Zheng Tinghang calmly cupped his hands and said, "Of course I know what Your Highness said. I am talking about this case."
Zheng Xin thought that this inconspicuous Zheng Tinghang must know the inside story of Cai Min or even Yin Chengliang, and wanted to expose it in court, so he said, "Then Lord Zheng, if you have anything to say, just say it."
"Your Highness, please stop interrogating Cai Min now." Zheng Tinghang said very calmly.
"What! What did you say?" Zheng Xin couldn't believe his ears.
"Your Highness, please stop interrogating Cai Min now." Zheng Tinghang repeated.
All the officials in the hall finally heard what Zheng Tinghang, a lowly official, said, but they didn't know why he would speak up for Cai Min at this critical moment. Countless pairs of eyes immediately looked at Zheng Tinghang in unison.
Zheng Xin was also stunned. After a moment's pause, he laughed out loud: "Zheng Tinghang, are you stupid or crazy? Stand back now, and pretend that you didn't say anything."
Unexpectedly, Zheng Tinghang repeated for the third time: "Your Highness, please stop interrogating Cai Min now."
Zheng Xin heard that his tone was very calm and peaceful, and he didn't sound like he was starving or crazy from the heat, so he asked, "Master Zheng, are you pleading for Cai Min?"
"No!" Zheng Tinghang replied, "Cai Min's words and deeds are not careful, and he is hypocritical. He is a real disgrace to the literati. I will never plead for him no matter what."
Zheng Xin was puzzled and asked, "Then why do you want me to stop interrogating you?"
Zheng Tinghang bowed again and said in a very calm and gentle tone: "I think that maintaining the dignity of the Shilin community is much more important than punishing Cai Min, the corrupt official!"
He looked up at Zheng Xin, who was full of surprise, and said slowly, "Cai Min did something wrong and violated the law. Your Highness should punish him according to the law - this is the authority granted to you by the Emperor. However, if you want to punish him, you should investigate the truth and follow the law. You can't just convict him based on the one-sided words of a demon or a criminal official. Otherwise, it will inevitably chill the hearts of scholars all over the world."
Today, the court heard the case. From identifying the culprit in Bi Xiuwen's case to Li Shenshi's operation to implicate Cai Min, the whole process had been discussed by Zheng Xin and Qiu Yizhi long ago, and the progress was quite smooth. However, Zheng Tinghang suddenly appeared at this time. Although he was a minor official, he kept asking Zheng Xin to stop the trial.
After hearing this, Zheng Xin's first reaction was: Is this Zheng Tinghang a chess piece set up by Yin Chengliang, who is expected to jump out at the critical moment and catch him off guard? However, even if Yin Chengliang had such a plan and such courage, he would have to find a few officials with high positions and seniority. Why would he go to such great lengths to find a seventh-rank official with little influence
Zheng Xin immediately gave up the idea.
But then he thought of Zheng Tinghang, a newly-appointed Jinshi, a classmate of Qiu Yizi. Although he had no conflicts or grudges with him, they were not close either. Could it be that his resourceful sworn brother had come up with some tricks to make things difficult for him
However, he thought of the "Liaochen Palace" case. To be honest, Qiu Yizi was the one who was most anxious to handle it. He absolutely did not want any omissions to occur and thus fail.
Thinking of this, Zheng Xin was already confused. He really couldn't guess Zheng Tinghang's purpose, so he tried to test him: "Master Zheng, what do you mean by this?"
Zheng Tinghang was not intimidated by the powerful Grand Duke Zheng Xin, and said, "What I mean is simple. Cai Min did make mistakes, and his character is not perfect. It is reasonable for the Grand Duke to punish him. However, you cannot humiliate him in public and slap the face of the scholars in Jiangnan."
Zheng Xin listened with his head down in deep thought. When he heard Zheng Tinghang say this, he suddenly raised his head and asked, "Master Zheng, where are you from?"
Zheng Tinghang was stunned and said, "I am from Huating County, Suzhou Prefecture. However, I said this out of public interest, and it has nothing to do with my hometown. Your Highness, please understand!"
Zheng Xin suddenly laughed and said, "No wonder you were so eager to jump out. It turns out you have some selfish motives. I want to ask you, how can my judging of Cai Min's crimes be considered an insult to the Jiangnan scholars? In my opinion, this is to restore your reputation in the Jiangnan officialdom!"
Zheng Tinghang was quite a man of integrity. He cupped his hands and said, "Please forgive me for my rudeness, Your Highness. I think you are wrong. Punishing Cai Min alone will indeed help clean up the officialdom and serve as a warning to the people, so that officials in Jiangnan will always remember and review the teachings of the saints. However, if you expose Cai Min's privacy in public like Your Highness did now, and such a scandal spreads, and is exaggerated by ignorant people or people with ulterior motives, it will inevitably make the people think that the officials in Jiangnan are all filthy in private. If this is the case, how can the officials in Jiangnan govern in the future? How can they educate the people? For the long-term stability of Jiangnan, I hope Your Highness will accept my advice."
Although Zheng Xin often acts magnanimous in front of outsiders, he is actually the meanest of the three brothers.
When he heard Zheng Tinghang say to his face that he was wrong, he was already a little embarrassed, and his facial muscles couldn't help twitching twice as he said, "Well, there are indeed many talented people in the Jiangnan literati, and there is actually a person like you. You are just a seventh-rank official, do you want to be like Long Feng Bi Gan?"
