Courtroom (renovation)
Furthermore, there was still a lingering resentment between Duan Jinru and Dou Yanxun due to the previous incident at Shaojing Garden.
Despite the passage of time, Duan Jinru has yet to find crucial evidence, but she cannot afford to be complacent.
She was still unaware of Dou Yanxun's true strength, nor whether his so-called "help" was genuine, and she couldn't let Dou Yanxun know that she was secretly seeking help from Duan Jinru.
They were originally two opposing factions, like fire and water.
In a contest between two forces, a slight misstep could drag others into the conflict.
Therefore, the only force she can rely on in this matter is herself.
After a short rest, Lin Xu immediately wrote several letters.
The two letters were sent to his second and third cousins, who also worked in the Mujing area. They were brief and contained little conversation, directly stating Liang Zhengyuan's current situation.
Another letter, written to Zhao Qi.
As a guard at the martial arts training ground, he was required to stand guard near the training ground every day, which might give her some clues she was unaware of. She ordered Zhao Qi to reply as soon as possible, summarizing everything he had seen and heard at the training ground.
As for the third letter, she hesitated several times, and after a moment of agonizing, she wrote the last word, letting the ink dry completely before anxiously putting the plain paper into the envelope.
Zhu Ling carefully took the three envelopes, lifted the curtain, and went out to hand them to Zhou Qi and Zhou Quan.
After finishing all this, the sun was already setting, and she was finally able to sit quietly by the window and drink a cup of steaming hot tea.
A thin mist hung faintly outside the window, followed by the half-hidden red sun, a breathtaking and magnificent sight. As she was lost in thought, she suddenly heard very light footsteps coming from the doorway.
A faint, refreshing fragrance wafts through the air.
The person had already slowly walked up behind her, placing their hand on her shoulder, and a continuous warmth emanated from her thin neck and shoulders.
"Is Madam still worried?"
A smile appeared on her face, and she replied softly, "My husband."
Dou Yanxun walked to her side, lifted a corner of his robe, and sat down beside her.
He was not on duty today. He was dressed in a dark green silk robe embroidered with pine and longevity symbols, and a light blue short jacket with eight floral patterns. A jade hairpin tied half of his hair up high, while the other half hung casually behind his shoulder.
He could sit there casually and still have a face that could charm countless women.
Seeing the worry hidden between her brows, Dou Yanxun looked concerned and reached up to touch her cheek from her shoulder and neck.
“I know you’ve been worried about Brother Liang’s safety these past few days, to the point that you’ve lost your appetite and can’t sleep at night. You’ve really been through a lot. But no matter what, you should worry about your own health.”
Seeing her raise her head, he continued:
"Xuxu's appearance is making me very worried."
Upon hearing this, her smile deepened slightly. She looked softly into his eyes, which seemed unfathomable yet held an extraordinary tenderness.
After looking at it for a while, it actually looks real.
He's really good at acting.
...Those beautiful eyebrows and eyes, full of deep affection that could almost make one's heart flutter, were so real that it was hard to tell the difference, and almost no one could find a flaw in them.
He was simply continuing to feign concern and stall her. She knew everything, of course, and wouldn't take anything seriously.
She sighed softly to herself, then smiled, a smile tinged with bitterness, and whispered:
"Thank you for your concern, my husband. But..."
Her voice lowered slightly, mixed with a barely audible sob.
"Of all my cousins, my cousin Yingzhi is the closest to me. I just want to get him out no matter what. That prison is a place that eats people alive, and my cousin is sick..."
.
The news of Prince Mao's former troops' triumphant return to the capital has been widely discussed recently, and almost everyone in Mujing City knows about it. This trip not only quelled the banditry that had plagued the people of Huidong for a long time, but also greatly promoted the complete eradication of the riots in the southern border area and facilitated exchanges between Ya and Hui.
The Emperor was delighted, and recently there have been many rumors that He Qijiang is likely to be promoted soon to become the powerful third-rank General of Huaihua. Everything is just waiting for the imperial edict to be drafted and the Ministry of Rites to choose an auspicious day.
It was at this critical juncture that Liang Zhengyuan, a member of the 14th Division, was suspected of defecting and committing murder. At first, only a very few colleagues knew about it, but now the news has spread throughout the streets and alleys, and everyone knows that a traitor has emerged from the elite troops of the 14th Division, which has always been good at fighting.
Even when he was called out by Dou Yanzhou to catch up with several officials from the Ministry of Rites, Magistrate Ma couldn't help but sigh softly when the teahouse was quiet and empty:
"We are really in a dilemma these days, not knowing whether we should do this or when to do it... This matter of preparing for General He's...
Dou Yanzhou took a sip of tea and raised half an eyebrow. "Lord Ma is always as astute and discerning as you are. Is there any situation that even you cannot fathom?"
The men held similar official positions and were generally close. As soon as Magistrate Ma opened his mouth, he couldn't help but pour out his grievances. He bowed with a worried expression and said, "Brother Suiqi, please don't make me feel so bad."
Governor Ma and Governor Fang, who had accompanied him, exchanged a glance and then sighed in unison.
Magistrate Fang said in a low voice, "...Although it is a done deal, the Fourteenth Division has always been brave and has never had such an incident before. In the past few days, not to mention the rest of us, even Vice Minister Bai has been at a loss."
Dou Yanxun held the teacup, watching the faint steam rise from the rim, and lowered his eyes in silence.
A few days later, the Ministry of Justice would formally interrogate the case. This case had dragged on for so long, and it involved Prince Mao and Princess Kunrou. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the one in the prison must be having a hard time.
She had been preoccupied with the incident ever since it happened, and had lost her appetite; even her usually smooth forehead had developed several pimples.
