Chapter 4768 Inquiry into the Case

Chapter 4768 Inquiry into the Case
Lai Ji did not bring the people back to the Wannian County Government. Instead, he carried a lantern and quickly walked through the crossroads to the gate of Jinchangfang. He requisitioned several houses to detain Wei Shuxia and the members of the Wei family caravan. There was no need to detain them separately. This group of people spent a long time together on the way to cover Wei Shuxia's escape from Xishi to Weijia, and those who needed to make false confessions had already made them.

Just after the resettlement, a group of people came hurriedly with torches. It turned out that Cen Changqian had brought back more than ten monks involved in the incident from Da Ci'en Temple...

When the two met, Lai Ji couldn't help but sighed, "As expected of the Duke of Yue. There are millions of people in Chang'an City, but the number of people who can take people from Da Ci'en Temple is no more than five. It's really amazing. Even when I went to the Wei family and brought people back, it was because of the Duke of Yue. Otherwise, I would have returned empty-handed."

Cen Changqian smiled and said, "Could it be that the county magistrate Lai is trying to slander the Duke of Yue's bad reputation?"

Lai Ji shook his head repeatedly: "How could that be? I dream of serving under the Duke of Yue. It is a blessing for the officials under his command to have such an excellent superior who can put his ideas into practice. You don't know how much I envy you."

The implication of surrender in these words couldn't be more obvious. Cen Changqian understood the meaning of the song and whispered, "I will help the county magistrate to pass this message to the commander-in-chief."

Lai Ji clasped his fists and bowed: "Then I would like to ask for your kind words."

"Haha, easy to talk about."

"But I don't know when the Marshal will return. It's getting late. We should finish the trial this morning. The Third Young Master of the Wei Family seems to be related to Li Jingshu's death. It will be troublesome if the Prince of Dongping's Mansion hears about it and asks us to hand over the person."

Li Daoli lost his beloved son and was extremely angry. If he knew that Wei Shuxia was involved, he would definitely bring people to attack him and then set up a private court to abuse the punishment...

Cen Changqian asked curiously, "Why do we have to wait for the Marshal to come back? This incident happened within Wannian's jurisdiction, so you, as the county magistrate, are naturally responsible for the trial."

Lai Ji was stunned: "But Duke Yue went to Da Ci'en Temple to arrest someone in person, shouldn't he be the one leading the case?"

"Haha, do you think the Marshal went to arrest the man himself in order to take the credit? You are judging others by your own standards. How can the Marshal compete for the credit of his subordinates? He would not bother to do so. Over time, you will get to know the Marshal's style of doing things. Go to the trial with confidence. Not only do you not have to worry about the credit being taken away, but you can also ask the Marshal to help you clean up the mess if you get into trouble."

Lai Ji couldn't help but sigh. Although the Lai family was not a famous family, they had been officials for generations and knew the intrigues in the officialdom very well. This was also the reason why he was able to rise again in the officialdom after the Lai family suffered a heavy blow.

It has always been the subordinates who do the work and the superiors who take the credit. Have you ever seen a superior who not only does not take the credit from his subordinates, but even takes the blame for them?
"Then I'll just do it reluctantly!"

"Just do it. Since the Marshal is in charge of this matter, he will naturally see it through to the end."

……

In fact, the case is very simple. A family from Luoyang believed in Buddhism, so they rushed to Da Ci'en Temple to participate in the event on the day of Ullambana Festival. Unexpectedly, the temple was crowded with people. Two female relatives were secretly molested, which was not even considered indecent assault, but a group of monks happened to pass by, and one of the women thought that the monks were being mean, so she made a lot of noise.

Since the perpetrators of this kind of thing have not been caught in the act, the matter will most likely end in nothing. However, because the monks of Da Ci'en Temple were involved and the impact was so bad, the two sides continued to argue.

The female relatives believed that the monk had no moral conduct and was a "lewd monk". They also accused the Da Ci'en Temple of having a false reputation and harboring filth. They would not let up until the Da Ci'en Temple apologized. The Da Ci'en Temple was even more unwilling to back down. As it involved the reputation of the temple, they were determined to get to the bottom of the matter. However, they were concerned that the monks of their own temple were unwilling to hand them over for confrontation, so the matter became a big fuss.

In fact, it doesn't matter so far. The woman has not recognized which monk did it, and Da Ci'en Temple will never apologize. It can only end here and no one can do anything to anyone.

Wei Shuxia showed up to fan the flames and arouse the emotions of the onlookers. This kind of thing must have sympathized with the women and blamed the monks, so thousands of people spontaneously surrounded the gate of Da Ci'en Temple and caused a riot...

Therefore, the focus lies on Wei Shuxia. Whether he participated in the attack on Jingzhao Prefecture last night but fled afterwards, or he fanned the flames and stirred up public opinion, the crux of the problem lies here.

"Tell me, how did you trample Li Jingshu to death?"

It was already late, but Lai Ji was full of energy and wanted to try the case before Fang Jun came back, to give the other party an impression of being smart and capable. After all, if you want to be accepted, you have to be accepted by others. All those who have been trained by Fang Jun in these years are elites, and ordinary people will definitely not be taken seriously by others.

Wei Shuxia was a little depressed, but he immediately perked up after hearing this and denied loudly: "I didn't step on him!"

