Chapter 98
Lin Nanjie sat down at the table, held the candle in front of him, and unfolded the blood letter beside the candle. The blood letter was written on thick kraft paper, which gave off a strong fishy smell. There were crooked words written on it, all written in blood. Some places had already turned deep red, which looked shocking.
Li Dai coughed twice and waved his hand in front of his nose.
"This smell... is too fishy."
"My Lord, what does it say?"
Lin Nanjie held the blood letter in his hand and read it line by line. He took a deep breath and closed the blood letter:
“There is a wrongful conviction.”
"Unjust...unjust case!"
Li Dai was greatly shocked. He turned his head and looked in the direction of the west chamber, muttering, "This is a serious injustice."
“You’re pretty good at finding a place.”
Lin Nanjie folded the blood letter and put it away, then said to Li Dai, "Come on, take me to see that person."
Li Dai quickly agreed, holding the lantern and taking Lin Nanjie to the west room.
The west wing was originally uninhabited, but to prevent friends and colleagues from staying overnight, Li Dai had it decorated as a bedroom. At the moment, the man who presented the blood letter was lying on the bed in the west wing, his body was covered in blood, emitting a strong stench, and there were crisscrossing whip marks on his body, as if he had been severely whipped not long ago, his skin and flesh were bruised and purple, very scary.
Li Dai couldn't help but say, "You'd better not look at it, it's scary."
Lin Nanqi covered his nose and said, "Why does this person smell so bloody?"
Li Dai quickly opened the window: "Maybe he came all the way from somewhere else and didn't change his clothes, plus the weather is hot."
Lin Nanjie walked to the bed and looked carefully at the person on it.
The man's face was covered in blood, and his true appearance could not be seen. Lin Nanqi asked Li Dai to get a large basin of water, and he stayed in the west room. The man was dressed simply, and nothing could be seen from his clothes. Lin Nanqi turned over his hands and saw that his palms were thick and his right hand was covered with old knots, like the hands of someone who often worked.
Ordinary people would not travel all the way to Beijing from far away places unless they encountered a great injustice.
What's more, the timing is just too coincidental.
It just happened to be related to a case he was currently handling.
This case is a case of kidnapping a woman.
There is a place called Tianshui Town in Huaiqing Prefecture.
There was a wealthy man in Tianshui Town named Fan Zhaoming. His ancestors had been high-ranking officials. Although he was not an official in his area, he was also a well-known landlord in the area. Fan Zhaoming was not only a spendthrift, but also obsessed with women. He wanted to take possession of a peasant girl named Qingwan. Unexpectedly, Qingwan had a childhood sweetheart who was strong-willed and refused to obey. Fan Zhaoming forced her parents to death.
Qingwan was grief-stricken and went to the county government to sue Fan Zhaoming, but the people of Tianshui Town were united, and the county government took a lot of advantage of Fan Zhaoming, and directly declared him innocent. I thought that was the end of it, but Qingwan went to the higher authorities and alarmed the imperial envoy who was inspecting Huaiqing Prefecture, so they arrested the rich man and sentenced him to beheading.
The verdict was reported to the Ministry of Justice, which reviewed it and some people thought the sentence was too severe and that exile would suffice, not beheading. However, the final result of the review was still beheading.
Soon after, the case was reported to the Censorate and fell into his hands. If the Censorate gave a seal of approval, the crime of beheading would be confirmed.
Just at this moment, someone related to the case appeared at his door and handed him a letter written in blood.
The blood letter said that he was Qingwan's childhood sweetheart, they grew up together, they loved each other, and he helped the girl to sue, but who would have thought that he would get into trouble. Now he was arrested and thrown into the state prison, waiting to be executed, not the real guilty nobleman, but his father, who was made a scapegoat.
If this is true, it is not an ordinary case.
From Tianshui Town to Huaiqing Prefecture, and then to the capital, the connections must be extensive.
