Chapter 190: Hello Chang’an
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Chapter 190: Witness (Five Thousand Words, Seeking Monthly Votes)
"By now, the trial should have started," the maid said. "I heard that besides the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate, the princess was also ordered by His Majesty to join the proceedings today."
The princess she referred to was naturally Ming Luo.
"This situation is to be expected. After all, the person who died was from the Changsun family, and it happened during the prayer ceremony at Dayun Temple. The Emperor and officials everywhere will surely give it extra attention..." Chang Shi said, but her brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
The more attention it receives, the more likely it is for mistakes to happen.
"Send more people to the Ministry of Justice to keep an eye on today's trial. Report everything to me, no matter how small," Chang Shi instructed.
The physical evidence and motive were already in place, and for now, no one suspected anyone else. If the Changsun family, in their grief and anger, pressured the Ministry of Justice, that would be perfect. Ideally, they would settle the crime of Chang Sui'an today.
The maid agreed and, seeing her mistress's tired and tense appearance, comforted her, "Madam, don't worry. You've handled this quickly and effectively. No one will suspect the young master, and everything will go smoothly."
Chang Shi gave a short hum, frowning. "The biggest variable now lies with that foolish thing from the Feng family. I’m afraid she’ll manage to tell Jie about it today, and then she might tell someone else tomorrow."
"It shouldn’t be possible, after all, she herself killed someone..."
Chang Shi sneered. "Normal people can't imagine the foolish things those idiots can do."
"I’ve been planning this meticulously, taking every precaution. I can’t let the success or failure of this matter depend on such a fool acting out," Chang Shi said, trying to hold back her disgust. "It’s better to bring her in sooner rather than later."
"Then are you going to agree to Jie’s conditions?" the maid asked.
"How can I not agree?" Chang Shi rose. "She said something very true—my son's life is worth more than the whole of the Feng family."
At a time like this, if you push someone too hard, there’s no good outcome.
Her useless son had caused such a mess, and if they didn’t pay a little price, how could everything be settled smoothly?
The metaphorical "meat bun" had to be thrown when necessary, otherwise, a small loss could lead to a big one.
After all, it was just a fifth-rank official; they could be fed to the dogs.
But this fifth-rank official wasn’t something she could easily control alone. She had to find the real master of Marquis Ying’s house.
Since Marquis Ying’s injury, he had rarely come to Chang Shi’s courtyard. He either stayed in his concubines’ rooms or rested in the study outside the front courtyard.
Chang Shi wasn’t happy about this, but compared to the troubles her son had caused, she had no time to manage those restless concubines.
She went to the front courtyard and found Marquis Ying playing chess with their second son.
The father and son sat together, playing chess in a relaxed and joyful atmosphere. This image of fatherly love and filial piety made Chang Shi's eyes ache with bitterness.
Ah Shen was the eldest legitimate son. People always have more affection and expectations for their first child, and her husband was no exception. In the past, he couldn’t even see the two timid, weak illegitimate sons, but now...
"Why are you here?" Marquis Ying frowned and asked.
Upon hearing this, Chang Shi almost sneered.
But now that he was sitting with the illegitimate son, her words made her seem like an unwanted outsider.
"I’ve come to discuss something with you, Marquis," Chang Shi forced down her anger and looked at the young boy who stood up to bow.
The young boy, deeply afraid of his legitimate mother, was about to withdraw, but heard his father say, "The game isn’t finished yet. Stay and wait."
The boy could only stand there, terrified—his father didn’t care about his life at all, treating him as a pawn in this game.
"What’s so private that a family member can’t hear?" Marquis Ying looked at Chang Shi. "Speak up."
Chang Shi clenched her fists, her gaze unwavering as she said, "I want to bring a secondary wife into the household for Ah Shen to clear his bad luck and bring him some joy."
Marquis Ying froze. "What did you say?"
Chang almost choked with anger. "I said I want to bring a secondary wife into the household for Ah Shen..."
"Why didn’t you do this earlier?" Marquis Ying was confused. "You were so picky when it was time for him to marry, and now you’re trying to get him a secondary wife? This is like buying a comb for a bald man!"
The young boy standing nearby shivered. "..."
