Chapter 125 A Long Night May Bring Many Unexpected Mishaps
Pei Zhiwei then asked the coroner, "Court Coroner Fang, when you examined the bodies of Zhang Qifeng and his son, besides the fatal wounds, did you find any signs of restraint, resistance, or abrasions and bruises caused by dragging?"
Fang Qing replied with absolute certainty: "Nothing was found."
Aside from the fatal wounds, neither of the two victims showed any signs of binding, nor any abrasions, bruises, or other injuries from struggling or resisting; they appeared to have died without any warning.
"Completely unprepared?" Pei Zhiwei repeated loudly as if she had heard a joke.
"I know a little about the temperament of Zhang Qifeng and his son."
Zhang Yanzhi was weak-willed, so it's plausible that he was tricked into going to the scene and had his throat slit from behind.
But what about Zhang Qifeng?
"You gentlemen, who served in the same court as him, must know that while he is not tyrannical, he is not one to be trifled with or swallow his anger."
Furthermore, Zhang Qifeng's height is about the same as Lord Pei's, but his physique is even more robust.
According to the complainant, Luo Yao, he first heard shouts of "You killed my son!" before running to the door of the crime scene to check. He knocked on the door for a while before hearing the man scream.
This period of time is not short. Zhang Qifeng was neither tied up nor did he show any signs of a struggle at the scene. He watched his son being murdered with his own eyes, so why didn't he resist?
He didn't even think about avenging his own son.
They just stood there, obediently waiting to be stabbed through the heart by Lord Pei!
Isn't that ridiculous?
Upon hearing this, the murmurs among the people below the hall suddenly rose, and their initial skepticism gradually turned into clear doubt.
"Yeah, that doesn't make sense! How could a father not fight to the death when his own son is killed?"
“I’ve seen Vice Minister Zhang discipline his servants before. He’s not one to suffer a loss. There’s no reason for him to surrender so easily!”
"Could it be that there is truly something hidden, and Lord Pei has really been wronged?"
Wang Yongnian sat in the presiding judge's seat, his face extremely grim.
His left hand was clenched into a fist under the desk, trembling slightly from the force, and his knuckles were turning blue.
They originally thought it was a flawless scheme that could eliminate Pei Lin, overturn all the previous findings of their investigation in the south, and allow the aristocratic families implicated to escape unscathed.
But to everyone's surprise, Pei Lin's daughter, a young girl, exposed so many flaws in this scheme in public.
He knew in his heart that if Pei Zhiwei continued to speak, the situation would only get worse.
However, if Pei Lin is let go now, the opportunity that we painstakingly found will be completely wasted, and Pei Lin and the others are already on guard, making it extremely difficult to take action in the future.
After much deliberation, Wang Yongnian hardened his heart and slammed his fist on the desk. "Shut up! All of what you're saying is baseless speculation!"
With no one to testify, who knows if Pei Lin threatened Zhang Qifeng with the lives of Zhang Yanzhi or his other children?
Perhaps Zhang Qifeng voluntarily gave up resistance to protect his son!
He forced a show of authority and said sternly to Pei Zhiwei, "I'm only allowing you to ramble on here for so long because you're doing your filial duty by pleading for your father's innocence."
But what you said is all conjecture, without a single piece of evidence!
"Get out of here immediately and do not obstruct the trial any further, or I will punish you for the crime of disrupting the court!"
"Guards, drag her away!"
Two yamen runners from the Ministry of Justice stepped forward and reached out to drag Pei Zhiwei away.
Pei Zhiwei quickly raised her voice and said, "Wait! I have solid evidence!"
“Empirical evidence?” Wang Yongnian’s face turned ashen with anger, and he slammed the gavel down heavily again.
"Pei Zhiwei! If you have solid evidence, why didn't you present it sooner?"
This is clearly a deliberate attempt to delay and disrupt the court proceedings!
"Guards, take her into custody. She will be dealt with separately after I have finished hearing this case!"
The constables stepped forward again, just about to touch Pei Zhiwei's sleeve, when a deep, cold voice suddenly came from the judge's seat: "Stop!"
Xiao Yunzhan frowned, staring intently at Wang Yongnian: "Minister Wang, the government has failed to provide reasonable explanations for the many doubts raised by Pei Zhiwei."
Aren't you afraid of making a wrong judgment and chilling the hearts of the people?
Qin Liang echoed with an unfriendly expression, "This case is full of doubts; how can we act so hastily?"
Chen Chong, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review who had been keeping his eyes down and contemplating his thoughts, seemed to have just been awakened from his reverie and slowly spoke up: "I would also like to hear what exactly Pei Zhiwei's evidence is."
