Jackie Chan's Son-in-Law

Chapter 169 Zhou Pan's Integrity!
Officials in the outer court, especially civil officials, have always been unwilling to have any connection with the inner court officials, and Zhao Mengjing had the same idea before.

Even now, he doesn't want to have any deep involvement with the Zhenfu Division, and he doesn't actually plan to come to the Zhenfu Division for this joint case.

He originally planned to handle the case through Chen Qing, but coincidentally, the White Lotus Rebellion case suddenly made progress, and Chen Qing had already left the city to handle the case, so Zhao Zongxian had to come to the Zhenfu Division in person.

For the Zhenfu Division, the Zhou Pan case was not a particularly big case; it was just a small part of the Zhenfu Division's investigations in the capital. However, for Zhao Mengjing, this case was the first case he handled after taking charge of the Censorate.

His current political goal is quite simple: to use the Zhou Pan case to bring down or destroy the Yang Yuanfu faction, so that he, as the Left Censor-in-Chief, can become famous overnight and then have absolute authority in the Censorate.

Moreover, he is a member of the Hanlin Academy and is not very old this year. If he does a good job as the Left Censor-in-Chief, even though few people go directly into the cabinet from the position of Left Censor-in-Chief, he can be transferred to the position of Minister of the Six Ministries, work for a year or two, and then go directly into the cabinet to become a cabinet minister.

As long as his health holds up, his political life can be said to have just begun.

That's why Chief Censor Zhao was so concerned about Zhou Pan's case, even going so far as to enter the nightmarish Imperial Prison once again.

Upon hearing Tang Can's answer, Zhao Mengjing couldn't help but frown, then turned to look at Zhou Pan in the prison: "Even the imperial prison can't pry his mouth open? Did someone somehow manage to pass a message to him?"

Tang Can and Zhao Mengjing walked a few steps away from Zhou Pan's prison before shaking their heads slightly: "Investigating the case, who would dare to let anyone in to visit him? If someone could actually get a message into the prison, then this garrison commander would truly be derelict in his duty."

He paused for a moment, then added, "He admitted to all his crimes, but when questioned further, he refused to say anything more."

Tang Zhenfu lowered his voice and continued, "If he goes too far, he will make all sorts of accusations, including those against the Duke of Wei, the Marquis of Leling, and all the cabinet ministers, including Grand Secretary Yang. He dares to say anything, but these accusations are not credible."

Zhao Mengjing nodded and grunted, "After all, I served as the Prefect of the Capital for five years. Having handled many cases, I've developed a knack for handling interrogations."

He looked at Zhou Pan and said, "Commander Tang, can I take this man with me? I want to take him to the Ministry of Justice prison and question him."

Tang Can thought for a moment and shook his head slightly: "Lord Zhao, this is a wanted criminal and it is not appropriate for him to leave the imperial prison. Moreover, Chen Qing led the arrest and is in charge of the matter. When Chen Qing returns, Lord Zhao can take him wherever he wants."

Zhao Mengjing looked at Tang Can and chuckled, "Governor Tang is really slippery. He pushed such a big matter all onto a child?"

Tang Can shook his head and said, "Lord Zhao, Chen Qing can't be considered a child. Although he can't be called cunning, he is quite mature in all aspects, and he is even better than me and Yan Hu."

At this point, Commander Tang said with a smile, "Our Commandery doesn't have many cultured people. Now that we have someone like Chen Qing, who is also favored by His Majesty, we must ask him to come up with more ideas."

Chief Censor Zhao raised an eyebrow and then said, "I'm at the Garrison Command. I can ask Zhou Pan about it, can't that be enough?"

"can."

Without hesitation, Tang Can said, "I will personally arrange for a clerk to record things for Lord Zhao."

According to the laws of the Great Qi Dynasty, every trial must be recorded, and it cannot be recorded by the interrogating official; otherwise, it is considered invalid.

Tang Zhenfu meant that Zhao Zongxian could conduct the interrogation, but the record should be made by the clerk of the Zhenfu Division.

Soon, the Zhenfu Division cleared out a room. Zhao Zongxian sat in the main seat, Tang Can sat in the lower seat, and Zhou Pan was brought in by several Zhenfu Division guards.

After entering, Zhou Pan was forced to kneel on the ground. After a while, he looked up at Zhao Zongxian, clenching his teeth and trembling all over: "If you didn't know better, you would think that Lord Zhao had become an official in the Zhenfu Division!"

Zhao Mengjing said coldly, "I am acting on imperial orders to assist the Zhenfu Division in handling your case."

"If you keep making trouble, you'll suffer physical pain here with me."

Zhou Pan's mouth was full of blood, but his bones remained hard. He gritted his teeth and said, "Then hit me all you want. Let's see if you can beat me into something like Lord Zhao after hitting me a few more times!"

Even with his composure, Zhao Zongxian couldn't help but frown as he listened to his sarcastic remarks.

