The testimony provided by Crown Prince Zhu Haogan became Zhang Jian's greatest source of confidence. If Wei Zheng still refused to admit it, then no matter what kind of torture he subjected him to, it would be considered justified! Even if the situation reversed afterward, no one could find fault with him; at least for today, he had sufficient evidence.
Besides, it's not just the Prince Jing's mansion that wants to destroy the Wei family now; even His Highness the Crown Prince has stepped in. What chance of a reversal is there?
Zhang Jian asked in a low voice, "Your Highness, do you mean to torture everyone in the Wei family?"
Zhu Hao coldly swept his gaze over the Wei family members kneeling below the hall, pausing slightly when his eyes landed on Wei Shuwan.
This young lady was eloquent, beautiful, and a bit arrogant. Zhao Li said that, besides Wei Chengxiu, she was the one who had offended him the most in the Wei family. But she was, after all, a delicate and charming young lady, and he wasn't heartless; it was difficult for him to feel any dislike for her.
Furthermore, the Wei family also has an elderly and frail matriarch. If something were to happen to her during the torture, it wouldn't sound good if word got out.
After a moment's consideration, Zhu Haogan smiled magnanimously and said, "Alright, let's start with the male offspring."
Zhang Jian had originally intended to take this opportunity to do Princess Yun'an a favor and teach the Wei family's young lady a lesson, but since His Highness the Crown Prince had spoken, he couldn't very well object. So he simply replied, "Yes."
He turned around and slammed the gavel down:
"Bring all the male members of the Wei family here and subject them to severe torture!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the bailiffs in the hall got busy, going in pairs to escort Wei Hai and Wei Chengxiu.
When the yamen runners arrived, Wei Chengxiu cooperated readily. Sun Lurong couldn't help but try to resist, but Wei Shuwan held her down. Wei Shuwan shook her head at her mother, signaling her not to do this. Wei Wenshi gritted her teeth, withdrew her hand, and collapsed to the ground, weeping bitterly.
Wei Chengxiu was escorted to his father's side. The yamen runners had prepared another set of torture instruments. They also put Wei Chengxiu on a wooden stool, forced him to sit down, and tied him with the torture instruments.
Wei Wenshi could remain indifferent to Wei Zheng and Wei Chengxiu, and wouldn't cause a scene in court to plead their innocence. But now that they were about to torture her own son, Wei Hai! Wei Wenshi could no longer contain herself and burst into tears in court:
"My lord, I've been wronged!"
Before the two constables could reach her, Wei Wen rushed to her own son, Wei Hai, to stop them from taking the man away.
For her own son, she was going all out today! Even if the official was in a bad mood, could he really torture her, an old woman like her?
"mother--"
When Wei Hai, weeping bitterly, opened his mouth wide and called for his mother, his saliva was so thick with fear and grief that it stretched into long strands, making him look as if he had just come out of his mother's womb.
In fact, Wei Wenshi, being an old woman, didn't have much strength, but Wei Hai used all his strength to burrow into her arms, and the mother and son seemed to be stuck together, and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't be separated.
Seeing her mother-in-law and husband putting on this show, Meng Shi, though afraid of being blamed by Lord Zhang, couldn't stay out of it, so she symbolically hugged her husband and pleaded:
"Please, Your Honor, investigate thoroughly and do not wrong an innocent person!"
Although Wei Shuyao dared not make a scene in court like her grandmother and mother, she kept kowtowing to the ground, tears streaming down her face, pleading for mercy: "Yes, Your Honor... please investigate."
Seeing the commotion caused by the eldest branch of the family, Wei Shuwan withdrew her left hand, which had been secretly slipping into her right sleeve, back to its original position. She thought she could wait a little longer.
Wei Hai was held between his mother and wife, which gave the two constables a headache. If they really hit the two women, it would be no problem, but every family has elderly people. Could they really bear to hit them?
As the two bailiffs hesitated, Zhang Jian slammed his hand on the court table again and rebuked them, "How dare you roar in court! Your crime is doubled!"
Seeing that their master was truly angry, the two constables dared not show any mercy. Each of them grabbed a woman and forcibly removed them from Wei Hai's body. Then, they grabbed Wei Hai's shoulders and dragged him to the torture device.
Wei Wenshi and Meng Shi were both thrown to the ground, crawling on their knees in a final struggle: "My lord, please see the truth!"
Having served as the head of the Censorate for several years, Zhang Jian had no compassion for criminals. Seeing that the three male members of the Wei family were already in place, he ordered without hesitation, "Use the torture!"
"My lord, I must provide evidence! The perpetrator, Wei Zheng, is not a son or grandson of our Wei family. Even if we are guilty of collusion, we, the men of the Wei family, should not be implicated!"
Wei Wenshi’s hoarse yet resonant voice rang out, causing Zhang Jian, the Imperial Censor who had been wearing a stern expression, to frown.
"What did you say?"
Because of their master's question, the yamen runners who were about to execute the Wei family members stopped what they were doing and waited for new orders.
Having just experienced great grief and been pushed to the ground, Lady Wei was inevitably somewhat weak. Adding to this, she harbored a selfish motive, and said, "Sir, this matter is a long story. I beg you, considering my frail health, to allow my eldest daughter-in-law, Meng, to explain it to you in detail, is that alright?"
Although Zhang Jian was somewhat impatient, he still agreed to this unreasonable request and turned his attention to Meng Shi.
Madam Meng quickly straightened her knees and, with her head slightly lowered, began to recount the events of that year:
"Your Honor, my mother-in-law, Wei Wenshi, gave birth to our eldest son, Wei Hai, who will become my husband. However, the child was always weak and sickly, and the doctor said he would not live to adulthood. Heartbroken, my mother-in-law prayed to Buddha and other deities, accumulating merit and good deeds. One day, she happened upon an abandoned baby in a temple and kindly took him in, raising him as her second son. This abandoned baby is none other than the current second son of the Wei family, the criminal Wei Zheng in court!"
Meng's words were clever. She made it clear that Wei Zheng was not Wei Wen's biological son, but avoided mentioning the fact that Wei Wen had given birth to a daughter and had secretly bought a son to prevent the old master from taking a concubine to continue the family line. She only portrayed Wei Wen's actions as a kind deed.
After saying this, Meng glanced at Wei Zheng and Sun Lurong with a slightly uneasy look, but the unease on her face quickly disappeared.
The second branch of the family has absolutely no chance of turning things around. The eldest branch is lucky if they can even protect themselves. In a life-or-death situation, who cares about who owes whom? Besides, the entire Wei family was dragged down by the second branch!
Thinking about these things, Meng felt much more at ease.
Lady Wei originally did not want to take this step, but how could she watch her own son be tortured? As long as she could get out of here safely, she would sever ties with the second wife.
So after Meng finished recounting what happened back then, Wei Wenshi complained again: "My lord, I have treated Wei Zheng, my adopted son, as my own son and have never mistreated him in the slightest. But even so, he does not have the blood of our Wei family flowing in his veins!"
After Wei Wenshi said this, Wei Haiyou felt it wasn't enough, so he sat on a wooden stool and trembled as he defended himself:
"Yes, sir. The eminent monks of Luoyun Temple often give alms and help orphans. We can't let the monks who gave us a meal be implicated just because those orphans make mistakes in the future. What kind of logic is that?"
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