Ignoring Wang Yongnian's extremely ugly expression, he said to Pei Zhiwei, "Tell me, what is your evidence?"
Pei Zhiwei: "Please, sir, bring out my father's court robes."
Everyone was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening.
Pei Lin's court robes were stained with blood and had already been sealed away by the government as evidence.
The constables dared not delay and quickly retrieved a wooden box from the back room. Upon opening it, they presented a blood-stained, deep crimson court robe.
Pei Zhiwei took the court robe, unfolded it, casually draped it over his body, and said loudly, "Gentlemen, please look, there are several splatter-like bloodstains on my father's court robe, and there are quite a few of them."
A hint of smugness flashed in Wang Yongnian's eyes, and he quickly said, "That's right!"
This was the blood from when Pei Lin stabbed Zhang Qifeng to death face-to-face, and pulled out the weapon—ironclad evidence of his murder!
“Ironclad evidence?” Pei Zhiwei sneered, pointing to the collar of his court robe. “Lord Wang, please don’t be hasty. Look here.”
Everyone craned their necks to look, and saw a few drops of blood scattered inside the collar of the court robe. Strangely, these bloodstains were all half drops or incomplete pieces, with obvious broken edges.
Wang Yongnian's smile gradually froze, his pupils suddenly contracted, and then he forcefully closed his eyes.
"As you all should have clearly seen, these bloodstains are not intact." Pei Zhiwei then walked to Pei Lin, who was only wearing his undergarments and not his prison uniform.
She pointed to Pei Lin's collar and said, "Now look at the collar of my father's undergarment."
There were only a few clearly defined bloody friction marks, but no trace that could be pieced together with the remaining bloodstains on the court robe.
This indicates that the blood-stained court robe was not worn by Lord Pei when he committed the murder, but rather that someone wore the robe to commit the crime and then put it back on Lord Pei.
This is why the bloodstains on the court robes were incomplete, while Lord Pei's inner robe collar only showed signs of friction, not splattered blood.
"Whoa..." The crowd below the hall erupted in uproar.
"That's right! Who would take off their undergarments before killing someone and then put them back on afterward?"
"They must have been framed! This court robe was put on by someone else later!"
"No wonder the bloodstains looked off, now I know what happened!"
Some people even made sarcastic remarks: "Maybe Lord Pei was afraid of getting his inner garment dirty, so he deliberately protected his collar when he killed someone? Hahaha!"
The laughter reached Wang Yongnian's ears like needles.
He never expected that what he thought was irrefutable evidence would become the key to overturning his conviction.
What made him even angrier was that Qin Liang, this old man who was known for his integrity, actually secretly provided Pei Zhiwei with convenience, giving her the opportunity to discover these flaws.
He immediately tried to refute the claim, saying that Pei Zhiwei might have tampered with the evidence.
But Pei Zhiwei seemed to see through his thoughts and spoke first: "My lords, there is no need to worry. I have never had any contact with these pieces of evidence before."
The suspicious bloodstains on the court robes were discovered by chance yesterday when His Highness Prince Rui questioned the coroner and the yamen runners. Lord Qin also personally examined them afterward, which is sufficient to prove that they were not forged by the commoner.
This statement left Wang Yongnian speechless.
Looking at the angry discussions of the people below the court, at the cold gazes of Xiao Yunzhan and Qin Liang on the judge's bench, and then at Chen Chong's indifferent expression, a deep sense of powerlessness welled up in his heart.
One wrong step leads to another.
He shouldn't have agreed to let Xiao Yunzhan and Qin Liang handle the evidence alone in the first place, just to show that he was "impartial".
Furthermore, one should not easily believe Qin Liang's character and assume that he will adhere to the so-called "rules".
They shouldn't have let someone who only knows how to kill do this; they should have found someone knowledgeable in criminal matters to do it, so that so many mistakes wouldn't have occurred.
Now these flaws have been pointed out one by one in court, and he has been unable to provide any reasonable explanation.
It was impossible to force a conviction; this meticulously planned frame-up ultimately failed.
Wang Yongnian closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the fierceness on his face was gone, replaced by an undisguised weariness.
He sighed heavily and patted the gavel. "Since this case is full of doubts and new evidence points to other hidden circumstances, the trial of Pei Lin's murder case will be temporarily suspended."
Pei Lin is temporarily detained in the Ministry of Justice prison. I and Lord Chen will jointly submit a memorial to His Majesty for further action.
The complainant, Luo Yao, gave a statement with many inconsistencies and has been temporarily detained.
The gavel slammed down again, and the words "Court adjourned!" fell. The crowd inside and outside the court gradually dispersed, but the murmurs continued.
