036. Wrongful Conviction

The next morning, the Prince Regent was late as usual, but most of the court officials waiting outside Xuanzheng Gate were anxious.

After all, since the new emperor ascended the throne, the regent was still in power and the court was relatively stable. However, within less than five days, a secretary of the Dali Temple was sentenced to prison and the prefect of Jingzhao was also thrown into jail.

Liang Shenyu arrived on time. He had been going to the Regent's Palace regularly these days. When others asked him about it, he did not shy away and just said he was going to have dinner.

At this moment, everyone felt strange when they saw him.

After all, the Regent Prince got mad this time because of Fu Sheng Tower. Everyone knew that the chef of the best tower in the world knew a recipe book, and the exotic dishes there were simply unheard of. Those who had been to Fu Sheng Tower knew even better that the dishes there were much better than those of the chefs in the palace.

The Regent Prince is the real owner of Fu Sheng Tower, but the Regent Prince’s Mansion cannot eat Fu Sheng Tower’s dishes every day!

Therefore, it was not unreasonable for the Regent King to dislike the dishes served at the palace banquet that day.

And Dingbei Hou...

Maybe he really went there to have a free meal.

Only Ji Miaotong shrank his neck and pretended to be a quail. He was lucky enough to have seen Fu Sheng wearing a mask with his own eyes. Although the voice didn’t match... but this figure...

Can’t think about it. Can’t think about it.

If you want to live longer, you have to know less. Guanglu Temple Minister knew how to save his life, so he could become not only deaf but also blind.

Don't ask for much, just stay alive.

Only after all the officials entered the Xuanzheng Gate did Rongse's carriage slowly arrive at the palace gate. It was not that he came late on purpose today, because there was another carriage following behind him.

Rong Se pushed the door open and got out of the car. He turned to look at Yun Chu and smiled slightly: "Yun Zhi should be in Xuanzheng Hall. Yun Chu, you will go in with me today."

Yun Chu was silent for a moment. He had a vague guess in his mind and said in a low voice: "My Lord..."

The sun was shining brightly in the sky. In that instant, Yun Chu thought a lot, but in the end, he couldn't say a word.

I have waited for too long, hoped for too long, until this moment, all the hatred that has been accumulated for a long time and had to be suppressed and endured, poured out like a gate opening.

Yun Chu looked at Rong Se. He still had that bright and ruthless face, but the coldness in the past turned into a light and fragmented light, which fell into his eyes and became a soft and warm gaze.

"This king and Lan Ying have been busy for so long, all for today." Rong Se's eyes were firm and clear, without a trace of deep calculation, "You brothers have waited for too many years, and you all said that you would take revenge, but the time has not come yet. Yun Chu, now the time has come."

"Lan Ying she..." Yun Chu turned back in surprise.

Lan Ying opened the door of the carriage at the back, waved at him, smiled brightly, and said loudly, "Brother, don't worry!"

Rong Se also said softly: "I think you have guessed it. Zhang Haicheng can be lawless in Jizhou because he has someone in the capital to support him. He asked you to wait because the Ninth Prince is not enough to shake the other party, but the Regent Prince can."

In fact, Yun Chu already knew that Zhang Haicheng had a big tree behind him, but most of his subordinates were Rong Se's business, and spying and assassination were all done by Lan Ying. The big case in Jizhou was suppressed and did not cause any waves, and the evidence was destroyed early on, so it was almost impossible to investigate the old case.

"Don't just stand there." Seeing that he was silent, Rong Se urged, "Follow me in."

The Regent Prince, dressed in gorgeous clothes, walked among the ministers with his attendants. As soon as he sat on his own Qilin chair, there was a lot of discussion among the ministers.

Every time Rong Jing saw Rong Se arrogantly acting as the regent in front of him and looking down on the emperor, he was so angry that he wanted to grit his teeth. Now seeing him openly bringing his attendants to court, he thought he was a wise ruler, and said in an admonishing tone: "Uncle, bringing attendants to court in the morning... is not in accordance with the rules."

