"It's begun."
In the early morning, Li Ang and many Chang'an citizens stood outside Dali Temple and looked in.
He still came to see the trial process of this case, partly because of Wu Shiqi’s plea.
On the one hand, it is because of the changes in the previous suffering lotus.
In the State of Yu, both Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment had the power to administer justice.
Dali Temple is equivalent to the highest judicial authority, which is responsible for crimes committed by court officials and cases involving imprisonment or above that occurred in Chang'an.
The Ministry of Punishment is responsible for handling ordinary prisoners and reviewing cases involving Dali Temple imprisonment or exile.
If a major case involving politics or injustice occurs, the Yushitai will also be involved, and the case will be jointly adjudicated by the Minister of Dali Temple, the Minister of Punishment, the Minister of Justice, and the Yushi Zhongcheng.
The State of Yu divided cases into five categories, corresponding to five types of punishments, namely whipping, caning, fixed-term imprisonment, exile, and death.
Since someone died in this case, it is almost certain that the sentence will start with fixed-term imprisonment and end with the death penalty. This means that it must be reviewed by the Ministry of Punishment.
Originally, according to Yu Chu's rules, if it was a death penalty case, it would need to be submitted to the emperor for review to show Yu's prudence on the death penalty and concern for human rights.
But over the past few hundred years, the population of Yu State continued to expand, and there were more and more death penalty cases, and the emperor could not review them alone. This rule was gradually no longer mentioned.
Even if it is the death penalty, it will be tried by three courts. The emperor will not easily interfere or interfere with the direction of the case.
Pat.
Two tall and burly Dali Temple guards dragged Nie Shilei, who was wearing prison clothes, along the aisle.
They pinched Nie Shilei's shoulders, pressed them down hard, and forced him to kneel on the solid stone bricks.
"Behead! Behead him!"
"Kill him!"
"This beast is worse than a pig or a dog!"
"****,***,***!"
Noisy curses instantly sounded outside Dali Temple, and all kinds of dirty words jumped out of the mouths of the Chang'an citizens. They wished they could turn their words into sharp swords and pierce Nie Shilei who was kneeling there.
Even some old ladies who seemed kind-faced were bowing their heads and feeling sad, "What a good girl. I heard that she was ruined by this fool when she was only fifteen years old."
"What do the government officials in Wannian County, Chang'an, do for a living? Do they usually let this fool roam the streets?"
"I heard that his father took him out during the Dragon Boat Festival."
"Then why don't you arrest his father too? Maybe it was his father's instruction. Even if it has nothing to do with his father, it's still wrong for his father to let a fool go out!"
Chang'an City has not seen such a bad case for a while. The citizens outside the temple were excited and their voices became louder and louder.
Qing Yunhanchi of Dali Temple, who was sitting high in the hall, frowned imperceptibly and slapped the dragon-shaped gavel to suppress the noise outside the temple.
"Let's get started."
Yun Hanchi took a deep breath and asked Nie Shilei, who was confused in the audience: "Are you Nie Shilei?"
"...Yes."
Nie Shilei slowly raised his head, his eyes drifting and blurred, and it took a long time for his eyes to fixate on Yun Hanchi's face.
"On the Dragon Boat Festival in the fourth year of Emperor Qian's reign in Xu Zheng, when it comes to the beginning of Hai, where are you and what are you doing?"
"...Huh?"
Yun Hanchi pursed his lips and asked again patiently, "...half a month ago, on the night of the Dragon Boat Festival from Xu Zheng to Hai Chu, where were you and what were you doing?"
"I, I am accompanying Aye and my little sister, selling bamboo baskets."
Nie Shilei's speech is like that of a child. He often speaks in confusion, and his words are inconsistent with what he says.
One moment he said he was scared, the next moment he said he had been beaten and started crying.
Such a performance did not make the people outside the temple sympathize. Instead, they believed that he was suffering from madness, killed Meng Ying, and tried to get away with such a clumsy lie thought up by a fool.
Bang!
Li Ang turned around and saw a middle-aged man in luxurious clothes in the corner, his eyes red, punching the stone wall hard.
