Chapter 27 Now it’s up to you to thank me!
After the agreement, Xie Ci left immediately. Qin Wenxuan called the only young servant left guarding the front yard, asked him to put on Gu Wan's clothes and a tattered cotton hat and pretend to be her. Xie Ci took the servant and pushed the empty cart and left through the back door.
Qin Wenxuan handed the door bolt to Gu Wan, "Sister Gu, Sister Gu, what should we do?!"
She held Gu Wan's hand tightly, anxious as an ant on a hot pan. Gu Wan said, "Don't worry, don't worry. Let's put on makeup first."
She pulled Qin Wenxuan back to the main room, looked around, put up the makeup mirror, spread out the large bag she was carrying, and opened the bottles and boxes on both sides. It took about half an hour, and a face that was exactly 90% similar to Qin Wenxuan, and at first glance, like a twin sister, appeared in the makeup mirror.
Then she pushed Qin Wenxuan onto the dressing stool again, and recalled the past, and made Qin Wenxuan into the young servant from before. At first glance, they didn't look exactly alike, and the height was a little wrong, but it was almost right, so it didn't matter.
Qin Wenxuan was stunned. Even though she was extremely anxious at the moment, she was shocked and speechless. She had only seen such a miraculous disguise in storybooks and had always thought it was fake.
"Sister Gu, this, this..."
She looked at Gu Wan, then at herself in the makeup mirror. She wanted to touch her face, but she didn't dare.
Gu Wan said, "Let's rest for a night, recharge our batteries, and head to Lingzhou Camp early tomorrow morning."
…
The preliminary hearing will be held tomorrow, and the time must be after the office opening time, but Gu Wan dare not delay the time. If he misses it, he will be in big trouble.
After reassuring Qin Wenxuan, the two of them didn't even take off their makeup. After seeing that Qin Wenxuan's mother was not in danger for the time being, they quickly found a room to rest. Gu Wan knew that there would be a tough battle tomorrow, so he hurriedly fell asleep. After Qin Wenxuan settled her brother, she also lay down on the bed, but she tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep.
The next day, they got up before dawn. Gu Wan put on makeup for them and changed them into Qin Wenxuan's clothes and hair accessories, while Qin Wenxuan changed into a servant's clothes. After they hurriedly packed up, they went out as soon as the curfew was over.
The two men went straight to the Lingzhou camp and waited on the street opposite the camp gate, squatting there until the sun rose. At around noon, "bang!" a gong sounded to clear the way. A large vermilion sedan carried by eight people went out of the end of the street, surrounded by imperial guards. Golden, red, purple and ochre flags fluttered in the wind, and a full set of ceremonial guards were displayed as they went all the way to the front gate of the Lingzhou camp.
This is the imperial envoy holding the emperor's sword, who is conducting an inspection on behalf of the emperor. All the generals of the Lingzhou camp, except those who are already in custody, have been waiting at the gate to greet him.
The envoy did not get out of the sedan chair, and the group went in quickly.
Gu Guan quickly pulled Qin Wenxuan forward. The preliminary trial was about to begin, and they also had to go in.
But the camp was a strategic military location, especially today, so the gatekeepers hurriedly stopped the people and said, "You can't go in!"
Gu Wan shouted loudly: "Why can't I go in?!"
"Didn't the family members even allow the trial to be held in the first instance?! What if the case was tortured into a false confession?! I refuse to accept the verdict!! I must go in!! The government allowed the public to attend the trial to show fairness—"
Her voice was so high that it broke, and the people behind her were talking. Public opinion on the Qin family case was heating up, and many people knew that there would be a preliminary trial today. The street opposite the gate was particularly busy early in the morning, and the teahouses and inns were full of people. When they saw Gu Wan rushing forward, many people followed him spontaneously.
The soldiers guarding the gate also have a difficult job. In fact, the soldiers in Lingzhou camp have a more direct impression of Qin Xian and his son. Unlike the discussions outside, most of the soldiers in the camp are still in disbelief. Their impression of Qin Wenxuan is actually not bad.
