Chapter 40 My lord, the warehouse has been emptied.
Several officials, including the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Prefect Zhang, and the Commander of the Imperial City Guard, came to attend the Third Prince's celebratory banquet and were tasked with investigating the case in a time of crisis.
The box was covered in dust without any marks, as if it had been sitting still somewhere for a full year.
When the Third Prince saw those weapons, his pupils shrank and he panicked. Damn it, who framed him?
He knelt down and cried out to the emperor, "Father, someone has framed me. I beg you to investigate and give me justice."
The Emperor and the Third Prince said that the thieves had only put it there recently, so where did the dust come from?
It doesn't look like a fake.
The officials dared not deceive them and reported the truth.
Yun Jiaoyue was so frightened that her legs went weak and she couldn't kneel down. She fell to the ground, her face pale.
Possessing weapons is a crime of treason and collusion with the enemy. How could this be?
In her previous life, she married in a grand wedding with a ten-mile-long red bridal procession, becoming the envy of many noble ladies in the capital.
The Emperor glanced at the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, his eyes slightly closed, his face grim. "Guards..."
The third prince knelt on the ground and kowtowed, interrupting him loudly, "Father, I have no disloyal intentions. I have been wronged, just like my mother was wronged back then and proved her innocence with her death. Please, Father, believe me!"
Back then, his mother, Consort Xian, was favored by the emperor, which aroused the jealousy of many concubines in the harem.
Consort Shu sent someone to drug a guard with an aphrodisiac and put it in Consort Xian's palace. Just then, the Emperor suddenly arrived at Consort Xian's palace.
In his panic, the guard jumped out of the window to escape but was caught red-handed by the Imperial Guards. No matter how the Consort Xian explained, the Emperor would not listen and banished her to the Cold Palace, to be dealt with at a later date.
To prove her innocence, Consort Xian hanged herself in the Cold Palace.
It was only later that it was discovered that Consort Xian had been framed by Consort Shu.
The Emperor gave Consort Shu a cup of poisoned wine.
Consort Shu was the birth mother of the Second Prince, which is why the Second Prince was the least favored by the Emperor.
The second and third princes had a blood feud over the murder of their mother. The two brothers were at odds and always looked at each other with intense hatred, like enemies.
"Fine! I'll give you one last chance. Men, go and search the Third Prince's residence again, turn it upside down."
The imperial guards and government officials ran towards the backyard.
After half an hour of searching, they finally found a token engraved with a wolf totem in a secret room in the Third Prince's study.
The engravings are intricate and exquisite, indicating that the owner of this token is either wealthy or noble, and it seems to be exclusively used by the royal family of the Great Jing Dynasty.
Finally, one was also found in Yun Jiaoyue's dowry.
Yun Jiaoyue was terrified, having never seen anything like this before, and shook her head frantically.
"It wasn't me, Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Someone plotted against me. I am a woman confined to my quarters and have never been in contact with any men, let alone know anyone from Dajing. I have been wronged."
With conclusive evidence, the Third Prince will be severely injured, if not killed.
The emperor was furious, and the crown prince and the second prince were too lazy to try to soothe him. At this moment, if they were to say the wrong thing, they would suffer the emperor's wrath.
A junior officer from the Imperial City Guard recognized the token. "Your Majesty, a few days ago, I discovered traces of enemy spies in the city and dispatched troops to pursue them. When we met with them, I saw this token on the spy leader."
The third prince has the appearance of an emperor, is hiding weapons, intends to rebel, and is now involved with secret agents.
No matter which one it is, he'll be in deep trouble. The Crown Prince and the Second Prince exchanged a glance, their eyes full of schadenfreude.
Then they both looked away, heads down, continuing to play the quail.
"By my decree, the Third Prince is to be placed under house arrest in his residence. No one is to enter or leave without my permission." The Emperor rose.
The eunuch followed and shouted, "His Majesty is returning to the palace!"
"Respectfully seeing off His Majesty."
