Chapter 5 Minister of Dali Temple
Although the Queen Mother's question was a question, Su Moyi knew that she was not asking him at all.
It was the old man's birthday, and the entire court of civil and military officials and royal family members was watching, so he couldn't really just run away. Therefore, he could only straighten his back and weakly say yes.
As soon as the Queen Mother got his nod, she winked at the Queen, who was sitting next to her.
This so-called cousin Shu is the youngest daughter of Empress Chen and the empress dowager's granddaughter. She and Su Moyi can be considered childhood sweethearts.
Because she was weak when she was young and often caught colds, the imperial physician suggested that she be sent to Jiangnan, which was warmer than Shengjing, to recuperate.
More than ten years passed in a flash, and the little girl grew into a graceful beauty. Last month, the imperial physician examined her pulse and felt that she had recovered and could probably return to Beijing.
Empress Chen then sent someone to bring her back.
It happened that the Empress Dowager heard that the Emperor had assigned Su Moyi another difficult case, and was sighing and complaining that the Emperor only cared about his own country and didn't care about his nephew at all. Princess Jiading, perhaps in order to help her father out, asked a few questions about her cousin Su.
The Queen Mother and the Empress were both women who had lived in the deep palace for a long time. They were very sensitive to the thoughts of these young children and they found out her thoughts in just a few words.
Seeing her lowering her head and closing her eyes with a blushing face, I felt that if we could get closer, this arrangement would be perfect.
So, what happened just now happened.
The empress dowager tightly grasped Su Moyi's wide sleeves, fearing that he would run away, and she pulled the fine moon-white satin with cloud pattern on his body into wrinkles.
Su Moyi pulled it uncomfortably, feeling like a prisoner being escorted.
While I was thinking, I heard light footsteps accompanied by the pleasant and crisp sound of jade hitting each other, and a soft female voice sounded in my ears.
Wei Shu bowed to Su Moyi, lowered her head and said shyly, "Hello, cousin."
The woman in front of her was wearing a lotus pink palace dress, which was a very ordinary outfit. But her fair skin and the pink jade hairpins that fit perfectly in her hair made her look like a peach blossom on a branch in April.
It is bright and graceful, swaying gently in the wind.
She was decent and pleasing to the eye, but her overly delicate voice and figure were quite different from the spoiled and willful little cousin in my memory.
Su Moyi couldn't help but frowned and said "Oh" in a nonchalant manner.
The sleeve that was pulled by the Queen Mother seemed to be even more crooked. Su Moyi calmed himself down and forced a smile.
"Greetings, Princess Jiading." The voice was stiff, as if he was interrogating a suspect.
"Hey!" The Queen Mother took Wei Shu's hand and joked, "You two have known each other since childhood, why are you so unfamiliar with each other now? Grandmother remembers that when you were a child, you followed your cousin Su all day long, like a little tail."
The little girl lowered her head, blushed, and stammered, "Grandmother, please don't laugh at Shu'er."
Her soft and delicate voice would make any man lose heart and soul.
But Su Moyi's brows were getting tighter and tighter, almost forming the shape of the Chinese character "川" (chuan)...
But it was not his fault.
Since he entered the Dali Temple, almost all the female prisoners he had seen who murdered their husbands or committed adultery and stole property were of this beautiful, charming, delicate and harmless appearance. Because such women know how to use their own advantages to gain a man's money, love, pity, and life...
His sleeves tilted again, and he came to his senses, and found that the Queen Mother had a sullen face, with an expression that said, "If you dare not respond, just wait for me."
He had no choice but to hold his forehead and give a polite smile.
The Queen Mother then let go of his hand, pushed him towards Wei Shu, and said, "Don't underestimate your cousin Shu'er because she is gentle and lovely. During the years she went to Jiangnan, she has also been privately studying some criminal cases. A few days ago, she even found a collection of injury examinations to discuss with me."
Su Moyi nodded very distantly without saying anything.
Wei Shu followed up on the empress dowager's words and said, "Yes, the book says that the bone dripping method can be used to test paternity. This is something I have never seen or heard of..."
"Because it's fake."
