Chapter 45: Investigating the Case
In the afternoon, Jiang Cheng also came. He looked to be about thirty-seven years old and had the air of a rich and elegant man.
He was not afraid even when he arrived at the government office. After hearing the reason, he defended himself, "Sir, Xu Zhi is just slandering me. My Jiang family's timber has had a good reputation over the past few decades. Xu Zhi is jealous of me because he can't sell his own timber."
Xu Zhi got anxious when he heard this and cursed, "You bastard! Back then, I thought you were young and impetuous, so I didn't care about your evil deeds. Who knew you would be so cruel and blaming me for the rotten wood? You're such a ruthless businessman and a despicable bastard!"
After saying this, he turned to face the main hall of the government office and said, "Sir, my shop, which I worked so hard to run, was destroyed by this villain. My family almost died. Not only did he slander me, but he also asked me to pay back 500 taels of silver. My poor mother was so angry that she almost died after hearing this!"
After saying this, he bowed solemnly and choked up, "I regret my past actions, but now it's too late to undo what has been done. I am living on with this worthless life just to see him get the retribution he deserves. I have been wronged, and I beg you to help me!"
Zhao Yan looked at Xu Zhi. In just a few days, he had become so skinny. He took a deep breath and felt for the first time that this person was no longer just a name, but a person who carried an unknown life.
Xu Zhi had no power or influence, so he was forced like this.
But how many cases like this are there? How many people can truly be granted justice?
They are just numbers in the calculations of the six ministries and just tools for the promotion of the officials.
Maybe for the senior officials, this matter was too small, so small that they were unwilling to take it.
All they think about is how to leave their names in history books and how to take sides.
Neither the previous dynasties nor the history books recorded the names of these people.
He listened to the two people's stories quietly, then looked at Jiang Cheng, "Do you agree to what Xu Zhi said about forcing you to death and forcing you to pay five hundred taels of silver?"
Jiang Cheng was certainly not like that, and even a little arrogant. "How could your Excellency only listen to one side of the story? Even the Fuzhou Governor, who is of the same rank as your Excellency, has never heard of such a case being handled."
"Xu Zhi is just a greedy man. He wanted to expand his shop, so I helped him. But he was so greedy that he used rotten wood himself, and he still blames me. His mother died, can he also blame me? What's more, it's only natural to pay back debts. Even if the king of heaven comes, he will pay it back!"
Zhao Yan immediately scolded him, "How dare you openly roar in court!"
Jiang Cheng was a little scared when he was scolded, but thinking of his connections, he felt a little brave and continued to defend himself, "Sir, everything I said is true. This Xu Zhi is just broke and desperate for money, so he falsely accused me..."
Xu Zhi couldn't stand it anymore and cursed, "You bastard, I should have taught you how to do the timber business. You are such a venomous snake..."
The two of them were cursing each other fiercely.
The Dengshi Hall was completely silent. Everyone had heard there was another case today, so they had already rushed to watch the court session. Xu Fu saw that his senior sister was still sitting there and had no intention of going. He asked, "Senior sister, why don't you go and take a look? I heard it's a big case with many people involved."
Yu Huatang was a little puzzled. The Fuzhou governor involved shouldn't have shown up yet. How did these people know about this? He asked, "Did they tell you?"
Xu Fu took a few bites of preserved fruit and said, "Someone sent out some documents the other day saying that the Jiang case might implicate many officials, and asked everyone who has clues or knows the situation to go there."
Finally, he said, "Senior Sister, you don't know?"
Yu Huatang shook her head. Since that day, she had been busy making lanterns and she really didn't care about many things.
These documents were probably distributed by Zhao Yan.
Seeing that she truly didn't know, Xu Fu suggested, "Senior Sister, why don't we go take a look too? This Zhaozhou governor has been here for almost half a year, and he's indeed a bit different from the other officials. Maybe we can actually catch the corrupt official who embezzled the government funds."
Yu Huatang turned the bamboo strips in her hand without saying anything. He was indeed a good official, which she had always known.
She kind of wanted to go and take a look, just to learn about the Jiang case.
But she also remembered what they had said so clearly that day. In the next few days, she saw Anfu boiling medicine all day long, and she was afraid that the wound would heal slowly.
But now that it has been made clear, she is just a commoner, so it is normal for her to care about the case in her hometown.
Sure enough, when Xu Fu heard that she was going too, he was so excited that he hurried all the way. By the third quarter of the morning, there was already a huge crowd outside the government office.
Many elderly people brought their own tables and chairs outside, and chatted while listening to what was happening inside.
Yu Huatang couldn't squeeze in, so he sat down outside and listened to the people inside talking.
There were constant sounds coming from the main hall.
Xu Zhi said, "Sir, I have here the witnesses who saw Jiang Cheng send people to slander me, as well as a letter of their conspiracy. Three of them are dead, but one is still alive. This person is Jiang Cheng's servant, Jiang Shui'er."
"Jiang Shui'er had been reluctant to testify before, but just now he signaled to me that he was willing to testify."
Zhao Yan said, "Bring him up."
Sure enough, Jiang Shuier accused Jiang Cheng of what happened that year and said that she had seen it with her own eyes.
Jiang Cheng didn't expect that there was a traitor beside him. He jumped up and kicked Jiang Shui'er, causing him to spit blood from the corner of his mouth. He cursed, "You grandma, don't you know who you are eating and wearing..."
Zhao Yan shouted and ordered his men to restrain Jiang Cheng. "Jiang Cheng, now that the evidence is here, you still want to quibble. Today, not only did you roar at Gong Tang, you also openly beat people and flouted the law. If I don't punish you severely, where is justice?"
"Come here, take Jiang Cheng away."
The verdict was immediately announced. "The plaintiff, Jiang Cheng, has been convicted of defamation and attempted murder, in addition to the two charges incurred today. He must serve a total of twelve years of hard labor. The witnesses, Xu Zhi and Jiang Shui'er, and the physical evidence, including the letter of attempted murder, will be transferred to the higher government office for notarization."
Jiang Cheng was unwilling to surrender to the law. He stared at Zhao Yan fiercely and said in a deep voice, "Just wait, someone will come to save me."
Zhao Yan ignored the threat in his eyes and said, "This is just one of the things. If you can now expose the other officials involved in the bridge corruption case, you can get a lighter sentence."
Jiang Cheng looked at Zhao Yan in a daze. What did this mean? If he gave out other people, he could get a reduced sentence?
He has already threatened Zhao Yan, why isn't Zhao Yan afraid?
Ignoring Jiang Cheng's thoughts, the arresting officers took him away.
Xu Zhi asked with red eyes in the hall, "Sir, will Jiang Cheng really be punished and imprisoned?"
Zhao Yan took a deep breath, looked at him seriously and said, "Yes, I can promise."
After listening to this, Xu Zhi bent down deeply and choked up, "...I, your humble servant, thank you, sir."
At this moment, Zhao Yan felt infinite power in his heart. He knew that Jiang Huaxiang would never let him go easily, even though he was the son of the Left Prime Minister. But now he no longer had any hesitation.
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