Chapter 15 Chapter 15 I love studying as much as Your Highness does.
Xie Tingyu arrived at Zhaoxingsi on time, carrying the evidence he had collected from all over the place.
The Zhaoxingsi was located at the end of a gray-brick alley in the northwest corner of the Imperial City. It was summer, and the place was hot and dark. Rats rustled about, and the odor was truly nauseating. Just walking through it felt like walking on excrement.
Xie Tingyu walked down the stone steps without changing his expression, passed through the dark and narrow corridor, and saw Shi Chun, who was dying, in the third cell from the right.
Shi Chun was tortured terribly.
Her hands and feet were tied with iron chains, and she looked like she was hanging on the wall. Her clothes were tattered, her face was pale, and her hair was messy.
The wounds on his thighs and back were only bandaged hastily and not properly treated. Now the wounds are oozing pus, and with the hot weather, it will surely start to fester and eventually rot.
Xie Tingyu thought her two arrows were very skillful. First, they hit the enemy's vital points accurately, rendering them unable to resist, and second, they were not fatal.
The two prison officials who were sitting behind the desk and conducting the trial immediately stood up and saluted Xie Tingyu.
"Did the lord bring any evidence?"
Xie Tingyu nodded. She first took out some madder from her bosom and explained that the fresh bloodstains on the blue bricks of Chunhe Hall were faked by grinding madder.
She took out the jute paper and performed it on the spot according to Ji Lian's method, perfectly replicating the words on the paper. Finally, she took out the hollow bamboo tubes and explained why the strange blue-green light appeared in the night palace.
The prison official asked, "According to the confession of the palace maid at the scene, you took a needle and tried to pierce Shi Chun's eyes. What was your intention? Did you already have some suspicions about her?"
Xie Tingyu replied, "It is human nature to seek profit and avoid harm. Whether you are foolish or sane, you will avoid danger. Only those who are in disguise will not avoid it. That was when I concluded that Shi Chun was up to something."
The two prison officials suddenly understood and praised Xie Tingyu for his meticulous and organized work.
Xie Tingyu asked, "May I ask how your interrogation of Shi Chun went? Have you uncovered the mastermind behind this?"
The two looked at each other, feeling a little panicked.
It’s not that the two of them are incompetent and can’t find anything, but that they found some content that shouldn’t have been reviewed.
The Zhaoxingsi had many trial methods. For example, in the summer, they would wrap the prisoners tightly with hot quilts to make them suffer from heat rash, and then use a rattan dipped in salt water to whip the ulcerated areas. After repeated beatings, the prisoners would confess.
Now Shi Chun was so scared that he kept muttering a few monosyllabic words that didn't form a complete sentence, and they sounded the same as "yuan".
This circle is very particular.
Are you referring to the Yuan family of Runan? Or the Yuan family of Chenjun?
Could it be that someone from the Yuan family was behind this?
If it is really the Yuan family of Runan, Yuan Zhaoyun of the Yuan family is now the Minister of Agriculture, in charge of grain storage, granary management and the supply of rice for officials in the capital, and is closely related to the Shangshi Bureau and the Neifu Bureau in the palace.
They had both received favors from the Yuan family, to varying degrees. As the saying goes, one owes a debt of gratitude to someone who has done them a service, and they had kept in mind every single gift they had received, whether it was gifts of ice or charcoal.
Furthermore, in fact, some of the palace maids and servants have some connections with these aristocratic families. This is because the families have been operating in the palace for many years and have secretly colluded with them through the maids and female officials recommended into the palace, so this is not a surprising thing.
More importantly, Shi Chun is now insane. How can the words of a madman be used as testimony in court? Are her words truly credible?
Therefore, this matter was a little difficult for the two of them.
The two of them tacitly decided to treat the matter as an unsolved case.
The so-called unsolved case refers to putting all the blame on a person who cannot escape no matter what, and then arresting everyone who has contact with the criminal on a daily basis and treating them as accomplices, so that all the cases can be closed naturally.
The prison official said, "Your Excellency, you may not know that Shi Chun is now insane, and none of her crazy words can be taken seriously. But rest assured, the ghost incident was caused by human hands. Your actions that night are all recorded in the book, and we will report the truth to His Majesty."
Xie Tingyu tsk-tsk-tsked, "So you two are blaming me for being too harsh, scaring the guy silly, and delaying your investigation?"
These words were like roasting the two jailers on the charcoal fire.
Although Xie Tingyu was only a minor envoy, judging by his performance that night, which was widely circulated in the palace, he must possess unparalleled wisdom and courage. Furthermore, he had a mother who served as the Grand Tutor and the Imperial Princess's Grand Tutor. It was likely that soon, this young Master Xie would find an opportunity to rise to prominence.
"Sir, we didn't mean that." The two prison officials quickly stood up and stood beside Xie Tingyu eagerly, one on the left and one on the right.
