Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 458: Separate Case
"Greetings to the Duke of Ying, Grand Minister Huang, and Grand Censor Zhang." When Grand Justice He Zongyan arrived at the Ministry of Justice, Left Censor-in-Chief Zhang Wenda was already seated in the main hall. Huang Kezan had also stepped down from his seat of honor and sat down with Zhang Weixian, opposite Zhang Wenda, on four chairs that had been temporarily arranged in the center of the hall. He Zongyan saluted in order, and the ministers rose to return the greetings.

"Please take a seat, Mr. He." Huang Kezan waved his hand towards the chair next to Zhang Wenda.

"Okay." He Zongyan nodded and took his seat. As soon as he sat down, Zhang Wenda beside him couldn't wait to speak: "Shaofu and the Duke of Ying wanted to ask Junmei and me to come here. What do you want to talk about?" After the formalities, Zhang Wenda stopped addressing the other two judicial officials by their official titles.

"Zhang Zongxian misunderstood. It was Huang Butang who asked you two to come here." Before Huang Kezan could say anything, Zhang Weixian spoke up. "I just happened to be an observer in this case. I have no say in it."

He Zongyan nodded slightly, approving of Zhang Weixian's decision. Since the rise of the Ming Dynasty, it has been customary for officials to remain aloof from government affairs. However, in a broader sense, criminal cases are also political affairs, so Duke Ying's words are perfectly justified.

Zhang Wenda then fixed his gaze on Huang Kezan. "Did you run into a difficult case?" Until just now, he had thought Huang Kezan and Zhang Weixian had called them over to discuss improving public security in the capital.

"Junmei, Deyun," Huang Kezan, like Zhang Wenda, addressed his fellow judges by their courtesy names. "Just now, Captain Wu of the Jinwu Guards arrested a man from Dong'an Gate." Huang Kezan briefly recounted Li Guochen's case, concluding, "Now, Young Master Li is waiting in the tea room in the back hall. What do you think should be done?"

"Mr. Shao," it was Zhang Wenda, the Left Censor-in-Chief, who spoke again. He narrowed his eyes slightly and asked Huang Kezan, "Since you've kept Young Master Li here, do you still want to try him first?"

Huang Kezan met Zhang Wenda's gaze and said, "I originally wanted to send Young Master Li back. But then I thought, since Chief Wei specifically asked the Jinwu Guard to send Young Master Li here, it wouldn't be a good idea for me to just send him back without asking any questions. The Li family case was the first case to be filed by the Censorate. If the Emperor approves your request and sends the case to the Censorate for a thorough investigation, it will inevitably require a joint trial by the three judicial departments. That's why I wanted to ask for your opinions."

"Since it was sent by Chief Wei, there's no harm in asking." Zhang Wenda agreed and turned to look at He Zongyan.

"Shaofu, Deyun," He Zongyan's brows were already furrowed. "Don't you think this is strange? Li Guochen intercepted Chief Wei, who was overseeing the transportation of military funds, at the palace gate, claiming he was turning himself in. Ha! When did the Li family become so complacent and self-aware?" He Zongyan had no fondness for the successive Marquises of Wuqing. In his view, they were a bunch of cunning and greedy parasites of the state.

"Don't make this so complicated," Zhang Wenda said. "As the saying goes, 'Those who surrender themselves before committing a crime are pardoned.' I think Li Guochen is simply panicking and frightened by the escalating chaos outside, and he's hoping to get leniency by turning himself in."

He Zongyan didn't immediately respond to Zhang Wenda's words, but instead looked at Zhang Weixian, who was sitting across from him. "Duke Yingguo, what do you think?"

"He Da Tingwei, you also know that meritorious officials are not involved in government affairs." Zhang Weixian shook his head and said, "The matters of trial should be discussed with the three judicial departments."

"Your Excellency, I've misunderstood. What I want to ask is not your opinion on those cases, but your opinion of Li Guochen as a person." He Zongyan said meaningfully, "The Duke of Ying's Mansion and the Marquis of Wuqing's Mansion must have some dealings, right?"

"Haha, yes." Zhang Weixian was stunned for a moment, but didn't offer any defense. "What Grand Court Judge He said is correct. The Duke of Ying and the Marquis of Wuqing do have some dealings. However, I don't interact much with this kid. Li Guochen isn't the heir to the throne, so he rarely interacts with other families, at least not with my family."

"What about the heir apparent?" He Zongyan asked again.