"Whether you stepped on someone or not is not up to you to decide. There were dozens or even hundreds of people in the Jingzhao government office at the time, so someone must have seen the truth. You can deny it now, but when an eyewitness confirms that you did step on someone, your crime will be even more serious. You should understand this principle."

"Uh... maybe I stepped on it accidentally? The situation was so chaotic at the time that I'm not sure, but even if I did, it wouldn't kill him, right? He's a strong adult, not made of clay or paper."

Wei Shuxia felt aggrieved and almost in tears, feeling that he was very wronged.

Lai Ji remained unmoved and went straight to the point: "But Li Jingshu did die from being trampled."

"..."

Wei Shuxia was speechless, trying to grasp the last glimmer of hope: "However, the situation was extremely chaotic at the time, and everyone was running away in panic like headless flies. I don't know why Li Jingshu suddenly fell to the ground. I should not be the only one who stepped on him, right?"

He only remembered that Li Jingshu was curled up silently, but in the chaotic situation, everyone wanted to escape, and there was a high probability that he was not the only one who stepped on him. Anyone who stepped on him should take responsibility, whether it was fatal or not.

He had a lucky thought in his heart that the responsibility of trampling Li Jingshu to death by himself was completely different from that of many people trampling her to death one by one...

However, Lai Ji's words were like a bucket of cold water poured on Wei Shuxia's head: "As far as I know, everyone avoided the fallen Li Jingshu, and no one admitted to stepping on him."

"They're lying! It was so chaotic and everyone was so confused. How could it be possible that no one stepped on him?"

Wei Shuxia was both shocked and angry.

"Let's put this aside for now. Let me ask you, at that time, the Jingzhao government office was surrounded by the Zuo Jinwu Guards. No one could have escaped. In fact, all those who participated in the attack on Jingzhao government office were arrested, except you who ran away... How did you avoid the encirclement of the Zuo Jinwu Guards? I warn you, don't try to make up lies to fool me, otherwise once the truth is found out later, your crime will be even more serious. Not only will you be punished, but those who helped you escape will also be considered accomplices. If you tell the truth now, I will plead with His Majesty for you, and the file will also record that you took the initiative to confess. His Majesty is generous and will definitely deal with you leniently."

Lai Ji used both kindness and force, and both firmness and flexibility, to constantly destroy Wei Shuxia's psychological bottom line.

In fact, it is very easy to deal with such talented children from aristocratic families, because they have grown up in a greenhouse-like environment and have been well protected by their families. They have never been exposed to the wind and rain, have insufficient understanding of the current social situation, and have no idea what consequences their actions will bring.

"Leniency to those who confess, severity to those who resist" is the best way to deal with these children from aristocratic families. On the contrary, it will be useless if used against those old-timers...

Wei Shuxia was indeed panicked, especially when he knew that his family had always had a grudge against Fang Jun. Perhaps Fang Jun had forcibly increased the original three-point crime to ten points. He lowered his head and said helplessly: "It was my brother who hid me in his duty room, and then made me wear a blue shirt and pretend to be his clerk, and took me out of the Jingzhao government office and sent me to the West Market, and then returned to Jinchangfang under the cover of the family caravan..."

Lai Ji already knew who helped him escape from Jingzhao Prefecture, but he still wanted to ask: "Who is your brother? What position does he hold?"

"Wei Huaide, serving as Shao Yin in Jingzhao Prefecture."

Lai Ji nodded. The Shao Yin of Jingzhao Prefecture was his immediate superior, and he was "second only to one person and above a hundred people" in Jingzhao Prefecture. Wei Huaide's grandfather Wei Shou and Wei Shuxia's grandfather Wei Jin were brothers, both sons of Wei Xiaokuan, the Grand Tutor of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Wei Huaide's sister married Du Jingtong, a descendant of the Jingzhao Du family, the cousin of Du Ruhui, and the son of Prime Minister Du Yan. These children of aristocratic families with deep roots were powerful figures in Jingzhao Prefecture, and it was not difficult for them to cover Wei Shuxia's escape from the blockade of the Zuo Jinwu Guard.

Originally, Wei Shuxia was rescued from Jingzhao Prefecture without anyone noticing, and he was completely cleared of the matter. However, when Wei Shuxia was returning home, he encountered the incident of "monks molesting women" at Da Ci'en Temple. I don't know what got into his head, but he "spoke up for justice" and stirred up public opinion to cause a riot, thus completely exposing his whereabouts. Not only was he detained, but Wei Huaide, the Junior Yin of Jingzhao Prefecture, was also held responsible. A reprimand was a light punishment, and he might even be demoted and sent out. He was reduced from the Junior Yin of Jingzhao Prefecture, who held real power, to the position of a governor or Sima. It would take at least ten or eight years for him to return to Chang'an...

"Since you knew you had committed a crime, why didn't you hide and return home quickly, but instead stirred up public opinion and caused a riot in front of the Da Ci'en Temple?"

He found it difficult to understand. Although Wei Shuxia lacked social experience, he was definitely a smart man. How could a smart man do such a stupid thing?
Upon hearing this, Wei Shuxia became agitated and said angrily, "Fang Jun has instigated Your Majesty to confiscate all the land that we donated to the temples and Taoist temples. He is truly a thief who has lost all conscience and brought disaster to the country and the people! Since he is in charge of the public security of Chang'an City by the emperor's order, and if I can cause a huge disturbance or even unrest in the Da Ci'en Temple, won't he be punished by Your Majesty? Only by dismissing him from office and demoting him can we all be relieved of our hatred!"