Chapter 59 The dust has settled, and the great revenge has been achieved...
Huiyin watched his figure slowly disappear into the distance, pursed her lips, and followed Wang Changshi back into the main hall. When Emperor Xuan saw her enter, the corners of his mouth seemed to turn up slightly. "Song, come forward and present your evidence to confront the Court of Justice in court. If your evidence is insufficient to convict the Court of Justice, I will have you executed by being cut in half at the waist for false accusation!"
Su Wenyi had already stood up. He turned around and sized up Huiyin, his eyes narrowing and slightly upturned like an old fox. He snorted coldly, "Speak! Who exactly instructed you to falsely accuse me? Do you know that this is a serious crime that will bring disaster to your family!"
Huiyin looked directly at Su Wenyi and chuckled, "Lord Su, the fact that I'm standing here today should tell you that I'm not someone who can be easily intimidated. You accuse me of falsely accusing you, but once I present the evidence, His Majesty and the other officials will know whether it's a false accusation or not. You say you've implicated my family, but have you forgotten that the deaths of my family members were all caused by your Su family? Where do I have any family left?"
Su Wenyi: "It is precisely because you have no family that you are so fearless, and have been pushed out to falsely accuse this official! What is the purpose of the person behind you? Is it something else?"
As he said this, his eyes were fixed on the Marquis of Pingyang to his left, trying to steer the matter toward the conflict between the two parties.
"Your Excellency, there is no need to rush to implicate others."
Huiyin took out the evidence left by Yuan Zhi from her sleeve and handed it to Attendant Wang. “Your Majesty, these are the correspondence between the Minister of Justice and the Imperial Censor Yuan Zhi. The Minister of Justice instructed Yuan Zhi to accuse my father of embezzlement and bribery, and stated in the letter that Yuan Zhi should join forces with other Imperial Censors to submit a memorial to severely punish my father.”
Su Wenyi's face visibly darkened. He stared intently at the silk scroll in Wang Changshi's hand, a cold sweat breaking out in his chest. He had already secretly sent people to wipe out Yuan Zhi's entire family and burn them to the ground, but he never expected that Yuan Zhi had actually kept a secret plan.
Su Jinghao told him that Song Huiyin had evidence to bring down the Su family. Su Wenyi didn't believe it at first, but just in case, he still sent someone to assassinate Song Huiyin. Unexpectedly, Pei Yu stopped him. Today in court, he wanted to use the crime of overstepping his authority to have Song Huiyin beaten to death on the spot, but he was stopped again.
Emperor Xuan took the silk scroll and examined it closely. His crown was lowered, so no one could see his expression. For a moment, the only sound in the hall was the rustling of the silk scroll.
After a long while, Emperor Xuan finally signaled to Attendant Wang to bring the silk scroll to the officials for review. The first to review it was Marquis Pingyang. He glanced at it a few times, gave Huiyin a look of disappointment, and then handed the silk scroll to Minister Wang Heng behind him.
He thought Song Huiyin had some irrefutable evidence to bring down the Su family, but he never expected it to be such flimsy evidence. What a fool.
Minister Wang Heng took the silk scroll, his mustache twitched, and he shook his head with a sigh. “Your Majesty, this silk scroll can only prove that Lord Su instructed Yuan Zhi to accuse Song Wei, but it cannot prove that Song Wei is innocent.”
Su Wenyi immediately realized that Yuan Zhi had only communicated with him through his followers, asking him to report Song Wei. As long as Song Huiyin could not prove that Song Wei had not embezzled, he could not prove that Yuan Zhi had deliberately framed him.
Thinking of this, Su Wenyi raised his voice and said, "Your Majesty, someone privately reported Song Wei to me for embezzlement. I thought about it for a long time before I wrote to Yuan Zhi and asked the censor to report Song Wei."
After he finished speaking, he turned to look at Huiyin and smiled, "Song Shi, this silk scroll of yours cannot be used as evidence at all. Why don't you confess your guilt and accept your execution!"
Huiyin frowned, seemingly stunned on the spot because the evidence presented was invalid.
When Pei Yu entered the main hall again, he saw Su Wenyi pointing at Huiyin and demanding that she confess her crimes and be executed. He frowned almost imperceptibly and slowly walked from an inconspicuous place behind the hall to the back of the Crown Prince. Using the Crown Prince's figure as cover, he looked at Huiyin through the gap.