There was a noise outside, and Li Dai had already brought the doctor in. When the doctor entered the room and saw the person on the bed, he was also shocked. He went forward to check the wound, and then took the pulse. Finally, he said to Lin Nanqi and Li Dai with a serious face: "This person's injuries are serious and he has a high fever. He must be treated immediately. I will write a prescription first, you can follow the prescription, and I will treat the wound immediately."
Lin Nanqi nodded and said to Li Dai, "Please ask the housekeeper to go to the pharmacy in the city to get some medicine. This person is very important."
Li Dai realized the seriousness of the matter and did not dare to delay. After the doctor finished writing the prescription, he left immediately.
After more than half an hour, he finally came back with a large bag of herbs: "I went to several drugstores in the city, and finally one was willing to open. The herbs inside were rare, so I went to two stores before I could get all the herbs."
Lin Nanjie said to Li Dai gratefully, "Thank you, housekeeper."
The doctor had treated the wound and told Li Dai about boiling the medicine. Li Dai told his men to do it.
After working all night, it was already dawn. Lin Nanjie hadn't slept all night. He looked at the sky outside and said to Li Dai, "Uncle Li, prepare the carriage. I'm going to change my clothes and go to court."
Li Dai looked at Lin Nanjie's tired expression and advised, "I've asked the kitchen to prepare some millet porridge. Eat some before you go."
Lin Nanjie had no appetite now and shook his head: "Let's go to court first and have dinner when we come back. You must keep an eye on this person. Anyone who comes to the mansion to ask about him will say that they have never seen this person."
Li Dai: "Don't worry, sir."
There was no time to sleep, and Lin Nanjie was no longer sleepy. He took the blood letter in his hand, got on the carriage, and drove towards the Meridian Gate.
When the court was about to start, all the civil and military officials lined up in the main hall, and the six ministries began to submit petitions. When it came to the Ministry of Justice, Lin Nanqi's ears perked up. The incident of Fan Zhaoming had caused a lot of uproar, and the Minister of Justice Cai Yuanli mentioned the matter: "Reporting to the emperor, the Ministry of Justice's review results are consistent with the prefecture's, and the sentence is still to be executed. The documents have been handed over to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and they will be sent back to the prefecture for immediate execution after verification."
"It's just that the Censorate's review has taken too long. To this day, there is still no news."
If it weren't for Cai Yuanli's position as the Minister of Justice, Yuan Liu would have wanted to roll up his sleeves and curse.
What does it mean until today?
How many days has it been since this document was sent to the Censorate?
When they have nothing to do in the Censorate, they serve the Ministry of Justice every day!
Yuan Liu was about to speak when Lin Nanjie suddenly walked out from behind his sight. Yuan Liu stopped in his tracks.
Lin Nanjie actually took the initiative to take the responsibility?
Well, not bad, not bad. The child is teachable.
Lin Nanjie stepped out of the line, but first said in his heart: "Someone knocked on my door last night. Someone handed me a letter written in blood, saying that the person currently detained in the state prison is not the real Fan Zhaoming, but a scapegoat."
Li Chengqian felt nervous.
Knocked on Lin Nanjie's door late at night?
What if it's a bad guy?
Lin Nanqi straightened up and glanced at Li Chengqian.
[I will come to see you later.] Xinyin said confidently, [The weather is too hot recently, I want to eat something cold.]
A smile appeared in Li Chenghuan's eyes, and he nodded almost imperceptibly.
Lin Nanjie immediately understood: "I have an urgent matter to report. At 15:30 last night, someone knocked on my door and handed me a letter written in blood. The letter said that the person detained in the state prison was not the real criminal Fan Zhaoming, but a scapegoat."
When these words came out, the court was shaken.
Cai Yuanli's face was slightly unhappy: "Master Lin, what do you mean by this? Are you saying that my Ministry of Justice's review is wrong? You are questioning the Ministry of Justice. If this matter is wrong, can you bear the consequences?"
Lin Nanjie said quickly, "I dare not question the procedures of the Ministry of Justice without authorization. It's just that this matter has come to my house, so I have no choice but to do it. I hope that the Minister will forgive me. If there is any mistake, I will bear all the responsibility."
