"Su Shangshu, who did it pass to?" Guo Xingwen asked.
The two officials on the side looked at Su Yunqi together.
"Go back to Shangshu Guo. We are already outside this door. Pass on Shen Meiniang and Xia Rong." Su Yunqi looked at Guo Xingwen, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, with a smile.
"pass!"
Then, the messenger walked in cautiously, and the woman was holding a child of several years old.
"Public woman Shen Meiniang pays homage to the officials!" Shen Meiniang, dressed in simple clothes, kowtowed.
"Are you Shen Meiniang?" Guo Xingwen asked.
Shen Meiniang nodded: "That's right, a civilian woman."
"Then he is Xia Rong, right? Who is he to you?"
"Back to the officials, he is Xia Rong. The son of a commoner's wife." Shen Meiniang replied.
After understanding the situation, the Minister of Punishment looked at Su Yunqi: "Su Shangshu, you know a lot about this case. You can handle it as you please."
Prime Minister Zuo Huang Zhiyuan carefully turned his head and looked at the civilian woman beside him.
Unexpectedly, this person was the wife of the deceased Xia Jinhuai, a colleague of Kaihuai Mansion, and it was his frail son who was holding in her arms.
Su Yunqi responded with a smile and began to ask.
"Xia Jinhuai is your husband?" Su Yunqi asked.
"Hui Guanren, exactly."
"Do you know why your husband coveted this disaster relief food to save your son?"
"Back to the official, this child has been weak and sick since he was a child. Now he is nine years old, but he can only call two words: father and mother. He can't shout other words. Also, my child will catch cold and high fever every few days. Every time it goes down, I take antipyretics before it goes down.”
"I searched many famous doctors but could not find the cause. The doctor said that this disease is extremely rare, and it can be said to be the first case in the Mo Dynasty. Once the attack is severe, if the antipyretic medicine is not taken in time, the life will be in danger. At this time, my husband Greedy for this disaster relief food." As she spoke, Shen Meiniang shed tears.
Su Yunqi glanced at Prime Minister Zuo, then looked at Shen Meiniang and asked, "Do you know, did your husband do this alone or was someone tempted to do it?"
"Back to the official. The civilian woman is unknown. However, my husband has always been timid in doing things. The civilian woman dares to say: someone must be bewitching my husband!"
"Okay!" Su Yunqi shouted and looked at Prime Minister Zuo: "Huang Zhiyuan, why don't you actually recruit me!"
Huang Zhiyuan was seen looking arrogant, ignoring Su Yunqi and saying nothing.
"Shen Meiniang, I'm asking you this. After your husband dies, who will take care of your mother and son?" Su Yunqi asked in interrogation.
"Back to the officials. It's true. They found a new place for us, mother and son, and stocked up on a lot of antipyretics. But who it is, I really don't know who it is," Shen Meiniang replied.
Seeing that the two prime ministers were still silent, it seemed that they had to find enough evidence to pry his mouth open. However, Su Yunqi had been collecting evidence after Xia Jinhuai was beheaded.
"Guo Shangshu, could you tell me about Su's housekeeper Lu Huan?"
"pass!"
After speaking, he saw Lu Huan, the housekeeper of the Su Mansion, walking over with a person tied up beside him.
"The common people pay their respects to all the officials!" the steward said with a salute.
Looking at the unfamiliar faces tied up, Guo Xingwen, the Minister of Punishment, asked: "Please get up. Who is the one tied up?"
"The official is a servant of the Huang Mansion who was caught by the common people." Butler Lu Huan replied.
"Su Shangshu, please continue." Guo Xingwen, Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice, looked at Su Yunqi with a smile on his face.
"Lu Huan! Tell me where you caught this person?" Su Yunqi asked.
"Go back to the master. After Xia Jinhuai was beheaded, you had many suspicions about the case. So you sent the junior officers to pay attention to every official in the capital. One day, the junior officers heard the conversation between the two prime ministers. The left minister said that Xia Jinhuai was Once your wife and children are settled, this matter will be over."