After a long struggle, the captain on duty finally gritted his teeth and said, "Let them in!"
He ordered a small flag officer to lead them to the main hall of the camp. The flag officer hurriedly led the two inside, wanting to say something, but there was nothing much to say. In fact, the people in the camp were very uneasy. Finally, the flag officer led them to the center of the main camp. From a distance, they could see the ceremonial guards and imperial guards outside the hall. The flag officer avoided them and led Gu Wan and the other two into the adjacent meeting room. There was an inner door connecting to the main hall. He whispered, "Stand on the side and listen. Don't stand too far in, and don't make any noise."
Gu Wan nodded repeatedly.
She looked up and saw a vast hall, capable of accommodating over a hundred generals and officers of varying ranks for major military meetings, such as pre-battle mobilization and post-battle commendations. On the left wall, the seventy-two military regulations were inscribed in clear, regular script. On the right wall hung a map of the Northern Frontier. While the garrisons were not clearly marked, the border was outlined in bold black strokes, depicting the vast and majestic Great Wei territory like a soaring tiger.
The entire hall has white walls and black pillars, with a whole row of weapon racks on both sides with sharp blades. The overall look is not particularly new, but it is extremely simple, clear, solemn and heavy, and exudes military power.
This gives us a glimpse into the military style of the former commander Qin Xian.
It’s a pity that now, in this main camp hall with a military style very similar to other ones, the person to be tried is him.
When Gu Guan and Qin Wenxuan hurried to the side door, the preliminary hearing had already begun. A young eunuch in a crimson Qilin robe sat upright on the throne behind the tiger-head case. He was speaking, "Today, I am following the Emperor's order to inquire about the Lingzhou case. Okay, let's begin now."
The hall of Suwei was now surrounded by a circle of armored and sword-wielding guards. Gu Guan and Qin Wenxuan could only stand outside the center of the circle of guards. When they came in, the special envoy was speaking. There were many people present. They glanced at them but did not interrupt them.
A little fireman asked a few questions and went up to whisper something in the envoy's ear. Other people who were not from Lingzhou did the same. Finally, the envoy waved his hand without paying much attention.
Gu Guan and the other man had clenched their fists tightly, but now they let out a long sigh.
Then, the two became nervous again.
Witnesses and physical evidence began to be presented one by one, and in the end, what was presented were seventy or eighty frozen, stiff, and charred corpses.
In addition to the armchair behind the large nanmu tiger-head desk at the top, there were several smaller chairs on the left and right of the steps in front of the desk. Sitting at the top seat on the right was a square-faced man in his thirties, wearing the armor of a high-ranking general of the Jinwu Guard and a second-rank official ribbon around his waist. This man was Lin Shaoxuan, the uncle of the third prince, and his father was the powerful prime minister Lin Wenfu.
As for himself, he was given the title of General Guarding the Nation and the Minister of War, and was known as Lin Guojiu.
Uncle Lin was in charge of investigating the smuggling case in the northern border. He had spent more than half of the past year at the northern border. This time, it was he who collected witnesses and evidence and threw Qin Xian, his son, and the other two soldiers into the military prison and reported to the court.
As soon as Qin Wenxuan saw this man, her eyes seemed to be able to spit fire.
Lin Guojiu sat at the first seat under the tiger-head case. After all the witnesses and evidence had been presented, Lin Guojiu clapped his hands, and the clerk behind him presented a book of original evidence of the corpse's confession.
As early as when the memorial was submitted, evidence and confessions were also submitted at the same time, but they had been sorted out. Now this record of evidence is in the hands of the special envoy above. He had already read it. After the original evidence was presented, he lowered his head and slowly flipped through it.
Uncle Lin stood up. "We have all the evidence, both human and physical, and it fits perfectly. Last month, I once again detected traces of the Northern Rong's entangled transactions in Fanyang, and quietly traced them all the way back to Lingzhou. As expected, I found their tracks in the Dashukeng area. However, upon arrival, a Lingzhou patrol team that had also noticed the unusual movement had been killed and burned by the Wei cavalry who had hurriedly arrived to support them. Among them were my own men!"
