After hastily filling their stomachs, the distinguished guests returned to the imperial court to rest. Not being given a meal would be fine, but if they were not allowed to rest, that would be really unacceptable.

Of course, Zhang Fei didn't dare to be so ruthless, as rest didn't require any funds.

However, no one was taking a nap. After all, it was rare for these officials to get together, so they naturally had to seize the time to catch up on the past. However, the topic still revolved around the lawsuit.

This kind of trial method was something they had never seen before. In the past, cases like this were simply power struggles. Why was Zhong Yan punished in the first place? Wasn't it because, as Zheng Xie said, the officials in the court were very angry about Zhong Yan's behavior, and Zhao Xu had just come to power and did not dare to offend the ministers, so he ordered the dismissal of Zhong Yan from his post, and Xue Xiang was also punished.

But why was Zhong Yan able to be reinstated later? The reason was that Zhao Xu insisted on promoting him without any reason, just relying on the imperial power.

In essence, it is still a struggle between imperial power and ministerial power.

But today is different. At least so far, it is entirely about the process and background of this case, and no power is involved.

Whether it is Guo Kui or Zheng Xie, they are just stating the facts, which has nothing to do with their status and power.

Zhang Fei directly stated that their claims were meaningless.

Therefore, after hearing this, they couldn't even tell which side had the advantage.

...

...

It is precisely because of this that they are all worried about this. As the saying goes, the unknown is the most disturbing.

The trial continued after noon.

At the invitation of the court guards, the distinguished guests came to the valley again. After a short rest, they did not look too tired. Only when they saw Zhang Fei going up to the podium, everyone's face showed some resentment.

The government office is wrong for not allocating money, but you can do better, you can provide a meal, then we will naturally side with you, rather than using this method that makes us hate the government office.

We still blame you.

What a rookie!

He doesn't even know how to be an official.

Zhang Fei didn't care. If there is a next time, you will still come, and I will still not provide a simple meal. He just knocked the gavel lightly and said, "We will continue to try the Suizhou case."

The tone was more casual, without the solemn ceremony of the morning.

After saying that, Zhang Fei suddenly looked around, and the distinguished guests also looked around with his gaze, and found that compared with the morning, the seats of Zhong Yan and Lu Shen were closer to the center, and they could be considered to be sitting directly in the court.

Zhang Fei said in a clear voice: "After the interrogation this morning, we have a general understanding of the process of recovering Suizhou, the court's decision, and the environment and background at the time. In the afternoon, we will review the specific process of this case. Therefore, I will place the seats of Lu Zhifu and Zhong Fushi in the court, so that this presiding judge can understand the whole process more clearly."

As he spoke, he looked at Zhong Yan and Lu Chen and said, "But the rules are still the same. I hope that whether it is Prefect Lu or Deputy Envoy Zhong, you will not interrupt the witness' testimony, or use any look or gesture to affect the witness' testimony. If this happens, it will not only affect the judgment of this court chief, but also cause the procuratorate to intervene, which is very disadvantageous to both of you. If there are any doubts, this court chief will ask you two questions himself. Are you clear now?"

Zhong Yan and Lu Shen nodded at the same time, but this completely unfamiliar way made them feel inexplicably nervous, just like an elementary school student on the first day of class.

And those distinguished guests just thought it was unique and special.

Are you trying a case or giving a lecture?

However, Hezhong Prefecture officials such as Cai Yanqing and Wei Yingfang were already accustomed to this kind of explanation.

After explaining, Zhang Fei knocked the gavel lightly and said loudly: "Call Li Shui, the chief clerk of Wushan County, Qinzhou, to appear in court."

Hearing this man's name, Zhong Yan couldn't help but frown, while Lu Shen showed a look of surprise, as if he didn't expect that Li Shui was also called in as a witness.

Many distinguished guests were also whispering to each other, asking who this Li Shui was.

But he is a chief clerk after all. In this kind of case, is it necessary to have a chief clerk to appear in court to testify?

After a while, a thin middle-aged man came into the courtyard.

After asking him to sit down, Zhang Fei asked, "Li Zhubu, when did you go to Wushan County to serve as the Zhubu?"

Li Shui said: "June of the first year of Xining."

Zhang Fei looked down at the document and said, "As far as I know, the chief clerk of a county in our dynasty is not often transferred. This is to allow the county magistrate to better understand the local situation. I wonder why the court wants to transfer you to Wushan County, Qinzhou?"

Li Shui replied: "I don't know the details, but maybe it was because of the battle in Suizhou, because I was transferred to Qinzhou with Governor Lu at that time."

Having said that, he also glanced at Lu Shen.

