Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 525 A Bizarre Wrongful Conviction!

"Your Majesty, someone outside is crying out for justice!" she said anxiously.

"The people who are willing to risk such disrespect to stop the Emperor's carriage and cry out for justice must have suffered tremendous injustice. We must intervene!" Xu Miaojin said urgently, while ordering the coachman outside, "Stop the carriage! Stop the carriage!"

Zhu Yunwen glanced at her, understanding dawning on his mind.

This young girl, bursting with a sense of justice, could no longer suppress her urge to uphold justice for the people.

"Never mind!" he sighed inwardly, a hint of helpless indulgence on his face.

Anyway, it's just asking a few questions, it won't take much time, so let's ask.

If we insist on disagreeing now, this little girl will probably complain about it a lot in the future.

Rather than listening to her nagging all day long, it's better to stop now and ask her a few questions briefly.

Upon realizing this, Zhu Yunwen fell silent, tacitly agreeing to Xu Miaojin's request, and allowing the carriage to slowly come to a stop.

Soon, the people who were shouting their grievances were brought to the carriage.

The chance to see the Emperor's face filled them with joy and excitement. They kowtowed repeatedly, their foreheads almost piercing the ground.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Yunwen told them to dispense with formalities and gently inquired about their grievances.

The person in the lead was a woman, dressed in simple clothes, but she could not hide the sorrow between her brows.

Upon hearing the question, she immediately opened her mouth, her voice trembling slightly, yet exceptionally clear: "Your Majesty, may you enjoy peace and prosperity! I am Xi Zhaoxue, orphaned at a young age. I have a younger brother named Xi Yunlang, who is from Shanxian County, Yanzhou Prefecture, Shandong Province."

“My brother and I have relied on each other since childhood, and our bond is far stronger than that of ordinary siblings.”

"My younger brother is just over twenty years old this year, which is the age when he should be settling down and starting a family, but he is not yet married."

About a year ago, through a matchmaker, my younger brother got engaged to the Tan family of Xixiang.

"The Tan family and my family are considered to be a good match, and I thought it would be a happy marriage."

"Since His Majesty ascended the throne, he has implemented new policies, and many new factories and workshops have been built in various places, which has enabled many women to go out to work and make a living."

"The daughter of the Tan family worked in a workshop in the county town."

"Now that society is becoming more open, and since that woman from the pool is already engaged to my brother, my brother couldn't help but secretly meet her a few times in private."

“From then on, my brother fell deeply in love with her and even gave her all of the family’s savings without hesitation.”

"And the woman in the pool never refused anything. She accepted all the money and gifts that my brother gave her without hesitation."

"I originally thought that this marriage was a done deal, and that we could get married smoothly and create a beautiful story once an auspicious day was chosen."

"Unexpectedly, a few months ago, the Tan family suddenly turned on them and made exorbitant demands, insisting on a dowry of eighty-eight taels of silver to marry Tan's daughter, not a penny less."

"Actually, my family wasn't short of money."

"After our parents passed away, they left an inheritance to my siblings and me."

“It is not impossible to use all the inheritance to help my brother get married.”

"Unfortunately, in the past year, my brother has spent no less than a hundred taels of this money, either directly as a gift or by buying expensive gifts, and has given it all to that woman in the pool."

"Now, my family can no longer afford the eighty-eight taels of silver betrothal gift..."

As Xi Zhaoxue spoke, her voice was filled with helplessness and indignation, and her eyes reddened slightly.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunwen was also stunned and astonished.

He originally thought that such absurd, morally corrupt thing could only happen in the bizarre and fantastical world before he transmigrated.

Who would have thought that such absurd events already existed in the Ming Dynasty?
However, for such marital disputes, wouldn't it be easy to file a complaint with any local government office?

Although it is said that "even an upright official finds it difficult to settle family disputes," surely it doesn't warrant blocking the emperor's carriage to file a complaint?

Just as Zhu Yuntong was about to ask a question, Xi Zhaoxue continued, "After my younger brother learned that the Tan family was demanding an exorbitant dowry, he felt as if the sky had fallen and he was utterly devastated."

"He rushed to confront Tan Nu in a panic, but Tan Nu avoided him, as if she knew she had done something wrong and was hiding away, unwilling to see anyone."

