Chapter 609
Framing
At 3:45 AM (丑时三刻).
Dawn will break in a little over an hour, at which time the Ministry of Justice will beat the drum, open the gates, and allow all the people of the capital to hear the trial.
The first trial was a prison break case, and the second trial was a prison break case.
At this moment, the Ministry of Justice prison was brightly lit, with torches stuck in the bronze bases on the walls, illuminating the moss and grime that had accumulated over the years, creating waves of heat.
In the innermost cell, Chen Ji and Xi Feng were bound side by side to a rack, their clothes stripped off, revealing that even their necks were bound with extremely thick hemp ropes.
Qi Zhong stood by the furnace, looking down intently at the branding iron that was gradually turning red, the firelight making his face glow red.
Xi Feng turned his head with difficulty, his neck aching from the hemp rope. He looked at Qi Zhong and said, "You have no official position, you're not a Ministry of Justice official, yet you dare to preside over the trial of a man like me?"
Qi Zhong kept his head down, staring at the branding iron, without saying a word.
The Vice Minister of Justice, a third-rank official, sat behind his desk with his eyes closed, pretending not to hear what Xifeng said. The Chief of the Prison, a sixth-rank official, stood respectfully behind the Vice Minister.
The entire Ministry of Justice tacitly approved Qi Zhong's presiding over the trial.
Xi Feng looked at Qi Zhong: "Come and interrogate Grandpa, what are you waiting for?"
Qi Zhong looked at the fire in the stove: "Wait a little longer, I need to know who you are first."
Xi Feng sneered, "Would you believe me if I said I was once the head of the Jing Dynasty's Military Intelligence Bureau?"
Qi Zhong glanced at him.
At this moment, a young man dressed in gray cloth, holding a stack of photographs, hurriedly entered the prison hall, whispered a few words to Qi Zhong, and then left in a hurry.
Qi Zhong stirred the charcoal fire in the stove with a branding iron: "So it's Lord Xifeng."
Xifeng sneered: "Who's Xifeng? I'm still the damn Red Center."
Qi Zhong shook his head: "Lord Xifeng, denying it is futile. You followed me into the capital three days ago, trying to snatch She Dengke away, but you were too late. I not only know these things, but I also know that you used to hang out with Jin Zhu in the capital, often going to Youfu Noodle Shop on Qipan Street, where you could eat three large bowls of mutton noodles in one go. Later, you went to Luocheng, and I heard that you became the head of the Secret Service in Luocheng, and you became friends with a courtesan from Baiyi Lane, and are planning to redeem her from her servitude."
Xi Feng's smile gradually faded: "The Qi family hasn't been idle either."
Qi Zhong, carrying a red-hot branding iron, approached Xi Feng and said, "I have been an orphan since childhood. I am grateful to the Grand Secretary for taking me in as his adopted son and giving me food. Naturally, I will do my best to fulfill my duties."
Xifeng looked at the branding iron without changing his expression: "You've been the one doing all the dirty work of the Qi family all these years, haven't you? It's a pity you're just an adopted son of the Qi family, not even a son of a concubine. You can't even enter the ancestral hall. You can only hide in the shadows and clean up the mess for Qi Xianzhun and Qi Zhenwu. We gave you the surname Qi and the character 'Zhong' (loyalty) to remind you day and night not to forget to be a loyal dog."
“Provocation is useless,” Qi Zhong said casually, holding the branding iron next to Xifeng’s cheek. “Did Jinzhu send you to break the prisoner?”
Xifeng felt the heat from the hot iron, causing the dough to swell: "This is something I have to do myself, and it's none of anyone else's business."
Qi Zhong did not rush to use torture, but instead said slowly and deliberately: "Jin Zhu and Chen Ji are very close, so it is not surprising that he sent people to break the prisoner. But he is loyal to Chen Ji, yet he sent you to your deaths."
Xi Feng said expressionlessly, "I said, this is something I want to do myself, and it has nothing to do with anyone else."
Qi Zhong pressed the branding iron against Xi Feng's chest, but Chen Ji said coldly, "Tomorrow, the three judicial departments will hold a joint trial, and the intention is to convince the public. If he is tried while injured, it will be suspected that he was tortured into confessing. How can the three judicial departments convince the public?"