"Father, Father, I have truly been wronged."
...
Dali Temple.
The three judicial departments conducted a joint trial, which lasted for two hours, but still yielded no results.
Several ministers took turns interrogating Xiao Xuance. They had reached their positions because their words were not just for talking; every word they uttered was precious, and they would relentlessly exploit any loopholes in the conversation.
Their mission was accomplished once the Prince of Zhenbei's Mansion was nailed to the pillar of shame for treason and collusion with the enemy.
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review took the opportunity of relieving himself to consult with Prime Minister Qin, who was hiding behind the door.
"Your Excellency, Xiao Shi... the prisoner refuses to confess. Please advise me."
Prime Minister Qin glanced at her sideways, "So what if he doesn't plead guilty? You are the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. If you say he is guilty, then he is guilty!"
"this……"
Dali Temple official Qing was also a seasoned official who had been handling cases for many years. How could he not see that the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion had been wronged?
If the Prince of Zhenbei is later exonerated, and he, as the presiding judge, has made a wrong judgment and wronged a meritorious official, future generations will curse him for being unworthy of his position, leaving a bad name for eternity and bringing shame to his ancestors.
His hard-earned reputation, built up over many years, was ruined in an instant.
The Prime Minister Qin gave him an ultimatum: "I don't care what methods you have, you must convict him today, and we can't delay any longer."
"Master, master, something terrible has happened! A major incident has occurred in the manor."
"I have important business to attend to. If you have any questions, please go to the Madam or the Old Madam, or we can discuss them when I return to the manor."
"The mansion has been robbed. The storerooms have been emptied, all of them have been emptied. The old lady has fainted from anger. The madam sent me to inform the master to come back."
"Emptyed out? How could the warehouse be emptied out with so much stuff?"
"Master, it's all true. The shelves and boxes for storing things are gone, and the private vaults where the masters of the manor kept their things are also gone. They've all been stolen."
"This is outrageous! Report this to the authorities immediately and go find Prefect Zhang and the Imperial City Guard..."
"The Prefect and the Imperial City Guard are both at the Third Prince's residence. Only a few officials, constables, and yamen runners have come."
"Damn it. Who did this? If I catch him, I'll make him suffer every kind of torture in the Dali Temple, and make him wish he were dead."
"Master, the manor is in complete chaos. You'd better go back and take a look."
Lord Liu wanted to go back, but as the presiding judge, and with Prime Minister Qin watching, he couldn't leave.
"Well, I have important matters to attend to and cannot leave..."
The servant then said, "The doctor said the old lady is dying. She sent me to inform you to go back and see her one last time."
"Ah? Mother is dying, why didn't you say so sooner? That damned thief, I will definitely catch him and tear him to pieces."
The hatred for killing one's mother is irreconcilable.
Now he had no choice but to go back. He cupped his hands to Prime Minister Qin and said, "Prime Minister Qin, my residence has been emptied out, and I have no heart to handle this case. It would be better to hand this case over to Minister Li of the Ministry of Justice and Minister Chen of the Censorate. I will go back to my residence to see my old mother one last time."
"Go." Prime Minister Qin waved his hand casually. Although he was dissatisfied, there was no point in keeping someone who was not paying attention.
Why not give him some face?
Prime Minister Qin instructed his bodyguard, Minister of Justice Li, to take over the position of presiding judge.
However, Lord Li and Lord Chen received news at the same time that their mansions had been emptied, and they almost fainted from anger. Their limbs stiffened, and they were carried away by the officials.
Qin Xiang had no choice but to take his place.
However, as soon as he sat down in that position, a servant from the Prime Minister's residence came to report.
"Prime Minister, Prime Minister, something terrible has happened!"
"Bang!" Prime Minister Qin slammed his gavel in anger and shouted in a deep voice, "Silence! No noise is allowed in the courtroom! Take him away!"
"Your Excellency, something terrible has happened! The young master... he... he's in trouble..."
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