"'Unexpectedly, the emperor, who is smart and decisive, was willing to be deceived by Song. He did not believe what others said, and did not realize the warning from heaven, leading to this situation...' Yang Jisheng, is this what you said in your memorial?"
After He Ao threw the copy of the memorial in front of Yang Jisheng, he silently recited a sentence from Yang Jisheng's memorial and asked in a stern voice.
"I said this to remind you..." Yang Jisheng defended.
"Yang Jisheng, you answer whatever I ask you! You just need to answer, yes or no?"
He Ao interrupted Yang Jisheng's explanation and shouted loudly.
"yes!"
Yang Jisheng raised his head and looked directly at He Ao, the veins on his neck exposed.
"'As Your Majesty is intelligent and resolute, although he knows all the hidden evils of Ni Luan, he has always tolerated the obvious evils of Song...' Yang Jisheng, is this what you said in your memorial?" He Ao silently recited a sentence from Yang Jisheng's memorial and questioned Yang Jisheng again.
"You are taking things out of context..." Yang Jisheng said angrily.
"I'm asking you, yes or no?!" He Ao interrupted Yang Jisheng again and asked in a stern voice.
"That's what I said!"
The veins on Yang Jisheng's neck became thicker.
"'But you don't know that a mountain in a country is like a weed in a seedling, or a tiger in a city. One day in office is a harm for one day. Why can't the emperor bear to give up a traitor and bear the suffering of millions of people...' Yang Jisheng, is this what you said in your memorial?"
... ...
He Ao pointed out all the blameworthy points in Yang Jisheng's memorial, quoting them out of context. Whenever Yang Jisheng answered yes or no, he would be interrupted by He Ao and he could only answer "yes" because what He Ao pointed out were indeed what he wrote in his memorial.
Seeing this, Zhu Pingan understood what He Ao was up to. He clenched his fists and sighed helplessly in his heart...
What He Ao did was just to "fabricate" evidence for the purpose of conviction! We are not fools, we can see it ourselves, and I believe many people can see it too.
But this was an unjust and unfair trial!
The court trial officials present here are basically all members of the Yan Party. They will judge the case based on the evidence, and they will turn a blind eye to whether the evidence is "fabricated".
And I am just an audience!
have no choice!
Powerless!
Finally it ended with a sigh.
Zhu Ping'an could only helplessly and powerlessly watch the court trial, which gradually moved further and further away in the direction of the Yan Party, and finally disappeared without a trace until the time came to close the case.
After the court trial, the case must be closed and written materials must be submitted to the Western Garden for presentation to Emperor Jiajing for his review.
"My Lords, the case has been tried. Let's come to a consensus and see how to decide the case." As the presiding judge, He Ao looked around after the trial came to an end and said to the judges in the main and secondary seats.
"Well, what Minister He said is very true."
The three judicial officials and other officials participating in the trial nodded one after another and stood up to announce their trial conclusions.
"What is there to discuss? Yang Jisheng forged the prince's order and deceived the emperor. The evidence is irrefutable. He should be sentenced to death for both forging the prince's order and deceiving the emperor. I will punish him for both crimes!"
As a loyal member of the Yan Party, Wang Xueyi, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, was the first to speak up and could not wait to charge Yang Jisheng with two death sentences.
Although this court trial failed to find out Yang Jisheng's accomplices and failed to implicate Prince Yu, there is no rush. As long as Yang Jisheng's guilt is proven, it will not be too late to slowly interrogate his accomplices. Moreover, the bottom line of Master Yan's confession is to charge Yang Jisheng with the crime of falsely conveying the prince's order.
That's why Wang Xueyi jumped out so impatiently.
"I agree with what Lord Wang said. Yang Jisheng did not get the consent of the two princes, but he said in his memorial, 'may ask the two princes'. Isn't this a false report of the princes' orders?! Also, Yang Jisheng criticized the emperor several times in his memorial. Isn't this deceiving the emperor?! Therefore, I agree with what Lord Wang said. Yang Jisheng's memorial still committed the crime of deceiving the emperor and the crime of falsely reporting the princes' orders. According to the laws of the Great Ming Dynasty, he should be hanged!"
After Wang Xueyi spoke, an official who was attending the trial spoke up to agree with him.
"I think Yang Jisheng is also guilty of framing his superiors! He should be punished for both deceiving the emperor and falsely conveying the prince's order!"
Then another official went a step further and put the blame of falsely accusing his superior on Yang Jisheng as well.
"Yes, yes, what Master Zhang said is very true. I overlooked this crime."
Upon hearing this, Wang Xueyi nodded vigorously and looked at the official who spoke with a smile on his face.
Then, several other officials spoke highly of him, and their conclusions all came to the same conclusion.
However, there are still different voices.
Although there were many members of Yan's party, not all officials participating in the court trial were from Yan's party. Firstly, it was impossible for Yan's party to cover every official. If that were the case, Yan's party would have been destroyed ten times by Emperor Jiajing. Emperor Jiajing was a man who was extremely stingy with power. He indulged Yan Song only within the scope he allowed. Secondly, in order to avoid suspicion, not all officials participating in the court trial could be from Yan's party.
"In my opinion, Yang Jisheng's crime of misrepresenting the prince's order is well-documented; as for deceiving the emperor, in my opinion, Yang Jisheng is not so bad as to..."
An official hesitated and spoke slowly.
As soon as the official opened his mouth, Wang Xueyi glared at him angrily, "How could it be that it's not the case? Yang Jisheng himself admitted that he wrote it! Sir Liu, you have ears too, didn't you hear it?"
As he spoke, Wang Xueyi stared at the official with a sinister look in his eyes, baring his white teeth, "Sir Liu, I heard that you have exchanged poems with Yang Jisheng many times. Haha, are you an accomplice of Yang Jisheng?"
"How could that be! Lord Wang, please don't slander me!" The official who was stared at by Wang Xueyi immediately stiffened his neck and retorted. If Wang Xueyi poured this basin of dirty water on him, he would never be able to wash it off even if he jumped into the Yellow River.
Wang Xueyi sneered and said, "Hmph, if you hadn't just said that Yang Jisheng was guilty of misrepresenting the prince's order, and if you didn't want to sentence Yang Jisheng to death as soon as possible and didn't want to create unnecessary trouble, I would have definitely labeled you as Yang Jisheng's accomplice."
Just then, an official nearby tried to persuade him, so Wang Xueyi dug another hole at the official before looking away.
Other officials expressed their opinions one after another, and most of them were similar, with two or three crimes, but they all had the crime of misrepresenting the prince's order.
"Yingzhi, you are the secretary, what do you think?"
He Ao turned his gaze to Shi Chaobin, the last doctor of the Ministry of Justice who had not expressed his opinion, and asked slowly.
Everyone's eyes turned to Shi Chaobin, especially Wang Xueyi, whose gaze was scorching and threatening.
Shi Chaobin was not a member of the Yan party.
However, Wang Xueyi was not worried that anything unexpected would happen to him, because Shi Chaobin had compromised when Yang Jisheng was tortured during the court trial.