Chapter 328: In Court (II)

Chapter 328: In Court (II)

Wang Su, suppressing his shock and fury, snapped, "Zhang Yuanye, how dare you! What do you mean by this? Are you trying to clear the Rebel Le's name?!"

Zhang Yuanye gritted his teeth hard.

Since he had already stepped forward, there was no turning back now.

He brought up the old matters, raising his voice in a stern reply: "Lord Wang, watch your tongue! When the Rebel Le was convicted, I played my part in exposing and accusing him—why would I now defend him? But Lord Wang's methods of adjudication in the past and his arguments today contradict each other directly. I merely raised the point, and Lord Wang immediately seizes on the word 'exoneration'—could it be that your conscience is troubled, fearing that the old case was not entirely solid?"

With that, Zhang Yuanye bowed with clasped hands and continued, "Your Majesty, Surveillance Commissioner Wenren arrived in the capital yesterday and has transferred over fifty statements to the Court of Judicial Review, placing them in my care. I was on duty yesterday and reviewed the case files all night, finding the crimes recorded there to be numerous and shocking. It is for this reason that I speak up today. Your Majesty's decree ordering a joint hearing by the Three Judicial Offices is a testament to Your Majesty's wise judgment—"

Wang Su interrupted him sharply: "If he were truly open and aboveboard, Wen Ren Yue should have reported privately to Your Majesty alone! Instead, he secretly handed the case files to a close associate—this shows the two of you have been colluding behind the scenes and acting beyond your authority, and this is far from the first time!"

This was a direct attack on procedure, accusing them of forming a faction.

Zhang Yuanye was not especially bold; his reason for stepping forward to speak for Le Wuya was simply to address the issue at hand. He had not expected such a load of slander to be dumped on him. Shocked and indignant, even a clay figurine would be roused to anger.

But before Zhang Yuanye could retort, Le Wuya calmly took over the conversation.

He knew Zhang Yuanye was no match for them in debate.

He had his own way of settling scores.

"Not just the Court of Judicial Review," he said offhandedly. "I also sent a copy of the statements to the Ministry of Justice."

He turned to the emperor: "Your servant is well aware of the seriousness of this case, since it involves the head of the Censorate. To avoid any suspicion of bias, I did not dare decide on my own, and I feared Lord Wang might take advantage of my return to the capital to have witnesses silenced. Therefore, I sent the statements to the judicial authorities for filing in advance, to protect against any eventuality."

Xiang Zheng's eyes moved: "Geng Hetong."

Minister Geng of the Ministry of Justice, caught off guard by the summons, felt a jolt of panic. Under the emperor's scrutinizing gaze, his courage failed him entirely as he shuffled forward, trembling: "Your servant is present."

"Did he deliver them or not?"

The transfer of the statements was a matter of record—there was no denying it. Minister Geng could only brace himself and say, "It... it is true..."

Wang Su turned in horror: ...Such a critical matter—why had no one informed him?

Though Wang Su publicly pledged loyalty to Xiang Zheng without taking sides, in his heart he had long favored the Fifth Prince.

Before the Fifth Prince went to serve in the Ministry of Revenue, he had spent years building connections in the Ministry of Justice—they should have been well aware of his stance...

Why had no one sent him word of such damning news?!

Minister Geng wished he could bury his head in the sand like an ostrich.

According to protocol, documents delivered to the Ministry of Justice should indeed be opened and filed immediately.

But in practice, who could actually manage that?

Though Minister Geng had been on duty yesterday just like Zhang Yuanye, he had always been one to believe that "leaving work on time is a waste of one's life." The moment office hours ended, he had headed home without a second thought.

Le Wuya's statements had arrived at the Ministry of Justice at a carefully chosen moment—just before closing time. The clerk received them and gave Minister Geng a heads-up.

But Minister Geng detested such troublesome matters, always preferring to keep his head down and stay out of trouble.

In the previous case of Zhang Yue, he had dumped all the responsibility on Vice Minister Yu Xiuqun, not even attending court. This time, he naturally resorted to the same stalling tactic.

The moment he heard the case files were from Dansui, he didn't even open them, immediately deciding to wash his hands of it.