Qi Zhong's hand hovered in mid-air as he turned and glanced sideways at Chen Ji: "Lord Chen, you will have a joint trial by the three judicial departments tomorrow, but Lord Xifeng may not need to. However, you will suffer just as much. After the three judicial departments have sentenced you to death, you will still have to go through the three judicial departments' review, His Majesty's approval, and the Ministry of Justice's three reports. After receiving the execution warrant, you will have to wait another three days before the execution can take place. All this back and forth will take ten days."
Qi Zhong calmly approached Chen Ji and said, "What you owe Miss Zhao Ning, I will help her get back one by one after the joint trial by the three judicial departments tomorrow."
Xi Feng clicked his tongue in amazement: "Zhong'er, I heard that you are over thirty and still unmarried. Is it because you still have feelings for the eldest daughter of the Qi family?"
Qi Zhong raised his hand and pressed the branding iron against Xifeng's abdomen. The red-hot iron sizzled, and the smell of burning flesh filled the prison hall.
When the branding iron was removed, Xifeng, panting heavily, said, "Don't worry, use all the methods of the Ministry of Justice. If you can get a single word out of me, I'm your son."
Qi Zhong shook his head: "Lord Xifeng and Jinzhu have a deep and loyal relationship. The Secret Service's gyrfalcons are usually only given to those who come from Wunian Mountain. Jinzhu's decision to promote you to the position of head of Luocheng shows his loyalty and affection. So I know that we can't get anything out of you in an hour..."
At this moment, Qi Zhong pondered for a long time, then beckoned to his subordinates, signaling them to take Chen Ji away.
After taking Chen Ji away, Qi Zhong still felt uneasy, so he waved his hand again, signaling the Vice Minister of Justice and the prison warden to also leave.
Once only Xifeng remained in the prison hall, Qi Zhong suddenly changed the subject: "It's nearly impossible for you to confess about the Golden Pig before dawn, but I have a good suggestion. I wonder if Lord Xifeng would be willing to listen?"
Xifeng's eyes flickered.
Qi Zhong returned to the stove and stirred the charcoal fire with the branding iron. Sparks shot up from the stove, illuminating his face. "I know you are loyal to Jin Zhu, and Jin Zhu is loyal to the Poison Prime Minister Xu Wenhe. I can let Jin Zhu go, but you have to exchange someone else's life for Jin Zhu's life."
The west wind gasped, "Whose life?"
Qi Zhong tossed the branding iron into the furnace, then turned to look Xi Feng directly in the eyes: "Wu Xiu's fate. The Poison Minister and Wu Xiu have always been at odds, and now Wu Xiu has used the Han Tong incident to drive the Poison Minister away. I imagine you are all quite resentful. I've heard that since Wu Xiu became the Director of the Directorate of Ceremonial, only three of the Twelve Zodiacs have been willing to report to the Eagle House on time. Is that true?" Xi Feng asked疑惑地: "What do you want?"
Qi Zhong stood before Xi Feng and said, "You only need to admit that today's prison break was all instigated by Wu Xiu, sign and affix your fingerprint to the confession, and then testify in the Ministry of Justice tomorrow."
Xi Feng was taken aback upon hearing this. Qi Zhong knew that it would be impossible to get him to talk in an hour, so he turned his attention to Wu Xiu.
It would be meaningless for the Qi family to bring down a Golden Pig, but if the Qi family could bring down a Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial at the height of the crisis, then the literary heart of the world would still remain the literary heart of the world.
Xi Feng frowned: "If Meng Ji were to interrogate him, the whole truth would come to light."
Qi Zhong shook his head: "When Meng Ji interrogated Han Tong earlier, he was already exhausted and was interrupted by two civil officials who risked their lives. As far as I know, he won't be able to use the 'Good Dream God' technique for at least six months."
The west wind remained silent.
"Betray Wu Xiu, and your loyalty to Jin Zhu will be fulfilled," Qi Zhong took another step forward, staring into Xi Feng's eyes, and lowered his voice, "Moreover, the Ministry of Justice can say that yesterday's ambush of the thieves was due to your advance warning. After the matter is accomplished, the Qi family will grant you the position of Assistant Prefect of the Pacification Commissioner's Office in Yunzhou, a border town far from the emperor's reach, where you will hold thousands of troops and be no different from a regional lord."
