Unparalleled Evildoer

Chapter 133 There is nothing but nothing

As soon as he arrived at the Tingwei Mansion, Li Si secretly called Wuzhan and Meng Yi to the back hall and whispered, "Huan Xi refused to confess and wanted to confront you in court. The soldiers only confessed that Huan Xi had extorted money from the people, owed wine money to the tavern on credit, insulted the ministers in the court behind their backs, often went to the brothel to search for a long time late at night, and the corners of the house and courtyard exceeded the specifications and affected the passage of carriages. These alone can be used to convict him, but not enough to sentence him to death. Although someone confirmed that he had contacts with the Doctor's Academy, it is not clear what they talked about specifically, and they were not found to have had contact with strangers. Now the relevant personnel of the Doctor's Academy have not been brought in for questioning, and the Lieutenant's Mansion and the Doctor's Academy have already reported to Your Majesty and requested a public trial. I think the current situation is not good, and it is far from what we had planned before. If you withdraw the charges now, it is not too late for me and Lord Meng to ask Your Majesty for forgiveness!"

Wuzhan asked, "Is the Tingwei afraid?"

Li Si said, "I am worried about you. They searched all night in the thunderstorm last night, but they didn't find the assassin. Although we know that this was arranged by them in advance, we can't find any strong evidence."

Meng Yi advised: "My dear brother, I think you should listen to the Lord of the Court. Let's forget about it this time. It won't be too late to settle the score with them later!"

Wuzhan said calmly: "If the court judge gives in with this, how can you be the prime minister of a country in the future? The arrow has been shot and it has to be shot. What's wrong with me confronting him?"

Li Si thought for a long time and said, "Since you insist on doing this, I can only do as you say. If I lose control, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

"How dare I? I have no intention of becoming an official, and I have a terminal illness, so this is just the right time to fulfill my wish."

Wuzhan whispered a few more words in Meng Yi's ear. After listening, Meng Yi nodded and said, "Don't worry, brother. If that's the case, I will definitely find it out!"

……

The trial hall of the Supreme Court was brightly lit and solemn. It was full of people before the trial began. In addition to the officials of the Supreme Court, there were nearly forty people from the Palace of the Central Lieutenant and the Palace of Doctors. This matter was of great importance and caused a sensation in the whole Xianyang city. Suddenly, upon hearing the news, two officials from the court came to supervise the trial. Taiwei Wang Ben sat on the left of Li Si and Chief Censor Feng Jie sat on the right. Invisibly, the hall was made extremely depressing and no one dared to breathe.

Li Si suddenly stood up and shouted, "Bring Huan Xi in and start the trial!"

Four jailers carried the old general Huan Xi to the center of the hall. Huan Xi was already shackled and handcuffed. He stood there in anger and shouted at Li Si, "I want to confront that guy face to face!"

The left supervisor said sternly, "How dare you, the Supreme Court, let us not allow you to be so presumptuous! Give the criminal Huan Xi twenty heavy strokes of the cane!"

Li Si tried to stop him, saying, "Huan Xi has made contributions to the Qin Empire, so I will spare his punishment. But if he continues to disrespect the court, I will not spare him!"

Huan Xi snorted coldly and said in a stern voice: "Finally someone has not forgotten my achievements, but you are holding me accountable for no reason. Do you still have the law in your court?"

Zuo Jian said: "Someone reported that you were colluding with the remnants of the six kingdoms. We will bring this to trial in accordance with the law!"

"You arrested me based on a complaint. Let me ask you, what should I do if I am falsely accused?"

Zuo Jian said: "Act according to the law. You shouldn't ask such nonsense!"

Huan Xi sneered and said, "Well said, then show me the evidence!"

Li Si said: "Call Wuzhan in to confront him!"

After a moment, Wuzhan walked slowly into the lobby without any surprise or heartbeat. Everyone's eyes were fixed on him coldly, full of hostility.

When Huan Xi saw Wuzhan, his eyes widened with anger and he gnashed his teeth and said, "You are a brat, you have won a battle and you don't know who you are. When I was leading the troops to fight, you were still wearing loose-crotch pants!"

Wuzhan said calmly: "I don't remember this. I only remember that the soldiers led by someone were wiped out, and only one person escaped. I can't understand why he didn't die when so many people died. It's really strange!"

Huan Xi was so angry that he almost choked to death, "You... you are slandering me, show me the evidence, when did I ever collude with those evildoers!"

"Don't worry, I will produce the evidence. Please answer my question first. What time was it when you found us last night?"

