"Hey, hey, you pig! Get up."
Zhu Qilu, who was still sleeping, was woken up by cold water. Just when he was about to get angry, a possibility suddenly occurred to him, and then he asked expectantly: "Am I able to go out? How long will it take to get home?"
The jailer, who was being pestered by Zhu Qilu for questioning, was a little annoyed and mocked: "You can indeed come out from here, but instead of going home, you will go to the Criminal Department for trial!"
"You are so lucky, this time the trial of the Criminal Department was presided over by five court elders!" The jailer couldn't help but feel gloating as he watched the expression on Zhu Qilu's face changing.
"What? Impossible! Where is my father? He will definitely save me! I am a relative of the emperor, you cannot sentence me! I will not go to the Ministry of Punishment, I will not go to the Ministry of Punishment." After saying this, Zhu Qilu did not care about his own image, He hugged the wooden door of the cell with both hands, unwilling to leave.
"Come here, drag him away!" the leading jailer ordered.
"Yes." Soon many jailers swarmed up, ripped Zhu Qilu off the wooden door of the cell, and escorted him to the punishment department like a dead dog.
…
Today's Ministry of Justice is particularly lively. Many officials gathered here early in the morning. If it were normal, the officials would never step foot here. Otherwise, it would be unlucky.
When many officials gather together, they inevitably exchange information and greet each other.
"Hey, have you heard? Yesterday King Han Fanzhao of Pingliang Mansion came into the palace to see His Majesty!"
"And this matter, why didn't I know?"
"Your Ministry of Rites has too little information. Let me tell you, King Zhao did come to the palace yesterday to see His Majesty. He must have been interceding for his son."
"Aren't you talking nonsense? As a father, if he doesn't plead for his own son, who will he plead for?"
"But His Majesty didn't see him at all. He only said that he was ill!"
"I heard that King Zhao also went to Mr. Yan Ge's home..."
"No way……"
Amid the discussion among many bureaucrats, five sedans of different colors stopped in front of the criminal department. Five cabinet ministers got off their sedans. Seeing this, many bureaucrats also stopped greetings and said in unison: "We have seen the cabinet ministers. old!"
"What are you all doing here? Is there nothing to do?" Seeing so many people gathered in front of the criminal department, Gao Gong frowned and said in a deep voice.
Many bureaucrats gathered here were ready to disperse when they saw Gao Gong, the minister of household affairs, speaking.
"Forget it, let's see what happens. Don't be so rigid! We are all colleagues." Yan Shifan called out to everyone who was about to leave.
"Yes, yes, Mr. Xiaoge's words still sound good."
"Let's see what's wrong, there's no missing piece of meat?"
"Humph!" Gao Gong just glanced at Yan Shifan and left angrily.
"Really, it didn't stop so early in the morning." Xu Jie sighed and shook his head, his tone full of helplessness.
The five elders entered the lobby of the Ministry of Justice and sat down in their respective seats. The lobby of the Ministry of Justice had been rearranged as early as last night. There was a brand new long table at the top of the lobby, and a cup of fresh wine was placed on each long table. The hot tea was brewed, and five Taishi chairs were placed behind the long table. The rest of the furnishings remained unchanged. There was a plaque hanging above the lobby with the four characters Mingjinghanghanghang.
Yan Song sat in the middle, followed by Xu Jie, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and Yan Shifan.
The Minister of Justice and other officials of the Ministry of Justice can only sit on the side of the long table, while the seat of Shuntian Prefecture Yin is in the corner.
"Since all the pavilion elders have arrived, bring up all the prisoners." Shuntian Prefecture Yin Ding Shichang stood up from his seat and ordered.
"yes!"
Soon, Zhu Qilu and the two killers he had hired before were escorted to the lobby of the Criminal Department by the jailers.
As soon as they entered the lobby, before anyone could say anything, the two killers fell to their knees and banged their heads on the ground: "My lords, this person asked us to do all this! We It was forced, it’s unjust!”
After saying that, the two pointed their index fingers at Zhu Qilu aside, their words full of fear.
"What are you shouting for? What are you shouting for? I haven't asked you to speak yet." The Minister of Punishment, who was sitting under the long table, hurriedly scolded.
"It's okay, let them talk." Yan Song waved his hand, indicating for the two of them to continue talking.
"You adults, you don't know. We two brothers originally settled down in the capital city. We hang out in the streets all day long, do sneaky things, learn some boxing and kicking skills, and do not do our jobs. But one day, by chance, we I got to know this young master from Pingliang Mansion!"
"This young master is quite generous, and the two of us have benefited a lot from following him! Spending all day hanging around gambling houses and brothels, it's not a bad life."
"But one day, while wandering on the street, he fell in love with the poor scholar, so he became malicious and wanted to take her as his concubine, but no matter how attentive he was, he was ignored by the little lady."
"So in anger, he wanted the Overlord to force himself. After asking someone to find out where the young lady lived, he went to the house in person and sent us to guard outside the house, intending to do something evil."
"Okay, okay, these things have already been mentioned in your previous confessions, why bother mentioning them again?" Yan Shifan glanced through the confessions and interrupted impatiently.
"Your Majesty! What I want to say is that the victims are not just the scholar and his wife."
"What did you say! Is there anyone else?" Gao Gong couldn't help but frowned after hearing what he said, and then asked eagerly.
"Yes, not only the scholar and the young lady, but also the young lady's parents and a three-year-old child."
"It is said that after he found out where the little lady lived that day, he sent us to guard outside the house. But when he was about to take action, the little lady's parents returned home with their children, and we were discovered.
"So you killed their whole family?" Zhang Juzheng looked at the two people kneeling on the ground and said coldly.
"Yes, but he forced us to do it! He threatened us that if we didn't do it, he would send people to kill our whole family. The two of us were afraid, so..."
"You guys are farting. This is all a false accusation. I have never asked you to do this. I am going to find someone to kill your whole family now!"
After hearing this, Zhu Qilu, who was kneeling on the ground and was peaceful, suddenly became furious. His eyes were red, and he kept struggling, trying to break free.
"Shut up, you continue talking." Yan Song's ice cellar-like gaze swept over Zhu Qilu. Seeing this, the latter did not dare to make any more mistakes and gradually became quiet.
"Under his threat, we killed all the young lady's family! The original plan was to transport the body outside the city at night. Everything went smoothly until we were discovered while transporting the young lady's body. "
"What about the body from before? Where did you bury it?" Xu Jie then looked at the two of them and said in a deep voice.
"Due to the rush of time, we had to temporarily bury the body under the big willow tree by the moat outside the city." Seeing Xu Jie's question, the two of them did not dare to hide anything. Like pouring beans through a bamboo tube, they revealed all the places where the body was hidden.
"Then why didn't you two tell the truth in your previous confessions? Why did you have to wait until today to tell us?" Sitting in the corner, Shuntian Prefecture Yin Ding Shichang's scalp was numb and his whole body was shaking at the moment. There was a big flaw in the case, and he submitted it There is a problem with the confession!
"Because before, someone threatened us when we were in prison."
