Judge Yu waited anxiously outside the palace gate, feeling as though his heart was lodged in his throat. He looked through the palace gate, then turned to the avenue leading towards the palace entrance, and back again.
His father had already been inside for as long as it took for an incense stick to burn, so it should be about time for the Supreme Court Chancellor to arrive.
As he fretted, he saw a carriage coming in the distance. At a glance, it was clear that this carriage belonged to the Chancellor. Judge Yu"s heart suddenly lurched at the realisation.
The carriage stopped outside the palace gate. The Chancellor opened the curtain and stepped down from the carriage, holding the prepared doc.u.ment in his hand. He was about to enter the palace to meet the Emperor.
"Sir!"
Hmm? He glanced aside and saw that Judge Yu was approaching from the side, with a warm and welcoming smile on his face.
"Judge Yu? Why are you here?" Shouldn"t he be in the Supreme Court? When did he come here?
Judge Yu walked towards him, keeping his face as calm as possible, and bowed. "As soon as I finished processing a case in Lin Province, I came to the palace to report to the Emperor and just came out. May I inquire what matter would let My Lord be in such a rush to enter the palace?"
"A small issue!" The Chancellor said casually.
He didn"t intend to say! But Judge Yu looked at the proposal he was holding and his expression turned solemn. The Chancellor immediately noticed his glance and quickly hid the proposal behind him and shook out his sleeves. "Since you are done, then hurry back to the Supreme Court. There have been many cases recently. As a judge, you should work on more cases without delay. "
"Yes!" He was very respectful. The Chancellor did not want to stay any longer and was about to enter the palace. However, before he had taken more than two steps, Judge Yu called out again.
"Sir, please hold on."
"Does Judge Yu still have something to say?"
Judge Yu glanced guiltily at the palace gate, wondering why his father hadn"t come out yet. He had never done anything like this before. Besides, the person to be stopped this time was the Chancellor, his top supervisor.
"Well, it"s like this. Your subordinate previously visited you, wanting to discuss the case submitted by Gushui County. The appellant was a woman who tried to sue a rich businessman, Mr Lin for occupying her ancestral lands and then beat her parents to death after the lawsuit failed. However, the case was resolved haphazardly because there was no evidence. This case seemed to be straightforward, but during the review, it was found that Mr Lin often helped the poor in the local area. Citizens of Gushui County said that he is a good man, so this matter... "
He didn"t finish speaking, just dragged a long note, then secretly glanced at the Chancellor to gauge his reaction. The Chancellor just hummed and said, "we will discuss it later, this official needs to enter the palace immediately."
"But sir..."
"We can talk about this later, so go back now." The Chancellor walked towards the palace gate.
But Judge Yu had a mission to do, so he couldn"t just let it go. He stepped forward and stopped him again.
At this moment, the Chancellor was a little displeased and frowned at him.
"Judge Yu, what exactly is the matter?"
He said, "When this humble one came out, the Emperor said he was a bit tired and wanted to rest. Therefore, it may be inappropriate for you to enter the palace at this time. If it is not urgent, maybe… why not head over tomorrow?"
"It"s about the a.s.sa.s.sin committing suicide in prison, don"t you think it"s urgent?" Of course it"s urgent! It"s more urgent than your wife giving birth!
The Chancellor used the word "suicide"! Not "killed" as Vice Chancellor Yu would say! It was clear that he had long been prepared to conceal the matter.
Judge Yu showed a shocked look on purpose and slightly bowed his head. "Then of course it is urgent."
"Then if you have nothing else, we can discuss this later back at the Supreme Court. If the emperor is indeed resting, this official will wait outside." With that said, he directly bypa.s.sed Judge Yu and moved forward.
However, that piece of sticky gum still stuck to him. "Sir!"
In short, Judge Yu didn"t care anymore. Since what"s done is done, he had to be brave enough to keep fighting. Thus, he stopped the Chancellor for the third time.
The Chancellor was completely infuriated. "Judge Yu, you already have stopped this official from entering the palace three times in a row. What do you mean by this?"
Judge Yu lowered his head. "This humble one just wanted to know what you plan to report about the a.s.sa.s.sin to the emperor."
"It"s not up to you to tell me how to do my job, is it? You are just a judge, so remember to just do your duties. You are now repeatedly blocking this official. If you keep delaying important issues, this official will hold you accountable. Get out of the way. " He rebuked him harshly.
Judge Yu"s fingers were shaking. He knew that he couldn"t stop him anymore, so he had to step aside and watch the Chancellor enter the palace.
He sweated heavily as he stood there, and didn"t know when his father would come out.
As he worried, he saw Vice Chancellor Yu coming out of the palace.
"Father, how was it?" He hurriedly greeted him.
Vice Chancellor Yu"s expression was very relaxed and he smiled. "Be at ease."
"I just stopped the Chancellor with all my effort. I worry that he was suspicious."
"No problem, let"s go back first." Vice chancellor Yu seemed not to mind at all.
After the two got on the carriage and returned to the Supreme Court, Vice Chancellor Yu sent Judge Yu away, then he went to the a.s.sembly hall in the Supreme Court. He sat down, ordered someone to make a pot of tea and drank slowly. As if he was waiting for someone.
About an hour later, the Supreme Court Chancellor returned from the palace, brows tightly knitted together and his expression was dark with anger and frustration. As soon as he got out of the carriage, he headed for the a.s.sembly hall. At the entrance, he shoved at the already opened door. A loud bang followed.
Upon hearing this, Vice Chancellor Yu remained calm, drinking his tea. He glanced at the door and saw the Supreme Court Chancellor striding towards him with a vicious expression. He threw the proposal on the table fiercely. "Vice Chancellor Yu, how do you explain this?" He questioned.
He pretended as though he knew nothing, "What do you want me to explain, sir?"
"You planned this from the start, didn"t you? You intentionally tangled a rope around the wheels of my carriage so that I couldn"t get into the palace. You played the oriole waiting to ambush the mantis busy with hunting the cicada, and took advantage of this chance to present your report to the Emperor."
"Oh, so it was about that!" Vice Chancellor Yu said suddenly in a carefree manner. He put down the cup in his hand, "Sir, you must have misunderstood. What rope are you talking about? This subordinate doesn"t get it. I just thought that the fact that a.s.sa.s.sin died in the prison of the Supreme Court abruptly was a major concern, so I planned to catch up to you and enter the palace together. There was a stationary carriage along the way but I never thought that it could be yours. I realized that only after I reported to the emperor. "
Everyone said that Vice Chancellor Yu was eloquent enough to be able to invert black and white, twist lies into truths. Otherwise, how could he have risen into such a high position in such a short period of time, and even the Chancellor had to give him respect.
The Chancellor was not a fool; he knew that he was definitely lying. He would normally not pay too much attention to it, but this issue involved Prince Yi and even his own career, so he could not just ignore it.
"You told the Emperor that the a.s.sa.s.sin was silenced by others. Are you aware that the Emperor would think that we, the Supreme Court, had failed to guard the prisoner properly? Both you and I will be blamed. Also, when the Emperor saw my proposal, stating that the a.s.sa.s.sin committed suicide, he threw the report and accused this official of lying and trying to hide the truth. He even suspected that this official was working with the murderer and almost sentenced me to be beheaded at noon!"
So? Are you going to blame it on me?