Chapter 129: The Emperor Wants to Kill Someone |
Ji Ming and Sun Heng had never expected this man to be so unyielding.
For one person to shoulder all these charges meant certain death.
But a prince had an invincible golden shield and could escape lightly—at worst, merits and faults would cancel each other out.
But what did he, a county magistrate despised by all officials, have to bear such weight?
There was only one possibility.
The testimony from the Sixth Prince's side was completely opposite to his.
Even if only some parts overlapped, he would be done for.
Take just one point: as a subject, was it permissible to promise official positions and titles to those soldiers?
Absolutely not.
This was using the emperor's authority to build his own prestige and cultivate actual supporters.
No matter how you looked at it, borrowing the imperial power was a capital offense.
Therefore, Sun Heng immediately asked: "Who proposed and who decided to promote all the Forbidden Army soldiers by two ranks?"
"After consecutive defeats at Tongmen Pass and under Zhao Xiang, Northern Liang's morale had long since collapsed. Among the Forbidden Army, people were terrified, all believing that defending Shuofeng City meant certain death. Within Shuofeng City, the powerful clans colluded with Ji Yuan. Only by promoting people on the spot and gathering and integrating Shuofeng's forces could we prevent a military mutiny or civilian uprising," Song Shi'an said.
"I'm asking you who proposed it and who decided it—did I ask you to say all this!" Sun Heng immediately barked.
Song Shi'an fixed his gaze on Ji Ming to the side and said, "Record that in the case files."
"You!"
Sun Heng became furious.
Ji Ming raised his hand and said to the official beside him, "Record it in the case files."
"Yes, my lord. It's recorded," he quickly replied.
One could admit guilt, but couldn't brazenly and arrogantly confess directly—just did it, so what.
Explaining the underlying reasons was both a defense and a sincere attitude.
I'm a loyal subject; everything was for Great Yu.
Whether you believe it or not.
"Promoting the entire Forbidden Army by two ranks was proposed by me to the Sixth Prince, ultimately decided by him, and then implemented by me," Song Shi'an said.
"Record that in the case files," Sun Heng said, his tone becoming harsh as well.
Next came continuous questioning.
Regarding 'plundering' the property of Shuofeng's powerful clans and so forth.
But here, Song Shi'an did not admit guilt.
Because in those matters, he had done everything flawlessly. Physical evidence, witness testimony, procedures—everything was complete. The county office's case files and the military supervisor's records both had largely consistent documentation that could withstand historical scrutiny.
Just like that, after about one shichen, the lengthy interrogation ended.
The recorded testimony ran to several thousand characters.
The official who had written it out presented it before Song Shi'an and provided paper and brush for him to sign and seal it.
Song Shi'an carefully read through it from beginning to end, not missing a single character.
He was the type of person who, when registering a game account, would read through the entire disclaimer from start to finish—extremely meticulous. No one could fool him.
This made Sun Heng above grow somewhat impatient, but there was no way to rush him.
Song Shi'an now had this attitude: if you asked in an unpleasant tone, he would retort in an equally unpleasant tone.
It would be great if they could use torture.
But this person truly couldn't be touched.
About two ke (thirty minutes) later, Song Shi'an finally finished reading.
He picked up the brush and signed his name.
Then he dipped his finger in red ink paste and pressed his fingerprint seal.
"Song Shi'an, this is only the first time. There will be many more questioning sessions and interrogations like this. You must take responsibility for what you say."
As Ji Ming stood to leave, he reminded him.
This statement showed his 'goodwill' toward Song Shi'an.
According to normal interrogation procedures, they wouldn't give such warnings or mention repeated questioning.
His meaning was clear: speak carefully, don't contradict yourself, or the consequences will be severe.
"Alright."
Song Shi'an responded calmly.
Afterward, the prison warden personally escorted him back to his cell.
The group who conducted the interrogation waited in the Court of Judicial Review for orders from above.
At this time, Wang Chen arrived at the Court of Judicial Review, as if perfectly timing his return.
He apologized to Ji Ming and Sun Heng with a smile: "Ah, without a virtuous wife, the household is truly in chaos. Over a small matter, she had to make such a racket. In this regard, I truly envy you two."
"Lord Wang truly dotes on his wife," Sun Heng couldn't smile, saying rather flatly, "For the next interrogation, will my lord be able to attend?"
"That's certain. The Court of Judicial Review's duties come first," Wang Chen replied with a smile.
The Left and Right Monitors already had considerable objections to him.
Though both were his subordinates, at such a time, lacking responsibility was quite disappointing.
If they really let him become the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, one of the most powerful positions among the Nine Ministers, then this institution would be ruined.
Therefore, it was absolutely impossible to let him rise.
When the time came for the court to inquire about his performance as Acting Minister, the two had tacitly reached a consensus—they couldn't possibly speak well of him.
But they needn't waste their effort worrying. Wang Chen had no hope of being confirmed in the position.
Being able to smoothly get through this 'Langya Military Rebellion Case' would be extremely fortunate—and he still thought of using it to get promoted?
Ridiculous.
That position would either go to Song Jing.
Or the emperor would install someone else he trusted.
"What's the verdict?" Wang Chen asked.
"This is the testimony," Ji Ming presented it to him.
After reading it, he showed some gravity: "At this rate, it'll take at least a month to finish the interrogation."
The workload had increased again.
"So what do we say—should we report it directly?" Sun Heng asked.
