Chapter 46: What a Li Yuanchen, really amazing

Day after day, the war of words continued. It seemed that the officials of the Three Law Departments had become accustomed to this kind of thing. They were all quarreling and quarreling every day.

This kind of thing is actually normal. Any case handed over to the three-law judicial department will look like this halfway through the trial. It is said that the longest record of some cases is half a year. In the middle of the trial, even the emperor forgot about it.

If he hadn't accidentally thought of this matter and issued a death order, he would probably have been tried in a year or two.

It has always been a rule for a gentleman to speak. The neutral officials of the Three Law Departments drink tea in the court every day and watch the excitement. But the officials of the three parties of Qi, Chu and Zhejiang are in a hurry to close the case. How can they spend so much time to see the trial?

Not having any clues, I had no choice but to report the matter to the emperor during the morning court session on the eighth day.

When Zhu Carpenter heard that nothing had been found after seven days of interrogation, how could he not be angry and immediately asked questions.

Zhou Yingqiu had already thought of a response, and his reply to the emperor was that there was insufficient evidence. There was no conclusive evidence that the property of Wei Guangwei and other officials was obtained from corruption. According to the confession of his relatives, it was money earned from business and was temporarily stored with them.

At home. And there are account books and other evidence here. The court does not allow officials to do business and compete for profits with the people, but it does not prohibit officials’ family members from doing some business. Therefore, evidence is still being collected. Please don’t worry, your Majesty. This case will definitely be solved.

The truth comes out.

Li Chaohai did not show any weakness and immediately expressed his opinion, saying that Zhou Yingqiu was using strong words and that the so-called relatives earning so much money from doing business was pure fiction. How could you earn 300,000 taels of silver in a restaurant in the capital in one year?

There are many restaurants, so you can ask around to see how much other people earn and see if they can be compared.

Zhou Yingqiu still did not back down. He once again took his position and said it based on the facts. The officials under trial were all important officials of the imperial court. How could they be careless? Although other restaurants could not make that much money in a year, they were not sure that they could.

Yeah, maybe they are doing things well. Therefore, we cannot be arbitrary and must continue to collect evidence.

The two of them talked to each other and expressed their own opinions. The quarrel made Zhu Carpenter's mind full of confusion. In the end, he only needed to ask the other chief judge, the Vice Minister of the Criminal Department.

This person fully explained what it means to be a 'good old man'. He first expressed his agreement with Li Chaohai's point of view. There should be no restaurant in Beijing that can earn 300,000 taels of silver a year. It is very likely that the relatives of prisoner Feng Quan are

He was lying. Then, he said that he also agreed with Zhou Yingqiu's point of view. He should not generalize. Maybe there was something wrong, but it was uncertain. Wei Guangwei and Feng Quan were both important officials in the court. When trying them, they must not

Hasty, should it be open and aboveboard, the evidence is conclusive, and the people of the world can be convinced?

Well, he couldn't offend anyone. After finishing speaking, Zhou Yingqiu and Li Chaohai quarreled again. This was what annoyed Carpenter Zhu the most. He stood up angrily and shouted, "Retreat from the court and continue the trial."

Then left.

After leaving the court, the officials of the Third Law Department went to the Criminal Department to continue the trial as usual. They spent the morning drooling. After lunch, everyone took a nap again. They thought it would be the same in the afternoon, but they never thought that Feng Quan would be arrested.

After bringing it up, the officials of the two families had just started spraying, when the sound of drumming could be heard outside.

"Dong dong dong..."

I went to the Ministry of Justice to beat the drums and complain. What kind of case was this? The Minister of the Ministry of Justice, who was in charge of the work, shouted: "Go out and see who is beating the drums. If it is not an important case, send him away."

Now it is a joint trial of the three judicial divisions, so even if there are any important cases, they have to give way.

A servant in the hall went out to ask questions. After a while, he ran back to the hall, bowed and reported: "Your Majesty, among the people playing drums outside the door, there is an old woman, who claims to be...the master's mother-in-law...

... She said she wanted to see Mr. Bu Tang and plead grievances for her husband, Mr. Ruan."

"Master Yue is not in the hall, didn't you tell her to let him go to Shuntian Mansion?" Li Chaohai shouted first without waiting for the Minister of Punishment to speak.

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Yingqiu hurriedly shouted: "Buy! Since she is Master Yue's mother-in-law, there is no reason to be negligent. Please hurry up and invite Master Ruan to come to the court so that they can meet as husband and wife."

