20demayo Chapter 1128 Court Hearing 2
Chapter 1128 Court Hearing 2
At this moment, Pudu collapsed to the ground, black blood flowing from his mouth, his pupils wide open, staring in Wu Yirong's direction.
Someone exclaimed in surprise, "Look what happened to Master Pudu?"
Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice, "Go investigate."
After personally inspecting the situation, Aoxue reported, "Your Majesty, Pudu had a false tooth in his mouth containing poison. He bit into the false tooth and ingested the poison, dying as a result."
The next moment, all the monks who were tied up in the hall fell to the ground one by one. After the soldiers checked them, they found that "they were also missing a tooth and had replaced it with a false tooth, which contained poison."
After Zhang Qian went up to take a look, he said, "They actually hid the poison in their mouths. This... We didn't find anything unusual when we escorted them to the yamen. They were all very well-behaved."
“It’s not that they wanted to die, it’s that they did bad things and had to die.” Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice, “Let the coroner come and check what kind of poison they were given.”
Wu Yirong's eyes darted around and he immediately cried out that he was innocent, "Your Majesty, please investigate! I have always been dutiful and dutiful in my official duties. I truly had no idea that Pudu was leading the monks of the Living Buddha Temple to commit evil!"
Jiang Fenghua's eyes flashed with a cold light. No wonder Wu Yirong was so fearless after the Living Buddha Temple was exposed. It turned out that these people had long been determined to die. "You think that now that you are dead and there is no evidence, I will not be able to find out your mistakes?"
Wu Yirong's voice became firmer. He knelt on the ground, filled with righteous indignation, "What wrong have I done? Please provide evidence, Your Majesty. I have served in Jiangzhou for more than ten years. The elders and folks of Jiangzhou can all testify for me. I have never neglected my duties, nor have I wronged the people of Jiangzhou. I have a clear conscience, I have no shame before the people, and I have no shame before His Majesty."
Upon hearing this, the people outside the yamen said one after another: "Yes, this matter has nothing to do with Prefect Wu. He didn't know about the tricks that the Living Buddha Temple was up to. It was the monks raising toads to eat human flesh in an attempt to destroy the evidence."
"Your Majesty, Prefect Wu is indeed a good official in Jiangzhou!"
"I haven't heard of him handling any wrongful cases. Guoshanhu was indeed sentenced to death back then. How he escaped can be found out with a thorough investigation. This case may really have nothing to do with Prefect Wu."
"Prefect Wu is a good official!" someone shouted, taking the lead in pleading for Wu Yirong's innocence.
"Yes, Lord Wu is an upright and just official. Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly. How could Lord Wu possibly collude with mountain bandits? Over the years, Lord Wu has been suppressing bandits and protecting the peace of the people in this region. The fact that there are very few bandits in our Jiangzhou area is all thanks to Lord Wu!"
"Even Her Majesty the Empress must investigate the truth before convicting Prefect Wu. To punish someone without any evidence... isn't Her Majesty turning black into white?"
"That's right!"
In an instant, voices rose and fell, all of them from the people who were pleading for Wu Yirong's innocence.
Wu Yirong said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty cannot accuse me of colluding with bandits based on mere speculation. My official position was bestowed upon me during the reign of the late Emperor. Although the late Emperor has passed away, I still do my best to serve the people of the Great Zhou."
He became more and more aggrieved as he spoke.
Jiang Fenghua glanced coldly over. Pudu and the others died from poisoning in the blink of an eye. Then, some people stepped forward to cry out for Wu Yirong's innocence. It seemed that the Wu family had been prepared all along.
She spoke calmly and authoritatively, saying, "What's the rush, Lord Wu? How could I question the Jiangzhou prefect, appointed by my father, without witnesses or evidence?"
The phrase "Father Emperor" indicates that she is the Empress of the Xie clan of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the daughter-in-law of the late Emperor, and the Empress personally chosen by the late Emperor. He merely spent some money to buy an official position and became the one personally appointed by the late Emperor.
Upon hearing this, everyone inside and outside the hall fell silent. Only then did they remember to kneel down and pay their respects to the Empress, saying, "This humble subject greets the Empress. Long live Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty!"
Wu Yirong knelt on the ground, still unsure of what the Empress meant. The case of Guoshanhu had been going on for seven or eight years. How did they find out about it? The case files had long been burned, and his family had long since changed their names and were no longer bandits.
He was the prefect of Jiangzhou, but the elders of the Yuezhi clan also had a stronghold in Jiangzhou. The matter of the golden toad was exposed, and Jiang Fenghua's identity had long been exposed as well. If things went smoothly, they would not be able to leave Jiangzhou at all and would die a violent death for no reason.
That's why he was so fearless and took no action, even forcing Pudu and others to commit suicide in front of all the people and the empress.
"Bring Hu Kui up here!"
Hu Kui came up and explained the process again.
Wu Yirong thought: Hu Kui is not Hu San's brother at all, and he will be punished for falsely accusing officials.
Finally, Hu Kui shouted, "Your Majesty, please seek justice for my brother Hu San and his family! They were murdered by Wu Yirong. To cover up his crimes, he announced that my brother's family had contracted the plague and burned them alive."
When Hu Kui recounted the plague case in Plum Blossom Village, everyone pricked up their ears and listened intently.
Wu Yirong said, "Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly. He is not Hu San's brother at all. He came here to smear me. He is simply making false accusations against me."
He then added, “People who have contracted the plague can infect others. It’s an incurable disease. We can’t eradicate it without burning them to death! I only ordered the bodies to be burned because I was thinking of the people of Jiangzhou.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the people outside the courtroom started discussing again, praising Prefect Wu for doing the right thing.
Wu Yirong knew that no one would care how many people died from the plague in Plum Blossom Village. Human nature is selfish, and when they heard that the plague was contagious and would kill more people, everyone would become hostile to Hu San's family.
Hu Kui's desire to overturn Hu San's case is simply a pipe dream.
Looking at his smug expression, Jiang Fenghua realized that Wu Yirong had indeed done a good job of maintaining appearances in Jiangzhou over the years, and the people of Jiangzhou supported him very much.
Both are portrayed as honest officials, but Zhang Qian, despite being a genuinely honest official, is not liked by the people of Yuzhou City. Only those living in dire straits are grateful for Prefect Zhang's kindness.
However, things were different in Jiangzhou. The merchants in Jiangzhou city liked Prefect Wu very much, but the villagers in the towns and villages all sighed and complained. They were of low status and had no way to speak out, even if they had grievances. Speaking out would only bring them undeserved disasters. For example, the disaster that befell Hu San's family did not happen for no reason.
Before Zhang moved to Jiangzhou, he had secretly investigated various places in Jiangzhou. In the past two years, some people had even been burned to death by the government because they were infected with the plague.
Because it was a plague, and the people were ignorant, no one dared to approach, fearing they would contract the plague.
Jiang Fenghua then asked directly, "Prefect Wu personally burned down the Hu family's house. Are you sure it was the plague and not that the Golden Toad was trying to destroy the evidence by murdering people?"
Wu Yirong said firmly, "It was indeed a plague. I personally ordered the disposal of the sick corpses, fearing that keeping them would harm other people in Plum Blossom Village. Moreover, it wasn't just one family that contracted the plague. The situation was indeed very dangerous at the time..."