Pei Zhiwei watched as her father was escorted away by the yamen runners, and her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally felt a little relieved.
Xiao Yunzhan walked to her side and whispered, "Don't worry, Lord Pei is under the care of the Imperial Guards alone, and nothing will happen to him."
Pei Zhiwei nodded slightly.
At this moment, in the back hall of the Ministry of Justice, Wang Yongnian sat alone in a chair, his face so gloomy it could drip water.
He raised his hand to rub his throbbing temples, his mind still replaying Pei Zhiwei's words and the discussions of the common people.
He knew that if he failed to bring down Pei Lin this time, finding such an opportunity again would be extremely difficult.
What worries him even more is how the Wang family will react if they find out the plan has failed.
"My lord," a trusted aide quietly entered and whispered, "the Wang family has sent word, asking how things are going."
Wang Yongnian opened his eyes, a ruthless glint in them: "Tell them the plan has failed."
Although Pei Lin has not been convicted, he is temporarily unable to escape punishment.
"Let them deal with Pei Lin as soon as possible, otherwise things might get complicated."
"Yes," the confidant replied, turning to leave.
"Wait a minute," Wang Yongnian called out to him.
"Tell them that Pei Lin must die by 'suicide out of guilt,' and tell them to do it cleanly, leaving no trace. If anything goes wrong again, no one can protect them!"
Furthermore, they are now on high alert, and the people sent there must succeed at all costs.
Otherwise, all is lost!
The confidant agreed and quickly withdrew.
Wang Yongnian gazed at the setting sun outside the window and let out a long sigh.
He knew they had no way out and could only go down a path of no return.
Either Pei Lin dies, or many more people will be doomed.
Meanwhile, at the Pei residence, Yan Jinghong was pacing anxiously in the courtyard.
Upon hearing the news of Pei Zhiwei's return, she rushed to greet her, took her daughter's hand, and looked her up and down: "Zhiwei, how are you? Is your father alright?"
"Mother, don't worry, Father is safe for now."
Pei Zhiwei helped her mother sit down and told her about the situation in court, "The government has agreed to have the Imperial Guards guard Father, so he will not be in danger for the time being."
Although Yan Jinghong knew that this matter was within Pei Lin's expectations, she still couldn't help but feel anxious. Hearing Pei Zhiwei say this, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's alright, it's alright."
Pei Zhiwei held her mother's hand, "But as long as this matter remains unresolved, they will not give up."
We may face even more dangers, so please be extra careful.
Yan Jinghong patted the back of her hand to comfort her, saying, "Mother knows. What haven't I seen? Don't worry about things at home, I'm here!"
At the hour of Chou (1-3 AM) that night, the gates of the Pei residence were pounded on loudly, which was particularly unsettling in the quiet night.
The steward rushed in, flustered, to report, "Madam! Something terrible has happened!"
A guard came to report that the Ministry of Justice prison was on fire!
The prince sent him with a message, saying that the men from Wuhoupu have already gone to put out the fire!
Pei Zhiwei had only closed her eyes for a short while when she heard this, her whole body stiffened, and her heart felt as if it had been gripped tightly by an icy hand, instantly plunging her into an ice cave.
In court during the day, she clearly laid out all the doubts and evidence in the case, thinking that they would at least restrain themselves in front of her father. She never expected them to go all in to this extent.
They actually went so far as to burn down the entire Ministry of Justice prison?!
Without thinking twice, she grabbed her coat and put it on, but she couldn't tie the belt no matter how many times she tried. Only then did she realize that her hands were shaking uncontrollably!
She simply tied a knot that couldn't be tied.
He leaped to the treetop, and using the elasticity of the treetop, his figure flashed through the streets like a blur.
The night wind brushed against my face, carrying a chill, but it couldn't dispel the anxiety in my heart.
From afar, flames could be seen shooting into the sky from the direction of the Ministry of Justice prison, the red flames licking the night sky, and the pungent smell of burning could be smelled from a distance.
Chaos was in full swing outside the prison.
The yamen runners from the Ministry of Justice carried buckets and kept splashing water into the room from the outside.
The people of Wuhoupu pushed water carts and set up water hoses, with gushing water gushing towards the fire.
Some residents, awakened by the fire, also rushed to help, carrying their own buckets, their faces filled with anxiety, repeatedly shouting, "Quickly, pour water!"
"Quick, quick, this side too."
But the fire was too fierce, and the scorching heat waves made it impossible for anyone to get close.
Without thinking, Pei Zhiwei lifted her foot and rushed into the fire, but was suddenly pulled back by a strong hand.
"Are you crazy!" Xiao Yunzhan gripped her arm tightly, so hard it was almost digging into her flesh.
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