Chapter 54 Reversal

  At the third watch, the sound of horseshoes echoed outside the county government office, coming from afar like a wave, two rows of silver armored cavalry rushed past the gate tower without stopping, and still charged into the county government office in a gust of wind, majestic momentum shocked the garrison troops stationed in front of and behind the screen wall.

  After the cavalry cleared the road, a golden whip was followed by a procession of guards, with a blue dragon flag fluttering and a long horn blowing, shaking the sky. Another large group of knife-wielding guards rushed over like wolves and tigers, and if they encountered anyone who dared to shout at them, they would immediately raise their knives and cut down the person. After killing dozens of people along the way, the surrounding soldiers retreated in surprise outside the county government office, startling the officials inside to beat the military drum and summon Peng Yinxin out again after a brief rest.

  Peng Yin had just finished bandaging his neck wound, his voice was hoarse and he couldn't speak. He stood at the entrance of the county government office, raised his hand and bowed towards the vast street. Behind the four-color flag team, two horse-drawn carriages slowly approached, the first one in front had a sandalwood axle, white jade inlaid pillars, embroidered silk curtains, and its ritualistic style was not ordinary. The second carriage was relatively simple in decoration, with a cyan cloth top cover, flowing silk window curtains, and a faint scent of orchid wafting from inside the carriage.

  The carriage came to a stop, the coachman laid down the footrest, opened the door, and stood aside with his head bowed, waiting for the master to get out of the carriage. King Chu Nan Li Jingzhuo wore a purple gold robe with a cyan jade belt, standing coldly beside the carriage, while the guards and cavalrymen dismounted and knelt on one knee, saluting him in military style. The sound echoed into the inner palace: "Please invite Your Highness to ascend to the throne."

  The yamen originally only had a public hall and was never referred to as a palace. In the eyes of these personal guards, inviting the regent king into the county yamen was not enough, so they euphemistically called it a palace.

  Li Jingzhuo was forty-eight years old, with a pale face and no beard, long eyebrows and cold eyes. His appearance was inherited from his father, the emperor, and he had a majestic aura that seemed to look down on the world. He glanced at Peng Yinxin, who immediately raised his hands higher and bowed his head to avoid his gaze.

  Li Jingzhuo stood in front of the gate, and all the forbidden army and officials came down to welcome him. He didn't return the courtesy, but instead told Changping Prefecture's prefecture lieutenant who was waiting behind him: "Pass on the imperial edict." The prefecture lieutenant was personally appointed by Li Jingzhuo, a fourth-rank official, according to the official system, he shouldn't have left the state and prefecture borders. However, Li Jingzhuo entrusted him with an urgent matter, if they waited for the palace to issue an imperial edict, it would be too late. Therefore, Li Jingzhuo took out the national seal and personally drafted a copy of the imperial edict, without needing the three provinces' officials to attach their opinions, nor did he need the palace to send a eunuch to read it aloud. He directly summoned a trusted official to convey his intentions.

  Peng Yin Xian saw that he was the Changping Prefecture's vice envoy, proclaiming the imperial edict. He already knew that things didn't conform to etiquette, but in front of the strict and disciplined army of the King of Chu Nan, he couldn't resist either. After some deliberation, he was forced to take a step back and accept the imperial edict. The edict stated that Bi Xi was an official appointed by the imperial court, his identity being of great importance, and the case of his unjust death required a re-trial in the imperial court, with new evidence submitted for the newly appointed Grand Secretary, Xiao Zhi, to make a final judgment.

  Peng Yin looked up and saw that the second carriage was occupied by Xiao Zhiqing, the magistrate of Changping Prefecture, a minister of the Prince's mansion, who was said to be highly valued by both King Chunan and the Crown Prince.

  Her arrival foretells that the plan to subdue the power of the Crown Prince's mansion with a crime is doomed to fail.

  Peng Yin suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, thinking to himself that he had been so careful in handling the case, but in the end, it was still a failure. He couldn't blame anyone else for this. Following Zhu Muzi's plan, he had tightly controlled the movements of the officials and the county government, isolating Li Peinan's communication troops from the outside world. But somehow, the news had leaked out, alarming Chu Nanwang, who held the reins of power in his hand, to come rushing over.

