The reason for the information blockade was that Xiong Juzheng wanted to investigate and was afraid of alerting the suspects.
Even the civilians who witnessed the woman being stopped and run over by the car were detained for several days and repeatedly warned during that time.
But there are always secrets that stay hidden, and people who need to know already know.
When the ministers learned that Sun Jian had been framed and falsely accused, they were all very surprised.
Firstly, it was surprising that Sun Jian, a mere tutor, despite his undeniable talent, had encountered so many misfortunes one after another.
Secondly, it's clear to anyone with eyes that the fact that this matter was discussed in the imperial court is enough to show how much His Majesty values Sun Jian.
"Then tell all my ministers about the progress of your investigation."
Emperor Qianwu pretended to flip through the memorial handed to him by Wang De, and said without looking up.
"As you command."
After kowtowing once, Xiong Juzheng stood up and began to address the crowd in a loud voice.
"I have been ordered to investigate two cases."
"The first is the case of Sun Jian, the Attendant Reader, being assassinated by black-robed assassins on his way back to the capital to receive his orders, about sixty miles outside the capital city of Caoping County."
"The second case is: the next day, after Sun returned to the capital, he was stopped by a woman kneeling down on the street in front of his residence. The woman did not identify herself and directly ran over the carriage and killed him."
"After receiving the order, Your Majesty began a thorough investigation. It has now been confirmed that the black-robed assassins who attacked the guard of honor were all from Chencang, aged between nineteen and thirty, and all of them were highly trained and professional."
"Six months ago, these assassins came to Beijing one after another under the pretext of visiting relatives and stayed at the Tongfu Inn in Lane 60 of Xifang. They kept a low profile and had no contact with the outside world."
"But the money they used for daily food, drink, lodging and other expenses was all provided by Eunuch Zhang, the deputy chief eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial. There are witnesses and physical evidence, and Eunuch Zhang also signed and confessed in prison."
These words greatly surprised all the officials.
This information is nothing short of explosive.
How dare an old eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial keep assassins outside the city?
He's incredibly audacious!
Although he was the deputy chief eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, his rank was only seventh grade. Such a person had neither real power nor connections, so how could he dare to keep assassins? He didn't have that much money to keep them either. There must be someone behind him.
Six months ago, assassins were already being transferred to the capital one after another. It seems that this wasn't specifically targeting Sun Jian, but rather that he happened to run into the group of assassins left behind...
If it wasn't specifically targeting Sun Jian, then what was the purpose of Zhang Gonggong's master raising assassins?
The purpose behind this is thought-provoking.
Xiong Juzheng continued, "I believe that Eunuch Zhang is neither courageous nor capable of raising assassins. There must be a mastermind behind him, otherwise he would never dare to act in this way."
The assembled officials nodded in agreement with Xiong Juzheng's conclusion.
Everyone can guess that there's a mastermind behind it all, but who is that mastermind?
The crucial point is that they had never heard of Zhang Gonggong having a master to rely on!
"Continue," Emperor Ganwu finally put down the memorial in his hand and slightly raised his eyes.
Xiong Juzheng sighed softly and continued, "This eunuch has always kept a low profile in the palace and has never had any contact with officials, not even in the form of letters."
“But keeping so many assassins must be very expensive. So I followed the clues and investigated thoroughly. I finally discovered that Eunuch Zhang had been having large sums of money dealing with Liu San, the Vice Minister of Works.”
"The amount is so large that it is unbelievable."
"I was just about to start my investigation from here, but unfortunately, last night, Eunuch Zhang committed suicide out of fear of punishment..."
Upon hearing this, Sun Jian's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly.
That was a really timely death.
They had just found a lead upstream when the person died.
This is going to be another case of "the dead have no way to prove it"!
The officials were in an uproar, all searching for Liu San, the Vice Minister of Works, but after searching several times, they could not find him.
Emperor Ganwu remained silent, his face still bearing that domineering and majestic expression. He merely raised his eyelids slightly, and Wang De beside him instantly understood.
Wang De flicked his whisk, took a few steps forward, and asked, "Where is Liu San, the Vice Minister of Works?"
Liu San, the Vice Minister of Works, did not step forward, but his superior, the Minister of Works, did.
After bowing with his hands clasped, he said, "Your Majesty, my subordinate, Liu San, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, committed suicide at home last night at the hour of Chou (1-3 AM) out of fear of punishment."
"I only learned of this before going to court. I have already ordered people to verify it. It was indeed a suicide by hanging, and the time was correct."
Another one dead?
Why does every time someone is investigated, someone else dies?
For a moment, all the officials held their breath, and the atmosphere in the court plummeted to freezing point.
The Vice Minister is a high-ranking official of the third rank, directly subordinate to the Ministers of various ministries.
This is on a completely different level from the death of a deputy chief eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial.
The most crucial point is that he hanged himself.
Clearly, Liu San also wanted to ensure that there was no way to verify the truth or investigate the matter. This shows that the mastermind behind the scenes had connections to the highest levels of society, even managing to drive a high-ranking official of the third rank to suicide.
Those who possess such power and can orchestrate all of this, besides a few princes and nobles, are only the governors of a few prefectures, a few generals protecting the country, six ministers, and the three highest officials of the court.
"this……"
Upon hearing the Minister of Works' words, Xiong Juzheng was momentarily at a loss.
He pinned all his hopes and clues on Liu San. He had even made an agreement with His Majesty before the morning court session to throw the evidence at Liu San's face and make him confess on the spot. Unexpectedly, not only did Eunuch Zhang die in prison last night, but Liu San also died.
This is equivalent to cutting off all known clues and leaving no room for further investigation.
Emperor Ganwu also remained silent with a cold expression, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Liu San's death was indeed beyond his expectations.
Moreover, this matter cannot be blamed on the Minister of Works. The person died at the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), and the Minister had to wait in the Waiting-for-the-Dawn Courtyard before the hour of Yin (3-5 AM).
There was no time to find out in the meantime.
Upon learning the news, the Minister immediately went to court. Unable to relay the message to the Emperor right away, he could only go to the court to explain.
Even if one were to enter the side hall to meet the emperor ahead of time, the result would still be the same, nothing would change.
Seeing the atmosphere fall silent, Sun Jian strode forward and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to say."
"Speak!" Emperor Ganwu raised his head and stared at Sun Jian, who strode forward.
“Since Eunuch Zhang committed suicide out of fear of punishment, and Vice Minister Liu San also hanged himself, why doesn’t Lord Xiong start the investigation from the identity of the woman who was hit and killed? Perhaps he could find some clues?” Sun Jian expressed his confusion.
Xiong Juzheng sighed softly, "We investigated, but it was of no use."
"That woman was also from Chencang. Her name was Ma Tian. Two years ago, her husband went to the capital to take the imperial examination, but he disappeared without a trace. She traveled a long way to the capital to look for him, but to no avail. Later, she was taken in by Eunuch Zhang of the Directorate of Ceremonial and made a living by washing clothes and cooking at the Tongfu Inn."
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