"And the only ones who could have arrived in time at that time were the cavalry from the Lingzhou camp. Later investigations confirmed that the Lingzhou Governor, the Northern Army Lingshuo Grand Protector, Lingzhou Governor Qin Xian, Lingzhou Sima General Pang Mingzhi, and the General of the Central Army, Xiangyang Earl Zhao Yin, were major suspects!"
Uncle Lin turned around and changed the subject, suddenly speaking sharply: "But after an in-depth investigation during this period, I think it is unlikely that Pang Mingzhi and Zhao Yin were involved. The person who smuggled and colluded with the enemy for personal gain must be the Lingshuo Grand Protector Qin Xian and his son!!"
Human witnesses came forward one by one, and physical evidence was presented one after another, including various clues that Lin Guojiu had found in various places in the past few months. The witnesses included the chief officials, yamen runners, generals and soldiers of all ranks in various states and counties and local armies who had been questioned by him.
It involved many places, and it was confirmed that he had investigated all the way. It was impossible for him to bribe all the people, big and small, to frame the case.
Anyway, Lin Guojiu's action is enough to prove that he is not targeting anyone and is relying entirely on evidence.
Of course, whether he was framed and targeted, and whether he was one of the connections opened up by the mastermind behind the scenes, is unknown.
Qin Wenxuan held Gu Wan's hand tightly as they watched the evidence being presented one by one. The last person to come forward was Qin Xian's trusted lieutenant, Dou Wu. Uncle Lin said in a deep voice, "Tell me! What order did you hear Qin Xian convey that day?"
Dou Wu gritted his teeth, his nostrils flaring. Since he wasn't the only one present, he had to say, "...I heard from the commander-in-chief that the sentry reported a disturbance in the northwest. Then, he issued an order to send a battalion of cavalry forward."
The Northern Rong would march south every few years, and in the past year, they had been making frequent movements, both large and small, clearly signaling a comeback. Troops from the eighteen Northern Rong tribes had begun gathering southward, and the commotion was frequent, sometimes occurring more than once a day. Dou Wu didn't take it seriously at the time, and after Qin Xian passed on the order, it was the Feiyu Camp that finally arrived.
This was the Lingzhou cavalry, under the personal command of Qin Xian. Before their return, a fast horse had returned with news of a large seizure of supplies. The bewildered guards, upon seeing the large amount of supplies, verified that they were from the Lingzhou cavalry. They opened the gates and allowed the supplies to be taken into the city wall. They then notified the clerks to record their achievements and report the value of the military treasury.
When Qin Xian heard this, he immediately thought of the smuggling line. He thought he had uncovered a large-scale smuggling operation and that even someone in Lingzhou dared to do so. He was shocked and angry.
Unexpectedly, when they sent someone to check, they ran into Lin Guojiu's men and the second team of alarmed scouts, and the scene was littered with corpses.
In the end it became like this.
The sun gradually rose higher, and the dazzling sunlight shone on the white snow and the steps outside the hall, but the howling north wind was still biting, pouring in from the wide-open hall door, and the cloaks of the imperial guards standing at the outermost perimeter and Gu Guan and Qin Wenxuan were constantly fluttering violently.
But no one paid attention to these.
Evidence piled up one after another, even Li Yi had finished testifying. Only after he stood up did Gu Wan realize he was sitting in the first chair to her left, with his back to her. Last month, Uncle Lin had passed through Guzhou and sent a letter requesting him to come. Now that the Northern Rong were gathering their forces and marching south, Guzhou would bear the brunt of the attack. The Governor of Guzhou dared not leave, so Uncle Lin invited Li Yi, the Prince of Xiaoshan, who was preparing to oversee the war effort. Li Yi was also in Guzhou at the time.
Li Yi spoke in a normal tone, slowly and steadily telling what he knew about Lin Guojiu's official duties during his time in Guzhou.
He didn't say a word more or less, his words were precise and objective, and he spoke only what he knew. Unless he had personally witnessed something, he would add judgment words like "heard" or "should." Li Yi stared at Gu Guan and Qin Wenxuan, who had intruded into the hearing, but Gu Guan's disguise was so effective that he didn't recognize them. He felt a little sorry for Qin Xian, but this was not a muddy water he could wade into.