Cai Yuanli snorted coldly.
At this time, someone suddenly stood up and said, "I think what Lord Lin said makes sense. Now that the matter has been exposed, we should deal with it as we should. We can't let people be wronged."
Lin Nan pricked up his ears and looked slightly to the side behind him.
Liu Weiming, the Minister of Personnel.
Cai Yuanli snorted coldly: "What else can I say!"
Wang Wenhe said, "Of course. Now that things have come to this, we can find out whether someone has taken the blame, why they were convicted, and whether it was voluntary or involuntary. These are all within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice. The Censorate is only exercising its supervisory responsibility."
The two exchanged sharp words, and Cai Yuanli had no choice but to take on this hot potato. With a pair of deep eyes gleaming with coldness, he said to Lin Nanjie: "In that case, Lord Lin, please hand over the blood letter to me."
Lin Nanjie presented the blood letter.
Cai Yuanli: "Where is the person who submitted the blood letter now?"
Lin Nanjie remained calm and said, "He only left a blood letter and did not see anyone."
After the court session, Lin Nanjie was called away by Wang Wenhe alone, leaving only the two of them. Wang Wenhe's face darkened.
"Nonsense! Why didn't you discuss this important matter with me in advance?"
Lin Nanjie said, "Aren't you afraid that you won't agree?"
"You know I won't agree to it!" Wang Wenhe's beard bristled with anger, "One or two of them are troublesome."
Lin Nanjie and Wang Wenhe were no longer angry.
Wang Wenhe glared: "What are you still doing standing there?"
Lin Nanqi stepped forward and said, "Sir, there is something fishy about this matter."
"You knew something was fishy, but you jumped in? And you handed the blood letter directly to the Ministry of Justice?"
Wang Wenhe's eyes were filled with disbelief.
Lin Nanqie smiled servilely: "Isn't it because I'm afraid that you are too eager to protect your son?"
