usatvline Chapter 124 The Princess Was Stolen
Chapter 124 The Princess Was Stolen
[I admitted it before because I wanted to cheat the Xu family out of money. I didn't expect these people to be officials and actually do it.]
[The bastard also knew the son of the Jiangnan Provincial Governor and thought that as long as he refused to admit it, he could spend some more money and have the father settle the matter.]
[Brains are a good thing, but this person doesn't have one.]
[You've just fooled around with the son of a provincial governor a few times, and you think his father can help you. Even if he can help, the old man still has to consider whether he can afford to offend Xiao Cong and Minister Lin. After all, Beijing officials are different from local officials.]
Xie Ci'an's eyes gradually darkened, his fingers tapped the table lightly, and a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Behind him were the Emperor and Empress, and beside him were the Shangshu who was higher in rank than him and the favorites around the Emperor. The handling of this case was horrifying. Lord Dou glanced at Xiao Congxiao secretly for confirmation, "Lord Xiao, do you have any information about this?"
Xiao Cong's face was grim, his fingers tightly gripping the armrest beside him. "That's not true. You all, and everyone in Yaoyue Tower, can testify for me. This person framed me."
Minister Lin crossed his legs, leaned back in his chair, and twirled the teacup beside him. "Lord Dou, this man is talking nonsense. Not a word of it is true. He didn't say that before at Yaoyue Tower. Everyone in Yaoyue Tower, including those above, heard it all. If Lord Dou doesn't believe me, you can send someone to ask."
When it comes to the people above, Lord Dou has nothing to understand. The two of them are listening from behind.
"Lord Dou, I do have a suggestion." When Minister Lin looked at the man kneeling on the ground, a sinister smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, which made people feel a little creepy.
Lord Dou quickly spoke, "Minister Lin, please speak."
"Anyway, this man won't tell the truth. Your Excellency might as well just torture him. Under severe torture, he will surely confess a few words of truth." Minister Lin turned the jade ring on his finger.
Seeing that Lord Dou was still hesitant, Minister Lin continued, "The Imperial City Division also favors harsh torture when interrogating prisoners. I've never heard of anyone being forced to confess under torture. On the contrary, they always dig out useful information."
They can't visit Jiangnan District to look for evidence now.
Lord Dou picked up the token on the table and threw it down, "Drag him away and give him twenty lashes of the cane."
Hearing that he was going to be tortured, the man panicked instantly, "Sir, you can't hit me. I am a good friend of Li, the governor of Jiangnan."
"Don't mention a good friend. Even if he came in person, he would be punished for committing a crime. He doesn't even know where he is and how dare he act so rashly at the foot of the imperial city." Lord Dou waved his hand and had someone drag him away.
But after a while, bursts of shrill screams were heard.
Xu Suyue and Old Man Xu both had expressions of relief on their faces.
However, Gu Jianchu, who was sitting in the back, was leisurely eating the cakes that Lord Dou had sent over.
The execution was soon over and the man was brought back by the jailer. His clothes on his back were stained with blood and beads of sweat kept dripping from his forehead. Perhaps because of the pain, his breathing became heavier unconsciously.
"Are you going to tell me or not?" Lord Dou looked at the man fiercely.
Minister Lin leaned towards the man, his chin resting on one hand. "I suggest you tell the truth to avoid physical torture. After all, this is the capital, not Jiangnan. You can bribe the local officials with silver. If you continue to be stubborn, the Dali Temple has many other criminal laws. I don't mind trying them all on you."
As Minister Lin spoke word by word, the man's psychological defenses were gradually broken. He looked at Minister Lin with horror in his eyes, "My Lord, I confess. I deceived Xu Suyue into marriage, but Xu Suyue also deceived me. She was the one who drugged me and climbed into my bed. I also admit to organizing gambling and assaulting her."
"If you had admitted it earlier, you wouldn't have suffered so much physical pain." The smile on Minister Lin's face gradually faded.
Lord Dou sentenced the two to divorce on the spot. Old Man Xu and Xu Suyue were fined one thousand taels of silver for drugging, and the man was sentenced to ten years in prison for his bad behavior.
Xiao Cong and Minister Lin, who were unaware of the emperor and empress's presence, left the Dali Temple together after resolving these matters.
Lord Dou trotted to the back hall and said, "I didn't know the Emperor and Empress were coming. I apologize for not coming to greet you. Please forgive me, Emperor and Empress."
When Gu Jianchu and Xie Ci'an came over, the court session had already begun.
Lord Dou wanted to come and pay his respects, but was excused by the Emperor.
"Get up." Xie Ci'an's lazy voice sounded.
Dou Wen had just gotten up from the ground when he heard the sound of drums outside. He was so frightened that he almost stepped on his official robe and fell down. Fortunately, Cheng Song was quick to help him up. "Master Dou, be careful."
Before the drumbeats stopped, a female voice pierced the hall, "Dou Wen, get out here!"
Gu Jianchu was quite familiar with this female voice. It was none other than the eldest princess Xie Qingzhi. Ever since Xie Qingzhi and her husband divorced, she would not enter the palace except for important palace banquets, and she would not even go to pay her respects to the empress dowager.
"Are you very familiar with the eldest princess?" Gu Jianchu asked casually.
Dou Wen was so frightened that he wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and said, "I'm not familiar with her."
As Dou Wen finished speaking, he saw the official stumbling in, holding his hat. Because he ran too fast, he almost bumped into Zhu Xia who was standing in front of the door. Seeing this scene, Dou Wen broke out in a cold sweat again, "What's going on? Why are you so clumsy?"
The officer didn't notice Gu Jianchu, Xie Ci'an, and the others. He pointed outside and hesitantly said, "The princess is here, and she brought a scholar with her. The scholar said she lost a very important jade pendant. The princess wants you to go out and help find it."
"Just let Lord Lin handle this kind of petty theft."
"That's what I said, but the princess doesn't want to. She insists on letting you handle it, otherwise she will destroy our Dali Temple." After the official said this, he looked at Dou Wen with a bad attitude.
The eldest princess is the daughter of the late queen. Because she was excluded from the imperial power, she was spoiled by the late queen and the late emperor since childhood. She developed a lawless personality and was capable of doing something like destroying the Dali Temple.
Dou Wen hurriedly bowed to the two of them and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I will go out and take a look."
After getting the emperor's approval, Dou Wen led his men away in big strides.
[Scholar? What scholar?]
Gu Jianchu always notices things that others don't notice.
For example, while others care about the theft case, she cares about the scholar.
Being disturbed by Gu Jianchu like this, he couldn't help but feel curious.
When he reacted, he saw Gu Jianchu had already quickly run to the screen and was looking out through the gap.