Chapter 20

Liang Chengkai took off his hat, pointed at his face, and said angrily: "Your Majesty, please understand, I have really suffered an undeserved disaster!"

Tan Zhicheng: "Yes, this is too much!"

Everyone saw that Liang Chengkai had multiple scars on his face, eye sockets, and chin. Such a handsome young man had been beaten into a state of bruises. Many ministers couldn't bear to watch.

It was particularly obvious on the left cheek, which almost swelled up like a pig's head.

Lin Nanjie looked at that place, feeling slightly guilty: [Ah, I was the one who hit him on the cheek. It was so abominable that I couldn't help but punch him again.]

【My buddies have already taken action, so I can’t just stand by and watch. Let’s share the risk. 】

[I don't know if the dog emperor can judge the case impartially? Please help. ]

Li Chengqian glared at him unhappily.

Do you know about risk sharing?

How come he didn't realize that Lin Nanjie had such a good relationship with the Imperial Guard?

Si Nanhao felt like throwing up when he saw Liang Chengkai pretending to be sympathetic. "We are here to help the weak! You scumbag! You official!"

Si Yuanxun was so angry that his nose was crooked. You called others "dog officials" in the hall and you still think your father hasn't lost face enough!

Qin Zhicheng was indeed angry: "How dare you! I won't allow you to be so presumptuous in front of the emperor!"

But Si Nanhao was indeed a member of the Imperial Guard. He spoke with a cold and oppressive aura, and refused to give in. He asked Sanlian, "As the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, do you know who that woman is? Where does she live? On what basis did you determine that she was extorted by a gang?"

Lin Nanjie: [Wow! You are awesome, brother!]

Tan Zhicheng was in trouble and was only caught yesterday. He was brought to the main hall for interrogation early this morning. How could he have conducted an investigation?

Lin Nanjie also straightened his chest and said without showing any weakness: "This girl lives in Shilipo, south of the city. Her parents are both dead and she lives with her grandfather. Her family is poor and her land was taken away by her uncle. She went to the street to sell herbs to make a living and was spotted by Liang Chengkai, who took her back to his private courtyard!"

"You are convicting people without any investigation. You are taking human life lightly!"

The civil and military officials looked at each other in bewilderment. How could there be such a secret? Their suspicious eyes immediately turned to Shuntian Prefecture Governor Tan Zhicheng.

Luo Wan dragged her weak body, her face as pale as paper. "Your Majesty, ladies and gentlemen, I am Luo Wan, selling herbs on the street to make a living. Liang Chengkai bought herbs from me twice. I trusted him and thought he was a kind man. Who knew he tricked me into his outer house under the pretext that someone in his family needed medical treatment? I finally escaped, but found that I was pregnant. I couldn't stand this humiliation, so I went to Zuixianju to seek justice from him. Who knew I was imprisoned for blackmail."

"Everything I said is true. Your Majesty, please make the decision for me!"

Li Chenghuan's face was gloomy: "Is what you said true?"

Luo Wan said in one breath: "If I tell a lie, I will be struck by lightning!"

Liang Chengkai covered his face and said, "Don't confuse right and wrong. It was you who seduced me. You kept saying that you had a pitiful life to win my sympathy, but you took all my wealth. How vicious your intentions were!"

Luo Wan felt unbearable pain in her lower abdomen, her eyes turned red as she stared at Liang Chengkai: "You are slandering me!"

Qin Zhicheng couldn't bear to watch it any longer: "Your Majesty, the Liang family has a good family tradition and would never do such a thing that would bring disgrace upon the family. But this woman and these two thugs are so clear about it, and they still say they are not in the same group?"

Lin Nanjie: ???

[You bastard! If you can be the governor of Shuntian Prefecture and judge the fate of the people in the capital, then I can be the Jade Emperor! I want to see if you have any dark history!]

Lin Nanjie: [I dig dig dig! ]

[Qin Zhicheng was a third-class Jinshi in the 28th year of Tiantong. Well, he didn’t cheat in the imperial examination.]

[I was promoted to the position of Shuntian prefect by the previous emperor. Well, I didn’t take bribes.]

[His knowledge is real, and he got promoted to a higher position on his own. Could it be that he is an honest official? ]

Lin Nanqi's heartbeat suddenly became low.

Li Chenghuan watched the situation of the officials in the court while listening to Lin Nanjie's heartbeat. It was the first time he heard the little eunuch's heartbeat so angry.

Lin Nanqi was trying to grab the Shuntian prefect when Si Yuanxun stood up and said, "Your Majesty, from what I heard, there are quite a few loopholes in what Lord Qin said, and he didn't even clarify the whole story. Instead, these two people said quite a lot of details. The Shuntian prefect is in charge of the capital's political security and prison cases. If he makes decisions like this, I'm afraid there will be a lot of confusion."

Si Nanhao then added: "Not only that, Lord Qin is also Liang Chengkai's uncle! Liang Chengkai said at Zuixianju that Shuntian Mansion was opened by his family!"

Liang Chengkai cried out that he was wronged: "Your Majesty is wise, I dare not speak out! This person deliberately framed me!"

Li Chengqian raised his eyebrows slightly: "Oh, or a relative?"

Tan Zhicheng's forehead was slightly sweaty. "It is true that Liang Chengkai is my nephew, but I dare not violate the law just because of our relationship."

Huang Ming jumped out at this time: "Mr. Liang is an elegant scholar, known for his talent, how could he do such a thing as forcibly abducting a commoner girl!"

Many people nodded, as they had also heard of this person.