This week, Pan clearly implied in his words that he had removed him from the ranks of civil officials and regarded him as a member of the inner court faction!

Zhao Mengjing took a deep breath, and his face turned cold: "Zhou Pan, listen carefully. A trial is a trial, and it has nothing to do with where it is conducted. I would like to take you to the Ministry of Justice prison for trial, but unfortunately you are a criminal under imperial warrant and cannot leave this prison."

"Stop rambling on and on. You're full of factionalism; it won't save you."

"Confess to the case honestly."

Zhao Mengjing's voice was low: "Perhaps this will save you from death."

"We scholars, we shall die if we must!" Zhou Pan shouted, his neck stiff. "Zhao Mengjing, you're a scholar who passed the imperial examinations twice, yet you associate with the Zhenfu Division..."

"shut up!"

Tang Can frowned and hissed, "What's wrong with the Zhenfu Division? You're still not behaving yourself even in the Imperial Prison. It seems those people in the prison have been too lenient with you. Tonight, I'll teach you a lesson!"

Zhao Mengjing took a deep breath and said coldly, "In your five years in the capital, you embezzled hundreds of thousands of taels of silver and committed countless illegal acts. Now that you are imprisoned, you are still so self-righteous. Who gave you that confidence?"

Zhou Pan gritted his teeth, glared at Zhao Mengjing, and said loudly, "You know I served as the Prefect of Jingzhao for five years. In those five years, I only received 300,000 taels of silver. Go check the records of all the previous Prefects of Jingzhao; which one received less than me!"

"You have the nerve to keep harping on me? The two brothers, Marquis of Leling and his brother, have seized tens of thousands of acres of imperial estates over the past few years. Why don't you, Zhao Mengjing, go and ask them about it?"

"In this entire capital, how many people are cleaner than me, Zhou Pan?"

Lord Zhou sneered, "Let's fight if we want to, stop with the damn righteous words!"

"You just want to get rid of my mentor, don't you? You want to make trouble for me!"

"My mentor has been in charge for over a decade, loyal and devoted to the country. Do you think you petty people can mess with him?"

Zhou Pan's hair and beard stood on end, and although he was covered in blood, when he looked up and glared at Zhao Mengjing and Tang Can, he actually had a certain air of righteous indignation.

Perhaps in his heart, he truly believed he was on the side of justice.

In fact, the things he did over the years were indeed of varying magnitudes. Among all the officials he served in the Jingzhao Prefecture, he was considered to be of moderate conduct. He was not an incorruptible official, but he was not excessively greedy either.

Zhao Mengjing frowned and remained silent.

Tang Can, who was standing to the side, said directly, "Lord Zhao, Zhou Pan is just taking advantage of your honesty. There's no need to waste words with such a corrupt official. If you want to ask him anything, just use torture."

"Our Zhenfu Division has the most complete collection of all kinds of torture instruments!"

Zhao Mengjing remained silent for a while before slowly saying, "Even if he confessed under torture, he's still not convinced. This matter isn't urgent, so Governor Tang, let's not question him today. Just take him back to the prison."

Tang Can waved his hand, and soon several strongmen escorted Zhou Pan, who was still cursing, back.

After Zhou Pan left, Tang Can sneered, "This guy probably still thinks that as long as he can hold on, the people behind him will find a way to save him. I bet those people outside would love for him to die in the prison right now!"

Zhao Mengjing shook her head and said, "Tang Zhenfu is wrong. At this moment, Zhou Pan himself also hopes to die in the imperial prison. He has long given up on living. As long as he dies, his family can be saved, and his children and grandchildren will probably be taken care of in the future."

"We are intertwined, and you are in me; we have long transcended life and death."

Upon hearing this, Tang Can suddenly said, "Lord Zhao is also a civil official, has three connections, and has countless protégés and former subordinates. Hasn't Lord Zhao been caught up in these troubles?"

"It was always like this."

Zhao Mengjing walked out with her hands behind her back: "After being imprisoned for three or four years, I've long since given up."

He paused, then said, "The big tree that Zhou Pan relies on will eventually fall apart. It's only a matter of time. There are few evergreen trees in this court."

He looked at Tang Can and asked, "When will Chen Qing return? Zhou Pan insists it's a power struggle in the court, and I really can't be shameless enough to use torture directly. Chen Qing is very shrewd; I'll have him interrogate Zhou Pan then."

Tang Can thought for a moment and said, "Judging by the time, we should be making our move tomorrow. I will personally go out of the city to take a look. If it succeeds, Chen Qing will have made another great contribution, and his position as the commander of the Zhenfu Division will be firmly secured."

At this point, Tang Zhenfu said with a smile, "When His Majesty is in a good mood, he will most likely reward him with a flying fish robe to wear."

Zhao Zongxian asked with some curiosity, "What is it that deserves such merit?"

"It's not convenient to say now."

Tang Zhenfu said with a smile.

"Tomorrow, Lord Zhao will find out tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)