Su Moyi interrupted Wei Shu with a cold face, not giving her any face at all.
Wei Shu was speechless for a moment and could only force a smile and said, "But... I read in a book..."
"The liquid seeps into the bones because of the tiny gaps in the bones. It has nothing to do with whether there is a blood relationship or not."
Su Moyi looked forward, casually stroking his sleeve that was wrinkled by the empress dowager, and said in a deep voice, "If you like criminal justice and medical examination, you might as well read more medical books. It's better than believing in this nonsense circulating in the market."
Everyone was speechless.
No matter how relieved Wei Shu was, her already stiff face could no longer remain calm.
The little girl had just returned to the palace and was still a little timid even towards her biological mother. After Su Moyi said this, her cheeks turned red all the way to her neck. Ten white fingers helplessly twirled the handkerchief in her hand, and her lower lip was almost bitten to draw blood.
“Come here!”
The Queen Mother couldn’t bear it any longer and grabbed Su Moyi’s sleeve again, causing him to stagger. The queen on the side didn't want to get involved, so she took Wei Shu, who was humiliated and in tears, away from the scene.
"What's wrong with your mouth?!"
The empress dowager was gasping for breath due to anger, but was afraid of being heard and embarrassing Wei Shu again, so she lowered her voice and asked sternly: "Can't you just continue with what others say?"
Su Moyi still had a serious expression and said solemnly, "I am an official in charge of justice. If I was wrong, I was wrong. How should I continue with this wrong matter?"
"You... cough cough..." The empress dowager was speechless and didn't know what to say for a moment.
He could only pat his chest and cough, looking at Su Moyi with a sad face, and said: "When you chose County Lady Yue'an for you before, you complained that her canine teeth were not straight. Find someone with straight teeth, and then you complain that her teardrop moles were not symmetrical. Now, what do you dislike about this cousin, Shu?"
Su Moyi thought for a while and said calmly, "She walks too unsteadily and her eyebrows are a little uneven."
The empress dowager almost vomited blood when she heard this.
The palace maids and nannies beside were busy serving tea and water, and Su Moyi took the opportunity to step back a little. The Queen Mother
paused for a while, then complained: "If you ask me, I shouldn't have cared about your affairs. If I had known that this would be the result, I might as well save some time and read a few more pages of books." "That's right, grandma." "You..." The Queen Mother choked again, took another sip of the tea handed to her by the palace maid, and waved her hands irritably, "Go away! I don't want to see you again in the short term." It seemed that she would not be forced to marry for a while, so Su Moyi followed her wishes and felt a little relieved. She then returned to her previous well-behaved appearance and turned around to bid farewell to the Queen Mother. My peripheral vision inadvertently caught a glimpse of the empty seat at the bottom of the stairs - Song Zhengxing. Perhaps because the lights in the banquet hall were shaken by the wind, Su Moyi was also distracted for a moment. yes. If they knew what the outcome would be, why would some people still take risks? The Queen Mother was unwilling to accept the fate of her descendants, but what about them? Once the thoughts are aroused, they can no longer be controlled.
*
Song Zhengxing has been an official for decades. Why would he be so foolish as to ask Wang Hu to take the blame for a serious crime that could be easily disproven?
Even if Wang Hu was sentenced to death, he would still have to go through a long process, be reviewed by the Ministry of Justice, and finally be submitted to the emperor for approval.
During this process, the real murderer of the rape and murder case may commit another crime at any time. Then, Wang Hu’s unjust case will be solved.
Song Zhengxing had served as the Minister of Justice, so he would not have failed to think of this.
Then, there is only one possibility...
His breathing stagnated, and Su Moyi felt a chill down his spine at the thought that flashed through his mind.
The bow that had not yet been completed just froze in place.
"Grandmother, my grandson has important matters to attend to, so I am afraid I cannot accompany you for dinner."
As soon as he finished speaking, Su Moyi trotted out of the Imperial Garden from the back hall without even waiting for the empress dowager's reply.
When he arrived at the palace gate, he lifted the hem of his robe, jumped on his horse, and ordered Ye Qing in a deep voice: "Hurry! Go to the Dali Temple to call people! Come with me to the death row of Jingzhao Prefecture!"
