After becoming the crown prince, on the one hand, Feng Liao had to learn government affairs from the emperor, and on the other hand, she became extremely busy thinking about doing ten errands for the emperor in exchange for the right to choose his own wife.
One day at noon, when Feng Liao came back, she frowned, with a look of embarrassment mixed with some disgust and rejection.
Xiao Guizi, Xiao Linzi and others who followed behind him were still holding several thick stacks of files.
"What's the matter?" Yong Ruo asked Feng Liao.
What errand did the emperor give you to make you feel so uncomfortable
Feng Liao frowned and sighed: "Father ordered me to personally execute this year's death row prisoners after this year's court trial."
Yong Ruo was slightly stunned: This is the power of life and death!
Because of the words "human life is at stake", the imperial court's judgment and execution procedures for the death penalty are very complicated.
According to the law of this dynasty: for all cases involving human life, the county magistrate conducts the first trial, and after the trial is completed, it is reported to the magistrate for the second trial, and then the file is submitted to the officials of the procuratorate for review. If the officials of the procuratorate think there is no doubt, they will report it to the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate for review. When the review opinions of these three parties are collected, they will be submitted to the palace by category, and the emperor will be asked to make a final conviction.
This is the basic judgment procedure.
In some special cases, some links in the middle can be skipped. For example, the case of purging the Yong family was directly sent by the emperor to the Shuntian Mansion for trial; another example was the case of killing a good man and pretending to be a meritorious service that Feng Liao went to investigate in person, which was directly interrogated by the three divisions.
According to the classification of execution time, the death penalty can be divided into two types: "judgment" and "imprisonment".
"Li Judgment" is the immediate execution of the death penalty, which is generally used on prisoners who have committed serious crimes and have bad influence.
"Waiting in prison" means being sent to prison pending judgment. The death-row prisoners who were sentenced to "beheading prison" or "hanging prison" during the year will be executed collectively after autumn, which is the so-called "autumn execution".
Before the "Autumn Judgment", there will be an autumn trial and a court trial, which is to review the case that has already been sentenced to death.
The autumn trial is conducted locally. The court trial was held in the court hall. In addition to officials from the Ministry of Punishments, Dali Temple and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the emperor, the prince and some court officials who had nothing to do with the case participated.
After the court trial, if no one raised any doubts, the emperor would convict the criminals on the spot.
If the emperor does not collude, the death penalty cannot be executed. This is the "power of life and death". This is also a manifestation of the emperor's supreme authority.
Yong Ruo felt that the court trial system was basically just a formality. Because the trials are all files, and there are no criminals or witnesses, the symbolic significance of this system is greater than the actual significance.
It is mainly to show that the imperial court attaches great importance to human life and is very cautious about the death penalty.
In practice, since the founding of the dynasty, the actual number of unjust cases found in court trials is still zero.
"Your Highness doesn't like this job?" After Xiao Guizi put down the stack of files, Yong Ruo sent all the girls and eunuchs out, and then asked knowingly.
"I don't like it very much." Feng Liao nodded, her brows still frowning, "Whenever I think about it: as long as I make a tick with the ink brush, a human head will fall to the ground, or a person will be hanged to death, I feel uncomfortable all over my body." comfortable."
Yong Ruo understood the pressure he felt very well.
It is indeed a great pressure for a good boy in the feudal society who has not yet reached the age of eighteen to decide on life and death.
But the prince is already the crown prince. Sooner or later, this matter will fall on Feng Liao.
Feng Liao could only get used to it slowly.
After thinking about it, she comforted Feng Liao: "Your Highness, how about thinking this way: you are not terminating a human life, but you are seeking justice for those victims, so that those who died will not die in shame. "
Feng Liao nodded, her face still very heavy: "I understand what you said. But I'm just afraid... Is there anyone wronged in this? If there is someone wronged, wouldn't I also become an accomplice in creating an injustice? "
Yong Ruo was speechless: In this era, this is unavoidable!
Her father was wronged at the beginning. But once the board is hit and the stick is put on, it can't be carried at all! If he didn't want to continue to suffer endless torture, he could only make a confession against his will and accept his fate of being wronged.
