None of the officials in the court believed that Zhang Chun had any ulterior motives for impeaching Cui Ming.
Although Zhang Chun and Li Mu both disowned each other and disliked each other, they had one thing in common, and that was that they had no selfish motives.
The old party and the new party fought each other because the competition in the imperial court was related to their actual interests. No matter how fierce Li Mu and Zhang Chun were, there was no real benefit for them.
He couldn't possibly frame Assistant Minister Cui just because he was jealous that he was more handsome than him.
Zhang Chun snorted coldly, "Whether I'm framing you or not, we'll know once we check Cui Ming's soul."
At the front of the court, someone stepped forward and said coldly, "Impudent! Lord Cui is the emperor's son-in-law, a fourth-rank official. How can he be humiliated just because of your one-sided words?"
The art of soul manipulation was a common method used by the government to investigate cases.
For a suspect in a case, as long as they used the art of soul manipulation on him, they could easily break through his psychological defenses and make him spill all the secrets in his heart.
Of course, the prerequisite was that the target was a mortal who had yet to condense his soul. After a cultivator condensed his soul, his soul force would be strong and it would be difficult to manipulate his soul. After three souls fused and condensed into a nascent spirit, it would be even more difficult to manipulate the soul. The person who manipulated the soul had to be several realms higher in cultivation than the person being manipulated.
Under the art of soul manipulation, there were no secrets. However, all cultivators had secrets and opportunities. Some secrets couldn't be easily exposed in front of others.
For cultivators, soul manipulation was a great taboo. There was nothing more humiliating than soul manipulation and soul searching. As a fourth-rank official and the emperor's son-in-law, as long as he didn't commit a major crime like rebellion, the court, even the emperor, couldn't perform soul manipulation and soul searching on him.
Once this precedent was set, all the officials in the court would be in danger. No one knew when their thoughts and past would be exposed naked in front of others because of something.
This was a bottom line that couldn't be easily crossed at the national level.
Furthermore, it wasn't impossible for experts to tamper with their memories and souls. Relying too much on them would sometimes backfire.
After the Minister of Personnel scolded Zhang Chun, Cui Ming stood up and said, "I've always been open and aboveboard. I'm willing to accept the soul search, Your Majesty. Please clear my name."
As soon as he said this, some of the officials in the hall revealed strange expressions.
Cui Ming's words were either honest and upright and had a clear conscience, or he was fearless and confident in dealing with the Emperor's soul-searching. Regardless of the situation, even if the Emperor really did use soul-searching, he probably wouldn't be able to find anything.
And His Majesty would never do that.
Because of a baseless and groundless case, the emperor's son-in-law, a rank four official, had already crossed the bottom line of the royal court, and it would bring even greater chaos to the royal court.
Cui Ming pointed to the sky and said, "I swear on the heavens and earth that if I lie, I will be struck by lightning and die a horrible death!"
In order to prove his innocence, he didn't hesitate to swear a Dao oath. This changed the opinion of some of the officials in the royal court.
Cultivators respected the heavens and earth, and they wouldn't swear a Dao oath easily. A Dao oath wasn't just an oath, it also had a certain mysterious power, and could be considered as a kind of supernatural power.
However, a Dao oath did not represent everything. Although many people would shout "If I violate a Dao oath, I will be punished by the heavens" when making an oath, if every oath could be fulfilled, why would there be a need for the imperial court and the government to make an oath to the heavens when encountering unpredictable situations …
Swearing a Dao oath couldn't completely prove Cui Ming's innocence. After a while, the Empress's voice finally came from behind the curtain. "This case will be jointly investigated by the Ministry of Justice and the Imperial Clan Temple. Assistant Minister Cui will have to cooperate with the investigation."
Cui Ming said, "Yes, Your Majesty."
Shangguan Li stepped forward and said, "The court is dismissed …"
From the beginning to the end, the Empress only mentioned Cui Ming and didn't mention Prince Shou. The officials also tacitly chose to forget about it.