Chang Shi’s face showed a hint of irritation. "The physician has already said Ah Shen might still recover... That’s why I want to bring a secondary wife to bring him luck."
Marquis Ying frowned. "What kind of physicians are you finding? Are they also fortune-tellers?"
Chang suppressed her anger. "...The idea of bringing luck didn’t come from a physician. I hired a master to calculate it for Ah Shen."
Marquis Ying’s expression softened. "I see."
Chang Shi stared at him, thinking, "I see" means what exactly?!
Seeing that she seemed ready to argue, Marquis Ying, considering her mental state lately, waved his hand and said in a tone that indicated he was tired of debating, "If you want to stir things up, then do as you please."
After all, it was just a secondary wife.
Chang then informed him, "It’s the granddaughter of Master Feng."
"Master Feng?" Marquis Ying frowned, recalling the scandal caused by Madam Jie earlier, but he didn’t comment further.
After all, what noble family would agree to let their granddaughter become a secondary wife just for the sake of luck? If they could settle for that, it was already a big deal.
"But before the person enters the house, there’s one thing that requires your help," Chang Shi added.
She then presented Madam Jie’s conditions in a different manner.
Marquis Ying sneered. "A fifth-rank official, huh? Her tone’s pretty arrogant. Looks like she’s selling her granddaughter, isn’t she?"
"With such an attitude, it’s better not to go through with this marriage," he said, not willing to indulge the situation. "Since it’s just for luck, we can choose someone else!"
Chang Shi wasn’t surprised by Marquis Ying’s reaction.
Promoting someone to a fifth-rank official wasn’t a trivial matter, and it would certainly require effort and careful maneuvering. The reason she had agreed to Madam Jie’s conditions was because she understood the stakes and consequences; refusing wasn’t an option. But her husband, knowing nothing about the internal dynamics, couldn’t easily give in.
"But the soothsayer said that only a Feng family woman’s birth chart can help Ah Shen avert disaster," Chang said, presenting the excuse she had prepared earlier.
Marquis Ying scoffed. "What kind of soothsayer is this? Probably accepted a bribe from the Feng family."
"I’m not so foolish as to let the Feng family pull tricks right under my nose," Chang replied. "The soothsayer said that it’s not just Ah Shen’s disaster that needs to be dealt with. If we don’t remove this disaster in time, it might affect the entire Marquis of Ying’s household, and even you and I might be implicated."
Marquis Ying’s expression froze.
After a moment, he sighed. "…Fine. Let’s just hope it’s true."
Chang Shi couldn’t help but feel a bitter laugh in her heart. This trick was indeed the most effective one.
Marquis Ying looked at her and frowned. "Averting disaster for luck is fine, but the disaster comes from the person. You should manage him properly, make sure he focuses on his recovery, and don’t let him cause more trouble."
It was his fault for being blind in the past, thinking his eldest son took after his manly ways, while the two illegitimate sons were too timid and weak, making him look down on them.
It wasn’t until the eldest son had caused more and more trouble that he realized the manly traits his son inherited were only useful for causing chaos, while the son had accomplished nothing in serious matters...
He slowly began to see the value in the illegitimate sons. Truly, in his youth, he didn’t understand the value of obedient children and mistakenly treated rebellious ones as treasures.
Now, just mentioning the eldest son made him frustrated.
If it weren’t for the recent reminder from His Majesty to manage the family’s affairs and avoid causing more trouble and scandals, he would have probably stripped his eldest son of his title right away.
His Majesty had spoken, so for now, he would avoid making a scene and wait for a couple of years. Then, he could claim that there were no heirs under his eldest son and replace him with a more obedient one as heir.
But the premise was that the rebellious son couldn’t cause any more trouble!
Marquis Ying’s face clearly showed this as his final stance.
Chang Shi couldn’t help but bitterly smile in her heart. As for his "final stance," he didn’t know that it had long since been trampled on and torn apart. All she was doing now was cleaning up the mess.
"Although it’s just a secondary wife, we still need to arrange things properly. You go ahead and handle your business," she said.
Marquis Ying waved her off impatiently and returned to his game with their second son.
After Chang Shi left, Marquis Ying, while chatting casually with his second son, continued his unsolicited advice. "The situation now isn’t as stable as it was in the past. Since you’re from the Ming family, you must be extra careful in your words and actions. Don’t pick up your elder brother’s bad habits."
