When Di Renjie and the others entered the hall, Wu Zetian's spirit was shaken again. She straightened her back and said in a clear voice, "You are rebelling, you have evil intentions …"
"Your Majesty! We have been wrongly accused, Your Majesty, please clear this name for us! "
Di Renjie was not in a hurry, his voice was also very clear. The Emperor was willing to personally summon them. This meant that the entire situation had already undergone a massive change. Although Di Renjie did not understand what was happening in the outside world from his prison, he could clearly see this, so his mood was not as urgent.
"The confession signed by you will be kept in the palace!"
Wu Zetian turned to Shanghai Wan 'er and said, "Wan' er, read out their confession!"
Shangguan Wan 'er picked up the confessions of Di Renjie and the others, and said in a clear voice, "Except for Wei Yuanzhong, the six of you have all admitted in your confessions that you are telling the truth. These are the confessions that you have personally signed!"
Di Renjie immediately said, "Yes! We did admit to our crimes, but we said, 'The revolution of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the reform of all things, the old ministers of the Tang Dynasty, willing to be executed, rebelling.' We did not just say 'rebelling'! "
Wu Zetian frowned and carefully thought about this sentence. She immediately heard the unwillingness and resentment in it. She asked Little Hai to bring the confession over and carefully read it again. Sure enough, she found something strange. Their signatures ought to have been at the bottom right of the charge, but in this case the signature of the confession was immediately below the words "Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes."
Di Renjie and the others had been officials for many years, so it was impossible that they didn't know these rules. They didn't pay attention to these details in the past, but now that Di Renjie said it, they carefully looked at the confession, especially the uneven edge on the left side of the confession … Obviously, this confession was cut after they signed it, and there should be a line of words at the front!
Di Renjie said painfully, "Lai Junchen has a bad reputation, but when someone offends him, there is no escape. We are obviously innocent, but if we do not want to confess, we will use cruel torture. We are old and afraid that we will be tortured to death, so we are forced to confess. After that, I wrote a blood letter to complain to His Majesty! "
Ren Zhigu immediately said, "If we really committed the great crime of rebellion, how could we just confess at the first trial and wait for death? Your Majesty, please understand!"
Wei Yuanzhong said with a voice as loud as a bell, "Your subject was determined not to admit it. In the end, Hou Sizhi immediately hung your subject upside down. If not for your subject taking advantage of his illiteracy and using the law against him, your subject's old body would have been hung for half a day before I breathed my last!"
Wu Zetian said gloomily, "Tell me, admitting to the crime is because you are afraid of being tortured, but I have sent the messenger Qi Feng to inspect the prison, why did you all not complain to him about your grievances, but instead presented the 'Death Apology Form', begging for a quick death? Moreover, when Qi Feng inspected the prison, he saw that all of you were carefree and relaxed, no one was being tortured! "
Di Renjie looked at Ren Zhigu, Pei Xingben, and the others, then said together, "We did not present the 'Death Apology Form'!"
At this time, Pei Xuanli also gathered his courage and kowtowed, "This subject does not dare to be disrespectful in front of His Majesty. Your Majesty, please allow this subject to take off my clothes. Your Majesty, please take a look at the numerous scars on this subject's body!"
Wu Zetian and Li Zhaode looked at each other and said, "Granted!" Then she said to Shanghai Wan 'er, "Pass the' Death Apology Form 'to them!"
Little Hai opened the 'Death Apology Form' and slowly walked in front of the seven people. After Di Renjie and the others looked at the 'Death Apology Form', they shook their heads and said, "This' Death Apology Form 'was not written by any of the seven of us. Although the signature at the bottom was intentionally imitated, it is still different from this subject's handwriting. This is a forgery!"
The light in Wu Zetian's eyes narrowed. She said in a low voice, "Zhaode, take a look!"
