The commoners listening to this didn’t think much of it, but the facial expressions on the officials observing from a short distance away instantly turned solemn. 

Turns out, this is a major case of people accusing government officials!

Although the South Moutain area is remote, it has always had a special significance to Tianshing due to it being geographically located next to Changning and to some extent, it is more influenced by Changning than the imperial court. Although no one knows the identity of the person who is yelling out his injustice, all the officials there could already smell danger with their extra sensitive noses.

To dare to lodge a complaint against an official, to throw himself in front of the carriage of a prince who is in charge of the three-justice departments, and it’s a case involving South Mountain, this is obviously a hot potato and might even be a shocking big case. It is unknown if Prince Chu would even accept this case. 

According to storytellers, lodging a complaint is as easy as plopping yourself down on a busy street and any random official would accept it, and things would end gloriously happily all around as the villains receive their just punishments. However, in real politics, it is not as simple as you give and I accept. Can you accept it, how to accept it, with what capacity, what position and the consequences of accepting it will all need to be considered at that moment. Besides, Tiansheng Dynasty does not advocate accepting petitions beyond one’s scope of authority. As long as it is not within the jurisdiction of one’s own office, all petitions can only be accepted by the Ministry of Punishment. That is to say, except for the Minister of Punishment and the prince in charge of the Ministry of Punishment, no one else can accept this petition. 

Now, this guy must have done his homework, since he has stopped the carriage of the highest official of the Department of Justice. 

Everyone stared intently at the carriage curtain, waiting to see His Highness’ reaction. 

The carriage tilted, and the curtain lifted, and a young man came out. He was dressed in a high-ranking court official’s uniform. He was thin and lean, elegantly basking in the warm spring morning sunlight with a calmness and solidity that even the spring sunlight could not wash away. 

With his hands clasped behind his back, he stared at the kneeling man with a frown, his expression calm and distant. 

Everyone on the street was startled, inwardly thinking that this man did not look like the legendary good-looking and charming Prince Chu, then someone exclaimed, 

“Marquis Wei!” 

“General Wei!”

“Minister Wei!”

The titles were all different, but all represented one single person– the most famous and promising young minister in recent years! 

He is admired and worshiped by scholars and young men all over the world, the figure in countless young women’s dreams. 

It was Marquis Wei who came out of Prince Chu’s carriage. Everyone was both surprised and overjoyed. The street was instantly filled with commotion as people eagerly tried to find a good vantage point to admire Marquis Wei. 

However, in contrast to the joyous expression on the people’s faces, the expression on the officials’ faces was decidedly less excited. 

Neither the Minister of Rites nor the Marquis of Zhongyi could accept the petition. The only thing he could do was to instruct this person to go submit his petition to the Ministry of Punishment. But what happens when the man gets to the Ministry of Punishment then it would be another matter. 

Feng Zhi Wei stood calmly in the wind with her hands behind her back. 

It is true that she can’t accept the petition but neither can the petition go to the Ministry of Punishment. This matter involves Changning. Before the war with Dayue finishes, there is no guarantee that Tiansheng Emperor who is focused on keeping his empire stable wouldn’t just glaze over the matter again. 

When she was framed, Tiansheng Emperor had forcefully suppressed the whole thing for the empire’s stability. However, those jerks who did not receive their punishment last time are back to their old tricks again. Do they really think she is mud and can be stumped on whenever they feel like it? 

If anyone tries to push this matter down again, she won’t allow it! 

That is why this public cry of injustice happened right here on the capital’s busiest street. She is going to expose the truth of this case for all to see! 

Thus the secret meeting with Shaoning. Wei Zhi might not be able to accept the petition but there is someone who can!

With a faint smile, she reached out a hand, took the petition, and got back into the carriage to read it. Inside the carriage, Shaoning stared curiously with wide eyes. Feng Zhi Wei silently handed the petition over to her. 

The street full of people couldn’t see what was going on inside the carriage but they were already in an uproar after seeing Feng Zhi Wei taking the petition. 

The officials, however, just let out a cold smile on their faces. In just a few moments, this always very smart Minister Wei will for sure throw out the petition, and tell this foolish commoner to go take his never-ending petition to the Ministery of Punishment. 

They waited for the carriage curtain to be flung back, and a hand to throw out the petition. 

The crowd waited with bated breath. 

