This made Li Shimin anxious, and he wanted to trade one for one with me.

Li Shimin turned to Cheng Jun and asked, "Do you think Song Xuehou should be sentenced to death?"

Cheng Jun replied decisively, "Yes!"

"What's the reason?"

Li Shimin looked down and flipped through the case file again, but still couldn't find any flaws. He said, "I think there's nothing wrong with the judgment in this case file."

Cheng Jun solemnly said, "Your Majesty, I request that you first send someone to bring Song Xuehou to the palace!"

Seeing that he wanted to confront Song Xuehou in the palace, Li Shimin became even more curious about where his confidence came from, and said, "Granted."

"Ananda, go and bring Song Xuehou here!"

"The slaves obey the orders!"

Zhang Anan received the imperial decree and left the main hall, taking two palace guards with him to the Ministry of Justice prison.

Not long after, two palace guards escorted Song Xuehou, a middle-aged scholar dressed in prison clothes and with shackles on his hands and feet, into the Ganlu Hall, following behind Zhang Anan.

"Your humble servant Song Xuehou pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

Song Xuehou bowed in fear and trepidation. Following the instructions of the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice, he had stalled the judge of the Dali Temple and the censor in the Ministry of Justice prison, but he never expected that he would be taken into the palace because of this!

At this moment, Wang Liang walked up to him, his face stern, and shouted, "Song Xuehou, answer whatever His Majesty asks you! Speak the truth! Do not utter a single falsehood!"

Seeing the look in his eyes, Song Xuehou instantly understood and quickly replied, "I will definitely understand and answer back!"

Cheng Jun overheard and observed their conversation and expressions, and chuckled, "Minister Wang, the way you passed him the message is just like you're being coquettish."

Hmm... Li Shimin showed a look of disgust.

Wang Liang had been observing Li Shimin's expression. Seeing the look of disgust on his face, his expression immediately changed, and he quickly retorted, "Your Majesty, Cheng Jun is making baseless accusations!"

Li Shimin pretended not to hear anything, turned to Cheng Jun and said, "I think there is no doubt about this case, and there is nothing to ask. You can ask whatever you want."

"The minister obeys the order!"

Cheng Jun cupped his hands in greeting, then walked up to Song Xuehou and asked, "Song Xuehou, I am here on imperial orders to ask you questions, and you must answer honestly!"

Song Xuehou was no longer as arrogant as he had been in the Ministry of Justice prison. He lowered his head and said meekly, "Please inquire, sir."

Cheng Jun asked, "How old are you?"

Song Xuehou dared not conceal the truth: "Thirty-five."

"What identity?"

"Scholar."

Where do you live?

“In Changming Ward, Chang'an County, Chang'an City.”

"What crime have you committed?"

"Fighting and killing"

Who was killed?

"my wife."

Who is your wife?

"The Yuan family."

Cheng Jun asked, "Why did you kill your wife?"

Without thinking, Song Xuehou blurted out the words he knew by heart: "That day, I was drinking at home and drank a bit too much. She became dissatisfied and spoke rudely to me. I wanted to teach her a lesson, but she dared to fight back. I was so angry that I couldn't help but use too much force and accidentally killed her."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin looked at Cheng Jun. Based on Song Xuehou's testimony, the Dali Temple's verdict was without any problem.

Cheng Jun continued, "Just now in the Ministry of Justice prison, you described the crime of fighting to the death in detail in front of me, the judge of Dali, and the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice. It is clear that you are very familiar with the laws of our Tang Dynasty, which is not at all like what you said in the Ministry of Justice prison that you did not know the Tang law. I ask you, do you know what the crime of intentional homicide is?"

Upon hearing this, Song Xuehou's expression changed, and he panicked, "I don't..."

Before he could finish speaking, Cheng Jun interrupted him, solemnly reminding him: "If you lie before His Majesty, you are deceiving the emperor!"

Song Xuehou swallowed the words that were rising in his throat and lowered his head to say, "I know."

The crime of intentional homicide is killing someone without cause, and the offender shall be executed according to the law.

Cheng Jun looked at him and said, "Since you know what the crime of fighting and killing is and what the crime of intentional homicide is, you should know that the crime of fighting and killing is less serious than the crime of intentional homicide. And if you just insist that it was manslaughter, you will only have to serve three years in prison, right?"

"wrong!"

Song Xuehou immediately retorted, "I committed manslaughter! Not intentional homicide!"

Cheng Jun asked, "Since you insist that it was manslaughter, I will ask you again: the crime of killing in a fight is to kill the other party during a fight. You just said that you beat your wife under the pretext of disciplining her and eventually killed her, is that right?"

Song Xuehou nodded and said, "That's right!"

"Now tell me, did your wife fight back?"

"Have!"

Cheng Jun asked again, "Is it really true?"

Song Xuehou said decisively, "It really is!"

His questioning skills and style are very similar to Liu Xiangdao's. Could it be that he stole them from him? Good lad, not only did he anger Liu Xiangdao and send him to the Imperial Medical Bureau, but he also stole his questioning skills... Li Shimin couldn't help but look at Cheng Jun with new respect.

At this moment, Li Shimin saw Cheng Jun turn his head and look at him with a serious expression.

"Your Majesty, I request that someone be sent to strip Song Xuehou of his clothes!"

"Prelude!"

At Li Shimin's signal, the purple-robed eunuch beckoned in two palace guards who stripped Song Xuehou of his clothes.

Song Xuehou was filled with fear and unease, his arms crossed, somewhat confused as to why Cheng Jun had done this.

At that moment, Cheng Jun's voice reached my ears:

"Song Xuehou, I have asked you repeatedly whether your wife fought back. You said yes. Then tell me, why is there not a single scratch on your body?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Shimin looked at Song Xuehou, his eyes lighting up. "So that's how it is!"

If what Song Xuehou said is true, and he accidentally killed his wife during a fight, then he should have had marks on his body from the injuries his wife had inflicted.

But Song Xuehou didn't have a single scratch on his body!

It's clear he was lying!

This was Song Xuehou's one-sided beating of his wife, which constitutes intentional homicide!

Good lad... Li Shimin changed his old perspective and looked at Cheng Jun with a new eye a few more times. He actually found evidence, and it was solid evidence!

Dali judge Cui Yue looked at Cheng Jun with admiration, admiring his boldness and even more so his meticulousness, before turning to Song Xuehou.

At this moment, Song Xuehou's lips trembled, his body swayed like a leaf, and his face was pale.

Cheng Jun walked up to him and, seeing his expression, knew he was already frightened, but he had no intention of letting him go. He said sternly, "To contend is to fight, to strike is to brawl, and only when fighting results in death is it called murder in a fight. Your wife did not fight back, which clearly does not meet the criteria of contention or striking. Moreover, you were filled with resentment when you hit her. Therefore, your crime should not be murder in a fight, but intentional homicide!"

"Therefore you shouldn't only serve three years in prison, you should be executed!"