The First Lackey Under The Empress

"The inner court," Xue Xuan calmly uttered, causing the three "investigators" present to pause, not expecting her to be so direct, without any preamble.

Zhao Douan examined her with interest:

"Do you know that this is what we're asking about?"

Dressed in a woman's scholar's robe, her black hair tied back, Xue Xuan, exuding a scholarly aura, calmly said:

"After much consideration, I believe the only reason you would come here is my father's unjust case from years ago. Now that the case is settled, I presume Master Zhao is seeking different perspectives."

Her narration was clear and methodical. Even after having lost her composure from a recent threat, she had now calmed down.

"It seems Xue Lin taught you well in those days."

Zhao Douan praised, befitting a woman who almost married into the Dong family.

Haitang, curious, asked:

"Are you saying that Vice Minister Xue was wrongfully killed back then?"

Zhang Han's usually expressionless face also lit up:

"Sit down and tell us everything!"

The amount of information in this answer was truly enormous, and even Zhao Douan sat up straighter.

This lead indeed has something!

Xue Xuan sat down as instructed, but did not immediately begin, instead looking at Haitang, who was the easiest to talk to:

"I don't know what you already know, or what you want to hear."

We want to hear the part that disappeared from the case files… the three thought to themselves, but didn't want to reveal it.

Zhao Douan preemptively said:

"Just tell us the entire process of the case as you know it."

"Yes." Xue Xuan didn't dare to disobey. After a moment of recollection, as if organizing her words, she said:

"The matter began with a petition received by the yamen regarding the death of Yang An, a centurion…"

The first half of Xue Xuan's narration was not significantly different from what Zhao Douan had seen in the case files.

The cause was the same: Yang An's former colleagues claimed that the deceased was murdered by his wife, Yue, in collusion with her brother-in-law, neighbor Hao, and a low-ranking divine official from the Celestial Masters' Mansion.

The difference was the addition of some details, such as the full name of the sorcerer, which was "Shen Rong."

After the case was judged and confirmed by the yamen, it was sent to the Three Judicial Offices for review, and passed through the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice, but was blocked at the Court of Judicial Review.

"At the time, the person responsible for reviewing this case was my father, Xue Lin," Xue Xuan narrated:

"My father, as an official, liked to handle matters personally. When he reviewed the yamen's case files, he discovered inconsistencies in Yue's statements and discrepancies with the statements of the others. Based on his years of experience in judging cases, he determined that there had been a forced confession.

He rejected the case and sent it back to the Ministry of Justice for reconsideration, but the Ministry of Justice upheld the original verdict, so my father rejected it again, and this back-and-forth continued several times."

Yes, yes, yes, that's it!

Zhao Douan's spirits lifted. The case files broke off right there.

He suddenly felt like he was catching up on a novel update:

"And then?"

Xue Xuan calmly narrated:

"After several back-and-forths, the then-Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, who is now the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Zhou Cheng, personally came to see my father and argued with him about the case.

He said that if the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice had both confirmed the result, but my father refused to acknowledge it, wouldn't that be saying that the other two offices were incompetent?

Zhou Cheng ran back and forth several times for this matter, even flew into a rage, but my father did not compromise and still insisted on rejecting the case for retrial."

So rigid? Zhao Douan was surprised.

He then recalled that Xue Lin's resume was indeed described in the data.

This person had once been a student of Grand Tutor Dong in his youth and had a good reputation among the literati. After entering the officialdom, he solved many major cases and was known for his "uprightness," and was highly praised by the people of the time.

An official with strong backing, his own ability, and an upright character, it was understandable that he wouldn't give Zhou Cheng face.

Zhang Han asked in confusion:

"Logically speaking, if the case was being tossed back and forth between the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice, why did Zhou Cheng jump out first, so urgently?"

Xue Xuan glanced at him and suddenly said:

"Since you are in the Imperial Secret Agency, you should know who the previous Director of the Imperial Secret Agency was, right?"

The previous Director?

The three exchanged glances.

Haitang nodded first and said:

"Of course, the previous Director was the Palace Attendant Eunuch Wang Zhen, who was in charge of the Imperial Secret Agency for more than ten years. If I calculate correctly, the Imperial Secret Agency was controlled by Wang Zhen when your father was imprisoned."

Wang Zhen?

Zhao Douan squeezed his brain cells and finally remembered this character.

This person was a eunuch who was highly trusted by the old emperor in his later years. It is said that at his peak, he held more than twenty official positions and had great power, able to interfere in the affairs of the court.

He was also a powerful eunuch of his generation.

However, in the Xuanmen Coup, this person was by the old emperor's side and was killed in the chaos… dying silently.

Later, the Empress ascended the throne, and Ma Yan was promoted to replace Wang Zhen as the new Director, which was roughly this timeline.