Long Feng and Bigan were famous ministers in ancient times who were killed by the tyrant emperor for their honest advice and frank remonstrances - Qiu Yi was well-read, so of course he knew this common story. He was also clear about his elder brother's temperament, and when he heard him cite these two as examples, he obviously meant to exaggerate, and he couldn't help but feel worried for Zheng Tinghang.
But Zheng Tinghang said: "Your Highness is wrong again. Long Fengbi Gan is a role model for ministers, and I have admired him for a long time, but-"
He paused and continued, "However, we are now in a prosperous era. The current emperor is talented in both literature and martial arts, and is very wise. Why does he need loyal ministers like Long Feng and Bigan to die for him? Moreover, although these two sages served a tyrannical and incompetent monarch, they were also the emperor; and although Your Highness is noble and wise, he is just a prince. I have to say something inappropriate. Even if I want to follow your example, Your Highness may not have the blessing to do so!"
Qiu Yizhi listened to Zheng Tinghang's words quietly, and only two words popped up in his mind: "It's over." He turned his head to look at his eldest brother Zheng Xin, who was the most proud. He saw that his face was blue and purple with anger. Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore and gritted his teeth and said, "Zheng Tinghang, since in your eyes, I am not as good as a tyrant like Jie Zhou, then of course I have to show you Jie Zhou's methods!"
After that, he gnashed his teeth and called to the guards in the hall, "Come here, take this most consistent person in the world down and wait for his punishment."
Qiu Yizi wanted to protect Zheng Tinghang. After hearing Zheng Xin's order, he hurriedly shouted "Wait a minute", then stood up and walked to Zheng Xin's side, whispering in his ear: "Your Highness, I think Zheng Tinghang is stupid. Even if Cai Min and Yin Chengliang deliberately ordered him to do so, he might not be willing to submit. Your Highness, why bother getting angry with this nerd?"
After hearing what Qiu Yizi said, Zheng Xin's anger suddenly dissipated a lot - it was not because Qiu Yizi's words made sense, but because he knew that his sworn brother was someone who had a say in front of his father and master, so he had to give him some face no matter what.
So Zheng Xin looked at Qiu Yizi and Zheng Tinghang, and finally sighed and said, "I understand what you said, brother, but this person's words are too harsh. How can I swallow this anger?"
Qiu Yizi smiled and said softly, "How could your Highness forget? Father asked your Highness to come here not just to dismiss the officials in Jiangnan. He wanted to take this opportunity to reorganize the officialdom in Jiangnan. If you can establish your prestige at this time, your reputation will surely be greatly enhanced."
When Zheng Xin heard what Qiu Yizi said, his eyes suddenly lit up - he was the one who was going to inherit the throne and face south and back north. Although relying on thundering means might be powerful for a while, he couldn't rely on this alone to win the support of the people. Only by combining kindness and force could he win the support of the people.
So Zheng Xin nodded and said, "Okay. I wonder what you think we should do with this person?"
Qiu Yizhi was relieved when he heard Zheng Xin had given in. He smiled and said, "What ideas can I have? Just kick Zheng Tinghang out. Everything is up to the big guy."
Qiu Yizi said this cleverly, which made Zheng Xin feel comfortable. He suddenly laughed and said to Zheng Tinghang, who was still standing in the hall with his neck stiff, "You, a small official, although you are shallow and biased, you do have some backbone. This prince likes people like you who are tough the most. Although what you said doesn't make sense, it is your heartfelt words after all, which is better than those dirty officials in the hall who say things insincerely. Well, I won't make it difficult for you, you can go back and reflect on your mistakes."
Zheng Tinghang didn't know that he had just escaped from a disaster, and he was still insisting, saying: "I just said something, Your Highness, please accept my advice."
Zheng Xin smiled and shook his head, saying, "Okay, I got it, you can go down." Then he waved his hand and told him to go back quickly.
All the officials in the hall were worried about Zheng Tinghang, but when they saw that he had finally escaped danger, they felt relieved.
However, Li Shenshi, Cai Min and even Yin Chengliang in the hall all had different feelings. They saw Qiu Yizi, who had fought with them countless times before, save the fierce Zheng Tinghang with just a few words.
Therefore, although they did not know Qiu Yizi's real background, they could see that he had a great reputation in Zheng Xin's eyes. They sincerely hoped that he could speak for them so that they could get away with it in front of the Grand Prince.
But they changed their minds and realized that they had offended Qiu Yizi too much. It would be a blessing if they just asked him not to reveal their secrets in front of Zheng Xin. Could they really expect him to be kind at this time
Unexpectedly, Qiu Yizhi said to Zheng Xin, "Your Highness, I think it's getting late. Today's trial has already cleared the crimes of Miaozhen and Li Shenshi, and the progress is not slow. In my humble opinion, it is better to withdraw first and return to the court tomorrow. How about that? Your Highness, please make the decision!"
Zheng Xin was also confused by Zheng Tinghang who suddenly appeared from the side. He also felt that Cai Min had been implicated today. If he continued to dig deeper, the trial would inevitably lose his control. It was indeed necessary to discuss it with Qiu Yizi after adjourning the court.
So he went with the flow and said, "Okay, I think everyone is tired, so we won't hold the trial today. Let's adjourn now!"
When all the officials in the hall heard the words "adjourn the court", they all felt relieved and couldn't help but sigh.
Zheng Xin looked around at the officials in the room with cold eyes, and said, "Why? Are you all relieved now? Don't worry, I still have something to say."
After hearing this, the officials had no choice but to concentrate and hold their breath, waiting for Zheng Xin to speak. (To be continued)