The officer didn't know what he heard, so he could only look at the chief officer of the headquarters. The Minister of Punishment thought for a while, since she is Lord Yue's mother-in-law, it's best not to neglect him. He nodded and said: "Just follow Lord Zhou's wishes and invite her to the court.

Then take Ruan Zhenmei out of the prison."

With these words, the guard quickly ran down and soon brought an old woman, a middle-aged couple, and a young boy into the hall.

The four of them went to the court and looked around, but they didn't see Yue Su. The middle-aged man raised his hands and said, "Ruan Aori, a late student, is here to meet you all, sir. I don't know about Mr. Yue..."

Ruan Aori is the eldest son of Ruan Zhenmei and the elder brother of Ruan Aoyue.

As soon as Ruan Zhenmei settled down in Beijing, she asked someone to go back to Guangxi to pick up her wife and bring her to Beijing so that she could be reunited with her daughter. In the Ming Dynasty, officials in other places were rarely allowed to bring their parents and children with them. This may be because they were afraid of favoritism.

For example, Zhang Juzheng, Xu Jie, Gao Gong and other people who had served as chief ministers did not even come to Beijing when they were young, and they all settled in their hometowns.

The young man Ruan Zhenmei sent home hurriedly returned to Guangxi in less than half a month on horseback. When he told Ruan's wife, Mrs. Liu, she also missed her daughter very much, so she packed her luggage and, accompanied by her son and daughter-in-law,

, and rushed to the capital.

We just arrived in the city today. The boy knew about Ruan Zhenmei's mansion and ran all the way there. When he arrived, he found out that the house had been sealed and Lord Ruan had been imprisoned in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment and handed over to the Third Justice Department for trial. The news of Yue Su's illness.

The Ruan family didn't know, but the Ruan family already knew about Yue Su's promotion to the Minister of Punishment. Since it was the son-in-law who was judging the father-in-law, the father-in-law was really at fault and should have been acquitted as early as possible. Why did it take so long? Mrs. Liu was very dissatisfied.

, she must go to the Ministry of Punishment to question Yue Su. Although there is a punishment for playing drums when there is nothing to do, the Ruan family has a ritual, so she does not believe that Yue Su dares to do anything to her. As soon as she arrives at the door, she screams the drum of injustice without saying a word.

Knocked.

"Master Yue is currently ill and is recuperating in Shuntian Mansion. This case will be tried by us. If you want to find Master Yue, please come to Shuntian Mansion to meet you." Li Chaohai really didn't want the Ruan family to join in the fun, and just wanted to get him there quickly.

Send away.

"Master Li is right. Master Yue is indeed ill. If you want to find him, you can only go to Shuntian Mansion. But since the old lady is here, you can't go in vain. Just now, Shilang Chen has sent someone to pick up Master Ruan.

It's not too late to meet and leave." Zhou Yingqiu said with a smile.

"Thank you, sir." Mrs. Liu said politely, but she was very angry in her heart. What do you mean, Yue Su? Your father-in-law is in jail, and you have the nerve to recuperate at home. It's really the right time for you to get sick.

Then, she said: "I wonder what my husband's case is?"

"Master Ruan is suspected of accepting bribes, concealing military information in the border town, and deceiving the emperor. If the charges are proven, he will be executed." Zhou Yingqiu deliberately threatened.

"Ah..." Upon hearing this, Ms. Liu was so frightened that she almost fell over. Fortunately, her son had sharp eyes and helped her catch her.

"This...how is this possible...how could my husband do this...this must be unjust..." Ms. Liu said tremblingly.

"Whether he is unjustly accused or not, we don't know now. Everything is based on evidence and must be tried before the case can be finalized." Zhou Yingqiu said directly.

When he said this, he was actually telling you clearly that it is too late to ask Yue Su for help now, but it will be in vain if anyone waits until the decision is finalized. It can be said that there is an ironclad case in Jizhen. The quota of 80,000 border troops is only 30,000. In addition,

50,000 yuan is all empty money. You Ruan Zhenmei ran around and collected the money and said everything was normal. You were not trying to deceive the emperor naked or something.

At this time, a police officer came into the hall to report that Ruan Zhenmei had been brought there. Hearing this, Liu's mother and son quickly turned around to look, and saw that Ruan Zhenmei still had the same charm as before. He was wearing prison uniform, with gray hair and a depressed expression.

His face is full of color and his beard is scruffy.

"Husband...husband..." Seeing her husband like this, Ms. Liu burst into tears. She broke away from her son's arm, staggered and rushed over, throwing herself on her husband's body.

"Husband...what's going on..."

The guard standing next to Ruan Zhenmei knew who the old lady was, and did not dare to stop her. He pretended not to see her. Ruan Zhenmei shook her head vigorously and sighed: "I was wronged... I fell into the trap of the traitor...