Xue Xuan nodded and said calmly:

"In those days, Wang Zhen had great power. When my father took office as the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Wang Zhen ordered people to send gifts to win him over. My father, having studied under Grand Tutor Dong, had always been at odds with the palace eunuchs, so he declined.

And he said some harsh words, thus offending Wang Zhen."

"At that time, Zhou Cheng was in charge of the Censorate and was very close to Eunuch Wang… Zhou Cheng was probably trying to please Eunuch Wang, which is why he did this. At least, that's what my father thought at the time."

Factional struggle… Zhao Douan shook his head, understanding the reason:

"And then?"

Xue Xuan said:

"Seeing that my father wouldn't budge, Zhou Cheng then joined forces with the Ministry of Justice to put pressure on the Court of Judicial Review. After a long time, my father couldn't bear it anymore, so a judge under him offered a plan, saying that if it really didn't work, they could submit the case to the late emperor for a decision."

The plot connects!

The three pricked up their ears. The case files had briefly mentioned this, but it was vague.

Xue Xuan continued:

"But after the case was submitted, because the three judicial offices had different opinions, the late emperor didn't know how to decide either, so he separately sought out an old censor named Pan from the Censorate and ordered him to reinvestigate this murder case."

"Let the people from the Censorate investigate?" Zhang Han was surprised.

Zhao Douan glanced at him and said lightly:

"Since the late emperor arranged it this way, it means that this Censor Pan must not be on the same side as Zhou Cheng."

Just like Lu Liang was also a censor, but was completely in two different factions from his immediate superior, Yuan Li, this kind of thing was normal.

Xue Xuan nodded when she heard this and said:

"That's indeed the case. Censor Pan was not Zhou Cheng's man, and after careful investigation, he found that the case was indeed wrongly judged. Yang An had been suffering from a long-term illness, and Yue had indeed asked her neighbor Hao to seek a sorcerer, Shen Rong, for treatment, but there was no poisoning.

As for the matter of adultery, it was pure fabrication. Yang An simply died of a normal illness. Censor Pan reported to the late emperor, and the late emperor, seeing that the facts were clear, made a judgment with a stroke of his pen, releasing the arrested Yue and others, and imprisoning the false accusers."

The case was cleared? The three were first surprised, and then, even more puzzled.

Haitang asked curiously:

"Since the case has been investigated and settled, why did it rise again?"

Xue Xuan was silent for a moment, then said:

"Because Wang Zhen intervened."

The Director of the Imperial Secret Agency back then?

Did he come down?

Zhao Douan raised his eyebrows, thinking that this case was becoming more and more interesting.

Xue Xuan said:

"After Wang Zhen sent people to intervene, the entire case quickly reversed, and Censor Pan, who was in charge of the investigation, was labeled as deceiving the emperor, and the four Yue who had been released also changed their statements again."

Wang Zhen's explanation was that my father accepted bribes and, being from Wuling like the sorcerer Shen Rong, showed favoritism and shielded him. Censor Pan also participated, colluding with the officials of the Dali Temple to deceive the late Emperor.

After Wang Zhen reported to the late Emperor, the Emperor was furious and ordered my father, Censor Pan, and other involved officials to be imprisoned and tried by the Censorate.

As you can imagine, what kind of result would Zhou Cheng, who was in charge of the Censorate, come up with.

After my father and the others entered the 'Tai Prison' of the Censorate, they were subjected to severe torture. Many people could not withstand the punishment and, according to Zhou Cheng's wishes, implicated more and more people…

As for the final result, the esteemed sirs all know it.

My father died, and Censor Pan was exiled to the army and also died on the road.

The room fell slightly silent.

Xue Xuan had finished recounting a more detailed version of the case, but the three became even more puzzled.

Whether it was Censor Pan's inexplicable involvement in deceiving the Emperor, or the sudden confession of guilt by the four Yue family members who had already been released from prison.

Clearly, it was all the work of that Eunuch Wang, who used torture to extract confessions and frame people. His methods were simply too easy.

Zhao Douan narrowed his eyes and said:

Are you saying that all of this was because of Wang Zhen? Because your father had offended this Eunuch Wang, so Eunuch Wang used this case, in conjunction with Zhou Cheng, to frame your father?

Zhang Han and Haitang also frowned slightly.

They both felt that this explanation was plausible, but it still felt a bit far-fetched.

After all, Xue Lin back then was not a simple person. He had a group of literati behind him, led by Grand Tutor Dong.

Even his daughter was betrothed to the Dong family. Even if Eunuch Wang had power over the court, would he interfere and frame him just for this little matter?

Xue Xuan seemed to see through their thoughts. This female teacher, who was hiding in a humble alley in Dongcheng, suddenly smiled self-deprecatingly:

At first, I also thought it was like this, but later I learned that there was another hidden story.

Hidden story?

Zhao Douan raised his eyebrows.

Xue Xuan gave an 'En' sound and said calmly:

At that time, Wang Zhen had a very beloved adopted son, who was also arranged to work in the Imperial Guard.

