good season

The scene that unfolded in front of the Dali Temple spread throughout the streets and alleys of the capital in less than half a day!

At the same time, countless pigeons flew out of the capital, and knights dressed as servants rode out of the capital to various parts of the Great Yong Dynasty.

Xiao Guai spat out a small bamboo tube containing a letter from its mouth and nudged it towards Zhao Shiqing with its toes.

Zhao Shiqing recognized it at a glance; it was tied to the leg of a carrier pigeon.

"Blocking mail? Don't do that again." Zhao Shiqing said, her hands moving nimbly as she skillfully took a scroll from the bamboo tube.

The inscription above reads in tiny characters: "The aggrieved petitioners of the Dali Temple are in grave danger."

Before the word "dangerous," there are three mountain peaks outlined in ink, no more, no less.

Zhao Shiqing raised an eyebrow slightly. Was this a dangerous situation?
It seems that the impact of this incident is greater than she imagined.

Indeed, this was the case, and Emperor Yongjia was furious.

Because the old man was not an ordinary person; he was the father of Huang Shikun, the prefect of Mingtai.

In Mingtai's jurisdiction, there was a case where a country man named Wang Feihu got into an argument with someone while going to the market, injured the person, and was sentenced to three years of hard labor.

Three years later, Wang Feihu returned home only to find that his wife had died and his eight-year-old daughter had "run away".

After much effort, Wang Feihu finally uncovered the truth behind his wife's death and his daughter's "disappearance." It turned out that his daughter had been violated by his father, and when his wife found out, she confronted her in-laws and was beaten to death by his two brothers!

After learning the truth, Wang Feihu went to fight them to the death, but was beaten half to death.

In a fit of anger, Wang Feihu filed a lawsuit against his father and two brothers.

The local county government, on the grounds that a son suing his father was unfilial, had Wang Feihu beaten with forty strokes of the cane.

After Wang Feihu recovered from his injuries, he went directly to Mingtai Prefecture, blocked the street to file a complaint, and handed the complaint to Prefect Huang Shikun.

After investigation, Huang Shikun dug up the body of Wang Feihu's daughter on the hillside behind Wang's house.

Wang Feihu's parents and brothers confessed to their crimes one after another. Huang Shikun sentenced the three members of the Wang family to death and Wang Feihu's mother to ten years of hard labor.

The case was closed at this point. The three men sentenced to death would be executed in the autumn, but Old Lady Wang was immediately sent to a labor camp.

Not long after Wang Laoniang arrived at the labor camp, she suddenly recanted her testimony, saying that the men in her family had not harmed their granddaughter, nor had they beaten the mother and daughter to death. She claimed that her daughter-in-law had been cheating on her, and that she had accidentally killed her daughter-in-law while scolding her.

Just then, the Ministry of Justice sent people to inspect the labor camp, and the case was sent back to Mingtai for retrial.

Meanwhile, the Wang family father and son, who were still awaiting execution in the autumn, also recanted their confessions, saying that they had nothing to do with the matter, that it was Wang Feihu's wife who had the affair, that it was Wang's mother who killed the person, and that Wang Feihu's daughter was strangled to death by Wang Feihu's wife.

Not long after, the authorities found Wang Feihu's wife's lover, who confirmed that Wang Feihu's wife had strangled her own daughter to death.

The case was not only reversed, but also had complete witness testimony. After the retrial, Wang's mother was held responsible for everything, and Wang's father and son were acquitted.

When the three returned to the village, they told everyone they met that Wang Feihu was unfilial. Wang Laohu was not only called a "living turtle," but was also accused of being unfilial and disrespectful to his elders.

Wang Feihu harbored resentment and directed all his hatred towards Prefect Huang.

He came to the prefectural city alone, changed his name and infiltrated the Huang family, intending to kill Prefect Huang, but mistakenly killed his two younger brothers. Afterwards, Wang Feihu committed suicide.

This case caused such a stir locally, and because it involved relatives of officials, it was transferred from the Ministry of Justice to the Court of Judicial Review just two months ago.

When the Dali Temple sent people to investigate, they discovered that the so-called lover of the king's wife was a complete fraud. The man had injured his manhood in an accident years ago, and he couldn't even sleep with his own wife, let alone have an affair.

After learning that Wang Feihu had killed the prefect's brother, the Wang family father and son fled and disappeared.

The matter is now clear: Old Man Wang harmed his eight-year-old granddaughter, then instructed his two sons to beat their daughter-in-law to death, strangle their granddaughter, fabricate a story about their daughter-in-law having an affair, and then frame Old Man Wang's mother for it.

Just then, the Third Prince was observing the administration at the Dali Temple. He concluded that the case arose because Prefect Huang had misjudged the case, and that Wang Feihu was the victim. Although he was guilty of murder, he was already dead, so he should pay with his life.