The night before last, the wind was cold. After finishing writing official documents in his study, he stepped into his bedchamber and heard a barely audible sobbing sound.
Only when she heard his footsteps did she hurriedly lower her head. In the candlelight, her eyes glistened with tears.
Her nose was also red, and even though she lied that her eyes were stung by wax, the sorrow between her brows could not be hidden.
For every day that person suffered torture in prison, she would be saddened for another day.
For some reason, he stood there for a long time, just quietly watching her, and felt a rather strange feeling in his heart.
Like a clump of cotton wool, it slowly rises from the abdominal cavity, gradually accumulating in the chest, and can never be shaken off.
But now, when she finally couldn't hold back any longer and buried her face in his shoulder, sobbing softly, that strange feeling in his heart resurfaced, even more intensely than before.
He has always hated women crying.
Her delicate, tearful appearance is always the most endearing, but he always felt inexplicably annoyed and even wanted to get away from her as soon as possible.
This has been the case for many years.
Even long ago, when Sun Biying lay in a pool of blood, he stood in the shadows, quietly listening to the dying woman's voice mixed with sobs, each word revealing her true feelings for him. He suddenly stopped his hand that was about to reach out and help her.
I watched helplessly as she fell to her death, her hands hanging limply, and then fell silent.
But now, as the warm sobs of the person beside him drowned out his shoulder, he simply sat there quietly, letting her lean on him, letting her hug him and sob softly, and finally gently stroked her thin shoulder.
He looked through her cloud-like hair at his fingertips and felt a sharp pain.
It was as if there was an extremely thin thread, being manipulated and pulled repeatedly, tugging at a certain part of his heart.
That place has clearly been desolate for far too long, so long that even the pain has been forgotten.
Dou Yanxun let the person in his arms hold him even tighter. He lowered his eyes, feeling the faint fragrance lingering on his chest, and slowly curled the corners of his lips into a smile in the darkness.
Things have changed after all.
He never imagined that he was nothing more than that.
When there is no way out, there seems to be no other option but to quietly surrender.
—Letting myself sink little by little into that dark and boundless abyss.
.
The rain had been pouring down for two days, and when the day finally arrived for the Ministry of Justice to conduct the interrogation, the heavy clouds showed no sign of dissipating, and the continuous rain had already washed the dirt roads into an exceptionally muddy mess. Even so, it still couldn't stop the crowd gathered outside the yamen.
As more and more people gathered outside the gate, the guards had no choice but to start shouting to maintain order.
The two judges from the Dali Temple were in charge of the trial. They were dressed in light scarlet official robes and sat upright in the hall.
The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Niu, was in his prime, tall and unsmiling. He walked out from behind the side curtain with his hands behind his back, glanced at the crowd without looking to the side, gave the leader of the yamen runners a leisurely wink, and then sat down in front of the hall.
The constables immediately understood. With a clap of their hands, the criminal, dressed in prison garb and looking dejected, was brought in by several guards with knives.
Minister Niu stroked his beard, his gaze intense, and said in a deep voice:
"Who is the criminal in the courtroom? Quickly state your name."
Bound by heavy iron chains, Liang Zhengyuan slowly raised his head, looking at Niu Wenyuan, who was dressed in a dark scarlet official robe, with a gold belt at his waist, and an exceptionally solemn and cold expression. After a long while, he finally spoke:
"Your Excellency, my name is Liang Zhengyuan, courtesy name Yingzhi. I am a native of Hecheng and a member of the 14th Division that is leading the south to suppress bandits."
Niu Wenyuan glanced at the files already laid out on the table and pondered:
"Hmm... After you came to the capital, you trained at the Mujing Martial Arts Training Ground?"
Liang Zhengyuan coughed a few times and spoke with difficulty:
"Yes, sir. I have been at the Mujing Martial Arts Training Ground for almost a year now, and I am a first-year student there."
The clerk on duty nearby nodded in agreement.
“Lord Niu, what you say is true. We have checked his file. He was selected from the military training grounds to go south with the army. The 14th Division is brave and skilled in battle. They always select only the best. This time, apart from the original members of the 14th Division, only a few dozen people were recruited from the training grounds in various places.”
Niu Wenyuan narrowed his eyes, then suddenly slammed his gavel and said sternly:
"The training ground has always been established to cultivate the pillars of our Great Yu martial arts. Instead of making progress in the Central Martial Arts Academy, you have committed this act of murder and defection. Suspect in court, do you know your crime?"
The loud thud of the gavel made even the onlookers outside the yamen tremble.
Minister Niu was known for his harsh words and stern demeanor when judging cases. He was also known for his hatred of evil and his swift judgments. Criminals would often tremble and confess under his stern questioning. It was a common saying among the residents of Mujing that anyone who could withstand three blows from Minister Niu's gavel would be reborn into a life of wealth and honor, free from the fear of wind and rain.
All eyes were on Liang Zhengyuan, but his expression remained unchanged. He looked directly at Niu Wenyuan and said, word by word:
"Your Honor, I have not committed murder or defection. I am truly innocent."
Niu Wenyuan's eyes deepened, and he immediately perked up:
"Oh, then how do you explain why you suddenly appeared a thousand miles away, perfectly fine, with a corpse lying next to you?"
Before Liang Zhengyuan could speak, Niu Wenyuan continued:
"Moreover, I have already ascertained the identity of that person. The corpse is none other than An Zhuangren, the youngest son of the magistrate of Huidong, the place you are stationed in on this trip! You should explain to me why you were summoned out of the capital to the south to protect the peace of the people, but you personally killed an innocent local citizen?"
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