Chapter 558 Confession (First Update)
Minister Xing entered the palace to pay homage to the emperor.
The emperor was reviewing memorials in his study when he heard Eunuch Wei's report and had him brought in.
"Your Majesty, this humble subject pays his respects."
Minister Xing bowed respectfully.
The emperor sat behind his desk, put down a memorial he had already reviewed, picked up another, and asked, "What brings Minister Xing to the palace so suddenly?"
Minister Xing hesitated for a moment, then said, "Your subject... has something to report."
The emperor opened the memorial: "What matter cannot wait until the morning court session?"
Minister Xing thought to himself, "I can wait until the morning court session, but I'm afraid you'll be unhappy if I say it in front of all the civil and military officials."
On another note, we ran into the old chief minister and Chief Minister Yuan on the way. The old chief minister probably didn't see the contents of the document clearly.
I only glanced at it, so I shouldn't have been able to see it clearly.
Even if he saw it clearly, as a senior official, he would not publicize it.
Thinking of this, Minister Xing secretly felt relieved.
Minister Xing bowed respectfully and said, "It is a case, and I am unsure whether to discuss it in court."
The emperor asked, "What case?"
Minister Xing answered truthfully: "The case of Xianleju."
"Xianleju?" The emperor frowned. "The most famous brothel in the capital?"
"His Majesty also knows?" Minister Xing said in surprise.
No wonder he was so surprised. Xianleju may have a great reputation, but in the end it was just a brothel. The imperial city was clearly divided into classes, and it was harder than climbing to heaven to cross the class barrier.
If the emperor has no interest in visiting brothels, then he won't pay attention to them.
"I've only heard of it," the emperor said dismissively. "Does a case involving a brothel need to be brought up in the imperial court?"
Minister Xing said with a complicated expression, "This case involves a wide range of issues and is related to the royal family."
The emperor said calmly, "Which prince got into trouble while visiting a brothel?"
If you were a prince, it wouldn't be so difficult for you; I'm afraid you wouldn't feel this way.
Minister Xing knew that whether he stuck his neck out or not, he would be killed anyway, so he had no choice but to say it: "The courtesan of Xianleju died on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year."
The emperor remembered that it was the seventh day of the Lunar New Year; it was the day the army returned and the day he saw Ning'an again.
How could something like this happen on such a wonderful day?
The emperor frowned deeply.
At first, Minister Xing thought it was just a murder case among civilians and there was no need to alarm His Majesty, so he did not mention it in court.
Minister Xing continued, "But after investigation, I unexpectedly discovered that the courtesan of Xianleju was not actually dead. She faked her death and found a substitute to escape. Her real purpose was to get close to Doctor Gu of the clinic."
The emperor wasn't particularly interested in the affairs of a courtesan, but he paused at this point, asking, "Which clinic's Doctor Gu is it?"
"The clinic next to the girls' school is called Miaoshoutang." Minister Xing was unaware of the relationship between the emperor and Gu Jiao. In order to get the emperor's attention, he added, "Doctor Gu is Xiao Liulang's wife."
Xiao Liulang is the newly appointed top scholar by His Majesty's own hand, so His Majesty should have some regard for him.
In fact, Gu Jiao was also the daughter of the Marquis of Ding'an, but Gu Jiao herself never admitted it.
The emperor's eyes flashed with coldness: "What is a courtesan from a brothel doing approaching a doctor at a clinic?"
Minister of Justice: "Assassination."
"Assassination attempt..." The little miracle doctor?!
The emperor's expression turned puzzled and serious: "You just said that the case at Xianleju is related to the royal family. Could it be... that someone from the royal family instructed that courtesan to harm Doctor Gu?"
Minister Xing did not answer directly, but instead took out a confession and the case file from the wide sleeves he had sewn himself halfway there.
The emperor took the confession and the dossier, and he recognized that they were in Xiao Liulang's handwriting.
Xiao Liulang concurrently served as the Secretary of the Ministry of Justice. In Gu Jiao's words, he was Minister Xing's secretary and spokesperson. If he did well, he could become the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Justice in the future.
It is perfectly normal for him to write the case file and confession.
Of course, not all confessions were written by officials from the Ministry of Justice; some were written by the criminals themselves.
The confession stated that Bai Kun was not very literate, so it was written by Xiao Liulang, the clerk of the Ministry of Justice.