Wang Wenhe snorted coldly.
Lin Nanjie said, "I noticed something fishy last night." He took something out of his pocket and presented it to Wang Wenhe. "Look, this is the real blood letter."
Wang Wenhe was startled and quickly took the blood letter and said, "What did you give to Cai Yuanli? Why does this blood letter... smell so bad?"
Lin Nanjie said slowly, "The blood letter I gave to Master Cai was written with the blood of a chicken I slaughtered last night."
Wang Wenhe: …
Lin Nanqi pointed at the blood letter in Wang Wenhe's hand and said, "This blood letter is also fake."
Wang Wenhe: ???
王文鶴一把年紀，一時間被沖擊得沒反應過來，畢竟督察院又不是斷案的，平時忙着參人，倒是對這些旁門左道不太精深。
“也是假的，那這是？”王文鶴看着手中的血書，渾身發毛。
林楠績眼神發光：“你聞，這血書味道奇臭無比，并不像尋常人血。”
王文鶴老臉微微發白。
誰會特意注意人血放一段時間以後是什麽味道。
看到血書，只會以為是冤主的血。
“也不像朱砂啊……”
林楠績斬釘截鐵：“是豬血！”
“豬血？”王文鶴倒是沒有想到這點，“所以這麽臭？”
林楠績點點頭：“人血、雞血、豬血，看起來不容易分別。然而雞血比人血腥，豬血放一段時間更為惡臭，且顏色更深。”
王文鶴仔細看了看血書上的字跡，顏色确實很深，有些字跡甚至呈現暗紅的色澤。
王文鶴神色疑惑：“你怎麽想到掉包血書？”
林楠績仔細将昨天晚上的事情經過和王文鶴說了一邊：“微臣那府宅，又不是什麽起眼的所在，京城同僚們都未必個個知曉，他一個外鄉人居然精準地暈在了我門口，微臣不由得不多心。”
“況且，雖然有血書為證，但我并未到天水鎮親自查探過，不能全然信服。況且，尋常人蒙冤定是咬破自己的手指寫下血書，可這血書卻是用豬血寫成的。”
王文鶴點了點頭：“不錯，你想得很謹慎，若這血書是真的，牽連甚廣。若這血書是假的……”
林楠績臉上笑容一收，對着王文鶴雙手行禮：“那便是沖着下官來的。”
王文鶴神情一變：“不錯。事情由刑部和大理寺調查，多半是要借這兩者的手來對付你。你可有樹敵？”
林楠績苦笑一聲：“下官自然是樹敵無數。”
王文鶴也覺得自己問了一個蠢問題，他們這些言官，還不是天天得罪人。
“不過……未免太興師動衆了。”
王文鶴來回踱步，百思不得其解，朝中幾位元老級別的大臣對林楠績為官這事都沒什麽意見，至于這麽興師動衆牽連甚廣地對付林楠績嗎？
林楠績贊同地點點頭：“王大人說的是，這件事恐怕沒有這麽簡單。”
王文鶴罕見地動怒：“這幫王八羔子，平日裏被參得少了，竟然用這樣下作的手段！”
“老夫非得好好整頓他們不可！”
“敢動督察院的人，也不掂量掂量自己幾斤幾兩！”
林楠績看着王文鶴義憤填膺的模樣，又感動又擔憂，連忙倒了杯茶：“大人息怒，消消氣，消消氣。”
林楠績生怕給人氣出個好歹了，扶着王文鶴在椅子上坐下，又遞上茶。
王文鶴喝了口茶，順了順氣，“你放心，這血書放在我這裏收着，若是他們敢為非作歹，老夫絕不可能善罷甘休！”
林楠績感激道：“多謝大人！”
林楠績又說道：“送血書的那人恐怕也有貓膩，如今正在下官府上，還請大人暫時保密。”
王文鶴自然全答應下來。
林楠績從督察院出來回府，直奔西廂房。
“李叔，人怎麽樣了？”
李岱說道：“瞧着比昨晚好多了，只是還昏迷不醒。”
林楠績走到床邊，看見床上躺着的人已經被擦洗過來，身上也換了幹淨衣裳，臉上的血污被擦幹，露出本來面目。長相平凡憨厚，是丢進人堆裏也找不到的容貌。
這人雙眼緊閉着，面色黝黑，屬于晚上不打着燈籠都看不出有個人的黝黑。
林楠績坐在床邊碎碎念叨：“你的那封血書，我已經當着皇上和文武百官的面交給刑部了。這刑獄推斷是刑部和大理寺的職責，交給他們，一定會查個水落石出的。”
“如果你血書上所說的是真的，他們按照上面的線索去查證，相信結果很快就會出來。”