In her previous life, where the three powers of investigation, public prosecution, and trial were separated, didn't there also be unjust cases
In today's era when the judicial system is fundamentally dark and trial judges can legally extract confessions through torture, there will only be more unjust dead ghosts.
"Ruo Ruo, if there is someone wronged among them, what... what should I do?"
Yong Ruo thought for a while and said slowly, "I can only think of one way."
"What way?" Feng Liao looked at her expectantly.
"When you are interrogating and reviewing the case files, be more careful and patient, and think about whether there are any doubts in it. If there are any doubts, don't close the case and send it back for retrial."
Having said that, she couldn't help but sigh secretly. Whether there will be a different result if it is sent back for retrial depends on the character of the official and whether there is a chance to reverse the case. The result is really unpredictable.
As for those measures to improve the system, it is not something that the prince Feng Liao can promote.
If there is a chance after he ascends the throne, let's talk about it!
"That's right!" Feng Liao thought for a while, and finally heaved a long sigh, cheering up, "If you don't want to become an accomplice, you have to spend more energy and study these files carefully."
He shook his head and thought: If this still leads to unjust imprisonment, I can only punish those corrupt officials.
He walked to the desk and began to look through the files that Xiao Guizi brought in.
He specially asked people from the Ministry of Criminal Justice to copy over these files. The purpose was to learn more about the case before the court trial, scrutinize the details, and think about the key points.
"Let me watch it with you!" Yong Ruo said with great interest.
She has never been in contact with various cases and crimes since she traveled here, and now she feels a little itchy.
Feng Liao said with some disapproval: "What's so good about these files? Not to mention boring, they are full of crimes and crimes. It doesn't stain your eyes, it just makes you angry."
Yong Ruo said with a smile: "The Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince are not afraid of being tainted, what am I afraid of? I just watch the excitement and learn a lot. If I don't like it, I just throw it away."
Feng Liao didn't say anything more, and let Yong Ruo read the case files with him.
The case files are not all about the court trial, and the files of Yuan Cheng's treason case are placed at the top.
Yuan Cheng and others conspired to assassinate the current county king, and even gathered bandits to conspire to rebel. For such a "ten heinous" crime, the main perpetrator should have been sentenced to "Ling Chi".
But these years, the emperor has grown older, and because of the problem of his heirs, his heart has become softer and softer, and his methods of governing and handling affairs have become more and more kind. Yuan Cheng and the others were only sentenced to death.
Yong Ruo thought to himself: The emperor handed over this case to Feng Liao, did he mean to ask Feng Liao to "revenge"
Yong Ruo is very satisfied that the emperor only let Feng Liao "judgment" but not "judgment". Feng Liao had just been crowned the crown prince, and her position was a little delicate. It was not easy for him to judge him, and the psychological pressure was even greater.
One thing that Yongruo finds more interesting is that the stack of court trial files also includes the case of clearing up the wrongdoing of the Yong family.
Those in Wei Yaozu's family who were betrayed and beheaded or hanged will be executed this autumn.
She couldn't help thinking: What a wonderful fate in this world!
Back then, the Wei family used their power to bully others and frame Father Yong. Now, I am accompanying Feng Liao to read the files, waiting for Feng Liao to collude with those scum of the Wei family who have done evil and done all kinds of bad things. This is really a good reincarnation!
She accompanied Feng Liao to read the file until late at night.
A case in which a widow poisoned her mother-in-law and her only son attracted Yongruo's attention.
The widow's family name is Zhang. Her husband died young. She lives with her eight-year-old son and her mother-in-law, who has been widowed for decades.
According to the case file: This widow was dissatisfied with her mother-in-law who was too stingy and treated herself harshly for many years. On the day of her son's eighth birthday, she poisoned the meat buns and wanted to poison her mother-in-law to be the master of the house.
Unexpectedly, her mother-in-law loved her grandson so much that she gave her half-eaten buns to her grandson, and the grandparent and grandson were poisoned to death together.
