Once an accusation had been fixed, the blade could hardly be drawn back.
Once the net had been cast, where could the fish flee?
In late July of Jinghe Year Fifteen, autumn had yet to reach Jinling, and the summer heat still steamed.
In the Ministry of Justice's Detention Review Hall, Qi Zhao's Confession Statement finally received a ruling after five days of joint examination by the Three Judicial Offices.
It began on the night of July sixteenth, when Qi Zhao ground ink beneath a lamp in the hall and wrote his confession, every word a blade.
When he finished and set down his brush, Qi Zhao laughed three times, the sound shaking the walls. Then he closed his eyes and spoke no more.
When the Three Judicial Offices received the statement, all were initially aghast.
A Vice Director of the Ministry of Justice examined the handwriting. It matched Qi Zhao's handwritten deposition as though both had come from the same hand.
A deputy chief of the Court of Judicial Review checked his movements and conduct against Xu Bingwen's testimony before the throne. The two contradicted each other.
Xu Bingwen said Qi Zhao had acted on his own authority; Qi Zhao's statement claimed Kou Yuan had instructed him.
One man's mouth, two different tunes.
Yet Qi Zhao's statement clearly recorded how, one night beneath the lamplight in the Kou Residence's study,
Kou Yuan had personally handed him the draft. Even the words spoken that day-"Send the invitation as planned; Wei Zi is unprepared"-were cited as Kou Yuan's own instructions.
After five days of joint examination, the Three Judicial Offices actually accepted Qi Zhao's statement as fact and submitted their report to the throne.
The Ministry of Justice's memorial passed through the palace gates at dusk on July twenty-third.
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