Chapter 103: Before the Joint Trial of the Three Departments

  The so-called three-court joint trial refers to the joint review of a case by the Grand Court, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Capital Patrol. There are only three situations that can trigger a three-court joint trial: first, major, important, and doubtful cases that affect many people and have serious consequences; second, cases involving individuals with special identities; third, cases ordered by the emperor himself.

  However, even so, the three departments' joint trial was only a matter of one or two officials from each of the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Censorate, if it were said that the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple, the Minister of Punishment, and the Left and Right Supervising Censors of the Censorate would jointly try a case, that would be a rare occurrence in ten years.

  It just so happened that this time, the Emperor himself issued an edict, and Jiang Xia's case would be personally tried by the three chief officials. The location was set at the Temple of Justice. What was even more shocking was that the Emperor would attend in person to observe, and the six ministers of the Imperial Cabinet would also arrive one after another. What sparked the most heated discussion among the people of the capital was that this trial would be open to the public, allowing citizens to go and watch the entire trial process.

  When Yang Yiting, Fei Hong and other cabinet ministers received this imperial edict, they were all confused. They had just gone to persuade the emperor, only to be scolded severely. Then, the emperor changed his mind and set up a formation that was even larger than they had expected, and it was scheduled for just two days later.

  This news was announced by the Ministry of Rites and posted on bulletin boards throughout the capital, causing a stir among the people. Some said that the Emperor could not withstand the pressure and was preparing to sacrifice Jiang Xia to clear his name. Others said that the Emperor was going to prove Jiang Xia's innocence in front of the people of the capital and do everything in his power to save her from death. There were also those who said that the Emperor was actually a lecher, unable to withstand the clamor of the three thousand beauties in the harem, so he was preparing to abandon Jiang Xia.

  In short, all sorts of rumors were flying around, and amidst these increasingly absurd and contradictory hearsay, the people directly involved in the incident had almost been forgotten. Meanwhile, Shuntian Prefecture received a case, a suicide case.

  Originally, ordinary suicide cases didn't need to make a big fuss, but the protagonist of this case was none other than Li Yun, the wife of He Yongcai and the lady of the He Manor.

  It involves a major event that will be reviewed by the three departments in two days. Originally, this matter should have been reported to the Ministry of Punishment no matter what. However, for some reason, after this case entered Shuntian Prefecture, it disappeared without a trace, as if no one had sent the case to Shuntian Prefecture at all.

  In the Cloud Pavilion Inn, Zhu Youxiao was playing chess with Fu Bo. His three small soldiers had crossed the river and surrounded Fu Bo's old general, leaving him no choice but to sacrifice a rook to save his general from death. After eating the discarded rook, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but burst into loud laughter, which was rare for someone of his temperament, revealing the joy and pride in his heart.

  Zhu Youxiao smiled and said, "The imperial family is the most ruthless. What does it matter if Jiang Xia had a good relationship with Zhu Houzhao? In the end, he was still abandoned. I originally thought that Zhu Houzhao would hold on for a while longer, allowing those foolish commoners to say more bad things about him. Unexpectedly, he couldn't even withstand this and directly threw out Jiang Xia. I didn't expect Zhu Houzhao to be so fond of his own feathers, it's truly disappointing."

  "He's so quick with his knife that it can be considered decisive, after all, the faster he handles things, the less impact on his reputation." Fu Bo said.

  "Hmm, that's right." Zhu Youhao nodded slightly and continued to ask Fu Bo: "By the way, have you dealt with Li Yun?"

  Fu Bo shook his head, and Zhu Youzhen was suddenly startled: "You didn't handle it?"

  Fu Bo Dao: "I didn't have time to deal with it, because when I went there she had already committed suicide."

  "Suicide?" Zhu Youhuan's eyebrows furrowed, his face filled with skepticism: "How could someone who was fine commit suicide?"

  Fu Bo Dao said: "I've investigated, after Jiang Xia left that day, Li Yun went to find her lover Wang Bo Yan. I don't know why they quarreled, then she returned home and committed suicide. I've examined her body, it was an overdose of arsenic that killed her."

  "Could it be like this?" Zhu Youxiao suddenly lost his smile, shaking his head and laughing: "It's really heaven helping me!"

  "At first, I just asked Wang Baosheng to find a woman who could be used, and Wang Baosheng proposed Li Yun according to my requirements. Then, Li Yun, in order to be with her lover Wang Bo, applied a deadly poison to her husband's Nine Yang Dan, and when he was poisoned, we sent him to the Nine Yang Fei Feng medicine shop by carriage. The rest of the events went smoothly from there. To add fuel to the fire, you even killed He Yuncai's concubine. This made Jiang Xia jump into the Yellow River and still couldn't wash away his guilt."

  The only one who could have helped Jiang Xia clear his name was Li Yun, but unfortunately she herself was a murderer and didn't dare to speak up for him. Now it's even more ironic that she has poisoned herself for love, the last person who could prove Jiang Xia's innocence is gone, Jiang Xia must die!

  Zhu Youhao's expression suddenly turned gloomy, and he said in a low voice: "Xi'er, your father has avenged you. Don't worry, the person who harmed you will definitely die before you."

