Song Yaozhu withdrew her inappropriate gaze, poured herself a glass of water, and cleared her throat.
"Yes, if we don't add fuel to the fire, are we just going to watch Father and the others suffer in prison?"
"That person..."
"Don't worry, he's not dead. That man already had epilepsy, and he stopped taking his medication early, so he foams at the mouth when he has a seizure." Song Yaozhu still couldn't help but ask him, "Do you have any connections in court? We can't keep Father and the others in jail forever!"
Xie Liwei lay down, stretched his long legs, and said, "Father has his own plans."
Knowing he wouldn't say anything more, Song Yaozhu was so angry that she turned around and went to her room to sleep.
No one slept peacefully that night.
The following day at court, the Emperor was furious that someone had openly committed murder right under his nose. He ordered the three judicial departments to conduct a joint trial, with Prince Xuan in charge, to find the true culprit.
King Xuan was in a real predicament.
He currently holds two major cases in his hands, but ultimately they are one case. However, if he fails to handle this case properly, he will be condemned by the entire world!
Those who don't want him to find out the truth will certainly not let him have a good life.
In a short time, some people in Dali Temple were poisoned, some were hit by carriages on their way home, and some drowned after falling into the moat while drunk.
King Xuan slammed his fist on the table in anger, “If you don’t want me to investigate, then come at me! How dare you touch my people!”
Everyone in the Dali Temple is now living in fear, afraid that they will be the next to suffer.
"Your Highness, I'm afraid this case really can't be investigated any further!" The Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review had a new tuft of white hair overnight, and he sighed repeatedly.
A somber atmosphere filled the Dali Temple when suddenly someone came to report: "Your Highness, someone outside is requesting an audience."
"who?"
"The man didn't reveal his identity, but simply gave me a letter and said that I would understand once I read it."
Prince Xuan took the pink handkerchief handed to him by his subordinate, his eyes wide with fury. It was Yongle's handkerchief! Could it be that someone behind the scenes had harmed his daughter?!
"Get him in here!"
Cao Zhi was "invited" inside, his hands were pinned behind his back, and he grimaced in pain.
When King Xuan saw this person, he was stunned for a moment.
With a full beard and a broad back, he looked like a black bear spirit.
Oh my god, isn't this the Cao Zhi that my daughter complained about in front of me?
"You may all leave!" King Xuan waved the crowd away and spoke to him alone.
He already knew whose person this was. Cao Zhi had accepted a favor from the Princess Consort of Xiaoyao, so he was naturally there to deliver a message on her behalf.
"This humble servant greets Your Highness!" Cao Zhi bowed respectfully, then explained the origin of the handkerchief in his hand.
Upon learning that his daughter was fooling around with the Princess Consort of Xiaoyao, Prince Xuan was so angry he nearly fell backward. Did she even know that the Emperor was now planning to settle scores with the Xie family?!
"The Princess humbly requests that Prince Xuan do her a favor and transfer the Xie family to the Dali Temple, so that they may no longer suffer the torment of punishment. The Princess will then step in to resolve the students' riot for you."
The students are currently indignant and need someone to mediate. The Princess Consort of Xiaoyao can indeed represent the Xie family, temporarily calming their emotions and giving them time to investigate the case.
"Does Your Highness not know that the Ministry of Justice is under the Emperor's control? How can I possibly intervene in this matter!"
The Emperor has made it clear that he intends to settle scores with the Xie family. As his brother, standing against him at this time will only provoke the Emperor's apprehension!
"Now that His Majesty has ordered the three judicial departments to jointly investigate the poisoning case, Your Highness can arrest all the students. Surely the prison cells of the Court of Judicial Review are not enough, so surely you can borrow the prison cells of the Ministry of Justice?"
King Xuan immediately understood and ordered all the students to go into the prison cells, where countless eyes were now fixed on the Ministry of Justice. This ensured that the officials wouldn't dare to use torture indiscriminately during their interrogations of the Xie family.
I'm just worried that the Xie family members will be detained in solitary confinement.
"Your Highness believes in His Highness's abilities. If His Highness can accomplish this, Your Highness will present you with a great gift."