"In a moment of utter despair, my brother impulsively threw himself into the river and committed suicide!"

At this point, Xi Zhaoxue's voice choked with emotion: "Fortunately, a kind passerby came to my rescue in time, which saved my life."

"At the time, I thought that I could not blame anyone else for this. I could only blame my Xi family for our unfortunate fate and for our poor judgment of people, which led to this misfortune."

"Since the Tan family is unwilling to marry off their daughter, then we can only give up and cannot force it."

"As for the money spent, consider it as throwing it into the river and losing it. Just accept it."

"Unexpectedly, my family, hoping for an amicable breakup, said they couldn't afford the betrothal gifts and proposed to dissolve the engagement. But the Tan family became even more unreasonable and demanding!"

"They actually turned around and accused my brother of having an affair with Tan Nu and defiled her virginity."

"Now they say it was a case of starting something and then abandoning it, heartlessly discarding her and disregarding all human ethics!"

"They declared that my family must come up with a dowry of eighty-eight taels of silver to marry that girl, or they would make our Xi family pay with a blood feud until the very end!"

Xi Zhaoxue became more and more agitated as she spoke, her anger and grievances pouring out like a flood.

"But when I asked my brother, he told me unequivocally that although he had met the girl in private a few times, he had always acted with affection but kept his distance from propriety. He had never done anything out of line, let alone touched the girl's virginity."

"Then where do these slanderous accusations from the Tan family come from?!"

"This matter has caused a great uproar, with both sides arguing fiercely."

"Leaving no other choice, I secretly inquired about the true situation of the Tan family and that Tan girl."

“I originally thought that as long as the woman in the pool was still a virgin, I could have someone verify it, and then my brother’s injustice would naturally be cleared.”

"The Tan family has no reason to cling to the Xi family!"

"But what I found out shocked me greatly!"

"There are rumors circulating privately that the woman from the pool is actually several months pregnant!" Xi Zhaoxue's words were full of indignation: "This is like a bolt from the blue!"

"My brother never touched that woman in the pool, so where did her pregnancy come from?"

"When my younger brother heard the news, he was so angry that he fainted on the spot and lost consciousness."

"After finally waking up, he went to confront the woman in the pool again, wanting to get to the bottom of things."

"Unexpectedly, he happened to catch the woman in the pool having an affair with another man. The two were embracing and doing beastly things!"

Xi Zhaoxue's voice stopped abruptly, as if her throat was blocked by immense anger and humiliation, and her body trembled slightly with excitement.

"Good guy!"

Zhu Yunwen thought to himself, "Good heavens!" His expression was one of utter astonishment.

The plot of this case is so explosive that it's beyond imagination, like something out of a storybook.

Unexpectedly, such a shocking case also existed in the Ming Dynasty.

After pausing for a moment, Xi Zhaoxue suppressed her excitement and indignation, tried to compose herself, and continued, "My brother was so angry that he rushed down and fought with the woman in the pool and the man, wanting to get an explanation."

“But that man was tall and strong, far superior to my brother, a weak scholar.”

"With that shameless harlot Tan helping him, how could my brother possibly defeat the two of them?"

Xi Zhaoxue's tone was full of resentment: "My brother not only failed to gain any advantage, but was also beaten up for no reason and was covered in injuries."

"After my brother returned home, he fell seriously ill and had to stay in bed for half a month before he barely recovered."

"Who would have thought that just as his condition was improving, the yamen runners, like vengeful ghosts, came straight to his door to arrest him!"

Xi Zhaoxue's voice trembled again, her eyes filled with tears: "It turns out that the man who had an affair with Tan Nu, after fighting with my brother, returned home and died a few days later!"

"The man's family then arrogantly claimed that my brother had poisoned him and cruelly killed him, demanding that my brother pay with his life for the man's!"

Xi Zhaoxue burst into tears, her voice hoarse with emotion: "But heaven and earth bear witness! My brother has been bedridden ever since he was beaten that day, and hasn't stepped out of the house even once. How could I have had the time to poison him?!"

"But the man's family was quite powerful, and he himself was a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations. He was influential and wealthy in the area."