Zhang Fei asked, "You may be talking about the battle of Suizhou, but in the fourth year of Zhiping, Deputy Envoy Zhong fought to recapture Suizhou."

"Yes."

"Why do you think this has anything to do with your transfer?"

"At that time, I was serving as the chief clerk in Qingjian City. The day before Deputy Envoy Zhong sent out his troops, I questioned him and wanted to stop him from sending his troops."

"What are you questioning?"

"Because at that time, Deputy Envoy Zhong said that he had received an imperial decree allowing him to send troops, but I think this is very suspicious, because if the imperial decree was really issued, it is impossible for me, as the chief clerk, to be unaware of it."

"And then?"

"After that, Deputy Envoy Zhong ignored me. He relied on the prestige of the Zhong family in Qingjian City to lead all the troops to attack. So I quickly wrote a letter to Governor Lu."

"Um."

Zhang Fei first turned his head to look at Lu Chen, "Prefect Lu, is this true?"

Lu Chen nodded and said, "It is true. I still have the letter from Li Zhubu."

"Did you bring it?"

"have."

Lu Shen immediately took out a well-preserved letter.

He has always believed that he was treated unfairly in this matter. With his qualifications and merits, if it weren't for this incident, he would most likely have entered the central government. Therefore, he very much longed to get justice one day, and he carefully protected the evidence.

However, the trial at that time did not care about these evidences.

After the letter was presented, Zhang Fei read it carefully, then handed it to Cai Bian, and then turned his head to look at Zhong Yan, "Deputy Envoy Zhong, is what Li Zhubu said true?"

Zhong Yan glanced at Zhang Fei with a guilty look on his face, then nodded and said, "Yes, it is true."

Zhang Fei asked again: "Have you received the imperial edict?"

Zhong Yan hesitated and said nothing.

The whole place was in complete silence. Everyone held their breath, staring at Zhong Yan with eyes wide open.

"Vice Envoy?"

Zhang Fei asked again.

Zhong Yan shook his head and said, "No."

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the civil and military officials changed instantly.

During the trial in the morning, the civil officials all thought that Zhang Fei was somewhat biased towards Zhong Yan and that the situation was in Zhong Yan's favor. Military generals such as Zhong Gu and Zhe Jizu also thought so and felt a little relieved.

I never thought that the situation would change so quickly at the beginning of the second half!

Zhong Gu's heart almost jumped into his throat.

This is just the beginning, why is it so exciting?

Zhang Fei asked, "Does Deputy Envoy Zhong know that this is a crime of forging an imperial edict, which can be punished by death according to the law?"

Zhong Yan nodded and said, "I know."

Zhang Fei asked: "You knew it was a capital crime, why did you still do this?"

Zhong Yan said, "As I said this morning, Weiming Yishan had sent me a message saying that his brother had agreed to surrender, but the imperial edict had not yet arrived. If Xixia knew about this, things might change and Weiming Yishan would be in danger. But if I didn't have an order, I couldn't lead the troops to attack. I didn't have time to think about it. I could only tell the soldiers that the imperial edict had been issued."

Zhang Fei asked again, "I wonder if Deputy Envoy Zhong has preserved the letter from Wei Ming Yishan?"

Zhong Yan shook his head and said, "Weiming Yishan can't write Chinese characters. He just delivered the message verbally."

Zhang Fei could not help but ask Lu Chen again: "Prefect Lu, is what Deputy Envoy Zhong said true? He must get an imperial decree before he can send troops."

Lu Shen nodded and said, "Of course."

The civil servants who supported Lu Shen breathed a sigh of relief. If you had asked this question earlier, it would have been solved. We wouldn't have had to waste so much effort in the morning.

They didn't know that Zhang Fei was the emperor's man. They only knew that Zhang Fei had very good relations with Wang Anshi and Sima Guang, and he was more inclined to Sima Guang. You know, the judicial reform came from Sima Guang, and it was Sima Guang who recommended him.

They just couldn't figure out Zhang Fei.

If he knew that Zhang Fei was the emperor's man, he would probably feel differently.

Zhang Fei then asked Li Shui, "Li Zhubu, were you involved in luring the Weiming brothers to surrender?"

Li Shui nodded and said, "Yes."

Zhang Fei asked again: "Do you know about the message from Weiming Yishan?"

Li Shui nodded and said, "I know."

Zhang Fei asked, "Is what Deputy Envoy Zhong said true? Did he actually receive a message from Weiming Yishan at that time, indicating that Weiming Yishan had agreed to surrender?"

Li Shui hesitated for a while and said, "I didn't hear it with my own ears, but it should be true."