Things in Dansui were probably not going well.

But what was that to him?

By procedure, the emperor hadn't spoken yet, so better to keep his nose out of it—he'd wait and test the waters first.

And so, by waiting, Minister Geng had walked right into the fire.

Le Wuya knew these people's temperaments all too well.

He had even carefully chosen who would deliver the case files.

The one who delivered to the Court of Judicial Review was Wang Cheng.

He was a longtime aide to Zheng Miao. Zhang Yuanye knew Zheng Miao well, so he was also familiar with Wang Cheng. Wang Cheng stressed to him the urgency of the matter and its connection to Dansui. Zhang Yuanye, being diligent by nature, would surely open and read it right away.

The one who delivered to the Ministry of Justice was Zhong Piaoping, who left right away without saying a word. After walking a hundred steps, he hid in the shadows to observe Geng Hetong's movements.

Sure enough, Geng Hetong left right at closing time and went home, without telling anyone.

Now, the evidence was filed with both the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice, and Le Wuya had openly raised the matter in court—the emperor couldn't cover this up even if he wanted to.

Le Wuya had meticulously calculated every step, exploiting the information gaps of his opponents, and calculating even more...

the man on the throne.

Xiang Zheng's expression was inscrutable: "Ming Ke, you just said you feared someone might silence witnesses. What do you mean by that?"

Le Wuya lifted his head slightly, looking toward the throne, and spoke in a clear voice: "Your Majesty, soon after your servant arrived in Dansui, one of my attendants, Wang Cheng, was falsely accused and thrown into prison. Another attendant, Zhong Piaoping, went to Xiaolianzi Mountain in plain clothes to investigate the disaster situation, had his horse commandeered, and stumbled upon Dansui constable A Shun murdering a surviving miner who had been dug out from the mudslide. A Shun then tried to kill Zhong Piaoping to silence him, and Zhong Piaoping, acting in self-defense, was forced to seriously wound him. Both cases are on record, have been adjudicated, and the verdicts were later overturned—all can be verified."

"At that time, your servant had not yet seen Zhou Wenhuan's true, wolf-like nature. Seeing my trusted aides lost one after another, I dared not let my guard down in the slightest, fearing I might fail Your Majesty's expectations. I went out at night to investigate, and was hit by a stray arrow in Dansui county town. After fleeing back to the post station, I dared not make a scene, only claiming the wound came from a curtain hook, and sent my attendant Qin Xingyue to deliberately cause a disturbance, having myself thrown into prison to seek temporary safety."

"The scar on your servant's neck is still there—please, Your Majesty, take a look."

With that, Le Wuya turned his head to the side and lightly wiped away the powder from his neck.

A fresh wound was now visible to everyone present.

Seeing this, Le Qianzhang's expression changed dramatically.

Having spent years in the army, he knew exactly what kind of wound that was.

Wang Su sneered, retorting: "How do we know it's not a self-inflicted wound? Cutting the neck with a blade looks dangerous, but if one judges the depth well, producing such a shallow flesh wound would be easy as pie, would it not?"

"No, no."

The one who spoke now was Yuan Weiyan, who was standing at Le Wuya's side: "Your Majesty, this old servant has spent years on the battlefield and knows a thing or two about blade wounds. One look is enough to see—Surveillance Commissioner Wenren's wound is clearly an arrow wound."

Xiang Zheng asked: "What proof is there?"

Yuan Weiyan said calmly: "If Your Majesty permits, with arrow wounds, the depth is never uniform, because the arrowhead is at the front and the fletching at the back. So the wound is deepest in the middle and shallower at both ends. A knife cut, in contrast, is typically even. Moreover, arrows fly swiftly—in this old servant's judgment, the flesh around Surveillance Commissioner Wenren's neck wound is turned outward, with fine abrasions and burn marks around it, clearly the result of a shot from a distance. A knife couldn't make a wound like that."

Wang Su insisted: "From what I understand, Qin Xingyue, who serves by Wenren Yue's side, is quite skilled in archery."

