A moment later, just past one o'clock, an unusual court meeting was about to begin.
Hundreds of civil and military ministers all stood in their usual positions, treating the Royal Street as the main hall, and arranged their shifts in an orderly manner. Except for the different location, it seemed not much different from previous court gatherings. Yes, there were many more people watching. .
At this time, there were nearly ten thousand people gathered around. In fact, due to their location, most people could not see the court meeting, but this did not affect their sense of participation in the big event at all. Everyone was so excited that they almost forgot about it. Why did you come here today?
Suddenly, a tall but upright figure appeared in the passage left in the center of the imperial street.
"Hey... isn't this Prime Minister Xie? Why is he here?"
"Oh, I almost forgot that Mr. Xie is still in Lin'an, but didn't he resign?"
"The officials haven't approved it yet. He is still the Prime Minister Zuo of the Song Dynasty. If he comes to court at this juncture, he may cause trouble."
"Oh, I heard that Prime Minister Xie has always been against King Zhong. Is that right..."
"That's great. Apart from the evil dragon, my wife can wake up!"
The common people's comments reached Uncle Xie's ears vaguely, but he was completely indifferent. He remained expressionless and walked into the court meeting area with steps that seemed slow but fast.
Seeing his arrival, most of the officials were surprised. Their hearts felt like a boiling pot was boiling in their hearts. They quickly speculated on his purpose, but they all greeted him with smiles on their faces.
Uncle Xie Fang nodded to his colleagues and walked towards the train. He consciously stood under Dong Huai and greeted him gently, "Brother Tingzhi, haven't seen you for a long time. How are you?"
Seeing the former Prime Minister, Dong Huai felt a little nervous and had many doubts, "Germany, you... forget it, you are going to be promoted to the court."
At this time, the official in charge of the ceremony said loudly, "Ascending to the court! Please invite the Holy Master!"
All the ministers shouted in greeting and looked towards the throne.
The high throne is located in front of the city gate. It is simple but does not lose the royal majesty.
Amidst the shouts of the mountain to welcome the Holy Emperor, Zhao Yun ascended the throne surrounded by people, blew his whip nine times, and the ministers knelt down and kowtowed three times. Naturally, Zhao Mengqi was not exempted.
After an essential ceremony, Zhao Yun raised his hand to signal, and then Dong Huai walked to the side of the throne and spoke loudly to the ministers.
"This sudden court meeting was held. I think everyone probably knows the reason, so I won't go into details. His majesty is kind and determined to respond to the voice of the people and make an exception to take over the case. He will try it in court to clarify the truth of the case and follow the laws of nature. , correct people's hearts! It is said that the victim of this case is Cai Li and his party. In addition, Yuan Ze, the young minister of Dali Temple, is on the same list as the victim and is filing a complaint for him!"
Afterwards, Yuan Ze led Cai Li, mother and daughter, and walked towards the imperial court under the attention of the officials.
Ms. Cai Li was still holding her swaddling clothes. The two girls were shrouded in a crane cloak, with only their two little heads exposed. They followed their mother closely, not daring to look away at all.
Seeing this, Zhao Yun asked doubtfully, "Is this what it is?"
Standing beside him was Ban Zhizhi Xue Jin, the commander of the Palace Front Division, who was carrying the imperial equipment and explained the matter.
Zhao Yun suddenly realized, "No wonder this crane cloak looks familiar. King Zhong did a good job. Let someone place the doll first."
Immediately, he glanced with relief at Zhao Mengqi, who was in the front row of the right class.
Originally, Zhao Mengqi's position was on the side of the throne, but today it would be inappropriate for him to stand on it, so he had to move to Xun Qi Wuchen's side.
When they came closer, several chamberlains and maids came forward, communicated with Cai Li for a few words, then took the swaddling clothes and took away the two girls.
Yuan Ze and Cai Li then knelt down and saluted.
After the ceremony was over, Zhao Yun said, "No matter what grievance you have, I will give you a fair result today. Speaking of which, the person you are suing is my son. It is unacceptable for a father to judge his son, but In the entire Song Dynasty, I am the only one who can judge him, I wonder if you can accept it?"
"The official sage, in the eyes of the women of the people, you are not only a loyal father to the king, but also a father to the people of the world, so naturally there is no partiality."
Cai Li seemed very nervous, but her answer was still clear.
"He's quite talkative, but he's a smart person." Zhao Yun smiled and continued, "I have already read your complaint. There are not many twists and turns in the case, but there are some unknowns. I want to ask you, You must answer truthfully.”
"If you ask an official, a civilian woman will definitely know everything and tell you everything." Ms. Cai Li bowed her body.
Zhao Yun became slightly serious, "Ms. Cai Li, the complaint states that on the sixth day of February, when King Zhong's car entered Shaoxing City, it stopped at the gate of the city for no reason, blocking traffic. Therefore, Cai An, who was in charge of the city guard, stepped forward to communicate, but was offended. The loyal king was killed for no reason. Can you guarantee that this sentence is true?"
"A civilian woman..." Ms. Cai Li hesitated, "The civilian woman was not present at the time. All the information she knew was relayed by others. There may be some discrepancies in the details. Maybe... maybe I am also inappropriate, but logically speaking, Even if a stupid man commits a capital crime, he should be interrogated by a prosecutor, and can only be executed after trial and conviction. Moreover, according to the court rules, even if the death penalty is sentenced, there are still three more memorials. How can he kill someone so hastily, so the women of the country are not convinced!"
The Sanfuzou mentioned by Cai Li is the death penalty review system that started in the Tang Dynasty and was also established in the Song Dynasty. To put it simply, a death penalty that has been reviewed many times by various judicial offices must be reported to the emperor three times before execution.
Therefore, in the feudal era, it was still difficult to kill a person legally, firstly because of the Confucian thought of "cautious punishment", and secondly because "the power of life and death comes from the Supreme Being."
After listening to Cai Li's words, Zhao Yun nodded slightly, "You know the criminal law very well, and you are right. From this point of view, King Zhong did not abide by the court rules. King Zhong, do you have an explanation for this?" ?”
Zhao Mengqi seemed to be taking a nap. He opened his eyes and walked out after hearing this.
"If you are just accusing me of using punishment carelessly and not in compliance with the court rules, then I will accept it and ask my father to punish me according to the law."
He said this very casually, but it caused an uproar among the courtiers.
"Prince Zhong admits it now?"
"No, King Zhong is avoiding the important and taking the easy. He did not plead guilty to murder!"
"Hey, it seems that Cai Li has also changed her tune. What she is focusing on is the violation of punishment by King Zhong."
"Then King Zhong didn't commit a crime, he just made a mistake. A little punishment is enough."
"What's going on? You've been making trouble for a long time and stirred up the whole Lin'an, just to investigate a mistake?"
The officials were talking a lot, and important officials such as Dong Huai and Cheng Yuanfeng could not help but frown, feeling that the matter was too strange.