He glanced outside, wondering if he remembered to thank him.
Finally, Li Yi leaned forward slightly and said, "Master Feng, I know that I have said all I can."
The powerful eunuch at the head was Feng Kun, the most trusted seal-holder. He was about thirty years old, with fair skin and delicate features, but a pair of exceptionally bright and sharp phoenix eyes. He wore a large sable fur cape and slowly sipped a blue and white teacup in his hand, leaning lazily on the armchair. "You military generals, coming and going to secretly communicate with the Northern Rong, are truly audacious."
He threw the original evidence on the table and said, "Go on."
Last to come on stage were the coroners. There were coroners from the Ministry of Justice, brought by the special envoy, as well as coroners from the Lingzhou camp and the government office. They carried a corpse as an example. From Lingzhou, two middle-aged coroners, one in his forties, the other nearing fifty with a goatee and graying temples, stepped out, bowed, and said respectfully, "Your Excellency, Special Envoy, we have examined 102 bodies. They were curled up, covered in burns. Some had fatal wounds, such as knife cuts to the throat and neck, and punctures to the chest and abdomen, but only half of them had sustained these injuries."
"The other half had injuries so severe they shouldn't have died instantly. When their mouths and noses were opened, soot was visible. Therefore, it was determined that they were set on fire after pouring oil on them, and then quickly surrounded and strangled. During the strangulation, the fire spread, and the attackers quickly retreated, while the seriously injured were burned to death."
The coroner also brought out a body belonging to the latter.
In the dead of winter, the corpse was easy to preserve and was very well preserved. The coroner opened the mouth and nose, and the person with a small fire covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief and came forward to take a closer look. He also touched it with his hand according to the instructions, and then nodded to the leader. Sure enough, he saw cigarette ash, and it was not sprinkled there.
The Ministry of Justice sent out a young coroner in his twenties. He also bowed and said, "I and the Lingzhou coroner have dissected the mouths and noses of many bodies and confirmed this is true. This is consistent with the description in the "Collection of Doubtful Cases" that he died in the fire before his death. I agree with what the Lingzhou coroner said."
——They were ambushed by the hastily arrived cavalry, and then the patrol soldiers put up a hasty resistance, but were hacked to death or wounded one after another. Because the incident happened too suddenly and the cavalry needed to kill them all without leaving a single one alive, they doused the place with kerosene and set it on fire from the beginning to ensure that all the seriously injured would die and could not be revived.
The logical chain is very complete.
With the coroner's testimony, the preliminary trial is coming to an end and the final verdict can be made!
"Stop!! Where are the cavalry?"
"Where are the Feiyu Battalion cavalry?! Didn't they say they were ordered to rush in? Don't they need to testify? Also! The soot in their mouths and noses doesn't necessarily mean they were burned to death after being wounded! They could have been burned to death while semi-conscious or poisoned—"
Gu Wan waited and waited, and finally waited for this moment. She quickly pushed away the imperial guards standing in front of her and rushed out!
Damn it, she’s getting anxious too. If she doesn’t stop the preliminary trial, the case will be closed!
She knew nothing about the previous process of investigation and verification of clues, and could only wait anxiously. Qin Wenxuan was so anxious that she wanted to rush out several times but was held down by her. Finally, Gu Guan squeezed Qin Wenxuan's hand hard before she rushed out. Qin Wenxuan knew that she was pretending to be a servant, so she didn't dare to speak or rush to the front. She could only hold herself back and huddle together with Gu Guan.
Gu Guan in front didn't know the details, and Qin Wenxuan had no way of knowing either, so she couldn't insert it even if she wanted to.
But the death of the patrolman is the key, and the blame must not be put on Qin Xian and his son!
Not to mention the retrial after being escorted to the capital, such a complete body cannot be transported back. The temperature in Kyoto is not that high, and it should be spring when we return. Unless he was violently strangled to death like Xun Xiao's stand-in, the Beirong soldier, there will basically be no trace left.
