ebookland Chapter 118 Exile
Chapter 118 Exile
Since the Duke of Protectorate and the commander of the Imperial Guards had said so, many ministers followed suit. Even those ministers who were opposed to the Duke of Protectorate requested Emperor Jianhe to conduct a thorough investigation.
The Mansion of the Marquis of Xing'an and the Mansion of the Prince of Pingyang are not forces that cannot be provoked or that people want to get rid of as soon as possible. It does not matter to them whether you help or not. They do not need to be won over or eradicated. However, if the matter has caused a big uproar in the city, you can't just ignore it, otherwise the people will question the officials' ability to do their jobs.
How come the murder of the princess cannot be investigated clearly?
Is it that the officials are incompetent, or is it that the emperor is just sitting there and doing nothing?
Either way, it would damage the emperor's reputation.
Therefore, most of the ministers did not really want to help the Prince of Pingyang's Palace, but they had to say so.
"This matter is of great importance and will be handed over to the three courts for trial. The Dali Temple's chief judge will go south, and the Dali Temple will be run by the junior judge. I will give you five days!"
"Your humble servant obeys your order!" The Minister of Justice, the Censor of the Inspectorate and the Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple stood up and bowed in response.
With the emperor's order, the three departments' investigation is no longer as restricted as the previous Minister of Justice.
Whether or not Wei admits Mao Yongchang's testimony, since there is evidence to accuse him, they will all be taken to prison for interrogation.
So all the members of the Ji family were thrown into jail.
In addition, people were sent to guard the gate of the marquis' mansion and no one inside was allowed to take a step out.
Ji Kang and Wei refused to admit it. Ji Yuanwen only knew that if Pei Shuyan could become his co-wife, she would get a dowry of one million taels, which he would certainly love. So he thought that his parents were trying to persuade Fu Yunyao, but he didn't know that they had poisoned Fu Yunyao, and his aunt and illegitimate children were even less aware of their plan.
After all, before the matter is accomplished, the fewer people who know about it, the less likely it is that Fu Yunyao will become suspicious.
But the other people in the Ji family didn't know, but Ji Kang and the trusted servants who served Wei knew it clearly.
After all, it is impossible for two people to do everything by themselves.
And how hard can a servant's mouth be?
If one can't pry it open, there's always a second one.
So it didn't even take five days for the servants in the Marquis' Mansion to confess.
The testimony of a single witness could be argued to be unreliable, but several servants in the mansion admitted it, so no matter how much Wei talked, he could not escape the blame.
What's more, he is her trusted servant, so he is even more trustworthy.
In the imperial study, the Minister of Justice, the Inspector General and the Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple knelt before the emperor.
The emperor was looking at the confessions submitted by the three men.
"Your Majesty, just as the rumors say, the Xing'an Marquis's Mansion does intend to let Prince Ji marry Pei Shuyan as his co-wife. Princess Yunhua initially thought that it was a concubine for the prince and did not agree. The marquis's wife thought that since the princess was unwilling to take a concubine, she would definitely not want to give the prince a co-wife. So, taking advantage of the princess's cold, she asked the doctor surnamed Mao to use the method of food incompatibility to make the princess bedridden." said the Inspector Censor.
The Minister of Justice continued, "Because they were worried that the people in Prince Pingyang's mansion would become suspicious, they asked the doctor to use some medicine to cause a rash on the princess' body, and then told the public that it was contagious and no one was allowed to visit her."
"The Marquis' wife was planning to let the princess die of illness, so that she could marry the Pei family girl legitimately. I have also interrogated Pei Shuyan. She is not sure whether the Marquis' wife poisoned the princess, but she also admitted that the Marquis' wife promised her the position of the Crown Prince's wife and told her to wait for good news. The princess does not have much time left." The Junior Official of the Dali Temple said solemnly, "From this, it can be seen that the Xing'an Marquis and his wife are indeed suspected of poisoning the princess."
As the three were talking, a young eunuch suddenly came running in, bowed to Emperor Jianhe, and said, "Your Majesty, Prince Pingyang wishes to see you."
Emperor Jianhe raised his head and glanced at the young eunuch: "Announce!"
"Yes."
The young eunuch took the order and left.
Soon, Fu Zheng strode into the imperial study.
He stood behind the three people, lifted his robe, knelt down and saluted: "Your humble servant pays respect to the emperor."
"You get the news quickly." Emperor Jianhe said.
Fu Zheng: "This concerns my life, so I can't help but pay attention to it."
Emperor Jianhe put down the confession in his hand and said, "Everyone, stand up."
The four of them thanked him and stood up.
"Your Majesty, now that the evidence is solid, can we punish the Ji family?" Fu Zheng asked impatiently.
Emperor Jianhe did not hesitate. The Ji family was of little use and not worth his trouble.
He was so bold as to attempt to murder the princess, but the Fu family even treated him favorably. Who do the Ji family think they are to dare to do such a thing?
"Pass on my decree. Princess Yunhua of the Ji family has committed a heinous crime. Ji Kang's title of Marquis Xing'an will be stripped away. All members of the Ji family will be demoted to slavery and exiled to the border." said Emperor Jianhe.
"Your Majesty, Yao'er wants to divorce Ji Yuanwen." Fu Zheng hurriedly replied.
Emperor Jianhe nodded and said, "It's approved. All the Ji family's wealth will be given to Yunhua as compensation."
Upon hearing this, Fu Zheng immediately showed joy and kowtowed to express his gratitude: "I thank the emperor for his grace on behalf of my daughter."
In the prison, Ji Kang, who received the imperial edict, looked ashen. Suddenly, he became furious, rushed towards Wei and slapped her hard: "Bitch, it's all your fault. You killed me."
Wei was slapped to the ground, holding her burning face, she looked at Ji Kang in disbelief and roared, "Ji Kang, you agreed to this, but now that something went wrong you blame me, do you have any shame?"
Ji Kang stared at Wei with a ferocious face, his eyes bloodshot. He grabbed Wei's neck and said angrily: "If you hadn't instigated me, would I agree? You are such a scourge, I will kill you."
He was a marquis, but he was reduced to a slave.
It’s all this bitch’s fault!
Wei was strangled to the point of being unable to breathe and his face turned purple.
Upon seeing this, the jailer whipped him and said, "How dare you kill him right under our noses? You are a traitor."
Even if they are death row prisoners, they have to die on the execution ground. How can you kill them at will? If something goes wrong, they will be the ones who will suffer.
Ji Kang felt pain and let go of Wei, but his flaming eyes seemed to want to eat her alive.
The jailer thought about it and imprisoned the two men separately.
Don’t let Ji Kang kill someone accidentally, or all the members of Ji’s family will be exiled to the border.
They don’t care if you die on the road, but you can’t die in prison.
Wei was put in solitary confinement in despair, hearing Ji Kang's abuse and the vicious curses from her aunt and concubines' sons and daughters who were implicated.
The Ji family's mansion was taken back by Emperor Jianhe. Fu Zheng brought a group of servants from the Prince of Pingyang's mansion to the Ji family and robbed them of everything. They found that the Ji family was really poor and even most of his daughter's dowry had been used up.
Not to mention the Ji family's property was used to compensate their daughter.
The maids and servants who came with Fu Yunyao as a dowry also followed her back to Prince Pingyang's Palace.
Emperor Jianhe personally issued an order for Fu Yunyao and Ji Yuanwen to divorce, which undoubtedly saved Fu Yunyao's reputation. The people cursed the Ji family for being vicious and shameless, saying that Princess Yunhua could finally escape from the fire pit and it was better for them to divorce!