"That night, the young men laid an ambush near the Huang Mansion and the Li Mansion, and saw the steward of the Huang Mansion hurriedly driving his horse out of the city. So, the young men secretly followed him all the way to Xingyang. In In the mountains, I saw the housekeeper of the Huang Mansion chatting with this wife."
"After seeing this, the young men wanted to arrest the steward of the Huang Mansion. But he used too much force and failed to catch him. Instead, he caught the steward's people." Lu Huan recounted the whole process while recalling.
"Shen Meiniang. Take a good look, is this person's face familiar to you?" Su Yunqi said.
Shen Meiniang looked over, and after a moment, she said firmly: "Guan Guan, that's right!"
"Okay! Can you see clearly?"
"See clearly." Shen Meiniang said firmly again.
"Prime Minister Huang, you have the greatest credit for this matter, right? Take a closer look and see if he is yours?" Su Yunqi said proudly.
"Hmph! If you just find someone and want to frame the truth, who knows if you are colluding?" Huang Zhiyuan was very dissatisfied.
After hearing this, Su Yunqi looked at Guo Xingwen, the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishments: "It is said that Ding Jie, the steward of the Huang Mansion."
"pass!"
After waiting for a long time, Ding Jie, the housekeeper of the Huang Mansion, came over.
Ding Jie cautiously walked forward and glanced at his master Huang Zhiyuan in panic.
Huang Zhiyuan looked at Ding Jie with angry eyes and said nothing, but he really didn't want him to say anything.
When Guo Xingwen, the Minister of Punishment, saw this, he raised the gavel and patted it, which made the housekeeper Ding Jie tremble with fear.
"Why don't you kneel down when you see an official!" Guo Xingwen shouted.
After hearing this, Ding Jie hurriedly knelt down and said, "Common people pay their respects to all the officials!"
At this time, Guo Xingwen, the Minister of Punishment, wanted Su Yunqi to interrogate him. Unexpectedly, Su Yunqi smiled and said: "Since Guo Shangshu already knows the general situation, Guo Shangshu will continue the interrogation."
"Ding Jie, take a closer look. Do you recognize the people on the side?" Guo Xingwen asked interrogatively.
Just as the housekeeper Ding Jie turned around to look, he was so frightened that he trembled all over and replied quickly: "I don't know, I don't know."
"Why don't we actually recruit him! Come here and torture him!"
I saw Ding Jie being pulled up by the officer using this instrument to hold his fingers.
Likewise, I don't know if it was because the instrument of torture didn't work, or because Ding Jie was so tolerant that he didn't say anything.
"Exchange the punishment! Hit fifty!"
As soon as Guo Xingwen, the Minister of Punishment, said this, the two officials on the side hurriedly persuaded him.
"These fifty big boards can kill people." Guo Kang, the censor of Zuodu, said.
"Is this... too much?" Xu Yongning, the minister of Dali Temple, asked.
After hearing this, Guo Xingwen, the Minister of Punishment, whispered in the ears of the two of them. Immediately, the two agreed without saying anything.
"Exchange punishment!"
Before the execution, Ding Jie was shaking even more violently.
After the execution, Ding Jie had blood marks on his buttocks, staining the cloth red. It hurt so much that he clutched the wooden chair tightly with both hands.
When he hit twenty boards, blood flowed from the corner of Ding Jie's mouth, and the strength of his struggle seemed to be draining away.
Seeing that Ding Jie still refused to say a word, Guo Xingwen, the Minister of Punishment, almost wanted to stop the punishment.
Unexpectedly, just when he hit the 30th board, Ding Jie's weak hand was raised, as if he was ready to speak.
"Go and listen to what he said." Guo Xingwen looked at a yamen servant and said.
"yes."
After listening closely, the yamen servant reported: "Go back to the minister. He admitted that it was Huang Zhiyuan who sent him to do it. As for Xia Jinhuai's death, it was all Huang Zhiyuan's fault. It was he who used Xia Jinhuai's wife and children as a threat to let him do it. Xia Jinhuai did not reveal the two prime ministers."
Seeing that the case was coming to an end very quickly, Guo Xingwen looked at the officials on the side with a smile on his face.