  "Bad luck." Peng Yin couldn't hold back anymore, and he walked towards the main hall with his head down, standing outside the warm pavilion. Li Jingzhuo had already taken his seat, and his personal guards, armed with swords, drove away the imperial guards and the troops stationed in the suburbs. The officer on duty beat the drum, and the attendants all retreated to the outside of the hall, transmitting orders between the inside and outside of the main hall.

  On the bluestone brick platform, three blue sky and red sun screens were lined up. The public case was slightly moved to the right, leaving a piece of empty space, and a brocade chair was placed on it, which showed Li Jingzhuo's status. After drinking a cup of tea, Li Jingzhuo still didn't see Li Peinan bring people out, so he coldly ordered: "Go and invite the two young masters."

  Li Peinan, who had been guarding the corridor, naturally heard the commotion inside and outside the county government office. He put away his sword and woke up Min An, beckoning to Lü Qun, who had been waiting for orders all night, to come out from behind the carved flower window of the Chao Hua Hall. Lü Qun hurriedly ran out and asked in a low voice, "What are your orders, sir?"

  Li Peinan tossed the sunshade to a nearby guard and turned around, saying: "After the military drum was beaten, the long drum was also beaten, indicating that an official had arrived. Go take a look at who Father Emperor brought." Before long, Li Qun ran back and replied: "It's Official Xiao."

  Li Peinan stopped in his tracks: "Has she arrived? Good." After saying that, he walked straight into the flower hall to meditate with his eyes closed and didn't come out again.

  Min An stood in the courtyard, looking at Lü Qún with confusion and incomprehension. Lü Qún explained slightly: "If Master Xiao takes charge, Young Master doesn't need to appear, and can completely entrust the matter to her." Min An listened with a click of his tongue: "What an amazing Master Xiao, if one day I...can also make Young Master take care of me like this..." Lü Qún laughed: "Let's go, Little Marquis is not the same as Master Xiao."

  Min An wiped his face clean, slightly adjusted his clothes, and followed Li Qun behind the main hall, standing under the canopy of the waiting pavilion. The two walls on either side of the hall were guarded by guards, and there were not many officials present, only Li Jingzhuo and Peng Yinxin. The clerk who recorded the proceedings moved his desk to the eaves corridor to avoid the limelight.

  Min An looked up and saw Li Jingzhuo sitting high above on the left side of the warm pavilion, his face cold and stern, his magnificent clothes unfolding, exuding an air of imperial arrogance. He didn't speak, but the entire hall was silent, with only the soft hum of the twelve large lanterns hanging from the eaves breaking the silence.

  Fei Yi walked out lightly and saluted Li Jingzhuo, who didn't move at all. Fei Yi then retreated to a chair on the side and sat down.

  "Ascend the hall." Li Jingzhuo relayed the order, and the clear, crisp sound of the gong echoed out. From outside the wide-open ceremonial gate, a tall, thin figure walked in at a leisurely pace.

  Xiao Zhi's emotions were tied up in a bundle, secured with a thin golden hairpin on her wing-shaped hairpiece, revealing her entire neat face. Her complexion was born white and delicate, her eyebrows like ink wash, long but not coquettish, her phoenix eyes slightly wandering over, exuding a hint of spirit. She wore a snow-green embroidered long robe, the hem cut with some folds, slightly different from the official attire of the same dynasty, and outside her long robe was draped with a layer of gauze clothing, its texture meticulous, enough to reflect her delicate thoughts, even down to the smallest details of her dress.

  Min An's heart thought that Xiao Zhiqiong was the model of all female officials, and he couldn't help but take a few more glances at her. Just then, Xiao Zhiqiong walked past the rolling shed, as if she knew he was looking at her, and also moved her eyes over to him. As soon as their phoenix eyes met, he was slightly startled, but she just swept the corner of her mouth, seemingly smiling, and walked up to the public hall without looking back.

