Chapter 851: Court Session (Part 1)
The side hall of Ningguo Mansion.
"Oh, what's the point of this?"
After reading the confessions during the trial, Master Hongyuan was filled with emotion, which turned into a long and leisurely sigh.
Sigh, sorrow, intolerance, loneliness...
All kinds of emotions were condensed in this long sigh. If Sun Shaozong had not already had a prejudice in his heart, he would have been infected by it.
But right now...
Sun Shaozong could only sneer in his heart.
Master Hongyuan sighed, then slowly placed the confession on the coffee table, stood up and bowed solemnly, saying, "Thanks to Master Sun's keen observation, otherwise I'm afraid I would still be kept in the dark by my disciple."
Logically speaking, Sun Shaozong should have been polite at this time, but he didn't want to play by the rules at the moment.
Although he stood up and returned the greeting, he said indifferently: "Master, it may be too early to say this."
Master Hong Yuan was stunned, and looked at Sun Shaozong in surprise, then he asked, "What does Sun Shaoqing mean by this?"
"There are still many doubts in the case. What you think is the truth now may not be the real truth." Sun Shaozong smiled mysteriously, and then said seriously: "Now I have ordered people to interrogate the criminal. If you have any questions, you may as well listen in the tea room next door..."
"Wait a minute, second brother!"
As he was speaking, Jia Baoyu's voice suddenly came from outside, and then he walked in from outside, bowed and said, "Jia Baoyu greets the real person."
During the Wanshou Festival, Master Hongyuan had met Jia Baoyu once before. Knowing that he was the younger brother of Concubine De, he naturally did not dare to neglect him and bowed in return.
But when he wanted to talk again, Jia Baoyu rushed to apologize and pulled Sun Shaozong to a corner to whisper.
Soon, Sun Shaozong came back with a helpless look on his face, but he changed his words and said, "If you are willing, I can have someone put down the screen and chairs, but you must not speak casually in the back, so as not to affect my interrogation."
Although Master Hongyuan was a little puzzled by his change of words, it was not a big deal after all. Besides, this seemed to be Jia Baoyu's intention, so it was not easy to delve into it. Therefore, he just responded vaguely.
So at Sun Shaozong's command, the servants of Ningguo Mansion carried a screen with five blessings holding longevity in it, blocked off a corner of the living room at an angle, and placed an armchair inside.
Next came two more desks, one horizontal and one vertical, placed in the middle of the north wall. Then came Chen Jingde and Huang Bin, each holding a seal, a gavel, a blank petition paper and other items, and spread them out on the two desks.
After the hall was fully decorated, Master Hongyuan was invited to sit behind the screen.
He originally thought that the next step would be to interrogate his two disciples, but a moment later, a group of beautiful girls came in.
Only then did Master Hongyuan realize that Sun Shaozong vacated the tea room to accommodate these female relatives.
At that moment, he felt a surge of anger in his heart.
This case not only concerns life, but also involves his family scandal. How can he allow a few women to sit in on the trial?
He originally wanted to go out and have a tantrum, but then he thought, this is not a proper court, and those female relatives are most likely the mistresses of the Rong and Ning mansions.
If he made a fuss, it would be fine to offend Sun Shaozong, but it would be really not worth it to offend the Jia family and Empress Defei.
In addition, he was now anxious to find out what Sun Shaozong had just meant.
So after a moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and sat back in his chair.
…
But outside the screen, while the girls were chatting and greeting Sun Shaozong, the maids and servants had already moved the tables, chairs, benches, tea and snacks into the tea room.
When they entered and arranged their seats, Baoyu came in late, shaking a piece of rice paper with ink stains, and said with a smile: "This is the confession from the trial this morning. I just asked my second brother to copy a copy!"
As he spoke, he pulled one of the coffee tables to the middle and carefully spread out the confession.
"whispering sound!"
Seeing that the confession was facing Lin Daiyu, but facing herself backwards, Shi Xiangyun half-seriously and half-fakely complained: "Second brother is so biased, is it that only the people on the other side are your good relatives, and our side is just blown here by the wind?"
Lin Daiyu was not easy to deal with. While studying the confession, she retorted, "Sister Yun, you are showing your weakness now. Didn't you say the words 'love brother' that time? Would you be able to recognize it even if it was reversed?"
Seeing that the two of them were arguing again, Jia Baoyu simply picked up the confession again and said with a bitter face: "Forget it, it's all my fault. I'll read it to you sisters, is that all right?"