There's only one chance, and it's here!
The rush of Gu Guan and Qin Wenxuan caused the court to pause for a moment. Everyone looked over. The imperial guards hurried forward to pull them back, but Gu Guan and Qin Wenxuan held on tightly.
Uncle Lin frowned and looked at them: "Qin Xian's daughter?"
He waved his hand, and the imperial guards glanced at the leader. Feng Kun nodded, and the imperial guards let go, but did not step back. They stood beside Gu Wan and Qin Wenxuan.
Uncle Lin continued calmly, "Before we arrived, the commander of the Feiyu Camp and five of its left and right lieutenants had already committed suicide out of fear of punishment."
Those who could make decisions had already committed suicide. As for the ordinary cavalry, they were panicked and said that they were only following orders to eliminate the scouts who were colluding with the Northern Rong. They did not kill them all or set fire to them. They continued to pursue the Northern Rong people who had taken away supplies.
As for the five generals and captains, there were three remaining cavalrymen who had been traveling with them without anyone noticing.
——This is actually in line with the process of sending troops, because ordinary cavalry do not receive orders unless there is a public order to boost morale. But for tasks like this that are more difficult to publicize, all they have to do is listen to the instructions from their superiors.
Gu Guan breathed a sigh of relief. She understood that this link of testimony was missing. If the logical chain was complete, the ordinary cavalrymen would be punished, while the five people would be considered to have committed suicide out of fear of punishment.
Gu Wan immediately said, "The captain committed suicide out of fear of punishment, so the bodies of these patrolmen must still be there, right?!"
She held her breath, her voice rising to the top of her lungs. She shouted at the twenty-something coroner sent by the Ministry of Justice, "Open his trachea! Do it now! Anyone dying of poisoning or in a deep coma who encounters a fire will have soot in their mouth and nose, but their trachea will be clean, with only a small amount of ash at most!"
"This is a sign that a severely injured and struggling person absolutely cannot exist!"
Gu Guan tried to charge forward, but the imperial guards quickly reached out to stop them. Gu Guan shouted at the top of her voice. The young coroner froze for a moment, then thought for a moment before quickly stepping forward. He pulled a sharp knife from his toolbox and neatly cut open the body's airway. He took a closer look and exclaimed in amazement, "It's really clean! There's only a tiny amount of fine black ash at the very front. Very little!"
When he exclaimed, Gu Wan's heart immediately sank. Damn, her guess was right!
She immediately said, "If someone is seriously injured or wounded, they will already be struggling violently due to the severe pain. Even if they are unconscious, they will still be struggling instinctively. And if they breathe violently, the ash will definitely not only stay in their mouth and nose!"
"A small amount remains in the mouth, nose, and front of the trachea. Only those who are already dying and in a deep coma are very peaceful. The former must be combined with the latter!"
Gu Guan carefully questioned Qin Wenxuan last night, and based on common sense, he judged that the framer was well prepared. Regardless of whether he bribed or contacted Lin Guojiu, the other party would inevitably take advantage of the information gap between the two.
——First, use ordinary enemy harassment news to lure Qin Xian into giving orders. There will be at least thirty to fifty enemies a month, and at most one or two hundred. It is difficult to guard against.
Next, they would take advantage of the time difference between the patrol's discovery of the problem and the arrival of the cavalry. Gu Guan was certain that it was only a slight time difference, because if it was too early, the Feiyu Battalion would not be able to complete its "mission" of intercepting the colluding patrol and recovering the supplies; if it was too late, the real patrol would have arrived.
After listening attentively to the confession just now, she also confirmed this.
Therefore, Gu Guan believed that in order to kill and burn the patrolmen in such a short time, some means must have been taken, such as putting drugs or poison in the dry food or drinking water.
Calculate the time well and set off as soon as you arrive.
The young coroner from the Ministry of Justice had already rushed out and examined several bodies in succession: "That's right, that's right! It's all like this, all like this!"
