Chapter 137 Getting the Truth

Chapter 137 Getting the Truth

Chapter 137 Getting the Truth
In the backyard, after Xue Xuan calmly uttered this sentence, the three "investigators" present were stunned. They did not expect her to be so direct and without any preparation.

Zhao Duan looked at her with great interest:

"You knew that was what we were asking?"

Xue Xuan, wearing a female scholar's robe and with her black hair tied behind her head, said calmly, full of bookish air:

"After much thought, the only case worth your coming here is my father's unjust case. It's a case that has been settled. Lord Zhao is asking about it because he wants to know different versions of the story."

Her narration was clear and organized, and even though she had just lost her composure due to the threat not long ago, she had now calmed down.

"It seems that Xue Lin taught you well back then."

Zhao Duan exclaimed in praise, worthy of being the woman who almost married into the Dong family.

Haitang asked curiously:

"You said that Xue Shaoqing was wrongly killed back then?"

Zhang Han's expressionless face also lit up:
"Sit down and tell me carefully!"

The amount of information in this answer was so huge that even Zhao Duan sat up straighter.

There really is something to this clue!
Xue Xuan sat down as he was told, but did not start talking immediately. Instead, he looked at Haitang, who was the most talkative.

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

We want to hear the part that disappeared from the documents... The three of them muttered in their hearts, but they didn't dare to reveal it.

Zhao Duan said first:
"Just tell me the complete story of the case that you know about."

"Yes." Xue Xuan did not dare to disobey. He recalled briefly, as if organizing his words, and then said:

"The first incident was a complaint received by the government office regarding the death of the centurion Yang An..."

The first half of Xue Xuan's narrative was not much different from what Zhao Duan saw in the files.

The cause was that Yang An’s colleagues claimed that the deceased was murdered by his wife Yue, her brother-in-law, his neighbor Hao, and a low-ranking priest of the Tianshi Mansion.

The difference is that there are more details, such as the warlock's full name, which is "Shen Rong".

After the case was judged and determined by the government office, it was sent to the Three Courts for review. It was approved by the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice, but it was stuck when it came to the Dali Temple.

"At that time, the person in charge of reviewing the case was my father Xue Lin," Xue Xuan recounted:

"My father liked to do things personally as an official. When he was looking through the files in the government office, he found that Yue's confession was inconsistent and also inconsistent with the confessions of several other people. With his many years of experience in solving cases, he determined that she had confessed under torture.

The case was dismissed and sent back to the Ministry of Justice for re-examination, but the Ministry of Justice still upheld the original verdict, so my father dismissed it again, and this went on for several times. "

Yes, yes, that’s it!
Zhao Duan was shocked, as the file ended here.

He suddenly felt like the novel he was following had been updated:

"Then?"

Xue Xuan narrated calmly:
"After several rounds of negotiations, the then Chief Censor of the Censorate, now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Zhou Cheng, came to see my father in person to argue the case with him.

My father refused to acknowledge the result confirmed by both the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice. Doesn't that mean that the other two departments were not doing their job well?
Zhou Cheng went to court several times and even flew into a rage, but my father did not compromise and still insisted on rejecting the retrial. ”

So tough? Zhao Duan was surprised.

I immediately remembered that the information did describe Xue Lin's resume.

When he was young, he once worshipped Master Dong as his teacher. He was quite famous in the circle of scholars and literati. Later, he entered the official career and solved many major cases. He was known for his "integrity" and was highly praised by his contemporaries.

It is understandable that an official with a strong backer, capable himself and upright character would not give face to Zhou Cheng.

Zhang Han asked doubtfully:

"Logically, the case is being dragged between the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice. Why did Zhou Cheng jump out first and act so urgently?"

Xue Xuan glanced at him and suddenly said:

"Since you are all in the Imperial Court, you should know who the last governor of the Imperial Court was, right?"

Taking office as governor?

The three of them looked at each other.

Haitang nodded first and said:

"Of course I know. The last governor was Wang Zhen, the eunuch who held the seal in the palace. He had been in charge of the imperial court for more than ten years. So when your father was imprisoned, the imperial court was controlled by Wang Zhen."

Wang Zhen?

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

This man was a eunuch whom the old emperor relied on quite a lot in his later years. It is said that at his peak, he had more than 20 tasks and was very powerful, able to interfere in court affairs.

He was also a powerful eunuch of his generation.

However, during the Xuanmen coup, this person was accompanying the old emperor and was killed in the chaos... and died silently.

After that, the empress ascended the throne, Ma Yan was promoted and succeeded Wang Zhen as the new governor. This was probably the timeline.