After a long while, Xifeng asked with skepticism, "Is Mengji really unable to use the official channels?"
Qi Zhong calmly replied, "Even if he is unharmed, as long as he is tried in the main hall of my Ministry of Justice, I have a way to break his dream god."
West Wind pondered for a moment and said, "I need to think about it."
Qi Zhong walked to the desk and sat down, closing his eyes: "Then you'd better think about it quickly, I can only wait until 3:45 AM."
Time slowly passed, and only the panting of the west wind remained in the prison hall.
It wasn't until someone reminded him that it was already the hour of Yin (3-5 AM) that Xifeng finally spoke: "If you want to frame Wu Xiu, you at least need a pretext. Otherwise, why would he instruct me to break him out of prison? Everyone in the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs knows that he has an old grudge against Chen Ji. If you say he saved Chen Ji, who in the world would believe it?"
Qi Zhong opened his eyes: "Lord Xifeng, you didn't go to rescue the prisoner, you were ordered to kill Chen Ji to silence him."
Xi Feng said calmly, "Silence? Why silence Chen Ji?"
Qi Zhong said calmly, "Jingchao's spy Lin Chaoqing was promoted by Wu Xiu. You can say that Wu Xiu colluded with the brothers Lin Chaoqing and Lin Chaojing, Jingchao's spies. Lin Chaojing was once captured alive by Chen Ji. Wu Xiu suspected that Chen Ji had evidence of his collusion with Jingchao and was also worried that the evidence would fall into the hands of my Qi family, so he instigated you to take the risk."
Xi Feng paused for a moment: "Wu Xiu is currently enjoying great favor with the emperor."
Qi Zhong stood up from behind the case: "You only need to sign and put your fingerprint on it. As for how to drag Wu Xiu to the Ministry of Justice for trial, that's a matter for my Qi family. Once he stands in front of the Ministry of Justice, there's no way he can escape unscathed."
Xi Feng pondered for a long time: "Can you really give me the position of Assistant Prefect of the Pacification Commissioner's Office?"
Qi Zhong remained expressionless: "Easy peasy. By bringing down Wu Xiu, both the Poisonous Prime Minister and my Qi family are winners. No one will seek revenge against you later."
Xifeng gritted his teeth and said, "Fine."
Qi Zhong's brows relaxed, and he said loudly, "Bring the person in."
Xi Feng looked up and saw the Ministry of Justice escorting the remaining four men into the prison hall, where they knelt on the damp, cold ground. Qi Zhong pulled a short knife from his sleeve, cut the ropes on the rack, and then handed the knife to Xi Feng: "Kill them."
Xifeng took a step back: "You want me to kill my colleague? This is a brother who has shared life and death with me!"
Qi Zhong turned to look at him: "You killed them, so there's no turning back. This is your pledge of loyalty to the Qi family. Besides, once you've killed them, no one can refute your testimony. Lord Xifeng, we can weather the storms together, but we don't have to share the glory and wealth. Now that you have a bright future, you can throw away your brothers and colleagues."
Xi Feng gripped the dagger tightly, while Qi Zhong stared intently at Xi Feng's expression, trying to discern any clues from his face to see if Xi Feng was faking it.
A moment later, Xifeng took a deep breath and stepped forward to slit the throats of the four spies one by one.
Qi Zhong clapped his hands: "I like Lord Xifeng, a ruthless and heartless person."
He walked out of the prison hall and instructed the prison warden, "Write a confession for him to sign and affix his seal now, and bring him to the Ministry of Justice for trial tomorrow."
After saying that, he summoned a servant from the Qi family: "Take the confession to the old censor and tell him that the time has come."
Suddenly, Xifeng shouted, "Wait!"
Qi Zhong stood in front of the prison hall and looked back: "Hmm?"
West Wind asked, "What about Chen Ji?"
Qi Zhong sneered: "Lord Xifeng, everyone looks out for themselves. As long as you can survive, don't worry about others."
Xi Feng lowered his head and hesitated for a long time before saying, "I understand." (End of Chapter)