Gu Guan pointed at the two middle-aged coroners and shouted, "You have been coroners for many years and you clearly knew this would happen! You didn't say anything! You have ulterior motives—"
The first forensic work, "Xiyuan Jilu," has not yet been published, and it's unclear whether it will be published in the future, given that this is the Wei Dynasty. However, the experience of the predecessors has always existed. Song Ci clearly stated in his preface that he was merely summarizing the achievements of his predecessors.
At the beginning, the coroner will be like the young coroner, following the books and learned theories strictly, but after working for a long time and gaining more exposure, he will gradually figure it out.
Seeing how those two middle-aged coroners spoke in such detail and logically, it was obvious that they had studied the case!
The two middle-aged coroners' expressions changed drastically.
Lin Guojiu and others also had their expressions changed.
Gu Guan took a deep breath and shouted, "I believe in General Qin! This shows that this so-called order to rush forward was completely replaced by someone in the middle of the journey! The purpose is to frame me. Please, Special Envoy, investigate!"
"Please, Special Envoy, investigate this matter carefully!"
"Special Envoy, please investigate!"
Qin Wenxuan was so excited that she knelt down.
There was silence at the scene. Li Yi was a little surprised. Gu Guan stared upwards. Their eyes accidentally met. His eyes moved. Gu Guan was a little nervous. Li Yi raised his eyebrows, but he didn't say anything.
Gu Guan felt a little relieved, just a little, because the outcome of this preliminary trial still depended on the special envoy's decision. If... he could just say that she had made a scene in the courtroom and drag her away to beat her up, and then pretend nothing had happened.
But fortunately, the special envoy was obviously not from the group behind the scenes, and he did not even have an overly close relationship with Lin Guojiu, even though the two of them spoke very warmly before the trial.
Feng Kun is the most trusted eunuch of the current emperor. He serves as the Minister of the Imperial Chariots and the Seal-bearer of the Palace. He is granted the title of General of the Cavalry and the title of Grand Master of the Three Departments. He is no less powerful than the Prime Minister Lin Wenfu.
He was not afraid of Uncle Lin. Instead, Uncle Lin had to call him a junior.
The young eunuch in a golden and red Kirin robe raised his eyes slowly. On his fair and feminine face, his pair of phoenix eyes were too gorgeous. His thick and long eyeliner was drawn up lazily to the end, and the slanted corners of his eyes made him look more sharp.
He said calmly, "What Miss Qin said is quite reasonable."
If you think about it, it’s quite correct.
He said calmly: "If that's the case, then these people were not killed by the Feiyu Cavalry. There are many hidden secrets here."
The suspicion that Qin Xian had almost been blocked was immediately gone!
"Anything else you want to add? No, that's all for today."
Feng Kun then announced the end of the first preliminary review.
To be continued tomorrow.
He stood up and the procession left.
Qin Wenxuan sat on the ground exhausted and almost pulled Gu Guan's pants off. Gu Guan didn't care about the looks from others and quickly reached out to support Qin Wenxuan.
She also has weak legs.
Gu Guan let out a long sigh, but the matter was not over yet.
If the initial trial fails to completely clear the suspicion and prove innocence, Qin Xian and the other three suspects, or other suspects added later, will be taken back to Beijing for trial together.
Now we have entered a state of preparation for war. Once Qin Xian leaves, someone must be in charge of the overall situation in Lingzhou, and the military power will be transferred. Let's not talk about whether the review can eventually clear this matter. Even if it can, that is not Xie Ci and Gu Wan's original intention.
But she did what she could.
Gu Wan's heart was pounding. "Now we can only rely on him."
See the acknowledgments.
In this situation, the best and probably only solution is to catch the real smuggler as soon as possible and prove him dead! Only then can the others be cleared of suspicion and returned to their original positions.
She's just stalling for time.
Phew, now I can only read the thanks!
The author has something to say:
We successfully stopped the initial trial and delayed the time. Now it’s up to Xie Ci!
Ah Xiu is here! Haha, you've gained weight today, haven't you? (Laughing sideways) Hey, as usual, I'll give you a big kiss! See you tomorrow~ (/≧▽≦)/
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