I am not a deposed emperor of Han Dynasty

Chapter 406: The temptress cursed Emperor Xiaowu and admitted her motive for regicide. The emperor and his court were shocked!
The Prison Prison, like other government offices in the Han Dynasty, also had three entrances and three exits.

The front yard is where the convicted women and official slaves who were sentenced to prison worked and lived, and it was the largest area.

These criminal female slaves have all been sentenced, and the cases involved have been settled, and they no longer need to be detained day after day.

The middle courtyard and the main hall in the middle courtyard are the places where miscreants and officials handle affairs.

Except for the mean-spirited man, who is an official with a rank of two hundred stones, the remaining dozen or so minor officials, whether male or female, are almost all fighting for food and are of the lowest rank.

Because there are not many officials in the prison and there are few things to take care of, many of the side rooms in the middle courtyard are empty.

Therefore, the side room on the left was converted into a stable and a donkey shed, and the side room on the right was used as a dining room and salary room.

As for the main room and the side rooms in the backyard, they were converted into prison cells. They were lined up one by one, each measuring one foot square. They were small and crowded, and the air was even more polluted.

The criminal women locked up here are all those who have not yet been convicted. Although they do not have to go to the front yard to do heavy work such as rinsing and drying, they are imprisoned in this small cell all day long and have to be bullied by those strong women and evil officials. , life becomes even more difficult.

There is actually a clear provision in the "Han Code" that jailers and subordinate officials cannot beat prisoners without reason. If the prisoners have grievances, they must help them convey their grievances.

However, saying that beatings are not allowed does not mean that the guards have no other means to abuse these prisoners.

Not giving food, keeping away filth, pouring cold water on them in winter, turning on charcoal stoves in summer...the jailers used countless methods.

When many criminal women were first taken to this violent prison, they could still cry out for injustice a few times, but after being held for a long time, they couldn't bear it anymore and would often beg and plead for confession in distress.

What’s more, those guilty women from wealthy families who have never suffered hardship since childhood are locked up in a violent cell for a few days. Even if they are finally exonerated and come out alive, they will become delirious and moody, no different from lunatics. .

In short, if a guilty woman is imprisoned in this violent prison for more than five days, she will shed a layer of her skin even if she does not die.

It snowed heavily last night, and there was no sun today, so no one was busy in the front yard.

However, when Liu He walked quickly through the front yard, he still saw pairs of frightened eyes through the half-covered doors of the side rooms on both sides.

Although these criminal women are extremely pitiful, they have indeed violated the laws of the Han Dynasty, so they deserve to be punished and must not be released.

What Liu He can do in the future is to reduce the occurrence of unjust, false and wrongful convictions and make life easier for those prisoners who are implicated by others.

Soon, Liu He arrived at the cramped main hall of the prison and sat at the top of the table under Huang Ba's guidance.

Because the officials in the prison are illiterate, they generally do not interrogate prisoners here on weekdays.

Today's regicide case is too sensitive. Liu He doesn't want too many irrelevant people to know the twists and turns, so he decided to hold the trial here.

There were not enough manpower, so the attendants who followed Liu He had to temporarily assume the duties of officials in the hall.

Twenty Changyi Langs served as pavilion guards, the servant Fan Ke was the scribe who wrote love books and recorded oral confessions, the Tingwei Huang Ba sat on the second seat as the assistant Zuo Erguan, and the coward could only pass the news and escort the prisoners. of visitors.

After all the preparations were in place, Liu He ordered his men to capture Chunyu Yan.

Xu Guanghan hurriedly led Sousong and several Changyi Lang to the backyard to pick up the man.

The prison cell was not big, and the distance from the main hall to the backyard was only a few dozen steps. Not long after, a 40-year-old woman in shackles was escorted to the main hall.

After the gavel in Liu He's hand rang, Chunyu Yan immediately knelt on the ground obediently.

In the original history, Chunyu Yan actually had quite a reputation.

Of course, these reputations were not accumulated by helping Huo Xian poison and kill people, but because she was actually the first doctor in the Han Dynasty who specialized in treating gynecological diseases.

If it weren't for the fact that she poisoned Emperor Xiaozhao and committed a capital crime, Liu He believed that she would be of great use in the future, but it was a pity that this possibility was no longer possible.

Chunyu Yan has an average appearance, and there is no trace of makeup. He is not at all the same type of person as Huo Xian, who dresses himself up and down all day long.

This man was still wearing the robe he was wearing when he was captured. It seemed to be quite complete. There were not many stains on it. It seemed that he had not suffered much yet.

"Chun Yuyan, do you recognize me?" Liu He asked.

"Your Majesty, please bow to me from this humble concubine." Chunyu Yan bowed obediently and replied. He was so ordinary that he didn't look like a treacherous person.

"Since you know who I am, you should also know why I am here. I will give you a chance to tell yourself what crime you have committed?" Liu He asked.

"Your Majesty, I have been living in the back house of the General's Mansion, going in and out all day long. How dare I do anything wrong? Your Majesty, I have been unjustly accused!" Chunyu Yan choked with sobs.

People who are caught and sent to violent cells almost always cry out that they are wronged, but it is hard to say how many of them are really wronged.

I'm afraid if Fan Mingyou is brought back from the dead and thrown into prison, his first words will probably be "The guilty minister is unjustly accused!"

"That's enough!" Liu He scolded, "Don't pretend to be pretentious in front of me. Emperor Xiaozhao, Zhang Anjun and Cai Wenyan were all poisoned by you. Don't think that I don't know!"

Liu He went straight to the point and said these words. Except for Huang Ba and Fan Ke who had known about this for a long time and were not too shocked, the Changyi men and Xu Guanghan all looked sideways and looked at each other. Chunyu Yan, who was kneeling on the ground, was not only shocked, but also shocked.

