"Who can tell me what exactly happened?" In the main hall, Lord Yao, likely infuriated, had a face ashen and his voice laced with anger.
Compared to Zhan Feiyu's situation, officials like Zhao Tongzhi from the Suzhou Prefecture yamen were in a much worse state. Their clothes were dishevelled, but more importantly, several of them were injured.
"Reporting to Your Lordship," Zhao Tongzhi, disregarding his own wounds, suppressed his anger towards Censor Chu and reported to Lord Yao, "Censor Chu believes that Miss Zhan bribed the yamen constables and ordered them to kill Qian Shipeng. Afterwards, Censor Chu intended to arrest Miss Zhan, but without evidence, Miss Zhan resisted, and the two sides came to blows..."
As for why it escalated to Censor Chu wanting to set the yamen ablaze, Zhao Tongzhi's eyes were also filled with fury. "When we tried to stop him, Censor Chu, in his madness, threatened our lives. Miss Zhan's attendant then protected us and retreated to the yamen."
Otherwise, with the people Censor Chu and Bailiff Sun brought, even if they were numerous, their skills were inferior. It wouldn't have been difficult for Zhan Feiyu to escape unharmed. But who would have thought Censor Chu was truly insane? He directly accused Zhao Tongzhi and the others of being accomplices and ordered them to be killed without mercy.
Zhan Feiyu couldn't stand by and watch them die, which forced her to retreat to the yamen.
Lord Zheng, who was listening in, looked at Censor Chu with a complex expression. This was truly a mad dog. No wonder Commander Xie brought Censor Chu here; he was going to stir up trouble.
"Zhao..." Censor Chu glared with his triangular eyes and was about to reprimand Zhao Tongzhi, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Lord Yao's warning gaze fell upon him.
"Censor Chu, I am questioning Zhao Tongzhi. As for you, it's not too late to speak when I question you!" Lord Yao, who came from a humble background and had no powerful in-laws to assist him, managed to climb to the second rank of the Surveillance Commissioner. Besides loyalty, Lord Yao's capabilities were not to be underestimated.
The fact that he could interrupt Censor Chu and make him lose his composure was enough to show his current anger.
But it made sense. Censor Chu, in broad daylight, intended to set the yamen ablaze, with surrounding citizens watching. Regardless of the Emperor's reaction, memorials from the Censorate would surely rain down on the imperial desk like flying snow.
Perhaps due to his injuries or out of consideration for Lord Yao, Censor Chu did not speak further. However, his gaunt face was terrifyingly grim, and his eyes seemed poisoned, wishing to kill Zhan Feiyu and Zhao Tongzhi.
After Zhao Tongzhi finished, Lord Yao, suppressing his anger, questioned Investigator Ma and other officials. He even questioned Constable Hu and others one by one. Their accounts were basically the same.
The scribe on the right side of the hall, responsible for recording, wrote swiftly, documenting Zhao Tongzhi and the others' testimonies without omission, and finally had them sign and affix their fingerprints.
An hour passed. Lord Yao's sallow face no longer showed anger, but his expression remained grim and unsightly.
At this point, only Zhan Feiyu and Censor Chu had yet to speak.
Xiao Zibai, her attendant, quickly handed over the tea. The rich scent of ginseng tea made Lord Yao frown, but he still drank half a cup in one gulp.
Besides this thick stack of testimonies, Lord Yao also needed to write a memorial and have it sent to the capital by express horse. He likely wouldn't get any sleep tonight.
"Censor Chu, you interrogated Zhan Feiyu and accused her of murdering Qian Shipeng. Do you have witnesses or evidence?" Lord Yao spoke again, looking at Censor Chu below with the eyes one reserves for the dead. Having been accustomed to acting arrogantly in the Commander's Office for years, he had long lost his vigilance and caution. Daring to attempt murder on Gu Qingzhou's only disciple meant that while Gu Qingzhou couldn't do anything to the Second Prince in the palace, the Chu family was likely finished.
Since Censor Chu dared to act, he naturally wasn't afraid. After a cold snort, he arrogantly replied, "Lord Yao, Commander Xie ordered me to come to Suzhou Prefecture to investigate the accidental death of Prefect Zhang. I believe Zhan Feiyu is suspected of murder and intended to apprehend her, but she dared to resist! This clearly shows her guilty conscience!"
This was a case of fabricating charges to condemn someone! Judging by Censor Chu's ruthless actions, anyone who fell into his hands would surely be coerced into confession.
Lord Yao, likely knowing that Censor Chu was finished, was too lazy to waste more words with him. He turned to Zhan Feiyu and asked, "Miss Zhan, do you have anything to defend yourself with?"
Compared to Censor Chu, whose official robes were torn and who was injured,
As night fell, in the study, two people, one tall and one short, sat opposite each other. Yin Wuyan spoke in a deep voice, "Xing shang zhong hou zhi zhi. He jie?"
Zhan Feiyu, who was asked, thought for a moment and replied, "It comes from the 'Shang Shu.' If in doubt about punishment, lighten it; if in doubt about rewards, follow the majority. This is the utmost benevolence and loyalty."
Yin Wuyan handed Zhan Feiyu a piece of stationery from the desk. It was a secret letter from the Imperial Guards in the capital, a copy of a memorial from the top scholar to the Emperor. The core content was the question Yin Wuyan had just asked.
To put it plainly, it was about the principle of leniency in cases of doubt. The memorial sharply accused the Imperial Guards of being cruel in their application of punishment over the years, which went against the benevolent governance advocated by the Emperor.
Zhan Feiyu quickly scanned it. "When in doubt of guilt, err on the side of leniency; when in doubt of merit, err on the side of generosity. It is better to let a guilty person go free than to wrongly punish an innocent one. This means that when evidence is insufficient, it is better to punish lightly to show benevolence. Big brother, do the Imperial Guards often use torture and coerce confessions?"