Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 147 Yan Shifan, Observing Governance at the Ministry of Justice (Second Update)

"Incredibly audacious! Incredibly audacious!!"

When Huo Tao, the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, looked at Feng Gui, the owner of the lampwick shop, kneeling below the court, and then at the confession presented by the clerk, his face turned extremely ugly.

He was by nature somewhat righteous and had a very low tolerance for illegal activities. Since taking office as the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, he had thoroughly reformed the prefectural government, dismissed and convicted many corrupt officials who harmed the people, and the atmosphere in the prefectural government immediately became more upright.

Of course, Huo Tao himself knew that these people had not really reformed, but had simply chosen to lie low in the face of such a powerful official.

Once he leaves office as prefect, if the next prefect who succeeds him is even slightly weak, he will likely revert to his old ways, or even become more ruthless.

Even so, he still wanted to thoroughly rectify the injustices within the government offices, and at least during his term of office, he would not allow any wrongful convictions or miscarriages of justice to occur in the capital.

As a result, Hao's adultery case was like a slap in the face.

Jiang Da and Jiang Er were wrongly killed, and there was no way for them to seek justice. Hao Shi faked her death and gave birth to a child!
If the truth is indeed as this insider Feng Gui said, it would be nothing short of a major earthquake for the Shuntian Prefecture.

Because this case was adjudicated by the Shuntian Prefecture government.

Huo Tao took a deep breath, calmed down, and looked at Judge Shen Mo: "Judge Shen, what do you think?"

The duties of a judge are to oversee judicial trials and case reviews, and to adjudicate major criminal cases within the prefecture. Local judges are generally of the seventh rank, such as Shao Jing, the judge of Qiongshan Prefecture. However, Shuntian Prefecture is located under the emperor's nose, in the most important place in the imperial city, so the judges there are of a higher rank, namely the sixth rank.

But at this moment, the judge was numb. He was about to utter his favorite phrase, "Please allow me to investigate further," but he swallowed it back and said cautiously, "Reporting to the Grand Judge, there are many injustices in this case. It must be investigated! Investigate it again!"

His courtesy name was Jingzhi, and he styled himself Shen'an. He was a man of shrewdness and caution, and he was well aware that speaking too much in officialdom would bring trouble. In his daily work at the government office, he would be present for roll call every day and keep the case files neatly organized. However, he would ask his superiors to make decisions on major cases and dared not act on his own. He also habitually used ambiguous language in official documents, such as "there seems to be some doubt" or "I dare not make a hasty judgment," to avoid leaving any handle against him.

I thought that would be enough, but I never expected to run into such a disaster...

Huo Tao stared at his subordinate and said in a deep voice, "Good! Go to the Tang residence immediately and arrest the suspect, Hao. If anyone obstructs you, even if it is Tang Shaoqing in person, you are not allowed to show any leniency. If you fail to apprehend her, this residence will hold you responsible. Do you understand?"

Shen Mo's mouth was full of bitterness, but he knew there was no way to avoid it, so he stood up and cupped his hands in greeting: "This subordinate obeys the order!"

……

Tang Mansion.

Madam Hao leaned against the carved window, casually twirling a golden jujube between her fingers and putting it to her lips.

The snow had just stopped, and several maids were shoveling snow with their heads down, shivering from the cold, but still moving very quietly, for fear of disturbing the newly favored concubine.

Hao was very satisfied with what he saw.

She is no longer the poor shoemaker's wife in Dengcao Hutong, but the most favored daughter-in-law in the household of the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

Yes, Lady Ru is also a daughter-in-law.

Who could blame him when two of the three sons of this Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review died of illness, leaving only one heir? And to make matters worse, none of his wives and concubines were able to carry on the family line!
They're practically the only son in three generations.

"Madam, the young master has woken up. The wet nurse asked if you would like to bring him over for a look?"

The maidservant reported softly from outside the curtain.

Hao said lazily, "Bring it here!"

A short while later, the wet nurse came in carrying the baby.

The child was born last September and is now five months old. He is already growing very well, with a robust and healthy appearance and fair skin. It is obvious at a glance that he is of wealthy lineage.

Hao took the child, her fingertips gently stroking his cheek, her eyes showing both maternal love and a hint of cold calculation.

This son was her talisman.

Young Master Tang's wives and concubines had given birth to several sons, but the eldest died at the age of five, and the youngest was stillborn. The dissolute young master was nearly forty years old and his health was deteriorating, which is why he was so anxious and risked his life to pull her out from under the executioner's blade.

And her belly was cooperative, and she gave birth to a son in no time. He was fair-skinned, plump, and quite strong, which gave her a foothold in the mansion.

"My dear son, grow up well and be a good person..."

Madam Hao chuckled softly, "Everything here will be yours in the future!"

The wet nurse and maids stood with their heads bowed, their eyes darting around, not daring to say a word.

Everyone knows that this concubine has an unknown background. She doesn't seem to come from a brothel, but she doesn't seem to be a proper lady either. Moreover, she is ruthless. Before the wife sent someone to gather information, the person was thrown into a well and died mysteriously before the concubine could do anything.

But after that incident, the master and young master turned a deaf ear, and the wife also stopped making any moves.

