noffsinger Chapter 481 The Queen's Trial
Chapter 481 The Queen's Trial
Chongfeng was quite agile and went to the palace in person.
As for the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple, Yunhe brought a young eunuch to convey the imperial edict separately. Knowing that the Empress would personally try the case, and it was such an important one, the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple dared not delay, let alone send someone over to deal with it casually.
Dou Wen, the Minister of the Dali Temple, came in person with his junior minister and ten people from the government office. As for the Ministry of Justice, the Minister of Justice came in person with his vice minister and the chief clerk.
They also knew that the Queen would definitely report such an important case to the Emperor. If the Emperor knew about it, he would probably come in person simply because he was worried about the Queen, not to mention the case. But they just sent someone to deal with them at random. Isn't this seeking death?
Of course I have to go there in person, and I can also leave a good impression in front of the emperor and the empress.
In fact, Xie Ci'an wanted to follow Gu Jianchu out of the palace and come to the Shangshu Mansion at that time, but the queen was dealing with a divorce matter, and it was also a family affair of a court official, so it was not convenient for him to come. But he was also worried about the queen leaving the palace, so he sent all the imperial city officials and imperial guards around him to accompany the queen on the trip, so that he could feel at ease.
But he was still worried. He seemed to be handling government affairs in the Chuigong Hall, but he couldn't handle them at all. All he was thinking about was the Queen. He felt very uneasy and wanted to go to the Shangshu Mansion to take a look, but he finally held back after Cheng Song's persuasion.
But he couldn't bear it for a while, and Chongfeng came back. When he saw Chongfeng, his heart couldn't help but skip a beat, fearing that something had happened to Gu Jianchu. After all, he sent Chongfeng to protect the queen, and unless something happened to the queen, Chongfeng would not come back on his own.
Xie Ci'an was extremely worried.
After learning from Chongfeng that it was not about Gu Jianchu, he felt a little relieved and could barely listen to what Chongfeng said.
I never thought that the Queen would be involved in so many things just to deal with a divorce matter. However, this person is really bold. He actually dared to do such a heinous thing at the foot of the imperial city. The Imperial City Department, the Five Cities Military Department, and the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice did not find out at all. If it had not caused such a big mess, they would definitely not have found out. I don’t know how many girls have been harmed by this.
He was so angry after hearing about this matter, let alone Achu.
Achu is so kind and can't stand seeing others being bullied. She must have been very angry when she heard about this. Without him around, she has no one to vent her feelings with. She is also pregnant. If she gets angry, it will be bad for her health.
Thinking of this, Xie Ci'an's worries became even worse, but this did give him a legitimate reason to go to the Shangshu Mansion to find the Queen.
In order to avoid being laughed at and to prevent the Queen from dealing with the family affairs of the court officials, he felt it was inappropriate to show up so suddenly.
Xie Ci'an immediately ordered people to prepare carriages and horses and went to the Shangshu Mansion to find the queen.
When the Queen reported the case to the Emperor, everyone had already thought that the Emperor might come, but they did not expect that the Emperor would come so quickly.
Xie Qingzhi, who originally accompanied Gu Jianchu and sat in the main seat, also took the initiative to give up his seat to Xie Ci'an.
Xie Ci'an naturally sat down with Gu Jianchu.
Looking at the charcoal basin and silver charcoal brought from the palace placed next to Gu Jianchu, and then looking at the tea and cakes on the table, as well as the coolness that could be felt as soon as she entered the flower hall, she knew that the queen must have been wronged when she came here. The charcoal fire in the queen's bedroom was the most abundant in the palace. In addition to sufficient charcoal basins, there were also lit floor traps. You could feel the warmth as soon as you entered the room, even if you were only wearing thin clothes.
However, although the Shangshu Mansion was not as cold as an ice cellar, it was still cold. He had enough internal energy and could still feel the cold when he came in, let alone Gu Jianchu who was afraid of the cold.
His queen was most afraid of the cold, especially now that it had just snowed. After sitting in this cold room that was like an ice cellar for so long, her hands and feet must be cold.
He turned to look at Minister Kong and Ping Xibo, both of whom were shivering from the cold.
The women were fine, at least they had a hot water bottle to warm their hands.
Although there were two charcoal braziers next to Gu Jianchu, the flower hall was quite large and not enough to warm up the entire room.
I think the Shangshu Mansion did not deliberately ignore the Queen, but was really poor and could not afford a charcoal brazier. Now this reception was already the highest standard of hospitality they could offer.
I had heard reports from the Imperial City Bureau before about how poor the Shangshu Mansion was. Now that I see it, it is really just as reported.
The Dali Temple Minister and the Ministry of Justice Minister were one step behind the emperor and arrived at the Minister's Mansion.
The Shangshu Mansion is not very close to the government office. It is connected by a north-south passage, so it takes some time to get there. On the contrary, in order to save face, the Shangshu Mansion bought a house closer to the palace, which made it convenient for Shangshu Kong to go to court.
However, although the house close to the palace was prestigious, it was also quite expensive, so that the Shangshu Mansion owed a lot of debts. All of Shangshu Kong's monthly allowance was used to pay off the debts, and he had to rely on Mu Yao's dowry to support himself.
Seeing everyone coming, Xie Ci'an straightened his sleeves and said, "Since everyone is here, let's begin the interrogation. Since it was the Queen who discovered this case, I believe the Queen is more familiar with it. Let the Queen do the interrogation, and I will listen from the side."
As Xie Ci'an spoke, he habitually wanted to touch Gu Jianchu's fingers, but thinking of so many people present, he awkwardly withdrew his hand and rubbed it back and forth on his body a few times.
After Xie Ci'an finished speaking, he did not forget to look at Dou Wen and the Minister of Justice, "I wonder if you two have any other opinions."
What opinion could Dou Wen have? He had witnessed the Queen's ability in judging cases, and her judgment was truly sharp.
As for the Minister of Justice, he naturally would not go against the emperor. Moreover, even if he had never seen the queen's abilities, he knew about them.
The two of them said almost in unison, "Your humble servant has no objection."
"Since no one has any objection, let the Queen do it." Xie Ci'an said gently, his burning eyes falling on Gu Jianchu's profile.
Gu Jianchu knew this would happen, and she didn't refuse too much. After all, she knew this case better than anyone else. "Then I will judge it."
Dou Wen and the Minister of Justice were responsible for taking notes.
Cao Li and Hong Qiao knelt in front of everyone.
Gu Jianchu leaned over, his cold eyes falling on Cao Li. "Cao Li, I'm asking you, do you admit Hong Qiao's confession that you kidnapped prostitutes, placed them with high-ranking officials, and used honey traps to defraud property?"
After asking, Gu Jianchu naturally handed the hot water bottle in his hand to Zhuxi, "Add some new charcoal, it's cold."
Zhuxi took the charcoal basin and stepped aside to add new charcoal. It was really too cold in the Shangshu Mansion, even the hot water bottle was getting cold quickly.