Qi Feng cried and recounted the details of his collusion with Ni Xian.
"That Lu Ping was raped and murdered by Ni Xian! Afterwards, the Ni family spent a full five thousand taels of silver in exchange for the Lu family's silence! The Lu family originally wanted to sell their beautiful daughter for a good price..."
"When the Tian family father and son first filed a complaint, Uncle Ni... no, that old traitor Ni Kuo told us in front of us that we don't have to be afraid of the peasants of the Tian family, and that the county magistrate will definitely help him. He also told us to teach Tian Lu a lesson after the county magistrate pronounced the verdict!"
"I did bully a few people, but I didn't kill them! I'm not as cruel as Ni Xian and Yan Shoudao. I'm afraid of accidents, so I only dare to instigate and rarely hurt people! Yan Shoudao is the real cruel and ruthless one. No less than three people were crippled by him! His family is a big businessman and has a lot of money, so he's not afraid of accidents at all!"
"Although I have a bad record, I am not stupid! What is Ni Xian in my heart? He is nothing! The sons of real famous families and high-ranking officials in Ning'an County, no matter how thieves and whores they are behind the scenes, are upright gentlemen on the surface and will never leave any handle for others. Only a dandy like Ni Xian, who can't see a higher realm and has no ambition, will act arrogantly in the academy! In my eyes, this grandson Ni Xian is not even as good as the children of poor families!"
"If you don't believe me, you can ask. Students have always had the desire to commit a crime but not the courage to do it! I am definitely the most careful among the four of us and have done the least amount of bad things. If I became the main culprit, no one in the academy would believe it!"
"Ni Xian is such a piece of shit! That time when I was having dinner with my classmates, I just accidentally said something he didn't like, and he slapped me on the spot! Yes, my family background is not as good as his, but I am still his right-hand man. He can beat me just because I say so. Is there anything he can't do?"
Fang Yun asked: "Do you remember that Ni Xian or Ni Kuo had ever bribed Ji Zhibai?"
Qi Feng was stunned, and gritted his teeth and said, "I know that they bribed the former Dianshi Lian, and the current Zhubu Lord Shen. I know that you and Ji Zhibai are not on good terms. But Ji Zhibai did not accept the money from the Ni family, but Ji Zhibai did not have good intentions. He did that to sacrifice Tian Lu in exchange for the support of the famous family behind the Ni family!"
"Oh, what kind of person is Ni Kuo?" Fang Yun asked.
"Ni Xian's father is no pushover! Let me tell you in detail..."
The trial was conducted in separate courts. The four juvenile defendants were all in separate courts and were tried by Fang Yun at the same time. Everything they said would be recorded in the legal code.
Whether it was Qi Feng, Yan Shoudao or Ge Ju, they were all constantly repenting and exposing others to accumulate evidence for Fang Yun.
As for Ni Xian, he never mentioned his faults and was even more vicious than the other three.
"Qi Feng is just my follower on the surface, but he is our military advisor. He is the one who planned many things! He is the worst person among us!"
"Yan Shoudao has the worst temper. He gets angry as soon as he's provoked. We all secretly treat him as a fool!"
"Ge Ju looks honest, but he is more vicious than any of us! There is one thing that others don't know, but I do. He is afraid that his brother will compete with him for the family property, so he secretly bribed a prostitute to ruin his brother's reputation!"
"Sir, I am really innocent. I am possessed by evil spirits. From today on, I will reform myself and never harm anyone again! Lord Xusheng, please forgive me. I am the only child in our family..."
Fang Yun was very brave and talented, especially when trying four people. Even trying twenty people would be a piece of cake, not to mention that there were legal records, but using the legal code continuously would consume too much energy.
After three quarters of an hour, the four people were so exhausted from talking that they couldn't think of anything important to say, so they started talking about all kinds of trivial matters.
During the trial, Fang Yun sorted out some testimonies and sent them to the Criminal Court and the Ceremonial Court of the Holy Court. Before the end of the branch trial, he received a document jointly conveyed by the Criminal Court and the Ceremonial Court.
"Wow..."
A strange voice was heard, and the light emitted from the code was retracted, ending the branch trial. Fang Yun's eyes were slightly dim, which was a sign of excessive consumption of talent and literary power.
Fang Yun slammed the gavel and said, "Ni Kuo, do you admit your guilt?"
Everyone was stunned, wondering if Fang Yun had remembered the wrong name. The one who bullied Tian Lu was Ni Xian, so why did Fang Yun call him father first after hearing the case
The power of the white light shackles dissipated, and Ni Kuo stood up with difficulty, his legs trembling slightly.
Ni Kuo glanced at the four young defendants headed by Ni Xian and found that their faces looked very bad. As if they understood something, they looked up at Fang Yun.
The sadness on Ni Kuo's face disappeared, replaced by a faint fierce look, and he said: "County Magistrate Fang, you are a virtual saint, but you are only a Jinshi in the palace examination after all! You first detained Dean Hong, and then put us to death. You are the enemy of all the nobles in Ning'an County! You are the enemy of all the scholars in Ning'an County!"
Some of the aristocratic families present originally supported Fang Yun, but when they heard what Ni Kuo said, they were suddenly startled. Could it be that Fang Yun, a child from a poor family, really wanted to go against the entire aristocratic family
"What a pity, you don't understand..." Fang Yun said halfway when he suddenly slammed the gavel, his words thundering like spring thunder, and the sound spread throughout the county.
"The student Ni Kuo was not strict in educating his son, which caused a large number of innocent people to suffer. This is a mistake, not a crime. However, his son raped and killed the girl Lu Ping, and he bribed the Lu family with silver; his son killed the student Tian Lu, and he bribed the Dianshi with silver; his son made mistakes, and he repeatedly covered up for him. This is the crime of abetment! This county has sentenced the student Ni Kuo for fabricating evidence, retaliating against witnesses, shielding criminals, bribing and abetting others, and he has done so repeatedly. He has been punished for multiple crimes and his years of imprisonment have been added! Moreover, because the student Ni Kuo is a scholar who does not know etiquette and law, and a father who does not teach, he has failed the grace of the emperor and is extremely evil. He will be stripped of his position as a scholar! He will be stripped of his qualification for the imperial examination! He will be caned 100 times, paraded through the streets for three days, and exiled to the frontier for 170 years!"
After this news spread throughout the county, the civilians who had heard of the crimes of the Ni family immediately cheered loudly. Ni Kuo and Ni Xian became notorious, and countless people were harmed by the Ni family.
However, many people from the gentry or scholars were very surprised. Except for the occasional overlapping of years in Yun State’s precedents, the laws of all countries have upper limits. Fang Yun suddenly used it in Ning’an County. He wanted to put Ni Kuo to death and not give him any chance to turn over. However, the most important thing is not the overlapping of years!
The most important thing is to deprive them of their status as students and the qualification to take the imperial examinations!
In the human race, generally speaking, even murder will not deprive one of one's literary title. This will only happen when one commits extremely heinous crimes, such as killing many people indiscriminately or committing treason.
Today, Fang Yun deprived Ni Kuo of his virginity on the grounds that he "failed the grace of the Emperor". Although there is no problem in name, the implications behind it are somewhat terrifying.
When the human race judges cases in various places, if they encounter cases that are difficult to sentence, they often refer to relevant precedents.
Once Fang Yun's case is approved by the Ministry of Justice of Jing State and the Holy Court of Justice, and the Hall of Rites does not overturn it, then if there is a next similar case, the person who judges the case can deprive the next person of his or her literary title and imperial examination qualification!
The holy way is supreme, and the imperial examination was the only ladder in the early days!
.(To be continued..)