All Heavens: From Joy of Life to The Great Feng Night Watchman

Page 187

"Later, the Second Prince destroyed your banknotes. That was because he deliberately damaged your property, and he should be the one to compensate you!"

After Lai Mingcheng finished speaking, Li Chang'an secretly praised him, thinking that the old man was really capable.

The ministers in the hall all nodded in agreement. If Fan Xian had indeed issued an order to release the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, then he had indeed accepted a bribe to do so.

Fan Xian was also somewhat stunned. As expected of the head of the Three Judicial Offices, his analysis of the case was very insightful.

Li Chengze said loudly, "Your Majesty, it was my fault that I deliberately damaged Fan Xian's property, and I am willing to compensate you!"

Upon hearing Li Chengze's words, Fan Xian immediately said, "Your Highness, stop! That's not how it works!"

"You didn't damage my property, the banknotes weren't mine at all, and I didn't take any bribes!"

Lai Mingcheng said coldly, "Lord Fan, I have already made myself very clear."

If you don't understand criminal law, be humble and don't deny it casually!

Emperor Qing said to Fan Xian with great interest, "Fan Xian, do you have anything else to say?"

Fan Xian suddenly smiled and said, "Have you ever heard of fishing, Imperial Censor Lai? Without bait, will the fish take the bait?"

Lai Mingcheng frowned and said, "So, you deliberately accepted bribes to lure the censors into a trap?"

Fan Xian said with a smile, "That's right, I've heard about the misdeeds of the Inspection and Records Bureau before."

The entire Oversight Council upholds the law as righteously as wielding a sword!

The idea of ​​eliminating traitors for the country is something I share with you, sir!

Fan Xian was smiling when Lai Mingcheng suddenly flew into a rage!

"I bother!"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Qing, behind the curtain, painfully rubbed his forehead.

Fan Jian and Chen Pingping both frowned. This old man is here again! He's making a mountain out of a molehill!

Sure enough, Lai Mingcheng pointed at Fan Xian's nose and said, "Who said you have a telepathic connection with me!"

"I, as an official, speak out for justice and uphold the law, while you openly accept bribes and act arrogantly and unjustly. We are not on the same side!"

Fan Xian said somewhat angrily, "Lai Mingcheng, didn't I just make myself very clear?"

"I want to investigate the records just like you. I'm using myself as bait to get involved!"

"Because of my actions, you have also taken notice of the Inspection and Censorship Department."

Ultimately, you uncovered the crime, and Eunuch Dai was brought to justice. Isn't that a good thing?

Many of the ministers in the hall thought the same thing and didn't know why Lai Mingcheng was so angry.

Lai Mingcheng continued, "Fan Xian, your level of criminal law is not even comparable to that of Prince Yong when he was fourteen years old."

Upon hearing this, Li Chang'an immediately replied, "I have no connection with this case. Please, Imperial Censor, be careful with your words!"

Lai Mingcheng cupped his hands and said, "I apologize. Your Highness's ignorance of the law back then is etched in my heart and I will never forget it."

Li Chang'an was speechless, but Li Chengqian was amused. It takes another evil person to teach a bad guy a lesson!

Lai Mingcheng then said to Fan Xian, "Lord Fan, you are the Director of the Surveillance Bureau, wielding great power of law enforcement and able to decide life and death. You must study criminal law well."

Fan Xian was speechless for a moment. This was equivalent to the chief prosecutor of the Supreme People's Procuratorate telling him, "Young man, learn some law."

"Imperial Censor Lai, what exactly are you trying to say?"

Lai Mingcheng said, "I ask you, when Eunuch Dai came to the Inspection Office to see you, was he thinking of bribing you?"

Fan Xian said, "That's not it. He thought the Second Prince would back him up."

When the Second Prince remained silent, he finally decided to bribe me.

Lai Mingcheng then said, "Did you imply in your words that giving money could settle things, which is why he gave you the money?"

Fan Xian answered frankly, "Yes, as I just said, this is a trap. If I don't hint at it, why would he give me money?"

Lai Mingcheng nodded, then cupped his hands toward the throne and said, "Your Majesty, Eunuch Dai originally had no intention of offering bribes, but Fan Xian, as a law enforcer of the state, induced him to commit bribery."

"Law enforcement officers entice others to commit crimes, and then punish them in their capacity as law enforcement officers."

This behavior itself is illegal! In Fan Xian's own words, it could be called entrapment!

"Fan Xian keeps saying that respecting the law is like wielding a sword, but he himself is entrapping law enforcement officers, disregarding the law, and knowingly breaking the law!"

Li Chang'an gasped in shock. Fan Xian and Lai Mingcheng had actually invented the concept of entrapment, which doesn't even exist now.

Lai Mingcheng's statement also implicitly aligns with the principle that crime requires a unity of subjective and objective elements.