Li Zhaode had worked with them for many years, so he was familiar with their handwriting. He carefully looked over it, then raised his head and said to Wu Zetian, "Your Majesty, of these seven people's handwriting, this subject only recognizes the handwriting of Di Renjie, Ren Zhigu, Pei Xingben, and Wei Yuanzhong. Not a single word on this' Death Apology Form 'is written by them! "
When Wu Zetian heard this, her tall and straight back slightly bent. She slowly closed her eyes.
Di Renjie said with grief and indignation, "This subject is law-abiding and loyal to the dynasty. This subject has never formed a clique for personal gain. This time, I have been falsely accused of treason, but I do not know the basis for this. Your Majesty might not know this, but in prison, this subject also had Magistrate Wang Deshou, who instructed this subject to frame Pingzhang Yang Zhirou. He said that this would reduce this subject's punishment, and he would use this merit to rise to the top … "
When Di Renjie said this, tears were already streaming down his old face. Wei Yuanzhong was the Right Minister of the Imperial Censor and was also from the Ministry of Justice. He was the clearest about the matter of the petition in prison. He immediately glared angrily and shouted, "Your Majesty, Lai Junchen tampered with the confession and forged the 'Death Apology Form'. This is enough to prove that we have been wrongly accused!"
Pei Xingben said, "Your Majesty said that you had sent an envoy to inspect the prison. We had originally been tortured and imprisoned, not seeing the light of day for a long time. Suddenly, one day, Lai Junchen forced us to change into new clothes and take a walk in the courtyard. We knew something was wrong and carefully observed. Sure enough, we discovered an angel patrolling from afar. We loudly cried out for our innocence, but unexpectedly, that angel hurriedly ran away. We wanted to cry out for our innocence, but there was no way to do so! "
At this time, Pei Xuanli had already taken off his clothes with the help of two young eunuchs. He said to Wu Zetian with tears in his eyes, "Your Majesty, please look at the torture this subject has suffered!"
"Ah!"
Seeing the scars on his body, Shanghai Wan'er could not help but let out a soft cry and covered her mouth.
Ever since Wu Zetian ordered to stop the executions, Lai Junchen had already noticed that something was wrong and stopped using torture to extort confessions from them. However, the torturers' bodies were riddled with scars and even now, they had not healed. Pei Xuanli slowly turned around and saw that there was not a single piece of uninjured flesh on his chest, back, and arms. His body was riddled with scars and many of the wounds were still oozing blood. It was a frightening sight to see.
Pei Xuanli said, "This subject's lower body is also riddled with scars. It is just that it is not suitable to examine them in front of Emperor. However, these scars are enough to prove that I am not lying!"
Wu Zetian slowly opened her eyes and looked at the new and old scars on Pei Xuanli's body. She slowly said, "My beloved subjects … have suffered. I, as a woman, became the Emperor. There are always some people in the court who are not reconciled to this. There are too many people who want to rebel. Therefore, I would rather make mistakes than indulge those who want to rebel!
Lai Junchen has accepted Zhen's intention, peeped into Zhen's heart, flattered and fawned on Zhen's favor, but unavoidably made a few mistakes. You should remember that Xu Jingye and Li Chong rebelled one after another. There were many members of the royal family and ministers in the court who secretly supported them. At that time, if it was not for Lai Junchen and the others who strictly handled the case and dug out these traitors, my country would have collapsed overnight … "
Wu Zetian's tone slightly paused before she continued, "In this case, you were wronged because you have been too close to the Eastern Palace. You gave others false information and gave them something to use against you. From now on, you must reflect on yourselves. I am willing to live in peace with my subjects and rule the world together. As long as you are loyal to me and to me, the Emperor! "
At this point, Wu Zetian turned to Shanghai Wan'er and said, "Ask the Censorate to close the case. Send servants to escort the seven people back to the residence. All the criminals are to be released and their confiscated property returned! "
…
When Wei Wang Wu Chengsi heard that the seven people were to be released, he could not help but be greatly disappointed. He immediately rushed to the palace to see the Emperor. Even though he knew that the Emperor did not like to see him recently, if Di Renjie and the others were to be acquitted and their positions restored, he and the Prime Ministers would suffer a crushing defeat. Even if he had to brace himself, he still had to come forward.