  At night, Jiang Xia pulled Ru Xue and Nian Nu into her room to play chess. Unlike Zhu Youxiao's xiangqi, Jiang Xia and the two of them played checkers together. This game was simple and easy to understand, and after Jiang Xia briefly explained the rules, Ru Xue and Nian Nu quickly picked it up. Moreover, the more they played, the better they became.

  "Lost again......" Jiang Xia Ju Ren said with both hands: "Forget it, I surrender."

  Ruxue and Niansu smiled with satisfaction. Jiang Xia looked out the window and said, "Ruxue, Niansu, it's getting late, let's rest."

  Nian Nu glanced at Cui Ruxue, and saw that she had slightly nodded her head, then her pretty face turned a little red. Nian Nu bit her lower lip with her pearly teeth, then summoned up the courage to say: "Jiang... big brother Jiang, why don't... we keep you company in bed?"

  Nian Nu's voice became fainter and fainter as he spoke, and Jiang Xia almost didn't hear clearly. Fortunately, he had met people before, so he roughly understood the meaning by guessing and inferring.

  Jiang Xia glanced at Er Nu, and if it were usual, he would have shouted excitedly and rushed over. However, now he smiled slightly and asked, "Are you worried that something will go wrong during my trial in the Three Departments?"

  Cui Ruxiang and Cui Nian'nu looked up at Jiang Xia together, both of their eyes reddening. Jiang Xia was deeply moved in his heart. As the saying goes, a married couple are birds in the same forest, but when disaster strikes, they fly separately. Even a husband and wife will fly separately when disaster strikes, yet these two silly girls were willing to sacrifice themselves for him just as he was about to meet his demise.

  Jiang Xia stretched out his hand to hold Cui Ruxue and Cui Nianslave's hands, smiling and saying: "Two silly girls, are you so sure that I will definitely have an accident?"

  "No, no, Brother Jiang, nothing will happen to you. I've gone to draw a divination lot for you, and it's...it's an extremely auspicious sign." Cui Nianslave said anxiously. Although she claimed it was an extremely auspicious sign, in fact, she knew clearly that the actual sign she had drawn was extremely inauspicious.

  Jiang Xia heard Cui Nianshuo tense up and even went to draw a divination for herself, Jiang Xia couldn't help but reach out and scratch her little nose. He smiled and said: "My fate is mine, not heaven's, drawing divinations is useless to me, because the heavens of this era can't control me."

  Jiang Xia looked at the two of them with deep affection and said, "Don't worry, I will definitely return safely. After this trial is over, I will go to participate in the imperial examination. If I become a high-ranking scholar, I will marry both of you. At that time, I will have the golden list on top and the bridal chamber below. On the night of the wedding, when my name is announced on the golden list, isn't it wonderful to have two of life's greatest joys at once?"

  "We... we all listen to Brother Jiang." Cui Ruxue said with her head down, her voice as soft as a mosquito's hum.

  "Hahaha......" Jiang Xia pulled the two girls' hands and laughed: "Alright, it's getting late, let's get some rest."

  "Ah?" Cui Nian Nu was slightly startled and couldn't help but say: "Brother Jiang, didn't you say to wait until the day you top the imperial examination..."

  "That day was for serious business, today I'll just finish some small matters first." Jiang Xia said with a smile.

  One night without words, the next morning when Jiang Xia got up, Cui Ruxue and Cui Nianslave had not gotten up yet. Jiang Xia looked at the two women sleeping soundly, thinking in his heart that tonight would probably be another night of torment for them.

  Looking back, I'm afraid last night was the happiest night since my journey through time. Although it didn't really take my soul away, everything else that should have been done wasn't left undone. If not for having already made up my mind to give these two silly girls a name before getting involved with them again, I would have probably devoured both of them last night.

  Thinking of this, Jiang Xia couldn't help but glance at his lower body, that high bulge seemed to be silently proving that he had endured a lot last night.

  Because there were still things to do today, Jiang Xia put on her clothes and gently kissed Rusong and Nianshu's cheeks before leaving.

  After leaving the Xiangyang Mountain Villa, Jiang Xia circled around for a while to make sure no one was following him before changing into new clothes at a clothing store and taking a horse-drawn carriage to the Leopard House.

  He took out the "Tianzi No. 1" token and Jiang Xia directly entered the leopard house. The guard led Jiang Xia to see Zhu Houzhao, Jiang Xia walked over and knelt on one knee to pay his respects: "That's it, big brother kneels to second brother, heaven strikes with thunder."

  Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but roll his eyes, personally reaching out to pull Jiang Xia up and saying: "I didn't make you kneel, it's you who wanted to kneel, okay?"

  "This is about right." Jiang Xia stood up satisfactorily, then put his arm around Zhu Houzhao's shoulder and said: "Hey, I'm telling you, the houses here are not bad. Later, I'll pick a few rooms out, and when I have time, I'll come to stay for a while, how about that?"

  "No problem." Zhu Houzhao agreed in one breath, then he raised his eyebrows and said in a low voice: "Here, not only are the houses good, but there are also many beauties. Not only from Zhongyuan, but also from Wala, Mongolia, even Korea, Persia... all have them...... Those I have favored cannot be given to you, but those I haven't favored can."

  "Haha... Since I've never been pampered before, I can just pick whatever I want, right? You're really a good brother." Jiang Xia said with green light flashing in his eyes.

  However, he suddenly became serious and said: "Forget it, let's focus on the main task at hand."