After reading it, the emperor slammed the confession on the desk with a loud bang: "Outrageous! Who interrogated this criminal!"
To avoid any further complications, Minister Xing simply said to the emperor, "I personally conducted the interrogation, while Xiao Liulang temporarily acted as the pen and ink scribe."
The scribes in the Ministry of Justice were usually lawyers from the yamen (government office), but if the lawyers were not in the yamen, the Minister of Justice could appoint someone else to take their place.
Xiao Liulang came from the Hanlin Academy, so he shouldn't be so unqualified as to not even be a scribe.
If it were a case tried by someone else, the emperor would probably want to retry it once or twice. However, Minister Xing and Xiao Liulang were both officials promoted by the emperor himself, and the emperor trusted them quite a bit.
The emperor was not very aware of Xiao Liulang's talent in solving cases. If Xiao Liulang had been the only one handling the case, the emperor might have suspected that he had been deceived. However, Minister Xing was an experienced judge, and he would not let a thief fool him.
Could it be... that the royal princess really did it?
But isn't that absurd?
Calling him "Brother Emperor" means that the young master behind the scenes at Xianleju is his sister.
He had only three younger sisters—Ning'an, Xinyang, and Huaiqing.
None of these three seem to be suspects.
Ning An goes without saying; how could someone as kind and innocent as her possibly associate with the power of a brothel and do something to harm the little divine doctor?
Huaiqing is an idiot and has no such ability.
It can't be Xinyang.
Xinyang was indeed a formidable character. Among so many princesses, she had neither the protection of her mother nor the exclusive favor of her father, yet she never suffered a loss at the hands of anyone.
She also received a wonderful marriage arranged for her by her father before his death.
She is indeed a shrewd woman.
But she had no reason to frame the little miracle doctor!
Minister Xing dared to ask, "Does Your Majesty have any ideas?"
The emperor said irritably, "What leads do I have? Are you sure you haven't been misled by the murderer?"
Although the emperor trusted Minister Xing's abilities, he would rather question Minister Xing's judgment than doubt his own sister.
Having come this far, Minister Xing had a basic guess in mind, but he didn't have any concrete evidence yet.
Xiao Liulang could tell him that the prince consort was killed by the Gu siblings, and that this was an internal investigation by officials within the Ministry of Justice—providing effective clues to deduce the motive of the mastermind.
But he couldn't say that to the emperor.
Just as Minister Xing was pondering how to speak to the Emperor, Eunuch Wei's voice came from outside the Imperial Study.
"Princess Ning'an, what brings you here?"
"I've prepared some ginseng soup to bring to my brother. Is he inside?"
"Well……"
Yes, it is, but I don't know if it's convenient or not.
"Ning'an, come in," the emperor said.
Eunuch Wei smiled and stepped aside: "Princess, please."
Princess Ning'an carried a food box in one hand and slightly lifted her skirt with the other before stepping into the imperial study.
Minister Xing turned and bowed to Princess Ning'an.
“This is…” Princess Ning’an looked at Minister Xing in astonishment.
The emperor introduced, "This is the Minister of Justice, whose surname is Xing."
"So it's Lord Xing." Princess Ning'an nodded. "My apologies."
Minister Xing bowed respectfully and said, "Your humble servant dares not."
Princess Ning'an said embarrassedly, "It seems I've come at the wrong time. If I had known that my brother was discussing official business with his ministers, I would have come later."
The emperor said, "It's alright, it's just a case based on hearsay. Since you're here, take a look."
As the emperor spoke, he handed the confession and the dossier to Princess Ning'an.
Princess Ning'an placed the food box on the table and took the document to read it.
While she was reading the documents, Minister Xing was subtly watching her.
Princess Ning'an grew increasingly astonished as she read on, her eyebrows furrowing at the end: "It was actually someone from the royal family who tried to assassinate Doctor Gu? But why?"
A hint of doubt crossed Minister Xing's mind. Princess Ning'an showed no sign of guilt. Could it be that they had guessed wrong?
Logically speaking, having a motive is not enough; there must also be the opportunity to commit the crime and evidence, commonly known as witness testimony and physical evidence.
The emperor scoffed, "You think it's absurd too, don't you?"