Huang Zhiyuan, who originally wanted not to admit the matter, felt sad when he saw the housekeeper Ding Jie pressing his fingerprints. He looked at him lying on the bench beside him with an angry look and said, "You are in the Huang Mansion. I have no shortage of food for you." Wear and silver, right? At the critical moment, you actually admitted it and treated your kindness like a donkey's liver and lungs!"
After hearing this, Ding Jie, who was lying on the bench, shed tears, and blood was still dripping from the corners of his mouth: "Master, I have my parents, wife and children, and the whole family is waiting for me. I can't die." .”
"What are you afraid of? A real man! Dare to take action!" Huang Zhiyuan said angrily.
The right prime minister Li Huixuan, who was not questioned much, burst into tears and was at a loss.
He learned that his husband died because of two prime ministers. Shen Meiniang actually put down the baby in her hands, walked to Prime Minister Zuo, grabbed Prime Minister Zuo's collar with both hands, and cried: "Give me back my husband! Give me back my husband! How can I live without my husband?"
"Shen Meiniang, you must not be rude in court." Guo Xingwen, the Minister of Punishment, said.
After speaking, Guo Xingwen looked at the officials on the side: "Should this case be settled?"
"Guo Shangshu, does this matter need to be reported to the Holy Emperor before making a decision?" Guo Kang said, the censor of Zuodu.
"No need," Su Yunqi said: "The emperor entrusted the case to Su, and he must have handed over the final decision to Su. No need."
"Yes." Xu Yongning, the minister of Dali Temple, said.
"According to Su Shangshu's opinion, how should it be handled more appropriately?" Guo Xingwen, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishments, said.
This case is a major one. Although the emperor asked Su to decide, in Su's opinion, it is better to consult with the emperor before making a decision.
"Okay." After responding, he looked at the audience: "Here comes someone! Take the prisoner down!"
"yes."
Behind the hall, Su Yun did not dare to be idle for a moment, and hurried towards the Yongshou Hall.
"Please spread the word to Eunuch Li. I have something important to discuss with you," Su Yunqi said.
After hearing this, Li Zi, the personal eunuch of the emperor outside the door, hurriedly said: "Su Shangshu, it's not that I don't want to pass it on. This... the emperor hasn't recovered yet, and it's hard for anyone to do anything. Maybe it will be easier for you once you go, Su Shangshu." ”
After listening to Li Zi's words, Su Yunqi smiled slightly: "Okay. I'll go give it a try."
"Your Majesty! This is my minister, Su Yunqi, I have something important to do!" Su Yunqi knocked on the door of Yongshou Palace.
Sure enough, when Su Yunqi came, it was effective and the door opened.
"Su Aiqing, come in and talk," the emperor said.
After sitting down, looking at the emperor's appearance, Su Yunqi smiled slightly and said: "The emperor is much better now, why is the door of Yongshou Palace closed?"
"Su Aiqing, how's the matter?"
"Report to the Emperor, I admit it. Huang Zhiyuan used his family as a threat to force one person to bear everything. Today, the three law departments jointly interrogated and finally admitted it." Su Yunqi smiled.
"Okay, that's good." The emperor said happily.
"Your Majesty, how should we deal with these two people more appropriately?" Su Yunqi asked.
"This official position can no longer be held..." the emperor said about how to deal with it.
The next day, light snow fell in the sky and the wind was biting.
"By God's will, the emperor decreed! The left prime minister Huang Zhiyuan was the mastermind behind the embezzlement of grain relief in Mozhang a few months ago! Today, the left prime minister Huang Zhiyuan is beheaded! The whole family is beheaded together! The right prime minister Li Huixuan is his assistant. Today, the right prime minister Li Huixuan is Behead! The whole family is exiled! Never return to Beijing! I admire this!"
Secret guards rushed into Huang's mansion one by one.
"The Emperor has an order! Search according to the order! Be honest!" Lu Geng, the commander of the secret guards, roared.
After speaking, the whole house burst into tears, and one by one fell under the sword of the secret guard. All the rare objects were taken away by the secret guards.
Outside the gate of the mansion, a group of people gathered to watch the excitement.