Xue Baochai also hurriedly advised: "Be quiet, this mansion is hosting a funeral after all."
As soon as these words were spoken, even Jia Baoyu became more serious and controlled his volume while reading out the confession.
Although the girls had heard the general idea a long time ago, this was the first time they had heard the specific details. Some of them couldn't help but feel sorry for Ma Yizhen and Master Hongyuan.
At the same time, some people feel that Ma's death was very miserable as he killed two people with one body.
As they were discussing, they heard a crisp sound outside, followed by Chen Jingde's rhythmic shouting, "Come on, bring the prisoner to the court!"
The women then quickly gathered their minds and turned their attention to the hall.
…
However, after Sun Shaozong ordered the court to open, Ma Yizhen and Liu Yiwei, who had their hands tied behind their backs, were brought into .
Ma Yizhen was indeed over six feet tall with broad shoulders and a strong waist, but he did not appear to be reckless or stupid. His eyes were bright and he exuded shrewdness from the inside out.
At first glance, he looks like a slightly smaller version of Sun Shaozong.
As for Liu Yiwei standing next to him, with his thin, dark and well-proportioned physique and indifferent and rigid facial features, one can tell at first glance that he is a stubborn person.
Sun Shaozong looked at the two men one by one, and suddenly ordered: "Deputy Chen, you come and question them."
Chen Jingde was a little confused at the moment, and was stunned for a long time. It was not until Ma Yizhen couldn't help but look up that he suddenly realized what was going on. He glared at him and said, "You bold thief, you have already admitted your guilt, why are you confessing something that is not entirely true?!"
Ma Yizhen was surprised when he heard this, and he leaned down and said, "Your Excellency, it is unfair! Everything I said is true, and I have never concealed or lied."
"snort!"
Chen Jingde snorted coldly: "You are the kind of person who won't give up until you reach the Yellow River!"
Then he leaned forward and said angrily, "I'm asking you, if you confess in your statement that you were outside the city for half a month and had never had any contact with the city, then how did you know that there was a ready-made ladder in the ancestral hall, and you specially brought iron nails, wooden hammers and other things to hang Zhao Yixiong's body on the plaque?!"
From this shout, we knew that this guy’s professional quality was not up to standard.
If the interrogator was an experienced one, he would definitely conceal this information first in order to lure Ma Yizhen into revealing his true colors.
On the contrary, Ma Yizhen's reaction was very calm.
Then he smiled bitterly and said, "You are joking, sir. How could we have known there was a ladder in the hall? I had originally planned to nail the body of the shameless traitor in front of the statue of the ancestor to apologize, but after entering the door, I found a ladder inside, so I changed my mind at the last minute."
"this……"
Chen Jingde went over it in his mind and felt that there was nothing wrong with it. He subconsciously looked at Sun Shaozong and saw that he was still calm. Then he asked in a deep voice: "Then why did you make an appointment with Ma in half a month? Aren't you afraid that something unexpected will happen if the night goes on?"
Ma Yizhen continued to answer fluently: "I have no choice but to do this. After all, if the agreed time is too short, it will be easy for people to associate it with the three of us."
After a pause, he said solemnly: "It is not a pity for my fifth apprentice brother and I to die, but we dare not ruin the reputation of our mentor! It is worth taking some risks for this!"
This time, Chen Jingde didn't look at Sun Shaozong, but glared at Huang Bin with disdain, obviously thinking that the questions he raised were completely meaningless.
But the third question he asked was still the doubt raised by Huang Bin.
But this time, before Chen Jingde finished his question, Sun Shaozong suddenly interrupted and asked, "Before killing Zhao Yixiong, did you give him a chance to defend himself?"
Ma Yizhen was immediately stuck, and after a long while he stammered, "What the shameless villain did was outrageous to both humans and gods, so what is there to defend yourself?"
"In other words, you killed him without giving him a chance to defend himself?"
"this……"
"Yes and no?!"
"yes."
"Then I will ask you again."
Sun Shaozong stared at Ma Yizhen with burning eyes and asked, "Why do you think that Zhao Yixiong and Ma did something that is outrageous to both humans and gods?"
Ma Yizhen finally had a good answer to this question. He hurriedly said, "I have said before that I accidentally discovered their scandal in the garden and found out that Ma was pregnant due to adultery..."