One of them said, "Your Excellency has never tried a case before, so you might not know the rules here. If a person is insane, their confession is unreliable. This is clearly stated in the 'Palace Prohibition Regulations'. We are simply following the rules of the inner court."
The other person, well versed in flattery, chose only the good things to say, "I still remember your deeds that night vividly. If it weren't for your help, this case would probably remain unsolved. Shi Chun will not be the only one to be punished in this case, so rest assured, sir."
...It is because of you rats and termites that I feel uneasy.
Xie Tingyu lingered on the expressions on their faces for a while, then decided to give them another chance. She asked, "Are you really not hiding anything?"
The two prison officials shook their heads.
Xie Tingyu patted their shoulders, as if to say farewell, and asked, "Do you think what you did was right?"
The two prison officials were sweating profusely. They covered their mouths tightly and didn't utter anything.
Xie Tingyu turned and left expressionlessly.
As she had predicted, when the two jailers handed over the case closing documents to Ji Zhao, they were immediately stripped of their official positions, given eighty lashes of the cane in court, exiled to slavery, and never reappointed. Ji Zhao then ordered the execution of all the palace servants who had interacted with Shi Chun during the days leading up to the incident, including the official who had come to pick up Xie Tingyu that night.
This incident gave Ji Zhao a direct reason to purge the palace servants and palace maids who had some ties with the aristocratic families.
These two were only interested in short-term gains and thought they could use the excuse of being crazy to fool Ji Zhao.
Through the two previous contacts with Ji Zhao in Penglai Palace, Xie Tingyu knew very well that the current emperor had the same violent and suspicious character as the previous emperor, and could not tolerate anyone playing tricks under her nose.
Who would believe a palace servant who dared to commit such evil and collude with others to play tricks on the emperor if she said there was no one behind her? But someone dared to openly deceive the emperor after the incident, which was really a bit of a suicide.
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Although the haunting was resolved, Xie Tingyu's duties as a prayer envoy were not over. After leaving the Zhaoxingsi, she still had to visit various palaces to exorcise evil spirits and pray for blessings.
After completing the routine work, Xie Tingyu is now in the Lantai Pavilion.
This was a place specifically used to store the emperor's daily notes and military and national records. Of course, not everything could be viewed. For example, for someone like Xie Tingyu, even with the protection of her privileged mother, she could only access some well-known battles.
But that's enough.
After Xie Tingyu took out the fish token and the jade pass to Lantai Pavilion, he was allowed to enter.
The pavilion was spacious, with dozens of enormous nanmu bookshelves. Each shelf had a plaque on its outer edge, inscribed in cinnabar script with the type of classics it contained. A stepladder sat nearby, allowing people to climb up and access the books on the upper floors.
There are blue bamboo slips, silk scrolls, and white paper albums, and each of them has a wooden sign hung on a thin rope with a number written in ink on it.
Some full-time transcribers in the Lantai Pavilion were copying with their heads bowed.
When Xie Tingyu walked past them, no one even looked at her.
At a glance, Xie Tingyu quickly found the battle record she wanted to read.
Scanning the area, they were arranged in chronological order, with the one at the front depicting the Jianghuai naval battles, which Emperor Gaozu personally led. The bamboo slips were placed in the third row. Xie Tingyu, a rather tall woman, knelt on her knees, her fingertips quickly skimming over the wooden plaques on the bamboo slips.
What she was looking for was the Northern Expedition against the Xianbei twelve years ago.
His fingertips stopped on a scroll of bamboo slips, and the moment he saw the words on the wooden sign clearly, Xie Tingyu's heart stopped.
She couldn't help but hold her breath, reaching out to touch the uneven edge of the bamboo slip, and was about to pull it out -
Um?
Why can’t I get it out?
Xie Tingyu looked through the gap between the bookshelves and met a pair of beautiful fox eyes. She loosened her grip and the bamboo slips were easily taken away by the person opposite.
She wasn't annoyed, and the person on the other side didn't say thank you either.
The two of them walked slowly and talked across the bookshelf.
"I didn't expect that Your Highness would also be interested in war records?"
"Xie Tingyu, what do I like to watch have to do with you?" The voice was a little hoarse, and the ending tone was still slightly rising.
"I was just asking casually. Your Highness, there's no need to be so..." Xie Tingyu tapped the bookshelf with his fingertips. "Be on guard."
"What about you? You're a prayer envoy, but you don't study those divination and astrology books, but instead consult these battle books?"
The conversation between the two people was transmitted through the long bookshelf, but the road always ends one day.
"If Your Highness wants divination, I can do it. I have some experience in bone reading and face reading. If Your Highness really wants it, I will give you a discount, one guan will be enough. I am a man of integrity and I will not allow you to refuse payment."
Xie Tingyu came around from this side, glanced at the scrolls of bamboo slips in Ji Lian's hands, and smiled: "The reason I came here is naturally because I am like Your Highness, I love to study, so I eat everything and read everything."
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