The case of the palace maid murdering the late empress was not difficult to investigate.
The other party cooperated fully with the Dali Temple's questioning, recounting almost every detail of what happened back then.
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review first checked the list of palace maids from that year, confirmed the other party's identity, and determined that there was indeed a palace maid named Jingzhe who served in the late Empress's palace.
Afterwards, the Dali Temple retrieved the files from the Imperial Medical Academy from that year. After several checks and searches, the symptoms of the late empress before her death matched what the palace maid had said.
Finally, the Dali Temple retrieved the poison mentioned by the palace maid and, after testing it on wild dogs, confirmed that the poison could kill people.
After proving that the palace maid's words were not a lie, the next step was to find the real culprit.
According to the palace maid, he poisoned the late empress at someone's behest.
When the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review went to find the eunuch who had given her the poison years ago, based on the description given by the palace maid, after many twists and turns, he discovered that the little eunuch the palace maid had mentioned was actually Qi Zhong, who had changed his name and was now serving Emperor Cheng'an.
That very night, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review rushed to the palace with the case files to request an audience.
Emperor Cheng'an received him in the same inner hall as before. The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review appeared absent-minded and trembling. He bent down and took the dossier out of his sleeve and presented it to Emperor Cheng'an with both hands: "Your Majesty, this is the dossier of the case of the late Empress's murder. Please take a look."
Emperor Cheng'an took the dossier, glanced at it casually, and then tossed it onto the table: "What advice do you have, my dear minister?"
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, sweating profusely, stood there for a long time, his face pale, deliberating before finally speaking tremblingly: "Your Majesty, I believe that the case is clear in its details and the evidence is conclusive. It should be closed as soon as possible."
Emperor Cheng'an suddenly looked up at him: "How do we close this case?"
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review trembled and stammered, "In my opinion, the best thing to do in this case is to catch the murderer and give an explanation to the King of Qin and to the people of the world... that would be the best."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Cheng'an showed a thoughtful expression: "What you said does make some sense."
He picked up his pen and wrote two words on the white paper.
After a long while, he pointed to the name with his finger and said softly to the Dali Temple, "He has been with me for many years. I have relied on him as a trusted and capable minister, but I never expected that he would be the murderer who killed the late Empress."
He sighed softly, "Just do what the law dictates."
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review knelt down, his forehead hitting the ground, and said in a deep voice, "Your subject understands."
When he left, Qi Zhong still arranged for someone to escort the Minister of Justice home.
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review looked at Qi Zhong with sympathy before turning and getting into his carriage.
Qi Zhong was puzzled by the stares. After seeing the person off, he entered the hall and saw Emperor Cheng'an throwing a crumpled piece of white paper into a charcoal brazier.
Two words were faintly written on the paper that had been devoured by the fire serpent. Before Qi Zhong could see them clearly, the flames had completely consumed the paper.
Emperor Cheng'an glanced at him with an ambiguous look: "The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review just came to report that the case can be closed. You will go to the Court of Judicial Review on my behalf tomorrow."
Qi Zhong felt a slight relief upon hearing this, and a look of joy appeared on his face as he said, "So fast?"
Emperor Cheng'an nodded and said, "The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review is a smart man and knows what to do."
*
The next day, Qi Zhong went to the Dali Temple as instructed by Emperor Cheng'an.
But as soon as he arrived at the Dali Temple, he was arrested by the Dali Temple's yamen runners.
Qi Zhong, unaware of the situation, shouted in a shrill voice, "What are you doing? Insubordination is punishable by death! Let me go right now!"
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review arrived with his men and, seeing him struggling and writhing, couldn't help but show sympathy in his eyes: "According to the palace maid's confession, I compared it with the palace register and inquired with the old people in the palace before confirming that the eunuch who had dealings with her back then was named Awang. Awang was originally a cleaning eunuch in the Cold Palace, but because he was clever and used money, he was later transferred to serve in the late emperor's bedroom."
"After the late emperor and empress passed away one after another, Awang continued to serve in His Majesty's palace, but changed his name to Qi Zhong."
"Over the years, you have risen through the ranks thanks to your skillful handling of affairs and the favor of His Majesty. But those who were involved in the events of that year are all long dead, and no one knows what evil deeds you committed until the Awakening of Insects appeared."
Qi Zhong, who had been struggling, gradually quieted down as he listened to his words.
He looked at the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review with a strange expression and muttered, "So this is what His Majesty meant by solving this case?"
They pushed him out as a scapegoat to quell the anger of the King of Qin and the people.
Thinking of his impending doom, Qi Zhong suddenly struggled and shouted frantically, "It wasn't me! It wasn't me! I was also instructed by someone! It was His Majesty! It was His Majesty who ordered me to harm the late Empress, and now he wants to make me a scapegoat."
Seeing him struggling wildly, the bailiffs from the Dali Temple hurriedly and clumsily restrained him.
Whether it was because no one noticed or it was intentional, no one ever stopped Qi Zhong from talking.
Qi Zhong cried out in anguish, “Your Majesty, I have done so many shady things for you and have been loyal to you, yet you want to make me the scapegoat! Your Majesty is truly heartless!”
As he spoke, he laughed again: "I should have thought of it long ago, I should have thought of it long ago. Back then, His Majesty wiped out the Zhou family to silence them, so naturally he wouldn't be stingy with this lowly life of mine now!"
Qi Zhong's eyes flashed with resentment: "Does Your Majesty think you can absolve yourself by pushing me out as a scapegoat? The late Emperor was killed by Your Majesty's own hands. If the Prince of Qin finds out, he will not let Your Majesty off the hook!"
As he continued shouting, he began to curse incoherently, as if he had lost his mind.
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review watched coldly from the side, waiting until he had finished cursing and made sure enough people had heard. Only then, as if just realizing what was happening, did he suddenly shout in alarm, "Why aren't you gagging him? What are you all standing there for? Quickly take this madman away!"
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