Chapter 385: The Censorate, friend or foe?
While the three of them were talking, Lin Zhiqing roughly sorted out all the content.
The young man, who was the son of Lin Congrong's servant back then, basically spoke words that slandered Lin Congrong.
He said his father discovered the letters by accident.
There is no significant difference between these contents and those in the files.
The white-haired old man was a cook in the army. He met Lin Congrong once on the day when the army was completely wiped out.
This was not a big deal, but according to him, Lin Congrong asked him to prepare a lot of dry food that day.
This is consistent with Lin Congrong's disappearance.
In the file, the chief judge at the time determined that Lin Congrong's disappearance was premeditated based on this point, otherwise who would prepare dry food in advance.
As for the young girl, she looked about the same age as Lin Zhiqing, and had never met Lin Congrong before.
The only reason she could serve as a witness was because her father was a member of the army at that time.
Before the army left, her father told her about his final arrangements, as if he knew he would never return.
Lin Zhiqing found it ridiculous that such a simple reason could be used as evidence in court.
She looked at Jiang Yunhe, only to see that Jiang Yunhe was sitting still, listening quietly to what they were saying, with no expression on his face.
On the other side of the hall, Wang Yuan frowned tightly, seeming to be a little confused.
The Minister of Justice narrowed his eyes, his expression unremarkable.
Zhou Chong had no expression on his face.
After the three of them finished speaking, Zhou Chongzheng began to follow the process:
"All the evidence is here, Lin Zhiqing, do you have any objections?"
Lin Zhiqing had no way to speak about the letter, but the testimonies of these witnesses were really outrageous.
She stepped forward and bowed:
"Sir, I have something I don't understand. I asked the cooks to make more rations. How can this be considered testimony and recorded in the files?"
Zhou Chongzheng's expression remained unchanged:
"The army has a fixed ration of fodder. If Lin Congrong eats one more portion, the other soldiers will have one less. Furthermore, there is no record of Lin Congrong being out on patrol at the time."
"Since you're not out on patrol, why do you need to bring dry food? We're facing a powerful enemy and it's time to fight, not when we need dry food."
"Sir, have you ever been to the battlefield?" Lin Zhiqing stared at Zhou Chongzheng with clear eyes.
Zhou Chongzheng lowered his eyebrows and said, "I am a Beijing official and I don't know how to fight. How can I go to the battlefield?"
"Since you've never been on the battlefield, how can you be so sure that you don't need food when you're facing a powerful enemy?" Lin Zhiqing said quickly:
"If eating one more bite of bread alone is considered treason, then there are countless people who are treasonous."
Zhou Chongzheng's words were choked back, and he frowned subconsciously:
"There is no basis for what you said. Don't make unnecessary excuses."
Lin Zhiqing didn't look at him again, but looked at the Minister of Justice:
"May I ask, Your Excellency, is there any law in the Great Sheng that forbids eating or bringing in dry food when facing a powerful enemy?"
"Not at all." The Minister of Justice said very straightforwardly.
Lin Zhiqing turned to the Marquis of Zhenyuan again and asked, "May I ask, my Lord, is there a military law that forbids bringing in dry food?"
Jiang Yunhe glanced at Lin Zhiqing and shook his head slowly.
No.
Lin Zhiqing looked at Zhou Chongzheng again. She didn't say anything, but the question she asked just now already represented her position.
Zhou Chongzheng frowned and didn't speak for a while.
As soon as Lin Zhiqing saw his expression, he knew that he had nothing to refute.
So, Lin Zhiqing took a deep breath, looked at Zhenyuan Hou again and said:
"My Lord, before you lead your troops into battle, will you make any arrangements with your family? Do you believe you will definitely be able to return?"
"How can family matters compare to the great cause? Once we go to the battlefield, everything is uncertain." Jiang Yunhe said slowly:
"Whether you can come back depends on the sword and gun in your hand."
"You are worthy of being the Marquis." Lin Zhiqing seemed to be praising Jiang Yunhe, but his tone was not warm.
She turned to Zhou Chongzheng and said, "Sir Zhou, it is normal to inform your family before going to the battlefield."
"Besides, everyone goes to the battlefield with the intention of dying to fight for Dasheng."
"Arranging funeral arrangements was something my father always did before going to the battlefield, because he couldn't tell when he would not return."
"If a single statement like this can be used as evidence of my father's treason, I cannot accept it."
"If you want to accuse someone of something, you can always find a pretext!"
As she spoke, she bent down and was reluctant to get up.
Seeing this, the Minister of Justice slowly spoke:
"Master Zhou, according to the laws of Dasheng, the confessions of these people cannot prove whether Lin Congrong collaborated with the enemy or committed treason."
Jiang Liuyun, who was sitting in the hall, looked at the Minister of Justice, with a hint of dissatisfaction between his brows.
He heard that the Minister of Justice was now favoring the Lin family.
Zhou Chongzheng picked up the file and said, "The other witnesses are all buried. These three are the only remaining witnesses. Although their testimonies have some omissions, they can still be used as a reference..."
Lin Zhiqing frowned slightly. She was about to speak, but Wang Yuan, who had been silent the whole time, raised an objection:
"Mr. Zhou, the testimony of marginal witnesses really doesn't prove anything. If it is recorded in the book, it will be meaningless."
As soon as these words came out, Lin Zhiqing paused.
The Minister of Justice raised his lips slightly: "That's right."
Zhou Chongzheng glanced at Jiang Yunhe very quickly, and when he saw that Jiang Yunhe didn't speak, he coughed lightly:
"Since both gentlemen believe that the testimony is invalid, then it is invalid."
"Your Excellency is wise." Lin Zhiqing slowly straightened up.
She looked at Wang Yuan first, only to see that Wang Yuan was staring at Zhou Chongzheng with a serious expression, and was not paying attention to the situation in the hall.
It was obvious that Wang Yuan was just fulfilling his duty when he spoke just now.
The division of labor among the three offices is actually very clear.
The Dali Temple focused on the facts of the case and questioned the details of the criminal's behavior, such as the time of the crime and motive.
The Ministry of Justice focuses on the application of the law, and is mainly concerned about whether the prisoner's behavior meets the requirements of a certain crime and whether it violates the law.
The Censorate focuses on procedural legality, and is primarily concerned with whether evidence and testimony are forged, or whether witnesses are coerced. If such situations are discovered, officials can be impeached on the spot.
The three offices have different focuses, but they check and balance each other.
Wang Yuan's words surprised Lin Zhiqing a little.
She originally thought that Wang Yuan disliked the Lin family and would favor the Jiang family during the trial, but she didn't expect that this person was still quite conscientious.
Of course, this is just the beginning.
It is too early to judge whether Wang Yuan is an enemy or a friend based on just one sentence.
Because even though the testimony of those three people was overturned, the Jiang father and son remained very calm.
In other words, this matter was a gain for the Lin family, but it had no meaning at all to the Jiang family.
The most important reason why they were so calm was that Lin Zhiqing had no evidence.
Without evidence, it cannot be proved that Lin Congrong’s incident is related to Jiang Yunhe.
The reason why they conducted a three-court retrial in advance was to put an end to the matter when Lin Zhiqing had no evidence at hand.
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