"Just submit it directly to the palace. Don't say anything," Wang Chen said. "In the end, how to conduct the interrogation—isn't that decided by a single word from His Majesty?"
Normally, the Court of Judicial Review would have its own observations and views on interrogations.
Because you couldn't just accept whatever the criminal said.
But no one could define whether Song Shi'an was actually a real criminal or not.
In the end, the testimony was submitted to the palace unchanged by the Chief Justice.
Meanwhile, Song Shi'an's forceful statements in the interrogation room quickly spread throughout all the mid- and high-ranking officials of the Court of Judicial Review...
Before Song Jing's cell in the Imperial Prison, Warden Liu looked around, then covered his mouth and said quietly, "Laoye."
Seeing this, Song Jing stood and walked over: "Warden Liu, what is it?"
"Laoye," Warden Liu continued in a hushed voice, "During the interrogation, the young master admitted to the Langya troop mobilization and unauthorized appointment of officials, claiming he proposed it and His Highness decided it."
Warden Liu had thought it through that day.
He had indeed offended the Vice Minister by passing along information early, earning his resentment.
After so many years as a seventh-rank official, further promotion would likely be difficult.
But couldn't we change our thinking?
Even the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review had to curry favor with Laoye Song, so why shouldn't we skip the middleman and curry favor with Laoye Song directly?
Cut out the intermediary!
"Oh, so that's what he said," Song Jing replied.
"Laoye, should I have someone relay a message to the young master, saying it's from you?" He looked around again as he spoke.
"That won't be necessary."
Song Jing smiled and declined, but suddenly thinking of something, he added: "If it's convenient, just tell him that I've been informed, that I'm perfectly well in prison, and he needn't worry."
"...Yes."
Warden Liu didn't understand why, at such a critical juncture, at such an important time, he would relay such a meaningless message. But he still decided to do so and took his leave: "Then this subordinate will go now."
"Mm."
Song Jing smiled as he left.
Then sitting in the cell, one hand resting on his crossed knee, he was unexpectedly composed.
This message was far from meaningless.
On the contrary, it said everything clearly.
Go ahead, don't feel pressure because I'm also imprisoned.
Gazing outside the Imperial Prison, Song Jing said solemnly: "Your Majesty, we of the Song clan also care about our dignity."
………
The Chief Justice delivered the Court of Judicial Review's testimony to a palace eunuch and fully explained the trial process and details.
Subsequently, the eunuch submitted it to Chen Bao.
Finally, Chen Bao presented it to the emperor.
After reading it, the emperor was rarely stunned for a moment.
There was surprise, but not that much surprise.
Of course, he was definitely somewhat shocked by this kind of testimony.
"Chen Bao, come look at this."
The emperor now had only this head eunuch he could speak properly with.
It wasn't that he couldn't trust the others—they just didn't know the full picture.
The one who knew the full picture, Sima Yu, had nearly been driven to his death by the emperor.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Following orders, Chen Bao very carefully read it through completely.
He too was shocked.
"Can you understand it?" the emperor asked.
"Your Majesty, according to this servant's thinking..."
After much deliberation, Chen Bao said: "Song Shi'an is a jieyuan and must have the pride of the gentry. His Highness can bear everything, but if Song Shi'an shirked responsibility and then obtained wealth and honor, he might worry about being scorned by all the scholar-officials of the realm."
"Yes, not only does my Wei clan care about face, his Song clan does too." The emperor understood this completely.
Not domineering at all.
"But if he's only worried about losing face, why shoulder so much?" the emperor asked. "If the two testimonies are completely opposite, how should guilt be determined?"
Chen Bao nervously swallowed, then said carefully: "Both are guilty, or both are innocent."
"So he wants the Prince of Wu to suppress everything about coercing the commanding general, usurping authority to mobilize troops, and unauthorized appointment of officials. Or rather, to define all of this as 'when the general is abroad, some military orders need not be obeyed' under absolute loyalty."
Actually, pushing everything onto Wei Wusheng would be no problem at all.
If Wei Wusheng were truly guilty, all the civil and military officials would plead for him.
It was just that under the momentum of public opinion, they had to be divided.
But if the Prince of Wu could really suppress it, not only would the two not be divided, they'd be locked together.
Chen Bao knew.
The emperor absolutely didn't want to suppress Song Shi'an; he only wanted to suppress Wusheng.
If there was one person he didn't want to see rise, it was definitely Wusheng.
When Sima Yu interpreted the dream back then, he said to eliminate the traitorous minister beside the rebellious prince.
But this emperor seemed to want to do the opposite.
He wanted to eliminate the rebellious prince that the traitorous minister was loyal to.
He wanted to protect the traitorous minister.
Did he hate Wusheng that much?
"Do you think Song Shi'an's confession—does Wusheng know about it?" the emperor asked.
This question was terrifying.
The implication was: whose idea was it for the two to each shoulder the guilt?
If it was Song Shi'an's own decision and Wusheng didn't know, then it was fine.
But if the two had discussed it together.
Then they wanted to bind themselves tightly together, be released without guilt, and continue as locked sovereign and minister in the future.
For this, they wouldn't hesitate to hold all of Northern Liang hostage.
For this, they wouldn't hesitate to force the emperor to make a choice.
Then Wusheng's ambition would be too great.
He definitely couldn't be killed now.
But later, when the opportunity arose, he would have to die.
Chen Bao trembled and knelt down.
And the emperor decided coldly: "Go tell Wusheng that Song Shi'an's testimony is completely identical to his. See how he reacts."