...fall into the trap set by others..."

He really had the nerve to say that if he hadn't been greedy, how could he have taken the bait? Even if someone set up a trap for you, if you don't accept the gift and are aboveboard, what can others do to you?

"Husband...you are really wronged..." Mrs. Liu cried.

"My husband is indeed unjustly accused..." Ruan Zhenmei could not admit his guilt at this time. If he admitted it now, there would be no room for redemption. Even though he had been interrogated, he insisted that he was unjustly accused. This

The case depends on how it is tried. As long as you don't plead guilty, anything is possible. This old guy has been in officialdom for a long time, how can he not know this truth.

"As long as you are unjustly accused, don't worry, I will definitely find a way to help you redress your grievance." Mrs. Liu cried again. She has now made up her mind to go find her daughter later. It really means that Yue Su is really sick, so

I have to pull him out and redress my father-in-law's grievances.

When Zhou Yingqiu saw this scene, he was secretly proud of himself. Aren't you Yue Su Qingtian? Let's see how you judge your father-in-law.

The case must be an ironclad case, and the result is what you see. Yue Su is the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment and the chief officer of the Three Laws Division. If he is not here, others can directly submit it to the emperor after the trial and let the emperor decide the sentence. But Yue Su cannot, as the Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment

How could we not know the Ming Dynasty regulations? After the case is finalized, the punishment must be determined according to the law, and the handling opinions must be written in writing and submitted to the emperor. If it is written lightly, it means favoritism. If it is written seriously, it is his own fault that the father-in-law was killed.

No matter what, I can't untie this knot.

Yue Su understood this truth, so he asked Li Chaohai to settle his father-in-law's case first. As long as the file was submitted to the emperor, it would be none of his business. How the emperor would deal with it was the emperor's business and none of his business. At that time, it would be none of his business.

, even if Wei Guangwei's case has not yet been concluded, he can come forward and continue the trial.

Unfortunately, it is the Jin Yiwei who escorted the Jizhen officials to the capital. It is not you Yue Su who has the final say when he can come back, but Eunuch Wei. What Eunuch Wei means is very simple. When Yue Su recovers and comes forward, he will be the prisoner.

When the time comes to Beijing. If you don't come out, this case will not be closed. If you can, continue to delay. When the emperor is happy one day, maybe I can ask the emperor to issue an edict and directly release Wei Guangwei and others.

Mrs. Liu and Ruan Zhenmei comforted Ruan Zhenmei a few more words, then said goodbye and left. Her destination was very clear, Shuntian Mansion.

****

"Mother, when did you arrive? Why didn't you notify me when you arrived so that I could personally pick you up outside the city?"

Mrs. Liu brought her son and daughter-in-law to Shuntian Mansion. As soon as she reported her name, the officer immediately went in to inform her. After hearing the news, Ruan Aoyue went out to greet her in person. She was very happy to see her mother.

"How dare I inform Madam Shangshu? Once I tell you in advance, you still have to try to hide it from me. Now that your father has been unjustly imprisoned and tortured to the point of being reduced to human form, you and your wife are very comfortable and can still stay at home peacefully.

Recuperate." Mrs. Liu said angrily after hearing what her daughter said.

"Mother, how can you say that... My husband did catch cold, and it was very serious. The emperor came to visit him personally. Even the imperial doctor said that it would take ten days and a half to recover..." Ruan Aoyue said softly.

.

"Hmph! I don't say that. What can I say? Girls are really outgoing. How could it be such a coincidence that when your father was in good condition, he didn't get sick, but when your father was imprisoned, he, the minister of the Ministry of Punishment, became ill.

He was able to hide quite well, and you, the daughter, couldn't think of a way to save him. Do you really want to wait for your father to be sent to the guillotine? I just heard someone say that if your father's case is confirmed, he will confiscate his house and destroy his family.

It's a sin, and all of us, young and old, will have to go to the execution ground. You said... I want your daughter... and his son-in-law... what's the use..." The old lady became furious and cursed. She cried bitterly until the end.

Get up, "I was pregnant for ten months in vain to give birth to you. You have been pampered and pampered since you were a child. The whole family regards you as a jewel. Your grandmother loves you so much. You are now married to Yue Su and you have not come home to visit her.

I have to talk about you from time to time, fearing that you will be wronged. And your brother, he has doted on you and loved you since you were a child. Even if you cause any trouble, he will be responsible for you. Well, when the whole family goes to the guillotine together

When the time comes, let me see what you do and who will love you in the future..."
To be continued...