EBE Chapter 284 Public Trial Begins
Chapter 284 Public Trial Begins
"Gentlemen, in that case..."
"So the first public hearing of the Handan City case will be held here."
As soon as Tang Yu finished speaking, Shen Lang behind him immediately clasped his hands in a fist salute and shouted loudly.
"We pay our respects to the Imperial Preceptor!"
To Tang Yu's surprise, this shout startled him.
He then gave a somewhat helpless smile.
Goodness, Shen Lang, you've really broadened your path this time.
He never expected Shen Lang to pull this stunt.
To be fair, Tang Yu actually enjoyed this performance quite a bit.
After he glanced at it, all the other people and officials shouted loudly.
"We pay our respects to the Imperial Preceptor."
Tang Yu raised his hand to signal the audience to quiet down.
Then he spoke calmly.
"Now bring in prisoners, led by Zhao Qiang, a noble family from Handan."
"Especially those nobles who usually run rampant in Handan and oppress the local people, bring them all along!"
Tang Yu's action immediately caught the attention of the people, who cheered him on.
"Excellent! Well done, Grand Preceptor!"
"As expected of the Imperial Advisor! He can distinguish between loyalty and treachery at a glance!"
They never expected that Tang Yu would so decisively choose to confront the nobles so directly upon arrival, and to do so with such a large force.
He seems to be just as rumored, a truly good official who genuinely cares about the people.
The nobles' reaction at this time was completely different from that of the common people.
They originally thought that, as fellow members of the aristocratic class, Tang Yu would at least share their interests.
After all, many of them are in the imperial court, so Tang Yu will inevitably have to rely on their strength, right?
However, if their relatives in the imperial court heard their words, they would definitely rush to say something.
"Please don't drag us into this, let us go, we're timid."
After all, Tang Yu was a figure of great influence in the imperial court. He didn't even need to give face to Ying Zheng, let alone these ordinary officials.
Not to mention saving face for other people.
In front of Tang Yu, their face is nothing more than a shoe insole.
After the prisoners were brought up, Tang Yu stood in front of them and spoke.
"Gentlemen, I'm sure you're all respectable people, and I don't want to resort to torture right from the start."
"If you have anything to say, just say it now."
Upon hearing Tang Yu's question, the group of people all shuddered.
After all, Tang Yu's reputation was not just for show.
It was forged from bloody realities.
They knew all too well how miserable the original nobles of Chu were when they fell into Tang Yu's hands.
It can be said that even ten clans were banned.
Not to mention ordinary officials like them.
They immediately told Zhao Qiang to start speaking, since they knew that a group of people rushing around talking nonsense would not reveal the truth.
If you let someone who is logical and can speak on behalf of the public speak, then all problems will be solved.
And this person is Zhao Qiang.
"Your subordinate Zhao Qiang greets the Imperial Preceptor."
Zhao Qiang stepped forward, first bowed, and then, seeing that Tang Yu's expression remained unchanged, began to slowly recount his story.
As he spoke, he looked at the other spectators behind him, his tone extremely serious and earnest.
After all, he didn't know what these people were thinking, nor did he want to know.
However, he knew that if he didn't explain even the slightest thing about what happened today, or if he didn't explain it properly,
Then it would definitely be myself who was buried, along with other nobles from Handan.
He didn't want to die so easily.
"Gentlemen, as an official of Handan and your local leader, I naturally learned of this incident immediately."
"And for this incident to have developed to this point, I, Zhao Qiang, bear an unforgivable sin."
"I apologize to everyone for this."
He then slowly knelt down in front of everyone and kowtowed three times.
Seeing this scene, the people felt extremely satisfied.
They all felt that it was Tang Yu's arrival that made Zhao Qiang back down.
Otherwise, how could Zhao Qiang, who is usually so arrogant, care about these peasants?
Tang Yu saw his behavior but did not stop him. Instead, he continued to speak calmly.
"In that case, don't waste time, quickly tell me the details of what happened."
"If you are truly innocent then, I will certainly do justice for you."
"Thank you, Master Imperial Master!"
Zhao Qiang then looked at the nobleman and slowly spoke.
"Although I made a very big mistake in this incident."
"But the first thing this humble subject must say is that, Your Excellency, I and the other nobles of Handan have been wronged!"
"I'm completely innocent!"
As soon as he uttered this cry of injustice, the disgruntled people's expressions changed, and they began to hurl insults.
"What are you accusing?"
"Injustice? When you nobles murdered my father, why weren't you wronged?"
"And my neighbor, such a good person, was killed just because he had a few words with you. It's utterly callous to take human life!"
"Pay with your life! Pay with your life!"
The anger of these people was clearly not enough to affect Zhao Qiang.
Zhao Qiang looked at Tang Yu and said with utmost seriousness.
"Grand Preceptor, and all of you, you may not know this."
"But what I want to say is that, in fact, from the very first death, none of the people involved in this incident were killed by any of the nobles in my city of Handan."
"None of the dead were actually victims of revenge by nobles because of a conflict with them."
"On this point, I, Zhao Qiang, dare to guarantee with my own life and fortune, and with my entire family, please trust me."
Everyone present was stunned by these words.
Putting everything else aside, in this day and age, daring to guarantee with one's life and fortune, daring to guarantee with one's entire family, is already an extremely important promise.
You should know that no matter how serious your crime is, the worst punishment you can get is to cut off your head and exterminate your entire family.
Now, if he causes problems with his guarantee, he could face the execution of his entire family even before the trial.
It's conceivable that Zhao Qiang might indeed be partly innocent.
A hush fell over the field.
Tang Yu spoke slowly.
"go on!"
As he spoke, he sized up Zhao Qiang with his eyes.
Because he knew that even if Zhao Qiang wanted to continue, there were others who didn't want him to continue.
Otherwise, his plan would fall apart.
This is the person Tang Yu is wary of.
"The first case occurred twenty-four days ago in the market east of our city of Handan."
"Old man Sun, who is in his sixties, had a conflict with a nobleman."
"In the end, Old Man Sun died under mysterious circumstances, and items left behind by the nobleman were found at the scene of his murder..."