"His family spent a huge sum of money to bribe the constables handling the case and the clerks in the county yamen's legal office."

"They colluded and arrested the woman's brother without explanation, subjected him to severe torture, and forced him to confess to poisoning and murder. He was sentenced to death!"

Xi Zhaoxue's accusations were filled with despair and defiance.

"The woman was filled with indignation and grief, so she asked someone to write a petition and went to the county government to appeal and seek justice."

"But I wonder if the county magistrate also accepted bribes from that man's family, because he didn't bother to find out the truth and insisted that the court's verdict was flawless, and that my brother should pay with his life for murder, which is only right and proper!"

“The woman knew that she was no match for the evil forces of these officials and gentry in the county, so she resolutely went to the government office and submitted a complaint to the legal department.”

"After receiving the complaint, the officials of the Ministry of Justice sent people to investigate."

"I also ran around asking my neighbors to testify. They could all testify that my brother had been bedridden for several days before the incident and had never left the house."

"After a thorough investigation, the officials of the Ministry of Justice concluded that there was a miscarriage of justice in this case and ordered the county yamen's legal office to conduct a retrial!"

As Xi Zhaoxue wept, her vision blurred by tears, she spoke haltingly, her voice filled with endless grievance and despair: "I thought there was finally a turning point in this case, that my brother could be exonerated and regain his innocence."

"Unexpectedly, after a thorough interrogation, the clerk in the courthouse arrogantly declared that the testimonies of the neighbors were invalid!"

Her tone grew increasingly indignant: "The clerk in the courtroom argued that those neighbors were close to my family and were suspected of favoring us, therefore their testimony was unreliable."

"In this way, they forcibly excluded all the testimonies from the neighbors and then insisted that my brother had the opportunity to commit the crime, which was a completely fabricated charge!"

Xi Zhaoxue clenched her fists: "In the end, they tortured my brother again, forcing him to confess under duress!"

"The clerk in the courtroom upheld the original verdict in his second ruling, sentencing my brother to death once again!"

"I was naturally unwilling to accept this, so I had no choice but to go to the Ministry of Justice again to appeal."

"But this time, the prefectural government's legal department, just like the county government, insisted that the judgment was correct and refused to overturn the case!"

"With no other options, the woman had no choice but to place her last hope in the Censorate in the capital and write a letter to appeal her case."

"After receiving the woman's letter, the Censorate immediately issued an official document to the Shandong Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office, ordering it to handle the matter within a specified period."

"After receiving the official document, the Shandong Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office ordered the Ministry of Justice to re-examine the case."

"Who would have thought that those law officials would be so utterly depraved, utterly unworthy of being called sons!"

Xi Zhaoxue's voice became sharp with extreme indignation: "Not only did they not help my brother clear his name, but they also colluded with the county magistrate and the clerks of the county yamen to 'invite' my neighbors to the yamen one by one, coercing and bribing them to lie through their teeth and insist that my brother had gone out in those few days, in order to fabricate charges against my brother and make sure he was sentenced to death!"

"So, after what was called an interrogation, my brother was sentenced to death again!"

"I repeatedly questioned the neighbors before I finally learned the truth."

"It turns out that some of them were forced to give false testimony under the immense pressure from the county and prefectural governments, and they went against their conscience to slander my brother."

"But there were two neighbors who firmly disagreed with giving false testimony, so the forensic science department simply ignored their testimonies!"

"In addition, the woman also has medical records personally written by the doctor."

Xi Zhaoxue took out a stack of papers from her bosom and carefully unfolded them: "During those days, because my younger brother was seriously injured and bedridden, doctors came to our home every day to see and treat him. This also proves that my younger brother did not leave the house at all!"

"Moreover, my home is fifty or sixty miles away from that man's home, and a round trip would be a distance of one hundred and one or two miles."

"My brother is seriously injured and bedridden. How could he possibly travel such a long distance to poison that man?!"

“Those officials were fully aware of these facts, but they turned a blind eye to them and refused to investigate. Instead, they insisted that my brother had poisoned the person, that the evidence was conclusive, and upheld the original verdict.”

By the end, Xi Zhaoxue was sobbing uncontrollably, her voice hoarse and strained, pouring out all her despair and anger.

……

(End of this chapter)