After dawn, the Ministry of Justice was in a solemn and solemn atmosphere.

Chen Xi came out of the Ministry of Justice prison early in the morning and did not return home, but went directly to the Ministry of Justice official.

The Minister of Justice Zhang Zilin, the left censor Lu Wan, and the Dali Temple Minister Zhang Lun were all here. At the same time, Quan Yunxu, the Right Minister of Justice Quan, who was the judge of the Zhang case, also came to the Ministry of Justice at dawn to make a time difference and concluded the case before Empress Dowager Zhang arrived.

However, these people obviously did not expect Chen Xi to leave any tricks.

No one knew about Chen Xi's arrival in the Heavenly Prison. When he saw Chen Xi, Lu Wan and others came forward, they all felt that Chen Xi was coming too late.

"Zhihou, why did you come?"

Lu Wan came over and frowned and said, "I'm afraid the Empress Dowager has left the palace now."

Chen Xidao: "The time is just right. This is a trial in court. It's not like the trial secretly before dawn, right? Is the case shameful?"

Lu Wan shook his head and smiled bitterly: "It's too late, the case can't be tried."

Zhang Zilin came over and asked, "Do you send someone to stop me and let the Empress Dowager come to the Ministry of Justice later...or might you just block the door and prevent people from coming in?"

Chen Xi glanced at Zhang Yong who was jogging in from outside the gate of the Ministry of Justice, shook his head and said, "Today, the yamen does not need to avoid anyone, you can just try the case normally... Zong Xian, let's start."

Quan Yunxu had the lowest status among the few people. He heard that he could start, so he quickly walked to the middle of the lobby. Now Zhang Yong happened to enter the lobby.

"Are you all here? Lord Shen, why don't you hurry up? The Queen Mother's phoenix is ​​less than two streets away from here! The Queen Mother sets out of the palace before dawn." Zhang Yong said anxiously.

Chen Xi waved his hand: "Eunuch Zhang, please be careful to be on the trial... The Empress Dowager will come if she wants to come, and we can't stop it."

Chen Xi's calm and composed attitude made everyone present understand. Zhang Yong was about to ask, but Chen Xi turned around and walked towards the prepared auditorium next to him and sat down directly on the central seat.

The few people looked at each other, then walked over and chose a seat to sit down.

The Minister of Justice Zhang Zilin and Zhang Yong sat on the left and right sides of Shenxi, Zhang Lun and Lu Wan sat farther away, and there was a row of clerks sitting opposite him, and the yamen stood in two rows, and the court was silent.

"The Empress Dowager arrived..."

As soon as everyone sat down, before the trial was opened, Li Xing had already rushed in from the gate, for fear that someone would block the door. After coming in, he shouted and did not rush into it. The palace guards he brought had firmly occupied the gate of the Ministry of Justice.

Hearing this greeting, everyone who had just sat down stood up and looked at Chen Xi who was still sitting upright.

Chen Xi did not rush to get up, sat there and closed his eyes. He didn't get up, and no one would go out to greet him. Then there was a sound of gongs and drums outside, but Empress Dowager Zhang's Fengyu rushed straight into the gate of the Ministry of Justice in the Jinyiwei. Qian Ning, commander of the Jinyiwei, walked in front of the team, looking around.

Zhang Yong couldn't help looking at Chen Xi with curious eyes, feeling that Qian Ning was very strange in the empress dowager's team.

"See the Queen Mother."

When Empress Dowager Zhang slowly entered the main entrance of the court, everyone bowed and bowed.

Chen Xi stood up, but he just bowed his hand to show respect.

When Empress Dowager Zhang saw that the trial had not officially started, she breathed a sigh of relief, looked around her eyes, and finally her eyes fell on Shen Xi, with a very majestic voice: "What are you doing here today?"

Zhang Zilin, Lu Wan and Zhang Lun didn't say anything, and Chen Xi didn't say anything.

Quan Yunxu said righteously and righteously: "Return to the Empress Dowager, today the Ministry of Justice was ordered by the emperor to open a trial. What's wrong with the justice department?"

"It's dispersed, let the criminals go!" Empress Dowager Zhang did not hesitate to see the important officials in the court, and regarded this place as his backyard. The tone of order seemed to be instructing his servants, "There will be no one allowed to interfere in this case in the future, have you heard?"

Zhang Zilin, Lu Wan and Zhang Lu were still pretending to be mute, Quan Yunxu said again: "Empress Dowager, the case is the imperial order of Your Majesty. This place is the Ministry of Justice, which is in charge of the world's criminal prisons. Please respect yourself."