After Wu Zetian dealt with the case, she immediately returned to Flying Fragrance Hall to rest. Not long after, news came that Lai Junchen had entered the palace to ask for forgiveness. Wu Zetian did not see him and only ordered him to go back and await punishment before sending him away. Just as Lai Junchen left, Wu Chengsi arrived.
With regards to Wu Chengsi's arrival, Wu Zetian did not seem to be surprised. After hearing someone's report, she only hesitated for a moment before ordering, "Call him in!"
Wu Chengsi hurriedly walked into Flying Fragrance Hall's bedroom and saw Wu Zetian lying on the high couch. Imperial Physician Shen was sitting on top of her, gently massaging her head. Wu Chengsi quickly went forward to greet the Emperor. Wu Zetian closed her eyes and lightly said, "Sit. Why did you come to see me?"
Just as Wu Chengsi sat down, he quickly leaned forward and said, "Aunt, nephew heard that Di Renjie, Ren Zhigu and the others have been acquitted?"
Wu Zetian softly made a sound of agreement and said, "What is it?"
Wu Chengsi anxiously said, "Aunt, this is not appropriate! Even though it has been proven that Lai Junchen handled the case crudely and used pure torture to extort confessions, does this prove that they are not guilty? What was the secret letter that appeared in the East Palace about? If it was another capable official, he might have been able to find out the truth! It was true that Lai Junchen used torture to obtain evidence! But they did not give up and were determined to restore Li Tang's empire, so it might not be false. Aunt cannot assume that they were wronged just because Lai Junchen's testimony was not true. If Aunt let them go like this, I'm afraid there will be no end to their troubles! "
Wu Zetian lightly said, "We already have a plan, you don't need to say anything more!"
Wu Chengsi angrily said, "Aunt is compassionate, but I'm afraid they will think that Aunt is weak and easy to bully. Moreover, even though Lai Junchen's methods are a bit rough, he is incomparably loyal to Aunt. If Aunt does this, I'm afraid that if there are people with bad intentions in the future, the Three Law Division will have misgivings and won't dare to go all out! "
"We already have a plan!"
Wu Zetian emphasized again as if she had a terrible headache. She furrowed her brows and waved her hand, saying, "We are very annoyed, don't be noisy! Go! "
Wu Chengsi saw that Wu Zetian's face was full of impatience and wanted to say something but stopped. He could only stand and say, "Yes! Then, nephew will take his leave! "
Wu Chengsi bowed and left. Wu Zetian let out a long sigh and thought to herself, "The one who framed the Crown Prince and used the curse to harm me was Sansi, but who was the one from the East Palace who framed the Prime Ministers? Did Sansi's plan fail and use another one? Looking at Chengsi's impatience, perhaps it was his doing? "
Wu Zetian thought about it and the more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became. She couldn't help but wave her hand. Imperial Physician Shen saw this and quickly stopped. Wu Zetian was quiet for a moment and called out, "Tuan 'er …"
The palace eunuchs who were waiting on her left and right looked at each other. After a while, the new head of the palace's female officials, Luo Ziyi, bowed and answered, "Everyone, Wei Tuan 'er colluded with foreign officials and framed the Crown Prince. She has already been beaten to death by everyone."
"Oh …"
Wu Zetian lightly patted her forehead and laughed bitterly. She murmured, "I'm old, really old."
She sighed and said to Luo Ziyi, "Ziyi, go to the Hall of History and tell Wan 'er that after tomorrow's morning court, call the Left Minister of Yulin, Yang Fan, to Wucheng Hall to see the Emperor!"
…
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