He didn't know what other evidence Huiyin had, but he knew her. Judging from the incident involving Pingzhen and Xiao Fen'er, her argument with Guangling, her scheming against Guangling, and her killing of Yuan Zhi, she was definitely not such a reckless person. She had waited too long for this day, and she wouldn't be standing here if she wasn't absolutely certain of victory.
Pei Yu lifted his eyelids to look, and Huiyin's expression was somewhat flustered, and her steps were even unsteady, as if she was being forced to retreat step by step by Su Wenyi. However, upon closer inspection, there was no trace of panic in her eyes.
Huiyin pinched the wound on her palm again with all her might, and the excruciating pain instantly spread, bringing tears to her eyes. With a sob in her voice, she questioned Su Wenyi:
"It was you who framed my father. Above the Three Dukes is the Prime Minister. If someone wants to accuse the Censor-in-Chief, they should naturally accuse him to the Prime Minister. Why is it that you were the one who knew about my father's corruption? And why did you instruct Yuan Zhi to accuse my father on this fabricated charge? He was one of the Three Dukes at the time and in charge of the Censorate. If you hadn't promised Yuan Zhi something, would he have dared to accuse his superior?"
Seeing Huiyin's teary eyes and helpless expression, Su Wenyi felt a slight sense of relief. "What you're saying is first and foremost to prove your father's innocence!"
Minister Wang Heng also said, "Song, if your father is truly innocent, then it is indeed suspicious that Lord Su instructed Yuan Zhi to accuse your father. But do you have any evidence to prove your father's innocence?"
Wang Huan stood behind Wang Heng, staring at the figure in the main hall. He immediately wanted to rush out to defend her, but his uncle Wang Heng held him back tightly and shook his head at him.
Wang Huan remained silent for a long time before stopping.
With tears in her eyes, Huiyin said, "I have it!"
Su Wenyi laughed upon hearing this and walked over to Huiyin's side. "Since you have it, then take it out and let everyone have a look."
Not that he was proud, but he was also surprised when he first heard about the plan. He never expected that his transparent daughter, Su Jinghao, could come up with such a plan. The plan was not particularly clever, and it could only be carried out by someone who was extremely close to him.
Forging letters is easy, but seals are unique and difficult to forge. Even Song Wei himself was helpless when he saw the secret letter that sealed the irrefutable evidence of his embezzlement, let alone Song Huiyin, a mere woman.
After what had just happened, he was even less convinced that Song Huiyin could cause any trouble. After all, she was a woman with limited vision and experience, and it would be difficult for her to achieve great things.
Huiyin ignored Su Wenyi and walked to the front of the hall. Her torn clothes were exposed to Pei Yu, revealing her inner garment. Pei Yu's eyes darkened as he recalled the faces of the two executioners he had just seen, and his knuckles clenched.
"Your Majesty, the evidence I'm referring to is the forged letter bearing my father's seal from back then!"
Su Wenyi sneered, "If you say it's a forgery, then it's a forgery! I'd say you're making a false accusation!"
The Prime Minister, who had not spoken until now, smiled and said, "Lord Su, why don't you let her finish speaking?"
Su Wenyi's face was grim. He turned away, flicked his sleeves, and remained silent.
Huiyin continued, “I have two pieces of evidence. First, those who have worked with my father for a long time know that he has a habit that Your Majesty once reprimanded him in court for, but he said that habits are hard to change and asked Your Majesty not to be angry.”
Emperor Xuan pondered for a long time, then smiled as if remembering something, his face showing nostalgia. "I remember now. Your father was different from others. Others would leave their seals in the lower right corner of their letters, but your father was different. He always left his seals in the upper right corner. I have told him about this many times, but he has never changed."
Huiyin: "Yes, we don't know where that secret letter was sealed at the time?"
The Prime Minister and the Grand Secretary exchanged a glance. They had both handled that letter before. "Your Majesty," one of them said, "if we remember correctly, the letter was stamped in the lower right corner."
Su Wenyi immediately retorted, "What kind of evidence is this? Maybe your father changed the way he stamped the seal again."
Huiyin added, “Your Majesty can send someone to check whether, apart from that one letter, all the letters my father handled over the past decades have the upper right corner.”
Emperor Xuan briefly greeted the officials guarding the hall, who immediately bowed and withdrew from the hall.
The Prime Minister said to Huiyin, "Lord Su's words are reasonable. Song, the evidence for this matter is still insufficient. What is the second point you mentioned?"
