Chapter 734: Chapter 728, Chapter 729: Accusing King Wei’s Disciple "Guo Xian

As a constable of the government office, he was quite familiar with some noble figures in the city.

The constable who spoke first just now was, as per custom, inquiring about the identities of the three with Dai Ling.

Dai Ling was about to answer, but hearing this, he froze even more.

Huang Zhaodi, upon learning that the assassin was sent by General Zhang, immediately guessed that it was Dai Tu who sent them to kill her. She could hardly believe it.

Her body went limp, collapsing to the ground in devastation, as Dai Tu acted so inhumanly.

Xiaofeng was his own flesh and blood.

He would spare not even his own son.

Huang Zhaodi looked up to the heavens and cursed in pain, "Guo Xian!" Even a tiger does not eat its cubs, let alone a human.

That piercing, harrowing cry left Zuo Gang, including Peng Si’Er, momentarily stunned.

Especially Peng Si’Er, who was also shocked.

Hearing the woman speak, was she the woman of that General Zhang’s son-in-law?

Zuo Gang’s mind was also a bit slow to process it. At first, like Peng Si’Er, he thought Dai Ling, Huang Zhaodi, and Dai Feng were a family of three. Now it seemed there was more to the story.

At the same time, Zuo Gang also realized that if this matter wasn’t handled properly, he might end up in trouble himself.

However, he did not let go of Peng Si’Er immediately, as who knew if what he said was true.

This was a significant matter, so he immediately instructed two deputies to bring these people to the government office.

...

When they returned to Xiangyang, it was already afternoon.

The current County Magistrate of Xiangyang was surnamed Song, given name Qing.

Sixth-grade Martial Artist.

A man under Zuo Lianglun.

There was no choice; such factionalism could not be eradicated.

No need to mention the noble families.

Song Qing was brought up by Zuo Lianglun and thus categorized into his faction by officials in the government.

However, to become the County Magistrate of Xiangyang, he himself possessed certain capabilities, as ultimately he needed Chen Mo’s approval to take the position.

Thus far, his tenure as an official had not been very long, yet he was diligent and conscientious.

He knew King Wei was from a humble background, whether it was "catering to his preferences" or otherwise, Song Qing especially cared for the common people, standing up for them and therefore earning their admiration.

At this moment, he was handling a somewhat tricky case.

The person involved in the case was the elder brother-in-law of King Wei, Yi Yong.

Yi Yong was the son adopted by Yi Qianchi, father of Yi Shiyin, from a clan cousin.

Yi Qianchi had no sons, only a daughter, Yi Shiyin. When he first succeeded as the Patriarch of the Yi Family, there was talk within the family about Yi Qianchi taking a concubine to have a son or adopting a son to inherit the Yi Family’s business.

Later, as Chen Mo’s influence grew, so did the Yi Family, and this talk within the clan became more frequent.

Moreover, as Yi Qianchi grew older, his daughter would eventually marry out, so he agreed to adopt a son, with Yi Shiyin’s consent.

The offense Yi Yong committed was favoring a concubine over the wife.

According to Song’s law, taking a wife as a concubine resulted in a punishment of 100 lashes.

If the wife was still alive, making a concubine a wife resulted in 90 lashes, and a demand to correct the status, making the wife a wife, and the concubine a concubine.

The crime Yi Yong committed was making his wife a concubine, wishing to elevate the concubine to wife, which the wife opposed, so he first divorced the wife then made the concubine a wife.

Thus, in anger, the wife went to the government office to sue Yi Yong.

If it were an ordinary family, the matter could be easily resolved, but this involved King Wei, and thus careful consideration was needed.

Just then, Zuo Gang hurriedly walked in.

Seeing Zuo Gang, Song Qing put down the case he was handling and said, "Weren’t you keeping an eye on Peng Si’Er, why have you returned?"

He also placed particular importance on this case.

"Sir, it’s not good." Zuo Gang quickly recounted the entire situation.

As expected, Song Qing frowned deeply after listening.

Compared to Yi Yong’s simple whipping punishment, what Zuo Gang described was far more severe.

He promptly put aside his current matters and first summoned Peng Si’Er for interrogation.

Peng Si’Er, upon seeing that Zuo Gang was indeed from the government office, realized that the crimes he committed were enough to lead to a dead end. In a bid to win a sliver of life, he could only continue to bring up General Zhang.

