The bailiffs escorted the Wei family members one by one, making them follow them through a courtyard, and they arrived at the yamen where the Censorate was conducting trials.
Wei Shuwan had assumed her father, who was already imprisoned in the yamen, would arrive first, but when she entered the yamen, she found he wasn't there. They were led into the hall, where someone shouted, "Kneel down!"
No sooner had she finished speaking than Wei Shuwan heard two thuds beside her. Turning her head, she saw Wei Hai and Meng Shi kneeling down first. Although Wei Shuyao obediently followed suit, her movements were somewhat slow due to her weakness.
Although Wei Shuwan was in shackles and had difficulty moving around, she still helped her younger brother Wei Chengxiu: "Axiu, be careful."
Worried that he couldn't see, she knelt down on the iron chain that Wei Shuyao was hanging on the ground, and the two siblings slowly knelt down together.
Sun Lurong also changed her opinion of Wei Wenshi because of what Wei Wenshi had said earlier, and helped Wei Wenshi up when she knelt down.
Zhang Jian, the Imperial Censor, who was sitting behind the desk in the central hall, saw this scene. Although his face remained calm, he couldn't help but sneer inwardly: The Wei family members are all about to die, and they are still putting on a show of loving each other and supporting one another!
Noticing the cold gaze from behind the desk, Wei Shuwan secretly looked up and peeked. She saw a man sitting upright behind the desk, dressed in a purple official robe, looking dignified and composed. She guessed that he was Zhang Jian, the Imperial Censor, who held the rank of third grade.
She had assumed that those who could reach the rank of third-grade official would all have gray hair like the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, but to her surprise, this Lord Zhang looked very young, only in his early thirties.
Moreover, his calm and dignified demeanor unconsciously reminded her of Li Qingchen.
Wei Shuwan knew that this Lord Zhang was the one who had submitted the memorial impeaching her father. If things were really as she guessed, and her father had been framed by the Prince Jing's Mansion, then this Lord Zhang must also have a close relationship with the Prince Jing's Mansion.
Just as they were thinking about these things, suddenly the gavel slammed onto the court table with a loud "bang," startling Wei Shuwan and the other members of the Wei family!
At this moment, someone next to Zhang Jian spoke up: "How dare you! How dare you offend the Imperial Censor! In the main hall, you must not look directly at the Imperial Censor unless he is asking a question!"
Hearing the rebuke, Wei Shuwan quickly lowered her head in shame, and the other members of the Wei family also lowered their heads even further.
Zhang Jian looked down at the row of people kneeling below him as if they were weeds and ants.
As Wei Shuwan had guessed, he did indeed have a close relationship with Prince Jing; in fact, he had once served as a staff member in Prince Jing's household. However, apart from Prince Jing's household, no one else knew about this.
When Zhang Jian first went to the capital to take the imperial examination, he was just a poor scholar from the countryside who studied while farming. Unfortunately, he encountered a thief as soon as he entered the capital, who stole the only money he had, leaving Zhang Jian unable to even stay at an inn.
It was at this time that the Prince Jing's Mansion recruited him, not only paying for his meals and lodging, but also providing him with a lot of care after he failed the imperial examination, and taking him in as a subordinate in the Prince Jing's Mansion.
It wasn't until three years later, when Zhang Jian achieved the second-highest rank in the imperial examinations, that he left the Prince Jing's residence. However, he never forgot the kindness the Prince Jing had shown him. This time, he went against his principles to cooperate with the Prince Jing's residence in eliminating the Wei family, all to repay that kindness.
Of course, the Prince Jing's favor towards him was not accidental, but rather like choosing a son-in-law after passing the imperial examination. They took advantage of these young scholars' lack of success to bestow small favors upon them, so that when they became successful, they could become their right-hand men.
This is like casting a net to catch fish, and Zhang Jian is the most promising fish in the net of Prince Jing's mansion.
The hall was silent. Zhang Jian gave a wink to the official behind him, who knew he could proceed to the next step and called out, "Bring Wei Zheng into the hall—"
Wei Shuwan's heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively turned to look back at the door, but was stopped by another shout from the hall: "Kneel properly!"
She could only grit her teeth and suppress the turmoil in her heart, quietly waiting for her father to be brought in.
Wei Chengxiu and Sun Lurong, who were standing next to Wei Shuwan, were also trying their best to control their excitement.
Soon, Wei Zheng was escorted to the court by a yamen runner. As the main culprit, Wei Zheng knelt in front of the Wei family. Wei Shuwan lowered her head and struggled to look up, only able to see a piece of her father's robe.
She recognized the dark blue fabric as one of her father's usual clothes, which was now covered in mud, a testament to the hardships he had endured while imprisoned in Taiwan.
Fortunately, Wei Shuwan searched diligently but found no bloodstains on the robe. She could also sense that her father was kneeling upright in front of her and did not appear weak. It seemed that the private interrogation over the past few days had not yet involved torture.
Wei Shuwan was secretly delighted when she heard the sound of wooden sticks hitting the ground from both sides. It was the sound of the water and fire sticks in the hands of the yamen runners lined up in the hall. The sound was neat and powerful, and it shook the roof tiles.
Then came the shouts of "Wei—" and "Wu—" from the yamen runners, like the roar of dragons and lions, which involuntarily aroused a sense of awe in everyone's hearts.
Wei Shuwan had only ever seen these scenes in storybooks before, never expecting to experience them firsthand today.
With a resounding thud of the gavel, all sound ceased, and Zhang Jian finally began his interrogation. He first read aloud the charges on the memorial, then closed it and asked:
"Wei Zheng, do you plead guilty?!"
"Your Excellency, I admit to the crime of dereliction of duty in supervision, but I do not admit to the crime of embezzling funds from the court and passing off inferior goods as superior ones."
More than two months later, Wei Shuwan finally heard her father's voice, but it was in the hall of the Censorate. Her previous strength broke down like a dam breaking, and tears fell "plop, plop" down to the ground, blooming into small water droplets.
The only consolation was that my father's voice was still normal, not weak or feeble.
Hearing the soft sobbing coming from her right, Wei Shuwan knew that her mother couldn't hold back anymore, so she quietly moved her hand that was supporting her on the ground to the right and pressed her mother's hand down to comfort her.
Sure enough, the mother's sobs gradually subsided.
But at that moment, an uninvited guest appeared—something Wei Shuwan had never even dreamed of before:
"Lord Zhang, how can the criminal confess without severe torture in this kind of case?"
Wei Shuwan's heart skipped a beat. Zhu Haogan's voice was easy to recognize. She never expected that Zhu Haogan would personally come to listen to the case!
Zhang Jian was clearly caught off guard and hurriedly rose to greet Zhu Haogan, bowing respectfully and saying, "Your Highness the Crown Prince."
Zhu Haogan raised his hand, indicating that he should dispense with the formalities. As Zhang Jian straightened up, he looked at Zhu Haogan with a pair of questioning eyes. Before he could ask, Zhu Haogan took the initiative to speak:
"I have come here on the orders of my father, the Emperor, to observe the proceedings of Wei Zheng's embezzlement of funds intended for dam construction."
Since it was His Majesty's will, Zhang Jian quickly invited Zhu Haogan to take a seat. However, since the presiding judge today was from the Censorate, even if His Highness the Crown Prince came in person, Zhang Jian should still sit in the seat behind the table in the main hall.
Zhu Haogan sat down on a chair to his left, coldly scanning the kneeling crowd below. His gaze stopped when it fell on the handsome young man who remained dashing even while kneeling.
Is he Wei Chengxiu, the man A-Yun has been longing for?!
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