Rong Se raised his eyes and said sarcastically, "Who told you that he was a servant?"

Rong Jing's gentle expression suddenly froze.

Rong Se hummed softly, looked at the ministers, and said word by word: "Everyone has talked and discussed in the morning, all for the sake of Dajin. Today, I ask you to take a look at how the people in Dajin live. Yun Chu, why did you come to Xuanzheng Hall today? In front of Dajin's wise and capable ministers, explain clearly."

Yun Chu exchanged a glance with Yun Zhi who was standing in the line of ministers. The latter was obviously also extremely stunned. He then walked out in silence and stood beside Yun Chu.

The two brothers had exactly the same appearance, and Yun Chu was the first to speak.

"Common people." He paused for a moment, his fingertips digging into his palms in hatred, before he slowly continued to speak of the unknown but cruel past.

"I am from Yunhe County, Jizhou. My father, Yun Hexu, was a nobleman during the Yongshi period. My mother's family, the Mei family, has been engaged in business for generations."

"In the fifth year of the Yongshi reign, during the Dinghai year, Jizhou was hit by a severe drought. The people had no crops to harvest. When winter came, the fields were littered with starving people. People could be seen everywhere, dying of freezing, starvation, and disease. However, there was no relief food from the court. I was forced to do nothing. My parents could not bear to see this hell on earth, so they took out their savings to help the disaster victims. My mother's family, the Mei family, had always been kind and generous. They opened a granary and set up a porridge shop, but it was just a drop in the bucket. There were too many people, and they could not save them all. People kept dying."

When Yun Chu talked about this, he also recalled the winter in Jizhou that year. The heavy snow kept falling, the clouds covered the sky and the sun, and there was not a glimmer of hope. The living people struggled in the snow and did not want to die, while those who had already died became frozen bones buried in the snow.

The corpses were scattered for thousands of miles, a horrific tragedy.

The fluctuation in Yun Chu's eyes gradually faded.

At this point, the Minister of Justice Lu Shangqian frowned and said, "No, I remember that year, Jizhou Governor Zhang Haicheng had just taken office when Jizhou was in trouble. Zhang Haicheng did submit a petition for disaster relief funds, but he never asked for help again. Until the next year, he didn't report any losses. The situation in Jizhou shouldn't have been so serious!"

Yun Chu sneered, "Yes, Zhang Haicheng didn't get the disaster relief money, but the unrest of the refugees in Jizhou was suppressed. Until now, Jinjing still thinks that Jizhou was just a minor disturbance. But my lord, since you remember that incident, you must remember that Jizhou had many major cases that year. Most of the charges were for being rich and unkind, bullying the villagers, and taking human lives lightly. There were thirteen merchant families whose property was confiscated and their clans were exterminated by Zhang Haicheng!"

When he said this, Yu Qingzhou suddenly reacted, stepped out and said: "It is true. A few days ago, when I sorted out the files of the Dali Temple, I saw the thirteen cases of Jizhou in the winter of the fifth year of Yongshi. There were signatures of officials from the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice, as well as the late emperor's red-ink comments. However, it should not have been sent to the Minister of Justice at that time. Lord Lu did not sign his name, so he must not know about this. When I saw it, I thought that the case of the thirteen families exterminating their clans was not even qualified to be sent to the Minister of Justice at that time..."

"Of course not."

It was Yun Zhi who spoke this time. He was usually not good at speaking and his speech was slower than his brother's, but his words were more sad and heavy.

"The last family to be confiscated was our maternal grandfather's family, the Mei family. It was ridiculous that the Mei family had already spent all their wealth to help the disaster victims. The soldiers dug three feet into the house, but they couldn't find a few taels of silver."

