Chapter 190 Witnesses (5,000 words long chapter, please vote)
"I think the trial is about to start at this time." The maid said, "I heard that today, in addition to the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate, the county lady also received the order of the saint to go and jointly try the case."
The county lord she was referring to was naturally Ming Luo.
"This is within our expectations. After all, the dead are from the Changsun family, and it happened during the prayer time at Dayun Temple. The saints and all the local authorities will definitely pay special attention to it..."
As Chang said this, his brows became more and more furrowed.
The more attention you pay to each part, the easier it is for mistakes to occur.
"Send more people to the Dali Temple to keep an eye on today's trial, and report every detail to me." Chang instructed.
We have both physical evidence and motives. For now, no one has suspected anything else. If the people of the Changsun family put pressure on the Dali Temple out of grief and anger, that would be great. It would be best if Chang Sui'an could be convicted in court today...
The maid agreed. Seeing how tired and tense her mistress had been these days, she comforted her by saying, "Don't worry, Madam. You have handled this matter in a timely manner. No one will suspect the prince for no reason. Everything will go smoothly."
Chang said "hmm" and frowned, "The biggest variable now lies with that stupid thing from the Feng family. I'm afraid that if she can talk to Jie today, she can talk to others tomorrow."
"That shouldn't be possible. After all, she herself killed someone..."
Chang sneered and said, "Normal people can't imagine what stupid things those stupid people can do."
"I have tried my best to plan for this and have been cautious in every aspect. I cannot let such a fool make a fool of herself outside." Chang said with disdain, "It is better to bring her in as soon as possible."
"Then Madam, are you ready to agree to Lord Jie's conditions?"
"How can I not agree?" Chang stood up and said, "She is right. My son's life is more precious than her entire Feng family combined."
It would be of no benefit to push people into a corner at such a critical moment.
How could everything be settled smoothly without her paying a greater price for the trouble her useless son had caused?
You should be willing to throw away the meat bun in your hand when the time comes, otherwise it is easy to lose the big picture.
He is just a fifth-rank official, just treat him as food for the dogs.
But she couldn't decide the position of fifth-rank official easily on her own, she also had to find the real owner of the Duke's Mansion.
Ever since Mingjin was injured, Duke Ying seldom set foot in Chang's residence. He either stayed with concubines in turn or simply rested in the study outside the front yard.
Chang was naturally dissatisfied with this, but compared with the troubles and troubles brought by her son, she had no time to deal with those concubines who were ready to make trouble.
Chang went to the front yard and found Duke Ying who was playing chess with his second son.
The father and son sat opposite each other playing chess in a very harmonious atmosphere. This scene of loving father and filial son made Chang's eyes hurt.
Ah Shen was the eldest son, and people always had more preference and hope for their first child. Her husband was no exception. In the past, he could not see the existence of the two timid and cowardly illegitimate children, but now...
"Why are you here?" Duke Ying asked with a frown.
Chang wanted to sneer when he heard this.
But now that he was sitting with the bastard, these words made her look like an uninvited outsider.
"I'm here to discuss something with the Duke." Chang suppressed her anger and looked at the young man who stood up and saluted her.
The boy was deeply afraid of his stepmother and was about to leave, but his father said, "The game isn't over yet. Wait on the side."
The young man had no choice but to stand there, trembling with fear - his father didn't care about his life or death at all, so why would he bother to compare him with his stepmother?
"Is there anything that family members cannot listen to?" Duke Ying looked at Chang and said, "Just say it."
Chang clenched her fingers tightly and said without looking away, "I want to bring a concubine to Ah Shen to bring him happiness and ward off disaster for him."
Duke Ying was stunned: "What did you say?"
Chang was choked with anger for a moment: "I said I would help Ah Shen get a concubine to marry into the family——"
"...What were you doing earlier?" Duke Ying was puzzled. "When it was time for him to get married, you were very picky. Now you have a mallet but no drum, and the abacus beads are out of their frames...you are thinking of giving him a concubine? Isn't that like buying a comb for a bald man?"
The young man standing nearby shuddered when he heard this: "..."
Chang's face showed a trace of annoyance: "The doctor has already said that Ah Shen is not hopeless of recovery... That's why we want to bring him good luck and ward off disaster."