Then, Song Qing had Zuo Gang bring Dai Ling and the others for questioning.

Huang Zhaodi, utterly disappointed with Dai Tu, finally stopped hiding for him and slowly began to speak. She even disclosed changing her place of origin and her son’s surname.

Finally, she knelt with a thud before Song Qing and said, "The common woman Huang Zhaodi pays respects to the lord, pleading for you to stand up for me, the common woman wants to sue the candidate ranked forty-seventh in the imperial examinations, Guo Xian, whose real name is Dai Tu."

Song Qing’s eyelid twitched: "What is the crime you wish to accuse him of?"

"The common woman wishes to accuse him of abandoning his wife and child, deceiving King Wei, divorcing his wife to remarry, and of... murdering his wife and child..." Huang Zhaodi weeped bitterly, while Dai Feng beside her also sobbed quietly, endlessly calling, "Mother."

Song Qing feigned a serious tone, "Guo Xian is a disciple of King Wei, how can he be accused at will, do you have evidence?"

Dai Ling immediately stated he is a material witness and stated he is the clan uncle of the other party.

Huang Zhaodi also claimed she is the legal wife of the other party, and the son beside her is "Guo Xian’s" own flesh and blood.

Although Huang Zhaodi’s plight was sympathetic, cases relied on solid evidence, and Peng Si’Er’s confession couldn’t definitively incriminate "Guo Xian," as Peng Si’Er himself had said the person who approached him wore a mask, and though he saw the person enter the Zhang Residence, he didn’t know who specifically it was.

Although Guo Xian could be summoned to confront the issue, the other party could still deny it.

Relying solely on Peng Si’Er to convict "Guo Xian" was clearly unfeasible.

Therefore, they needed ironclad evidence from Huang Zhaodi.

"You are accusing him here in my court, you must have some proof, otherwise, how do we ascertain that Guo Xian is indeed your wedded husband, and this man beside you is his clan uncle?" Song Qing said.

Huang Zhaodi immediately claimed the elders and villagers in her family could attest to her relationship with "Guo Xian" and mentioned her hometown was Yanzhou Taoyuan County.

Moreover, she and "Guo Xian" were married with proper rituals, and the marriage certificate was registered at the government office, with "Guo Xian’s" hand seal on it.

Seeing her speak with certainty, Song Qing immediately stated he would dispatch a government official to verify in Yanzhou promptly.

After Huang Zhaodi and the others left, Zuo Gang asked, "In your opinion, how credible is Huang Zhaodi’s testimony?"

Song Qing said, "Though she appeared sorrowful, she seemed clear-headed, and her speech reflected some education. Furthermore, due to Guo Xian’s uncommon status, making a false accusation wouldn’t be trivial and would easily be detected upon arrest. Why would she knowingly commit such a sin? I deduce she isn’t necessarily lying to deceive.

However, considering the magnitude of this matter, hard evidence is essential. You should immediately take people to Yanzhou and investigate, with haste."

"Understood."

However, just as Zuo Gang was about to leave, Song Qing faced another dilemma.

After all, General Zhang’s relationship with King Wei wasn’t insignificant.

Guo Xian was also his son-in-law.

"Sigh, best to report this to the Prince first, to gauge the Prince’s reaction." Song Qing understood that whether this matter could be pursued depended on King Wei’s support.

He asked Zuo Gang to wait awhile; he needed to visit the Prince’s Mansion to meet King Wei.

...

Prince Wei’s Mansion.

In the study room.

The examination papers for the imperial examination had already been marked overnight.

After all, there were just over three hundred papers, and numerous officials were marking them, so even with cross-checking, it didn’t take long.

Those below presented the top five examination papers to Chen Mo, from which he was to personally select the candidate for the top three titles: zhuangyuan, bangyan, and tanhua.

Chen Mo saw the names of Guo Ning and Sun City among them.

Chen Mo decided to base the selections on performance, as this would be fair to the other candidates.

Ultimately, Sun City became the zhuangyuan.

Guo Ning became the bangyan.

Wang Haosheng became the tanhua.

After deciding, Chen Mo casually asked, "By the way, did Guo Xian make the list?"

Those below responded that in terms of performance, Guo Xian was in the third tier.

The implication being, if the Prince felt Guo Xian’s ranking was too low, they could boost his position.

Chen Mo naturally caught on, glared at them, and softly said, "Announce the results as scheduled in three days."

"Understood."