kingnovel Chapter 1141 Being fooled
Chapter 1141 Being fooled
Under the watchful eyes of all the people, Shen Zheng sat down at the desk.
In the crowd, Cui Jinyin clutched her pounding heart and clung tightly to Yu Nanshu's sleeve.
"Yu Nanshu, watching the teacher preside over a case makes me so nervous..."
Yu Nanshu took two deep breaths, hid her trembling hands, and said with a stiff neck, "What are you nervous about? I'm not nervous at all. Sister Shen must have evidence to choose today for the trial."
"It should be... right?" Cui Jinyin's inquiry was filled with trepidation.
Yu Nanshu felt uncertain after being asked the question.
Although she had never been an official, she understood that thoroughly investigating corrupt officials was not something that could be done overnight. If the investigation really started, it could take more than three days, or even three years.
Three days is really too short...
"Ladies—" A slightly plump middle-aged man squeezed to their side at some point and asked with a smile, "Are you Miss Yu and Miss Cui?"
Cui Jinyin looked wary: "Who are you?"
Yu Nanshu understood immediately: "Lord Jiang?"
Jiang Zhiming was dressed in casual clothes today. Upon hearing that Yu Nanshu recognized him, he was overjoyed: "Miss Yu, do you know me?"
Yu Nanshu smiled dismissively: "I overheard Sister Shen and Grandfather mentioning it by chance."
Jiang Zhiming was completely mesmerized by the beauty.
Lord Shen and the Earl had mentioned him privately...
Does this mean that... Jiang Zhiming is still a promising talent?
"Snapped--"
The sound of the gavel pulled Jiang Zhiming back to reality.
Shen Zheng's voice came from the hall: "Court is now in session. Bring the suspect, Huai Gongwang, to the court."
Huai Gongwang's clothes hadn't been changed for three days, so they were inevitably wrinkled and covered in dust. Despite this, his back remained straight, as if he were not a suspect but an official presiding over a trial.
It wasn't until two constables forced him to kneel down, and a dull pain shot through his knees, that his arrogant exterior began to crack.
The gavel rang out overhead, and he heard Shen Zheng ask him directly: "Huai Gongwang, Wu Shun, the prefectural school official, has accused you of accepting bribes and plotting against a court official. Do you plead guilty?"
He slowly raised his head, his gaze quickly sweeping over the files on the desk—a thin stack, with no discernible evidence.
His years of experience as an official taught him that it was especially important not to lose his composure in such situations.
Thinking it over, he looked terrified: "Lord Shen has detained me for three days without even giving me a sip of hot water, just to force me to confess to this fabricated crime? If this is the 'achievement' you want, then... then I'll confess!"
He used those words as bait, secretly observing Shen Zheng's expression as he threw them out.
As expected, Shen Zheng looked flustered for a moment, and her tone was much better than before.
"Lord Huai, you've gone astray. I'm not forcing you to confess, but according to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, those who voluntarily confess can have their punishment reduced by one degree. If you're willing to voluntarily explain the details of accepting bribes and plotting against others, I will report this to my superiors and leave you some leeway. Do you... understand?"
Huai Gongwang understood.
He knows it!
He knew that three days was too short, and Shen Zheng might not be able to find anything out at all!
The so-called "reduction of punishment" and "leaving room for maneuver" are nothing but tricks to coax him into confessing!
In that case... he understood what to do next.
"I beg Lord Shen to see the truth!" He suddenly raised his voice to everyone's ears: "I am an innocent official, I have never accepted a single penny of bribes, nor have I ever committed any murder! Lord Shen, I admire your desire to punish the wicked and eliminate evil! But you cannot arrest me without any evidence based on Wu Shun's empty words, and then try to force me to confess to a fabricated crime!"
After saying that, he stared intently at Shen Zheng, waiting for her to be annoyed by his words.
"Snapped--"
Sure enough, Shen Zheng, sitting in the hall, once again slammed the small wooden block of power, "Utter nonsense! Huai Gongwang, I'm giving you one last chance. Do you plead guilty or not?"
Hearing the panic in Shen Zheng's voice, Huai Gongwang's heart finally settled down.
At this point, he was almost certain that Shen Zheng hadn't found any evidence, and even the files on the desk were probably just empty shells.
In an instant, his back straightened like never before: "This humble official... denies it! Lord Shen, if you wish to use torture to extract a confession, then... come on."
He even started provoking Shen Zheng.
Seeing his expression, Shen Zheng smiled genuinely: "Huai Gongwang, as a fellow official of the court, you should understand that if a suspect refuses to plead guilty during trial, the crime is compounded. I have already given you a chance. Bring the witnesses Wu Shun, Lao Quan, Huai Zhizhen, Zhang Mo, and Wang Yueqian to the court!"
With each name Shen Zheng uttered, Huai Gongwang's heart sank a little deeper.
It wasn't until Wu Shun and the others had all knelt down that he finally saw the mockery in Shen Zheng's eyes.
So... he was tricked?
He was tricked?!
He served as an official for twenty years, only to be outmaneuvered by a mere young girl fresh out of school!
Overwhelmed with resentment, he tried to get up by pushing himself up with his hands on the ground, but the constables pressed him back down.
"Huai Gongwang." Shen Zheng's voice came from above, no longer flustered as before, every word she spoke was extremely calm: "Since you refuse to plead guilty, then I will determine your guilt. There are plenty of witnesses. In the case of Huai Gongwang's bribery, what role did you play?"
Lao Quan glanced at Huai Gongwang secretly, his voice trembling, yet each word was clear: "Reporting to Your Excellency, I, Lao Quan, am the middleman in Huai Gongwang's acceptance of bribes..."
Upon hearing this, Huai Gongwang's heart sank again, and he looked at Lao Quan with a threatening gaze.
Lao Quan avoided his gaze and leaned down directly: "Over the past three years, I've acted as a go-between for the bribe-givers and Huai Gongwang. For Huai Gongwang, a parrot worth a few dozen taels was merely a 'stepping stone.' Only parrots worth thousands of taels and capable of mimicking human speech could catch his eye. For the past three years, after acquiring the birds, I would record the bribe-givers' information and hand it over to Huai Zhizhen for review..."
"Nonsense!" Huai Gongwang and Huai Zhizhen shouted angrily at the same time.
Lao Quan shuddered in fright and hurriedly pulled out an account book from his pocket, holding it above his head with both hands: "This, this is my record of bribes. Each entry corresponds to the date of delivery of the parrot. Please check it, sir!"
The account book was presented to Xu Yunyan by the yamen runner, who casually flipped through a couple of pages and put it down.
It wasn't that the account books weren't clear enough; he had already seen them.
"What kind of evidence is a haphazardly constructed ledger!" Seeing that Huai Gongwang remained silent, Huai Zhizhen directly acted as their lawyer: "May I ask Lord Xu, is there my father's or my own handwriting on that ledger? If not, how can you prove that the ledger is genuine and not a false document deliberately fabricated to frame my father and me!"