Chapter 119 Serious Tribunal Trial

Since it was a case personally ordered by the emperor and several ministers had been specially summoned, no one dared to delay and immediately brought Zhu Zan to the Ministry of Justice.

Upon seeing the Jinyiwei and the Minister of War's people standing in the courtyard, the Ministry of Justice personnel had complex expressions.

"This has turned into a full-blown trial; the Heir of Duke Cheng has indeed been implicated in a serious case," someone whispered with a chuckle. "It seems that the emperor is truly angered this time."

These words elicited a snicker from someone nearby.

"If the Emperor was genuinely angered, there wouldn't be a trial at all."

The group turned and saw it was an old clerk speaking.

"Whenever there's a trial involving the three departments, it means the case is significant, but also because it involves many powers, either one side will overpower the other," the old clerk continued, pursing his lips towards the hall, "This time it's about giving face to the Minister of War."

"So does that mean the Jinyiwei lose face?" someone asked.

The old clerk clicked his tongue.

"What face does the Jinyiwei need? They don't need any face," he said quietly, chuckling.

Everyone couldn't help but laugh.

Although that was said, the Jinyiwei was indeed holding a grudge; they were ordered to seize someone, and wherever they went, everyone was terrified of them like wolves and tigers. But when they reached the northern lands, they humbly lowered their stance out of courtesy, only to have the target escape halfway.

It had caused them unrest all along the way; now Zhu Zan had even reached the capital, stirring up everyone's knowledge that he had turned himself in willingly. Otherwise, the Jinyiwei wouldn't have been able to do anything to him.

Even though the Jinyiwei often conducted actions that were shameless, like extortion, kidnapping, and extracting confessions under the guise of carrying out their duties, those were the times they chose to discard their own dignity, which wasn't the same as someone else tarnishing their reputation.

Thus, inside the hall, several Jinyiwei agents glared at Zhu Zan with hateful eyes.

"Did you create this map of the capital?" one of them said, "Do you still want to deny it?"

"We already have both eyewitnesses and physical evidence," another stated coldly. "The Princely Heir may want to examine them."

Zhu Zan merely hummed in response.

"I did it," he nodded briskly.

His straightforward admission didn't surprise the Jinyiwei agents much.

"Do you know what crime this is?" they demanded.

Zhu Zan shook his head honestly.

"I don't know," he answered swiftly.

"Zhu Zan," one Jinyiwei agent said coldly, "you abuse your power for personal gain, using military convenience to direct posthouse soldiers to sell maps of the capital. You are engaging in corruption and bringing disaster to the people."

Zhu Zan stared in disbelief.

"Don't talk nonsense; how is this abusing power? The map is needed by the public, and the posthouse soldiers made some money from it, which improved the relay stations. How is that corruption? I didn't take anything, just ask the Minister of War if the relay stations have saved a lot of money," he retorted.

Regardless of whether the Jinyiwei wanted to ask the Minister of War, the Ministry's officials had already stood forth.

"That's right, it indeed eased the financial strain on the Ministry of War. The relay stations saved a lot of money, and conditions have also improved. The most noticeable improvement is that the horses at the stations are of much better quality," a general explained, then gestured to the side, "Bring the ledger here."

A clerk immediately came forward with the ledger, wetting his finger to flip through the pages.

"Last October, ten relay horses were lost without replacement..." he started to read softly.

"Stop, stop," the Jinyiwei agents interrupted, "Who wants to listen to your ledger reading? Whatever you say about your accounts..."

The general from the Ministry of War glared immediately.

"Hey, what do you mean by that?" he challenged. "Are you saying that our Ministry of War is faking the accounts? Do you want to inspect them? Do you want to check our accounts?"

This was clearly looking for trouble!

The Jinyiwei agents also bristled with anger.

"Is it hard to check your accounts?" one fiercely said. "Do you want to be inspected?"

The atmosphere suddenly became tense, and the Ministry of War's officials stepped forward, as did the Jinyiwei agents, neither showing weakness.

"What is this, what is this?" Zhu Zan's voice rose from behind. "Weren't we just discussing my case? Where has this gone off to?"

He looked towards the stage where the officials from the three departments were seated.

"Shouldn't the esteemed officials manage this?"

"How can I manage it?" the Minister of the Ministry of Justice half-closed his eyes as if indifferent.

The Assistant Minister, acting in place of the Minister of War, looked grim, while Lu Yunqi remained expressionless. He raised his hand to tap the table.

The Jinyiwei agents immediately stepped back.

The Ministry of War's officials also withdrew.

Everyone in the hall looked displeased, except for Zhu Zan, who was smiling.

