In response to Sheng Jiangli's question, Qingqing's eyes grew even redder.
So he knew she'd been hiding outside Luoyan Residence all this time!
But even though he knew, he'd never tried to find her.
Was it really that hard for him to soften his stance?
No, it wasn't hard at all.
As soon as Lady Caiyu was put under house arrest by the prince, he'd softened up.
He clearly knew the prince wouldn't do anything to Lady Caiyu, but he simply couldn't bear to see her suffer the slightest bit of grievance.
"Are you really going to take Xiao Rencheng's place?" Qingqing looked at him with her water - washed eyes. "Lady Caiyu will be fine. As long as she lowers her pride and tries to please the prince, the prince will soften his heart. You don't need to worry about her at all."
Sheng Jiangli took the handkerchief from her and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. He glanced at her coldly, his demonic face tinged with anger.
"My woman only needs to hold her head high and live proudly. Why should she lower herself to please that dog of a man, Song Yinghuai? Caiyu was born to love freedom. How could she bear the punishment of house arrest? What do you know?"
"Do you know that if you take on Xiao Rencheng's crime, you'll lose your freedom?" Qingqing's bright eyes filled with anger and unwillingness. Her voice rose. "She wants freedom, but do you have to lose yours? Do you think you'll have an easy time in the Court of Judicial Review?
"You'll not only lose your freedom, but also your future, your prospects, and everything!"
Sheng Jiangli was taken aback for a moment. Looking at the lingering red in her eyes, he inexplicably thought that at this moment, she seemed to have a touch of... the charm of an angry beauty.
Then, his delicate eyebrows and eyes were once again covered with frost. He got up and walked away without looking back. "My future and prospects have nothing to do with you. Now, go back to the Prince of Yan's Mansion and take good care of Caiyu. You don't need to worry about anything else."
"Sheng Jiangli!" Qingqing chased after his departing back and roared unwillingly. "Sheng Jiangli! You're such a blockhead! You're a heartless blockhead!"
The only response to her was the rustling sound of the crape myrtle petals fluttering in the yard.
They fluttered down in fine pieces, staining the man's departing robe.
The case of the wife of the Minister of War having an affair with the Left Censor - in - Chief of the Censorate and stealing property from her husband's family caused an earthquake in the officialdom of Daye.
In just one day, it spread like wildfire in the court.
Fortunately, Emperor Guangwu, considering that Xiao Rencheng was one of his right - hand men, in order to protect his dignity, strictly prohibited officials from discussing the case privately and from spreading the news to their families before the case was concluded.
At the same time, he privately summoned Wen Zilong to comfort him.
Wen Zilong, who had "lost" a wife, a concubine, and a son, shed snot and tears in front of Emperor Guangwu.
In the end, the case was still contained within the court, and not a single whisper had leaked out to the common people.
Xu Ziyi paid a visit to Emperor Guangwu on the same day. No one knew what they talked about. Anyway, the next day, when everyone was arguing heatedly about the case in the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Guangwu asked, "Minister Di, how's the progress of the case?"
Di Shikai, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, with dark circles under his eyes, replied,
"Your Majesty, I... I still need to conduct another interrogation today..."
Originally, Xiao Rencheng had voluntarily gone to the Court of Judicial Review to confess his crime. However, he suddenly changed his story last night and refused to sign the confession.
When Di Shikai heard this, he immediately launched a surprise interrogation overnight and even brought out the torture instruments.
Since he couldn't break Xiao Rencheng, he was about to torture Lan Jinqin.
However, Xiao Rencheng calmly pointed out the doubts in several unjust cases that Di Shikai had judged while being corrupt in the Court of Judicial Review.
Di Shikai immediately broke out in a cold sweat, withdrew the torture instruments, and obediently sent Lan Jinqin back to the prison to be taken care of.
Emperor Guangwu immediately flew into a rage. "Xiao Rencheng is an important official of mine. He's the head of the Censorate. As long as he doesn't return to the Censorate, the official documents in the institution will pile up like a mountain. Who will share my worries? If Minister Di can't handle this case, I think it's better to transfer it to the Ministry of Justice for handling!"
Seeing the emperor's anger, Di Shikai didn't dare to raise any objections. He immediately knelt down to plead guilty and accept the order.
The case was immediately transferred to Xu Ziyi of the Ministry of Justice.
Xu Ziyi immediately began to examine the case files and pondered for a while.