It was the old man's birthday, and the entire court of civil and military officials and royal family members was watching, so he couldn't really just run away. Therefore, he could only straighten his back and weakly say yes.
As soon as the Queen Mother got his nod, she winked at the Queen, who was sitting next to her.
This so-called cousin Shu is the youngest daughter of Empress Chen and the empress dowager's granddaughter. She and Su Moyi can be considered childhood sweethearts.
Because she was weak when she was young and often caught colds, the imperial physician suggested that she be sent to Jiangnan, which was warmer than Shengjing, to recuperate.
More than ten years passed in a flash, and the little girl grew into a graceful beauty. Last month, the imperial physician examined her pulse and felt that she had recovered and could probably return to Beijing.
Empress Chen then sent someone to bring her back.
It happened that the Empress Dowager heard that the Emperor had assigned Su Moyi another difficult case, and was sighing and complaining that the Emperor only cared about his own country and didn't care about his nephew at all. Princess Jiading, perhaps in order to help her father out, asked a few questions about her cousin Su.
The Queen Mother and the Empress were both women who had lived in the deep palace for a long time. They were very sensitive to the thoughts of these young children and they found out her thoughts in just a few words.
Seeing her lowering her head and closing her eyes with a blushing face, I felt that if we could get closer, this arrangement would be perfect.
So, what happened just now happened.
The empress dowager tightly grasped Su Moyi's wide sleeves, fearing that he would run away, and she pulled the fine moon-white satin with cloud pattern on his body into wrinkles.
Su Moyi pulled it uncomfortably, feeling like a prisoner being escorted.
While I was thinking, I heard light footsteps accompanied by the pleasant and crisp sound of jade hitting each other, and a soft female voice sounded in my ears.
Wei Shu bowed to Su Moyi, lowered her head and said shyly, "Hello, cousin."
The woman in front of her was wearing a lotus pink palace dress, which was a very ordinary outfit. But her fair skin and the pink jade hairpins that fit perfectly in her hair made her look like a peach blossom on a branch in April.
It is bright and graceful, swaying gently in the wind.
She was decent and pleasing to the eye, but her overly delicate voice and figure were quite different from the spoiled and willful little cousin in my memory.
Su Moyi couldn't help but frowned and said "Oh" in a nonchalant manner.
The sleeve that was pulled by the Queen Mother seemed to be even more crooked. Su Moyi calmed himself down and forced a smile.
"Greetings, Princess Jiading." The voice was stiff, as if he was interrogating a suspect.
"Hey!" The Queen Mother took Wei Shu's hand and joked, "You two have known each other since childhood, why are you so unfamiliar with each other now? Grandmother remembers that when you were a child, you followed your cousin Su all day long, like a little tail."
The little girl lowered her head, blushed, and stammered, "Grandmother, please don't laugh at Shu'er."
Her soft and delicate voice would make any man lose heart and soul.
But Su Moyi's brows were getting tighter and tighter, almost forming the shape of the Chinese character "川" (chuan)...
But it was not his fault.
Since he entered the Dali Temple, almost all the female prisoners he had seen who murdered their husbands or committed adultery and stole property were of this beautiful, charming, delicate and harmless appearance. Because such women know how to use their own advantages to gain a man's money, love, pity, and life...
His sleeves tilted again, and he came to his senses, and found that the Queen Mother had a sullen face, with an expression that said, "If you dare not respond, just wait for me."
He had no choice but to hold his forehead and give a polite smile.
The Queen Mother then let go of his hand, pushed him towards Wei Shu, and said, "Don't underestimate your cousin Shu'er because she is gentle and lovely. During the years she went to Jiangnan, she has also been privately studying some criminal cases. A few days ago, she even found a collection of injury examinations to discuss with me."
Su Moyi nodded very distantly without saying anything.
Wei Shu followed up on the empress dowager's words and said, "Yes, the book says that the bone dripping method can be used to test paternity. This is something I have never seen or heard of..."
"Because it's fake."
Su Moyi interrupted Wei Shu with a cold face, not giving her any face at all.