“要是那範兆明被找着了，恐怕也沒有什麽好下場。刑部的酷刑五花八門，不知道你有沒有聽過腰斬，腰斬就是把人從中間切開。因為人的五髒六腑都在上半身，因此被腰斬的人不會一下子就死，得要好一會兒才會斷氣，哎呀呀，真是痛苦萬分。”
“還有木樁刑，木樁就是棍子，但卻不是用棍子大人，而是用棍子直接從人的嘴或者□□裏插進去，整根沒入，穿破胃腸，哎呀呀，苦不堪言啊！”
床上的人眼皮一顫。
“範兆明膽敢讓人頂罪，膽大包天，死不足惜！”
“如果血書上是假的……恐怕會落得個萬劫不複的境地，就連本官也會丢官。”
黝黑的漢子臉色微微發灰。
李岱看着林楠績對着病人碎碎念的樣子，欲言又止。
這是什麽讓病人醒過來的辦法嗎？
讓他一個身經百戰的人都有些不寒而栗。
可惜的是，林楠績快把滿清十大酷刑背完了，床上的人也沒有睜眼，他走出西廂房，招來李岱，在他耳畔低聲吩咐了幾句。
李岱雙眼陡然睜大，然後遲疑地點點頭：“大人放心，我這就照您吩咐的做。”
交代完了以後，林楠績就進了宮。
紫宸殿裏，李承銑知道林楠績要來，命人備下了冰酪和其他點心。
紫宸殿裏都是熟人，沒人攔着林楠績，林楠績直接進了暖閣，一路上走得滿頭大汗。
李承銑看得心疼不已：“知會一聲，朕派龍辇去午門接你。”
林楠績腦補了一下他坐着龍辇一路從午門走到紫宸殿的場景，吓得連忙制止：“不了不了，走走挺好的。”
李承銑抽出帕子，擦了擦林楠績額頭上的汗珠，順手遞過去茶盞：“先喝些溫茶。”
兩人在擺着冰酪點心的桌子旁坐下。
林楠績吃着冰酪，頓時覺得涼爽起來。
吃到一半，林楠績才說：“我是來說血書的事情的。”
李承銑點點頭：“說說看。”
林楠績說出自己的判斷：“你能聽見我的心聲，應該知道我知曉一些事情。”
李承銑點點頭。
林楠績接着說道，也有些納悶：“但這件事不在我所知曉的範圍，也許是因為我和原身交換了，許多事情并非原本的模樣。這樁案子原本就不複雜，天水鎮的範兆明欺壓百姓，強占民女，但并沒有替罪羊一說。”
李承銑估摸着林楠績吃得差不多了，将點心挪到他面前：“少吃點冰的，寒涼。”
“朝會散後，我就讓廖白帆去查探，你府宅周圍安插了暗衛，根據暗衛回禀，正如你猜測的，那個人進了京城，直奔你府上。”
兩人對視了一眼，都從對方眼中看到了“來者不善”四個字。
林楠績納悶了：“為什麽沖着我來，這個案子又跟我沒關系。”
李承銑拿起帕子擦了擦他嘴邊的點心屑，語氣漫不經心：“如若血書是假的，就有關系了。”
林楠績郁悶地點了點頭：“可不是。”
李承銑指尖蘸了蘸水，在桌面上畫了一個圓圈。
“引蛇出洞。”
林楠績墨色發亮的眼睛眨了眨：“那我就靜觀其變？”
李承銑颔首點頭，眉頭輕輕皺起：“這個節骨眼上，宮裏宮外暗潮湧動，暗殺朕不成，又挑你下手，沒這麽簡單。”
林楠績若有所感地問：“可是宮裏又發生了什麽？”
李承銑幽幽地嘆了口氣：“不知道錦衣給母後灌了什麽迷魂湯，母後幾次提起想讓她入後宮。”
林楠績：……
林楠績眼神涼飕飕地看着李承銑。
李承銑舉起雙手：“別這麽看着我。”
不知道想到什麽，李承銑臉色泛青：“一看見錦衣，就勾起朕一些不好的記憶。”
想起一段頭頂綠的發慌的日子。
李承銑收住腦海中的思緒：“錦衣或許和黔州有關。”
林楠績頓時警惕：“她在皇宮布局這麽久，要有動作。”
李承銑：“朕已經提前傳書給舅舅，讓他暗中調兵回京。”
林楠績心中一緊。
李承銑擡手摸了摸他的臉頰：“暗中的這些人，一日不除，我們的日子一日難安，不如将計就計，一勞永逸。”
林楠績擡手抓住李承銑的手腕，定定地看着他的眼睛：“可有危險？”
李承銑眼神柔軟：“各處朕的安排了人手，不必擔憂，刑部那邊或許會刁難你，別擔心，我早已吩咐過，司元巽不會坐視不管。”
林楠績沉默了一瞬，歪頭看他：“真的不會涉險？”
李承銑點點頭。
林楠績放下筷子，義正言辭地看着他：“微臣還是搬回紫宸殿吧。”
李承銑啼笑皆非：“現在又想回來了？”
林楠績點點頭。
李承銑：“你府上的那個人打算如何處置？”
林楠績陷入糾結，幽幽地嘆了口氣：“算了，先去解決府上的事，解決完我就搬回來。”
李承銑握住他的手：“不急于一時，今晚還是可以留下的。”
林楠績水潤的雙眸瞪大：？？？
“好哇，你給我下套。”
李承銑肆無忌憚地笑了，眼角眉梢盡是得逞的神色。
The next morning, Lin Nanjie had breakfast in the palace, left the palace and returned to his residence, and also took a visit from a chef in the palace who was good at making ice cream.