After Cao Zhi finished speaking, he pulled an envelope from his chest and handed it over. When King Xuan unfolded it, he saw that it contained the names of all the people who had bought the exam papers! However, the list only contained half of the names!
"Very well, I will accept this generous gift!"
He thought Xie Liwei had been living a decadent life all these years, but little did he know that Xie Liwei had long been aware of these matters. The Xie family must also be looking to take this opportunity to remove the malignant tumor and parasite.
"Sigh..." He sighed deeply. The Xie family had devoted themselves to the Great Chen Dynasty, but his elder brother, the Emperor, could not tolerate them.
Soon, King Xuan personally led troops to the palace gate to arrest people. Song Yaozhu stepped in to defend them, and the two exchanged several witty remarks. When the students saw the soldiers with long swords, their feverish minds cooled down, and they began to feel afraid.
"Your Highness, these are all students of our Great Chen, the future of Great Chen. If we imprison them now, how will they be able to enter officialdom in the future?"
"Your Highness, please rest assured, this is merely a routine inquiry and will not leave any criminal record. We are all sitting here in silence because we want the authorities to find the murderer as soon as possible. I earnestly request your cooperation; I will certainly investigate thoroughly!"
"Who knows if you're just saying nice things but actually using torture to extract confessions behind my back!"
King Xuan assured him that he would only question the prisoners and would not use torture, but under the barrage of criticism from the crowd, he said, "Therefore, I promise that your relatives may visit you in prison at any time, as long as it does not interfere with the investigation! There will be no torture!"
After he finished speaking, he also gave a military order to close the case in ten days, which put the minds of the hundreds of students present at ease, and they obediently went to prison with him.
When the Minister of Justice learned of his promise, he was so angry that he kicked his legs and immediately ordered someone to transfer the Xie family to another prison, but was stopped by Prince Xuan who arrived in time.
“Lord You, these cases are all essentially the same, why separate them? If we share information, we can close the case faster!” King Xuan smiled shrewdly, and with a wave of his hand, the students who volunteered to go to jail behind him surged in like fish.
Everyone was eager to see the Xie family! They were overjoyed to hear they were in the same prison as the Xie family!
Minister of Justice You Mingwang was so angry that his beard trembled. "You! You! You! I want to go to the palace to see the Emperor!"
"How old are you? You have to tattle on such a small matter. I'm just borrowing your land for a bit. There are too many people here, and my prisons aren't big enough to hold them all!"
You Mingwang began to despair.
He failed to complete the task assigned to him by the emperor, and his career was over!
The Xie family's attempt to transfer to another prison failed, and soon, the Ministry of Justice's prison went from being filled with daily wails of agony to a scene of various poets reciting verses.
Most of the time, they listened to the Xie family elders lecturing, quoting classical texts; imprisonment had become a lecture-taking experience. Initially, the students wondered if the Xie family was overestimating themselves. But after attending a few lectures while in prison, their eyes were filled with uncontrollable admiration, which infuriated Yuwen Wuji.
With the students no longer hindering him, and with the complete list of those who had bought the exam questions provided by Song Yaozhu, Prince Xuan led his men to arrest people in various prefectures. Under duress and interrogation, he quickly found out who had leaked the exam questions.
Throughout history, the questions for the imperial examinations were set by the emperor, the cabinet, and the Hanlin Academy, with the emperor himself making the final decisions. Once the questions were drafted, they were sealed and escorted by the imperial guards to the examination hall, where they were stored and locked. They were only opened on the day of the examination, under the supervision of all the students.
Very few people have access to past exam questions, but some people still manage to make a lot of sense out of them.
For example, the emperor's trusted confidants.
When the Imperial Guards dragged Li Mang away, Li Wei lay prostrate on the ground, his back covered in sweat, unable to utter a single word of pleading for mercy.
He dared not utter a sound, fearing that the emperor would take his anger out on him.
He never expected that his godson and apprentice would do something so stupid!
"Investigate! Investigate thoroughly! I cannot keep such a person around me!"
Today they can accept bribes to sell exam questions, tomorrow they can accept money to assassinate him!
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