Empress Dowager Zhang couldn't help but be angry when she heard this and said, "Who are you? How dare you teach the Ai family a lesson here?"

Quan Yunxu did not give in at all, and his face was full of determination and stared at Empress Dowager Zhang.

When Li Xing saw this posture, he quickly persuaded: "Empress Dowager, this is Quan Yunxu, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, who has just arrived at the Ministry of Justice, and he doesn't understand the rules."

Quan Yunxu said: "I can't understand the rules, Eunuch Li, are you? Today, the Ministry of Justice's trial case has something to do with the Sili Supervisor? You are arbitrary!"

Empress Dowager Zhang said angrily: "You Minister of Justice. Who do you think you are? How dare you speak to the Ai family like this? Come on, drag him out and beat him twenty!"

While speaking, the Jinyiwei came in and wanted to come forward to arrest people.

But at this moment, a person suddenly walked out of the side, blocking the way of Jinyiwei, was Chen Xi.

After Chen Xi walked out, no one dared to step forward because the Jinyiwei knew that Chen Xi was not easy to mess with, and Empress Dowager Zhang also knew that Chen Xi could not sit idly by.

Chen Xi raised his hand and said, "Forgive me, the Queen Mother, I will say, is this a court or an inner palace in the palace? Is the Minister of Justice the imperial court appointed by the court, or the eunuch and palace maid in the palace?"

When Empress Dowager Zhang saw Chen Xi, her momentum was not that strong. This was the relationship between the rise and fall of the other. Of course, Empress Dowager Zhang knew who was the initiator and also understood who he was mainly dealing with today.

Empress Dowager Zhang did not answer Chen Xi's question and sneered: "What, Chen Qing's family is going to question Ai's family? Some people are disrespectful to Ai's family. Is the Ai's family not qualified to teach a lesson?"

Chen Xidao: "Every sentence that Quan Yunxu, the Minister of Justice, said is a common truth. Which sentence is disrespectful to the Empress Dowager? Please give me some advice."

Empress Dowager Zhang said angrily: "What you say now is also disrespectful to the Ai family."

Chen Xi turned around and pointed to the clerk and said, "Record all the conversations in the court today, and handed them to His Majesty for review to see if there is any disrespect to the Empress Dowager."

Then Chen Xi bowed to Empress Dowager Zhang: "Even if there is any, you will be punished by your crime... Today is the day when the imperial court trial is held. Even if the empress dowager comes in person, he must attend the trial. This is the rule and the national law! At any time, the national law cannot be shaken! Do you want to violate the national law? Open the church!"

Chen Xi did not order Empress Dowager Zhang, but looked at the heads of the Three Laws with a stern look.

Chen Xi is so "selfless". Lu Wan, Zhang Zilin and Zhang Lun certainly have to give face. They dare not come out to oppose Empress Dowager Zhang, but now Chen Xi, who is the governor, comes out to take the lead, and they can only follow Chen Xi's footsteps.

In this way, even if Empress Dowager Zhang was extremely angry, she had no choice. It was because Chen Xi represented the emperor as the governor of the country. In the end, the imperial power had the upper hand.

"Chen Qing family, haven't you heard what the Ai family said?" Empress Dowager Zhang asked sternly.

Everyone returned to their respective seats, and no one dared to sit down.

Chen Xidao: "If the Empress Dowager wants to attend the trial, I should prepare a seat for the Empress Dowager, but I also ask the Empress Dowager not to interfere with the court officials' trial, or simply open the Ministry of Justice and let the people come in and listen."

After hearing Chen Xi's words that the people would come in and the trial, Zhang Zilin, the Minister of Justice, suddenly became nervous.

The Ming Dynasty opened the trial of cases, and most of them were at the county level. It was rare at the government level. When the Ministry of Justice was in the open trial of cases, it would basically not be held publicly, let alone major cases involving royal relatives.

But obviously Empress Dowager Zhang didn't understand the truth. After hearing that the people could be let in, she was obviously stunned. It was obvious that she cared about her brother's case, but she was more concerned about the royal face.

Empress Dowager Zhang said: "What we are going to be examined today are the two younger brothers of the Ai family. They are relatives and the emperor's uncles. What qualifications are you as ministers to interrogate them? Come and take the two uncles out, and the Ai family will take them away."

"Empress Dowager, this..."

Even Li Xing, who was in the position of Empress Dowager Zhang, was hesitant on this matter. He did not dare to mention someone in front of Chen Xi, not to mention that the emperor asked Chen Xi to try the case now.

Empress Dowager Zhang said angrily: "Do you want to resist the order?"

