Jian Zhaoxing

Chapter 385 The Censorate: Enemy or Friend?

While the three were talking, Lin Zhiqing roughly sorted out all the content.

The young man, the son of Lin Congrong's former servant, was speaking mostly slanderous words about Lin Congrong.

He said his father discovered the letters by accident.

These contents are not significantly different from those in the case file.

The white-haired old man was a cook in the army. He had seen Lin Congrong once on the day the entire army was wiped out.

This was not a big deal, but according to him, Lin Congrong asked him to prepare a lot of dry food that day.

This is consistent with the circumstances surrounding Lin Congrong's disappearance.

Based on this point, the presiding judge at the time concluded that Lin Congrong's disappearance was premeditated; otherwise, who would have prepared provisions in advance?

As for the young girl, she looked to be about the same age as Lin Zhiqing, and she had never even met Lin Congrong before.

The only basis for her to be a witness is that her father was a member of the army at the time.

Before the army departed, her father told her his last wishes, as if he knew he would never return.

Lin Zhiqing found it somewhat laughable that such a simple reason could be used as evidence in court.

She looked at Jiang Yunhe, who was sitting still, listening quietly to the conversation without any expression.

Meanwhile, in the high hall, Wang Yuan frowned deeply, seemingly puzzled.

The Minister of Justice squinted, his expression unreadable.

Zhou Chong remained expressionless.

After the three finished speaking, Zhou Chongzheng began to follow the procedures:

"The evidence is all here, Lin Zhiqing, do you have any objections?"

Lin Zhiqing had no way of speaking about the letters, but the testimonies of these witnesses were simply outrageous.

She stepped forward and bowed.
"Sir, I have a question. I instructed the cook to prepare more rations. How can this be used as testimony and recorded in the case file?"

Zhou Chong's expression remained unchanged:
“The army’s rations were rationed. If Lin Congrong ate more, the other soldiers would have less. Moreover, there was no record of Lin Congrong going out on patrol at the time.”

"If there is no patrol going out, why bring dry rations? With a formidable enemy at hand, this is the time for fighting, not the time to need dry rations."

"Sir, have you ever been to the battlefield?" Lin Zhiqing asked, his eyes clear as he stared intently at Zhou Chongzheng.

Zhou Chongzheng lowered his eyebrows: "I am a government official in the capital and I do not know martial arts. How can I go to the battlefield?"

"Having never been on the battlefield, how can you be so sure that rations aren't needed when fighting a formidable enemy?" Lin Zhiqing quickly retorted.
“If someone is suspected of treason simply for eating one more bite of bread, then there are far too many people who would be accused of treason.”

Zhou Chongzheng's words were cut off, and he subconsciously frowned:
"What you said has no basis whatsoever, so don't make pointless excuses."

Lin Zhiqing stopped looking at him and instead looked at the Minister of Justice:
"May I ask Your Excellency, is there any law in the Great Sheng Dynasty that stipulates that one cannot eat or carry dry rations when facing a formidable enemy?"

"No," the Minister of Justice replied decisively.

Lin Zhiqing turned to the Marquis of Zhenyuan again and asked, "May I ask, Your Excellency, is there a law in the army that forbids carrying dry rations?"

Jiang Yunhe glanced at Lin Zhiqing and slowly shook his head.

No.

Lin Zhiqing looked at Zhou Chongzheng again. She didn't speak, but the question she had just asked already represented her position.

Zhou Chongzheng frowned and remained silent for a moment.

Lin Zhiqing could tell from his expression that he himself had no way to refute it.

So, Lin Zhiqing took a deep breath and looked at Marquis Zhenyuan again, speaking:
"My lord, before you lead your troops into battle, did you give your family any instructions? Did you really believe you would return?" "How can family matters compare to the affairs of the Great Sheng? Once on the battlefield, everything is uncertain," Jiang Yunhe slowly replied.
Whether or not they can return depends on the weapons in their hands.

"As expected of the Marquis." Lin Zhiqing seemed to be praising Jiang Yunhe, but his tone was not enthusiastic.

She turned to Zhou Chongzheng: "Lord Zhou, it is perfectly normal to inform your family before going to the battlefield."

"Furthermore, everyone goes to the battlefield with the intention of dying for the Great Sheng."

"Making arrangements for his last moments was something my father would do before going to the battlefield every time, because he couldn't be sure which time he wouldn't come back."

"If such a statement can be used as evidence of my father's treason, please forgive me for not being able to accept it."

"If you want to incriminate yourself, why bother?"

As she spoke, she bent down and hesitated to get up.

Seeing this, the Minister of Justice slowly spoke:
“Lord Zhou, according to the laws of Dasheng, the testimonies of these individuals are indeed insufficient to prove whether Lin Congrong colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country.”

Jiang Liuyun, standing below the hall, looked at the Minister of Justice, a hint of dissatisfaction appearing between his brows.

He realized that the Minister of Justice was now favoring the Lin family.

Zhou Chongzheng picked up the case file and said, "The other witnesses have all passed away. These three are the only remaining witnesses. Although their testimonies are incomplete, they can still be used as a reference..."

Lin Zhiqing frowned slightly. She was about to speak when Wang Yuan, who had been silent until now, raised an objection:
“Lord Zhou, the testimonies of marginal witnesses do not prove anything, and there is no point in recording them.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhiqing paused.

The Minister of Justice smiled slightly: "That's exactly right."

Zhou Chongzheng glanced at Jiang Yunhe with lightning speed, and seeing that Jiang Yunhe did not speak, he coughed lightly:
"Since both of you believe the testimony is invalid, then it is invalid."

"Your Excellency is wise." Lin Zhiqing slowly straightened up.

She immediately looked at Wang Yuan, only to see him staring at Zhou Chongzheng with a rather serious expression, seemingly oblivious to the situation below.

Clearly, Wang Yuan was merely fulfilling his duty when he spoke just now.

The division of labor among the three departments is actually very clear.

The Dali Temple focuses on the facts of the case, questioning the details of the perpetrator's behavior, such as the time of the crime and the motive.

The Ministry of Justice focuses on the application of the law, mainly concerned with whether the offender's behavior meets the criteria for a certain crime and whether it violates the law.

The Censorate focuses on procedural legality, primarily concerned with whether evidence and testimony are forged, and whether witnesses have been coerced. If such situations are discovered, officials can be impeached on the spot.

The three departments have different focuses, but they check and balance each other.

Wang Yuan's words surprised Lin Zhiqing.

She had assumed that Wang Yuan disliked the Lin family and would favor the Jiang family during the joint trial, but she hadn't expected him to be so dutiful.

Of course, this is just the beginning.

It is too early to judge whether Wang Yuan is friend or foe based on just one sentence.

Even though the testimonies of the three individuals were overturned, the Jiang family father and son remained remarkably calm.

In other words, this matter was a gain for the Lin family, but it meant absolutely nothing to the Jiang family.

The most important reason they remained so calm was that Lin Zhiqing had no evidence.

Without evidence, it cannot be proven that Lin Congrong's affairs are related to Jiang Yunhe.

The reason they initiated a three-judge retrial ahead of schedule was to bring the matter to a conclusion before Lin Zhiqing had any evidence.