Huiyin bowed slightly to the Prime Minister, "Three years ago, all the silk books used in our dynasty were plain-weave silk. In the second year of Jianyuan, the palace silk workshop produced a type of silk woven with double-threaded silk, which is finer and thicker than ordinary silk and does not easily allow ink to penetrate..."
Su Wenyi impatiently interrupted Huiyin, "This is a courtroom, not your private quarters! I don't think you have any evidence at all; you're just stalling for time!"
He knelt down, weeping as he addressed His Majesty, "Your Majesty, this woman is cunning and treacherous, falsely accusing court officials. She is incredibly audacious! I beg Your Majesty to immediately execute her by dismemberment in the marketplace and clear my name."
Some members of the Crown Prince's faction were getting restless. According to the course of events, they should all kneel down and agree with Su Wenyi, requesting His Majesty to immediately execute the woman by cutting her in half at the waist. However, the two above them seemed indifferent and aloof, leaving them in a dilemma.
Finally, His Highness the Crown Prince gave a signal and said to wait and see.
Huiyin looked down at Su Wenyi and smiled, "Lord Su, you're too hasty. I haven't finished speaking yet."
Su Wenyi's bad premonition grew stronger and stronger. He had been an official for so many years and had seen all kinds of storms. He would never be defeated by a woman.
Huiyin's smile grew wider and wider. Su Wenyi looked at her face, a face that could drive all the men in the world crazy, but he didn't feel any romance at all. Instead, he felt as if he had seen a female Yama from the underworld coming to take his life.
“What I’m trying to say is that Yuan Zhi’s accusation of my father’s embezzlement occurred five years ago when he was a quartermaster. The letter was also from five years ago. So please tell me why the material used in that secret letter was double-threaded silk that was only made in the second year of the Jianyuan era, which is three years ago.”
"Why was silk thread, which only appeared three years ago, used in a letter from five years ago?"
Su Wenyi's mind was in a daze. He could no longer hear the discussions of the officials in the hall. He never expected, he really never expected, that he would be defeated by such a trivial matter.
He stood frozen in place, his face contorted in rage. How could this be? He couldn't possibly lose, let alone to a woman!
Emperor Xuan never expected this. He immediately ordered a eunuch to rush to the Tianlu Library and bring the case files of Song Wei to the scene for immediate examination.
Pei Yu gazed at Huiyin's profile, a surge of heat rising in his chest, warming his entire body. He could no longer see anyone else, only her.
Huiyin did not let her guard down. Su Wenyi would not admit defeat until the very last moment, and she did not want to reveal the final evidence. The reason she deliberately showed weakness was to make Su Wenyi think that he was bound to win, to put him on the highest pedestal, and then to make him fall hard, to soften his heart and completely defeat him.
She stared intently at Su Wenyi, took a step forward, and demanded, "Do you plead guilty or not?!"
Su Wenyi shook his head and chuckled, his shoulders trembling. Everyone looked at him in confusion, but he had already returned to normal from that moment of loss of control. As usual, he cupped his hands and said to Emperor Xuan, "Your Majesty, even if that letter was forged, it does not prove that I was the one who framed Song Wei. I was just misled by a villain and failed to notice for a moment."
Wang Huan couldn't help but speak up, "If it wasn't you, why did you ask Yuan Zhi in your letter to join forces with the Censorate to submit a memorial to severely punish Lord Song?"
A dark glint flashed in Su Wenyi's eyes. "The letter is forged, but can you prove that I forged it? I've already said that I was just momentarily deceived and misled. I admit to this crime, but I don't admit to anything else."
Wang Huan was about to speak again when Wang Heng pulled him back, glaring at him and scolding, "Shut up." Then he bowed to Emperor Xuan above and apologized, "Your Majesty, this boy has behaved improperly in front of the emperor. Please punish him."
Emperor Xuan waved his hand, "This must not be repeated."
He said, “What Su Qing said makes sense. Song, do you have any other evidence? If not, you can overturn your father’s case today, and I will announce it to the world to exonerate him. But you cannot escape the crime of falsely accusing an important official.”
Su Wenyi also turned around and saw that Huiyin was not flustered at all, staring coldly at him with unfathomable depths in her eyes. He was startled by her hateful gaze, but he steadied himself and said, "Song, you are born with a beautiful face, which has made General Pei infatuated with you. Even the gentlemanly Wang speaks up for you. But you should know that men in the world are not like them, who can be manipulated by you."