"Continue, continue," the Minister of the Ministry of Justice patted the wooden gavel. "This map of the capital can be bought with money and has already flowed into the territory of the Jurchen people. This is indeed very dangerous. Princely Heir, as a general committed to protecting our homeland, do you not understand what this means?"

Zhu Zan's smile vanished from his face, and he took a step forward.

When he stopped smiling, especially with a solemn expression, he seemed rather ferocious.

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice, who had never seen such a ferocious man, couldn't help but slightly step back.

The aura of someone who had killed on battlefields was truly different from that of someone who murders during ordinary revenge or robbery; it was incomparable in ferocity.

"Sir, precisely because I am a general, I naturally know what can and cannot be done," Zhu Zan spoke. "This map only marks places for eating, drinking, entertainment, and lodging. It doesn't involve any defenses or the locations of the government offices or the Imperial City. Every place mentioned is marked around with directions and lacks precise measurements; it's not at all a military map. For any general, this map is useless."

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice frowned.

"But this thing is still a map of the capital, and once the Jurchen people get their hands on it..." he said.

Zhu Zan cut him off with a smile twisting at the corner of his mouth.

"Yes, this is a map that displays the prosperity of the capital. The Jurchen people seeing it would certainly salivate," he said. "They think day and night about our Capital's prosperity, about the beauty of our Capital, almost to the point of madness."

"So, isn't this clearly just handing over a piece of fat to the hound, inviting it to feast?" a Jinyiwei sneered.

Zhu Zan's gaze slowly turned toward him.

"Like really understands like, huh? Seeing something desirable, your first thought is to devour it or snatch it away," he said.

This man really knows how to insult someone without using a single expletive!

The Jinyiwei, enraged, drew their embroidered spring knives with a swoosh.

And on the other side, those from the Ministry of War also flashed their weapons.

"What are you doing? Administering vigilante justice?"

"This isn't the garrison's interrogation hall!"

Nor is this my interrogation hall at the Ministry of Justice!

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice sighed internally as he watched both sides below who were nearly coming to blows in an instant.

"Quiet down, quiet down!" he banged the wooden gavel angrily.

"Step back, step back. Listen to the official preside over the case," the Vice Minister of War also spoke.

Lu Yunqi, as usual, tapped on the table.

Aggravated, both parties stepped back.

"Exactly, let's stick to the case and not get sidetracked," Zhu Zan said with a smile, speaking from the back once again.

It's always you who digresses!

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice took a deep breath after giving him a look.

"Lord Heir, since you also understand how tempting this is for the Jurchen people, how could you still..." he spoke solemnly.

"Tempting?" Zhu Zan cut him off again. "So what if it's tempting? Our Great Zhou Dynasty is so prosperous, so rich; why should we hide it? We are to let the Jurchen people know, to let the whole world know."

He said this with a trace of pride in his expression.

"Tempting, so what? The Jurchen people may covet it, but just because they desire it, does that mean they can have it? The Jurchen people know, but so do the citizens of our Great Zhou, and so do our soldiers stationed in the northern lands."

He said, pulling out a map of the journey to Chaojing and spreading it out.

"Many in the northern lands have never been to the Capital in their lifetime, and possibly won't in this lifetime. Through this map, they know the prosperity and wealth they are protecting in our Great Zhou's capital is behind them. The prosperity and wealth belong to the citizens of our Great Zhou Dynasty. This is also the reason and purpose why our soldiers are stationed in the northern lands, fighting in bloody battles and patrolling the borders."

"How could we bear to let someone invade it! We will never allow anyone to invade it again; we will never let the tragedies of the past repeat themselves!"

"The Jurchen people, those jackals, will not find it so easy if they want to taste our flesh."

"Sirs, do you really think that this single map would cause the Jurchen people to invade from the south, causing national instability and making people anxious? What do you think of us generals then? What do you think of our Great Zhou Dynasty's Ministry of War? What do you think of the Majesty of our Great Zhou's Emperor!"

With these words, he slammed the map onto the ground.

"Let them come if they dare; if they dare come, we dare make them retreat with heavy losses!"

Upon these words, the people from the Ministry of War, already stirred with excitement, cried out unanimously.

"Make them retreat with heavy losses! Make them retreat with heavy losses!"

"Protect our home, defend our nation! Protect our home, defend our nation!"

Their shouts were thunderous, almost lifting the roof of the Ministry of Justice's interrogation hall, startling the people outside who were peeking in.

Wasn't this supposed to be a trial session? Why did it seem like a military oath ceremony was taking place inside? What exactly were they doing?

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Thank you for the reward and He's Bi from the evening's refreshing breeze.

It's Friday~~~