Chapter 31 Cao Qimo
Seeing this, Jiang Zhiyu and Deng Ziqiu immediately rushed forward on horseback. The man saw this and quickly brandished his dagger, engaging in a fierce fight with the two men.
After a fierce fight, Jiang Zhiyu and Deng Ziqiu finally subdued the man. The man collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath and saying, "Why...why do you...care about this?"
Jiang Zhiyu replied coldly: "Because Deng Ziqiu's father was wrongly accused, we must find out the truth."
Upon hearing this, the man's eyes flashed with fear, but he quickly regained his composure: "Okay, I'll tell you. Deng Liwu is indeed innocent, and Zhao Liu was framed by a man named Li San. That Li San, he...he..."
Before the man could finish his words, he was suddenly struck by a sharp pain. He covered his chest, struggled for a few times, and then died.
Jiang Zhiyu and Deng Ziqiu looked at each other and understood the truth. They quickly hid Li San's body, then rushed back to the Imperial College and reported the incident to Shangguan Zhengming.
After hearing this, Shangguan Zhengming pondered for a moment, looked at Deng Ziqiu and said, "You have done a good job. Ziqiu, let's go find the Minister of Justice and clear your father's grievances."
As soon as Shangguan Zhengming finished speaking, Deng Ziqiu's eyes flashed with determination: "Sir Shangguan, I know you have always been concerned about this matter. We can't delay any longer, take action immediately."
Jiang Zhiyu nodded in agreement: "That's right, Lord Shangguan, we must make the truth public as soon as possible."
Shangguan Zhengming nodded, turned around and walked to the desk, picked up a pen and wrote a few lines on the paper, then handed it to Jiang Zhiyu: "This is the name and address of the Minister of Justice. Take this and go directly to him."
Jiang Zhiyu took the note and said to Deng Ziqiu, "Brother Deng, let's go to the Ministry of Justice now."
"Okay!" Deng Ziqiu nodded gratefully: "Thank you, Junior Sister Jiang, I know you can help me."
After that, Jiang Zhiyu and Deng Ziqiu went to the Ministry of Justice with Shangguan Zhengming's handwritten letter.
The Ministry of Justice is located in the southwest of the capital. It is a towering building. Two guards were standing in front of the door. When they saw Jiang Zhiyu and Deng Ziqiu, they immediately stepped forward to ask.
Jiang Zhiyu took out Shangguan Zhengming's handwritten letter from his sleeve and handed it to the guard: "We have come to visit the Minister."
The guard took a look at the letter and immediately let him go: "So you were sent by Lord Shangguan. Please come in."
The three of them walked through the front hall and came to the study of the Minister of Justice.
In the study, the Minister of Justice was sitting at his desk with a file in his hand. When he saw Jiang Zhiyu and Deng Ziqiu, he put the file down and stood up to greet them: "Two disciples of the Imperial Academy sent by Lord Shangguan, what can I do for you?"
Jiang Zhiyu bowed respectfully and said, "Sir, we are here at the request of Lord Shangguan to clear the wrongs of Deng Ziqiu's father."
The Minister of Justice frowned and looked at Jiang Zhiyu: "Deng Liwu? Why did he fall into injustice?"
Jiang Zhiyu took out a piece of evidence from his bosom and handed it to the Minister of Justice: "This is the evidence that Deng Ziqiu's father was accused of murder after drinking. Please take a look."
The Minister of Justice took the evidence, read it carefully, and his expression gradually became solemn.
After reading it, he returned the evidence to Jiang Zhiyu: "I have indeed read the evidence you mentioned, but this does not prove that Deng Liwu is innocent."
Jiang Zhiyu's heart tightened, knowing that this matter was not simple: "Sir Shangshu, we will spare no effort to find out the truth. Please believe us, Deng Liwu was indeed wronged."
The Minister of Justice was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "I cannot clear Deng Liwu's name based on your one-sided statement. You need to provide more evidence to prove his innocence."
Jiang Zhiyu and Deng Ziqiu looked at each other and realized that they had to find more evidence to convince the Minister of Justice of Deng Liwu's innocence.
"Your Excellency, we are willing to continue investigating until we find out the truth." Jiang Zhiyu said firmly.
The Minister of Justice nodded and said, "Okay, since you are so determined, I will hand the case over to you. But you must promise not to disclose the matter before finding out the truth."
Jiang Zhiyu and Deng Ziqiu agreed in unison: "Yes."
After leaving the Ministry of Justice, the two discussed their next plan on the street.
Jiang Zhiyu scratched his head and said, "Brother Deng, what should we do next?"
Deng Ziqiu pondered for a moment and said, "Let's go to Ji Mingxiang's house again tonight to see if we can find more clues."
The night was as dark as ink. Jiang Zhiyu and Deng Ziqiu quickly arrived at Ji's house, intending to climb over the wall and enter.
The night breeze blew gently, bringing a hint of chill. Jiang Zhiyu and Deng Ziqiu quietly climbed over the tall wall of the Ji Mansion and landed in a quiet garden.
The moonlight sprinkled on the bluestone slabs, making them look mottled. The two held their breath, fearing that they would alarm the guards in the mansion.
"Senior Brother Deng, look at this courtyard, it's such a quiet place." Jiang Zhiyu said in a low voice, looking around.
Deng Ziqiu nodded, his eyes sharp: "Although the Ji Mansion is large, it is heavily guarded. We must be careful. Let's go to the study first, maybe we can find some clues."
The two of them walked carefully through the garden and came to a two-story building. The dim light inside the building gave people a gloomy feeling. Jiang Zhiyu took out a tinderbox and lit the oil lamp in the corner.
"Senior Brother Deng, this should be the study room." Jiang Zhiyu said softly.
Deng Ziqiu pushed the door open and saw that the study was filled with books and case files, and the desk was scattered with pens, inkstones, and paper. The two began to look through the case files, hoping to find clues about Deng Liwu's case.
"Brother Deng, look at this." Jiang Zhiyu pointed to a yellowed piece of paper. "This is a letter from Ji Mingxiang to Deng Liwu. It contains some important information about the case."
Deng Ziqiu took the note and read it carefully: "This letter mentioned a person named Cao Qimo. He said that he had personally witnessed Deng Liwu arguing with Cao Qimo on the night of the incident."
"Cao Qimo? This name sounds familiar." Jiang Zhiyu frowned and thought, "I remember that on the night of the incident, there was indeed a person named Cao Qimo who appeared at the scene."
The two continued to search in the study, hoping to find more evidence. Just as they were flipping through the last stack of case files, they suddenly heard footsteps.
"Who?" Jiang Zhiyu and Deng Ziqiu immediately became alert and tightened their weapons.
A man in night clothes appeared at the door. He sneered and said, "Hmph, two ignorant brats dared to trespass into the Ji Mansion."
Jiang Zhiyu and Deng Ziqiu looked at each other and realized that they had encountered Ji Mansion's secret guards. They quickly drew their swords and engaged in a fierce battle with each other.
The night battle was in full swing. Deng Ziqiu's swordsmanship was as fast as lightning, and Jiang Zhiyu's spear skills were agile. The two of them cooperated well and resisted the attacks of the secret guards.
However, the opponent was no pushover either. Although the secret guards were few in number, they were very skilled and each of their moves was a fatal blow.