"Silence! Do not speak nonsense in the main hall." The Crown Prince, disapproving of anyone insulting Pei Yu, reprimanded him.
Su Wenyi was reprimanded by the Crown Prince in court, and his face turned somewhat ugly, but he did not say anything more.
With just this one sentence, he successfully drew the attention of everyone present, including Emperor Xuan in the high hall, to the low-key General Pei.
For reasons unknown, Emperor Xuan did not stop the crowd. After all, Pei Yu and Wang Huan were the two most outstanding young men among them, and with Song Huiyin also present, the three of them together sparked endless imagination and made people unconsciously want to explore the romantic affairs between them.
Pei Yu ignored the gazes directed at him, his face cold and his eyes unmoving, as if he had truly been watching the show from beginning to end.
Unfortunately, if it weren't for what happened earlier, people might have actually believed his feigned indifference. Considering what happened earlier, his current act of feigning indifference is quite amusing.
Huiyin frowned, not understanding how things had suddenly turned out this way. She was extremely unwilling to have anything to do with Pei Yu, especially since today was exceptionally important to her.
She paused for a moment, then spoke to draw everyone's attention back, "Just now, Lord Su said there was no evidence to prove that you forged the secret letter, but I have other evidence to prove that you personally orchestrated the entire frame-up and embezzlement case."
Su Wenyi's face was ashen. He stood up from the ground with his head held high, his eyes bloodshot, and walked up to Huiyin. "I want to see what other evidence you can produce!"
Huiyin remained silent for a moment. Not only Su Wenyi, but she herself had also reached a dead end.
Today, only one of her and the Su family can survive.
“I have verified this from multiple sources. You were the last person my father saw before he died.”
Su Wenyi laughed loudly: "So what? He's imprisoned in the Court of Justice. Is there a problem if I go and persuade him to confess?"
Huiyin stared at him coldly: "After you left, he committed suicide by hitting his head against the wall. He was wronged. How could he commit suicide out of fear of punishment before his innocence was cleared?"
The two argued back and forth in the hall.
"Perhaps he felt there was no hope of clearing his name and didn't want to live anymore."
"No, you poisoned him! You bribed the coroner to cover up the true cause of my father's death."
"Where's the evidence!" Su Wenyi grinned maliciously. Song Wei had already been buried, and his body might have already rotted into bones, making it impossible to find anything.
With tears in her eyes, Huiyin knelt and kowtowed, "Your Majesty, this humble woman begs to exhume the body for an autopsy!"
She was at her wit's end; she wasn't even sure if her father had actually been poisoned.
She had no choice but to take a gamble. Her father would never commit suicide on his own; someone must have done it to him, and poisoning was the easiest way.
The hall was stirred by this shocking statement.
"How can this be! This is utter nonsense!"
"No! How can you disturb the peace of the dead!"
"This is truly a violation of the established moral principles, a grave act of filial impiety."
Su Wenyi almost burst out laughing. He had overestimated Song Huiyin. She would be drowned in spittle without him even lifting a finger to dig up her own father's grave and conduct an autopsy.
Emperor Xuan's voice also deepened, "Song, do you know that this is a grave act of filial impiety?"
The Crown Prince couldn't help but look at Huiyin kneeling. How could she say such a thing? The excellent situation just now was completely reversed by these words.
He secretly turned to look at Pei Yu, only to see Pei Yu gazing at Huiyin with deep eyes, his gaze flickering with emotions he couldn't understand, as if he felt heartache.
He didn't have time to read it all; he saw Huiyin's words, each one filled with tears of blood: "Filial piety? To find the real killer of one's father and open the coffin for an autopsy is unfilial, but to not bring the killer to justice when he is right in front of you is even more unfilial. Between the two, what is truly unfilial!"
With tears in her eyes, she stared at Su Wenyi relentlessly, "As long as I can bring you, Su Wenyi, to justice, I am not afraid of this eternal infamy."
"Your Majesty, please issue an order to exhume the body and examine it!"
Su Wenyi was terrified, taken aback by her desperate determination. He knelt down, trembling, and cried out, "Your Majesty, you must not disturb the peace of the dead! If this gets out, how will the scholars of the world view you?"
Huiyin lowered her head. If she could, she wouldn't want to disturb her father's peace. Her eyes were filled with tears. The evidence was enough to clear her father's name, but the fact that Su Wenyi couldn't be brought to justice was still a satisfactory outcome.
