gao Guan, who was expressionless and had a tall black hat and a black cloak wrapped around his shoulders. The two of them looked at each other face to face.
Everyone outside the prison stared at this scene nervously. Once the two of them started fighting, everyone really didn't know which side to help. Although this was the territory of the Right Supervisory Department, Shangguan Qing was the Chief Steward of the Heavenly Palace and could be said to be Lord Qing's confidant.
There was no emotion in Gao Guan's eyes as he calmly looked at Shangguan Qing.
Shangguan Qing clenched his fists and pursed his lips. He understood that this matter had nothing to do with Gao Guan. Gao Guan was just a loyal lackey of His Majesty and was just an executor. So, he finally flicked his sleeves and turned his back.
More than three hundred men walked out of the prison one after another. Judging from their torn clothes and the bloodstains on their bodies, it seemed that nearly half of them had been tortured. These people walked in front, and nearly half of the people behind them seemed to be fine, but they all had ugly expressions on their faces.
In fact, Shangguan Qing had long been worried that Gao Guan, the Cold Magistrate, would torture them without mercy, so he had been pleading in front of Lord Qing. If he hadn't persuaded Lord Qing, these more than three hundred shadow guards would not have been able to leave the prison before the matter was investigated.
Whether they were dead or alive, they had all been released.
Gao Guan and Shangguan Qing soon came to the Starry Hall to see Lord Qing. Gao Guan could also be said to be forced by Shangguan Qing. Shangguan Qing wanted an explanation, but Gao Guan was very principled and refused to tell him anything about the case in private. So, Shangguan Qing had to force him to see Lord Qing.
In the Starry Hall, Shangguan Qing impeached Gao Guan and angrily accused Gao Guan of torturing the shadow guards.
Lord Qing, who was sitting on the throne, was shocked when he heard this. This was the reason why Shangguan Qing persuaded him to release the Shadow Guards. He thought about it again and again and was worried that his cold-faced judge had gone overboard. He did not expect Gao Guan to really do it.
Listening to Shangguan Qing's angry complaints, Master Qing tilted his head and looked at Gao Guan. Gao Guan calmly stood there without a word, not making any rebuttal.
After saying so much and seeing that Gao Guan still did not respond, Shangguan Qing could no longer hold back his anger. He pointed at Gao Guan and shouted angrily, "Gao Guan, the Shadow Guards are His Majesty's loyalists. Do you know the consequences of torturing them like this? You have ulterior motives, deliberately sowing discord between the Shadow Guards and His Majesty! "
Qing Zhu asked slowly, "Gao Guan, how do you explain this?"
Gao Guan said, "If not for His Majesty's decree to release them, I would not have released them."
Shangguan Qing glared at him angrily. Qing Zhu frowned and said, "Did you find out something?"
Gao Guan: "When they arrived at the right prison, they were immediately interrogated in isolation. In the beginning, there was no intention to torture them. When they went out, they were clearly working together. Some of them could tell who their companions were, while others … could be said to have forgotten. After cross-referencing their confessions, under the circumstances where His Majesty had authorized me to investigate everything, some of them actually concealed their whereabouts. "
Hearing this, Shangguan Qing knew something was wrong and quickly looked at Qing Zhu. Sure enough, Qing Zhu suddenly narrowed his eyes, revealing a treacherous gaze.
Shangguan Qing immediately said, "Maybe they really forgot."
Gao Guan turned to look at him, "Chief Shangguan, do you dare to guarantee in front of His Majesty that they are fine?"
"This …" Shangguan Qing choked and was speechless. The other party had not finished speaking. He did not know if the other party had found out anything. If they really found out something, how could he make such a guarantee at this time?
Qing Zhu glanced at Shangguan Qing. He continued to ask Gao Guan: "Did the people who concealed their whereabouts confess?"
Gao Guan said: "For such people, we naturally have to torture them to make them tell the truth. Some of them remembered after torture, while others refused to confess no matter what, even though their colleagues clearly saw where they went. For example, the leader of the Shadow Guards, Xiang Zhong." With a flip of his hand, he produced a pile of jade archives. "These are the interrogation records. A total of twenty-seven suspicious people have been identified. "
Qing Zhu grasped with his five fingers and a pile of jade archives came to him. He immediately went through the compiled confessions.
He went through them for half a day, reading through every single one of them without missing a single one. It was obvious how much importance he attached to them.
Throughout the process, Gao Guan's expression was calm, but Shangguan Qing could not stand still. He noticed that Qing Zhu's expression was gradually turning ugly.
Qing Zhu's expression was unsightly. One of the confessions was that the leader of the Shadow Guards, Xiang Zhong, had led a total of six people out. The remaining five testified that Xiang Zhong had once left the group and entered an alley alone in the secular world. However, when Xiang Zhong was asked about his whereabouts, he refused to mention that he had entered the alley alone.
It wasn't just Xiang Zhong. Similar things were happening to other people as well.
Putting the jade archives aside, Qing Zhu asked Gao Guan, "What do you intend to do with these twenty-seven people?"
Gao Guan replied, "The Right Overseer Division will no longer intervene in this matter."
Shangguan Qing looked at Gao Guan in astonishment. He realized that this was not Gao Guan's style. He was not going to investigate when there were suspicions?
Qing Zhu asked, "Why?"
