AWB Chapter 809 Oral Message
Chapter 809 Oral Message
Sheng Junyi walked to the table and sat down, resting his arm on the table and his hand on his chin. He looked up and asked her.
"Isn't my thievery obvious enough?"
Lu Yangyang glared at him and gave a soft snort.
"What is it that made you so nervous that you didn't even notice there was someone else in the room?" Sheng Junyi's gaze fell on the box. Lu Yangyang was always alert. Even if he walked silently, she would still notice and be startled. He was still breathing!
Lu Yangyang placed her hand on the box, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, "The case file of the Duke of Rong."
Sheng Junyi's fingers clenched unconsciously, and she tilted her head, staring blankly at Lu Yangyang's gaze.
Lu Yangyang knew that he was helping Zong Que investigate the Chenzhou case, which would inevitably involve investigating the case of Duke Rong, so she wasn't surprised by his slight loss of composure. "The files from the Dali Temple are incomplete; they've been tampered with several times. The copy I have isn't necessarily complete either. Back then, the evidence in Duke Rong's case was mostly fabricated, full of loopholes, so the files can't withstand close scrutiny. But if we want to overturn Duke Rong's case, we must find evidence to do so, otherwise..."
Lu Yangyang pointed upwards, "They definitely won't admit it."
Sheng Junyi was silent for a moment. “I asked His Highness, and the case file he saw was also incomplete. His statement was the same as yours: fabricated evidence. Too many people tampered with it. If the case file had been kept, it would have been too easy to overturn the case. The person behind it certainly doesn’t want to see such an outcome, so the case file of the Dali Temple is most likely fake.”
The case of Duke Rong is closely related to the case of Chenzhou, but Chenzhou is far in the northern frontier, and the defeat in battle involved too many things, making it difficult to find evidence. However, the case of Duke Rong is different. Duke Rong died on the battlefield, but was accused of treason by several secret letters found in his mansion. The case was quickly closed, and Duke Rong's entire family was exterminated. The so-called evidence could not stand up to scrutiny at all.
Overturning the verdict is both easy and difficult.
It is easy to overturn a case by simply overturning the evidence against someone accused of treason, which is often flimsy.
But that's where the difficulty lies. If the case file has been tampered with, then there's no corresponding evidence to overturn the original indictment. Seventeen years later, the entire Rongguo Duke's family was wiped out, and even their relatives were implicated. All traces have long been erased, making it even more difficult to find evidence.
Therefore, the case file of the Duke of Rong is of utmost importance.
Overturning a verdict requires solid evidence, including both witness testimony and physical evidence. After seventeen years, this is an extremely difficult task.
Lu Yangyang opened the box and took out a stack of papers that wasn't too thick. The papers were yellowed and looked quite old.
Lu Yangyang didn't waste any words and directly gave half to Sheng Junyi, saying, "Let's take a look first."
The two quickly separated and flipped through the stack of papers in less than half an hour.
Lu Yangyang rubbed her eyes. "Two parts are missing: the letter colluding with the Left Wise King, and the informant."
Lu Yangyang pulled out two sheets of paper. "This says that after His Majesty received the informant, he ordered the Court of Judicial Review to thoroughly investigate the case, but from beginning to end, he never mentioned the informant again. There are also letters of collusion with foreign enemies. Such important physical evidence should have been kept in the files of the Court of Judicial Review, but there is no content of the letters in this paper. There are only the testimonies of a few servants and so-called personal guards, which confirm that the Duke of Rongguo and the Left Wise Prince met in secret, but when they met and what they talked about are not mentioned at all."
Lu Yangyang almost laughed in anger, "It really is a baseless accusation."
None of them can withstand scrutiny.
It was extremely ironic that the Dali Temple was able to reach a verdict on this matter back then.
Sheng Junyi ran her fingertips over the paper. “I will check the witnesses on this list when I get back. Most of these people have been silenced, but perhaps some of their relatives are still alive. If we can find one or two of them who were forced to testify or who accepted bribes, the witnesses can be overturned.”
"The difficulty lies in the physical evidence. The letters are missing, which further indicates that there is something wrong with them. To find the originals now, there must be other interests involved. We also need to find the person who informed on us; perhaps that will provide a new breakthrough."
Lu Yangyang nodded. "The letter couldn't possibly have been written by Duke Rong. No matter how similar the handwriting is, there will be clues. Even if every word could be extracted from Duke Rong's old books and put together, it would still be incongruous. The person who could do this must have a very close relationship with Duke Rong, or at least have access to his handwriting."
Sheng Junyi seemed to understand something. "What you said makes some sense. I'll go back and look it up."
“I previously instructed Jiaojiao to contact the women in the capital and try to find out who had connections with the Rongguo Duke’s mansion. Maybe they will have some clues. Compile the list of people you are looking for and ask Jiaojiao to see if there are any overlaps,” Lu Yangyang said.
Sheng Junyi nodded: "That's exactly what I was thinking."
Lu Yangyang put the box away and handed it to Sheng Junyi. "This is Lord Ying's handwriting. It concerns his future and life. Keep it safe and don't let it slip out."
"I understand," Sheng Junyi replied, then asked her, "How did you get involved in the Tenth Prince's case?"
"It's just a coincidence, really." Lu Yangyang didn't rush to explain to him, but instead asked, "You came here so quickly, did you see His Highness? Where is he?"
“I haven’t arrived in the capital yet. I’m waiting for something. I received a letter from the shopkeeper. His Highness asked me to pass on a message to you after he found out about it,” Sheng Junyi replied.
Lu Yangyang asked in surprise, "A message? What message?"
Sheng Junyi looked at her and said, "Make this a big deal out of it and abolish the crime of collective punishment."
"What?" Lu Yangyang frowned, momentarily stunned. "Abolish the crime of collective punishment? How can this be..."
Her words caught in her throat. She subconsciously raised her hand and bit the bone of her index finger, muttering softly, "The crime of collective punishment, the crime of collective punishment. I was implicated and punished because of His Highness. If this could be used to abolish the crime of collective punishment, I wouldn't have to hide anymore. But no, no, there's something else... The case of Duke Rong, Duke Rong's relatives and friends, Aunt... If the crime of collective punishment is abolished, if Duke Rong has any descendants or relatives still alive, they can also be pardoned. But how could His Majesty possibly agree? How could the civil and military officials agree? Unless, unless it's closely related to their interests, but how is the Tenth Prince's case connected to collective punishment?"
Lu Yangyang felt like her head was about to explode.
Sheng Junyi listened to her mutterings and spoke up at the right time, "Killing the Tenth Prince is a serious crime. If you want to contact the court to abolish the crime of collective punishment, and make the case of the Tenth Prince as big as possible, when it becomes uncontrollable, you should have some unexpected gains."
Lu Yangyang paused, slowly looking at Sheng Junyi. Meeting his eyes, in a flash, Lu Yangyang suddenly understood the true meaning behind Zong Que's words.