"Isn't the one in the teahouse the heir?" Zhang Weixian softly retorted. In these cases, Zhang Weixian's biggest desire was to minimize the Zhang family's involvement while avoiding the perception that he was deliberately distancing himself from the matter out of guilt.

"Junmei, what are you worried about?" Huang Kezan asked directly.

"I'm not worried about anything, I just find it strange. None of the three cases uncovered so far involve Li Guochen, but he jumped out on his own. I don't know why, but there must be some reason. What Deyun just said, striving for leniency is one explanation, but I think this explanation is a bit too simple." He Zongyan said.

Zhang Wenda leaned on the armrest and turned to look at He Zongyan. "Many times, things are just that simple." Zhang Wenda really looked down on the Li family. How could this family be so smart as to marry a eunuch and step on the emperor's heart?
"Even so!" He Zongyan nodded deliberately. "But don't forget, the Emperor hasn't given clear instructions on whether this case should be tried, and who should try it. It wouldn't be a good idea for us to just rush into this. Furthermore, it's against protocol to take a prisoner from the eunuchs of the Imperial Household without their permission. If word gets out, wouldn't people say the Three Law Enforcement Departments interrogated the prisoner at the behest of the Eunuchs of the Imperial Household? So, I think we should submit a joint petition to explain this matter first. It won't be too late to wait until the Emperor issues a decree to hand the case over to the law enforcement department before we try it. Until then, let's not send Li Guochen back, and keep him at the Ministry of Justice."

"You're wrong to think that. Even though the person was sent by the Imperial Household Department, that doesn't mean the court accepted their orders." Zhang Wenda shook his head. "If you're really bothered, we can handle the case separately."

"What do you mean?" Huang Kezan asked quickly.

"Who said we're going to investigate those three cases?" Zhang Wenda didn't keep the mystery going. "Since the Ministry of Justice received the suspect for disrupting the Liao tribute shipment from the Jinwu Guard, we'll investigate why he disrupted the Liao tribute shipment. That's a crime in itself. If he accidentally brings up other cases while confessing this one, we can't help but listen."

"Yeah." Huang Kezan nodded and looked at He Zongyan. "I agree."

"Let's do both." He Zongyan didn't object. He shook his sleeves and suggested, "Submit a petition and conduct an investigation at the same time."

"Okay!" Huang Kezan nodded immediately.

Zhang Weixian listened to this and felt that these civil servants had a lot of calculations in their minds.

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The interrogation took place in the tea room in the back hall.

Huang Kezan dismissed all the yamen runners, leaving behind not even the record-keeping clerk. Huang Kezan, Zhang Wenda, and He Zongyan flanked Li Guochen in the center of the tea room, each with a set of paper and pen in front of them. Clearly, they were planning to write their own reports.

Zhang Weixian also came. He sat between Huang Kezan and Zhang Wenda. There was no table or paper or pen in front of him.

Li Guochen had originally intended to kneel for his "trial," but Huang Kezan wouldn't even let him stand. After all, Li Guochen hadn't been convicted and still held a nominal title, barely qualifying as an official. So, Li Guochen sat upright on a chair in the center of the court, quietly awaiting questioning from the three judges.

"Why did you intercept the military pay sent to Liaodong? Also, how did you know that military pay would be released from the warehouse today?" Huang Kezan was the undisputed chief judge, so he asked the first question.

"I didn't know that military pay would be released from the warehouse today, and I never thought I would run into the military pay transport team." Li Guochen seemed a little nervous, and his voice was a little hoarse when he replied.

"Then what did you want to do originally?" "I originally wanted to find the Prime Minister Fang of the Cabinet." Li Guochen told the truth.

Huang Kezan shuddered, subconsciously glancing at his fellow judicial officers on either side. Zhang Wenda and He Zongyan glanced at him and the officer sitting across from him. "What do you want to do with the Prime Minister?" Huang Kezan hesitated for a moment, then remembered Li Guochen's previous response: "To find the Prime Minister, follow the wise."

"Please ask him to apologize to the emperor on behalf of the criminal." Li Guochen said.

"But why did you stop Wei Bingbi's car in the end?" Huang Kezan asked.

"Because when I saw the eunuch in the dragon robe, I felt that the eunuch could convey my apology to the emperor better than the prime minister. So I changed my mind temporarily." Li Guochen replied.

"Why don't you go to Fang's house to find the Prime Minister, but go to Dong'anmen?" He Zongyan interrupted.

Li Guochen naturally had an excuse for such a question. He turned to look at He Zongyan and said, "To answer your question, sir, if I go directly to Fang's house to see the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister may not open the door."