Because of his misjudgment of the case, Prefect Huang not only let the real murderer go free, but also implicated his two brothers, resulting in a tragedy.

At the same time, the Third Prince also discovered that Prefect Huang had accepted bribes, so it was not that the criminal was too cunning, but that he deliberately made a wrong judgment.

Prefect Huang was, after all, an official appointed by the imperial court, and could not be sentenced at will. He was escorted to the capital and imprisoned in the Dali Temple prison.

Prefect Huang had always suffered from a heart ailment and was no different from ordinary people in his daily life. However, during his detention, he could not withstand the shock and his illness flared up. Before the doctor could arrive, he passed away.

After losing three sons in succession, Prefect Huang's parents contemplated suicide, but they did not want to die like that. They believed that Prefect Huang had been framed and that he had been forced to his death in prison by the Third Prince.

Huang's father had a set of evidence: evidence that the so-called lover of Wang's wife had been bribed, and evidence that Wang's mother had met with people outside the labor camp. Both pieces of evidence pointed to the same person: the current acting prefect, formerly the assistant prefect Liu Qing.

Liu Qing was a protégé of Grand Secretary Feng Ke!

In other words, Liu Qing is one of the Third Prince's men.

He had always been at odds with Prefect Huang, a fact known to everyone in the government.

Now that Prefect Huang has run into trouble, Liu Qing is very likely to be the next prefect.

Huang's parents risked their lives to produce the evidence. If this evidence is adopted, then it will be a foregone conclusion that the Third Prince framed an official of the imperial court.

The impact of this incident has surpassed that of the affair between Prince Jing and his cousin.

Zhao Shiqing was surprised. She subconsciously looked at Xiao Zhen: "You did this?"

Xiao Zhen shook her head: "It wasn't me."

Zhao Shiqing hurriedly asked, "Then do you know who it is?"

Xiao Zhen chuckled: "It's either this prince or that prince. At this time, besides them, who else would be willing to go to such great lengths to cause such a huge upheaval?"

This case was clearly premeditated. From the moment Wang Laoniang recanted her testimony, the matter had already transformed from a rape and murder case into a power struggle between officials.

As long as Liu Qing is the Third Prince's man, then no matter how the case is judged at the Dali Temple, the Third Prince will be implicated.

Zhao Shiqing sighed: "I only knew before that there was no kinship in the royal family, but after arriving in the capital, I realized just how ruthless they were. These are no longer brothers; they are practically our father's killers."

She mentally considered both the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince. Although these two princes were both cunning, this case didn't seem like something they would do. Take the weapons case in Tong'an, for example. That was a case the Fourth Prince fabricated to frame the Third Prince and Prince Jing. That case was very crudely made; it was as if the words "framed" were carved on the box.

Looking at the case of Feng Yalan falling into the water again, the Fifth Prince was almost about to say: I did it, I just wanted to anger you to death.

But looking at Prefect Huang's case again, it's clear that it was meticulously planned and scheming for a long time.

This is not the style of the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince.

Could it be that Prince Jing?
Prince Jing had planned this case long ago, but before he could carry it out, something went wrong.

"Is it Prince Jing?" Zhao Shiqing asked.

Xiao Zhen smiled: "There's also the Second Prince. Have you forgotten about him?" "The Second Prince? Isn't he just a bookworm who doesn't care about anything else?" Zhao Shiqing asked, puzzled.

Xiao Zhen smiled and shook his head: "What you hear, and even what you see with your own eyes, is what others want you to hear and see. At the same time, it is also what they want the emperor, their brothers, and all the civil and military officials to see."

Zhao Shiqing has learned a lot.

She decided she would stop calling Xiao Zhen old-fashioned; after all, Xiao Zhen was more mature and shrewd than her.

She was just a newborn baby.

Even after returning home, Qingbaobao didn't rest. Every day, she sent people, cats, birds, and even Ah Huang out to inquire about news.

The message was quickly relayed back.

Feng Ke postponed his third request to establish a crown prince, and the timing of the third request is currently undecided; it could be a few months or a few years.

In short, the Third Prince's long-awaited three invitations and three rejections will not be seen for at least three months.

As for Prefect Huang's case, Emperor Yongjia also had the Court of Judicial Review transfer it to the Ministry of Justice. Minister Xu of the Ministry of Justice was a cunning old fox. Handing over such a big case was so hot that his hands were practically blistered.

Without saying a word, he handed the case over to Yan Xia.

Didn’t you see it?

Even the Third Prince has become obedient, so what can this nice guy do? Who can he possibly fight against?

Looking across the Ministry of Justice, besides Yan Xia, is there anyone else qualified to investigate this case? Do they dare to investigate this case?

No!

Therefore, this case belongs to Yanxia, ​​and can only belong to Yanxia!
Since Prince Jing's incident, Yan Xia was repeatedly urged by Duke Wei to attend the Imperial Academy.

