Chapter 707 The Jiang Clan Unfazed by Rumors
“I have always upheld the law impartially, living up to the Emperor’s trust and the people’s expectations.” Zhang Anyu was equally firm. “Lord Wang says I am just a minor Prefect of the Capital, but His Majesty once served as Prefect of the Capital and handled many cases for the people. If Lord Wang looks down on me, does he also look down on His Majesty?”
Wang Mian was stunned. He quickly cupped his hands in a gesture of respect towards the void and explained, "That's not what I meant. Please don't misunderstand, Lord Zhang."
"If the Ministry of Justice wants to appoint someone, then Minister Tang should go to the palace and ask His Majesty to issue an imperial edict stating that the Jingzhao Prefecture is not qualified to handle this case. I will immediately send the person to the Ministry of Justice. Otherwise, I will handle this case myself."
"You..." Wang Mian was furious. The position of the Prefect of Jingzhao was not as high as that of the Vice Minister: "Can't Minister Tang's order be used to arrest someone?"
"No." Zhang Anyu was very firm, even though he was risking offending people.
Wang Mian stormed off in anger, yelling, "Zhang Anyu, you wait!"
"Please take care, Lord Wang." This was the first time he had dared to confront someone from the Ministry of Justice, and he was still somewhat intimidated.
Jiang Jinyan listened to Wang Mian's words from the side and felt that Wang Mian was too impatient. However, he also got a very important message: Minister Tang seemed determined to handle this case!
Only after Wang Mian left did Jiang Jinyan appear. He asked Zhang Anyu, "How did the Jingzhao Prefecture find out about the case after it happened? After all, it was a murder that occurred outside the city."
His thought was that since the Ministry of Justice wanted to arrest the criminals and someone was deliberately framing them, why not just have the Ministry of Justice arrest them directly, instead of putting them in the Jingzhao Prefecture prison?
Zhang Anyu and the Jiang family are indeed quite close.
“Someone came to report a crime, saying that they wanted Magistrate Zhang to personally arrest the perpetrator. A murder had occurred at the Fulai Inn outside the city, and they also said that the perpetrator was Jin Ji, the son-in-law of the Jiang family,” Zhang Anyu explained. “I don’t know who came to report it.”
Just then, Lin Yu and Jiang Fenghua, dressed in night clothes, appeared at the Jingzhao Prefecture government office.
Lin Yu said, "I sent someone to ask Lord Zhang for help. Guo Xiao and I happened to be there at the time, but Li Cheng knew me, so I couldn't show my face. I thought it would be better for Jin Ji to be in the Jingzhao Prefecture's prison than to be captured by someone else."
At the time, after the incident, Li Cheng had Jin Ji beaten up and then put on a dramatic, tearful act for quite a while.
She even considered rescuing Jin Ji, but once Jin Ji escaped, the Jiang family would never have peace, so she had no choice but to ask Lord Zhang for help.
Zhang Anyu bowed to Jiang Fenghua: "When I arrived with my men, Young Master Jin was indeed badly beaten. I originally wanted to bring the dead man back, but Li Cheng said he wanted to take him home. At that time, Li Cheng made a big fuss, saying that the hatred of killing one's wife is irreconcilable and that he would take Jin Ji back to pay for his life."
Li Cheng was, after all, the son of Minister Li, and Zhang Anyu didn't think too much about it at the time, only detaining Jin Ji back to the Jingzhao Prefecture.
Jiang Fenghua had already learned about the situation from Lin Yu, and added, "Li Cheng is very suspicious; he is Shu Xue's husband."
“Since the Ministry of Justice is also getting involved in this case, it’s bound to be brought to the imperial court tomorrow,” Jiang Jinyan said. “Ruan Ruan, why didn’t you go back to the palace?”
“I’ve thought about it. Even if I go back to the palace to avoid this matter, won’t Empress Jiang be rumored to be protecting Jin Ji?” She added, “Brother, think about it. Who wants to frame Jin Ji, or who wants to drag the Jiang family into this?”