Duke Ying frowned, "What kind of doctors are those you are looking for? How come they are also Feng Shui masters?"
Chang tried her best to suppress her anger: "...The idea of getting married by chance was not said by the doctor. I asked an expert to calculate it for Ah Shen."
Duke Ying understood and said "Oh".
Chang: “?”
What does "Oh" mean? Seeing that she seemed to want to quarrel with him, Duke Ying, considering her recent mental state, waved his hand in time and said in a tone that he was too lazy to argue with her: "Since you want to make trouble, then it's up to you."
It's just a concubine anyway.
Chang then informed them: "She is the granddaughter of Lord Feng."
"Princess Feng?" Duke Ying frowned when he thought of the scandal that Xie had caused before, but he didn't say much.
After all, which normal wealthy family would agree to let their granddaughter be a concubine for the purpose of bringing good fortune? It would be good enough if she could do that.
"But before anyone comes in, there is something I would like to trouble you with, Duke."
Chang expressed Xie's conditions in a different way.
Duke Ying sneered when he heard this: "A fifth-rank official, she is quite arrogant. Isn't she selling out her granddaughter?"
"With such a face, it's better not to get married." Duke Ying didn't intend to indulge the other party: "Since it's just for good luck, then find another family!"
Chang was not surprised by Duke Ying's reaction.
It is indeed not a trivial matter to promote someone to a fifth-rank official. It is inevitable that one has to spend a lot of time and effort to arrange things. The reason why she agreed to Xie's request is because she knows the pros and cons. She has no choice but to agree. But her husband knows nothing about the inside story, so naturally he will not give in easily.
"But the fortune teller said that only the horoscope of the girl from the Feng family can help A Shen avoid disaster." Chang took out the explanation she had prepared on the way.
Duke Ying sneered: "What kind of expert is this? I'm afraid he has received benefits from the Feng family, right?"
"How could I be so stupid as to let the Feng family do something under my nose?" Chang: "The master said that this time it's not just Ah Shen's disaster that needs to be eliminated - if this disaster is not expelled in time, it may affect the entire Yingguo Mansion in the future, and I'm afraid the Duke and I will be implicated."
Duke Ying’s expression froze.
After a moment, he said, "...Well, it's better to believe it."
Chang found this very ironic, and this trick was indeed the most effective.
Duke Ying looked at her, frowned and said, "It's okay to have a good time to get rid of disasters, but disasters come from people. You should discipline him and let him recover from his injuries peacefully. Don't cause trouble again!"
It was also his fault that he was confused in the past and thought that his eldest son inherited his masculine style. In contrast, his two illegitimate sons were too cowardly and timid, which made him look down on them.
Until these years, as the eldest son got into more and more trouble, and the man's demeanor was clearly only used to cause trouble, and he did not accomplish anything serious...
He realized belatedly that although his eldest son inherited some of his essence, it was his essence that made up the dregs.
Thus, he gradually appreciated the good of the illegitimate son. He was truly young and did not know the good of a good son, and he mistakenly treated the rebellious son as a treasure.
Now he feels bad whenever he mentions his eldest son.
If the Saint had not just recently reminded him in person to manage his family affairs and not to cause any more trouble or gossip, he would have really wanted to depose that rebellious son from his position as Crown Prince immediately.
The sage had said before, so now he should just avoid the limelight of this troubled time. After three or two years, he would use the excuse that his eldest son had no children and replace him with another good son to be the crown prince.
But the premise is that the rebellious son must not cause trouble again! Duke Ying had this final bottom line written on his face.
Chang gave a bitter smile in his heart.
There is still a bottom line, but little did they know that this bottom line had already been secretly trampled through and crushed, leaving nothing behind.
She was just working hard to clean up this mess in secret.
"Although she is just a concubine, the necessary arrangements should be made earlier. Go and do your work."
Duke Ying impatiently sent his wife away and asked his second son to continue playing chess with him.
After Chang left, Duke Ying chatted with his second son and casually taught him, "...The situation is not as stable as it was a few years ago. Because you are descendants of the Ming family, you must be more careful in what you say and do. Don't learn the bad habits of your eldest brother."
The young man responded respectfully.
My father was really worrying too much. My eldest brother's temperament was brought up by my father and my stepmother. How could they, illegitimate children who have lived under the shadow of their stepmother since childhood, learn such difficult things?