The middle-aged man gritted his teeth, his body trembling slightly with intense grief and anger, and blood dripping from his fingers.
A circle of people gathered around him. Among them, Jin Wusuan, the richest businessman in the Yu Kingdom, whom Li Ang was familiar with, sighed and patted his shoulder gently.
That should be Meng Chengye, the father of the deceased Meng Ying and the manager of Liuguang Bank in Chang'an County.
Li Ang withdrew his gaze and turned to look inside Dali Temple.
"Bring your ID."
Perhaps because he felt that talking to Nie Shilei was too strenuous, Dali Temple Qing Yunhanchi waved his hand.
A police officer brought a group of people from the side courtyard to the front of the hall. Among them were girls from wealthy families, as well as officers from Wannian County in Chang'an and soldiers from the Zhenfu Division.
"Huh?"
Li Ang raised his eyebrows and saw in the crowd the little girl whose vegetable leaves were smashed the day before yesterday.
Yun Hanchi asked the crowd questions one by one and reconstructed the case.
"According to the confessions of multiple witnesses, Meng Ying and her friends went to Qujiang Pool to play at noon on Dragon Boat Festival.
At the beginning of the afternoon, the suspect Nie Shilei, his father Nie Gao, and his sister Nie Yuhuan, carrying bamboo baskets and other commodities, went to the west side of the East Market to set up a stall.
At the beginning of the first lunar month, Meng Ying and her friends returned from Qujiang Pool and headed for Dongshi. At a quarter of an hour after the first lunar month, Meng Ying and her friends got separated at the east entrance of Dongshi.
At about two-quarters of an hour on the first day of the lunar month, Nie Gao, who was located at the west entrance of the East Market, left the stall due to abdominal pain and asked his daughter Nie Yuhuan to keep an eye on Nie Shilei.
Nie Yuhuan was attracted by the float, and after telling Nie Shilei to stay there and not move around, he went to the float and bought candies for two people. When he returned, Nie Shilei had disappeared.
At a quarter of an hour after midnight, Meng Ying's friends came to the west side of the East City to look for him. Together with Nie Gao and Nie Yuhuan, they discovered Nie Shilei who was acting suspiciously in the alley, and Meng Ying who was dead with his face scratched."
Yun Hanchi said in a deep voice: "Is this the case?
After you left the stall, you were attracted by Meng Ying who appeared on the street. You followed her into an alley and encountered resistance and scolding. You threw her head against the wall and did something inappropriate. Later, out of fear, you used her head with her head.
The hosta on her hair scratched her face. In the end, she didn’t have time to escape, and everyone got the stolen goods.”
"..."
Nie Shilei didn't seem to be listening to what the Dali Temple Minister was saying. He just looked at Nie Gao and Nie Yuhuan not far away and kept crying - his father Nie Gao had a bruised nose and a swollen face. Apparently he had been beaten by someone in Chang'an City during this time.
"You still have the nerve to shed tears?"
A rich girl who seemed to be Meng Ying's friend was so angry that she rushed forward from among the witnesses, kicked Nie Shilei on the shoulder, knocked him to the ground, and shouted loudly: "You know when Meng Ying died there was something wrong."
How painful and desperate? Her nails fell off because of her hard struggle, and her..."
Dali Temple Qing Yun Hanchi frowned, and without him having to say anything, the officer on the side pulled the rich girl back.
He cleared his throat, "If there are no objections..."
"No."
This time, Nie Shilei finally took the initiative to speak, and his voice seemed to come from a very far distance, "I didn't kill her."
"Huh?"
Yun Hanchi frowned and saw that Nie Shilei's eyes gradually stabilized, no longer looking around, and his voice became much calmer and more orderly, "It's someone else."
"Who?"
"He."
Amid the uproar, Nie Shilei waved his arm and pointed outside the door of Dali Temple.
A tall man's face changed suddenly, and he was about to retreat silently, but his arm was grabbed by someone else.
"Where do you want to go?"
Li Ang said with a smile, and with a little force, he pushed him forward and came to the front of the hall.
This chapter has been completed!