Wei Shu was speechless for a moment and could only force a smile and said, "But... I read in a book..."
"The liquid seeps into the bones because of the tiny gaps in the bones. It has nothing to do with whether there is a blood relationship or not."
Su Moyi looked forward, casually stroking his sleeve that was wrinkled by the empress dowager, and said in a deep voice, "If you like criminal justice and medical examination, you might as well read more medical books. It's better than believing in this nonsense circulating in the market."
Everyone was speechless.
No matter how relieved Wei Shu was, her already stiff face could no longer remain calm.
The little girl had just returned to the palace and was still a little timid even towards her biological mother. After Su Moyi said this, her cheeks turned red all the way to her neck. Ten white fingers helplessly twirled the handkerchief in her hand, and her lower lip was almost bitten to draw blood.
“Come here!”
The Queen Mother couldn’t bear it any longer and grabbed Su Moyi’s sleeve again, causing him to stagger. The queen on the side didn't want to get involved, so she took Wei Shu, who was humiliated and in tears, away from the scene.
"What's wrong with your mouth?!"
The empress dowager was gasping for breath due to anger, but was afraid of being heard and embarrassing Wei Shu again, so she lowered her voice and asked sternly: "Can't you just continue with what others say?"
Su Moyi still had a serious expression and said solemnly, "I am an official in charge of justice. If I was wrong, I was wrong. How should I continue with this wrong matter?"
"You... cough cough..." The empress dowager was speechless and didn't know what to say for a moment.
He could only pat his chest and cough, looking at Su Moyi with a sad face, and said: "When you chose County Lady Yue'an for you before, you complained that her canine teeth were not straight. Find someone with straight teeth, and then you complain that her teardrop moles were not symmetrical. Now, what do you dislike about this cousin, Shu?"
Su Moyi thought for a while and said calmly, "She walks too unsteadily and her eyebrows are a little uneven."
The empress dowager almost vomited blood when she heard this.
The palace maids and nannies beside were busy serving tea and water, and Su Moyi took the opportunity to step back a little. The Queen Mother
paused for a while, then complained: "If you ask me, I shouldn't have cared about your affairs. If I had known that this would be the result, I might as well save some time and read a few more pages of books." "That's right, grandma." "You..." The Queen Mother choked again, took another sip of the tea handed to her by the palace maid, and waved her hands irritably, "Go away! I don't want to see you again in the short term." It seemed that she would not be forced to marry for a while, so Su Moyi followed her wishes and felt a little relieved. She then returned to her previous well-behaved appearance and turned around to bid farewell to the Queen Mother. My peripheral vision inadvertently caught a glimpse of the empty seat at the bottom of the stairs - Song Zhengxing. Perhaps because the lights in the banquet hall were shaken by the wind, Su Moyi was also distracted for a moment. yes. If they knew what the outcome would be, why would some people still take risks? The Queen Mother was unwilling to accept the fate of her descendants, but what about them? Once the thoughts are aroused, they can no longer be controlled.
*
Song Zhengxing has been an official for decades. Why would he be so foolish as to ask Wang Hu to take the blame for a serious crime that could be easily disproven?
Even if Wang Hu was sentenced to death, he would still have to go through a long process, be reviewed by the Ministry of Justice, and finally be submitted to the emperor for approval.
During this process, the real murderer of the rape and murder case may commit another crime at any time. Then, Wang Hu’s unjust case will be solved.
Song Zhengxing had served as the Minister of Justice, so he would not have failed to think of this.
Then, there is only one possibility...
His breathing stagnated, and Su Moyi felt a chill down his spine at the thought that flashed through his mind.
The bow that had not yet been completed just froze in place.
"Grandmother, my grandson has important matters to attend to, so I am afraid I cannot accompany you for dinner."
As soon as he finished speaking, Su Moyi trotted out of the Imperial Garden from the back hall without even waiting for the empress dowager's reply.
When he arrived at the palace gate, he lifted the hem of his robe, jumped on his horse, and ordered Ye Qing in a deep voice: "Hurry! Go to the Dali Temple to call people! Come with me to the death row of Jingzhao Prefecture!"
——————
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