How dare this ordinary woman do such a terrible thing?

For a moment, they would rather believe that the emperor was suffering from a lunatic disorder and deliberately accused the other party of indiscriminate pressing. This would make more sense.

Poisoning the emperor and then killing the king, isn't it just punishment and genocide that can offset the crime?

I'm afraid that all the members of the clan must have suffered all the punishments of the Han Dynasty one by one in order to pay for one-tenth of his sins.

"Your Majesty, this is a false accusation. How dare I do such a bad thing!"

"This bitch has never been to Weiyang Palace, let alone Zhang Mansion or Cai Mansion!" Chun Yuyan was naturally not as good at pretending to be weak as Huo Xian, but her survival instinct still made her cry bitterly. It seemed that she really He was greatly wronged.

"Chun Yuyan, please stop howling. Ting Wei has found poison in your residence. Just take a look for yourself."

After Liu He said with a sneer, he signaled to Huang Ba on the side, who immediately showed Chun Yuyan the bamboo tube containing mercury that he found.

Chunyu Yan was obviously shocked. There were countless poisons in her room. Why could the emperor pick them at a glance? Was it a coincidence?
"Don't guess. I also know a little bit about this poisoning. The thing you use is mercury. It can be extracted by boiling it with cinnabar. If you put it in food and utensils, you will not die suddenly. It will take three to five seconds. It will take months to take effect.”

"I have sent people to check the utensils used by Zhang Anjun and Cai Wenyan, and found traces of mercury in them. I guess they have been soaked in mercury repeatedly, right?"

"Then, I followed the clues and found out that a slave in the two families took bribes from outsiders and brought these poisoned utensils to the mansion."

"Although you killed people and killed all the slaves who were connected with you, you wanted to cut off the connection between this matter and you..."

"But how can it be possible to eliminate all the traces left by the flying geese? You may not think that although these slaves who helped the tiger are dead, some of them told the matter to those close to them..."

This is not that Liu He is making up a story to deceive Chun Yuyan, but that the officials of Tingwei Temple have found genuine clues in the past few days, and there is not a single falsehood.

As long as you do something bad, it will definitely leave traces.What's more, if you search with purpose, you can get twice the result with half the effort.

"Huang Ba, tell the prisoner the names of these slave witnesses, lest this criminal think I am deceiving her!" Liu He sneered deliberately.

"Wei!" Huang Ba stood up again and read out the names of the witnesses one by one. The more he read, the uglier Chunyu Yan's face became.

When Huang Ba finished reading the name of the last witness, Chunyu Yan's face had already turned pale and he could not stand firmly on his knees.

"These witnesses are now being held in Yeting Prison. If you don't believe it, let them testify now!" Huang Ba said.

Nowadays, why is this necessary?

Chun Yuyan already understood that the emperor was prepared. Since he was sure that she had committed a crime and had these witnesses, there were naturally a hundred ways to make her speak.

Confessing your sins cheerfully can save you a lot of unnecessary pain.

"No need, I admit my guilt, I did everything I did..."

"Okay, since you plead guilty, tell me who is the mastermind behind this!" Liu He asked, taking the case.

"No one instigated it, it was all done by this humble concubine." Chunyu said lightly, looking a bit like death.

"Emperor Xiaozhao and the others have no enmity or enmity against you, and there is no one to instigate them. Why do you want to poison them?"

Liu He slapped the gavel on the case hard again. Because of the excessive force, the gavel broke into two halves, and his hand was hurt from the shock.

"No injustice or enmity? If Emperor Xiaowu hadn't sent out military conquests year after year, how could the Guandong County be starved to death at that time, and how could my entire family die?"

"In this case, Emperor Xiaowu is naturally my enemy. I killed his son just for revenge!"

Chunyu Yanyue became more and more crazy as he spoke. At the end, he suddenly stood up, his eyes were red and he shouted these few words heartbreakingly, as if they were cut out from the heart, and they were even bleeding.

"I would like to kill Emperor Xiaowu, but he died early, so I can only vent my anger by killing Emperor Xiaozhao!"

"As for those two Jieyu, why did I suffer so much humiliation when I was on the run? They have been well-fed and well-fed since they were young. According to the laws of nature, I am just jealous and hateful!"

Liu He was surprised by Chun Yuyan's words. He never expected that the other party would come up with such a ridiculous yet reasonable reason, and was immediately stunned by the question.

Although the words are vicious, they actually make sense: especially in Liu He's eyes.

But Chunyu Yan's words were too advanced, and would only be regarded as crazy.

If she had been born 2000 years later, she would have made a shocking statement and would even be called a heroine by the people.

But today, it can only serve as an explanation of her treason, making her sins even more serious.

Liu He said nothing with a cold face. He just looked at Chunyu Yan and let her continue.

So, Chunyu Yan kept scolding like this for a full quarter of an hour without stopping.

Liu He even felt a little dazed and began to wonder if Chunyu Yan was from the same world as himself.

Fortunately, no.

Finally, Chun Yuyan seemed to have lost all strength from the scolding. After closing his mouth and shaking for a while, he knelt down on the ground again with the heavy shackles on him.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to plead guilty, so there is no need to ask anymore!" Chunyu Yan said this last sentence weakly.

Before Liu He could speak, Huang Ba had already stood up, pointed at Chunyu Yan with a trembling hand, and cursed loudly.

"This witch is talking nonsense, extremely insane and treasonous!"

"Your Majesty, Chunyu Yan is cunning and changeable, and speaks nonsense in public. I am asking Your Majesty to punish him, and I must use severe punishment!"

The chubby Huang Ba jumped up and down cursing, wishing he could rush down to the hall and cut his body into pieces with his own hands.

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(End of this chapter)