"Besides that?"
Without waiting for Ma Yizhen to finish his words, Sun Shaozong suddenly turned his head to Liu Yiwei standing beside him and asked, "What evidence have you found?"
Liu Yiwei did not speak, and it was still Ma Yizhen who tried to reply: "Sir, Fifth Junior Brother..."
"I'm asking about Liu Yiwei!"
Sun Shaozong shouted in a low voice, and more than a dozen yamen runners in the hall immediately poked their water and fire sticks to the ground. The four yamen runners in charge of escorting him even pretended to step forward and capture Ma Yizhen.
Seeing this, Ma Yizhen had no choice but to shut his mouth obediently, and then used his eyes to signal Liu Yiwei to answer carefully.
Liu Yiwei frowned unconsciously and shook his head slowly, "No."
"What didn't?"
"I have found no other evidence."
"In other words, you concluded that Zhao Yixiong and Ma had an affair just based on Ma Yizhen's words?"
Liu Yiwei hesitated for a moment, but still nodded and said, "That's right."
"Then have you ever thought that Ma Yizhen is lying to you? You should know that he and Zhao Yixiong are incompatible for a long time."
Liu Yiwei became more and more hesitant, but after a while, he thought of a suitable reason: "After all, the master's wife is the eldest brother's aunt. If it weren't for the third master...if Zhao Yixiong hadn't had an affair with her, how could the eldest brother have killed her?"
"Hahaha……"
Sun Shaozong laughed, then said seriously: "According to common sense, this may be the case, but what if Zhao Yixiong was framed?"
Liu Yiwei raised his head in confusion and asked, "Didn't you find out, Master...that Ma is pregnant?"
"So what I said was that Zhao Yixiong was framed, but I never said that Ma was innocent."
After Sun Shaozong finished speaking, he saw that Liu Yiwei was becoming more and more confused, so he asked word by word: "I want to ask you, on a daily basis, does Ma Yizhen have more opportunities to interact with the Ma family, or does Zhao Yixiong have more opportunities to interact with the Ma family?"
As soon as these words came out, Ma Yizhen became anxious and shouted with his neck stiff, "Sir, I am a poor Taoist..."
"Shut his mouth!"
At Sun Shaozong's command, the yamen runners who had been eyeing him covetously rushed forward immediately, stuffed Ma Yizhen tightly with rags, and pressed down his shoulders to prevent him from struggling.
Then Sun Shaozong turned his gaze back to Liu Yiwei: "Answer my question!"
Liu Yiwei looked at Ma Yizhen beside him, and finally said hesitantly: "Yes...it's Senior Brother."
"Then I'll ask you again, what is the relationship between Ma Yizhen and Ma?"
"Aunt and niece are naturally closer than others."
"Did Ma know that Ma Yizhen and Zhao Yixiong were not on good terms?"
“You should know.”
"Is Zhao Yixiong usually cautious?"
"Third Senior Brother has always been...always been steady."
"That's strange. Since both parties are aware of each other's position and Zhao Yixiong is not a frivolous person, how can you dare to judge that he has an affair with Ma without any evidence?"
Liu Yiwei's answers became more and more hesitant, and now he was speechless.
After all, the person he truly believed in was not his senior brother Ma Yizhen, but the Zhenren Hongyuan behind the scenes.
But……
What if the master has also been deceived?
Thinking of this, Liu Yiwei couldn't help but cast a suspicious look at Ma Yizhen.
At this moment, Sun Shaozong also said, "Take the thing out of his mouth."
A yamen runner was ordered to pull out the rag. Ma Yizhen immediately shouted, "Your Excellency, it's unfair! I did witness their affair with my own eyes. I was so ashamed and angry that I thought of killing my aunt for the sake of justice. Otherwise, my aunt and I are close relatives. How could I have killed her just to frame Zhao Yixiong?"
Sun Shaozong stared at Ma Yizhen's indignant face and shook his head slightly, saying, "This may be because the child in her belly is actually your bastard."
Kaba~
As soon as he finished speaking, a crisp sound was heard from behind the screen.
At the same time, Ma Yizhen also shouted in panic: "Sir, this is groundless, how can you slander me like this?! Master's wife is not only my master's wife, but also my aunt..."
"How do you know that I have no evidence?"
Sun Shaozong interrupted Ma Yizhen's explanation with a sneer, "In fact, your previous confession has already exposed your fox tail!"
