On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, the sky was bright.
Today, the trial of the case of King Zhennan framing the Crown Prince of Min, which has attracted much attention from both the government and the public, has officially begun.
In the main hall of Dali Temple, a large number of people were sitting in red and purple python robes.
In the main hall is the presiding judge, the current head of the Zongren Mansion, Ningyang Marquis Chen Mao. Next to him are the new Dali Temple Minister Xue Xuan, and the left deputy imperial envoy Luo Tong of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
Counting down, there is a person sitting at the bottom wearing an eunuch's robe. It is Shu Liang, the eunuch of the East Factory who came to supervise the inspection on behalf of the emperor.
On both sides of the lobby, where the three squadrons of government officials should have stood, were now filled with chairs, with princes in python robes sitting upright, whispering to each other.
Basically, except for a few princes who returned to their fiefdoms early and King Min who is still ill, all the other princes in Beijing have arrived today.
Seeing that the time was almost up, Ningyang Hou Chen Mao stood up, bowed his hands in salute to the clan princes on both sides, and said.
"My lords, today I have received an imperial edict, on behalf of the clan, together with Dali Temple and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, to preside over the trial of King Guangtong and King Yang Zong in the Fengtian Hall on Zhengdan day, accusing King Zhennan of murdering his eldest brother Zhu, the heir apparent of Prince Min's palace.
The Huiyu case."
"Before the trial begins, I have something to say. You are all here to hear the trial today, not to supervise the trial, let alone to co-trial. Therefore, after the trial begins, please do not interfere in the trial without authorization."
Regarding his warning, the kings below showed no sign, as if they had not heard it. For a moment, the scene couldn't help but feel a little awkward.
In the end, King Zhou coughed twice, and the kings finally calmed down.
Finally, order was maintained, Mr. Chen took his seat again, and with the sound of the alarm, the trial of this case officially began.
The plaintiffs, King Guangtong and King Yangzong, and the defendant, King Zhennan, had been waiting outside for a long time.
Following Chen Mao's order, several people were brought to the court at the same time.
These people are all distinguished county princes, so it is naturally impossible for them to show off their power first like a normal interrogation.
On the contrary, he had to move chairs for several county princes to sit down.
After not seeing each other for more than half a month, the three brothers not only did not become calm, but became even more disgusted with each other.
Needless to say, King Guangtong and King Yangzong have always been against King Zhennan. As soon as they entered the lobby, they stared at each other fiercely, as if they wanted to eat him.
As for the King of Zhennan, now that he has reached this point, he no longer needs to maintain his usual image of caring for his younger brother. There is no smile on his fat face. He snorted coldly and turned his head away from them.
Because the general situation had already been explained by King Guangtong in front of the palace, there was no need to elaborate again, so Chen Mao turned directly to King Zhennan.
He first took out a stack of memorials from his side, sent them to King Zhennan, and asked.
"King Zhennan, these memorials are from the first year of Hongxi, the second year of Xuande, and the fourth year of Xuande. The Min Palace and the Zhennan Palace sent congratulations and greetings to the court. Please check whether they are written by the king himself.
Written by?”
King Zhennan opened it and took a look at it, then nodded and said, "It is indeed written by me."
The scribe took back the memorial, then took out another envelope, spread out the letter paper, and placed it in front of King Zhennan.
Chen Mao continued to ask: "This poem has been identified by the Ministry of Punishment. The paper and ink quality can be inferred that it was written in the early years of Xuande."
"After joint appraisal by scribes from the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and Hanlin Academy who are good at handwriting, it was determined that this poem and the memorial that I just showed to the prince were written by the same person."
With that said, Chen Mao took out an official document, unfolded it and said to the prince of the clan below.
"Princes, please take a look. This is an official appraisal document jointly issued by the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and the Hanlin Academy. The entire appraisal process was supervised by the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the East Factory. There are absolutely no violations."
As he said that, he turned his eyes to Luo Tong and Shu Liang who were standing aside. When they saw this, they both nodded slightly, indicating that what Chen Mao said was true.
Seeing this situation, the princes of the clan below all frowned in unison and couldn't help but started talking in low voices.
Chen Mao's gavel sounded again, and the hall became quiet. He turned to King Zhennan again and asked.
"Since the prince admits that the memorials just displayed were all written by the prince himself, then according to this appraisal document, the poem and the memorial were written by the same person, which is enough to prove that the poem slandering Ren Temple is
It was written by the prince himself in the early years of Xuande. May I ask, prince, what excuse do you have for this?"
Facing Chen Mao's questioning, the fat King Zhennan did not panic like he did in Fengtian Palace. Instead, he flicked his sleeves and said coldly.
"I have already said that this is a false accusation. I don't know where this poem came from. I have never written such a rebellious poem."
"As for why it is similar to my king's handwriting, this is something that your clan and Dali Temple should investigate. It has nothing to do with me."
King Zhennan's confident appearance surprised Chen Mao a little.
He originally thought that King Zhennan would be at least a little nervous, but he didn't expect that in the face of such irrefutable evidence, he would still dare to deny it so confidently.