This adopted son of Eunuch Wang accidentally encountered the Yue family, that is, the wife of Centurion Yang An, and was attracted by her beauty. He wanted to forcibly take Yue, but failed, and therefore held a grudge.

After learning of Yang An's death, he secretly bought off Yang An's colleague and ordered him to falsely accuse him, intending to take revenge.

Zhao Douan and the other two were stunned. They didn't expect that the initial case contained such a big secret.

They were even eating melons from their own yamen.

Xue Xuan smiled self-deprecatingly and said:

Originally, if my father hadn't interfered, this unjust case would have passed. Wang Zhen's adopted son didn't expect things to get so big that they couldn't be contained.

Censor Pan reported, and after the late Emperor's ruling, he was annoyed that such a small matter had actually been brought to the Golden Luan Hall. He summoned Zhou Cheng and others and scolded them, and also fined them their salaries.

In fact, Zhou Cheng had already known that the mastermind behind this case was Eunuch Wang's adopted son. The reason why the Censorate passed this case was to give Eunuch Wang face.

The reason why he ran to the Dali Temple before to put pressure on my father was also for this reason.

So that's how it was…

So, Zhou Cheng ran over to bang the table to help Wang Zhen's adopted son… Zhao Douan took a light breath.

He didn't expect that this broken case was full of foreshadowing…

Zhang Han and Haitang also looked at each other: "What happened after that?"

Xue Xuan said:

After Zhou Cheng was punished, he probably felt that he couldn't be punished for nothing, so he went to see Wang Zhen and explained the whole story, also to curry favor. After all, in the final analysis, he stirred up these things to 'pay tribute' to Eunuch Wang.

When Wang Zhen learned that the root of the matter was caused by his adopted son's lust, he was also quite dissatisfied, so he called him over and scolded him severely.

But that adopted son did not dare to admit it and refused to let go, insisting that Censor Pan was lying, saying that the case had nothing to do with him.

Wang Zhen, as a powerful eunuch who dominated the court, would never tolerate any treachery. He must have known that his adopted son was lying.

But at that time, there was a court struggle, and Wang Zhen and Grand Tutor Dong and others were at odds with each other. And my father, as the Vice Minister of the Dali Temple, was also a thorn in Wang Zhen's side…"

Zhao Douan sighed and summarized:

So, even though Wang Zhen knew that it was his adopted son's fault, he still realized that this was a good opportunity to strike at the enemy, so he took action and overturned the already established case?

Xue Xuan nodded.

Having held back this secret story for more than ten years, she finally spat it out in one breath today. For her, it was also a painful memory of the past.

The female teacher, who was elegant and full of scholarly air, said:

That's all I know.

There's still one question," Haitang suddenly asked:

What's the name of Wang Zhen's adopted son?

The reason she asked was not for anything else, but mainly because the other party had also served as a Jinyi Guard in the Imperial Guard, belonging to the three people's "predecessor."

She was really curious.

Xue Xuan was silent for a moment, then uttered a name:

Wang Shan."

… …

… …

At the same time, in the South City.

Inside a private residence that was usually uninhabited, Qin Qiu, who was short, liked to wear silk clothes, and had a fan stuck in the back of his neck, was tied to a pillar and beaten to the point of wailing like a ghost.

After he came out of the Jiaofang Division, he was not far away when he was blindfolded, knocked unconscious, and kidnapped here.

Without saying a word, the other party gave him a severe beating.

A carriage was parked at the entrance of the house.

He Zheng, the Vice Minister of the Dali Temple, leaned quietly in the carriage, tapping his fingers lightly on his leg, his ears filled with the low, mournful screams coming from the yard.

For a long time.

The screams in the yard stopped, and after a while, the courtyard door was pushed open.

The Dali Temple clerk, who had been acting as a coachman and dressed in plain clothes, walked to the carriage and said in a low voice:

Sir, this Qin Qiu has confessed. He said that the only time he knew that Zhao Douan might have slept with a woman was at the Wang residence."

He Zheng opened his eyes, and the fingers on his thigh stopped tapping. First, his eyes lit up.

He thought that after so much trouble, he had finally found Zhao Douan's weakness.

Then he frowned and said: "Wang residence? Which Wang residence?"

There were many people with the surname Wang in the capital, and he was not sure for a while.

The clerk whispered a name:

Wang Shan."

… …

ps: The case mentioned in this chapter is not made up by me, but is adapted from a real case that occurred during the Zhengtong period of the Ming Dynasty. Some details have been magically modified, but the general process remains unchanged.

I saw the story in a book by Ma Boyong, but Ma Qinwang did not adapt it into a novel, but only wrote an article recording this matter. The name of the article is "Four Wronged Souls in the Zhengtong Period." After reading it, I felt it was a good material, so I simply adapted it into a novel haha.