As soon as these words came out, Xue Xuan on the side suddenly trembled with anger.
The old man has been honest throughout his life and his reputation is the most important thing. How can he tolerate being slandered like this?
At that moment, he took a step forward, knelt down on the ground as well, and said.
"Your Majesty, Prince Zhennan is clearly messing around!"
"In the history of yamen trials, both the plaintiff and the defendant can give evidence. It doesn't matter who produced the evidence. As long as it is confirmed to be true, it can be accepted."
"Although the evidence was presented by King Yangzong, the handwriting identification was made jointly by scribes from the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and Hanlin Academy who are good at handwriting."
"As for the witness, the same is true. Although he was brought by King Guangtong and others, we have verified his place of origin. In the second year of Xuande, he did work as a waiter in the restaurant where King Zhennan had a banquet. This fact, Zhennan King Nan didn’t deny it either.”
"None of the witnesses or material evidence are falsified. Could it be that because it is the plaintiff who gives evidence, it should not be accepted?"
Luo Tong, the deputy chief censor on the left, was relatively calm, but he also stepped forward and said.
"We can understand the prince's desire to avenge his father, but what the prince said is indeed biased."
"At the court hearing, we did not just listen to the words of King Guangtong and others, but King Zhennan made empty statements. Although he refused to admit that he had written slanderous poems, he also could not produce any evidence to prove what he said."
"If you have such a red mouth and white teeth, how can we accept it compared with the evidence and witnesses that have been identified as real?"
Facing the successive questions, Zhu Yinxi seemed a little scared, but he still did not give up and continued.
"Since it is a trial, what we have to do is to discern the truth and identify the problems. Although my father has no evidence, he is innocent."
"If all criminal judges require the plaintiff and defendant to produce evidence, wouldn't everyone in the world be able to handle the task?"
"It is precisely because, most of the time, some people are unable to prove their innocence that they need to be carefully verified by court officials to identify doubts and provide justice to the innocent."
After a brief pause, Zhu Yinxi said again.
"Besides, you keep saying that the trial procedure of this case is fair, but whether it is the evidence or the witnesses, you have obviously checked them in advance during the court hearing."
"This is enough to show that you have had private contact with King Guangtong and others. Can't this be said to be a case of partiality and perversion of the law?"
After hearing this, Ningyang Hou Chen Mao secretly said something bad.
He really didn't expect that Prince Zhennan was so quick-thinking that he actually thought of this section.
In order to conclude this case as soon as possible, they made a lot of preparations in advance, in order to completely establish the crime of King Zhennan in front of the prince of the clan.
The people who knew the situation best were none other than King Guangtong and King Yangzong. In addition, they were imprisoned in the Zongren Mansion.
Therefore, before the trial started, they inevitably had contact with Wang Guangtong and others.
This is not a big deal, but under Zhu Yinqi's deliberate guidance, it has to be suspected.
After thinking for a moment, Chen Mao stepped forward and said.
"Your Majesty, the prince's words are nothing but heartbreaking. We were ordered to preside over the case, inquire about the case, and verify the evidence. This is our duty."
"What's more, what the prince says is nothing more than groundless truth. The witnesses and material evidence in this case are all there, and the case is clear. Could it be that the prince wants to say that these are all forgeries and frame-ups?"
Zhu Yinzhen asked: "Is it impossible? The handwriting can be imitated, and the witness can perjury. Can we arbitrarily convict based on these alone?"
As soon as these words came out, many of the ministers present looked a little disappointed.
They originally thought that the prince could have some ability to reverse the case, but they didn't expect that after all, it was just eloquent words.
A sneer appeared on Xue Xuan's face, and she shook her head and said.
"The prince is very filial, I can understand that, but the matter of punishment and prison really requires evidence."
"In such a major case, we are naturally extremely cautious. The handwriting has been jointly identified by several yamen, and the origins of the witnesses have also been carefully investigated."
"If the prince wants to overturn such irrefutable evidence based on mere speculation, it is better to go to the palace as soon as possible and prepare some food, clothing, and clothing for King Zhennan, so that his life will be easier in the future."
Zhu Yinxi's slightly immature face turned red and he said angrily.
"Master Xue, do you mean that the witnesses and evidence you cited are absolutely not false or forged?"
Xue Xuan flicked his sleeves and said coldly: "Of course not!"
Zhu Yinqi refused to give in and said, "What if I can prove that it is indeed a forgery?"
The atmosphere in the field was tit-for-tat. Xue Xuan narrowed her eyes and looked at the young man whose blood was rising.
After a moment, a faint smile appeared on his face and he spoke.
"If the prince can really overturn such irrefutable evidence, then it means that we did not investigate the case properly, failed to identify the suspicion, and wronged King Zhennan. If you want to say that we only believed King Guangtong's words, I agree."
"If King Zhennan is really innocent, we, the presiding judges, are willing to step down from our official positions and apologize to King Zhennan!"
Chen Mao and Luo Tong on the side had a headache.
This stubborn old man!
Although they are all sure that the evidence is true, there is no need to make this guarantee.
If you are not afraid of 10,000, what if you are afraid of the worst?
But what they didn't know was that Xue Xuan also had her own persistence.
Back then, he was willing to confront the arrogant Wang Zhen and narrowly escape death for an unjust case that was not tried properly.
Now, how could he tolerate the same wrongful conviction in his own hands?
He can tolerate other things, but when it comes to this matter, he will never give in even half a cent.
As for whether Chen Mao and Luo Tong are willing, it is not within the scope of the old master's consideration.
At the beginning, they swore to promise that they were not slandering the case of King Zhennan, but that the truth was true.
Therefore, Xue Xuan was willing to cooperate with them.
If this case was really an injustice concocted by them, Xue Xuan would not hesitate to make them pay the price.
The so-called gentleman is harmonious but not different, and he is in harmony but not in comparison. This is what he should do.
He can work with them for the same goal without sacrificing the principles in his heart.
Seeing that the noise was almost over, the emperor on the throne finally spoke and said.
"The impeachment of Marquis Ningyang and others needs to be discussed after the review of King Zhennan's case. Prince Zhennan, if you don't want the three divisions to be tried together, then which yamen do you want to hand over the case to?"
By now, both the emperor and the officials below have seen it.
This prince has gone through all this nonsense just to make it clear that he does not believe in Dali Temple or the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
I feel that these two yamen have already colluded with King Guangtong to frame the father and son.
Therefore, he was unwilling to accept the joint trial of the three divisions composed of Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
Zhu Yinxi took a deep breath, kowtowed heavily on the ground, and said.
"Your Majesty, I have been in the fiefdom for a long time. I don't know about the influence, relationships, and plots in the court, and I don't want to know about it."
"However, this case involves my father's life and reputation, so I have no choice but to go to the palace rashly."
"The former Fan Zong Renfu, Dali Temple, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate jointly tried the case, but such a partial incident occurred. I really don't dare to expect anything from the princes in the court."
"This case is a clan matter. Your Majesty is the eldest member of the Zhu family and the only person we believe in. I risk my life and ask your Majesty to personally preside over the trial and restore my father and son's innocence."