Dali Temple Shaoqing Fang Wenjue also came out. Surprisingly, Fang Wenjue actually spoke for Si Nanhao and Lin Nanjie: "I think what these two prisoners said makes sense. If this case is handed over to the Dali Temple for trial, I will definitely give a fair and just trial result."

Bai Zhang also said: "I also think it makes sense."

The people around him looked at Fang Wenjue in surprise. As the Junior Official of the Dali Temple, didn't Fang Wenjue usually hate the Jinyiwei's obstruction of the investigation? Why did he come here to speak angrily on behalf of the Jinyiwei today?

Fang Wen cleared his throat uncomfortably.

Is he helping the Jinyiwei? He is helping Xiangrui!

He had been scolded by his wife for many days, but that day when he returned from praying for good fortune, his wife actually calmed down and let him go into the house to sleep.

This, this must be the credit of auspiciousness!

Wang Zhongcheng snorted coldly: "The country has its own laws. It is certainly wrong to hit people."

At this time, Lu Jingyao, the Minister of Finance, suddenly stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, I think what Mr. Qin said makes sense."

"Master Si is a little biased towards Master Qin. After all, Master Qin has solved two old major cases in the capital, and his political achievements are obvious to all!"

Although Lu Jingyao's words seemed objective, they were actually very impolite, almost as if he was pointing at Si Yuanxun's nose and accusing him of favoring his son.

The atmosphere on both sides was tense. Lin Nanjie, who was concentrating on reading information, looked up quickly. What happened when he was distracted for a moment?

[…Huh? Minister Lu? ]

Lin Nanjie looked at Lu Jingyao and tilted his head slightly in confusion.

【Hasn't Minister Lu always stayed away from these matters?】

Not knowing what he discovered, Lin Nanqi's eyes suddenly widened.

[No wonder he wanted to speak to Liang Chengkai. He wanted to marry his niece to Liang Chengkai and was negotiating the marriage.]

[The Minister was actually fooled by Liang Chengkai's disguise. Wow! I have to say, Liang Chengkai is quite capable.]

[The minister has a strange taste. Others like plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum, but he just likes withered camellia.]

[At the elegant gathering, Liang Chengkai deliberately wore a robe embroidered with dried camellias to ask the Shangshu Lord for advice on poetry, and the Shangshu Lord was delighted.]

[Liang Chengkai heard from somewhere that the Shangshu Lord disliked the fact that scholars today valued Confucius over Laozi and Zhuangzi, so he privately denounced the pedantry of Confucianism with the Shangshu Lord and praised Laozi and Zhuangzi for their transcendence, which made the Shangshu Lord regard him as a close friend.]

[The Minister was so happy that he wanted to marry his niece to Liang Chengkai.]

Lin Nanqie said quietly: [Is it so easy to deceive? ]

Li Chenghuan looked at Lu Jingyao with a look full of scrutiny.

A dignified minister actually trusted others so credulously just because of his own preferences.

Li Chenghuan raised his hand to stop the mutual accusations and looked directly at Liang Chengkai: "You mean this peasant girl seduced you in the street and deliberately got pregnant to blackmail you. What did she blackmail you for?"

Liang Chengkai immediately said: "Ten thousand taels of gold and the position of legal wife!"

Li Chengqian raised his voice: "So you pushed her and caused her miscarriage?"

Liang Chengkai said in a sad tone: "It is said that even a tiger will not eat its own cubs. I just exerted a little force, but who knew that the woman would fall down the stairs."

Li Chengqian raised his eyebrows: "You also said that this woman is very poor?"

Liang Chengkai nodded: "That's right, this woman is so poor that she can't even afford a decent set of clothes."

Li Chengqian's voice suddenly became heavier: "You said these two people were hired by the peasant girl as thugs? Since she has no money, how can she afford to hire two thugs?"

Liang Chengkai was stunned for a moment, but immediately said: "Your Majesty, you don't know that although this peasant girl is penniless, she is still pretty. She must have used her beauty to seduce two thugs."

Li Chenghuan's eyes were fierce, but he smiled leisurely: "Wang Dehai, go ahead."

Wang Dehai made a "tsk" sound and looked at Liang Chengkai with a fake smile: "Mr. Liang, you don't know that one of these two is the son of the Minister and is currently serving in the Imperial Guard. The other is an eunuch in the palace. How come Miss Luo can still show favor to the eunuch?"

Liang Chengkai was stunned and looked at Lin Nanjie and Si Nanhao in horror.

Imperial Guard? Eunuchs?

The prefect of Shuntian was also panicked. He quickly looked Si Nanhao and Lin Nanjie up and down twice. He realized belatedly that his boss Yuan Xun had a murderous look in his eyes, and his legs suddenly went weak.

Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. "Your Majesty, this, this... is due to my negligence. I didn't have time to check the identity of the person."

An official pleaded: "After all, Mr. Qin has solved two old major cases in the capital, and his political achievements are obvious to all!"

In a flash, Lin Nanjie's eyes suddenly lit up: [Ah! I finally know! ]

Li Chengqian couldn't help but distract himself to listen to Lin Nanjie's heartbeat.

[You are so good, Shuntian prefect! You actually fabricated the case! ]

[They specifically pick those unsolved cases for trial, and then catch a criminal who already has a crime and pin the unsolved case on him. He will die anyway, so adding one more crime will lead to the same result.]

[It was like solving a big old case, and he was so happy that he gave himself the reputation of a great detective, and even privately said that he was the reincarnation of Di Gong! ]

【How shameless! 】

【Wow! Not only did he misidentify the case, he even created one when there was none! 】

Li Chengqian: ???