Merit-based card draws, quickly become a Heavenly Emperor

Before he finished speaking, the candlelight flickered, the light dimmed and then brightened again.

In the blink of an eye, a figure dressed in a blue robe of a Yin official slowly appeared before Du Kang.

His face was thin and frail, his beard and hair were all white, and his eyes were like ice.

It was Li Yuanshan.

When Du Kang saw him, his lips trembled, and a crack finally appeared on his calm face.

"Du Kang."

Li Yuanshan's voice was cold and hard. "I knew you for twenty years during my lifetime. The ink marks on the 'Hanxiang Yaji Tu' were painted by me, stroke by stroke."

You don't deserve this picture!

Du Kang opened his mouth as if to say something, but no sound came out.

"How ridiculous that you call it a magic painting?"

That painting was never a demon in the first place; you yourself became the demon.

After saying this, Li Yuanshan's figure faded into the candlelight.

"After you die, I will personally guide your ghost so that you can atone for your sins in the karmic fire of the underworld."

Du Kang lowered his head, and after a long while, he let out a barely audible sigh.

Fang Zheng said, "Let's sign the document."

Du Kang raised his bound hands and pressed his fingerprint onto the confession.

Now that the real culprit has been apprehended, the entire case is clear.

Fang Zheng closed the confession, and the first thing he did was to go find the painting.

"The Elegant Gathering of Fragrance in the Cold" is a painting that Du Kang calls a "magical painting," a medium for stealing heavenly secrets, and the core of evil magic.

When Du Kang invited Chen Moxuan to meet, he had already hidden the painting in a secret room of a secret winery.

But Fang Zheng led his men to search the winery overnight, turning it upside down. They searched every inch of the secret rooms, hidden compartments, and floor tiles, but found nothing.

The painting had vanished without a trace, and even the box containing it was gone.

The servants guarding the winery have been detained and interrogated one by one, but they all claim they have never seen any paintings.

Only one servant stammered a recollection, saying that on the day Du Kang was arrested, a man in a black robe came to the winery, stood at the entrance for a while, and then left.

When asked what he looked like, the servant shook his head, saying that the man had his head down and couldn't see his face, but he felt a chill on his body.

Occasionally, some practitioners would visit the winery. These people had eccentric temperaments, and the servants dared not ask them any questions.

After questioning Fang Zheng for a while, he had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

The White Lotus Temple, the so-called hidden sect that Du Kang joined, may have been secretly manipulating all of this all along.

Du Kang was merely a pawn they had laid out in the open.

The fact that the "magic painting" was taken away indicates that the cult members already knew about Du Kang's arrest and made their move ahead of time, taking away the most crucial piece of evidence.

Fang Zheng reported the situation to Lü Zhengfeng and Lu Qingyun, and both of them looked displeased.

"The involvement of cults makes the case even more complicated."

Lu Zhengfeng said in a deep voice, "If this painting falls into their hands, who knows how many more people will be harmed."

Lu Qingyun stood up, walked to the window, stood with his hands behind his back for a while, then turned around and said, "Take care of the Zhu family and the Cao family first."

"Without removing these two malignant tumors, Yongqing County will never have peace."

However, the other party reacted faster than they had expected.

The next morning, while the arrest warrant, jointly stamped and signed by Lu Qingyun and Lü Zhengfeng, was still going through the process at the prefectural government, the county magistrate had already taken action.

Zhu Tianhua personally visited the house, followed by two servants carrying a wooden box.

He placed the box in front of the investigation team's hall, and in front of Lu Qingyun and Lü Zhengfeng, he opened the lid. Inside were several letters and an iron plaque engraved with white lotus runes.

"Lord Lu, Lord Lü," Zhu Tianhua cupped his hands, his face grave, "I have failed in my duty to discipline them, and I have come today to beg for forgiveness."

This rebellious son, Zhu Hongcai, colluded with evil cultivators and disregarded human life; the evidence is all here.

"This humble official dares not cover it up; I beg you two gentlemen to handle the matter according to the law."

