Chapter 170 Evidence
As everyone was speculating about the subtle atmosphere between the two, the princes came over from the side of the Fengtian Hall.
Li Jifeng had sharp eyes and spotted Xie Tingzhou at a glance and ran up to him.
"The sun is rising from the west. Why did you want to go to court today?"
Xie Tingzhou retracted his gaze from Shen Yu and asked, "Then why did you come to court?"
"You don't know this." Li Jifeng said: "Since I was crowned king, my father forced me to attend court every day. I have been attending court for a long time, but you don't know it."
Xie Tingzhou smiled and said, "It's rare that you listened to me."
"I'm not stupid. Father wants me to be seen every day. One less time is better." Li Jifeng suddenly had an idea. "Oh, I understand."
"Know what?"
Li Jifeng came over with a smile and whispered, "You are here to see Shi Yu as well, right?"
Xie Tingzhou looked at him and said nothing.
"How pitiful! Such a lovely couple was torn apart by my father. They can only go to the palace to take a look at them if they get up before dawn to attend court." Li Jifeng said sarcastically.
Xie Tingzhou: "Poor Yuanyuan?"
"You are ignorant." Li Jifeng said, "Among mandarin ducks, only the male one is a mandarin duck."
Xie Tingzhou did not respond, but saw out of the corner of his eye that Prince of Qi Li Yanchang was walking towards Marquis Xuanping.
Li Yanchang asked, "It's not hot this morning, why is Marquis Xuanping sweating so much?"
Xuan Ping Hou wiped his sweat with his sleeves, "The King of Qi is joking. He is old and has a bad temper."
"Oh." Li Yanchang said in a long tone, "I thought Xuanping Hou was nervous, but I was worrying too much."
Marquis Xuanping's face was as gloomy as ginger. He glanced in the direction of the Minister of Justice without saying anything.
Instead, Crown Prince Li Jincheng stepped forward and asked, "Seventh brother, do you think you are making indirect accusations?"
"Really?" Li Yanchang raised his eyebrows. "Brother, you are too sensitive. I haven't said anything yet."
Li Jincheng said with a straight face, "It's better not to have it."
Li Yanchang smiled and said, "Marquis Xuanping."
He raised his chin and pointed in the direction of Xu Yishan, the Minister of Justice.
"I noticed you looked at Minister Xu several times, as if something was up. If you have anything to say, why don't you go over and talk to him."
Marquis Xuanping felt a chill down his spine, but he remained calm and said, "I don't understand what the King of Qi means."
"I have only heard of people pretending to know when they don't, but this is the first time I've heard of people pretending not to know when they do. However, I can always understand it." Li Yanchang smiled, shook his sleeves and stood on the steps.
Many officials watched this episode and anticipated that there would be a big storm in the palace later.
Many people have heard of the Qichang case, but they don't know what stage the case has reached. Now, from what the King of Qi said, it seems that it is closely related to Marquis Xuanping.
Marquis Xuanping is the prince's uncle, so wouldn't that mean the prince would also be dragged into this case?
After three blasts of the silent whip, all civil and military officials entered the hall one after another.
Xie Tingzhou was the Crown Prince of Beilin and also held an official position of the third rank, second only to the Cabinet.
He walked on the side close to Chen Yu, and seemed to stroke her casually with his sleeve as he passed by.
Chen Yu only felt a familiar smell lingering around her nose, and the woven gold fabric brushed across the back of her hand, causing a tingling sensation.
That person just flirted without caring about the consequences.
Chen Yu resisted the urge to scratch the back of her hand, and tightened her hand on the knife, followed him into the Fengtian Hall, walked around the officials, and stood upright under the dragon throne.
All the officials stood still, and Emperor Tongxu came. When he sat on the dragon throne, he seemed to glance at Chen Yu.
It took about half an hour for each department to submit their reports.
Just when everyone thought that today's court meeting was over and many people breathed a sigh of relief.
Emperor Tongxu held the dragon throne with one hand and spoke, "The Qichang bandits have been escorted to the capital. Has the Ministry of Justice reported anything?"
The Minister of Justice Xu Yishan stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Justice has finished examining several important witnesses in this case and has sorted out the case files. However, since this involves the royal family, I cannot make a direct decision and need to report this to Your Majesty first."
As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar in the hall.
Thinking of the incident outside the palace just now, many officials had some thoughts in their minds.
The sweat on Marquis Xuanping's forehead never stopped, and he only heard Emperor Tongxu say, "Report."
"Yes." Xu Yishan bowed, "Last year, there was a war at Yanliang Pass, and the food and grass were delayed, and then they were robbed by mountain bandits. In fact, the food in the southwest
The warehouse was already empty, and the food and grass shipped to Yanliang Pass was nothing more than a pair of waste stones."
"The leader of the twelve wanted criminals, Gui Xiong, is also the bandit leader of Qichang. He pointed out that for more than ten years, he colluded with officials in the court and resold the grain and grass in the southwest granary, causing the southwest granary to be empty and without grain supply, which led to the defeat at Yanliang Pass."
Marquis Xuanping's legs began to go weak.
Then, Xu Yishan looked at Marquis Xuanping, "The person the bandit leader pointed out was Marquis Xuanping!"
"Nonsense!" Marquis Xuanping rebuked, "Your Majesty, I don't know any bandit leader at all. Xu Yishan slandered me in court. I think he formed a clique for personal gain and took the opportunity to clear obstacles and eliminate dissidents!"
Upon hearing this, Xu Yishan immediately raised his robe and knelt down, "If I don't have substantial evidence, I will never speak without any evidence."
"Where's the evidence?" Xuan Pinghou said, pulling his neck, "I think you are just talking nonsense!"
Xu Yishan ignored his shouting and took out a testimony from Cao Hong, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice. De Fu went down the stairs, took the testimony, and presented it to Emperor Tongxu for review.
"Your Majesty," Xu Yishan said, "These are the confessions of the twelve bandits in Qishan. A series of people were implicated in the case. The Ministry of Justice has been investigating day and night. One of them is a close confidant of Marquis Xuanping, and his confession is also included."
Emperor Tongxu had already read the confessions of the twelve people. He glanced at them briefly. After reading the rest of the confessions, Emperor Tongxu asked in a deep voice, "Marquis Xuanping, do you have anything to say?"
"Your Majesty..." Xuanping Hou knelt down, "This case is suspicious. If it was really me who did it, how could they find it out so easily?"
Xu Yishan was filled with righteous indignation, "Easy? It's easy for Marquis Xuanping to say. If it weren't for the risk of recruiting the bandits to reduce losses during the suppression of the bandits, there wouldn't be today. Once the suppression of the bandits succeeds, all the evidence will be lost. You, Marquis Xuanping, have made a good calculation."
"Slander! Pure slander! I'm a decent person, but you say I emptied the granary. Then why did I empty the granary? The money has to come from somewhere."
"You, the Marquis of Xuanping, need to go to the Censorate and the Dali Temple to explain the source clearly."
"Great!" Xuanping Hou said with a smile, "Your Majesty hasn't even given the order yet, but you, the Minister of Justice, have already planned a joint trial."
Li Jincheng's eyes moved between the two people who were arguing, feeling confused and uncertain.
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