Eunuch Dai originally had no intention of committing a crime, but Fan Xian's method of enticing Eunuch Dai to commit a crime was itself illegal.

Then, Lai Mingcheng turned to the ministers in the hall and said, "Gentlemen, you are all officials in the capital and are all subject to the supervision of the First Division of the Censorate!"

"And Fan Xian, the acting head of the department, not only thinks there's nothing wrong with entrapment, but he even boasts about it at the court meeting. Aren't you afraid?"

“You originally had no intention of committing a crime, but Fan Xian sent people to lure you in.”

Then, he'll use the name of the Oversight Council to prosecute you. Aren't you afraid?

The officials in the hall whispered amongst themselves, clearly unaware of this possibility.

Lai Mingcheng turned to Emperor Qing and said, "Your Majesty, it is certainly understandable that the Surveillance Bureau uses these methods to gather intelligence and deal with enemies!"

"But if such methods are used on officials, wouldn't the same apply to ordinary people?"

"Such measures will likely unsettle the officials, cause discontent among the people, and be detrimental to the long-term peace and stability of the country!"

Emperor Qing remained silent, but Lin Ruofu made a sarcastic remark.

"The Overwatch Council has been arrogant for so many years. They use the same methods they use to deal with enemy spies on the front lines of investigating corruption. Of course, they don't think there's anything wrong with that."

Chen Pingping pushed the wheelchair to the center of the hall. "Your Majesty, Fan Xian spoke to me about this before he did it, and I agreed to it."

"At that time, the court had already obtained preliminary evidence of the crimes committed by the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics. Eunuch Dai was not an innocent person either, and Fan Xian's methods were not problematic."

Lai Mingcheng immediately said, "Dean Chen, do you have any evidence to support your claim?"

Chen Pingping smiled slightly, "Imperial Censor Lai, the affairs of the Surveillance Bureau are confidential, and at this time only Fan Tisi and I know about them."

Lai Mingcheng sneered upon hearing this, "So, does that mean whatever you, Chen Pingping, say goes?"

"Your Oversight Council's power has reached the point where it disregards the laws of the Qing Kingdom!"

Chen Pingping persisted, bowing slightly to the throne and saying, "Imperial Censor Lai, you should know this!"

"The power of the Oversight Council was granted by His Majesty!"

Chapter 134 The Second Prince Slaps Li Chengqian in Anger! To Hell, Crown Prince! (13)

While Lai Mingcheng confronted Chen Pingping and Fan Xian, the court officials in the palace were also busy.

These people are now gradually coming to understand the meaning of entrapment enforcement.

"If the Censorate sends you 100,000 taels of silver through an informant, would you be tempted...?"

What if it were a million taels? If you accepted it, that would be bribery!

"The Surveillance Bureau arranged for a courtesan to seduce you, but it turns out that the courtesan was a spy from Northern Qi that they had captured..."

You've been tricked; you're colluding with the enemy!

"No one is a saint, and which official can withstand the test..."

As soon as Chen Pingping finished speaking, saying that the power of the Supervisory Council was granted by His Majesty, Lai Mingcheng immediately followed up with his own words.

"Your Majesty, the two crimes I have accused Fan Xian of, one of soliciting and accepting bribes, are established, and the witnesses are all present!"

"Secondly, this is entrapment and abuse of power, which must be severely punished. I hope Your Majesty will take this matter seriously!"

Everyone already knows that Fan Xian is Emperor Qing's illegitimate son.

Emperor Qing certainly didn't want to punish Fan Xian; at this stage, he still needed to play the role of a loving father and properly nurture Fan Xian.

"Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, you have the final say on all the major cases in the country. What is your opinion on this case?"

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review had just stepped out of his post when Emperor Qing added, "Don't say it's all up to my divine judgment!"

According to regulations, the handling of the Director of the Censorate should be decided by the Emperor, so the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review swallowed back the words he was about to say.

Although there were people from the Crown Prince's faction in the Court of Judicial Review, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review was not one of the Crown Prince's men.

"Your Majesty, before Fan Xian set up the fishing operation, he consulted with Dean Chen."

"Other departments cannot interfere with Dean Chen's actions..."

At this point, Chen Pingping immediately took over, "Your Majesty, this matter was due to my lack of foresight."

"This old minister will certainly improve the procedures, and in the future when such matters arise, this old minister will certainly keep a record for future reference, so as not to be without evidence."

"In that case, if any problems arise later, the three judicial departments can be asked to jointly review and adjudicate the matter."

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review waved his hands repeatedly and said, "No, no, no, the Supervisory Council can keep a record beforehand, and the Court of Judicial Review will not interfere."

"Having a record made in advance will make it easier for His Majesty to make a divine decision!"

The Censorate was independent of all other government offices and wielded immense power; even the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review dared not provoke it.

His point was that if the Censorate were to use any underhanded methods in the future, they should first leave evidence so that the Emperor could speak up for them.