Ita Era

Chapter 150 The Crown Prince's Faction

Su Su wasn't idle either. She supervised the food, removing all potentially allergenic ingredients and seasonings, ensuring the ingredients were fresh, and keeping the food baskets clean. In addition, she checked the leftovers to understand everyone's appetite.

A kite flew into the bamboo grove in the backyard. A young scholar happened to be reading nearby. He went over and picked up the kite, only to find a rather elegant poem about bamboo written on it. Judging from the handwriting, it was clearly written by a woman.

"Hey, you idiot." A beautiful woman's head popped out from behind the wall: "Can you give me back my kite?"

Next comes how to prove it's yours, how beautiful your handwriting is, and so on. Then this dim-witted student starts thinking of ways to slip away.

The dog system started acting inhumanely, even slipping notes into the steamed buns at lunchtime. Some invitations were to attend a book club, some to go to a certain building, and some to pay a visit to a certain elder in the village.

Ding Shi stopped one after another, but no one wanted to listen to reason. Ding Shi was forced to use his fists to make them accept his reasoning. Even so, some people still managed to climb over the wall and escape to play happily with the kite girl.

During the contact process, Ding Shi also identified a suspect: Zhang Kong.

The man's facial features and height were all correct. Ding Shi suspected him because Zhang Kong answered the question about eating pumpkin porridge for breakfast without thinking.

It's a little past one in the afternoon. At this time, most people would find it difficult to immediately recall what they ate for breakfast, let alone something as ordinary as pumpkin porridge. Only a murderer would think back and forth, fill in gaps in their memory, and look for loopholes in order to lie, so they would have a particularly deep impression of what they ate for breakfast and be able to answer fluently when questioned.

Ding Shi ordered Su Su to arrest Zhang Kong. Su Su protested, but Ding Shi ruled the protest invalid because he had provided the brains, and Su Su had to provide the physical labor. Even siblings should keep clear accounts.

So Zhang Kong was captured by Su Su, and after his hands were tied, Su Su compared Zhang Kong's information with the documents three times, but she couldn't find any flaws.

Ding Shi pointed out the flaw: "It wasn't that a student was murdered, but that a student committed murder. Zhang Kong killed someone and stuffed the notification letter into that person's package. The evidence is that only the name part of the notification letter was damaged, while the rest remained relatively intact."

Su Su asked, puzzled, "What kind of evidence is this?"

Ding Shi nodded: "In modern society, this is not evidence. But this is feudal society. I am an official, and he is just a student. I can beat him and I can force a confession. Therefore, when I determine that he is the murderer, the result will not change no matter what: he is definitely the murderer, or he can only be the murderer."

Ding Shi looked at Zhang Kong and said, "Young man, do you want to be beaten half to death before you confess, or do you want to confess now?"

Zhang Kong: "I didn't."

Ding Shi complained: "You damn system, come out here! You gave me a case, but only gave me 48 hours to prepare. The criminal was caught and then denied everything. What does this mean? I guarantee he can't withstand my punishment."

This is no joke. Modern interrogation techniques are a form of torture that is both physical and mental. Given enough time, even a tough guy can be pried open.

The dog system—no, Little Sugar—was summoned to confront the system: "Your evidence to accuse him of being the murderer is insufficient. You must at least confirm the identity of the deceased."

Ding Shi said, "No, under my interrogation, he will tell me the identity of the deceased."

Little Sugar asked, "Do you remember when you interrogated Chen Ergou in the first round? Interrogating an innocent person will lower both the official evaluation and the system evaluation."

Ding Shi said, "He is guilty."

Little Sugar pressed, "Are you sure?"

Ding Shi said, "I'm sure." As a person of strong will, he wouldn't let the dog system influence his judgment. What if he's wrong? Then he'll have to pay the price for his mistake.

After Xiaotangtang disappeared, Zhang Kong confessed: "I killed Zhao Da."

Ding Shi smiled smugly, gave Su Su a high five, and asked, "Why?"