"Six quarters past ten!"

"Who should be the general on duty?"

"Haha, of course it's me!"

"How did you find us? What were you doing at the time?"

"We were on patrol, of course we heard the killing shouts!"

"How far away are we?"

"The distance from Chen's house to the scene of the incident is about five hundred feet."

"General Huan has really good hearing. He can even hear the assassin's shouts. Have you ever seen an assassin create momentum while performing an assassination?"

After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but smile, knowing that Huan Xi was wrong. Li Si, Wang Ben and Feng Jie also remained silent. They sat on the stage and listened quietly to the confrontation between the two men.

Huan Xi said hurriedly: "We were so far away at the time, how could we hear it clearly!"

"Then how did the general judge from the beginning that we were engaging in a gang fight?"

"You are all gathered in a group, how can we see clearly?"

"General, since you can't see clearly, why do you make rash judgments?"

"Based on my ten years of experience!"

"According to what the general said, there are often fights among the people at night under the emperor's feet?"

As soon as this was said, Huan Xi's face froze, and everyone could not help but be amazed. Not to mention ten years, in the past thirty years, there had not been such an incident of people in Xianyang City gathering at the alleys to fight at night. Huan Xi's answer was too rash. "Is it useful for you to ask these questions? Even if I made a rash judgment, what does it have to do with your false accusation?"

"It doesn't matter. Then let me ask you about something relevant. When you saw those assassins escaping, why didn't you chase them in time? Instead, you only stopped us who were staying there in an orderly manner and wanted to arrest my apprentice. Is this the habit of arresting people in your Lieutenant's Mansion?"

When the people in the Lieutenant's Mansion heard this, their faces turned pale. Everyone knew that those who wanted to escape should be arrested first. If Huan Xi did this, there would be problems.

This sentence was like a sharp sword piercing Huan Xi's heart. He gradually felt panic in his heart and replied hastily: "We found out that you were assassinated, so didn't we chase you in the end?"

"Did you catch the assassin?"

"The assassin escaped quickly. We went door to door in the thunderstorm and found no suspicious people. The next day, before we could continue the search, you falsely accused us!"

"So where did you search?"

"Of course, we will check all the houses nearby one by one!"

Wuzhan said calmly, "There are 24 assassins in total. Why don't you block the nearby alleys but check them one by one? It would be really strange if you could catch them all!"

After he finished speaking, the people in the Supreme Court burst into laughter, while the people in the Lieutenant's Office felt depressed. They thought that if they continued like this, they would be linked to the assassin. Their initial momentum was swept away by Wuzhan's few questions.

Huan Xi's mind was in a mess after being asked by Wuzhan. He was furious and said fiercely: "Even if I failed in my duty, so what?"

Someone in the Lieutenant's Mansion could not hold back and shouted, "General Huan is a veteran general in the court. He has guarded Xianyang City for ten years without any mistakes. He is loyal to the Qin Dynasty. How could he collude with the remnants of the restoration of the Six Kingdoms? If you can't provide real evidence, you are making a false accusation!"

The left supervisor shouted, "How can you, the Lieutenant General's Office, interrogate me in the hall of the Supreme Court? If you have any reports, please step out of the queue and submit them only after permission. Otherwise, you will be kicked out of the Supreme Court!"

Wuzhan continued to ask: "How do you know that it is the remnants of the six countries, and not some people seeking revenge and eliminating dissidents?"

Lieutenant Xin Wu said in a deep voice: "Recently, the remnants of the six kingdoms have infiltrated Xianyang and spread rumors and caused trouble. Those assassins must have been done by them."

Wuzhan turned to Xin Wu and asked, "Has the Lieutenant's Office ever captured the remnants of the Six Kingdoms?"

Xin Wu's face darkened and he said, "Those remnants usually hide in the dark and act secretly, so they are difficult to catch."

Wuzhan said calmly, "In other words, this is just the Lieutenant's Office's inference, and there is no real evidence?"

Someone in the Doctoral Academy shouted, "Who else could have done such a thing except those who maliciously insulted our Great Qin?"

Wuzhan said in a deep voice: "I don't think so. Some people who advocate the old feudal system may also take the opportunity to use folk opinions to slander our Great Qin's new policy and hinder the implementation of our Great Qin's county system. These people are no different from the remnants of the restoration!"

Wuzhan's voice was not loud, but his words shocked the whole hall. This sentence was more puzzling than the false accusation against Huan Xi. It openly put the blame on the supporters of the feudal system. The impact was too huge. Li Si's face became tense, and the old minister Feng Jie could not help but show a look of surprise.