Is it really necessary to send people to dig up the grave and disturb Father's peace even in the afterlife?
Just then, someone walked up to her, and the fresh scent of soapberry mixed with the smell of blood wafted over, making her momentarily disoriented.
“Your Majesty, I have witnesses who can prove that Lord Song died of poisoning, and there is no need to exhume his body for examination.”
Pei Yu's cold voice reached Huiyin's ears, making her feel dazed. Why would he help her? Wasn't he supposed to stand against her and protect the Su family?
Pei Yu presented a letter, “This is the confession written by the coroner who was responsible for examining Lord Song’s body at the time. He accused Su Wenyi of bribing him to alter the coroner’s document, changing it to show that he committed suicide by hitting his head against a wall. Afterwards, Su Wenyi killed him to cover it up, and he went into hiding to avoid being hunted down.”
Su Wenyi's face was contorted with rage. "Impossible! You forged this!"
Pei Yu ignored him and continued to say to Emperor Xuan, "This man is somewhat clever. Instead of leaving the capital, he changed his identity and went to the Su family to work as a stable boy. He is currently being held outside the palace gates. Your Majesty can send someone to summon him in for questioning."
Emperor Xuan nodded, and the Yellow Gate Attendant outside the palace received the order and rushed out of the palace.
The effects of the pill seemed to have worn off, and Huiyin could clearly feel the wound on her back getting more and more painful; her vision was becoming blurry and she could no longer see people clearly.
She saw the coroner being summoned to the palace, tearfully identifying Su Wenyi.
Seeing Su Wenyi's frantic self-defense and his numerous inconsistencies in his words, and seeing Emperor Xuan stand up and angrily rebuke Su Wenyi, declaring the entire Su family to be imprisoned and the marriage between Su's daughter and the Crown Prince null and void.
Hearing this, she finally loosened her clenched fist, her palms already dripping with blood. The heavy stone that had been weighing on her heart for so long was finally removed.
Huiyin knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Emperor Xuan in gratitude.
Emperor Xuan asked her with deep compassion, "Are there any other people in your family?"
With tears welling in her long eyelashes, Huiyin shook her head with difficulty, "My mother has passed away, and my younger brother's whereabouts are unknown."
Emperor Xuan sighed and ordered someone to draft an edict: "Former Imperial Censor Song Wei was attacked and framed by villains, suffering injustice and humiliation. His daughter, loyal, brave, and filial, risked her life to seek justice for her father. I am deeply moved. Therefore, I hereby order the restoration of Song Wei's former honors and posthumously confer upon him the title of Marquis of Righteousness, which shall be hereditary for three generations. All the old belongings of the Su family shall be returned, and he shall be rewarded with one hundred gold pieces."
"Your Majesty, I thank you. May Your Majesty live a thousand years."
Huiyin walked out of the main hall weakly. A cold wind blew, and she could hardly see the steps in front of her.
Pei Yu hurriedly left the palace to look for Huiyin. Just now, Emperor Xuan had kept him behind to inquire about his injuries. Pei Yu gave a perfunctory answer, but when he came out, Huiyin was nowhere to be seen.
He walked out of the main hall and looked down. Huiyin had already descended the steps and was walking towards the palace gate, with Wang Huan following not far behind her.
Pei Yu's heart skipped a beat, and he quickened his pace to catch up. The Crown Prince suddenly appeared out of nowhere and clung desperately to his arm, saying, "Cousin, Father said you can't leave the palace; you have to go to the Imperial Medical Bureau first."
Pei Yu struggled twice, aggravating the wound on his back. He stopped, frowning, his lips pale.
He hissed, "Let go!"
The crown prince didn't let go, and secretly gave a signal to the guards behind him.
Pei Yu watched Huiyin's figure recede into the distance, feeling a void in his heart, as if something was emanating from within him, but he couldn't grasp it.
He grabbed the prince's wrist with one hand, pinching him until he cried out in pain and asked to let go.
Pei Yu pushed the Crown Prince aside and chased after Huiyin's retreating figure. His gaze suddenly stopped as he saw Huiyin collapse softly at the palace gate, blood seeping through the back of her dress.
His heart tightened, and the next moment, a heavy hand chop struck his neck. The last thing Pei Yu saw was Wang Huan stepping forward, picking up Huiyin, and walking towards the palace gate.
He fell to the ground, the prince's exclamation ringing in his ears, and the hem of Huiyin's skirt disappearing before his eyes.
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