“Not bad,” Pei Xuan said. “Since General Song has decided to hand over the money to the national treasury, I will send someone to retrieve it later. This will be considered as you redeeming yourself through meritorious service.”
Song Ziyu was terrified, but couldn't utter a single word of refusal.
The silver is long gone; where in the general's mansion could he conjure up 15,000 taels of silver?
He was sweating profusely, hoping that the matriarch of the household could come up with a way to resolve this crisis.
While waiting, Pei Xuan opened Mr. Yun Que's testimony and read it through briefly.
"Father, I think the death of this merchant is not simple."
He Xingyun nodded: "That's right, the other party has malicious intentions and actually tried to frame Madam Jiang by threatening to commit suicide."
Emperor Jingyuan snorted angrily.
"Bring Ji Rong here, I want to ask him how he handles cases!"
Ji Rong was quickly brought up, along with Ji Huaichuan.
Ji Huaichuan seemed surprised to see Jiang Wan there. After a moment of surprise, he looked at her intently, as if he had something to say.
Before he could say anything, Ji Rong, who was in front, suddenly tripped at the threshold and was about to fall to the ground.
Ji Huaichuan reacted quickly, stepping forward to steady him and preventing him from being disrespectful in front of the emperor.
"Please forgive me, Your Majesty, but my father has been unwell lately and often feels absent-minded."
Emperor Jingyuan glanced at him and, sure enough, Ji Rong's gaze was slightly vacant, and something seemed amiss.
He asked a few questions about the case, but Ji Rong's answers were vague, and towards the end, they even became somewhat incoherent.
"If you're sick, get treatment as soon as possible. How can you handle cases for the court when you're so mentally unstable?" Emperor Jingyuan rebuked.
The moment the words "case handling" were mentioned, Ji Rong suddenly perked up.
"Handling a case, yes, I need to handle a case."
Before Emperor Jingyuan could speak, he stood up on his own, looked around the hall, and then his gaze fell on Jiang Wan. He pointed at her and said...
"It was her! It was all done by the Jiang family! She's the murderer!"
As he spoke, his expression gradually became frantic, and he strode towards Jiang Wan.
"Jiang, you still won't confess! You killed the merchant, you traded the tiger tally, you deserve to die, you deserve to die!"
This unusual behavior surprised everyone in the hall.
Ji Huaichuan was also terrified.
In the past few days at home, Ji Rong has gradually shown abnormal behavior, such as being absent-minded, absent-minded, and occasionally uttering a strange sentence or two.
Wang was terrified and no longer cared about arguing with him. She invited three or four doctors to examine her, but they couldn't diagnose anything, only saying that she was overworked.
Apart from that, everything was normal, and Ji Rong still went to the Ministry of Justice to work every day.
I never expected that things would suddenly get out of control in front of the Emperor today.
Ji Huaichuan strode forward and restrained the impulsive Ji Rong, saying urgently, "Father, Father! Please calm down!"
No matter how he called out, Ji Rong still stared intently at Jiang Wan, his eyes filled with genuine hatred, as if she were his greatest enemy.
Song Ziyu was also shocked when he saw him like this.
Ji Rong, Jiang Wan's uncle, was very fond of her, so why did things turn out this way?
“Your Majesty,” Jiang Wan suddenly spoke.
She pursed her lips, as if she too was startled by Ji Rong's actions.
"My uncle seems to have lost his mind. Please forgive his rudeness, Your Majesty."
"Lost his mind?" Emperor Jingyuan frowned and ordered, "Why don't you call the imperial physician to come and see what's wrong with him?"
The imperial physician arrived quickly.
The two imperial physicians took turns taking Ji Rong's pulse, but they couldn't reach a conclusion. They could only temporarily give him some calming pills.
Ji Rong seemed to have calmed down a bit and wasn't as agitated as before.
However, given his condition, he was unable to inquire about the case today. Emperor Jingyuan waved his hand and instructed the eunuch to escort him back to his residence.
"This is utterly absurd," Emperor Jingyuan said. "How could a perfectly healthy person become like this?"
If Ji Rong has truly lost his mind, he will be unable to serve as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry will need to consider a new candidate.
Ji Huaichuan, who was walking at the back, suddenly stopped in his tracks upon hearing these words.
He glanced back at Jiang Wan and saw her nod slightly at him. Only then did he make up his mind and return to kneel before Emperor Jingyuan.
"Your Majesty, I have something on my mind about my father, but I don't know if I should speak of it."
Ji Rong was capable in his work, and Emperor Jingyuan valued him highly. Seeing him like this, he felt sorry for him and said...
"Speak freely, and I will forgive you."
Ji Huaichuan took a deep breath before speaking.
"I happened to read a book today called 'Strange Tales of Miao Territory,' which records many legends about the secret arts of Gu poison. Some of the symptoms mentioned are very similar to Father's behavior today."
"What?"
Emperor Jingyuan suddenly stood up, his expression changing drastically.
The others in the hall also changed color, staring wide-eyed at Ji Huaichuan.
The secret arts of the Miao region are a taboo subject in the Great Yong Dynasty, and for many years no one has dared to mention them openly before the emperor.
Young Master Ji...you've got some nerve!
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