After returning home, Lin Nanjie immediately called Li Dai and asked, "How is that person?"
Li Dai's face was filled with joy: "Your Excellency is amazing. I asked someone to find all the tortures from past dynasties and recited them in rotation in that man's ear all night. Finally, he woke up!"
Lin Nanjie: "Did he say anything?"
Li Dai said: "I just want to see you, sir."
Lin Nanqi nodded, got up and went to the west room, and said to Li Dai who was following behind him: "No need to follow me."
Li Dai suddenly became anxious: "How can we do that? What if he wants to do something to you? It will be very dangerous!"
Lin Nanjie said helplessly: "Then Uncle Li will bring people to guard outside the door."
Only then did Li Dai agree.
Lin Nanjie entered the west room, closed the door, and walked to the bed.
The person lying on the bed had opened his eyes and slowly moved his gaze towards Lin Nanjie. He then stood up and saluted: "Master Lin, thank you for saving my life!"
Lin Nanqi quickly stopped him: "You are injured, no need to be polite."
Lin Nanjie sat down beside him and looked at this man, finding him interesting.
He had instructed everyone to do so, and when he woke up, there was nothing unusual on his face.
"What is your name?"
"My name is Changfu, Chang means often and Fu means blessing."
Lin Nanqi nodded: "Changfu, what a good name."
Chang Fu scratched his head, and a somewhat embarrassed smile appeared on his dark face: "It's my name, thank you for the compliment, sir."
Lin Nanjie's expression was gentle: "I have already handed over your blood letter to the Ministry of Justice."
Chang Fu: "Thank you for redressing my grievances!"
Having said that, Chang Fu wanted to bow again.
Lin Nanjie: "Don't thank me, it's all my duty. Besides, this blood letter needs to be re-investigated after it is handed over to the Ministry of Justice, which will take time."
Chang Fu was anxious: "But the officials in the Ministry of Justice are unwilling to investigate? Fan Zhaoming is a piece of shit! He is in collusion with officials and businessmen! He is in cahoots with everyone! I am willing to be a witness."
Lin Nanqi's eyelashes drooped: "Well, this is not urgent."
Chang Fu showed a puzzled look: "Why not hurry? My father's life is in danger."
Lin Nanjie explained, "Now that this matter has become a hot topic, the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple have dispatched personnel to Huaiqing Prefecture, and they should have arrived by now. I am worried about you now."
Chang Fu looked blankly: "Me? What do I have to worry about?"
Lin Nanqi said patiently, "You risked your life to come here to deliver the blood letter. If you show up rashly, it will definitely cause quite a commotion, and you might even be tortured into confessing."
Chang Fu shuddered all over when he thought of the tortures he had read all night.
"Then, when can I go out?"
Lin Nanjie comforted him, "Don't worry. Your injuries are still serious and you need to rest. You should stay in my house for a while until the outside investigation comes out."
Chang Fu looked around and rubbed his hands in embarrassment: "I'm afraid that the officials in the capital have also been bribed by Fan Zhaoming and my father has been harmed. I'd better go to the Ministry of Justice to file a complaint."
Lin Nanqi's eyelids twitched. It seemed that Chang Fu was very concerned about the Ministry of Justice.
"Do you know where the Ministry of Justice is?"
Chang Fu scratched his head and said, "I'll keep asking and I'll eventually find the answer."
"Then do you know who is the head of the Ministry of Justice?"
Chang Fu stammered, "Shang... Shangshu Lord. I heard that Shangshu is the most senior official in the six ministries. It's right to go to Shangshu Lord."
Lin Nanqi nodded: "Yes, you are right, the Shangshu is indeed the highest official in the Ministry of Justice. So, have you thought about what you will say when you meet the Shangshu?"