The moment Song Qian finished speaking, Chen Huaili felt his head buzzing.
You can call me incompetent, but you can't call me corrupt.
If you say I can't judge cases properly, that's a question of ability. At worst, the Ministry of Personnel will give me a below-average evaluation.
But if you say I'm taking bribes and rotten enough to ooze pus, I might not even make it to that evaluation. Miss Song could drag me into the Black Robe Guard Imperial Prison for a day trip today.
At the thought of the Black Robe Guard Imperial Prison, Chen Huaili went pale. He looked pleadingly at Song Xuan. "Lord Song, this humble official has never offended you!"
Song Xuan waved a hand. "She's only joking. Don't be nervous, Lord Chen. It's getting late. You still have a case to hear outside!"
"Yes, yes! This humble official will go hear it right away!"
Chen Huaili, who had previously spoken with all the authority of his office, had been frightened by Song Qian into calling himself a humble official. He immediately bowed to Song Xuan with some gratitude, then hurried back to the courtroom to resume the hearing.
Watching him leave, Song Qian snorted. "He treats human lives as if they're nothing, and he's supposed to be a father and mother to the people? Even I could do better!"
Song Xuan glanced at her. "You say that as if you take human lives seriously yourself. Don't forget, when we killed those mountain bandits and the Tian Household's death sworn fighters, you enjoyed the killing more than anyone!"
"That's different!" Song Qian protested. "They're bandits, and I'm an officer. Killing them is perfectly justified.
"But Chen Huaili is the father and mother of an entire county, yet he treats a case involving a human life like child's play. It's hard not to suspect he's taken someone's dirty money."
Song Xuan shook his head slightly. "This has nothing to do with whether he took money. Even another official would probably rule this a suicide by hanging.
"After all, not everyone has your thirst for knowledge and wants to try out what happens when someone hangs themselves."
The mention of hanging made Song Xuan's anger flare again. He raised a hand and flicked Song Qian on the forehead. "If Dad finds out about this, he'll whip you until the Seven Wolves snaps!"
While the siblings spoke in the rear hall, Chen Huaili struck his gavel in the courtroom outside. Looking at Landowner Shen kneeling below, he immediately vented all his pent-up anger on him.
"Guards! Put him to the torture!"
Ping'an County lay near the Imperial Capital, right beneath the emperor's feet. Its magistrate had always acted with extreme caution and generally dared not resort to severe torture unless the case was a major one.
After all, one misstep could bring impeachment from officials of the Court of Judicial Review or the Censorate.
But at this moment, Chen Huaili could no longer worry about that. Being impeached by a censor was far more comfortable than taking a day trip to the Black Robe Guard Imperial Prison.
No matter what, he had to solve this case as quickly as possible today and send those harbingers of doom from the Black Robe Guard on their way. If Song Xuan and his companions stayed here, he felt he would end up behind bars sooner or later.
Even in the rear hall, Song Xuan could hear Landowner Shen's screams clearly.
By the time he and Song Qian reached the courtroom, the lower half of Landowner Shen's body had been beaten into a bloody pulp. He looked utterly miserable.
Even so, no matter how Chen Huaili questioned him, the man gritted his teeth and stubbornly refused to admit that he had anything to do with his wife's death.
His obstinacy left even Chen Huaili at a loss.
After all, Landowner Shen had an alibi. Even after being tortured, he still refused to confess. Could he truly not be the culprit?
"Let me ask him a few questions."
Song Xuan walked up to Landowner Shen and said evenly, "You know who I am, don't you?"
Enduring the pain in his body, Landowner Shen swallowed and said humbly, "You're a lord of the Black Robe Guard. Please see justice done for this lowly one!"
Song Xuan smiled without committing himself. "Normally, the Black Robe Guard doesn't interfere in ordinary civilian cases like this. But once we do, we will get to the bottom of it.
"I imagine you've heard of the Black Robe Guard's rules. I ask, you answer. Dare to tell even half a lie, and what awaits you is a new home in the imperial prison!"
"Please ask, my lord. This lowly one wouldn't dare hide anything."
Song Xuan gave a quiet acknowledgment, took the case record from the Court Clerk, and read it through from the beginning.
"Whose house did you drink at last night?"
"My lord, this lowly one drank at the home of my good friend Wang Shi."
Song Xuan glanced at the record in his hand. Chen Huaili had already questioned Wang Shi, who had personally confirmed that Landowner Shen had gone nowhere else last night and had stayed over after getting drunk at his house.
"What wine did you drink?"
"Osmanthus Wine!"
"Where did you buy it?"
"At the East Street Liu Family Tavern?"
"Was the Osmanthus Wine good?"
"Yes. Rich and fragrant, with a lingering aftertaste."
"Did you buy the wine yourself?"
"I did." Sweat began to bead on Landowner Shen's forehead.
"How much silver did it cost?"
"T-two taels."
"When you bought the wine, did Proprietor Liu know you'd killed your wife?"
"No..." Landowner Shen answered instinctively, then caught himself and hastily added, "My lord, this lowly one didn't kill anyone!"
"Don't be nervous!"
Song Xuan waved a hand. "After you left home, which route did you take to Wang Shi's house?"
"Through... through the east gate."
Song Xuan smiled. "There happened to be a funeral procession at the east gate that day, and the road was a little congested. Did you run into it?"
Landowner Shen drew a deep breath and carefully recalled what had happened. It seemed there really had been a funeral procession that day, and he relaxed a little.
"I did. There were indeed a lot of people that day. This lowly one waited quite a while at the east gate before getting through!"
Song Xuan's expression gradually turned from mild to cold. "You're lying! There was indeed a funeral procession last night, but it left through the southwest gate.
"With half the city between them, how did you see a funeral procession at the southwest gate from the east gate?"
Landowner Shen panicked and hurriedly said, "My lord, this lowly one remembered wrong. I didn't take the east gate that day. I went through the southwest gate, and I did see a funeral procession."
Song Xuan crouched down, stared into Landowner Shen's eyes, and said coldly, "There was no funeral procession at the southwest gate that day. I'll give you one last chance. What exactly did you go out to do that night?"
Landowner Shen was completely flustered. "My lord, I didn't do anything. I really was drinking at Wang Shi's house."
Song Xuan barked, "I wasn't asking about the night you killed your wife. I was asking what you did the night before you killed her!"
"The night before I killed her, I... I..."
Between the pain in his body and Song Xuan's relentless questioning, sweat poured off Landowner Shen like rain, and his composure began to crumble.
"Evasions and lies, one after another!"
Song Xuan stood and looked down at him. "Either confess now, or come with me and confess in the imperial prison. Those are your two paths. Choose one!"
Thud!
Landowner Shen slumped to the floor, his composure utterly shattered.
"I'll confess! I admit my guilt! I killed her! I was the one who killed her!"
"I don't want to go to the imperial prison! I don't want to go to the imperial prison!"
Song Xuan nodded, then turned to the dumbstruck Chen Huaili. "The questioning is finished. You can handle the rest yourself, Lord Chen. No problem, I trust?"
Chen Huaili nodded blankly.
This was the first time he had ever seen a case judged this way. Was this how the Black Robe Guard handled all their interrogations?
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