Xue Xuan nodded and said calmly:
"Back then, Wang Zhen was quite powerful. When my father took office as the Junior Official of the Dali Temple, Wang Zhen sent gifts to win him over. My father was a student of Grand Tutor Dong and had always been at odds with the eunuchs in the palace, so he declined the offer.

And he said some unpleasant things, which offended Wang Zhen."

"At that time, Zhou Cheng was in charge of the Censorate and was very close to Eunuch Wang... Zhou Cheng might have done this to please Eunuch Wang. At least, that's what my father thought at the time."

Factional struggle... Zhao Duan shook his head and understood the reason:

"and then?"

Xue Xuan said:

"Seeing that my father refused to give in, Prime Minister Zhou joined forces with the Ministry of Justice to put pressure on the Dali Temple. After a long time, my father could no longer bear it, so one of his judges suggested that if it really didn't work, the case could be submitted to the late emperor for the final decision."

The plot continues!
The three of them pricked up their ears. The file had briefly mentioned this matter, but it was not detailed.

Xue Xuan continued:

"But after the case was submitted, the three courts had different opinions, and the late emperor didn't know how to make a decision, so he found an old censor named Pan from the Censorate and ordered him to re-investigate the murder case."

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

Zhao Duan glanced at him and said calmly:
"Since the late emperor made such an arrangement, it means that this Censor Pan is definitely not the same kind of person as Prime Minister Zhou."

Just like Lu Liang is also an imperial censor, but he and his immediate superior Yuan Li belong to completely different factions. This is very normal.

Xue Xuan heard this and nodded:

"Indeed, Censor Pan is not Zhou Cheng's man, and after careful investigation, he found that the case was indeed wrongly judged. Yang An had been ill for a long time and could not be cured. Yue did ask her neighbor Hao and the sorcerer Shen Rong to treat him, but she did not poison him.

As for the adultery, it was pure fabrication, and Yang An just died of a normal illness. Censor Pan reported to the late emperor, and the late emperor saw that the facts were clear, so he made a decision with a stroke of his pen, released the arrested Yue family members, and imprisoned the false accusers. "

The case was cleared? The three were surprised at first, and then they became more confused.

Haitang is curious:

"The case has been investigated and the dust has settled, so why is there another stir?"

Xue Xuan was silent for a moment, then said:
"Because Wang Zhen intervened."

The governor of the imperial yamen back then?
What's the end?
Zhao Duan raised his eyebrows, thinking that this case was becoming more and more interesting.

Xue Xuan said:

"After Wang Zhen sent people to intervene, the case was quickly reversed. Censor Pan, who was in charge of the investigation, was accused of deceiving the emperor, and the four Yue family members who had been released also changed their confessions again. Wang Zhen's explanation was that my father accepted bribes, and that he and the sorcerer Shen Rong were both from Wuling, so they were from the same hometown, so he bent the law for personal gain and protected him. Censor Pan was also involved, and together with all the officials in the Dali Temple, he deceived the late emperor."

“After Wang Zhen reported this to the late emperor, he was furious and ordered my father, Censor Pan and other officials involved in the case to be imprisoned and handed over to the Censorate for trial.

It is conceivable what result Zhou Cheng, who is in charge of the Censorate, will come up with.

After my father and others were sent to the "Taiyu" of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, they were tortured and forced to confess. Many people could not bear the punishment and followed Zhou Cheng and his men's instructions to make accusations, implicating more and more people...

As for the final result, the adults also know it.

My father died, and Censor Pan was exiled and died on the way."

There was a slight silence in the room.

Xue Xuan gave a more detailed version of the case, but the three people became more confused.

Whether it was that Censor Pan was inexplicably accused of deceiving the emperor, or that the four members of the Yue family who had already been released from prison suddenly confessed their guilt.

It is obvious that it was all the work of that eunuch Wang. He tortured people into confessing and framed them. His methods were extremely simple.

Zhao Duan narrowed his eyes and said:

"You mean, all this is because of Wang Zhen? Because your father offended this eunuch Wang, so Eunuch Wang used this case to join forces with Zhou Cheng to frame your father?"

Zhang Han and Haitang also frowned slightly.

Everyone thinks this statement makes sense, but it always seems a bit far-fetched.

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

Even his daughter was engaged to the Dong family. Even though Eunuch Wang was extremely powerful, would he intervene and frame her just for such a small matter?
Xue Xuan seemed to have seen through their thoughts. The female teacher who was hiding in the alleys of East City suddenly laughed at herself:
"At first, I thought that was the case, but later I found out there was something else going on."