In the silence, someone said decisively “Accepted!” 

A roar erupted in the street, and excitement spread throughout the crowd, covering all sorts of voices but there were also some with especially sharp ears wondering out loud to themselves, “Eh? The voice is wrong, why was it a woman’s voice? There is a woman in Official Wei’s carriage?”

The officials also heard it and exchanged looks with one another but the carriage curtain didn’t lift again, just a hand reaching out to summon a guard over. The guard then immediately told the petitioner to follow the carriage as it once again turned toward the direction it had come from. 

The crowd dispersed reluctantly as they filled all the nearby streets with low chattering. Indeed, tomorrow, the market must be filled with yet another new legend of “Citizen of South Mountain stopping carriage in the street, Marquis Zhongyi resolutely accepted petition”. 

In the carriage, Feng Zhi Wei apologized to Shaoning, “Princess, I am truly sorry we can’t go see the imperial temple.” 

“That’s fine.” Shaoning is willing to do anything for her love. Even the little regret of not being able to spend more time alone was gone in an instant after Wei Zhi’s soft gentle words. Leaning against Feng Zhi Wei, Shaoning was all smiles as she flipped through the petition in her hand, “This case doesn’t seem to be a big deal, but what the officials of South Mountain did was also too much. Those people were just normal hunters living in the Yue mountain but they were treated the same as the mountain robbers and the whole family was wiped out…eh? This is not right. Why were they killed in the Yue Mountain? Didn’t I hear the South Mountain Envoy say those mountain robbers gathered at Weiming Mountain and were also all killed at Weiming Mountain? 

Feng Zhi Wei smiled inwardly– good thing you could still be considered smart and finally spotted the problem. 

This is also the reason why she suddenly had the idea of luring Shaoning out– while hiding behind the divider screen, Shaoning had already finished listening to the case of the mountain robbers in South Mountain from beginning to end. Now that she had used her special status to accept the case, she could naturally spot the problems once she compared the two versions of the case. This matter concerns her family’s empire so will she really sit idly by? 

In that “Mountain Robber” case, Yue Mountain was the real place where it happened. The Hang Clan army that split from Changning was ambushed and killed when passing through Yue Mountain at the junction of Changning and the South Mountain Pass. Because Yue Mountain was too close to Changning’s military camp, he was afraid it would attract the attention of the imperial court so they and Xu Minglin conspired and changed the place of crime to Weiming Mountain in Weiming County. 

“Is it?” Feng Zhi Wei put on a surprised expression, took the petition, read it carefully, and said with a look of sudden realization “You are so smart, Princess. I didn’t notice it before, but according to what you have said, Princess, there is indeed something very fishy about this case.

Shaoning’s smile widened after hearing the compliment. Poking her head out of the carriage to look at the petitioner, she tells her guard, “Make sure he stays safe.” Turning her head to look at Feng Zhi Wei, she said with a smile, “I think this is not a simple case. Don’t worry, those no-good officials won’t have a chance to get him.” 

Feng Zhi Wei glanced over at the petitioner, a hint of a smile in her eyes. Naturally, Shaoning wouldn’t know that this “innocent Yue Mountain hunter” who blocked their carriage was arranged by Feng Zhi Wei herself. The Imperial Capital was thousands of miles away from South Mountain. The whole thing with the Second Prince would’ve been completely over and done with if she had really tried to bring a witness all the way from South Mountain. This is the sort of thing that gets more troublesome the longer it drags on, so Feng Zhi Wei figures she might as well make up a witness. 

“It’s my duty to share His Majesty’s burden.” Feng Zhi Wei sighs, “But I am just a minister at the Ministry of Rites and have no right to accept petitions. I had to trouble Princess to accept this petition but this petition will probably still need to be handed over to the Ministry of Punishment…” 

“It can’t be turned over to them and it especially can’t be turned over to them by you.” Reminded by Feng Zhi Wei’s words, Shaoning frowns and said, “Those guys just framed you. Even though Peng Pei is now in prison, but there is no guarantee that someone else might still be harboring ill intentions towards you. Once they find out you are the one who accepted the petition, they will use that to attack you. I was the one who accepted the petition. I will deliver it directly to the Imperial Justice Department or perhaps the imperial cabinet. This has nothing to do with you.”


All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com

Related Posts