Han Yu stared at Yang Lian quietly, with no expression on his face.

He had known Yang Lian for quite some time, and he also knew Yang Lian's general personality and background.

Han Yu didn't believe Yang Lian was greedy for money, but he was naive, which he truly was. He was described as "reading too much and becoming stupid," which was Yang Lian's fate. He didn't know whether to be sad or lucky.

Wei Zhongxian sat aside, his expression unchanged. He had noticed that Han Yu was trying to help Yang Lian.

Wei Zhongxian was wondering what he should do, should he kill Yang Lian or just do his own thing. If he didn't take action, Yang Lian would probably be in trouble this time.

Although Yang Lian impeached Xiong Tingbi, he had nothing to do with those events. Yang Lian did not collude with Li Ruzhen in Liaodong, nor did he accept bribes from Liu Guojin.

In fact, Wei Zhongxian had put a lot of effort into investigating the bribery case. However, Yang Lian was not implicated in the whole matter. After Wang Huazhen opened his mouth, Wei Zhongxian began to follow the clues, but after investigating for a long time, Wei Zhongxian found that Yang Lian was not involved in the matter.

Maybe it was because of the Censorate. It was a low-income government office. Apart from extorting some money by impeaching people, or doing others a favor by impeaching others and receiving some bribes, there was really no other income.

Yao Zongwen and others received 3,000 taels of silver, which sounded like a lot, but Wei Zhongxian knew that it was far less than what the powerful departments received. For the powerful departments, 3,000 taels of silver was not even enough to fill their teeth.

The reason why Yang Lian couldn't receive the money was probably not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't receive it. Wei Zhongxian had such malicious speculation in his heart.

However, Wei Zhongxian also knew that this was just a thought, as he had no evidence. Otherwise, he would have dealt with Yang Lian long ago, so why would he let Han Yu take the spotlight?

In fact, in the original history, Wei Zhongxian did not get much money from Yang Lian's family, nor did he find any concrete evidence of Yang Lian's corruption.

The evidence that Wei Zhongxian used to expose the Donglin Party’s corruption was actually provided by Wang Huazhen. He didn’t receive much money at that time, let alone now?

Yang Lian didn't receive any money at all, which was quite frustrating.

Lifting his head and glancing casually at Han Yu, Wei Zhongxian slowly said, "Lord Han, I'm afraid this isn't appropriate."

Han Yu glanced at Wei Zhongxian and said nonchalantly, "If Eunuch Wei is dissatisfied, you can report it to His Majesty."

After saying this, Han Yu stopped looking at Wei Zhongxian and turned to look at Yang Lian. "There is no evidence to prove that Yang Lian was involved in the case of accepting bribes and impeaching Xiong Tingbi."

Looking at the document, Han Yu said solemnly, "Please record this statement."

Everyone was stunned when they heard this. No one expected Han Yu to do such a thing.

Han Yu was guaranteeing Yang Lian. Although Han Yu was just telling the truth, the fact was that this was the situation.

Yang Lian also raised his head and looked at Han Yu hesitantly.

In fact, Yang Lian did not have a very good impression of Han Yu, or it could be said that the entire Donglin Party did not like Han Yu.

But now Yang Lian had a strange feeling, especially after Han Yu showed him those things, he was even more confused.

Han Yu ignored the stunned and surprised looks of the crowd and slammed the gavel, continuing, "Let's move on to the next case."

"Yang Lian, I want to ask you, His Majesty ordered you to investigate the case of slander against Xiong Tingbi. Why did you make such a conclusion? Was it to protect Yao Zongwen and others? Did you instigate their recantation?"

"No," Yang Lian said firmly, "I didn't do this. I didn't support them in changing their confessions, nor did I ask the jailer Zhang San to find them, nor did I ask Zhang San to spread those words, nor did I kill Zhang San to silence him. None of these things were done by me. I didn't do that."

Han Yu nodded, looked at the clerk and said, "It's on the record."

Hearing Yang Lian's answer, Wei Zhongxian felt uneasy and couldn't stand it any longer. "Didn't you do these things?"

Is all this going to be blamed on me?

It was indeed me who changed my confession, but I don’t know anything about what happened to Zhang San afterwards, let alone killing him to silence him.

Yang Lian glanced at Wei Zhongxian with disdain, and seemed not to say what he meant, because Yang Lian had no evidence to prove that it was Wei Zhongxian who did it.

Nodding, Han Yu continued, "Then let me ask you, what happened with the previous trial? Did you make the decision yourself, or were you instructed by someone else?"

After saying this, Han Yu stared at Yang Lian closely.

If Yang Lian admitted that he was himself, then the charge would be proven against him.

Yang Lian was not involved in the case of false accusation against Xiong Tingbi. He had just given a conclusion that there was no substantial evidence. In other words, from the beginning to now, Yang Lian had not been charged with any crime.

If Yang Lian admitted to the crime now, it would be equivalent to him admitting that he was indeed intentionally shielding Yao Zongwen's people.

As the presiding judge of a case, such behavior of confusing right and wrong and shielding criminals is absolutely intolerable and must be severely punished.

Exile is the least of your punishments, you could even be beheaded. This is a case approved by His Majesty, how dare you do such a thing?

Yang Lian raised his head. He knew what choice he faced.

As long as he confesses, he will be coerced by his superiors, or even forced into a corner. While he won't be cleared of guilt, his punishment will be significantly reduced, and he will likely be dismissed from office. As for whether he will be permanently banned from employment, that depends on your majesty's judgment.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!