The young boy nodded obediently.
His father was overthinking it. The eldest brother’s character was shaped by their father and legitimate mother. They, the illegitimate sons, had always lived under the shadow of their legitimate mother’s strictness—how could they pick up such difficult behaviors?
But his father probably thought that the eldest son had been spoiled, so he must put in more effort with the younger one. That’s why he continued to lecture.
"Being overly competitive and reckless is unacceptable. Just look at what happened to that Chang family young master. His fate is the best lesson for us!"
In comparison, his rebellious eldest brother seemed relatively tame.
If he really ended up like that Chang family young master—impulsive, reckless, and daring to kill a lady from the Changsun family—his father would have no way to save him. He might as well just dispose of him in front of his sister!
Marquis Ying found himself strangely relieved. Yet, he knew that managing his children was now essential, so he continued advising his second son.
...
In front of the Ministry of Justice, the young man, still wearing the same robe he had been arrested in, now knelt in the main hall. Compared to his confident departure from home, he now looked disheveled and anxious.
"You refuse to admit to killing Seventh Miss Changsun? Then how do you explain the jade pendant?"
The question came from the Deputy Minister of Justice. This case was being jointly examined by the three judicial offices.
In the hall, besides the officers from the three offices, there were also Ming Luo, who had come on the Emperor's orders, and Changsun Yuan’s son, Changsun Yan.
At this moment, Changsun Yan, the aggrieved party, sat calmly, his gaze fixed on the young man who was vehemently denying everything.
"I... I lost the jade pendant a month ago!" Chang Sui'an explained.
"And where did you lose it?"
"I... I'm not sure," Chang Sui'an said, his voice uncertain. "But it was probably around the time of the Mid-Autumn Flower Feast in Furong Garden!"
If he had been sure of the exact location, he would have been able to find it by now.
"I’ll send someone to Furong Garden to verify this," said Yao Yi, the Deputy Minister of Justice. "But since it’s been so long, it will be difficult to confirm. Given the uncertainty of your statement, we cannot use it as proof of your innocence for now."
His words were tactful. As someone who had handled countless cases, Yao Yi knew that if someone were framing another, they wouldn't have left such an obvious trail. They would have likely erased all traces by now, making it almost impossible to find any clues.
This deduction, at that moment, was already confirmed by Chang Suining, who was listening outside the hall.
Yesterday, she had connected the time of her brother's lost jade pendant with the Furong Flower Feast, and had immediately sent people to the garden to try and find any leads.
With the help of Yu Zeng, the investigation had gone smoothly, but there were no results. They couldn’t find any trace of her brother’s jade pendant.
However, among the lists of people who had changed shifts at Furong Garden, there was something suspicious. On the second day after Changsun Xuan went missing, a palace servant working in the horse stable accidentally fell into the water and drowned.
The horse stable...
Her brother had been there, racing horses with Ming Jin, so the pendant might have been lost at that time.
The servant's death could not have been a mere accident.
But the man was already dead, and there was no way to confirm anything.
Still, in Chang Suining's view, the investigation had not been entirely fruitless. The fact that things had been cleaned up so quickly in such a short time suggested that the person behind it was not someone ordinary.
Moreover, if the servant had indeed picked up the jade pendant and it ended up in someone else's hands, it would mean that the person had falsely claimed it. But since this person’s identity was unusual, they wouldn’t have been interested in such a trivial thing—there was more to it than just the pendant.
It wasn’t the jade pendant that mattered, but rather who it belonged to.
Even if the person had framed her brother for the murder of Seventh Miss Changsun, it was likely an impulsive decision. However, the person’s motives when they secretly took the jade pendant must have been far from pure.
The person who had such thoughts and paid attention to her brother's personal belongings was probably someone with a past grievance against him.
Someone with a grudge, an unusual identity, and someone who had attended both the Mid-Autumn Furong Flower Feast and the Dayun Temple prayer event—this was the range of suspects that Chang Suining had narrowed down.
If she were to make a bolder guess, this person was likely also connected to the death of Seventh Miss Changsun, or there might have been some irreconcilable conflict between the two. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have dared to strike under the Emperor’s very nose.
