Chapter 30 The Princes' Judgment
Li Yueyao took the memorial to the eldest prince and saw his instructions: Jiang Erlang was originally a victim, and killing people out of righteous indignation is understandable, and he should be dealt with as appropriate.
Qiu Chong is the culprit in this case and should be sentenced more severely.
Li Yueyao frowned as she looked at the eldest prince's memorial and asked, "Chen'er, why did you make such an order on this case?"
The eldest prince looked at the memorial and said, "The root cause of this incident was not Jiang Erlang, he was originally the victim.
Jiang Erlang acted out of righteous indignation and should not be sentenced to death."
Li Yueyao asked again, "Do you think there's something wrong with the verdict made by the Dali Temple's Shen Siqing?"
The eldest prince thought for a moment and said, "Qiu Chong's sentence was too light, while Jiang Erlang's was too heavy."
Li Yueyao asked, "Then how do you think the verdict should be?"
The eldest prince said, "Qiu Chong should be sentenced to exile, and Jiang Erlang is guilty of the same crime."
"You mean each of them should be given twenty lashes?" Li Yueyao said with a smile.
The eldest prince nodded.
Li Yueyao smiled and said nothing.
He picked up another case next to it and looked at it. It was a murder case in Fangzhou, Shannan Road.
The deceased, Feng Chang, was from Jiangnan Province. He passed the imperial examination last year and was appointed as the magistrate of Qingchuan County, Fangzhou.
At that time, Shanyang County next door was hit by a drought, and the governor of Fangzhou ordered him to serve as a substitute "special envoy for investigating relief" to investigate the relief affairs of Shanyang County and verify the relief silver.
But just over a month later, Feng Chang committed suicide by hanging himself.
The Fangzhou authorities sent the suicide file and the application for the Ministry of Revenue to transfer personnel to Beijing.
After reading the files, the Ministry of Revenue felt that something was unusual.
First, Feng Chang was a distant cousin of Feng Yuandao, a doctor in the Ministry of Revenue.
When Feng Chang arrived in the capital, he was almost penniless and was able to pass the imperial examination thanks to the financial support of Feng Yuandao.
This man came from a poor family and it was very difficult for him to study and obtain an official position. He would definitely not commit suicide after serving as a county magistrate for just two months.
According to Feng Yuandao, Feng Chang was devoted to the country and was a very ambitious person who would not commit suicide for no reason.
Secondly, Feng Chang's wife saw the body and said that there was blood in Feng Chang's mouth, which did not seem like suicide.
The Ministry of Revenue then requested that the matter be submitted to the Ministry of Justice.
However, the Ministry of Justice was responsible for investigating cases, not for trying them, and would report the cases to the Dali Temple.
After reviewing the case, the Dali Temple felt that there were indeed some anomalies, but the Fangzhou authorities had already closed the case.
All closed cases are handled by the Ministry of Justice, and the Dali Temple is only responsible for investigating the cases.
Both the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple felt that there were problems with this case, but according to the procedures, neither of them was responsible.
So the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice jointly submitted a memorial, asking which department should review this case.
The eldest prince wrote on it: This case has been closed and should be handed over to the Ministry of Justice for retrial.
Li Yueyao picked up the memorial and asked the eldest prince, "Why did you approve it this way?"
The eldest prince said, "According to the procedures, since the case has been closed, it should be handled by the Ministry of Justice."
Li Yueyao sighed and said, "Qian Lou, go and call the Second Prince, the Third Prince, the Fourth Prince, and the Crown Prince."
Before long, the Crown Prince and several princes arrived at the side hall of Taiji Palace.
"Meet my great-aunt."
"Since you are all here, please sit down. Sit wherever you want and don't feel restrained." Li Yueyao said with a smile.
"Qian Lou serves tea to your highnesses."
"Thank you, great aunt."
After paying their respects, the princes stood still. After the Crown Prince sat down and Li Yueyao took action, the eldest prince also came over, and the others sat down in order.
Li Yueyao took out the instructions that the eldest prince had just given on the two cases.
"These are the two memorials submitted today. Please take a look at them and make your comments on them.
Write what you think, and put your name on the paper.
Qian Lou is here to prepare writing materials for your Highnesses."
After saying this, he signaled Qian Lou to distribute paper and pens to the princes.