But his father probably felt that the older child was too bad and that he would have to be more careful when raising a younger one, so he continued to preach.
"Being aggressive and reckless is not advisable. Look at what happened to the young master of the Chang family. This is the best lesson for us!"
Compared to this, his rebellious son is actually quite obedient.
If he really had a son like Chang's son who was impulsive and brainless, and dared to kill even the girls of Changsun's family, he would have no way to survive. He might as well pack up and die in front of his sister! Duke Ying was inexplicably relieved, and felt that it was imperative to discipline his children, so he continued to teach his second son.
…
In the front hall of the Dali Temple, the young man, still wearing the robe he was caught in, was now kneeling in the lobby. Compared to the high-spirited man who left home that day, he now only looked embarrassed and uneasy.
"You refuse to admit that you killed Lady Changsun Qi, so how do you explain the jade pendant?"
The person questioning was the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and the case was heard jointly by the three courts.
In addition to the three chief officials, there was also Ming Luo who came by imperial decree, and Chang Sun Yuan's son Chang Sun Yan in the hall.
As the victim, Chang Sunyan was sitting there, staring at the young man who denied it.
"I accidentally lost the jade pendant a month ago!" Chang Sui'an explained.
"Where was it lost?"
"I... I'm not sure." Chang Sui'an said, "But it should be around the Mid-Autumn Festival Banquet in Hibiscus Garden!"
If he could clearly determine where it was lost, he would not be unable to find it.
"I will have someone go to Furong Garden to verify this matter." Yao Yi said, "But it has been a long time, and it is not easy to verify. It is difficult to tell whether this statement is true or not, so it cannot be used as evidence to prove your innocence for the time being."
What he said was very tactful. He had handled countless cases and knew very well that if someone really was framing someone, they would not have left such obvious clues. Most of the traces would have been erased, making it difficult to find anything.
Yao Yi's inference had already been confirmed by Chang Suining, who was listening outside the hall with everyone else.
She had associated the time when Chang Sui'an lost the jade pendant with the Hibiscus Banquet yesterday, so she immediately sent people to Hibiscus Garden to try to find clues.
With Yu Zeng's help, the investigation went smoothly. But to no avail, there was no clue as to the whereabouts of her brother's jade pendant.
However, there was a suspicious point in the list of personnel changes in various places in Furong Garden - on the second day after Chang Sunxuan disappeared, a eunuch working in the Furong Garden horse farm "accidentally slipped" and fell into the water and died.
The racecourse...
Her brother had once competed with Ming Jin in a horse race at that horse farm, and the jade pendant was most likely lost at that time.
It couldn't be a coincidence that the eunuch fell into the water and died at such a critical moment.
But the person is already dead, and there is no evidence now.
However, in Chang Suining's opinion, this trip was not completely fruitless. Being able to deal with all these in such a short time showed that the identity of the person behind it was extraordinary...
Secondly, if the eunuch really picked up the jade pendant, but it fell into the hands of someone else, it would be equivalent to the other party claiming it. However, since his identity is not ordinary, it is impossible that he did it for such a small advantage.
Since he is not coveting the jade pendant itself, then he is most likely after the owner of the jade pendant.
Even if the other party framed her brother for the crime of murdering Changsun Qinnanzi, it might have been a spur-of-the-moment decision, but the other party's motive for leaving the jade pendant behind must have been impure.
Anyone who would have such thoughts and pay so much attention to her elder brother's personal belongings must be an acquaintance with whom she had a grudge.
Someone who has a history of festival ties, has an unusual identity, and has participated in both the Mid-Autumn Hibiscus Banquet and the Dayun Temple prayer - this is the scope of clues that Chang Suining has temporarily arrived at.
And if we make a bolder guess, "this person" is very likely to have a grudge with Zhangsun Qinnanzi, or the two sides have an irreconcilable conflict of interest, otherwise he would not have killed so cruelly under the emperor's nose.
But she knew too little about Chang Sunxuan and couldn't make any further guesses for the time being.
As for the people behind the scenes, Chang Suining has roughly identified the scope and is just waiting to eliminate them one by one. She came to observe the trial today, firstly to pay attention to the reactions of all parties and try to get new clues.
Secondly, I want to see my brother.
Seeing with his own eyes that Chang Sui'an was safe and sound and showed no signs of being tortured, Chang Suining felt relieved.