Immediately, a doctor cursed angrily: "Where did this mad dog come from? You are biting people everywhere. You are an arrogant sick man. You must explain clearly today. You are spreading rumors to confuse the people. I think you are the remnant of the six countries..." The angry curses immediately boiled over in the hall.

The left supervisor shouted angrily: "Silence! If anyone defies the court again, he will be punished according to the law!"

The hall immediately fell silent. Doctor Bao Bai stepped out and said, "If he doesn't give us an explanation today, I would rather die than let him leave the hall!" Someone else immediately echoed, "Yes, he must give us an explanation today!"

Wuzhan said: "The feudal system is an old system of the Three Dynasties, and it is outdated. The reason why our Great Qin unified China is because of the implementation of the New Deal. This is an indisputable fact. However, some so-called benevolent and righteous people took the old system and said it was the holy words and the kingly way. They reversed right and wrong, played tricks, and ignored the future of the country. They tried to take advantage of the opportunity to get a piece of meat and put our Great Qin on the road to destruction again. How is it different from the restoration of the remnants of the six countries?"

Bao Bai angrily scolded: "You are confusing right and wrong, disrespecting the saints and sages, and despising the holy scriptures. You are the treacherous minister who brings disaster to the country and the people!"

"Your Majesty is wise and has implemented new policies. Instead of working for the country, you have been secretly accusing Your Majesty of not being benevolent and righteous, and complaining like a nagging woman. Are you talking about the holy scriptures? Are you doing the kingly way? Are you benevolent and righteous gentlemen? Where were you when the people of the six countries were suffering? Where were you when the soldiers of the Great Qin fought bloody battles? And at this time, you are spreading rumors to confuse the people, saying things like heavenly punishment and wrath, the restlessness of the dead, and carving words to spread rumors, saying that there is public anger and resentment. How can the people understand these profound truths? Who can say these words? It's still the same old sayings. The so-called holy scriptures? The six kingdoms were destroyed, the temples were destroyed, and the remnants of the six kingdoms were already fleeing, so why would they come to Xianyang to die? The remnants of the six kingdoms are not to be feared, and they can't possibly restore a tiny piece of land. The biggest threat to my Great Qin is not the invasion of foreign tribes on the border, because we have brave soldiers, but those who want to restore the old system, those deep-rooted old ideas, and those who want to divide my Great Qin are the biggest threats to my Great Qin. They can subvert a country invisibly and make the foundation that my Great Qin has worked so hard to build collapse in an instant. If these people are not traitors who bring disaster to the country and the people, who else can they be?"

Wuzhan's speech silenced the whole hall. The doctors from the Doctoral Academy felt that a disaster was about to happen. They broke out in cold sweat and dared not utter a word. The people in the Lieutenant's Mansion were pale. They had never thought about the seriousness of this matter. The large number of holy words prepared by Bao Bai were shattered in an instant. They could not utter a word. They stood in the hall, unable to back down and feeling very embarrassed.

Wang Ben couldn't help but admire inwardly, while Feng Jie frowned, stroked his beard, and fell into deep thought.

Huan Xi glared at Wuzhe and said coldly: "This is just your one-sided statement. Show me the evidence. How did I collude with the remnants of the six kingdoms?"

Wuzhan smiled and said, "Before I produce the evidence, I want the general to confirm one thing. Do you have any connection with those so-called remnants of the six kingdoms?"

Huan Xi snorted coldly: "Do you even need to ask? Of course I have nothing to do with them!"

Wuzhan asked again: "General, have you confirmed that the person who assassinated me must be the remnant of the Six Kingdoms?"

Huan Xi replied: "Apart from them, who else in this city would dare to assassinate me?"

Wuzhan bowed to the stage and said, "Your Excellency the Minister of Justice, the Grand Marshal, and the Censor, I would like you to confirm what General Huan just said."

Li Si was confident and said in a deep voice: "Everything he said has been recorded, and we will definitely verify it!"

Wuzhan said, "Thank you, Lord Tingwei, for having the evidence brought up to the hall for everyone to see."

Li Si didn't know what evidence Wuzhan had prepared that needed to be carried, but he didn't hesitate and ordered, "Carry the evidence into the hall!"

At this time, Meng Yi and Jin Xingzi led a team of soldiers, carrying 24 corpses, and entered the lobby. Everyone exclaimed in shock, and some people simply collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

(End of this chapter)