"Have you figured out who it is?" Jiang Jinyan asked.
She said, "I'm not sure, but I always feel that he is the most suspicious person, but I can't figure out his motive, why he is only targeting the Jiang family."
Jiang Jinyan said, "Are you saying that the person who framed me and Bai Yuhan on the Lantern Festival will be her again this time?"
Jiang Fenghua shook her head. "She doesn't have that kind of ability. Let's imagine that if someone wanted to kill Jin Ji, once Jin Ji's crime is established, the Jiang family would definitely be affected, and the Jiang family would suffer the most. Using Jin Ji as a scapegoat might just be the beginning for them."
In front of Zhang Anyu, she did not reveal her suspicions about the Fourth Prince.
"I can't understand why anyone would kill Shu Xue when she was perfectly fine," Jiang Fenghua said.
“It’s very likely that it’s her husband, Li Cheng. Li Cheng has some grudges with the Jiang family…” Jiang Jinyan explained, “Li Cheng likes to torture women for fun, but he is the son of Minister Li, and no one dares to offend Minister Li easily, so many things have been covered up.”
Jiang Fenghua was unaware of this incident. She asked doubtfully, "But no matter what, Shu Xue is the niece of the Shu family, and her father is also an official. Doesn't Li Cheng have any scruples at all? Even if he wanted to frame Jin Ji, he wouldn't kill his own wife to do so. The Shu and Li families haven't been related by marriage for very long. How could Shu Xue be murdered like this? There must be more to the story. Shu Xue's death is not that simple."
Shu Xue and Zhang Yurou were close. Shu Xue was clearly not very bright and was the kind of person who was used as a pawn by Zhang Yurou. Did her death have anything to do with Zhang Yurou?
Jiang Jinyan said, "We can only win this case if it is brought to the imperial court, because the other side is well-prepared. They are in the dark while we are in the light, so we are at a great disadvantage."
“In that case, let’s draw out the ghost hiding behind the scenes,” Jiang Fenghua said. “We’ve been trying to avoid suspicion. Let’s think about it the other way around. If the Jiang family didn’t avoid suspicion, wouldn’t that cause those ghosts to attack the Jiang family? Let them attack, and we’ll defend. That way we can find out who the ghost is. Then we can follow the clues and investigate further. We’ll eventually get to the bottom of it.”
Lin Yu said, "Your Majesty is right."
Zhang Anyu said, "But the Jiang family may suffer more rumors and gossip next, and Shengjing City will not be peaceful. Everyone will definitely pay attention to this case and even speculate about the Jiang family..." After all, the Jiang family's current status in Shengjing is second to none.
“The innocent will remain innocent, and the Jiang family is not afraid of rumors.” Jiang Fenghua added, “I will have to trouble Lord Zhang to send someone to protect Jin Ji’s safety. I am worried that someone might harm him. If rumors spread that he committed suicide out of guilt, it will be hard to explain.”
"Your Majesty, rest assured! Your subject will not hesitate to die for you." Zhang Anyu had already offended Vice Minister Wang, and if Jin Ji was framed, he had also offended the power behind him.
"Although I am not afraid of rumors, it is not convenient for me to meet with you. I will send someone to contact you."
"Who will Your Majesty send? I need to be prepared. I don't know any of Your Majesty's secret guards, and I'm afraid I might mess things up." Zhang Anyu was also cautious; he knew that if the case reached the Emperor, he probably wouldn't be assigned to handle it.
"You know Hongxiu, right? If you need anything, you can ask her. She'll be staying outside the palace for a while." It just so happens that Hongxiu is outside the palace. She also wanted Hongxiu and Chengfeng to think things over carefully. If they really had feelings for each other, she didn't want to delay a couple in love.
“Miss Hongxiu, I recognize her.” Zhang Anyu knew that the Empress had two very capable female officials by her side.
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