"Okay, even if that's the case," He Zongyan said, "but you went to Dong'anmen a little too early, didn't you? It's not even time for the court to end yet, and you went there hours in advance, saying you were going to see the Prime Minister. You're really patient." He Zongyan suddenly raised his voice. "Tell me! What exactly did you go there for?"

Li Guochen's eyes widened, and he stepped back slightly, but he still insisted on his previous statement. "The criminal went to see Prime Minister Fang."

"Then why did you go to guard outside Dong'an Gate so early?" He Zongyan lowered his tone slightly, but there was still undisguised suspicion in his eyes.

"Because... because..." Li Guochen turned his head and said, "Because the matter was getting bigger and bigger, I was afraid that someone would come to my house and I would never be able to leave. So after hearing the news of the East Factory report, I left immediately."

"In other words, you want to hide?" Zhang Wenda's face showed an expression of expectation.

Li Guochen seemed stunned for a moment, then sighed and said, "Yes."

"I'm afraid he's going to escape?" Zhang Wenda asked again.

"Absolutely not!" Li Guochen denied it flatly, his face etched with sorrow. "If I wanted to escape, why would I have stopped Chief Wei's carriage? I'm here to apologize! Please understand!"

Zhang Wenda stopped asking questions and looked at Huang Kezan. He Zongyan did the same. Only Duke of England Zhang Weixian still maintained his original posture, supporting his head with his eyes slightly squinted, as if he was looking at Li Guochen who was sitting in the middle, but also seemed to be not paying attention to the case and was resting with his eyes closed.

In fact, the interrogation of Li Guochen for intercepting the military payroll team could have ended at this point. According to the normal process, the next step would be to either torture the suspect and conduct a new trial, or to arrest Li Guochen and submit a case file to the emperor for his instructions.

Huang Kezan continued to ask, "What crime are you trying to commit by intercepting the supply team?"

As soon as Huang Kezan spoke, Zhang Wenda and He Zongyan immediately straightened their postures and simultaneously raised their pens to record. However, Zhang Wenda was about to continue writing from where he had just written, while He Zongyan pulled out a new piece of paper and prepared to start a new chapter.

"I was the one who killed Li Youcai." Li Guochen let out a long sigh.

"Who is Li Youcai?" Huang Kezan had read the memorials submitted by the Censorate, the Imperial Guard, and the Eastern Depot. However, he could not recall any of them mentioning a person named "Li Youcai."

"In the case of Tianjin Zhongwei Shen Caiyu, it was Li Youcai who went south to tip off Shen Caiyu. After the incident, the Jinyiwei followed the clues of the Rear Army Governor's Office and traced him back. I panicked and killed him. Then, I disguised him as Shen Caiyu and abandoned his body on the street. I hope to fool the matter." As he spoke, Li Guochen subconsciously glanced at Zhang Weixian.

Li Guochen had always found this matter suspicious. After the incident, he learned that although Luo Sigong had openly visited the rear military governor's office, he had not used the seal in public. Li Guochen suspected that the Duke of Ying was doing this on purpose. He wanted to alert Shen Caiyu and make him flee, but he didn't want to dirty his hands, so he spread the news. This way, even if Shen Caiyu was eventually caught, the Zhang family would not be implicated.

However, Li Guochen was also well aware that all of this was simply his inference based on the results. He could find no substantive evidence to accuse the Duke of Ying of ulterior motives. Even if he were to forcefully accuse the Duke of Ying of ulterior motives, claiming that Wuqing Hou had heard about the Jinyiwei operation from him, others would simply assume that the Li family was desperate and making random accusations, hoping to drag others into the situation. The fugitive Shen Caiyu's own confession only proved that Wuqing Hou had tipped off. Regardless, it was the Li family, not the Zhang family, who had committed the evil deed.

"Is this Li Youcai a servant of the Li family?" Huang Kezan remembered that the Jinyiwei's report did mention a corpse discovered by the South City Military Command.

"Yes."

"What is the relationship between this Li Youcai and the forged and disappeared Li Laicai?" Huang Kezan asked.

"It doesn't matter."

"Since there is no connection, then why are they all Li Moucai?" Huang Kezan asked again.

Li Guochen explained, "To bring good luck, the Li family changed the names of their trusted servants to include the words 'wealth, honor, wealth and power'."

"Did you send Li Youcai to tip off Shen Caiyu?"

"Yes!" Li Guochen clenched his fists, his nails digging into his flesh. "I sent Li Youcai to inform Shen Caiyu."

(End of this chapter)