Therefore, her self-talk at this moment was not merely arrogance, but rather a kind of declaration. Hao had no choice but to do this; besides the internal power struggles, her own identity was always a source of trouble.

Since being sent to the mansion last autumn, she has become a sheltered young lady who never leaves the house, and has never even been to the Lantern Festival, let alone go to the temple to burn incense.

Hao didn't find it boring and was able to be patient, but even so, that person still appeared.

She was terrified, but fortunately, Young Master Tang had promised that his father-in-law was the absolute authority in the Dali Temple and could easily deal with a mere lamp wick seller. For now, she could use the other party's greed to keep the situation calm for the time being, and once the storm had passed, she would silence him and solve the problem once and for all.

"Master! Master!"

Just as he was wondering why he hadn't killed the man earlier, a stout man in brocade robes rushed in with the sound of bowing and shouted, "Everyone, get out!"

After the servants left, Young Master Tang rushed over. For the first time, he didn't look at the child first, but said to Madam Hao in a deep voice, "Something has happened! Feng Gui has been arrested by the government. Prefect Huo Tao already knows and is about to send a magistrate to arrest you. You must leave immediately!"

Madam Hao's expression changed: "Father can't suppress it?"

Young Master Tang said irritably, "If things don't get exposed, Father can easily quell the storm, but once it gets out, even the Grand Secretary won't be able to suppress it! The most important thing right now is that you can't be discovered. As long as you're not caught, there's no evidence, and we have a way to convict Feng Gui of making baseless accusations!"

Having endured hardship, Madam Hao knew there was no time to lose and immediately said, "Alright! I'll go with you!"

Only then did Young Master Tang look at the child in her arms and reach out his hand: "Give me the child!"

However, Madam Hao shrank back slightly: "I will take Jing'er with me and leave!"

Young Master Tang's expression changed: "What are you doing? The child is so young. In this freezing weather, if he catches a cold, he'll be in serious trouble!"

Madam Hao pursed her lips: "No! I can't live without my son, and my son can't live without me. Let's go together!"

A ferocious look appeared on Young Master Tang's face: "Stop fooling around, give me the child!"

Hao shrank back again, her tone turning icy: "I'm taking the child with me just to put my mind at ease. After all, dealing with a corpse is much easier than arranging for a living person! My husband and I are deeply in love and wouldn't do such a thing, but it's hard to guarantee that someone won't take matters into their own hands and try to kill me and disfigure my face so that there's no way to prove it!"

Young Master Tang's eyes flickered for a moment, then his tone softened: "So that's what you're worried about. How foolish! Everyone in the household knows you're my concubine. How can we explain your untimely death to the authorities? Slashing your face won't help; too many servants have seen your face, they'll confess..."

Hao's tense expression eased slightly: "Then if I leave, how will you explain it to the yamen?"

"As I told you, I didn't tell my father about this at first. It was only after we brought you into the manor that I had no choice but to tell him. He almost beat me to death..."

Young Master Tang smiled bitterly, "What's done is done. My father had no choice but to find a maid who looks somewhat like you and teach her some manners and etiquette. After you left, she pretended to be my new concubine. No one in the manor dared to say anything, so she was able to fool everyone!"

Madam Hao's expression changed again: "Then can I still come back?"

"Of course! You are my son's own mother, how could I not let you come back?"

Young Master Tang spoke gently, reaching out to take the child: "Once you get through this ordeal, you'll be completely unrelated to the past. You are Liu Shi, my concubine, the mother of my son, and in the future, you can even be promoted to the position of my principal wife!"

Finally persuaded, Madam Hao watched with reluctance as the child was taken away. Young Master Tang was overjoyed when a loyal servant rushed in: "Young Master, something terrible has happened! Those people are about to break into the mansion!"

"So fast?"

Young Master Tang's expression changed drastically: "Judge Shen Mo is tactful and avoids trouble. Even if Prefect Huo forces him to come and search, he won't be so forceful as to stop him!"

"He's not a judge from the Shuntian Prefecture, but a minor official in the Ministry of Justice, named Yan Shifan."

……

"I am Yan Shifan, an official in the Ministry of Justice. You are all stubbornly clinging to your delusions. It seems we have no choice but to take action!"

Outside the Tang residence, the steward and loyal servant looked at each other in bewilderment.

What kind of official was Guan Zheng of the Ministry of Justice?

To put it bluntly, he wasn't an official.

The practice of observing the political situation before appointing officials, giving them a probationary period, was a system in the Ming Dynasty for those who passed the imperial examinations and became officials.

Students of the Imperial Academy also had this opportunity. After graduating from the Imperial Academy, they could be recommended to the Six Ministries to observe government affairs, become familiar with the procedures for handling government affairs, and then be assigned to local prefectures and counties.

But someone who can speak of interns with such arrogance and intimidation is clearly not simple, especially since Yan Shifan is indeed accompanied by men from the Ministry of Justice.

In stark contrast to the cautious and timid officials, Yan Shifan, remembering the watchful gaze from within the Forbidden City, was instantly filled with power. His voice was like cold iron as he waved his hand: "Hao poisoned her husband and should be executed, yet she hides here! Is there no law left in my Great Ming Dynasty? Come on! Kill these wicked servants and charge in!!"

(End of this chapter)