Tang Dynasty: The seventh rank of official residence, and you will be given the Ten Thousand People

Chapter 79: Royal trial!

Mr. Wu was a wise man. He never used the power of his niece to be the queen mother, and he never revealed his identity even when he was beaten by corrupt officials.

But this time the old man couldn't help it. Fan Xin was the most protective official he had ever seen, but he was framed again and again.

If we just sit back and do nothing, there will be no justice in the world.

So he decided to go to Luoyang in person and ask Wu Zhao face to face whether the court cared about Fan Xin being framed by a traitor!

After the people of Wushui County prepared dry food and water, they drove ox carts to Luoyang.

When the county magistrate who came after hearing the news learned the identity of the old man, he was so frightened that he quickly stepped aside and did not dare to say a word.

Joining them in redressing their grievances to Luoyang were thousands of women and children from Yingzhou. Everyone wanted to explain the matter of the 2 taels of gold to the court in person.

Since many officials in Yingzhou Prefecture were dead or injured, no one stopped women and children from going to the capital to redress their grievances.

Just as nearly ten thousand people were marching to Luoyang, a team of fast horses arrived at Shangshu Mansion ahead of them.

"For your information, Minister Wu, Cao Dian and Liao Yi have sent a letter." The guard knelt down on one knee and presented a secret letter with both hands.

Wu Chengsi put down the tea cup, took the secret letter, checked the paint, and opened the envelope in front of all the ministers.

When he read the above content, he frowned and said to everyone.

"Cao Dian and Liao Yi found nothing valuable except two sets of clothes."

"What! Didn't you find the stolen money?" Everyone stood up in surprise.

They teamed up to impeach Fan Xin and let the news out. If there was no evidence, would it be a false accusation? How would they face the Queen Mother in the future?

Seeing everyone's unhappy expressions, Wu Chengsi said helplessly.

"Cao Dian said in the letter that Fan Xin only had two sets of clothes and a few books. The guards who searched even smashed the wall and couldn't find half a copper coin. They felt that Fan Xin didn't look like a corrupt official."

As soon as these words were spoken, several important officials of the imperial court immediately waved their sleeves.

"This is impossible! I have been an official for most of my life and have never seen anyone. How can Fan Xin, a dignified and fifth-rank local official, only have such a small amount of wealth?"

"Yes, none of us sitting here are wealthy and have many wives and concubines. Even the few Qingliu people around Li Yuanjia own hundreds of acres of fertile land."

"How can Fan Xin be so honest? He must have hidden the money while no one was paying attention!"

Wu Chengsi waved his hand and motioned for everyone to sit down and comforted them.

"Don't be discouraged. Although we didn't find any evidence that Fan Xin was greedy, we did find two sets of clothes that only the royal family can wear."

"As long as these two sets of clothes are delivered to the Queen Mother, Fan Xin will at least be charged with treason. Are we still afraid that we will not be able to move him?"

After hearing that Cao Dian had found evidence of Fan Xin's rebellion, the ministers smiled again.

"I just said that Cao Dian and Liao Yi are also court ministers after all. Why are they so useless? It turns out that more favorable evidence has been found."

"Forget it, let's go to the court tomorrow afternoon to nip Fan Xin in the bud!"

After sending everyone out of Shangshu's Mansion, Wu Chengsi looked towards the city gate from a distance and said with resentment on his face.

"Fan Xin, if you cut off my son's arm, I will take your life tomorrow!"

Noon the next day.

Wu Chengsi put on his official uniform and took his son to Shangyang Palace. To his surprise, there was a fat figure among the ministers on duty.

"Haha, you must be Wu Chengsi, right? I was very popular when I was working at Dali Temple."

"You are Di Renjie" Wu Chengsi asked doubtfully.

He often heard his aunt praising Di Renjie, but he didn't expect that this man would come back from Jiangnan so soon. "

Di Renjie stroked his beard and smiled. "Yes, I am none other than Di Renjie, Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Chengsi's expression changed and he hurriedly raised his hands.

"The lower official Wu Chengsi has met Mr. Di Guo."

"There is no need to be polite, Wu Shangshu. The Queen Mother has arrived, so let's face her together." Di Renjie smiled and walked back to the queue.

Wu Chengsi looked at Di Renjie's back and took a deep breath before joining the queue.

Under the watchful eyes of all the ministers, Wu Zetian, wearing a five-clawed golden dragon suit, walked onto the stage and sat next to the dragon chair.

"I see the Queen Mother, long live my queen, long live, long live!"

"Everyone loves to be flat!"

"Thank you Queen Mother!"

Wu Zetian's eyes swept across the ministers in turn, and finally settled on Di Renjie, with a smile on his face.

"Huaiying, this is the second time we have met."

Di Renjie walked out of the queue and said with emotion: "Yes, when I was in Dali Temple to supervise the case of empress Wang's murder, you still had black hair on your head."

"Now I have a lot of gray hair. It's like a gray cloud. Time flies. Everything seems like yesterday."

Both of them felt a little sad when they talked about the past. When Wu Zetian closed her eyes, the ghosts of Wang and Xiao came to see her.

If Di Renjie hadn't peeled off the cocoon and found out the murderer behind the scenes, it's still unknown whether she would have survived until now.

Therefore, she attaches great importance to Di Renjie, a talented person.

"Yao Chong left the cabinet and moved away some time ago, leaving a vacant position. I wonder if you have a suitable candidate?"

Wu Chengsi was about to recommend himself when Di Renjie stroked his beard and said.

"When I return to the Queen Mother, I think that Zhang Jianzhi, the governor of Jingzhou, has the talent of a prime minister. He is prudent and considerate and can be transferred to Fengge for appointment."

Wu Zetian nodded without thinking: "Okay, as Huaiying said, Zhang Jianzhi will be promoted to Fengge Minister and will be walking in Fengge."

Seeing that the two were talking about national affairs and never mentioned Fan Xin, Wu Chengsi glared at Di Renjie and said to Wu Zetian.

"To inform the Queen Mother, the case of Fan Xin's corruption of ink has been closed. People from the Sanfa Department, the Magistrate's Court, and the inner guard are waiting outside Shangyang Palace."

"Do you think we should ask them to come in and explain the whole case?"

"It just so happens that Di Guolao is known as a great detective. Let him help find out if there are any unjust, false or wrong cases."

Wu Zetian glanced at Wu Chengsi and the ministers in the palace, and said with an indifferent expression.

"Since you guys can't wait any longer, let the people from various departments come in. I want to see how much gold Fan Xin has embezzled!"

As soon as the words fell, the chamberlain grabbed her arms and shouted: "The Queen Mother has issued a decree to summon the investigating ministers from all ministries to appear!"

The palace door opened, and five men in official uniforms walked into the hall.

Wu Zetian stood on the platform and looked down at the five people and said calmly.
"Huang Shengyan, I want to ask you whether Wu Shui and his party found the stolen money hidden by Fan Xin?"

Huang Shengyan hesitated for a moment, took out twenty copper coins from his arms and bowed.

"Reporting to the Queen Mother, after a joint search by the internal guards and the Yushitai, we only found twenty coins and a wooden monument erected by the common people in Fan Xin's home."

"Other than that, there's nothing else of any value!"

With a bang, the whole palace was in uproar, and all the ministers whispered to each other.

No one expected that the massive search would yield only twenty pennies!
(End of this chapter)