Zhang Kong replied, “Zhao Da is my neighbor. He was jealous that I became a candidate for the imperial examination and wanted to ruin my trip to the prefectural capital for the examination. In the ensuing struggle, I pushed him down. To prevent people from knowing that he was Zhao Da and suspecting me, which would affect my prefectural examination, I cut off his head and threw his body into the river.”

Ding Shi asked, "Have you ever killed anyone?"

"No."

Ding Shi asked, "What time do you get up in the morning?"

Zhang Kong: "Seven o'clock. My home is on the outskirts of the county town, a 30-minute walk from the county government office." The meeting time is eight o'clock.

Ding Shi said, "I got up at seven o'clock, fought with Zhao Da, killed someone, and had my head chopped off with a kitchen knife. I threw the body into the river, changed my blood-stained clothes, cleaned up the filth on my body, and dealt with Zhao Da's head. Haven't you ever seen the scene of blood splattering after a beheading?"

Zhang Kong panicked.

Ding Shi said, "Quickly confess."

Zhang Kong glanced fearfully at Ding Shi, then looked at Su Su: "I'll only talk to the Academic Commissioner."

Su Su, who had been ignored the whole time, finally got her chance to appear. She walked up to Zhang Kong and said, "Speak."

Zhang Kong looked at Ding Shi and said, "Let him go out first."

Seeing that Ding Shi and Su Su hadn't moved, Zhang Kong whispered, "It's related to cheating in the prefectural examination."

Su Su looked at Ding Shi, and Ding Shi left the guest room first.

Zhang Kong leaned close to Su Su, and Su Su's ear was close to Zhang Kong's. Zhang Kong had already untied the ropes binding his hands. He immediately picked up the teapot on the table with his right hand and smashed it on Su Su's head. He then grabbed a small shard of the teapot and slashed at Su Su's neck. His skill was so practiced that he was no ordinary student.

Poor Su Su reacted too slowly in the face of battle; blood spurted from her jade-like neck immediately. Recovering in time, Su Su shoved Zhang Kong away with both hands. In terms of strength, Su Su was much greater than Zhang Kong, but her combat experience was far too limited. Fortunately, Ding Shi arrived just in time, knocking Zhang Kong unconscious with a single punch.

With Su Su hoisted onto his shoulder, Ding Shi leaped out of the second-floor window of the inn. The moment he landed, Su Su was so shaken she nearly vomited her intestines. Fortunately, Huichuntang was just a street away, and Ding Shi managed to toss Su Su right in front of the overpowered doctor. The doctor was incredibly skilled; without a word, he swiftly opened his acupuncture kit, took out twelve silver needles, and inserted them into the needles. Instantly, Su Su's bleeding decreased significantly.

Ding Shi ignored Su Su and turned back to the inn. As he entered the interrogation room, a masked man standing at the window threw a willow-leaf dagger at the unconscious Zhang Kong. Ding Shi kicked the dagger away, startling himself. He had actually hit it! He was so cool.

The masked man darted down, and Ding Shi looked out the window again, but couldn't see him. Ding Shi didn't chase after him, but felt something was strange. Strange 1: Coincidence. He just happened to return, and the masked man just happened to be about to throw his throwing knife. Strange 2: If he wanted to kill the unconscious Zhang Kong, why throw a throwing knife? Wouldn't it have been better to just stab him twice?

Ding woke Zhang Kong up and took him to the prefectural judicial office, where he finally learned the reason for the incident.

Students preparing for the imperial examinations needed to bring their own lighting equipment, and Zhang Kong's oil lamp contained a sleeping potion. When Zhang Kong lit the lamp, the nearby buglers and examinees would doze off and fall asleep. Zhang Kong would then take the opportunity to make a secret mark on the examination paper of a man named Su Da. Since the papers were anonymous in the prefectural examinations, some people would try to bribe the examiners to give higher scores to the marked papers.

Throughout history, the imperial examinations have always placed great importance on them. Each examination paper was meticulously examined by a specialist. This examination process revealed a deliberate mark on Su Da's paper.

This will set the stage for a fraud scandal.