"The eldest prince has already issued instructions. He is responsible for supervising his younger brothers. They are not allowed to whisper or discuss anything."
"Yes."
The Crown Prince and several other princes responded in unison.
A moment later, the first to hand in his paper was the second prince Li Lin.
Li Yueyao opened it and saw that the second prince's was very simple.
In the Jiang Qiu case, it was written: the original verdict of the Dali Temple was upheld.
The case of Feng Chang in Fangzhou states: According to the procedure, it should be handled by the Ministry of Justice.
After a while, the prince handed in his paper.
The case report on Jiang Qiu stated: Jiang Erlang was the victim, and his killing out of righteous indignation was understandable, so he should be given a light sentence as appropriate.
The case of Feng Chang in Fangzhou was written as follows: The Fangzhou case seems to be a wrongful conviction and should be retried by the Dali Temple.
Not long after, the third prince Li Yan handed in his paper.
The case of Jiang Qiu wrote: In this case, we can consider a joint trial by the three courts.
The case of Feng Chang in Fangzhou was written as follows: There are many doubts in the case, and it should be submitted to the three courts for retrial.
Li Yueyao looked up at the Third Prince when she saw this. This kid only knew how to have a trial by three judges. Didn't he have any opinions of his own?
Everyone handed in their papers, except the Fourth Prince, who was still writing furiously.
After a cup of tea, the fourth prince Li Heng handed in his paper.
The case of Jiang Qiu stated: The original verdict of the Dali Temple is upheld.
There are more articles about the case of Feng Chang in Fangzhou:
In this case, judging from the doubts raised by the Ministry of Revenue and Feng Chang's wife, the deceased did not commit suicide, and there must be an injustice.
However, despite such obvious doubts, Fangzhou successfully closed the case.
This shows that all the officials in charge of this case are covering up the truth.
Feng Chang's task was to check the disaster relief money. From this, it seemed that there must be something abnormal with the disaster relief money.
This is not a murder case, but a case of official corruption.
Cases of official corruption should be handed over to the Censorate for trial.
The Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple did not want to take the case away from the Censorate, so they presented the case to the Emperor for His Majesty to decide.
I believe that the Ministry of Justice should dismiss the case on the grounds that it is unusual, and re-investigate the case and bring it to the table.
Then, on the pretext of a murder case, it was sent back to the Dali Temple for investigation.
The Dali Temple Secretary who judged the case between Jiang and Qiu was a smart man and suggested that the case be handed over to this person.
Li Yueyao read the instructions and looked up at the Fourth Prince expressionlessly. He really had inherited the talent of the virtuous concubine.
The Su family members are extremely smart.
Then he collected everyone's instructions and said, "Okay, that's all for today.
I've asked you guys to come here to convey your father's wishes. From now on, every morning, the five of you will take turns coming here to assist your great-aunt in handling government affairs.
I'm mainly looking at some simple criminal cases and lawsuits. Today, I'm going to see your perspective on the issues."
Several people replied respectfully, "It is our duty as sons and ministers to help our father share his worries."
Li Yueyao smiled and said, "Well, good. I know you are filial and good children."
"By the way, my great-aunt has a skilled maid who made a gift box with several kinds of cakes. It's quite good.
I have prepared one for each of you. Take it back and try it. If you like any of them, you can tell your great aunt.
Let them do it for you in the morning when you come."
After hearing this, the five people all laughed, bowed and said, "Thank you, great-aunt."
The five people came empty-handed, and when they left, each took away a savings box and went out happily.
Led by the prince, he went to the main hall of Taiji Palace, paid his respects to the emperor, and then took his leave.
As soon as the five people left, the emperor came to Li Yueyao.
"Aunt, I heard from the Crown Prince that you brought the five of them here today to test them. What was the result?"
Li Yueyao smiled and said, "Yes, that's what happened."
As he spoke, he handed the two memorials on the table next to him and the comments of several people to the emperor.
The emperor first read Fangzhou's memorial, and after reading it, his face was filled with anger.
Then he looked at the instructions of the previous few people and frowned.
Finally, after reading the Fourth Prince's instructions, his brows relaxed slightly.
"The fourth child takes after his mother. There are no fools in the Su family. They are all good at making plans and making decisions."
Li Yueyao nodded after hearing this.
After a while, he said, "Alas... You have neglected to discipline the children over the years. The third child is a worrying child."
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