That's right. Others were afraid of getting into trouble and asked for leave from the Imperial College, but he went to school. For him, going to the Imperial College was the least troublesome thing he could do.

Today, Yan Xia slept all morning at the Imperial College and was about to go to the dining hall for lunch when he saw his attendant running over.

Because the second and third generations of wealthy and powerful families would often fight, the Imperial Academy, in order to prevent them from engaging in group brawls, had long ago prohibited their servants, attendants, and guards from entering the academy.

Therefore, the sheds outside the Imperial College were built for these people.

Yan Xia was somewhat surprised to see her servant, Walnut: "How did you get in?"

Walnut replied, "I had important business to attend to, so they didn't dare stop me."

"What's up?" Yan Xia took his food plate from the canteen uncle. Yan Xia was very famous, and the canteen uncle regarded him as an idol. Since he rarely came here, everyone else was eating chicken. While others had chicken nuggets, his food plate had two big chicken legs!
Yanxia gave one of the chickens to Walnut, and the two of them found a table, sat down, and started gnawing on the chicken leg.

After finishing the chicken leg, Yan Xia wiped his mouth and asked, "So, what's the important matter?"

Walnut said, "Lord Xu just sent someone over to tell you to go to the Ministry of Justice after school."

Yan Xia responded with an "Oh": "A major case has occurred in the Ministry of Justice?"

He hadn't been to the Ministry of Justice for several days. Oh, right, since the engagement, his attendance book had twenty more red circles, bringing him one step closer to promotion.

If he could, he would write to Zhao Yunnuan to tell her the good news and let her know that he really wasn't a stupid person who couldn't get promoted.

However, he ultimately didn't write the letter; he felt a little embarrassed.

I've been so busy drawing red circles these days that I haven't paid much attention to the Ministry of Justice's affairs, and now I'm completely clueless.

Walnut hurriedly said, "It's the case of Prefect Mingtai. His Majesty transferred it to the Ministry of Justice. As you know, Lord Xu only wants to live peacefully until the day he retires. Seeing this case, he's probably too scared to sleep. That's why he thought of you. Let me tell you, it's best if you don't get involved in this matter. Whoever gets involved will take the blame."

Yanxia finished her rice, stood up, and stretched: "I've drawn the red circle today, so I can go home now!"

Walnut: "Shall we go back to the mansion?"

Yan Xia: "I won't go back. If I go back, they definitely won't let me go to the Ministry of Justice."

Walnut: "You're really going to the Ministry of Justice? This isn't a good case."

Yan Xia: "There are no good cases out there."

The next day, the whole capital knew one thing: Master Yan had taken on the case of Prefect Mingtai!

This case has a huge impact, so huge that it could affect whether the Third Prince can become the Crown Prince.

Inside the Duke of Wei's mansion, Madam Yu was scolding her son: "I've told so many people that you were seriously injured and that you need to take good care of yourself before you get married. You can refuse to take this case and just say that you haven't recovered yet and need to continue recuperating."

Yan Xia was packing her things when she heard this and stopped: "Mother, you said outside that I'm not in good health? Who did you tell?"

Mrs. Yu: "What are you going to do? Kill me to cover your tracks?"

Yanxia: "I'll find a notebook to write it down, and when I have a baby, I'll take it over to show them."

Mrs. Yu rolled her eyes: "You even need to find a notebook to write it down? With the few people you know, can you even write down all their names?"

Yanxia: My dear mother, never mind, she's my dear mother!
Just then, Walnut ran in excitedly: "Eagle, young master, Eagle, Eagle is here!"

Yan Xia's eyes lit up as soon as he heard this. He didn't bother to argue with Madam Yu and walked out casually.

Madam Yu hurriedly asked, "What eagle? We agreed that you weren't allowed to keep eagles. You're all running around all day. Even if you keep one, you don't take care of it. It's still me who has to worry about you. Hey, where are you running off to? Where are you going?"

Of course Yan Xia had to run, otherwise he wouldn't be able to catch the eagle. Fortunately, Walnut brought over a horse, and Yan Xia mounted it and went after the eagle.

The owner of this eagle is his sister-in-law.

Anyone who has ever been married knows that you can't afford to mess with either your sister-in-law or brother-in-law.

This time, we didn't go to the same teahouse as last time, but to an inconspicuous little restaurant.

There was only one table of customers in the restaurant: a fat old man and his little granddaughter. There was a birdcage on the table and a big yellow dog lying at their feet.

Yan Xia walked over and gave Zhen Wu a junior's bow.

Since this man is Zhao Shiqing's maternal grandfather, he is also Zhao Yunnuan's elder, so he should naturally show him respect.

Zhao Shiqing pointed to the opposite side: "Brother-in-law, please sit down."

Yan Xia tried hard to suppress her laughter.

Brother-in-law, he's my brother-in-law now! (End of Chapter)