Chen Xi asked back: "Dare you ask the Queen Mother, is this imperial edict or an imperial edict? We should have heard both, but if the two are completely opposite, who should we listen to?"

Queen Mother Zhang almost said "Listen to Ai's family", but she immediately realized that this was a text trap.

Regardless of whether the emperor must abide by benevolence, righteousness, etiquette and law, and pay attention to filial piety, the world is always owned by the emperor, not owned by the queen mother.

Chen Xidao: "Now the Ministry of Justice is ordered by the emperor to examine the case, so the imperial edict is the first. Do I need to ask for the imperial edict?"

Empress Dowager Zhang smiled and said, "Shen Zhihou, don't think that the Ai family gives you face, you can act recklessly here! The two younger brothers of the Ai family will never be guilty. Whoever dares to be tried is just a dilemma with the Ai family. Let's see who dares to act rashly?"

Empress Dowager Zhang relied on her being Xiaozong's only wife and the emperor was her own son, and did not regard the person in front of her as a minister of the Ming Dynasty, but was more of her own slaves. This made her develop an attitude of "even if my brother is wrong, he will not be guilty", thinking that no matter what his brother did, it was a royal family business.

This is also the illusion that Emperor Xiaozong left her in the past.

But now it is not the time when Emperor Xiaozong is in power, Chen Xi said firmly: "I have obtained the evidence of the crime, which can prove that Zhang's relatives are doing evil!"

"Perverbs are all perjury! Even if Marquis Jianchang confessed, he was tempted to confess and could not be done accurately." Empress Dowager Zhang argued.

Chen Xidao: "What if their brothers confessed their crimes in court?"

Empress Dowager Zhang was stunned and then sneered: "This is impossible. They are not guilty. How could they admit that they are guilty? Shen Zhihou, if you don't let anyone go, the Ai family will be rude to you!"

At this moment, Empress Dowager Zhang had no choice but to do anything to Chen Xi, because no matter whether it was the palace guards, the Jinyiwei, or even the yamen here, they could not do anything to Chen Xi. Chen Xi was responsible for the supervision of the country, and was a duke, a heavenly official of the Ministry of Personnel, or a grandson of the cabinet. It was too easy to deal with anyone, Empress Dowager Zhang lived in the deep palace for a long time and rarely cared about foreign affairs.

Everyone knows how to weigh the slightestness and would rather offend the Empress Dowager than offend Chen Xi.

Chen Xidao: "Empress Dowager, if the two relatives of the foreigners are not guilty, I should let them go back, but if they confessed themselves, can they be convicted?"

"you……"

Queen Mother Zhang didn't react for a while because she didn't think that her two younger brothers would admit their guilt in public.

Just when Queen Mother Zhang did not answer, Chen Xi waved his hand: "Take the criminal Zhang Yanling to the hall."

"The Ai family wants to see who dares."

Empress Dowager Zhang looked around, her face turned pale, and she looked like she was choosing someone to eat.

But Chen Xi had already issued an order. Even if these officials in the court dared not do anything randomly, there were always people who were doing things for Chen Xi, such as the yamen who had been waiting for a long time, Chen Xi's guards, and the Jinyiwei brought by Qian Ning, etc.

Empress Dowager Zhang felt that she had calmed down the scene, but unexpectedly, Zhang Yanling had been escorted to the front door of the court after a moment.

"elder sister?"

If Zhang Yanling hadn't called out, Empress Dowager Zhang wouldn't have known that someone would have taken her brother to him.

When Empress Dowager Zhang heard this call, she was so excited. She thought that her younger brother had suffered a lot in prison and was about to avenge her younger brother, but after turning around, she found that her younger brother was not wearing prison uniforms, but also stood there in bright clothes, with her hair not messy and no shackles on her body, and she was obviously stunned.

How could this be a prisoner? Zhang Yanling was like he was at home and was out for a walk after dinner.

"Second brother, you have suffered, are they... embarrassed you?"

At this time, Empress Dowager Zhang showed a sister who was doting on her young brother. She had no majesty at all. She stepped forward with concern.

Zhang Yanling looked excited and almost hugged Empress Dowager Zhang and cried bitterly, telling her experience, but after finding Chen Xi, who was standing in the court, his body trembled and his whole body was there.

Chen Xidao: "The Empress Dowager saw that even though the criminal was imprisoned in a cell, the Ministry of Justice did not make things difficult for him. The food and drink cost was the same as in the Marquis' Mansion. Before, he even went to the Ministry of Justice's prison and was completely unscrupulous."

Empress Dowager Zhang turned around and stared at Chen Xi: "Let me go!"
To be continued...