Qiu Yizi smiled and said, "Master Li, it's meaningless for you to talk like that. There were more than just you and me present that day. There were about 20 to 30 people in total. They can all serve as witnesses and evidence, and you can't deny it."
After hearing what Qiu Yizhi said, Li Shenshi felt relieved: Yang Qiaoer, who was present, was a sister of the plaintiff Yang Yinger and should recuse herself according to the law; the words of Qiu Yizhi's personal soldiers were not reliable; as for the yamen runners who came with him, they were well fed by him on weekdays and most of them had some connection with this case, so they would certainly not incriminate themselves.
Thinking of this, Li Shenshi calmly replied: "In this case, Lord Qiu can summon them to the court to testify."
Qiu Yizhi was well prepared. He took out a piece of paper from his bosom, flattened it, shook it in his hand, and said, "This is the confession of my subordinate Zhao Chengxiao. It has his signature and seal on it. It can prove that it was indeed Li Shenshi who led people to murder Yang Qiaoer, who complained on behalf of his sister, and he saved her while on night patrol."
This confession was written by Qiu Yizi when he had time to write it, and he specially asked Zhao Chengxiao to sign and put his fingerprints on it. It was originally intended to enrich the files and form a complete time chain of that day, but Li Shenshi denied it in court, so it finally came in handy.
Li Shenshi was speechless for a moment, but he heard Yin Chengliang say, "Sir Qiu, could you please let me take a look at this confession?"
He took the paper from Qiu Yizhi, glanced at it, and said, "Who is this Zhao Chengxiao?"
Qiu Yizi replied: "He is my bodyguard and my friend. I wonder why Lord Yin asked this question?"
Yin Chengliang placed the confession lightly on the table in front of him and said, "This Zhao Chengxiao is both a friend and a subordinate of Lord Qiu. It is not surprising that he is asked to give false testimony. In my opinion, this evidence is not reliable." As he said this, he half turned to Zheng Xin and bowed slightly, "I wonder what your Highness thinks?"
Zheng Xin did not speak. He thought for a moment and said, "Can you show me Zhao Chengxiao's confession?"
Yin Chengliang had no reason to refuse, so he respectfully handed the thin paper to Zheng Xin, explaining, "This Zhao Chengxiao must be a soldier in the army, who can't read a few words, and he has a history with Master Qiu, so he signed and sealed his name carelessly, so I think it can't be true."
Zheng Xin did not express his opinion immediately. He stole a glance and saw Qiu Yizhi constantly making eye contact with him, then he said: "I dare not agree with what Lord Yin said. In my opinion, Zhao Chengxiao's words should be believed without a doubt."
Whether this confession can be accepted is related to whether officials in the Jiangnan officialdom really deliberately covered up this case, and it is the key evidence to determine whether the case will be further implicated.
Therefore, Yin Chengliang would certainly argue with reason. He said, "I have already said that this man named Zhao Chengxiao has a close relationship with Master Qiu. His testimony is not credible."
Qiu Yizi listened to Yin Chengliang's words, which were so well-coordinated and well-reasoned that she couldn't help but admire his meticulous mind and extraordinary eloquence.
However, after a little thought, Qiu Yizhi discovered a huge flaw in his statement, and laughed out loud, "Lord Yin's words are biased. Although Zhao Chengxiao and I are quite friendly, I am neither on the side of the plaintiff Yang sisters, nor on the side of the defendant demon Miaozhen, and I have no interest in Li Shenshi. Therefore, Lord Yin's words are wrong in the premise, and the subsequent inferences are naturally unreasonable. In this regard, Zhao Chengxiao's confession should be accepted."
Qiu Yizhi had been at odds with the Jiangnan officials since he took office as the magistrate of Shanyin County. Therefore, Yin Chengliang had long regarded him as a thorn in his side and wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible. However, although they were enemies, they did not tear each other apart on the surface. They were still officials in the same court and were still harmonious. Of course, they could not say that they were rivals.
Yin Chengliang was speechless when he thought of this. Looking at Qiu Yizhi's frivolous smile, he really wanted to kick him to death. But at this moment in the hall, in front of the prince, he absolutely could not do this.
Yin Chengliang thought for a long time with a red face, but still couldn't think of any excuse. He just said bitterly: "Zhao Chengxiao is just an ordinary soldier. His testimony is actually pointing fingers at the imperial officials. According to the law, suing an official as a citizen is a crime, no matter what the district is. I hope Your Highness will understand this."
Zheng Xin said, "Lord Yin, you don't know this. I know this Zhao Chengxiao. He is not an ordinary soldier. He met my father several times in his early years and made great contributions in the campaign against the rebellion. My father appointed him to a fourth-rank military post, but he was not promoted to the actual position of general. Oh, by the way, his original name was Zhao Heizi, and the word 'Chengxiao' was a name bestowed by my father!"
As soon as Zheng Xin finished speaking, there was an uproar in the hall.
None of the officials sitting in the hall had expected that Qiu Yizi, a small seventh-rank county magistrate, actually had a fourth-rank military general under his command. You know, Shi Changjie, the highest military officer in Jiangnan Road, was only a fourth-rank official, and only because he was given the title of general was he barely given a third-rank title.
Yin Chengliang also secretly complained: It was all because of Qiu Yizhi's strange behavior. It was really unbelievable that he had a fourth-rank general as a guard around him. He couldn't help but ask: "Lord Qiu is really unfathomable. But I don't know why Lord Zhao would serve as a guard in Shanyin County?"
Qiu Yizi laughed and said, "Oh, that's because Zhao Chengxiao was injured last year, and the emperor specially arranged for him to go to the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River to recuperate. If Lord Yin doesn't believe it, you can go to Shanyin County as fast as you can to summon him and ask him."