The focus isn't on the cheating, but on Su Da. Su Da's grandfather, known as Grand Tutor Su, was once the tutor of the current Crown Prince, and Su Da's father was once the Crown Prince's study companion and now works for him. Grand Tutor Su retired to his hometown two years ago due to health reasons, and half of the examiners for the prefectural examination were his students.

Next is Ding Shi's speculation.

Once the case comes to light, not only will the three members of the Su family be imprisoned, but Grand Tutor Su's reputation will also be damaged, and the Crown Prince himself will be implicated. To prove himself, the Crown Prince will likely leave the capital and personally investigate the case in the prefecture to uncover the truth. Doing so would not only clear the Su family's name but also win over the hearts of the scholars.

Scholars abhorred cheating in the imperial examinations, as it was their only relatively fair path to transcend social classes. If the crown prince could not provide an explanation for this matter, he would lose the support of the scholars. Behind these scholars were officials from various factions, including those from humble backgrounds, aristocratic families, and the "pure stream" (a group of officials advocating for integrity and uprightness).

While it cannot be certain that the Crown Prince will be deposed because of this incident, it will undoubtedly greatly affect his reputation and the level of support he receives both within and outside the court.

By now, Ding Shi had gathered a great deal of information, and he began to mentally review it.

Key information from the first round: The garrison general of Yong'an Pass and the prefect of Yongkang Circuit are both loyalists of the Crown Prince. Wang Meng didn't perform well in the first round, but with the strong support of the princess, he defeated the bandits in his first proactive attack, thus earning a promotion to garrison general of Yong'an Pass. The garrison general loyal to the Crown Prince was ousted by Wang Meng.

Based on fragmented information, Huozhong believes that the Third Prince and the Princess, as well as the Second Prince and Prince Qi, belong to the same group. This situation is not uncommon; two political rivals may frequently clash in court, but in reality, they have a fairly good relationship. Feudal emperors prefer a balance of power in the court rather than having one person or force hold absolute power, a principle known as the art of governing ministers.

For now, the second and third princes are collectively referred to as the succession-grabbing faction.

The problem facing the succession faction is that the officials in charge, led by Yu Yuan, have not truly submitted. In order to obtain the defense map of Yong'an Pass, the succession faction kills two birds with one stone: not only can they bribe their own people to steal the defense map, but they can also undermine the unity of the Huosheng faction.

The same applies to the fake crown prince's reliance on Hua Shan. If it weren't for the chicken blood exposing his identity, Hua Shan might have done something detrimental to unity, considering the well-being of the people.

Even now, it remains a war between the successor faction and the faction vying for the throne.

What about the Crown Prince? Ding Shi reported the Ironclad Army and was interrogated by the Censorate and the Judicial Commissioner. Yu Yuan also met with the Crown Prince's trusted confidant, the Prefect, and explained the situation. If the Crown Prince were so foolish, the Northern Wang family army would be enough to breach the capital; there would be no need for the 20 troops in the south. Therefore, the key question is how the Crown Prince will appear and how he will participate in this matter.

The answer is now clear.

On the surface, the cheating case was not in the best interest of the Crown Prince. Its purpose was not only to smear the Crown Prince's tutor and the Crown Prince, but also to drag the Crown Prince into it and force him to go to Yongkang Prefecture to investigate the cheating in the imperial examination.

On a deeper level, this might be the Crown Prince's opportunity. The cheating scandal allows him to extricate himself from the capital to the prefecture. From the perspective of the succession faction, the Crown Prince's predicament in the prefecture, coupled with the Emperor's near-death state, presents the perfect opportunity to launch a rebellion. The Crown Prince's goal is to draw out the succession faction before the Emperor dies, allowing the Emperor to deal with them.

Therefore, Zhang Kong could be either a member of the Crown Prince's faction or a member of the succession-grabbing faction, with the aim of luring the Crown Prince out of the capital. What is the truth? Ding Shi believed that Zhang Kong was merely a tool, and he probably didn't even know which side he was on.

How to find the truth? It's not difficult, as long as we know whether Zhang Kong intentionally killed Zhao Da.

