Hidden in the court

Chapter 149 Fake Monk, Fake Taoist Priest

Then the few of us went to other places, which were more or less the same. You had to pay to enter, to buy incense, to eat, to drink. Even to take a step required money.

What did you say? Just ignore him and you will be in hell in your next life. Find out.

At the end of the day, it goes without saying that throughout Qingzhou City, all places related to religion were making huge profits.

"There should be a limit to praying to gods and Buddhas. It seems that people are spending all their spare money on worship."

"If this continues, all the hard-earned money of the people will go to the temples. How can they make a living?"

"What do these people need money for? Where do they spend it?"

"Where did they hide the money?"

Hu Die, Su Mengyang, Luo Lin and Ji Mingshang obviously have different focuses.

"How about this, tonight, Brother Su and I will just keep an eye on those people and see what happens?"

Hu Die thought about it for a moment and agreed.

"Okay, keep a close eye on it."

The sun was about to set, and Hu Die and Luo Lin returned to the Censorate together.

"Master Hu, what are we doing now?"

"People from the Censorate, interrogate them one by one."

In the whole Qingzhou, there are so many officials, big or small, who have never been corrupt. Who would believe this? Is the average person less than Shao Bao? If this were true, Qingzhou would have become one of the most powerful states long ago. Why is it still unknown until now?

The Qingzhou Censorate was not a big place, but it had a lot of people. Hudie's supervisory censor was of the eighth rank, and his subordinates were only many low-ranking clerks and runners who were not even clerks.

At this time, an official named Wang Dahu was called in.

Wang Dahu is a fat and kind-hearted man with a naive appearance.

"Wang Dahu, you have been in the Censorate for three years?"

"Your Excellency, yes, I have worked in the Qingzhou Censorate for three years, but I am not the longest-serving one. Many people have worked there longer than me."

"I'm going to ask you something next, and I hope you can answer truthfully."

"If you know, you will know everything and you will say it all."

"I read all the files in recent years yesterday, but apart from the guilt of the officials who have been transferred, there is no mention of the current officials at all levels. Even if there is, it is only a small mistake.

Do you think this is possible? So I want to ask you, you have been in the Censorate for three years, are there any people here suspected of corruption and abuse of power? "

But after Butterfly asked, Wang Dahu started to avoid her eyes, shrank his neck and remained silent.

Anyone can tell there's something wrong with this look.

Butterfly has never had a good temper, not to mention that she was cheated out of so much money during the day.

"Is there really a problem? Just tell me whatever I ask, and don't hide anything!"

"What, you don't want to talk? You'll want to talk in a moment, come here, give him twenty lashes first!"

Wang Dahu was still hesitant and just begged for mercy without saying anything.

Butterfly's temper flared up immediately, "You still don't want to talk? Okay, fine..."

Seeing that Butterfly was about to invite someone in, Luo Lin hurriedly pulled her aside, then said to Wang Dahu as gently as possible: "My brother, if the censor asks you questions, just tell me what you have to say. I know you must have something to hide, but this lady is not only the censor, but also the Princess of Changle, the granddaughter of General Hu. She will definitely keep you safe."

Wang Dahu's eyes rolled when he heard this, and he finally spoke: "Most of the monks and Taoist priests in the temples and ancestral halls in Qingzhou City are not real monks and Taoist priests, but are pretending to be them. Those guys collect money during the day and spend it at night.

To be honest, my mother has been deceived by these people. As a minor official, my salary is not much. My wife works outside, and your family can barely make ends meet. There is not much money left, and my mother threw all of it into the temple. These people are using the temple as a cover to cheat people out of their money. Please help us, sir."

Wang Dahu seemed excited, but in fact Hu Die was even more excited than him, and he couldn't suppress the urge to hit someone.

"I already know all this. Do I need you to tell me? I am asking you about the situation of the officials in your state. How dare you tease me!"

Seeing Butterfly getting angry again, Rowling quickly grabbed her again.

"Sir, calm down. What he said makes sense. At least it gives us something to do. Why don't we start by investigating these temples and unravel the truth!"

When Wang Dahu saw that Rowling spoke for him, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and immediately expressed his loyalty.

"Yes, yes, yes, this girl is right, sir. Although I, Wang Dahu, don't know about the officials of this state, I am willing to lend a hand to you and destroy those temples that are harming people in one fell swoop."

Hu Die took a deep breath and calmed herself down, only to find out why she got angry so easily today.

After thinking for a while, he looked at Wang Dahu below and asked, "Qingzhou is under curfew at night, where do these people spend their money?"

"Your Excellency, you may not know that although Qingzhou has a curfew, there is a night market. Those people changed their identities and spent money in the night market. In theory, they made money, so it is difficult for people in our prefecture to do anything."

"How did you know these things?"

Hu Die did not comment on Wang Dahu's answer, but continued to ask.

"It was about three years ago, when I first entered the Censorate. Sima Huo organized a group of people, and I went there too. We arrested some people at the night market, but in the end we couldn't convict them, so we released them."

Hu Die nodded, "Okay, go ahead."

Then I asked several people who were on duty tonight, and strangely, everyone's answers were similar.

He kept silent about the affairs of Qingzhou officials, but had a lot to say about those temples.

"It is basically certain that these people must know something, but they are just avoiding the main point."

Hu Die thought as she spoke, "What are these people afraid of, or are they colluding for mutual benefit?"

But Rowling was the first to think of the answer, "Could they be afraid of the officials? They think that even if we can find out who is responsible for the crime, we will not help them."

"Are you afraid of officials? Where can such high-ranking officials come from in Qingzhou? Can they defeat the emperor?"

Seeing Hu Die getting angry again, Luo Lin quickly reminded her: "Sister Hu, this is Qingzhou, not the capital. The governor is the boss, and no one knows us, so they don't believe us."

This time, Hu Die didn't need to feel it herself, even Rowling noticed that something was wrong with her. She was a little too impulsive today.

Hu Die held her head, very confused.

Seeing her like this, Rowling couldn't help but worry.

After a while, she spoke again:

"Let's rest tonight. We'll go meet Governor Wang Xie tomorrow."

When he looked up again, Luo Lin noticed something strange on Hu Die's face. There were obvious bloodshot in her eyes, and it seemed that she had not rested well.