A Deadly Affair

Matron Li was immediately brought up.

Upon seeing Matron Li, Zhang Changshen was extremely satisfied with Lady Wei.

If Lady Wei hadn't brought this old woman out today, they would have had to go through a lot of trouble to get her out of the Wei Residence. Now that Lady Wei has handed her over to them on her own initiative, if it weren't for the lack of precedent, Zhang Changshen would really like to award Lady Wei a banner for "Best Prisoner".

The reason why Lady Wei brought Matron Li along was because she was used to Matron Li's presence. In the past, no matter what she needed to do, Matron Li would take care of it without her having to say much. Since Lady Wei was going to the Marquis of Suiping's Residence to gather information and to seduce Xu Xi, it was natural that she would be more comfortable using Matron Li was experienced and knew some inside information.

Unexpectedly, this saved Zhang Changshen a lot of trouble.

He slammed his gavel. "Lady Li, last night the constables caught a thief on the street. He identified himself as Li Mu, a maidservant of Lady Wei, the second wife of the Marquis of Suiping's Residence. Do you recognize him?"

Matron Li's body trembled, and her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, instantly settled.

With her son and his family missing and Lady Wei arrested, she was filled with fear and anxiety, unsure of what the person who arrested her son would do next.

Now that the boot above her head had fallen to the ground, she understood what she had to do.

"I know him, that's my son."

"According to Li Mu's confession, two years ago he beat the grandson of Minister Wen to death and framed the son of Lord Liu of the Ministry of Personnel. Are you aware of this matter?"

Matron Li was startled and hesitated, not daring to speak.

She knew that these things would be exposed sooner or later after her son was arrested.

But if she admits to it in court, wouldn't her son's life be over?

Zhang Changshen slammed his gavel. "Great Jin Code, the principal offender and the accomplice are sentenced according to the severity of their crimes. If your son was merely instructed by someone else, then he can be spared the death penalty. But if he is the principal offender, he will be executed immediately. Furthermore, Li Mu has already confessed to this matter, saying that you instructed him to do so. Do you admit to this?"

Matron Li jumped in surprise and quickly said, "My lord, I'm innocent! I have no grudge against Minister Wen and Lord Liu, why would I order my son to commit murder? This was all at the behest of my mistress, Lady Wei. And the reason Lady Wei ordered us to do this was because of her father, Lord Wei."

Zhang Changshen perked up. Here comes the key point. "Can you produce witnesses and physical evidence? Empty words are not enough. If you want to pin the crime on Lord Wei and the Lady Wei family, you need proof."

"Yes, yes," said Matron Li. "It was a steward from the Wei Residence named Wei Kang who ordered my son to do it. He also sent people to lure Minister Wen's grandson to the outskirts..."

Knowing that her life and the fate of her son's family depended entirely on her cooperation, Matron Li immediately recounted the entire incident in detail.

She also provided witness testimony. "My son knew this matter was extremely serious, and fearing that Lord Wei and the Second Madam would silence him for doing this, he wrote down these things and made several copies. He gave one copy to me, and the other two to my in-laws and my daughter. I specifically leaked this information to the Second Madam. The Second Madam was wary of us, and since she didn't have any servants more capable than those in our household, she didn't silence us."

Zhang Changshen felt that today's case was going incredibly smoothly. If all the criminals were this cooperative and willing to provide witnesses and evidence, he wouldn't be going bald.

He immediately ordered, "Go, bring here both families provided by Wei Kang and Lady Li."

After the bailiffs left, he ordered Matron Li to be imprisoned, and then questioned the two maids, Chunqing Chunfen, as a formality.

Although these two maids were also children of Lady Wei's servants, they were young and inexperienced. Lady Wei was worried that they would not keep their mouths shut and would not be able to take responsibility, so she did not ask them to do anything shady, and did not even tell them.

She instructed Matron Li and her family to do all these things.

Therefore, the two maids were merely there for show, and Zhang Changshen ordered them to be taken away. Also imprisoned was Lady Wei's coachman.

To prevent the news from leaking out, these people cannot be let go, even if they are innocent.

He instructed his subordinates to guard the prisoners well and not allow anyone to visit, take them away, or interrogate them before taking the confession and leaving.

As soon as he left the Court of Judicial Review, he instructed his attendants, "Quickly inform Grand Tutor Cen and Minister of Ministry of Personnel Lord Wu that I have a case to present to the Emperor."

The attendant, upon receiving the order, rode off on a fast horse in a flash.

Zhang Changshen then slowly boarded the carriage, drove around the streets for a while, and then went to the palace.

"Please wait a moment, Lord Zhang Grand Tutor Cen and Minister Wu are discussing matters with the Emperor. I will go and inform him." The eunuch said to Zhang Changshen with a smile, then flicked his whisk and entered the main hall.

Zhang Changshen waited outside with a relaxed expression.

As the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, he was usually very busy handling cases. He would only come to the palace to report to the Emperor if there were major cases involving the court or officials. This was only a few times a year.

Because the frequency of these reports was low and the cases were important, the Emperor would usually meet with him immediately unless it was something particularly urgent.

Sure enough, the eunuch went in and came out shortly after, smiling as he said to Zhang Changshen, "Lord Zhang, the Emperor invites you. Please come with me."

Zhang Changshen followed him inside.

"Alright, I understand what you've said. I'll do as you say." Emperor Xiao Ge saw Zhang Changshen enter and prepared to dismiss Grand Tutor Cen and Minister Wu.

"Your Majesty..." Zhang Changshen glanced at the two men, hesitating to speak.

"What's wrong? Is the case related to those two?" Xiao Ge asked, frowning.

Zhang Changshen bowed and said, "There is some connection."

Xiao Ge nodded and said to Grand Tutor Cen and Minister Wu, "Then you two can stay and listen."

Zhang Changshen then placed the dossier in front of Xiao Ge and reported, "Wei Liniang of Lord Wei of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, switched one of her twin sons with the daughter of Marquis Zhao Yuanxun of Suiping fourteen years ago. The current heir of the Marquis of Suiping Zhao Jingli, is actually the son of Zhao Yuanliang, the second son of the Duke of Duke of Sui, and Wei Liniang."

Xiao Ge frowned, his expression showing displeasure. "What does this case have to do with Minister Cen and Minister Wu? Just handle it as usual. As for Wei Qiu, I will reprimand and punish him."

Grand Tutor Cen and Minister Wu exchanged a glance.

They knew that the Emperor would react this way after learning about the case.

Zhang Changshen's expression remained unchanged. He bowed and stood up, his tone still calm and even. "In the investigation of Wei Liniang's case of switching babies, I uncovered the mastermind behind the case of Minister Wen's grandson from years ago."

"Hmm?" Xiao Ge's expression changed. "Wasn't it Liu Chengde's son who killed Minister Wen's grandson?"

"Does Your Majesty still remember when I said there was something fishy about this case?" Zhang Changshen said.

Xiao Ge nodded. "I remember. But you investigated and found no evidence."

At that time, Wei Qiu and Liu Chengde were vying for the position of Minister of Ministry of Personnel. Later, Liu Chengde was demoted because of this case, and Wei Qiu failed to become Minister of Ministry of Personnel due to opposition from ministers who were on good terms with him, but he still became Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

Back then, Zhang Changshen said that those who benefit from the status quo are the most suspicious. He investigated Wei Qiu and the Wei Family thoroughly, but found nothing.