Zhang Fei asked: "Since you didn't hear it with your own ears, why do you think it is true?"

Li Shui said: "Because Deputy Envoy Zhong's deployment at that time was based on a thorough understanding of the enemy's troop deployment, and the subsequent attack was also very smooth, so I guess there must have been a message sent to Deputy Envoy Zhong."

"I see." Zhang Fei continued to ask: "After you wrote to Governor Lu, did Governor Lu respond?"

Li Shui nodded and said, "As soon as Deputy Envoy Zhong occupied Suizhou, Governor Lu summoned Deputy Envoy Zhong to lead his troops back to Qingjian City."

Zhang Fei continued to ask: "Has Deputy Envoy Zhong returned?"

"No!"

Li Shui said immediately.

Zhang Fei asked, "Will Deputy Envoy Zhong ignore it or reject it directly?"

Li Shui shook his head and said, "Neither. Deputy Envoy Zhong is trying to delay the situation. He wrote back to Prefect Lu, asking how to place Wei Mingshan's troops."

Zhang Fei asked: "Why do you think this is a delaying tactic? Is there anything wrong with this reason?"

Li Shui said: "There is nothing wrong with this reason, but Deputy Envoy Zhong was replying to Governor Lu, but on the other hand he was arranging troops and deploying them to the Suizhou front. It is obvious that he does not intend to return to Qingjian City immediately."

Zhang Fei nodded and asked Lu Chen, "Prefect Lu, is what Li Zhubu said true?"

Lu Shen nodded and said, "It's all true."

Zhang Fei asked, "Then what measures did you take after receiving the reply from Deputy Envoy Zhong?"

Lu Shen couldn't help but sigh, and then said: "Although Deputy Envoy Zhong sent troops without an imperial edict, and even forged an imperial edict, I think that things have come to this point and must be properly arranged, because this may lead to the outbreak of war. How to place Wei Mingshan's troops? This requires waiting for the imperial edict."

"Why?"

“If the imperial court is determined to recapture Suizhou and is ready to go to war with Xixia, then of course it cannot give up Suizhou and must also accept Wei Mingshan’s troops. But if the imperial court is not determined, then we have to discuss this carefully based on the specific circumstances.

Therefore, after waiting for the imperial edict, I sent another letter to Deputy Envoy Zhong, asking him to lead all the troops back to Qingjian City. As for the troops in Weiming Mountain, he can make his own decision. "

"Does the imperial edict clearly state this?"

"No."

Lu Shen shook his head. "But according to the imperial edict, it is clear that the court is not ready to go to war with Xixia. However, I think the surrender of the Weimingshan brothers will not lead to a war with Xixia. At the same time, I am not clear about the specific situation on the front line, so I let Deputy Envoy Zhong make the decision on his own."

Although he was a dove of good origin, he had rich experience in command. Under the circumstances at that time, how to place Wei Mingshan's troops was indeed a problem.

If we abandon them so easily, who would dare to surrender to the Song Dynasty in the future?

Although it was delayed, the solution was relatively mature and not hasty.

Zhang Fei continued to ask: "Did Deputy Envoy Zhong obey this time?"

Lu Shen shook his head and said, "No."

Zhang Fei asked: "Why?"

Lu Chen said: "Vice Envoy Zhong used the enemy's attack as an excuse to say that he could not withdraw his troops."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Shui said excitedly: "There was enough time for our army to withdraw."

Facing Li Shui's interruption, Zhang Fei showed great tolerance and asked, "Really?"

Li Shui nodded and said, "Because the Xixia army arrived on the seventh day after the letter from Governor Lu was delivered to Suizhou, with the strength of our army at that time, we could calmly retreat to Qingjian City and then deploy."

Zhong Yan immediately said: "He doesn't even have one!"

"Deputy Envoy Zhong, don't interrupt the witness while he is testifying." Zhang Fei shouted directly.

Zhong Yan couldn't help but be stunned. That resolute face showed all kinds of grievance. He just interrupted me, and if you don't say anything about him, I can't interrupt you.

Am I a sinner?

It’s not fair!

Zhang Fei seemed to see what he was thinking, so he explained: "Deputy Envoy Zhong, you have to understand that this case was caused by you, and it has nothing to do with Li Zhubu now. He is willing to come to court to testify, and we in the imperial court should be grateful and respectful for this. What he just said was what I was going to ask, so I didn't warn him. But you are the party involved, and your status is much higher than Li Zhubu. Any interruption by you will be regarded as interference with the witness by the presiding judge, the chief judge, and the prosecutor, so please strictly abide by the rules."

.