Prince Shou was a former member of the royal family, and his identity was sensitive. As long as he didn't commit any serious crimes, it wouldn't be easy to deal with him.
Cui Ming's identity was noble, and even if he was involved in a case, his freedom wasn't restricted. When he left the Zi Wei Hall, he glanced at Zhang Chun and then went to the Secretariat.
Zhang Chun walked out of the hall, and Minister Feng chased after him. He said angrily, "You, you, you, Zhang Chun, you really have the guts of a leopard. You dare to talk nonsense in the royal court without any evidence? Do you think the prince consort can make a false accusation? If the Ministry of Justice finds out that Lord Cui is innocent, your official position will be gone!"
Zhang Chun glanced at him indifferently and said, "You can say that after his innocence is proven."
Minister Feng left angrily, and Li Mu walked up from behind. Zhang Chun looked at him and asked, "Are you sure you have a witness?"
Li Mu touched the ring on his finger and said, "Don't worry …"
Even if the Ministry of Justice and the Zongzheng Temple weren't willing to punish Cui Ming, they had to follow the Empress's orders.
The court was set up in the Ministry of Justice. To prevent the Zongzheng Temple and the Ministry of Justice from being biased, the Empress added that the trial would be held in public.
The meaning of public trial was that all the procedures would be supervised by other officials or the people. The trial process would be transparent, and any favoritism would be avoided.
The person who sued Cui Ming was Zhang Chun, so he naturally couldn't be absent.
The Zongzheng Temple was attended by Prince Shou, and the Ministry of Justice was presided over by Assistant Minister Zhou Zhong.
Other than that, there were a few officials from the Censorate and the Dali Temple. Li Mu was one of the officials from the Censorate.
The people of Shendu also heard about it, and they all gathered outside the Ministry of Justice.
Cui Ming was a relative of the Emperor, and also an important official in the royal court. The country's scandal shouldn't be aired in public. Under normal circumstances, the Zongzheng Temple's trial would be held in secret. This time, the Ministry of Justice didn't let the people in and closed the door.
Since the people couldn't see what was going on inside, the discussions became even more heated.
"Who are they interrogating? Why are they making such a big fuss? I saw many officials entering earlier, and they didn't even let us in …"
"I know. My relative works in the Zongzheng Temple. Yesterday, Lord Zhang and the head of the Zongzheng Temple quarreled. I heard that Prince Consort Cui committed a huge crime, and Lord Zhang wanted to investigate it, but the head of the Zongzheng Temple refused to let him …"
"What crime did Prince Consort Cui commit?"
"I heard that he killed his wife and her family for his future …"
"Tsk, that's so vicious. Isn't he more detestable than Chen Shimei?"
"I don't know if it's true or not, but the people interrogating Prince Consort Cui are the Assistant Minister of Justice and the head of the Zongzheng Temple. They are in cahoots, so what can they get out of it …"
In the court of the Ministry of Justice …
Cui Ming's case was presided over by Assistant Minister Zhou Zhong of the Ministry of Justice, and Prince Shou of the Zongzheng Temple as his assistant.
In terms of status, relatives of the royal family and officials of the fourth rank and above were under the jurisdiction of the Zongzheng Temple. However, after Zhang Chun impeached Prince Shou in the imperial court, although the Emperor did not punish him, it was still inappropriate for him to be the presiding judge.
Although Cui Ming was the defendant, he could sit in the court because of his noble status. Zhang Chun, on the other hand, had to stand at the side.
Behind the table, Assistant Minister Zhou Zhong of the Ministry of Justice patted the gavel and looked at Zhang Chun. He asked, "Deputy Zhang, you said that Assistant Minister Cui killed the Chu family in Yangqiu County twenty years ago and framed the Chu family for colluding with the Heretical Cultivation. Do you have any evidence? If you don't, the crime of wantonly framing a relative of the royal family and an important official in the imperial court is not light."
