Farmhouse Green Plum

Chapter 624 Retrial

Song Ying raised her eyebrows. She didn't expect that none of the people they had invited in advance had spoken up, but this girl, who had not been invited before, was the first to speak up for them.

With Zhu Xinyu's start, the Ruan family and other families who had received requests from Doctor Lin in advance finally spoke up.

Madam Ruan smiled and said to Zhu Xinyu, "Your Highness, you are wrong. In investigating a case, it's either a random piece of evidence that's wrong or a wrong verdict. Investigating a case, there's a difference between key evidence and minor details."

"This princess is no fool. How could she not know that an investigation requires crucial evidence?" Zhu Xinyu was unhappy. "Doctor Lin just said it clearly. This Qingyu Nanny saw Imperial Physician Jiang in the Imperial Garden. This proves that Imperial Physician Jiang didn't poison her back then. Isn't that crucial enough?"

Madam Ruan choked and said, "My princess, you misunderstood. What I meant was that women like us don't know the details of the case. Whether it was a miscarriage of justice or not, we need to let the adults carefully review the case files to know."

As soon as she finished speaking, the wife of Minister Qian of the Ministry of Rites nodded in agreement. "Madam Ruan is absolutely right. As the saying goes, every profession has its own specialization. A case as serious as this involving the imperial court should be handed over to the three courts for trial. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for law and regulations, the Supreme Court handles difficult cases, and the Censorate provides oversight. Only when each performs their duties can they thoroughly investigate the case."

"That's exactly the truth. We women don't know how to judge cases," another lady agreed, changing the subject to excuse the late emperor. "But this disease is unheard of and unseen. If it was a misdiagnosis back then, it's understandable."

"I'm an old woman, and I've never heard of such a strange disease before today."

"That's right. If it weren't for Master Lin and his disciples, even if we met him, we would just think he was possessed by an evil spirit..."

Looking at the ladies who were talking to each other, Emperor Qianyuan frowned. The Jiang family case had involved many people back then. Now that there was new evidence, it should be possible for the defendant to overturn the verdict.

Especially in front of so many ministers and their families, he couldn't suppress the matter, but he was holding back a nameless anger in his heart.

There are not so many coincidences in this world. What happened today was clearly planned by Lin to force him to agree to overturn Jiang's case.

He glanced solemnly at the Lin master and disciple kneeling on the ground, raised his hand and gently knocked on the high table. The sound was not loud, but it made the whole garden silent.

"The Jiang case has wide-ranging implications. Now that there is new evidence, let the Ministry of Justice re-investigate. However,"

He stood up, and his wide sleeves swept across the high table beside him, sweeping the teacups and saucers on it to the ground with a crisp sound.

"If it is discovered that someone deliberately fabricated evidence with the intention of distorting right and wrong, I still have several empty dungeons in my imperial prison."

After speaking, he walked away.

Everyone felt nervous when they heard this, and they knelt down hurriedly to see him off.

Song Ying helped Doctor Lin stand up, watched his procession go away, and slowly exhaled. The most crucial step had finally been taken.

Even if Emperor Qianyuan was shameless and secretly silenced Qingyu, the testimony of the officials' families today can prove that Doctor Jiang did not have the time to poison.

Now that this evidence has been made public, it’s a sure thing!

Emperor Qianyuan naturally did not do such a shameless and useless thing. The next morning, this matter was brought up in the court.

They said that the Ministry of Justice was investigating, but in fact there was nothing much to investigate. The case was investigated "clearly and clearly" back then, and there were two key pieces of evidence that convicted Doctor Jiang.

First, Doctor Zheng and Doctor Wei saw a young eunuch secretly give Doctor Jiang a note, and Doctor Jiang burned it immediately after reading it;

The second is the estimated time of poisoning. After the bowl of abortion-preserving medicine was prepared, two trusted maids from Queen Zhenhui's palace went to fetch it personally. They traveled together, keeping an eye on each other, and never opened the food box.

Once he arrived at Queen Zhenhui's palace, he was under everyone's watchful eyes, so there was no chance for him to poison her.

The only possibility is that the two people who were decocting the medicine had left the medicine pot during the cooking process, and no one saw Doctor Jiang during that time, so he had time to poison the medicine.

Now that Qingyu can prove that Imperial Physician Jiang was passing by the Imperial Garden at that time, it is impossible that he was the one who poisoned him.

In this way, Doctor Jiang's suspicion was basically cleared.

But some officials disagreed.

Zheng, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, stepped forward, holding a jade tablet. He said, "Your Majesty, I believe that before using testimony, authenticity should be verified. This is truly strange. Why would it be Nanny Qingyu who suffers from the same strange disease as that wealthy businessman?"

Even if it is true, as Doctor Lin said, that a head injury could split the soul in two, as far as I know, Qingyu has never had a head injury, so how could he have contracted this strange disease?

Every word and sentence was almost saying that Doctor Lin bribed Qingyu to give false testimony.

Lord Zhou, the Left Junior Minister of the Dali Temple, strode out and said, "At the flower viewing banquet yesterday, Doctor Lin, at the Queen's behest, recounted his interesting medical experiences in Jinchuan. The bizarre condition of a two-half soul is a rare occurrence, so recounting it is nothing new.

Matron Qingyu was an elder in the palace, and her 'possession' was no secret among the palace maids and eunuchs. It was natural for the palace maids to recall the past upon hearing similar symptoms.

This kind of strange disease is rare in a century. Knowing that someone around you suffers from this disease will make anyone curious. Please come and verify it in person."

Having said this, he turned sideways and looked directly at Minister Zheng. "May I ask, Lord Zheng, if you were also at the flower viewing banquet yesterday and heard about this, would you be curious and want to ask Nanny Qingyu to come and verify it?"

Minister Zheng was speechless. Even if he wanted to lie and say that he was not curious and would not ask Qingyu for help, it would not work. His Majesty was there yesterday, and it was he who ordered Qingyu to be invited.

If he really can't do it, wouldn't that be implying that Your Majesty is not as good as himself?

Zhou Shaoqing snorted coldly and continued, "Doctor Lin is concerned about the case of his master and remembers the witnesses involved in the case. This is human nature.

Now that I've recognized her and learned that she might have this disease, how can I resist asking her?"

Finally, he pointed out: "If Lord Zheng believes that Doctor Lin bribed Qingyu to give false testimony, please show us the evidence."

After a pause, he raised his voice, "As criminal justice officials, you and I should understand better than most people what 'complete evidence' means. If you make unwarranted assumptions without any real evidence, how is that any different from a gossipy woman in the marketplace?"

These words were tantamount to pointing at his nose and scolding him for misreading the law and being unfit to be an official in the Ministry of Justice!

Minister Zheng's old face turned purple, the jade sceptre in his hand trembled slightly, veins bulged on his forehead, but he could not refute a word.

If he had found solid evidence, there would be no need for him to make insinuations.

Just as Minister Zheng was feeling ashamed and angry, an old man in his fifties, with a gaunt face, slowly stepped out, holding an ivory tablet. He said, "Your Majesty, I believe what you two gentlemen said makes sense."

This is Lord Wang, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.

He bowed to the throne, then surveyed the hall. "Minister Zheng's careful investigation is in accordance with national law, and Junior Minister Zhou's eloquent defense is in the service of justice. However, until the facts of the case are fully understood, all this speculation will ultimately damage the harmony of the court."

The Book of Documents says, "In case of doubt, the punishment should be lenient; in case of doubt, the punishment should be lenient." It would be better to have the three courts jointly investigate the case and wait until the evidence is solid before reconsidering the matter.