"Hidden secret?" Zhao Duan raised his eyebrows.

Xue Xuan said "yes" and said calmly:

"At that time, Wang Zhen had an adopted son whom he loved very much, and he also arranged for him to work in the imperial court.

The adopted son of eunuch Wang accidentally met Yue, the wife of Captain Yang An, one day. He was attracted by her beauty and wanted to take Yue away by force, but failed, so he held a grudge against her.

After learning of Yang An's death, he secretly bribed Yang An's colleague and ordered him to make a false accusation in an attempt to take revenge. "

Zhao Duan and the other two were stunned. They didn't expect that the case at the very beginning contained a huge secret.

He even ate the melon and ended up hurting his own government.

Xue Xuan laughed at himself and said:

“Originally, if my father hadn’t interfered, this unjust case would have been resolved. Wang Zhen’s adopted son never expected that the matter would become so serious that it could not be resolved.

Censor Pan reported that after the late emperor made his decision, he was so angry about such a small matter that he even went to the Golden Palace to call in Zhou Cheng and others, scolded them, and fined their salaries.

“In fact, Zhou Cheng already knew that the mastermind of this case was Eunuch Wang’s adopted son. The reason why the Censorate approved this case was to save face for Eunuch Wang.

This is also the reason why he went to the Dali Temple to put pressure on my father. "

It turned out to be like this...

So, Zhou Cheng ran over and slammed the table to help Wang Zhen’s adopted son… Zhao Duan took a deep breath.

I didn't expect that this case was full of foreshadowing...

Zhang Han and Haitang also looked at each other: "What's next?"

Xue Xuan said:

"After Zhou Cheng was punished, he probably felt that he should not be punished in vain, so he went to see Wang Zhen and explained the whole story. He also wanted to gain some benefits. After all, he did all these things to show his 'filial piety' to Eunuch Wang."

"When Wang Zhen learned that the root cause of the incident was his adopted son's lust, he was quite dissatisfied and called him over to give him a good scolding.

But the adopted son dared not admit it and refused to confess. He just insisted that it was Censor Pan who lied and said that the case had nothing to do with him.

"As a powerful eunuch, how could Wang Zhen tolerate any injustice? I think he knew that his adopted son was lying.

But at that time, there was a factional struggle in the court, and Wang Zhen and Dong Taishi and others were at loggerheads. My father, as the Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple, was also a thorn in Wang Zhen's side..."

Zhao Duan sighed and concluded:
"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 the enemy, so he took action and turned the confirmed case around?"

Xue Xuan nodded.

The secret story that had been suppressed for more than ten years was finally told out today. For her, it was also a painful memory of the past.

The elegant and bookish lady said:

"That's all I know."

"I have another question," Haitang suddenly asked:

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

The reason why she asked was not for any other reason, but mainly because the other party had also served as a Jinyi Guard Captain in the Imperial Court and was a "predecessor" to the three of them.

Really curious.

Xue Xuan was silent for a moment, then uttered a name:
"Wang Shan."

……

……

Meanwhile, in South City.

In a usually uninhabited house, Qin Qu, a short man who liked to wear silk clothes and had a fan stuck behind his neck, was tied to a pillar and beaten to the point of screaming like a ghost.

After he came out of the Jiaofangsi, he had not walked far when he was blinded, knocked unconscious and abducted here.

The other party beat me up without saying a word.

There was a carriage parked in front of the house.

He Zheng, the Dali Temple Secretary, was sitting quietly in the carriage, tapping his legs with his fingers. In his ears, he could hear low, humming screams coming from the yard.

a long time.

The screaming in the yard stopped, and after a while, the gate was pushed open.

The Dali Temple official who had been the coachman before, dressed in plain clothes, walked up to the carriage and whispered:

"Sir, this Qin Qiu confessed. He said that the only time he knew of Zhao Duan possibly sleeping with a woman was at the Wang residence."

He Zheng opened his eyes and stopped tapping his fingers on his thighs. His eyes lit up.

I thought that after all this trouble, I finally found Zhao Duan's flaws.

Then he frowned and said, "Wang's house? Which Wang's house?"

There are many people with the surname Wang in the capital, so he was not sure for a moment.

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 during the Zhengtong period of the Ming Dynasty. Some details have been modified, but the general process remains unchanged.

I read this story in a book by Ma Boyong, but Prince Ma did not adapt it into a novel. He just wrote an article to record the incident. The article was called "Four Wrongful Souls during the Zhengtong Period". After reading it, I thought it was good material, so I simply adapted it into a novel, haha.

(End of this chapter)