Lu Shangqian was shocked, and at this time, the sage-like Minister of Finance Zhu Lanshan had an ugly face and scolded: "Nonsense, the Great Jin is a peaceful country, how could there be such an unjust case? Otherwise, with such a big commotion, why didn't the Jin capital hear anything?!"

Yun Chu laughed: "Of course it's because no one can leave Jizhou."

"My father had a good reputation and wrote a petition to seek justice for my grandparents in Beijing. As soon as he left, my mother was arrested by the county magistrate. In less than two hours, my father came back. I think he rushed home as soon as he reached the city gate."

At this point, Yun Chu's eyes suddenly turned red, and he could no longer suppress his hatred. He looked at the civil and military officials in the court, and suddenly snorted and laughed, his laugh was sarcastic and sad.

"When my father came back, he was grief-stricken. Later, we heard that there was a woman hanging on the city wall."

Yun Chu choked up and said, "She was very pregnant at the time and was going to give birth in half a month!"

The whole morning was filled with laughter.

Lu Shangqian and Yu Qingzhou both looked unhappy, especially Lu Shangqian. He frowned and muttered, "This is simply...simply unheard of."

"Hanging a pregnant woman from the city wall! She was hanged alive by her wrists! Two lives for one body!"

Yun Chu gritted his teeth and said sarcastically, "Not only that, my father was soon captured by the soldiers and beheaded in the streets. As a result, no one dared to file a complaint. The tragic case of Jizhou was covered up for fifteen years, a full fifteen years!"

All the ministers were silent for a while.

After a while, Lu Shangqian was silent, sighed, and suddenly bowed to the Yun brothers. He stood up and said to Rong Se, "These thirteen major cases should have been sent to me, but I only learned about them today. I am really derelict in my duty. However, this is an old case, and I cannot listen to one side's words. Your Majesty, please allow me to... reorganize the Ministry of Justice, so as to give justice to the innocent victims. I have been in the court for twenty-five years, and have been the Minister of Justice for eighteen years. I have failed to supervise to this extent, and I am ashamed of the grace of God!"

"The Xing Department needs to be rectified, but there is no rush."

Rong Se waved his hands and said softly, "Besides, it's not just the Ministry of Justice that needs to be rectified. Since I dared to let Yun Chu appeal in front of the Xuanzheng Palace today, I naturally did not listen to his one-sided story. There are still witnesses waiting outside the palace gate. But before the witnesses enter the palace, I have two other cases that I want you to hear."

Lu Shangqian was almost speechless. He worked in the Ministry of Justice and had a reputation as an iron-faced judge, which was praised for his fairness and impartiality. However, without him knowing anything, the people below had dared to openly obey his orders and secretly go to the extent of covering up the case.

There are some things that he is powerless to do, but after such a tragic incident, the Regent said there are other things, and Lu Shangqian almost lost hope in Dajin for a while.

"First, there was a scoundrel in Fushenglou in the capital who smashed the wine shop, molested women, and even tried to commit violence in the street. The secretary of the Dali Temple, You Changjin, protected the scoundrel."

"The second is that someone deliberately framed someone in Fushenglou and colluded with Jingzhao Prefecture Governor Meng Hua to arrest innocent people without any evidence. They tortured them severely without even the victims in the court."

"Master Yu should be aware of these two cases."

After Rong Se finished speaking, Yu Qingzhou nodded in agreement: "I did handle it."

"Okay." Rong Se nodded, his eyes fell on the pale-faced Zhu Lanshan, and he said slowly: "The villains smashed the wine shop and molested women at the instigation of Xue Shao, the owner of Qifengju, and the owner of Qifengju is named Zhu Hong. The second case, pretending to be a businessman to slander the wine shop for hiding drugs, was instigated by Zhu Hong."

Rong Se's eyes became sharper.

The life story summarized in just a few words was far less shocking than what the Yun brothers said in person. Even though they already knew it, they were still furious at this moment, and their anger turned into a sharp and powerful question.

"Minister Zhu, this Zhu Hong should be the steward in charge of your mansion, right?"