Gao Guan replied, "You said that I was trying to sow discord between the Shadow Guards' loyalty to His Majesty. This matter is of great importance. Chief Shangguan's accusation is too heavy for me to bear. I suggest that all the interrogations be handed over to Chief Shangguan and let the Shadow Guards conduct an internal investigation. "
Qing Zhu asked in a low voice, "When did you learn to shirk your responsibilities?"
Gao Guan cupped his hands and said, "I am not shirking my responsibilities. The people have already been released. Perhaps some of them have already colluded with each other. The efforts of the Right Overseer Division may have been wasted. If the Right Overseer Division continues to investigate, their methods may be even more intense. There is one thing that Chief Shangguan is right about. The Shadow Guards are His Majesty's sharp sword. If I go too far, I'm afraid that it will cause some repercussions. Hence, I suggest that we let the Shadow Guards conduct an internal investigation. The reason is that Chief Shangguan is more familiar with the Shadow Guards than I am. Perhaps you can take a gentler approach to solve the problem without causing any repercussions. "
Shangguan Qing stared at Gao Guan with a little anger. Was he accusing him of being wrong in getting the Shadow Guards out?
Qing Zhu was silent for a moment. He felt that Gao Guan's words made sense. He nodded slightly and said, "Shangguan, I'll hand over all the interrogations to you. I'll leave the Shadow Guards to you to conduct an internal investigation."
"Yes!" Shangguan Qing accepted the order and did not decline. If Gao Guan were to continue tormenting him, the Shadow Guards would definitely be crippled.
Gao Guan turned around and advised, "Chief Shangguan, I have a small suggestion. Regardless of whether there are any problems with the twenty-seven people, before the truth is known, I suggest that you isolate them for investigation. It's best not to be swayed by personal feelings when investigating a case."
The last sentence made Qing Zhu raise his hand and stroke his beard. This was also what he admired most about Gao Guan. When investigating any case, as long as there was no special instruction from him, Gao Guan had always disregarded the identity and background of the investigated and did not recognize anyone!
Shangguan Qing snorted coldly, "I'll remember Right Emissary Gao's wise advice."
Gao Guan returned from the Right Division of the Supervisory Department. Feng Yuan, who was waiting, quickly walked down the steps of the main hall to welcome him and followed him into the main hall.
Feng Yuan followed behind and whispered, "My Lord, the relationship between the Shadow Guards and His Majesty … We tortured the Shadow Guards like that. Did His Majesty get angry?"
Gao Guan sneered and said, "His Majesty is not an unreasonable person. We have no selfish motives and followed the rules from the beginning to the end. We have already found out that there is indeed a problem. Why can't we torture them? Don't tell me we have to bribe them with good wine and food to make them confess? "
Feng Yuan broke into a sweat in his heart. Others might not know the tricks behind it, but they specialized in investigating and interrogating people for so many years and experienced all kinds of cases. It could be said that there were few people in the world who were more familiar with this business than them. With this method of investigating hundreds of people, they could find suspicious problems even if there were no problems. For example, if hundreds of people talked about an incident that happened a thousand years ago, there would definitely be some omissions in someone's confession.
Feng Yuan tried to ask, "Did His Majesty say anything?"
Gao Guan, who walked to the front of the seat, turned around and flung his cloak. He sat down and said, "It doesn't matter what he said. Now this matter has nothing to do with us. His Majesty has handed it over to Chief Shangguan to investigate. Don't think too much about it. Now focus on the Ghost City. Let me know in time if there is any situation."
"Yes!" Feng Yuan accepted the order and was somewhat surprised. He was still worried that something would happen when things had become like this. After all, the relationship between the Shadow Guards and His Majesty was not ordinary. He did not expect that Right Emissary Gao had already successfully extricated the Right Division of the Supervisory Department from this matter. He was more or less relieved and thought that Chief Shangguan was going to have a headache.
Shangguan Qing was indeed having a headache. He paced back and forth in the courtyard and sighed.
He was in charge of the Shadow Guards and he knew them too well. He did not think that there would be any problems with the Shadow Guards. However, after reading the interrogation records of the Right Division of the Supervisory Department, he was speechless. He did not expect that there were so many suspicious points about the members of the Shadow Guards.
He carefully checked the interrogation records. There was nothing wrong with the Right Division of the Supervisory Department. Gao Guan did not act recklessly. Moreover, from the interrogation process, it could be seen that the Right Division of the Supervisory Department was experienced in investigating cases. In fact, it was true that the testimonies of the Shadow Guards did not match. Under the situation where everyone had identified someone, there was actually someone who refused to confess. How could the Right Division of the Supervisory Department not use torture?
After thinking about it again and again, Shangguan Qing had no choice but to select a group of people and horses. They came to the place where the Shadow Guards were temporarily in charge.
As soon as he entered the courtyard, the brothers of the Shadow Guards immediately surrounded him and asked anxiously, "Chief, how is it?"
Shangguan Qing said with a straight face, "His Majesty asked us to investigate." Just as everyone was relieved, he asked again, "Has Xiang Zhong woken up?"
Someone replied, "Boss has already woken up. It's just that he was tortured by the Right Division of the Supervisory Department. I'm afraid it will take some time for him to recover."
Shangguan Qing separated the crowd and went straight to the house where Xiang Zhong was temporarily placed.
Xiang Zhong, who was lying on the bed and staring blankly at the ceiling, moved his eyes. When he saw Shangguan Qing, he immediately propped himself up and said, "Chief!"
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