Yin Chengliang suddenly realized: Since this Zhao Chengxiao was the name and official position bestowed by the current emperor, and was specially ordered to recuperate in Jiangnan, could it be that the current emperor was the mastermind behind the huge turmoil in Shanyin County, and even the eloquent Qiu Yizi in front of him was just his puppet
After thinking about it for a while, he finally figured it out: why he had been doing business in Jiangnan for a long time and had already reached the point where he could cover the sky with one hand, but he still couldn't cover up this case - it turned out that behind his giant hand was the even bigger hand of the current emperor Zheng Rong.
Thinking of this, Yin Chengliang had nothing to say and sat down dejectedly without saying anything.
Cai Min did not have the same insight as the governor, but he knew that the situation had reached a point where it was irreversible, so he had to lower his head and remain silent.
The courtroom was silent for a long time. Zheng Xin finally couldn't stand it anymore and urged, "Master Cai, you are the presiding judge. Please continue asking questions! It's getting late. There is no point in delaying any longer."
Cai Min was shocked when he heard this, and then he stammered, "Li... Li Shenshi, why did you lead the troops to the Yang sisters' house that night? Who was behind it?"
Li Shenshi had long guessed that Cai Min would ask this question, but when the question actually came out of his mouth, he couldn't help but tremble all over, and was speechless.
The real chief judge, Zheng Xin, had already lost his patience and shouted, "Li Shenshi, you have no room for denial now, tell me the truth! If you don't confess, be careful that you will be punished under the Three Punishments and Five Codes, and you will lose your dignity as an official!"
It wasn't that Li Shenshi was tough and refused to confess, but he had been so shocked and frightened after several incidents that he couldn't react for a while.
Zheng Xin didn't care about all these. With a command, seven or eight soldiers in the hall took out eight or nine instruments of torture, including tongs, branding irons, bamboo sticks, vises, iron stools, etc., from their lying positions and placed them in front of Li Shenshi one by one.
Zheng Xin said coldly, "Li Shenshi, I think you are a gentleman. I don't want to embarrass you by torturing you in court. I advise you to confess quickly to avoid unnecessary trouble and suffering!"
Torture was not excluded in the Han judicial system. There was an unwritten set of practices for what kind of torture instruments to use on whom, for what matter, and when. Although the practices of government offices in different places were slightly different, they were generally the same.
Li Shenshi had been the county magistrate for more than 20 years and had tried countless cases, both big and small. He had ordered the bailiffs to inflict each of the torture instruments listed before him on prisoners before - he knew very well how powerful these torture instruments were.
Therefore, when Li Shenshi heard the word "torture" squeezed out from Zheng Xin's teeth, his last psychological defense line finally collapsed.
He suddenly fell to the ground and kowtowed hard, leaving marks of sweat, tears and blood on the white bluestone floor, muttering, "The criminal is guilty, the criminal is guilty!" After that, he fainted, his whole body collapsed on the ground, and white foam kept coming out of his mouth.
Zheng Xin was shocked when he saw this, fearing that Li Shenshi had died, so he quickly called for soldiers to come and rescue him.
The army had its own experienced military doctor who came quickly, felt Li Shenshi's pulse, pinched his Ren Zhong acupoint, and poured him a bowl of water. Li Shenshi then gradually woke up.
Qiu Yizhi was also afraid that there would be no evidence after Li Shenshi died, so he quickly asked the military doctor, "Why did Li Shenshi suddenly collapse? Is it because of blood loss? Can we continue the interrogation today?"
If it were a folk doctor, he might have made a cautious diagnosis and suspended the interrogation today, waiting until tomorrow when Li Shenshi recovered.
However, the military doctor was used to seeing the torture of spies and interrogation of prisoners in the army, so he waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "Don't worry, sir. This man is just frightened and can't catch his breath. If you continue to interrogate him, nothing will happen. If he is still not conscious, that's easy to deal with. Just pour a basin of cold water over his head and he will be fine."
Zheng Xin listened to their conversation, smiled, waved his hand, and said to the military doctor: "Okay, there is nothing for you to do, you can go down!"
Then he said to Li Shenshi, who had woken up and was sitting on the ground, "Did you understand what the doctor said? I am only giving you some respect out of consideration for the civil society. If you dare to refuse to confess again, don't blame me for being rude!"
Things had progressed to this point, and Li Shenshi had nothing else to say. He could only bow his head and admit, "That night, it was indeed me who led a few familiar yamen runners to Yang Qiaoer's home. I didn't want to kill her to silence her, but just wanted to temporarily detain her in a secluded place and release her after the storm died down. But I didn't expect her to be so fierce, so I had to kill her."
As soon as Li Shenshi said this, Zheng Xin and Qiu Yizi in the hall both breathed a sigh of relief; but Yin Chengliang and Cai Min both secretly groaned; as for the other officials who were listening, some who were implicated were secretly plotting a way out, some who had always been dissatisfied with Yin Chengliang and others but knew a little about the inside story were gloating over the misfortune, and some who were unrelated were just watching the situation.
But Qiu Yizi asked, "Then why do you want to go to Yang Qiaoer's house? What kind of fame do you want to have?"
Li Shenshi answered in detail: "The offender only wants Mr. Qiu to not find the plaintiff in Bi Xiuwen's case, so that this case will become a mystery."
Qiu Yizi had guessed this a long time ago, so he pressed on and asked, "Then let me ask you, what is your relationship with 'Liaochen Palace'? What is your relationship with 'Miaozhen'? Even if you have to sacrifice your official position, you still want to help her get through this case?" (To be continued)