Ning An suddenly lowered her eyes and smiled bitterly: "His Majesty only has three sisters, and of these three, I have the most contact with Doctor Gu. The consort died at the hands of her and Prince Gu. So it seems that I am the most suspicious."
The emperor's face darkened: "Nonsense! How could you do such a thing! In my opinion, it is clearly someone with ulterior motives who wants to smear the royal family!"
Princess Ning'an sighed, "But didn't the murderer confess?"
The emperor said coldly, "It's not necessarily true that the murderer is lying. Or perhaps he isn't lying, but someone is impersonating a royal princess to contact him."
Princess Ning'an slowly turned her head to look at Minister Xing: "Minister Xing, do you think there are these two possibilities?"
Minister Xing opened his mouth, took a weak breath, and said, "Before the truth comes out, all assumptions are possible."
“Oh, right, it also mentions two other witnesses. One is the courtesan of Xianleju who faked her death, and the other is also a girl from Xianleju, named…” Princess Ning’an seemed not to remember the name. She looked at the document before saying, “Ah, Hua Xiyao.”
As she spoke, her gaze fell once again on Minister Xing's face: "May I ask, Lord Xing, where are these two witnesses now? Could they be allowed to appear in court to testify? It is rather hasty to conclude that Xianleju is colluding with the royal family based solely on the testimony of one assassin. What do you think, Lord Xing?"
Princess Ning'an's gaze was very gentle, yet for some reason, Minister Xing's forehead felt a little cold.
He composed himself and said, "Princess Ning'an is absolutely right. However, neither of these two witnesses is currently able to appear in court to testify."
"Why?" Princess Ning'an asked softly.
Minister Xing said, "Hua Xiyao was drugged and will not wake up for six or seven days. Another girl named Mo Qianxue is seriously injured and is being treated at the clinic. According to Xiao Shuling, her condition is not good either."
Otherwise, according to normal procedures, Mo Qianxue would have been taken back to the Ministry of Justice for detention.
Princess Ning'an sighed thoughtfully, "One was drugged and the other was injured. What bad luck. Lord Xing, they are both important witnesses in this case. You must protect them well and not let them be silenced. Otherwise, the truth of this case will never be revealed."
Upon hearing this, Minister Xing subconsciously glanced at Princess Ning'an.
Princess Ning'an smiled at him openly and honestly.
Minister Xing lowered his eyes, frowned slightly, and cupped his hands, saying, "What the princess says is absolutely right. Your humble servant... will certainly increase manpower to protect them!"
...
After leaving the palace, Minister Xing returned to the Ministry of Justice.
Xiao Heng's duty room was right behind Minister Xing's. Hearing the commotion, Xiao Heng put down his pen and went to Minister Xing's duty room: "My lord."
Minister Xing slumped wearily into his chair and recounted the conversation that had taken place in the Imperial Study to Xiao Heng: "...It really is flawless. Could we have suspected the wrong person? Is the murderer actually Princess Huaiqing or Princess Xinyang?"
Xiao Heng was not surprised by this development at all. If the other party didn't even have this much skill, they wouldn't have been able to get to where they are today.
He was glad he hadn't bet his chips on the emperor.
Xiao Heng said, "It's not Princess Xinyang."
Minister Xing gave him a strange look: "How do you know?"
“I often go to the clinic,” Xiao Heng said. “Princess Xinyang contracted a heart ailment a few years ago, and only Doctor Gu can cure her. She is still not fully recovered and is still taking the medicine that Doctor Gu gave her. She will not kill Doctor Gu at this time.”
Minister Xing had heard that Princess Xinyang had suffered from a heart ailment due to the loss of her beloved son. He had heard that she had followed the imperial physician's advice to leave the capital, a place of sorrow, and go to Fengdu Mountain for recuperation in order to recover from her illness.
"Princess Huaiqing?" Minister Xing shook his head decisively. "Surely someone isn't actually impersonating a royal princess?"
Xiao Heng suddenly said, "Actually, it wouldn't have been a problem if she hadn't reminded you, sir."
Minister Xing asked, puzzled, "What do you mean by that?"
Xiao Heng smiled faintly and said, "My lord, Princess Ning'an is right. You must send more people to keep a close watch on the clinic and the Ministry of Justice prison, so that no one has a chance to kill and silence us."
(End of this chapter)
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