Chapter 762 Trial of the Case Outside the Palace
Xie Shang walked straight to the Empress Dowager and said in a deep voice, "Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager, please stay. Everyone else, please leave."
The Emperor had spoken, and no one dared to linger, all leaving the banquet hall.
Only after everyone had left did Xie Shang ask, "Grandmother, do you really hate Father so much?"
The Empress Dowager remained silent, her eyes cold. Empress Dowager Cheng also didn't understand why she had been kept behind. But didn't Shang'er know that the Empress Dowager disliked Xie Jing? Why did she keep asking?
Xie Shang said coldly, "Grandmother not only hates, but hates to the bone, because the throne was passed to Father Emperor instead of Uncle Kang. So you are determined to ruin the reputation of the royal family and make Father Emperor rest in peace even in the afterlife."
He was also your child, born after ten months of pregnancy. He had no right to choose which mother he would live with at birth. You pushed him away, but you felt that he was unfilial to you and gave all your favoritism and care to Uncle Kang. Now that you have returned to Shengjing, it is not so simple. You actually want to seize the throne.
"Let me think about it. When did you start plotting this? Wasn't it when Prince Kang was in the Northwest? You've always said that Xie Yun and Xie Minmin were immature, but it seems to me that Prince Kang was the one who orchestrated all of this."
Xie Shang couldn't understand how a mother could be so heartless. He kept thinking about who the man in black Jiang Fenghua was talking about was. After much thought, he guessed it was Uncle Kang, or one of Uncle Kang's men.
The Empress Dowager said in a deep voice, "Since the Emperor knows, I have nothing more to say. I am an old woman, and I should be buried soon. I did all of this." She meant that she didn't care whether the Emperor killed her or tortured her, since the Xie family's empire would eventually belong to Kang'er, and Kang'er had already left Shengjing.
Xie Shang's eyes flashed with a cold light, and the veins on his neck bulged as he roared, "You are not worthy to call yourself 'I,' let alone be the mother of the Emperor. I will imprison you, you old hag."
The Empress Dowager said coldly, "If you want to imprison me, how can you face your father? I am his mother and your imperial grandmother. This is an indelible fact."
"You are not worthy to be my grandmother, much less my father's mother. You only have Xie Kang as your son. Now I want to see if he will come to save his mother." Xie Shang said coldly, "You care so much about him. If I parade you through the streets, will he show up?"
Upon seeing this, Empress Dowager Cheng unconsciously curled her lips into a mocking smile, and said indifferently, "Your Majesty, what has happened? What's wrong with the Empress Dowager?"
Xie Shang's cold gaze swept over Empress Dowager Cheng. Seeing that she showed no signs of poisoning, he wondered if it was true that Consort Chang had said his mother had been poisoned by Gu.
Seeing her son looking at her like that, Empress Dowager Cheng didn't dare to say anything more. She was just asking about Shang'er's situation.
The Empress Dowager stood up, leaning on her cane, and said angrily, "You are nothing but a bastard born of Cheng Langjin and a wild man. You are not a descendant of the Xie family at all. Cheng Langjin's shameful deeds have already spread. If you send me out to be paraded through the streets, I will expose your mother's shameful deeds."
Jiang Fenghua said softly, "If the Empress Dowager says it in front of the people, it might exacerbate the situation. Perhaps Prince Kang has been hoping to make a big fuss about it." Xie Shang's reputation is already ruined, and it will take a lot of effort to clear it up, otherwise it will only make things worse.
Xie Shang had already made up his mind: "Whether I am a descendant of the Xie family is not up to this fake Empress Dowager to decide. She has not returned to Shengjing for decades. The real Empress Dowager was killed by her and Prince Kang long ago. The Empress Dowager in front of me is just a murderer of unknown origin. I will personally supervise the execution and watch her head fall to the ground."
Xie Shang's eyes were full of coldness. "As long as Xie Kang knows that she is his mother, that's enough."
Jiang Fenghua thought to herself: So this is what Xie Shang was planning. She had never seen Xie Shang with such a cold look in his eyes before. His family was scheming against him. He must be heartbroken!
At the same time, Xie Shang made a bold decision. He put on a dragon robe and sat down in the courtroom of the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture. Jiang Fenghua, dressed in a majestic phoenix robe, sat next to him.
In no time, the news that the emperor had left the palace to personally handle the case of the murder of Madam Li spread throughout the streets and alleys, and the entire city of Shengjing was in an uproar, with the streets crowded with people.
These past few days, teahouses and taverns have been doing booming business, with everyone talking about the romantic escapades of the royal family. In reality, no one dares to discuss these scandalous affairs of the royal family. Even if the emperor and the fourth princess have an affair, everyone treats it as a romantic affair.
The matter became serious when news of Empress Dowager Cheng's affair with her cousin broke. People began to speculate that Empress Dowager Cheng might not only have betrayed the late emperor, but that the emperor himself might not even be the late emperor's son. If that happened, the Great Zhou Dynasty might be in for a major upheaval.
At this moment, the emperor personally left the palace and appeared before everyone, and everyone headed towards the Jingzhao Prefecture.
The Emperor left the palace to handle a case, and the Five Cities Garrison and the Capital Prefecture had already received the news. At this time, Yang Zheng led his soldiers to clear the entire street.
Xie Shang sat in the courtroom, with the four characters "Justice and Integrity" hanging above his head. These characters were written by him personally when he served as the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture. Then, someone else engraved, polished, and varnished them before they were finally hung up.
Today, the presiding judge has become the emperor, but the number of jurors has increased several times. In addition to Lu Tingwei, Prince Qi, Prefect Zhang, and other officials, there are also civil officials such as Grand Tutor Pan and Grand Tutor Jiang.
Outside the government office were prominent figures from all walks of life, creating a grand and magnificent scene. They had all been summoned by the emperor to accompany him in hearing cases. Everyone dared to be cautious and discreet, as they were all influential figures. Being summoned by the emperor was an honor for them, but at the same time, being under the emperor's watchful eye meant they could make mistakes at any time.
Xie Shang sat down in the courtroom again, his heart now completely calm. He said in a deep voice, "Bring in the prisoner Jin Ji."
Although the Fourth Princess Consort publicly admitted to the murder in the Golden Palace, Zhang Anyu did not make it public, and the case is still under review according to procedure.
The case had already caused a sensation throughout the city, but Jin Ji never showed up.
Now everyone sees Jin Ji being brought to court, and he seems to have escaped any punishment. Among those present are officials who knew the truth, but many more are ordinary people who were unaware of it.
Some people said, "He's the one who did the bad thing. He looks perfectly normal, so how could he be so ruthless and vicious?"
Another person said, "I heard that it wasn't him who killed her, but the Fourth Princess who had a very good relationship with Madam Li. The two of them don't know what happened, but she killed her."
"The murderer has been caught but hasn't been tried yet. He's the Empress's brother-in-law, so there's likely something fishy going on. The Emperor's personal involvement in the trial might be an attempt to help Jin Ji get out of trouble..."
"Even if the emperor makes a mistake, he is not wrong. High officials committing murder and arson are just going through the motions, let alone the emperor..." This means that the emperor and his sister-in-law can do whatever they want.
"Shh, keep your voice down. You're asking for trouble. The Emperor can decide who lives and who dies at his whim."
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