For such a crime as Widow Zhang's, it was reasonable to be sentenced to Ling Chi.
But because the emperor acted kindly, when the case file was reported, she was only sentenced to beheaded, and she was scheduled to be executed this autumn.
Yong Ruo read all the files of this case three times, thought for a while, and then said to Feng Liao: "There are some doubts about this case!"
As soon as there was any doubt, Feng Liao's attention was drawn from the case file in her hand, and she focused on her: "Where is the doubt?" He had already read the case file just now, and found no problem!
He stared at Yong Ruo with unusually bright eyes, strongly looking forward to her discovering an unjust case, so that the court trial he participated in would be useful.
"First, if Widow Zhang really wanted to poison her mother-in-law, when would it be a good time to poison her son's birthday? Is she trying to make her son never celebrate his birthday again?"
"This..." Feng Liao pondered for a moment, slapped her thigh and said, "That's right! If my birthday is the anniversary of my grandmother's death, how will the son of the Zhang family celebrate his birthday in the future?"
Yong Ruo shook his head and said to Feng Liao, "Don't agree with me. Come... find a way to refute me."
Feng Liao laughed. He understood: Ruo Ruo wanted to deduce the case with him, so that he would not be rendered speechless during the court trial.
"Choose a day to kill?" He imitated those different thinking as much as possible, and sang against Yong Ruo.
"If you kill someone on impulse, you won't pick a date. But poisoning the buns is murder. It must be well-planned. Why don't you pick a date?"
Feng Liao thought about it, and then said, "Maybe Widow Zhang didn't think of this?"
Yong Ruo shook his head: "A man can't think of this. But a woman is careful, and all she thinks about all day long is that her parents are short-lived, food and clothing, and she likes to talk about the excitement of weddings and birthdays. As a mother, you must Wouldn't have thought of that."
"It's easier to do it on your son's birthday?" As soon as she finished speaking, Feng Liao herself felt that the reason she gave was a bit ridiculous, "Forget it, you pretend I didn't say it. What about the second reason?"
According to the dossier, Widow Zhang did all the housework, including cooking and washing dishes in the Zhang family. When will Widow Zhang not be able to make a move
Yong Ruo pointed to the evidence with a serious face: "Second, the person who likes to eat meat buns is the son of Widow Zhang, not her mother-in-law.
"Arsenic has no taste. If Widow Zhang really poisoned her, she can put it in any diet, why would she put it in the meat buns that her son likes to eat? Is she afraid that her son won't be able to eat arsenic? This Clearly unreasonable."
Feng Liao thought for a while and said, "Perhaps, Widow Zhang didn't know that arsenic has no taste. She was afraid of being eaten by her mother-in-law, so she put it in the stuffing with a strong smell?"
Yong Ruo shook his head again: "If you're just afraid of the strong taste, wouldn't it be better to put it in the soup? Look here..."
Pointing to one of the confessions, she said: "When the case happened, her mother-in-law had a relapse and was taking a decoction. Putting arsenic in the decoction, what taste can't be covered?"
Feng Liao was speechless.
Yong Ruo gave a third reason: "Although Widow Zhang's mother-in-law is stingy, not only to her daughter-in-law, but also to herself. But everyone said: She treats her grandson very well. If this is the case, she is afraid of putting herself It is unreasonable to eat leftover buns for grandchildren."
"Why?"
Yongruo laughed: "Mother-in-law who is picky on herself and good to her grandson will not give the leftover buns to her grandson, but will only give all the buns to her grandson. If the grandson eats up, that's all. Pick it up and eat it."
Feng Liao imagined such a person and such a family situation, and couldn't help nodding: "That makes sense. But how do you know this?"
Yong Ruo then remembered the past events in Mopan Hutong. The top-quality stingy mother-in-law Jin Auntie next door to her house who "scavenges clothes" is such a person!
"Do you still remember the 'folk sufferings' I told you about during the Lantern Festival this year?"
Feng Liao nodded: "I remember."
"I once saw with my own eyes that the best stingy 'cleaning clothes' picked up half a sweet potato that her grandson dropped on the ground and ate it..."