Lu Qingyun didn't move, only glancing at the box before his gaze returned to Zhu Tianhua's face.

"Did you only discover this evidence today, Lord Zhu?"

Zhu Tianhua's expression remained unchanged: "I only found out last night when I searched my son's study."

"I am heartbroken and have not slept a wink all night. I have come here this morning with the evidence."

Lu Zhengfeng stood by the window, not looking at the box, nor at Zhu Tianhua, but gazing at the old locust tree in the yard, as if waiting for something.

Seeing that the two did not respond, Zhu Tianhua did not urge them, but just stood in the hall with his back straight and his expression calm.

"My lords, I request permission to bring my rebellious son up here. I want to ask him in person how he dared to commit such a heinous act."

Lu Zhengfeng and Lu Qingyun exchanged a glance and nodded noncommittally.

When Zhu Hongcai was brought out of prison, he heard that Zhu Tianhua had arrived. He walked briskly, even with a smile on his lips, thinking that his father had come to bail him out.

Upon entering the hall, he saw Zhu Tianhua standing there, with the box behind him open, revealing the letters and iron plaque inside. The smile on his face hadn't completely faded before it froze.

"father."

Before he could even open his mouth, Zhu Tianhua turned around and angrily said, "You unfilial son, kneel down!"

Tell me everything you've done, down to the last detail.

Zhu Hongcai's smile froze completely.

His lips trembled, but he swallowed the words back.

Because he saw Zhu Tianhua's eyes, which were vicious and devoid of any warmth, like a hungry wolf driven to the brink of despair.

At that moment, Zhu Hongcai realized that his father hadn't come to save him, but to make him take the blame.

What exactly happened during this period?

Why is the all-powerful father so panicked that he would even throw himself out as a pawn?

Despair filled him, his knees buckled, and he knelt down, tears streaming down his face.

"Father, I was wrong!"

I confess! I confess to everything!

Zhu Hongcai buried his head on the ground, his shoulders trembling, a stark contrast to the arrogant playboy he had been at Zuixianlou a month ago.

Zhu Tianhua stood there, never once looking down at him.

Lu Zhengfeng and Lu Qingyun watched the farce unfolding by the Zhu family father and son with cold indifference, without uttering a word.

Just then, Cao Jingde, the head of the Cao family, arrived with his men.

Steward Cao was pushed in by two servants, one cheek was swollen and blood was still seeping from the corner of his mouth.

Cao Jingde's face was contorted with grief, and his voice was rough and loud.

"What a misfortune for our family!"

What a traitorous scoundrel! He instigated my dead son to brew tainted wine and bribe officials!

"This humble subject has brought him here today, to be dealt with as you two gentlemen wish!"

The butler was pushed so hard that he stumbled a few steps and fell to the ground.

He raised his head from the ground, his utterly despondent gaze sweeping across the hall through the hems of the official robes.

He was looking for Fang Zheng, the culprit who had brought all his good days to an end.

But Fang Zheng was not present in the hall.

He stared at it for a long time, then finally lowered his head and never looked up again.

Cao Jingde was still there, slapping his thigh in anguish: "I was truly blind, I was deceived by him for so many years!"

"That lackey!"

"Cao Jingde".

Lu Zhengfeng frowned and rebuked, "How can there be such a disturbance in the courtroom!"

Cao Jingde opened his mouth, but didn't dare to say anything more.

The hall was quiet for a moment, with only Zhu Hongcai's intermittent sobs remaining.

Just then, footsteps came from outside the door, getting closer and closer.

Fang Zheng walked at the front, followed by Guan Tieyi and a group of yamen runners.

The yamen runners carried several large boxes, the outside of which were covered in mud, and some of the edges were worn shiny.

Fang Zheng entered the hall, glanced at the familiar faces, smiled, then looked away and cupped his hands in greeting to Lu Qingyun and Lü Zhengfeng.

"My lords, the excavation of the Du Kang Winery tunnel was completed last night."

Both tunnels leading to the Cao and Zhu families have been dug, and all physical evidence has been recovered.