Fortunately, the Minister of Dali Temple is Yao Yi, otherwise, under the pressure from Changsun, her brother would not have been able to remain unscathed until now.
Sometimes when one is in power, there are not so many laws, procedures and reasons to talk about. Chang Suining is very clear about this.
Although he did not suffer too many external injuries, the young man, who had never experienced such a thing, faced such a sudden charge and had hardly eaten or slept in the past few days in prison. He had visibly lost weight.
Facing this trial, the young man tried his best to prove his innocence, but everything he said was rejected.
"But when I went to Dayun Temple to pray the other day, I was not wearing this long-lost jade pendant. Anyone who has seen me in the temple should be able to testify to this!"
"Even if someone can prove that you didn't wear the jade pendant on your waist that day, it doesn't mean you didn't carry it with you—"
The jade pendant may not be around the waist, but may be in the sleeve, in the arms, or under the cloak.
It's not that the judges are tricky, but the case handling should be rigorous.
Anything that is not rigorous enough cannot be used as evidence.
The assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice then asked solemnly, "Many people have mentioned that you disappeared for a long time in the back mountain. Where did you go and what did you do when you were away from everyone? Can anyone prove it?"
These questions one after another were full of oppression, and Chang Sui'an always reminded himself to stay calm and not panic.
Being calm has its advantages. It prevents him from subconsciously denying that he has not stayed away from the crowd out of fear.
Since he is innocent, he only needs to answer truthfully and does not need to lie to cover up anything.
"I did leave the crowd that day..." Chang Sui'an thought about these questions and answered them, "But I was with Prince Rong at that time! We were talking by the river!"
"Prince Rong?"
"That's right!" Chang Sui'an suddenly realized that this might be a turning point: "Prince Rong can testify for me on this point!"
The officials and Ming Luo sitting in the hall all changed their expressions when they heard this.
Although the jade pendant is the decisive evidence, if Prince Rong can prove that he was with Chang Sui'an when no one else could see him, the case will need further investigation. Then, before finding new evidence or proving that Prince Rong was committing perjury, Chang Sui'an cannot be convicted.
Yao Yi immediately said, "Come here, ask Prince Rong to come to the Dali Temple!"
Looking at the officers who were leaving as ordered, the crowd was talking about it.
Qiao Yubai and Cui Lang were worried about Chang Sui'an, so they skipped classes at the Imperial College and ran here today. At this moment, they subconsciously held high hopes for the arrival of Prince Rong.
A young boy in the crowd said coldly, "Everyone knows that Prince Rong loved and even asked to marry the girl from the Chang family. How can we know if he would perjure himself for the murderer?"
Chang Suining and others looked over when they heard this.
The young man looked to be no more than twelve or thirteen years old. His clothes were extraordinary but too plain, and he had a piece of white silk tied around his wrist.
His eyes were red and he was staring at Chang Sui'an in the hall.
Cui Lang wanted to go up to him to argue, but Chang Suining stopped him with his hand.
This young man seems to be from the Changsun family. Getting into a verbal conflict with him in public would only bring more trouble and criticism.
Besides, Chang Suining thought it made little sense to argue whether Prince Rong would give false testimony.
What we should be more worried about now is perhaps...whether Prince Rong will come forward to testify?
I hope she is narrow-minded and judges others with a mean heart.
Waiting quietly in the long years.
Until the messenger who went to invite people returned.
"Your Excellency, according to the servants of Prince Rong's Mansion, Prince Rong caught a cold during the ancestral worship trip and then was frightened, which triggered his old illness. He had a high fever last night and is still unconscious. He is unable to come to answer questions for the time being!"
I wrote an extra thousand words today, without any breaks, and let the officer finish speaking... In view of my sincerity, can you all give me a monthly vote?
In addition, there are two monthly ticket activity posts at the top of the book review area, and the rewards can be stacked. Please reply first and then vote. Reply to both posts. You can get 200 Qidian coins for one monthly ticket. By the way, those who don’t have non-sale fan titles can also go to the book review area to check out the fan title activities~ (This paragraph is copied from the operation officer, hahaha) (Also, don’t keep saying that I update only once, I normally update two chapters per chapter! Single-update makes me sound so lazy!) (End of this chapter)
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