Chapter 207 Conviction
Su Mu quickly poured more tea for him. Qin Hanzhang drank a few sips again, then pursed his lips into a circle and exhaled loudly.
"Pfft..." Su Qianqian couldn't help but laughed out loud: "Is it that spicy?"
As he spoke, he reached out and picked up a piece of spicy chicken with chopsticks, chewed it with a deliberate smile, and leaned his head towards Qin Hanzhang.
The redness on Qin Hanzhang's face, which had just faded away, came back again. Su Qianqian's lively eyes looked at him provocatively, her cheeks puffing up, making him want to knock her forehead again.
"This thing is very powerful..." Qin Hanzhang stammered, lowered his head, picked up the bowl and continued eating.
He looks very much like a boy who transferred to Su Qianqian's class in her first year of high school. He was handsome, clean, quiet and had excellent grades.
She thought he was a very smart and capable guy, but one time she saw a few little girls blocking him at the school gate and asking him to give them money to buy them drinks, so he obediently gave them the money.
After Su Qianqian saw him leaving, she caught up with the little girls and asked them to hand over the money, saying that the boy was her relative's younger brother and she was protecting him.
Although she was reluctant, Su Qianqian looked like she would fight to the death even if she couldn't win. Those people had seen this before and didn't want to cause any more trouble, so they gave her the money, cursed her and left.
The next day after school, Su Qianqian gave the money to the boy and told him not to be so cowardly. The boy looked at her in surprise, then lowered his head and whispered, "I'm not a coward..."
Recalling her somewhat vague memories, Su Qianqian found that the faces of the people in her memory began to become blurred, but her own feeling at the time was very clear. Will she forget even her mother's face one day?
Su Qianqian was in a low mood and ate her meal in silence.
The city of Xijing has been very busy recently. Princess Zhaoning is marrying into the Daliang clan. The Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Works and Ministry of Households are all very busy with this matter. The Daliang envoy sent back the news, waiting for the Daliang emperor's envoy to arrive with the betrothal gifts, and then the Daliang crown prince will personally marry the princess back to Daliang. This round trip will take nearly half a year.
Although Princess Zhaoyang had not been granted marriage, the emperor's intention to choose a son-in-law for her was already very clear. The Ministry of Rites also made a list of outstanding young men of marriageable age from various noble families and sent it to the emperor's study, which showed that the emperor was still very fond of this princess.
In addition, the two young ladies of the Prime Minister's Mansion have also become a hot topic of discussion among people after dinner. In the past, only the eldest daughter, Xue Wanning, was known, but now the real daughter, Xue Zhiqing, appears more often at the banquets of the young ladies and wives in the backyard, and gradually the low-key fake daughter faded out of everyone's sight.
At the same time, two major cases happened. The emperor was furious in the imperial study. He thought that the country was peaceful and prosperous, but it was just self-deception, which made him very annoyed.
When all the confession files of Gu Yunqing's case were placed in front of him, he threw the Kirin black jade paperweight to the ground, and the broken jade flew everywhere.
"Ever since I assisted the late emperor in governing the country in the Eastern Palace, I have been very cautious and personally involved in everything. I never expected that such a bizarre and unjust case would happen right under my nose, and I lost one of my most honest and important officials!"
Emperor Gan De was deeply distressed. He sat on the huanghuali dragon-carved and gold-painted throne, rubbing his forehead and slightly closing his eyes.
I don't know what happened recently, but many things have been bothering him. After Qin Hanzhang returned to the court with a great victory, his joy was gradually diluted by the constant inexplicable things happening. Now this case is piercing his eyes again, as he had approved it with his own hand back then.
"Your Majesty, please take care of your body. I have recently taken the medicine given by the wife of Marquis Wuning and I feel better..."
Eunuch Zhu whispered a worried reminder, and the young eunuch quietly picked up the paperweight fragments and retreated.
Yin Heng, who was standing solemnly with his head down, had his eyes flickering slightly. He looked up secretly at the emperor's face and found that it was not so yellow, and he did not even smell that strong breath!
