At this moment, Fang Yun not only has the majesty of a virtual saint, but also holds the official positions of county lord, duke of the state, and cabinet councilor, and has the support of the vast majority of Jing people.
The restaurant owner seemed to be struck by an invisible force. His knees went weak and he fell to the ground, looking at Fang Yun in despair.
A Legalist code appeared in front of Fang Yun.
"Who is responsible for purchasing pork?"
The shopkeeper had to use his hands to support himself on the ground to avoid falling down. The flesh on his chin kept trembling and his voice sounded like a leaky bellows when he spoke.
“Sir… Sir… it was me… no no no… it was my brother-in-law who was in charge of the shopping, and I was only in charge of the accounting…” The restaurant owner spoke incoherently at first, and finally pointed at one of the young men, his mouth trembling and unable to speak.
Fang Yun turned his gaze to the young man.
The young man's body trembled slightly. He stared at Fang Yun nervously and never kneeled down.
Fang Yun had a calm expression, holding the official seal in his right hand. His official position, talent, literary power, and the aura of the legal code rushed towards the young man like an invisible wave.
Fang Yun opposed torture, but supported utilizing the various powers of scholars.
"This county asks you, what is your name?"
The young man's eyes suddenly widened, as if his neck was being strangled, and he revealed a look of fear, and his defenses were instantly broken.
"I've made a move..."
Fang Yun listened carefully. This man was called Pu Zi, and he was the brother-in-law of the restaurant owner. He was conscientious at first, but because he felt that he earned little and the restaurant owner occasionally scolded him, he became resentful. Three months ago, Pu Zi reduced the purchase of meat from the place designated by the restaurant owner, and purchased part of the meat from a butcher introduced by a friend.
The butcher only sold various kinds of diseased meat that had been disposed of. Pu Zi bought the diseased meat at a low price and then settled the bill with the normal price. His monthly income skyrocketed more than ten times!
It wasn't long before the chef discovered it. The two best chefs in the restaurant at the time happened to have the same surname, Tao. One was called Big Tao Chef and the other was called Little Tao Chef. Both claimed to be descendants of Tao Yuanming.
After the two people found out, Chef Xiao Tao expressed his determination not to use this kind of meat to cook, otherwise he would rather leave. Chef Da Tao said nothing openly, but only advised Chef Xiao Tao not to make it public, and then colluded with Pu Zi to profit from it.
Later, the two teamed up to force Chef Xiao Tao away, and used this dark method to make money safely.
Chef Da Tao fainted halfway through hearing this.
While Pu Zi was describing what happened, the four Grand Secretaries of the Criminal Court, the Agricultural Court, the Medical Court, and the Engineering Court stationed in Ning'an County had already arrived. The Grand Secretaries of the Criminal Court and the Engineering Court were on guard outside. The Grand Secretaries of the Agricultural Court and the Medical Court came in and followed Fang Yun. After getting Fang Yun's consent, they began to check while listening to what happened.
After Pu Zi finished speaking, the two university scholars communicated with Fang Yun, and then Fang Yun asked the people from the Criminal Hall who were secretly protecting him to show up and asked them to take over the investigation of the matter.
When they learned that the Criminal Court had intervened in the investigation, Pu Zi and the restaurant owner also fainted.
Fang Yun ordered the yamen runners and soldiers to cooperate with the criminal court, and then ordered the yamen runners to take the people from the restaurant to the county yamen.
After Fang Yun returned to the county government office, he waited quietly for the results of the investigation.
During this process, the prefect, the governor of the state, and the four ministers all sent letters. Whenever Fang Yun learned some new situation, he would send them a letter to report.
A quarter of an hour later, Fang Yun's friends also sent him a letter of concern to inquire about his situation and comfort him.
However, some people from the Lei family and the Zong family made malicious speculations and almost attacked in the discussion list, because the third-level crisis rarely occurs in the human race. The possibility of a third-level crisis in the palace examination is even smaller, but as long as a third-level crisis occurs, it will inevitably bring bad luck to the officials, and the palace examination will inevitably reduce their ratings.