Cui Ming sat on the chair with a calm expression. He looked calm, but his attention was all on Zhang Chun.
When Zhang Chun found out about this, he did not panic. What he feared the most was how Zhang Chun found out about the matter between Su He and Chu Yun 'er more than twenty years ago.
If Zhang Chun accidentally found out about the matter between the Chu family and Su He when he was the county magistrate of Yangqiu County and used this to slander him and ruin his reputation in Fairy's Capital, he would make Zhang Chun pay an even more painful price after this matter.
He was worried that Zhang Chun really had some information that could be used against him.
Zhang Chun raised his head and looked at Zhou Zhong. He smiled and said, "I've been the county magistrate for more than ten years. Without evidence, how would I dare to slander the current emperor's son-in-law?"
Cui Ming's eyelids twitched. He looked at Zhang Chun.
Zhou Zhong said, "Since Deputy Zhang has evidence, take it out."
Zhang Chun took out a piece of spiritual jade. He held it in his hand and crushed it.
A cloud of mist emerged from the spiritual jade and finally turned into the figure of a woman. It was Madam Chu, who had been stripped of her Sword Spirit identity by Li Mu.
The moment Madam Chu appeared, she saw the figure sitting on the chair.
For more than twenty years, she had been thinking about this figure all the time. She wanted to drink his blood, eat his flesh, and burn his soul with ghost fire day and night.
The intense hatred made her lose her mind in an instant. Black Qi surged around her body, and her eyes turned blood-red. She pounced on Cui Ming and said sternly, "Cui Ming, give me your life!"
The moment Madam Chu appeared, Cui Ming could no longer maintain his composure. He stood up abruptly.
The next moment, Madam Chu's ghostly figure pounced on him.
Cui Ming was not shocked. Instead, he was delighted. He immediately struck out with his palm and attacked with all his might!
He did not expect Chu Yun 'er's spirit to be with Zhang Chun. He also did not expect her to attack him with all her might as soon as she appeared.
This gave him a reason to fight back.
She was only at the Fourth Realm. This palm strike was enough to destroy her soul. She was truly dead and could not bear witness.
He used all of his cultivation in this palm strike. He did not hold back at all.
"How dare you!"
At this moment, he heard a sudden roar. Zhang Chun stood in front of Madam Chu and took the full brunt of the palm strike. His body flew backward, and blood spurted from his mouth. After he landed, he pointed at Cui Ming angrily and said loudly, "This is the spirit of the Chu family woman. You all saw it, right? Cui Ming wanted to destroy the witness. He has a guilty conscience …"
Cui Ming's expression darkened. He had raised his hand again, but he put it down again.
At this moment, Madam Chu had regained some of her consciousness. However, her aura was still extremely unstable. As she stood in the Ministry of Justice's courtroom, her resentment continued to rise …
Zhou Zhong's eyes flashed. He stood up abruptly, and a powerful aura erupted from his body. He suppressed Madam Chu and said sternly, "How dare you, ghost! How dare you try to assassinate the prince consort!"
Li Mu knew that things were not going well. Madam Chu's hatred for Cui Ming was too strong. Now that it had erupted, her anger affected her mind. She almost went mad, and this gave Zhou Zhong an excuse to suppress her.
Under the pressure of Zhou Zhong's powerful aura, Madam Chu's spirit became even more unstable. She was on the verge of collapse. However, the resentment on her grew stronger, and her aura became more and more terrifying …
Her hatred for Cui Ming and his ruthlessness toward the Ministry of Justice's officials all turned into resentment in her heart.
At this moment, the resentment in the Ministry of Justice was so strong that people all over the Fairy's Capital could sense it.
Boom!
When the resentment reached its peak, countless citizens on the streets of the Fairy's Capital looked up at the sky.
At this moment, the wind and clouds in the Fairy's Capital swept away!
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