Yuan Weiyan smiled, revealing two prominent fangs: "Lord Wang, do you trust this old man? I have practiced archery and horsemanship since childhood, and I can safely say I can hit a target a hundred paces away. I won't say much—stand ten paces away, and let me shoot an arrow at your neck. I guarantee it'll only graze the skin and won't cost you your life. Would you be willing?"

Wang Su, completely ignorant of martial arts, was struck speechless, left only to stare helplessly.

But Yuan Weiyan had no intention of letting him off the hook: "Lord Wang, this old man has indeed spoken out of line. And unlike Lord Zhang Yuanye, my son has become a disciple of Surveillance Commissioner Wenren, so I do have some connection to him—His Majesty is well aware of this. If you don't trust this old man's eyes, feel free to seek another physician to examine the wound!"

Le Wuya knelt on the ground, looking completely justified, his face full of grievance.

He had been able to fool the Zhou brothers earlier, first because Zhou Wenchang had already failed two consecutive trials, and being suspicious of his identity, didn't dare dig too deep, so he just let it slide.

Second, the Zhou brothers were both pure scholars through and through—couldn't carry a thing or lift a finger. At best, all they could tell was that the wounds came from a blade.

Later, Zhou Wenchang did figure out that the "mountain bandit" who'd fled down from Xiaolianzi Mountain that day in miner's clothes was none other than Le Wuya.

But what did that matter?

He had no solid proof, and besides, he needed Le Wuya to spare his life, so he'd keep his mouth shut.

Le Wuya didn't take a single wound for nothing.

"I thank Lord Yuan for his righteous words." Le Wuya bowed again. "My life belongs to Your Majesty, and death would be nothing to me. Yet since the Sixth Prince was sent as Your Majesty's envoy and is of imperial blood, Zhou Wenhuan, in his madness, was crazy enough to go after even him!"

Xiang Zheng rose abruptly: "What happened to Xiaoliu?"

"The Sixth Prince, thanks to Your Majesty's protection, is safe." Le Wuya reported. "I didn't come back with the Sixth Prince because he's still in Dansui recovering."

"That day, the Sixth Prince had just arrived in Dansui and went straight to Xiaolianzi Mountain to scout the terrain without resting. Yet Zhou Wenhuan picked that exact day to have his brother Zhou Wenchang's personal attendant go up the mountain and set off explosives, which seriously injured the Sixth Prince. He's still bedridden to this day..."

He left out some context, but every word Le Wuya said was the plain truth.

Wang Su's face went ten shades paler.

He... was accusing him of trying to kill a prince!

Though Wang Su wasn't a partisan of the Fifth Prince, if his past crimes were proven and he got tangled up in an attack on a prince, he'd be sunk in the massive crime of meddling in the succession!

Therefore, there was no way he could admit to a single one of Le Wuya's accusations!

He forced himself to stay calm and said with conviction: "What Wen Ren says is complete nonsense and obviously false! Zhou Wenhuan and I are neither colleagues nor teacher and student, and being stationed at the border, he had no dealings with me whatsoever. Why would he commit such treason on my behalf? Wen Ren is slinging baseless accusations and making up letters—is he trying to pull the same stunt as that rebel Le from back then?"

Xu Yingrui, standing in the ranks, his expression shifting several times, finally made up his mind upon hearing Wang Su's question: "Your subject has a memorial to submit!"

"You too have a memorial?"

Xiang Zheng, seeing one issue rise after another, felt somewhat exasperated.

He wanted to see just how much solid evidence Wang Su had left in others' hands: "Submit it!"

"Several days ago, Surveillance Commissioner Wenren wrote to your subject, asking me to examine Zhou Wenchang's annual evaluation records at the Ministry of Personnel. I went to retrieve the files and found that Zhou Wenchang had received excellent ratings for many consecutive years, yet hadn't been promoted in a decade. Moreover, Lord Wang Su's attendant Bo Xin, every two or three years, would request Zhou Wenchang's evaluation records in the name of the Censorate for Lord Wang's review. I wonder why Lord Wang takes such interest in a minor border official—could it be merely because he was once a colleague at the Censorate?"

Wang Su nearly choked on his breath: "..."

Him too?!

Author's note:

It's a joint beating of a man in his sixties, isn't it lol