If the case were tried by an ordinary county government office, with this kind of evidence, it would almost be time for a criminal trial.
But now we are facing the nobles of Tianhuang, so naturally we cannot do this.
Fortunately, Chen Mao was not unprepared. He put down the appraisal document in his hand and pondered.
"Since the prince categorically denies it, I dare to ask the prince, where is the prince on the Lantern Festival in the second year of Xuande?"
Hearing this, King Zhennan's calm expression finally became a little nervous, and he said: "How can I remember such a long time ago? Since it is the Lantern Festival, I probably celebrated with my father.
Yeah."
"Celebrating together?"
Chen Mao sneered, shook his head and said.
"Since the prince doesn't remember, it's better to listen to the results of my investigation."
After saying that, Chen Mao also took out a few more documents, showed them in the hall, sent them to King Zhennan, and said.
"Your Majesty, please take a look. This is the criminal case file submitted by the then Wugang magistrate in the second year of Xuande. It records a curfew brawl case that occurred late at night on the Lantern Festival. The criminal claimed that the reason for violating the curfew was
I am going to a local restaurant to attend the banquet hosted by the prince."
"Also, this is the account book of a restaurant in Wugang City. It states that on the Lantern Festival in the second year of Xuande, the second son of Prince Min had a banquet in the restaurant."
Although the case has not been tried for more than half a month, Chen Mao has obviously not been idle. He has tried his best to collect a lot of evidence through the memories of Guangtong Wang and others.
King Zhennan's face looked a little ugly, and his eyes were a little flustered. He said vaguely: "After so many years, how can I remember these things clearly? Maybe I went to a banquet?"
Seeing this, Chen Mao's eyes flashed with excitement, and he took advantage of the victory and said: "It's not a possibility, but a certainty. The prince was having a banquet in the restaurant at that time, and this poem was written by the prince himself at that time!"
King Zhennan turned pale, but still held on and said.
"Even if I really went to have a banquet that day, how can I prove that this poem was written by me at that time? Is there any necessary connection between the two?"
Chen Mao shook his head, sighed, and said: "It seems that the prince will never look back until he hits the wall. In this case, bring witnesses!"
After saying that, there was a handyman from Dali Temple, and he came to the lobby with a short old man in his fifties or sixties with gray hair.
Chen Mao slapped the hall in shock and said, "Who is there?"
The man was obviously very nervous when faced with such a battle, and he stuttered a little: "This villain is a clerk from Fulinmen Restaurant."
Chen Mao pointed at King Zhennan and continued to ask: "Do you know this person? In the second year of Xuande, did he ever have a banquet in a restaurant?"
The old man trembled and looked at the King of Zhennan. He immediately lowered his head and replied: "I know him. This is the second son of Prince Min. On the Lantern Festival in the second year of Xuande, he rented a restaurant and invited friends to a banquet. The villain was in charge at that time.
Serve."
King Zhennan's expression was gloomy and his brows were deeply furrowed, but he did not speak.
Chen Mao asked: "During the banquet, did you ever see or hear anything?"
The old man thought for a while and said: "We dare not inquire more about the nobles' affairs, but when the villain was serving the dishes, he saw them composing poems. Then, the eldest son of Prince Min's palace broke in and started arguing with the second son.
, the villain doesn’t know what happens next.”
After ordering someone to take the old man down again, Chen Mao said to the king of Zhennan.
"What else does the prince have to say? The eldest son of the Min Palace he was talking about was your eldest brother, Zhu Huiyan, the eldest son of the Min Palace. Soon after, Zhu Huiyan submitted a letter to the court, saying that the prince had slandered Renmiao. On time
It’s a perfect match, is your lord going to say that this is all a coincidence?”
At this point, the chain of evidence has been basically completed. King Zhennan could no longer maintain his composure, so he couldn't help but stand up and said repeatedly.
"It's false. You are making false accusations. That poem was definitely not written by me. I have never written any poems. I want to see Your Majesty!"
Seeing King Zhennan in such panic, all the clan members present were disappointed and shook their heads secretly.
They originally thought that King Zhennan had some means of turning the tables, but they never thought that they would be manipulated.
It seems that he can't escape this time!
Chen Mao breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Xue Xuan and Luo Tong at the side, and then said.
"At this point, the facts of the case are very clear. The King of Zhennan slandered Renmiao first, and falsely accused the crown prince later. A minister is unfaithful, a younger brother is unfaithful, and a son is unfilial. I will certainly judge the details in court today.
, report the truth to Your Majesty, someone is here to take King Zhennan down and temporarily imprison him!"
At that moment, two servants came forward, held King Zhennan up and took him down.
Even if the case is concluded at this point, it is a clan matter after all. They only have the power to hear the case, but not to make a judgment.
What they can do is to report everything to the Holy One and let him make the decision himself.
But now that the matter has come to this, it is no longer possible to recover.
Chen Mao glanced at Shu Liang, who was very calm from beginning to end, and suddenly felt a strange feeling in his heart. It seemed that everything was going too smoothly...