But she didn’t know enough about the situation with Changsun Xuan and couldn’t make any further guesses for now.
As for the person behind all this, Chang Suining had already identified a rough scope and was just waiting to investigate and eliminate the suspects one by one. She had come to this trial today for two reasons: to observe reactions from all sides in hopes of finding new clues, and also to see her brother.
Seeing that Chang Sui'an appeared unharmed and showed no signs of having been tortured, Chang Suining felt somewhat relieved.
Fortunately, the Minister of Justice, Yao Yi, was in charge, or else, under the pressure from the Changsun family, her brother might have been harmed by now.
Sometimes, under the pressure of power, there weren’t many legal procedures or logic to follow, and Chang Suining was very aware of this.
Though her brother hadn’t suffered serious physical harm, the young man who had never experienced such things had been unable to eat or sleep properly for days in jail, his body visibly thinner.
Now, facing the trial, he tried his best to prove his innocence, but every statement he made was refuted.
"But when I went to the Dayun Temple to pray, I wasn’t wearing the jade pendant I lost long ago. Everyone who saw me there can testify to that!"
"Even if someone can testify that you weren’t wearing the pendant at that time, it doesn’t prove that you didn’t carry it on your person elsewhere—"
The pendant might not have been on his waist, but could have been in his sleeve, in his arms, or under his cloak.
The examination was not being nitpicky, but was simply a thorough legal procedure.
Anything that wasn’t thorough couldn’t be used as evidence.
The Deputy Minister of Justice then solemnly asked, "Many people have also mentioned that you disappeared for a long time in the back mountain that day. When you were away from the crowd, where did you go and what did you do? Can anyone testify?"
The rapid-fire questioning was filled with pressure, and Chang Sui'an reminded himself to stay calm and not panic.
Remaining calm was beneficial, allowing him to answer truthfully without instinctively denying he had ever been away from the crowd.
Since he was innocent, he only needed to answer truthfully, without lying or hiding anything.
"On that day, I did leave the crowd…" Chang Sui'an thought carefully as he responded. "But I was with Prince Rong’s heir the whole time! We were talking by the river!"
"Prince Rong’s heir?"
"That's right!" Chang Sui'an suddenly realized this might be a turning point. "The heir of Prince Rong can testify for me!"
The officials and Ming Luo seated in the hall all changed their expressions upon hearing this.
Though the jade pendant was the decisive piece of evidence, if Li Lu could confirm that, when no one else could see him, Chang Sui'an had been with him the entire time, the case would require further investigation. Until new evidence was found or it could be proven that the heir was lying, Chang Sui'an could not yet be convicted.
Yao Yi immediately ordered, "Someone, bring Li Lu to the Ministry of Justice!"
As the officers went to carry out the order, the crowd in the hall began to murmur among themselves.
Qiao Yubai and Cui Lang, worried about Chang Sui'an, had skipped their lessons at the Imperial Academy and come here today. At this moment, they subconsciously placed a lot of hope in Li Lu’s arrival.
In the crowd, a young boy's voice cut through coldly, "Who doesn’t know that Li Lu has admired and even proposed to a lady from the Chang family? Who’s to say he won't testify falsely for the murderer?"
Chang Suining and the others turned to look.
The boy appeared to be around twelve or thirteen, dressed plainly but in fine clothes, with a white ribbon tied around his wrist. His eyes were red as he stared fixedly at Chang Sui'an in the hall.
Cui Lang wanted to step forward to argue with him, but Chang Suining stopped him with a raised hand.
The boy seemed to be from the Changsun family. Engaging him in a verbal confrontation in front of so many people would only bring more trouble and suspicion.
Moreover, debating whether Li Lu would lie seemed meaningless to Chang Suining at this moment.
What they should be more concerned about was... whether Li Lu would actually step forward to testify.
She hoped she was being too narrow-minded and overthinking things.
Chang Suining quietly waited.
Eventually, the officer who had gone to summon the heir returned.
"Your Excellency, the servants at the Prince Rong’s estate say that Li Lu caught a chill while paying respects to his ancestors. Later, he was startled, which triggered an old illness. He’s been running a high fever since last night and has been unconscious. He cannot come to speak for now."
---
(The chapter is now complete.)
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