The first possibility is that Zhang Kong deliberately killed Zhao Da, threw the body into the river, and stuffed a letter inside, with the aim of making everyone discover the body and suspect that someone had replaced the student's identity.

The second possibility is that Zhang Kong was forced to kill Zhao Da, hastily disposed of the body, and stuffed the notification letter into Zhao Da's package in order to mislead the investigation.

The outcome of these two actions is the same. The first is the current situation: Zhang Kong was discovered, interrogated, and confessed to the mission of framing the Crown Prince's tutor. The Crown Prince, for the sake of the tutor, left the capital for the prefecture, which was a proactive action.

The second scenario is that the crown prince was dragged into the mess and forced to leave the capital for a prefecture, which is a passive action.

For the Crown Prince, it was essential to maintain the initiative. He could use a decoy to travel to the prefectures and conduct a passive investigation, waiting for the succession faction to make their move. Meanwhile, he could remain hidden in the capital and deliver a fatal blow to the succession faction.

If it is the second scenario, the Crown Prince must personally go to the prefecture to conduct an active investigation, find out the truth as soon as possible, restore his teacher's reputation as soon as possible, and win the hearts of the scholars.

After figuring these things out, Ding Shi continued to interrogate Zhang Kong, and in fact he already knew the truth.

Zhang Kong was a student of the Imperial Academy and a local of Yong'an County; his identity is difficult to fabricate. As a scholar, it would be extremely difficult for him to dispose of the bloodstains after beheading Zhao Da in such a short time. It's almost certain that a skilled martial artist was assisting him, leading to the conclusion that he committed intentional homicide.

There is only one truth: Zhang Kong wanted everyone to discover the body, thus making them suspect him and letting others know that he was going to frame the Crown Prince's tutor.

In this situation, the reputation of the Crown Prince and his tutor will not be harmed.

Ding Shi noticed Zhang Kong because he answered fluently; perhaps Zhang Kong answered fluently precisely to attract Ding Shi's attention. This was because Zhang Kong could not voluntarily surrender.

Under continued interrogation, Zhang Kong indeed confessed to the murder. However, Zhang Kong stated that after killing Zhao Da, he was terrified and contacted the mastermind behind the murder for help. The mastermind then beheaded Zhao Da and threw his body into the river. This contradicted Ding Shi's assumption that a skilled assassin had intentionally killed Zhao Da.

Ding Shi ordered the torture to continue, but then he saw Zhang Kong bite down on his broken dentures, swallow poison, and convulse on the spot. Before Ding Shi could check on him, Zhang Kong had already died, bleeding from all seven orifices.

Could you be any more fake? You've confessed to 99% of the allegations; you're just one last thing to pull.

This confirms that Zhang Kong is the Crown Prince's man. The Crown Prince might send a double or go to the prefecture to investigate and arrest the person who framed his teacher. Since he is not in a hurry to solve the case, he has two options: First, send a double and stay in the capital. Second, go to the prefecture in person, but his main purpose is not to investigate the case, but to secretly deploy troops to reinforce Yong'an Pass.

Answer: The interests of Huozi (the Crown Prince's faction) are greatest if they side with the Crown Prince.

The distance was too great for the walkie-talkie to work, so Ding Shi spent fifty taels of silver at the post station to hire a courier to deliver the letter to Hongyi in Yong'an County. The advantage of the post station was that delivery was guaranteed; the disadvantage was the expense—the more money spent, the faster the delivery. Fifty taels was for a 200-li urgent delivery, which took two and a half hours to reach Hongyi. One hundred taels was for a 400-li urgent delivery, five hundred taels for a 600-li urgent delivery, and five thousand taels for an 800-li urgent delivery, which could reach Hongyi within five minutes.

Ding Shi instructed his assistant in the Criminal Investigation Department to handle the remaining paperwork while he hurriedly returned to the Tongsheng Inn, only to find a large crowd gathered at the entrance. Ding Shi inwardly cursed his luck and quickly pushed his way through the crowd, identifying himself.

(End of this chapter)