Phi-Fic Chapter 512: Decision!
Chapter 512: Decision!
Before Master Xue could react, he was subdued by a constable, while another man took a wooden board and slapped him across the mouth.
The slapping in the yamen is different from the slapping at home. It's a real slap. A normal person's mouth would swell up after just one slap, but in just this short time, the yamen runners have already given six or seven slaps.
"stop!"
The prefect was furious. "Lu Shaofeng, even when beating a dog, you have to consider its owner. Besides, he is a scholar. Aren't you slapping the court in the face by doing this?"
"Hmph! Your Excellency is mistaken. If he hadn't spoken so disrespectfully to me first, why would I have had to act this way?" Lu Shaofeng said, waving his hand as everyone withdrew. The Second Master of the Xue family's mouth was already swollen and red, and half of his face was covered in blood. His expression was one of extreme pain, but since the people being interrogated today were his own father and nephew, he couldn't just let it go. He turned and left.
"Guards, bring the court to session."
"Majestic!" The constables shook the wooden boards in their hands, and the hall immediately became more solemn and dignified.
The case was more than halfway through, but the eldest son of the Xue family still hadn't shown up. Lu Shaofeng was a little uneasy, and Duanmu Chuze was naturally also somewhat disappointed.
However, given that things have come to this point, it's clear that the Xue family can no longer be allowed to stay; everything should be handled according to the law.
That's fine too. If the eldest son of the Xue family doesn't show up, then Duanmu Chuze naturally won't have to either. In the future, when talking about the Xue family case, the ones who deserve the most credit will naturally be Lu Shaofeng and Zhao Zihe. This can be considered as helping them establish their authority, so it's not a bad deal.
Xue Er committed numerous evils. Because the people saw that Lord Lu and Lord Zhao did not respect these high-ranking officials at all, they immediately began to appeal their grievances. For a time, the only sound in the yamen was crying and wailing.
As Lu Shaofeng listened to the people below recounting the evil deeds the Xue family had committed over the years, and seeing so much witness testimony and physical evidence, he was filled with rage and wished he could order the entire Xue family to be executed!
Meanwhile, Young Master Wang, who was listening in, had his expression change several times. He had heard about the Xue family's affairs on the way here, but he never expected them to be so powerful!
He was originally Xue's nephew, and now sitting here, he felt ashamed and truly regretted coming here.
Zhao Zihe coldly glanced at the prefectural governor listening to the trial, and only snorted. This prefectural governor's future was definitely over. Once this case was over, the two of them would definitely submit a joint memorial to impeach this prefectural governor. In this way, the officials and people of Yan would see whether the Censorate really had any real ability or competence.
Duanmu Chuze carefully put the letter away, then placed it in a paper bag, and summoned his guards to send it to the capital as quickly as possible.
At this point, Mu Xin Nuan finally understood that Duanmu Chu Ze's intentions from the very beginning were not simply to eliminate the Xue family.
The Xue family is certainly despicable, but the so-called aristocratic families that have been supporting them are even more repulsive! Especially these few members of the collateral branches of the Wang family in the capital, do they really think that as long as they have the surname Wang, they can do whatever they want?
When Mu Xin Nuan heard about the grievances of the people outside, what she felt most was shock and chill.
This was merely a lady from a collateral branch of the Wang family, not even a prominent lady in the capital, yet her family members could act with such impunity. Although the Xue family outwardly relied on the power of their two masters, in reality, it was the Wang family who received the respect due to officials at all levels.
In the end, Xue Er was sentenced to immediate execution to appease public anger!
The Xue family's ancestral home was raided, and the old master and old lady of the Xue family were each sentenced to twenty years in prison. This time, the second master of the Xue family also could not escape this calamity. He was given twenty strokes of the cane and exiled eight hundred li away to be a slave for life, never to be freed from his lowly status.
Upon hearing the Censorate's verdict, Magistrate Yu burst into tears and knelt before Lu Shaofeng, saying, "As the magistrate of Huayang County, I have been unable to uphold justice for the people. I have no face to live any longer. Now that the Xue family has been investigated, I am both relieved and ashamed. I beg Your Honor to punish me for my dereliction of duty."
Zhao Zihe stood up and helped him up personally. How could he not know the difficulties that Magistrate Yu faced in Huayang County?
"Lord Yu, there's no need to blame yourself so much. This time, without your full cooperation, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been able to investigate the case so clearly and smoothly."
Zhao Zihe's words were true. If it weren't for Magistrate Yu and others secretly collecting evidence of the Xue family's crimes, it would have been impossible to sentence Xue Er to death so easily, let alone exile the entire Xue family.
No one in the Xue family, whether master or servant, escaped; all were exiled, some were sent to the army, and others were reduced to the status of lowly. In short, the family was destroyed and the family perished.
Just as Young Master Wang got up and left in a huff, Duanmu Chuze received another shocking piece of news in the back hall: a very long secret passage had been discovered in the Xue family, the very same secret passage through which Old Master Xue had secretly sent him away.
When Duanmu Chuze and the others arrived, they saw that Zi had gone down once and then came back up with a dark expression.
"Your Highness, the secret passage forks in the middle. One branch leads to a house not far away, while the other leads directly out of the city. Fortunately, we locked up the Xue family's masters here. Otherwise, if it had been any later, we might have let them go unpunished."
Mu Xin Nuan was slightly startled; a secret passage led outside the city?
"Who lived in the Xue family before?" Mu Xin Nuan remembered that the background of this old master Xue was not very high, and this house was said to be a hundred-year-old house. Even if it was renovated later, it could not have been the Xue family's house.
"Upon hearing that it is the maternal family of the Xue family's matriarch, I immediately sent someone to investigate again."
Duanmu Chuze's face was grim. He ordered, "This matter must be kept absolutely secret. Also, immediately send someone to secretly destroy this secret passage for me."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Aze, if it's destroyed, won't it be difficult to verify?"
Duanmu Chuze shook his head, put his hands behind his back, and said with a slightly cold expression, "There is no need to investigate further. The old lady of the Xue family is surnamed Huang. As far as I know, when the Turks invaded from Qishan, Huayang County also suffered. The family that suffered the least damage was the Huang family."
Mu Xin Nuan was slightly surprised. So, the Huang family hid in this secret passage and that's how they escaped the calamity?