The emperor frowned and waved his hands, then opened his eyes to deal with state affairs.
"Your Majesty, speaking of the wife of Marquis Wuning, she has a distant cousin who lives in the Marquis Wuning's mansion. This man is smart and wise. He will be the recorder of the trial this time. I think..."
Zhuang Shizhao felt that this was an opportunity and spoke quickly.
Yin Heng glared at him, and Zhuang Shizhao gritted his teeth and changed his words: "I want to borrow this person to the Dali Temple and temporarily serve as the chief clerk to assist me in the trial of Fang Youan's assassination of Liu Zi."
The emperor raised his head and asked, "Why is the distant cousin of Marquis Wuning's wife staying in Marquis Wuning's mansion instead of Su Taifu's mansion?"
"Your Majesty, this humble servant knows something. Su Qian is a distant relative of Grand Tutor Su's late wife, Jiang. Now that it seems inappropriate for him to seek refuge with Grand Tutor Su, he has come to seek refuge with his cousin."
Minister Yin hurriedly explained and glared at Zhuang Shizhao again.
"I didn't expect that the wife of Marquis Wuning had such an outstanding distant relative. In this case, I approve it. This case must be investigated thoroughly. Don't let the same mistakes as the Gu Yunqing case happen again. If this happens again, you will all quit your official duties and go home to farm!"
Emperor Gan De's voice was light, but it sounded like a heavy hammer to Zhuang Shizhao and Yin Heng. They bowed and said hurriedly, "As you wish!"
"That recorder actually has such ability? I didn't even realize it. Let's see how Lord Zhuang handles this case." He Liansheng said expressionlessly on the side.
"It doesn't matter that Lord He just didn't notice this matter. I'm afraid that Lord He didn't notice more than this matter." Zhuang Shizhao smiled meaningfully.
"What do you mean, Lord Zhuang?" He Liansheng asked with his head tilted, his eyes still unable to tell whether he was happy or angry.
"Don't make a scene in front of me. If you're not afraid of being punished, go outside and have a fight."
Emperor Gan De looked up at Zhuang Shizhao and He Liansheng, then lowered his head to look at the file:
"This case was sentenced according to the laws of the Great Qi Dynasty. Zhang Kuinian and Zhang Yong were sentenced to immediate execution, their property was confiscated, and their families were exiled 2,000 miles away. Fu Zhixing was sentenced to immediate execution, his property was confiscated, and his family became government slaves. Mi Ziyong's property was confiscated and he was exiled 2,000 miles away. The rest of the accomplices were sentenced according to the law."
Yin Heng hurriedly bowed to receive the order, thought for a moment and then looked up: "Your Majesty, the Gu family brothers and sisters..."
Emperor Gan De frowned. He just didn't want to mention this matter. He pondered for a moment before drafting an order:
"Gu Yunqing died unjustly. The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue are ordered to return his confiscated property to his children and to make up his salary. He is also awarded a plaque of loyalty and bravery and a memorial archway of loyalty and bravery is erected in front of his residence to commend his integrity. In the future, one of his descendants may not take the imperial examination to become an official."
Emperor Gan De paused for a moment, then said, "Let's forgive the crimes committed by the Gu brothers and sisters."
Yin Heng said nothing more, and he, Zhuang Shizhao and Lian Sheng followed the order and withdrew.
"These annoying trivial matters all day long." Emperor Gan De held his forehead and closed his eyes, suppressing the irritation in his heart.
"Your Majesty, at this time of year in previous years, people would have gone hunting. If you go out for a walk and let off some steam, you might not feel so depressed."
Eunuch Zhu handed over a cup of tea that had been tested for temperature and placed it on Emperor Gan De's desk.
"Autumn hunting? I actually forgot about it. The Daliang envoy and the crown prince are both in Xijing, and the Marquis of Wuning is also back in the court. It would be a good idea to take this opportunity for the monarch and his subjects to enjoy themselves together."
Emperor Gan De felt a little more cheerful because there was still someone who could help her calm down.
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