The First Lackey Under The Empress

How to explain?

Zhou Cheng's face was extremely unsightly, but at the end of the day, he was an old fox who had been floating in the official sea for many years.

Based on the dialogue in the painting, although it could be seen that he was inducing, there was not a single piece of solid evidence.

In other words, every sentence he said in the dialogue, when taken out separately, was fine, and the questioning of Wang Shan's initial statement was also reasonable.

On the contrary, it was Wang Shan himself who changed his statement.

The so-called "art of speaking" is that every sentence is irrefutable, but the meaning behind it is entirely up to the people below to speculate.

Zhao Du'an could accuse him of deliberately inducing and implying.

But conversely, Zhou Cheng could also argue that his questions were just routine and reasonable doubts.

At this moment, Zhou Cheng was extremely grateful for his prudence, which had won him room to maneuver.

Therefore, Zhou Cheng did not respond to Yuan Li's inquiry, but instead put on a stern face and looked down at the hall:

"If I remember correctly, this dynasty has rules that Heavenly Master Mansion's divine officials are strictly prohibited from interfering in or participating in any court affairs unless invited by the imperial court. Divine Official Jin Jian is a disciple of the Heavenly Master, so he should know this."

Zhao Du'an was surprised.

At this point, this old man was still trying to find trouble with him from the source of the evidence.

Did he think that the painting could not hammer him to death?

Jin Jian was stunned, as if he did not expect that there would be something about him.

He glanced at the latter, and lied without blushing or skipping a beat:

"This scroll was not recorded by me, this divine official just sent it over."

Well done... Zhao Du'an nodded in approval. Although this girl looked a bit dull, she was still smart enough.

"Zhou Cheng!"

On the jury seat, Ma Yan slammed the table with his large, knobby hand, stood up abruptly, and said in a cold voice:

"Zhao Du'an has presented the evidence. Next, it's your turn.

Conspiring with Wang Shan to direct this scene, ha, you can simply deny it, but I will truthfully report today's events to His Majesty! This matter is not over."

Zhou Cheng did not say a word, as if he was considering how to respond later.

But at this time, the trial against Zhao Du'an was obviously over.

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice glanced at Yuan Li, stood up, and said:

"Since there is new evidence in this case, according to the procedure, the relevant defendants will be taken into custody to await retrial."

Zhou Cheng did not stop him this time.

Everyone also knew that the so-called "retrial" would no longer exist.

Just wait for Ma Yan to send the news into the palace to clarify the misunderstanding.

It was conceivable that the Empress would issue an edict to release Zhao Du'an.

As for the accusations against Zhou Cheng, it would not be so fast.

After all, he was one of the Nine Ministers, a minister entrusted with the care of the emperor, and at least for now, Zhou Cheng was still the presiding judge.

The officials stood up one after another, and the people outside the hall were also preparing to leave.

However, just when everyone thought that today's drama was over.

Outside the gate of the Dali Temple, there was a sudden sound of horses' hooves like thunder!

People turned around in surprise and looked over. Zhao Du'an and the others in the hall also looked up.

Two sturdy military horses arrived almost at the same time. Two figures dismounted, ignoring the obstruction of the gatekeepers, and broke into the crowd, wrapped in the cold wind from outside the capital.

"Zhang Han? Hai Tang?"

At this moment, many people present recognized these two arresting officers from the Imperial Prison.

"Why are they back? Didn't they just go out to handle a case a few days ago?" Even more knowledgeable people were surprised.

Ma Yan also raised his eyebrows, and suddenly looked at Zhao Du'an, with a hidden guess.

"Arresting Officer Zhao!?"

As soon as the two warriors broke into the hall, they seemed to have not figured out the situation yet. Seeing him wearing prison clothes, they were anxious.

Hai Tang's face changed. He did not understand why there had been such a change after only a few days away from the capital.