In just two hours, the always efficient Criminal Court had completed the investigation and sent a document to Fang Yun.
This was done by a rebellious scholar!
This time, the Criminal Hall not only easily found the butcher who was selling the meat of sick and dead people, but also followed the clues to find an important person and discovered that he was in contact with the traitorous scholar. Then, the people in the Criminal Hall rushed directly to the place where the traitorous scholar was hiding outside the city, but the traitorous scholar died before being caught.
The upper-class rebellious literati exercised extremely strict control over the lower-class rebellious literati, and the Criminal Court rarely captured rebellious literati alive, so this operation was not considered a failure.
At the end of the document, the staff of the Criminal Court expressed their gratitude to Fang Yun, and said that the discovery of the rebellious literati was a military achievement, which would be reported to the Criminal Court for reward.
Fang Yun was relieved then. After careful calculation, he found that his military merit would be raised from D grade to at least C grade next month. The military merit of this rebellious scholar would be comparable to that of an ordinary palace examination candidate who had killed thousands of monsters and barbarians.
As for the credit for saving lives, it was entirely attributed to the medical field. Fang Yun was already at the top of the Saint rank and could not be promoted any higher.
Except for the key figures who were in contact with the rebel writers, all other people involved in the case were escorted to the yamen, and Fang Yun opened the trial immediately that day.
In the lobby, Fang Yun, wearing a white imperial scholar's sword robe, walked slowly towards his seat. Above his seat, there was a plaque written by him personally.
A clear mirror hangs high.
Snapped…
Fang Yun sat down, slammed the gavel, and said, "Bring all the suspects into the court!"
"Mighty... Powerful..."
The yamen runners on both sides shouted "powerfully" and struck the ground with sticks, creating a strong pressure.
Whether it was the mighty shouts of the yamen runners or the plaque, they were added by Fang Yun himself.
The suspects awaiting trial all looked panicked, apparently frightened by the shouts of the bailiffs. They walked into the lobby hesitantly, their eyes evasive and their expressions panicked.
The first to be brought up were the butcher, the purchaser Pu Zi and the chef Da Tao, while the restaurant owner was actually also a victim and was just listening from outside.
The relatives and friends of the person who was poisoned and those who were eating in the store at the time stood outside the door, looking at the three suspects with gritted teeth.
Fang Zhuan turned his head and looked at his master Fang Yingwu. Fang Yingwu stood up and read out the evidence of the three people's crimes.
The three people lowered their heads and listened silently.
After Fang Yingwu finished reading, Fang Yun slammed the gavel again and asked sternly, "Have the three of you heard the end?"
The three of them nodded numbly.
"Then I would like to ask you, is there any problem with what was just read out?"
The three of them shook their heads numbly.
"Very well, butcher Zhuang Qi, I want to ask you, are you aware that diseased meat may make people sick?"
The butcher nodded.
"The county asks you to answer!" Fang Yun's voice was full of majesty.
"yes."
"Then do you know that eating diseased meat can be fatal?"
The butcher hesitated for a moment and said, "Yes."
Fang Yun asked the same question to buyer Pu Zi and chef Da Tao respectively, and the three of them gave the same answer.
The people outside sighed softly when they heard this. They knew very well that these three people were actually deceived and did not collude with the rebellious scholars, so they would not be taken away by the criminal hall and tried by the local officials. However, if the local officials tried them according to the existing laws, these people would at most be fined a small amount and perform labor service for two or three years, which could not be more serious.
Fang Yun suddenly slammed the gavel, and everyone listened immediately.
"This county announces that Zhuang Qi, Pu Zi, and Tao Zhilan knew that diseased meat could cause death, but still sold and processed it. They are guilty of selling highly toxic substances, making highly toxic substances, intentionally spreading deadly diseases, and poisoning and murder. Due to the serious potential harm, bad influence, and wide involvement, this official sentences the three to death! In view of the fact that their family members knew about it but did not report it, they are guilty of coercion and will be severely punished!"
The three people fainted on the spot.
.(To be continued..)