Chapter 1160: Court appearance
The court's actions were faster and larger than they had imagined. Manbao and his companions thought that it would take two or three days before anyone would come to question them. However, on the 19th, not long after they had finished breakfast, the Vice Minister of Justice came in person to take them out for questioning.
He saw that Xiang Mingxue was wrapped up completely except for his head. After a moment of silence, he waved his hand and asked someone to bring a bed board to carry the Xiang brothers out.
Bai Shan and Man Bao, who were reading a book, watched silently.
Seeing that they didn't move, the Minister of Justice couldn't help but ask, "You two aren't going to ask for help too, are you?"
The two of them then put down their books and walked out.
The lobby of the Ministry of Justice next to the Sky Prison was cleaned up, and Ji Xiang, Wei Zhi and Lord Tang were sitting there.
Ji Xiang is in charge of the affairs of the Secretariat. Now the court is missing the Minister of the Central Secretariat, so Wei Zhi is in charge. The old Minister of the Ministry of Personnel has been bedridden and retired, so Tang Hui is in charge now.
The fact that the King of Yizhou raised private soldiers was a serious matter, so three people were appointed to lead the trial. Of course, it is not known whether the emperor had any selfish motives in this.
In addition to them, Feng Shangshu from the Ministry of Justice and Liu Hui from the Ministry of Revenue were also here.
The reason why the two of them were arranged separately is that they will be used extensively in this case.
When they arrived at the lobby, Bai Shan bowed and Man Bao saw him, so he also bowed and did not kneel down. As for the two people who were carried out, it goes without saying that they could not even get up.
Wei Zhi and Old Master Tang had no objections. Ji Xiang got a headache whenever he thought of his little grandson rolling around and sweeping the floor in his study last night, so he turned a blind eye and didn't make things difficult for them.
Although he sat in the middle, but...
He looked around at the two of them, twitched his lips and said, "Master Wei and Old Master Tang, if you have any questions, please ask."
Wei Zhi and Old Master Tang hurriedly gave way, "Your Excellency, please go first."
"You guys go ahead and invite me. I'll just listen." He looked at everyone as if he didn't know. After the incident, one of them was kept alone by the emperor until late at night, while the other was summoned an hour later. He was not stupid and he knew with his toes that the emperor preferred them to investigate the case.
Wei Zhi and Old Master Tang fell silent. How should they start this?
They all know what they should know and what they shouldn’t know, right?
But the important thing is that Ji Xiang and the others don't know, and they are the ones who represent all the officials. Old Lord Tang turned his gaze and fell on Minister Feng, saying directly: "Things like judging cases are naturally the most proficient of the Minister of Justice. Let Minister Feng ask, and we will consider and supplement it when the time comes."
Everyone snorted in their hearts: As if you have never been the Minister of Justice?
However, Minister Feng did not dare to say anything about Lord Tang, who was obviously younger than him but was his former superior. He glanced at his current superior, Lord Ji Xiang.
Seeing him nod slightly, he stood up and bowed to the three adults, then glanced at Xiang Chao and Xiang Mingxue lying on the wooden board, waved his hand, and decided not to ask them for the time being.
So the officers moved the two wooden boards to the side, exposing Bai Shan and Man Bao to the front and center of the crowd.
Minister Feng's gaze fell on Bai Shan and he asked, "Please tell me your name and ancestral home."
Bai Shan had almost finished reading the law books of the Jin Dynasty and had memorized a lot of them. Knowing that this was a tool for interrogation, he told everything.
Minister Feng then asked, "Since you are from Longzhou, why do you list Mianzhou as your student?"
Bai Shan then bowed and said, "When I was five years old, my grandmother took my mother and me to live with my cousin in Mianzhou. So I went to school in Mianzhou, and then went to Yizhou to take the provincial school entrance examination, so my student status has always been in Mianzhou."
"When did you learn that the King of Yizhou had killed your father's enemy for you?"
Bai Shan paused and looked up. Seeing Old Master Tang with his eyes downcast, he said, "I only found out this year."
Minister Feng's eyebrows jumped. "You only found out this year?"
Bai Shan replied, "Yes."
"How do you know?"
"My grandmother told me."
"How did your grandmother know..."
Bai Shan picked out County Magistrate Tang and County Magistrate Yang and only mentioned his grandmother. He told Minister Feng that his grandmother had actually always had suspicions. He also told him about the time when his father escaped to the outskirts of Luojiang County and met Zhou Yin by chance.
As a result, Minister Feng had no choice but to summon Old Lady Liu for questioning.
While waiting, Minister Feng took a sip of tea and asked Manbao, "What about you? Tell me your name and household registration as well."
Manbao reported the truth.
Minister Feng also asked a series of questions, many of which were repeated with Bai Shan. He asked, "How did you know about your parents?"
Manbao pointed at Bai Shan and said, "Grandma Liu told me. I didn't know before that my parents weren't my biological parents. It was only after Grandma Liu told me that my parents told me."
Well, so we still have to wait for Madam Liu to come.
Minister Feng went to ask the two people lying on the wooden board.
The Bai family still has many witnesses and material evidence that have not been presented. Although Manbao has handed over a wave of evidence, Old Lady Liu still has a lot in her hands, such as the letter that Bai Qi sent home, Erji's confession, the confessions of the three assassins who pretended to be officials and went to Qili Village, and even people. If Shangshu Feng wants it, Old Lady Liu can pass it on.
Those people are now in Wei Zhi's hands, but they must be handed over to a clear path forward.
But in comparison, the evidence that the Xiang family could provide was pitifully small, and most of it was just his own speculation, because he didn't even have any evidence that he was the real owner of Dongxi Manor.
All the land deeds and house deeds were destroyed by floods or human activities. Even the archives in the county and prefectural governments were lost. Apart from the family tree that Xiang Mingxue later wrote out by heart, he did not even have any personal testimony.
So if we want to know whether what he said is true or not, we have to send someone to Suizhou.
He lowered his head to glance at Xiang Mingxue, who was wrapped like a big dumpling. Although Minister Feng trusted him in his heart, a criminal case is all about evidence.
However, they were sure that the evidence Bai Shan and his team had submitted in the hall the day before yesterday showed no signs of falsehood, so they could leave.
So Minister Feng suggested that Bai Shan and Zhou Man could be released.
Ji Xiang was about to agree when Old Master Tang suddenly said, "But doesn't Madam Liu have a witness? Why not wait until the witness is brought to justice?"
Wei Zhi also nodded, "Let's detain the two men in jail for now, and wait until the witnesses are brought in."
Bai Shan and Man Bao opened their mouths wide.
He was put back in jail.
Old Madam Liu, who came to testify, was not very anxious. She nodded slightly to the two children and turned to leave the lobby of the Ministry of Justice.
As the four of them were being escorted back by the officers, they happened to run into Zhou Lijun at the door. She was waiting for them outside the gate. She smiled ingratiatingly at the officers, then handed them a large basket and said, "Auntie, this is your food for today and tomorrow morning. If you have anything special you'd like to eat, I'll ask my sixth uncle to make it for you."
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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