  Once she walked to the public case, Xiao Zhiqing made a courtesy call to Li Jingzhuo, Peng Yin Xin and Fei Yi, with no deviation in etiquette. Until after going through the tedious formalities and arriving at the trial session, her sharpness was revealed, chasing after Peng Yin Xin for questioning, three consecutive times, leaving Peng Yin Xin speechless.

  "I dare to ask, Lord Peng, under the circumstances where the witness is dead, the confession has been altered, and the evidence has not been presented, how did you determine that the second young master committed the bloody crime? Even if the second young master did commit the bloody crime, why didn't you order him to write a statement of repentance and choose a date for a trial in court? If you were worried about the case, Lord Peng, and needed to investigate the suspect overnight, then why did you place the imperial guards at the hall entrance, blocking news from reaching the palace, not even sending out a memorial or a detailed report?"

  Peng Yin Xin was so angry that he didn't think of responding until half a day later, when Xiao Zhi Qing rebutted him one by one according to the rules. Peng Yin Xin was at a disadvantage for not following the proper procedure in the trial, and there were still some legal principles to be observed. Later, Xiao Zhi Qing proposed to review the case according to law and asked Bi Si's plaintiff and Nie Yi's defendant Min An to each produce new evidence.

  Min An persuaded the chief clerk to run to Changping Prefecture to invite Chu Nan Wang and others. The original intention was to borrow the prestige of Chu Nan Wang to re-examine this case, achieving the goal of not killing anyone to relieve the predicament. The chief clerk did not disappoint, explaining the changes in the county government's front and back clearly. Chu Nan Wang led his troops overnight, suppressing Peng Yinxin with his momentum, making Min An's purpose half successful.

  Min An's words were not idle, he put forward a powerful argument. He stood up and bowed to the judges with one hand, saying: "Your honors, if you freeze the body in ice and then thaw it out, you can conceal the time of the murder. At this point, since the body has been frozen and hasn't changed its fallen shape, livor mortis will still appear in the original place and won't move."

  "Can you prove your claim?"

  "Very well, Lord Xiao, please summon another witness to the stand."

  Lang Zhong, who had been entrusted with a heavy responsibility by Min An, had long been waiting outside the county government office. Seeing that the gate was heavily guarded, he was afraid and did not dare to approach and strike the drum. Min An waited for a while, then asked Li Qun to go out and investigate, after which Li Qun helped Lang Zhong strike the drum.

  The gavel struck once, indicating that there was a grievance to be filed. The Langzhong was brought onto the platform by the bailiffs and confirmed Min An's inference in front of the dignitaries. He said: "Young Master entrusted me to buy a live pig for slaughter, and after freezing it with ice from the town, burning fire to thaw the pig's body, the resulting symptoms were consistent with the case." After finishing speaking, he pointed at the dead pig carcass placed in the flatbed cart, indicating: "Your Honor can come closer to inspect."

  The old clerk stood up and examined the pig's body, comparing it with Bisu's corpse, confirming that there was no mistake.

  Xiao Zhiqing looked at Min An and asked again: "If you can determine the time of Bi Daren's death, I suppose you also have a way to prove who the murderer is?"

  Min An felt a surge of pressure as he met Xiao Zhiqing's clear and bright eyes. He wondered how she knew he had a way to find the murderer, could she read his facial expression? Just as he was hesitating, Xiao Zhiqing stroked her desk and sat down, saying calmly: "You've been pressing your hand against your waist pocket, and rarely touched your injured left arm, I suppose you have some important evidence to take out?"

  Min An sighed, what a bright eye, no longer hesitant, turned out the mud wax from his waist bag, and asked Xiao Zhiqing to approve the driving of hunting dogs to search for the gathering place of foreign households in Nanjie overnight.

  Very happy to see old friend Ava's return :)

  Thank you very much Wen Zhōu Zhōu. After the rain comes the sunshine, Pig's Ear, H's Landmine (*^__^*)

  Thank you very much to reader No. 15549918 mm for casting a rocket ( * ^ __ ^ *) l3l4