The case was actually very clear. The stolen silver had been found in Lan Jinqin's room. At first, the defendant Xiao Rencheng had admitted his crime, but in his confession, he said that because he was short of silver, he had deceived Lan Jinqin's feelings and coaxed her to steal the private treasury silver of Wen Zilong together.
Xu Buyue brought Song Yinghuai to the Ministry of Justice.
After Song Yinghuai sat down, he asked, "Is there still any room for maneuver in this matter?"
Xu Ziyi said, "The difficulty of this case lies in the fact that Madam Wen and Lord Xiao went to get the silver together. According to the testimony of the Yingchun Courtyard, Madam Wen showed no signs of being coerced that day. Moreover, since the silver was later found in Madam Wen's room, it's hard for the two of them to clear themselves of the crime of adultery."
Xu Buyue said, "So, both of them are insiders, and the theft of the silver has become a conspiracy... It would be great if there was no such silver. Unfortunately, the silver was placed in such a conspicuous place that the people from the Court of Judicial Review found it as soon as they entered the room."
"But Xiao Rencheng retracted his confession last night and didn't admit stealing the silver." Xu Ziyi threw the case file to Song Yinghuai in frustration. "What should I do? I can't just follow Xiao Rencheng's words and torture Madam Wen, can I?"
The original intention of his taking over this case was to save Lan Jinqin, not Xiao Rencheng.
Song Yinghuai took the case file without even looking at it and said, "Calm down. If it wasn't Xiao Rencheng who stole the silver, then someone else must have stolen it. Just wait a little longer."
Xu Ziyi straightened his back and looked at him in surprise, squinting his eyes. "What? Who?"
Song Yinghuai just hooked his lips without answering and calmly sipped the tea in the cup in front of him.
Xu Ziyi slumped back into his chair dejectedly and sized up Song Yinghuai thoughtfully.
Although he and Song Yinghuai had had a brief encounter in the army when they were young, their friendship was not deep.
He didn't know Song Yinghuai well enough, so he really couldn't figure out what His Highness the Prince of Yan was up to.
But he wasn't in a hurry either. He silently sipped his tea.
Xu Buyue had visited the prison yesterday and brought back the key to the private treasury as evidence for Song Yinghuai. She roughly guessed that Song Yinghuai was going to pull off a substitution and find someone to take Xiao Rencheng's place.
She just didn't know... who would come to take the blame?
Less than three cups of tea later, a clerk from the Ministry of Justice rushed in to report. "My lord, Sheng Jiangli, the Deputy Commander of the Beijing Guard and the Commander of the Hu Cavalry, is outside asking to see you. He said he wants to... surrender himself!"
Xu Ziyi almost spat out his tea. He looked at Song Yinghuai in disbelief.
Good for His Highness the Prince of Yan!
How did he manage to threaten the Crown Prince's right - hand man into taking Xiao Rencheng's place?
Replacing a second - rank civil official with a second - rank military official.
Xu Ziyi suddenly felt as if he'd received a hot potato.
His Highness the Prince of Yan had rescued his subordinate, but he, on the other hand, was going to offend the Crown Prince.
Although the Xu family was powerful, it couldn't compete with the Eastern Palace!
If he handled the case poorly, he would be the first one to offend the future emperor.
The Crown Prince was vengeful and petty. Once he ascended the throne, wouldn't he regard the Xu family as a thorn in his side?
Unless... the Crown Prince couldn't ascend the throne.
Xu Ziyi glared at Song Yinghuai with killing intent. Only then did he realize that he'd fallen into His Highness the Prince of Yan's trap.
"Your Highness the Prince of Yan, you've always had a way to get Xiao Rencheng out of trouble, but you deliberately dragged the Ministry of Justice and the Xu family into this mess..."
Although the Xu family currently intended to support the Prince of Yan, there was a precondition, that was -
To make Xu Buyue the Princess of Yan.
In the future, if they supported Song Yinghuai in seizing the heirloom and ascending the throne, Xu Buyue would be the queen.
The glory of the Xu family would continue.
But Song Yinghuai just didn't play by the rules. He'd rejected the marriage and dragged the Xu family into this mess, offending the Crown Prince and forcing Xu Ziyi to continue supporting him.
Unless he could get Sheng Jiangli acquitted and shift all the blame onto Lan Jinqin, that weak woman.
But not to mention that Lan Jinqin was the elder sister of that woman, even if Lan Jinqin were an ordinary commoner, Xu Ziyi wouldn't do such a despicable thing!
Xu Ziyi held the cup in his hand as if he were trembling with anger.
"Your Highness the Prince of Yan, you're sure that I'll choose to offend the Crown Prince, aren't you?"