Zhang Han was calmer, keenly aware that the atmosphere was not right, and said in a deep voice:

"Hai Tang and I just returned to the city and heard at the city gate that the three divisions would hold a joint trial today, so we came here."

Zhao Du'an did not care about these things, and the first sentence he asked was:

"Was this trip successful?"

Hai Tang and Zhang Han understood each other and nodded at the same time.

Zhao Du'an smiled.

The smile was tinged with a bit of emotion.

Although according to the itinerary, the two should have returned, it was such a coincidence that they rushed to this court, as if it were God's will.

"Could it be that the wronged souls who died thirteen years ago are also silently helping?"

Zhao Du'an could not help but imagine, thinking that since the stage had been set up and the east wind had arrived, it would be better to choose a day than to bump into one.

"I am fine." Zhao Du'an first explained to the two of them.

Then he turned around and looked directly at the Dali Temple Secretary, who was sitting high above the "official case" like a god, with a cold look in his eyes:

"It's your turn to have something to do."

Then, without waiting for Zhou Cheng to react, Zhao Du'an said loudly:

"I would also like to ask you adults to sit down for a while. Today, the three chief judicial officers are all here. I dare to submit a complaint."

"Complaint? Who do you want to sue?" The Minister of the Ministry of Justice frowned and said:

"I'll say it first, if you're saying that you want to sue Zhou Commandant for framing you..."

Zhao Du'an shook his head:

"The person I am suing is indeed Zhou Cheng. But it is not for framing me, but for the case thirteen years ago, when Zhou Cheng colluded with Wang Shan, the former Supervisor of the Imperial Prison Wang Zhen and others to persecute loyal people, disrupt the court, and falsely accuse and wrongly kill Dali Temple Vice Minister Xue Lin and dozens of other officials!"

The sound was like thunder!

When he said these words, the onlookers who had already wanted to leave all stopped in astonishment, suspecting that they had heard wrong.

Is there still a reversal?

"Xue Lin? Who is that?" Qian Kerou and others were at a loss.

Zheng Laojiu's eyes showed recollection: "That was more than ten years ago..."

Many older officials were touched and remembered this past event.

On the high hall.

Yuan Li, who had been posing as a "spectator" today, smiled in his eyes and turned to look at Zhou Cheng.

But he saw that when the sixty-year-old man heard the words "Xue Lin," the scarlet official robe subconsciously shook, and his pupils suddenly narrowed.

Then his face twitched and changed color suddenly:

"You villain, how dare you slander this official, come on..."

"Lord Zhou," the Minister of the Ministry of Justice suddenly held his hand and said in a deep voice:

"This is the court."

Then, this "royalist" minister, who had no more constraints on his actions after Pei Kai's downfall, looked at Zhao Du'an and said calmly:

"Arresting Officer Zhao, you should know that if there is no solid evidence, falsely accusing a third-rank official is a serious crime. Are you sure you still want to say it?"

"Thank you for the reminder, Lord Minister," Zhao Du'an just thanked him.

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice sighed, knowing that after today, the court would probably be shaken again.

Without Zhou Cheng's obstruction, Zhao Du'an slowly paced, but he spoke slowly, telling the story:

"Everyone knows that my Imperial Prison has the responsibility to monitor the misdeeds of all officials. Unfortunately, after the last conflict, Zhou Commandant secretly investigated me, and I, in turn, also investigated Lord Zhou..."

Then, he began to tell how he had asked two colleagues to help him, starting with the lost files, all the way to finding Xue Lin's descendants, and learning the truth of the past from Xue Xuan.

In the process, he concealed that he was dispatched by the Empress, and only claimed that he wanted to investigate.

—This was very reasonable, after all, the stereotype that Zhao Envoy was vindictive and would retaliate against anyone who offended him had long been deeply rooted in people's hearts.

And when he repeated the truth in Xue Xuan's mouth, the hall outside became riotous.

Wang Shan's originally pale face was almost transparent.

"Nonsense!"

Zhou Cheng sneered angrily:

"A mere female relative of a criminal official will naturally not accept the verdict, hate this official, and fabricate lies to slander and try to overturn the late Emperor's verdict. How ridiculous? If this can be considered evidence, wouldn't it be the biggest joke in the world?"

Look, he's anxious again... Zhao Du'an sneered:

"Zhou Cheng, don't use 'the late Emperor' to suppress me. The late Emperor was naturally wise, but how could he be deceived by some treacherous officials? As for the evidence you want, I certainly have it."

At this moment, although one was in the high hall and the other was in the hall below.

But the momentum was reversed.

Zhao Du'an talked eloquently:

"After the three of us learned the confession, we wanted to investigate, but unfortunately, many files were lost. Helpless, we had to go to the Censorate to seek help from Lord Yuan. Fortunately, Lord Yuan generously helped us and was willing to uphold justice for the wronged souls of thirteen years ago.

In this way, we obtained many old files scattered everywhere, and the people involved."

As soon as these words came out, everyone looked in astonishment at the blue-robed doctor who had always been in a "watching the excitement" posture in the hall above.

Zhou Cheng even turned his head stiffly and stared at Yuan Li:

"It's you..."

"..." Yuan Li looked indifferent, looked at Zhao Du'an meaningfully, and smiled:

"Since it is an old case originally handled by the Censorate, it is my duty to do it easily."

Lord Yuan is down!

The crowd almost exploded. If Zhao Du'an's previous narration could not make people realize the seriousness of the matter.

But Yuan Li's entry has invisibly greatly increased the weight of Zhao Du'an's words.

Even more people began to imagine whether this was another big game of chess by the bigwigs in the court?

Zhao Du'an's narration continued:

"Then, my two colleagues stayed up all night and finally found key evidence. In order to avoid alerting the enemy, they used going out to handle a case as a cover to go to collect evidence."

At this time, Hai Tang and Zhang Han looked at each other, responded, and briefly described their process of finding witnesses.

Because the interval was too long, the two people's evidence collection process had some twists and turns, but fortunately, those who can sit in the position of arresting officers are not simple people.

Although there were obstacles, they still succeeded.

"I have the relevant files that were lost that year on me, which can be checked."

Zhang Han took out a cloth-skinned package from his arms, thought about it, and handed it to Ma Yan.

Hai Tang also took out a few pieces of paper from his bag and said:

"I have found several witnesses, who are still behind, protected by the people below, and will be able to enter Beijing later. But they have all written down their confessions and signed them."

Ma Yan received evidence × 2

Zhao Du'an turned his head again and pointed to Wang Shan, who was kneeling on the ground next to him and whose face was ashen:

"As for this person, he is a key criminal in the case that year. This official went to arrest him that day, but he ran into Zhou Cheng and this person conspiring loudly. As for the relevant evidence, ha, you adults have already seen it."

You arrested him, wasn't it to protect yourself? How is it...

On the jury seat, Qingpao Imperial Censor He Zheng wanted to speak.

In the next second, he suddenly woke up. Perhaps, from that time on, they had already been fooled, misled by Zhao Thief, and thus ignored the knife that the other party had stabbed in the dark.

Openly repair the plank road and secretly cross Chencang.

There is no such allusion in this world, but Zhao Du'an's methods coincide with it.

Seven days to collect evidence, ten days to kill.

The joint trial of the three divisions prepared by Zhou Cheng for Zhao Du'an has now become his own public trial.

"All relevant physical evidence and witnesses can be verified by the three divisions."

Zhao Du'an, wearing prison clothes, looked up at the towering "presiding seat" and Zhou Cheng, who was sitting there dejectedly, raised the corners of his mouth and said, word by word:

"Zhou Cheng, do you admit your guilt?!"

Zhou Cheng did not say a word, his face pale.

Brief silence.

Immediately, the entire court was in an uproar.

Thank you Zhuge Xin Yu for the 100 reading coins reward!