Chapter 45 Treason

"Ah—" He Zhongan instantly understood why He Wan'er would ask such a question.

He Wan'er said, "This is a family tradition. Before going into battle, one must always leave a bell behind. The danger of what you are about to do is no less than going to battle. Perhaps we can have the estate stall for time, and you and Lei Caoer can first..."

"It won't come to that. Elder Sister, just wait for my good news," He Zhongan replied with a wry smile, while muttering inwardly, *Who do you think you're underestimating?*

How could this little bit of time ever be enough?

He Zhongan cast one final glance at the more than one hundred members of the He family gathered behind him. Those standing here were the prominent figures of the clan, representing the entire He family.

He Zhongan bowed deeply, and amidst the gaze of everyone present, he turned and walked away.

Immediately, he heard He Rou's distant weeping, but he did not look back.

*******

Shuntian Prefecture.

Wang Jianzhi sat in the primary seat, feeling completely ill at ease.

To his left were Pei Yuan, the chief official of the Military Law Department of the Bureau of Military Affairs, and Wang Zhi, the chief official of the Ministry of Punishments. To his right were officials from the Censorate and the Court of Judicial Review.

Wang Jianzhi had originally wanted to push away the duty of primary judge, but alas, everyone else had the exact same idea. They unanimously agreed that this case should be presided over primarily by Shuntian Prefecture.

Though a million curses raced through Wang Jianzhi's mind, he had no choice but to sit in the seat of the chief judge.

He asked the officials on either side, "Has anyone from the Marquis of Wuning's estate arrived yet?"

"They have already arrived."

"Bring them in."

A moment later, He Zhongan strode into the main hall, merely offering a slight bow of greeting as he said, "He Zhongan of the Marquis of Wuning's estate pays his respects to all your excellencies."

Before Wang Jianzhi could speak, Pei Yuan of the Bureau of Military Affairs shouted loudly, "Audacious, He Zhongan! Upon entering the public hall, why do you not kneel?"

He Zhongan replied calmly, "The Founding Emperor once decreed that he treated all dukes and marquises with the courtesy due to family members. The Marquis of Wuning does not dare to place himself on par with our ancestors, but if your excellencies truly wish for me to kneel, I shall kneel."

Before coming to the hall, He Zhongan had made extensive preparations.

Fortunately, ancient statutory law was relatively simple and sparse. Compared to the countless vague and ambiguous legal clauses of later generations, it was far too simple. He Zhongan had only needed to skim through it a few times to grasp the core points.

The Founding Emperor of Great Xia, having deeply reflected upon the fall of the Great Ming dynasty, concluded that scholar-officials in the realm could never be trusted. Therefore, he elevated the nobility, allowing them to deeply participate in politics.

Because of this, the nobility enjoyed various special privileges.

Scions of the nobility were permitted to meet officials without kneeling.

However, as time progressed, the rise of the civil official bureaucracy became an established reality, and many rules gradually evolved.

Yet who was Pei Yuan? He was a collateral branch descendant of the Pei family, the Duke of Ning's estate.

By demanding that He Zhongan kneel today, Pei Yuan was essentially slapping the faces of the entire nobility. Furthermore, the Duke of Ning was the foremost among the founding nobility, imbuing this gesture with profound implications.

Pei Yuan could only let out a cold snort. "What a glib tongue."

He Zhongan replied, "You flatter me."

"Ahem, ahem..." Wang Jianzhi coughed a few times to draw attention back to himself as the chief judge, and said, "Someone has lodged an accusation that the He family of the Marquis of Wuning's estate murdered a court-appointed official, Pei Zhixiao. Is there any truth to this? Who is responsible? The Marquis's estate need only hand the culprit over."

Wang Jianzhi's intention was simple.

Force the Marquis of Wuning's estate to hand over a scapegoat to take the blame, and this matter would blow over.

Then, he, Wang Jianzhi, would be in the clear.

Yet He Zhongan was unwilling.

It was impossible for him to sacrifice a member of the He family, or his reputation within the clan would be ruined. Moreover, according to the unspoken rules among the nobility, Pei Zhixiao's death should have been reported as dying of illness.

Coming here today, He Zhongan was bent on blowing the matter wide open. How could he possibly compromise?

"Perhaps."

"Perhaps? What do you mean by perhaps?" Pei Yuan demanded angrily.

"If Lord Pei does not understand, allow me to explain: it means there may or may not be," He Zhongan replied calmly.

"Audacious! Showing contempt for the court—" Pei Yuan raged.

"Ahem, ahem..." Wang Jianzhi coughed once more, drowning out Pei Yuan's voice.

Wang Jianzhi held no goodwill toward the Duke of Ning either.

How could he?

The Pei family had dragged Wang Jianzhi into this whirlpool, yet the Duke of Ning's estate still attempted to force Wang Jianzhi into submission. Wang Jianzhi, after all, was the Prefect of Shuntian holding the third rank; he was no minor figure among the civil officials and naturally possessed a temper of his own.

Pei Yuan snorted coldly and fell silent.

Only then did Wang Jianzhi speak: "If it is merely 'perhaps,' how can you convince the public?"

He Zhongan asked in return, "May I ask when, where, and with whom Pei Zhixiao was killed, and who can serve as a witness?"

Wang Jianzhi said, "Show the testimony to Young Master He."

Knowing this matter would be extremely troublesome, Wang Jianzhi had done his homework thoroughly. Although there was no testimony from the He family's side, the local forensic investigations and the testimonies of the imperial guards were thoroughly complete.

Only with such evidence did he dare to summon people from the Marquis of Wuning's estate.

After reading the documents, He Zhongan suddenly smiled, bowed, and said, "Prefect Wang, have you not noticed something?"

"What is it?"

"Pei Zhixiao left the camp with his personal guards and weapons, including firearms. What does this mean?"

"Hmm?" Being a civil official, Wang Jianzhi did not fully understand certain military matters.

"Moving the imperial guards without a military order constitutes the crime of treason. To kill a traitor, how can that be considered a crime?"

Without a military order from the Bureau of Military Affairs, mobilizing the imperial guards was classified as the crime of treason, punishable by execution on the spot.

Such was the military law of Great Xia.

As troops stationed in the capital, the imperial guards were subject to the strictest regulations. Otherwise, if anyone could casually mobilize a massive army, where would that leave the imperial court?

Perhaps mobilizing troops in remote provinces was not this stringent, but in the capital, it was a grave political incident.

Of course, after a long period of peace, many rules had grown lax.

It had become an unspoken rule for nobles to draw a few individuals from the military to handle personal affairs, provided the numbers were not too large.

However, some matters, when unweighted, weighed less than a feather, but once placed on the scales, even a thousand catties could not hold them down. The matter before them was precisely of this sort.

As soon as He Zhongan spoke these words, the expressions of the five men in the hall abruptly changed.

Wang Jianzhi immediately flipped through the case files and indeed discovered that when Pei Zhixiao left the camp, he was fully armed—carrying warhorses, weapons, and armor. Not only himself, but he had also brought along his personal guards in an organized formation, and those guards were fully armored as well.

One must realize that under heaven, the rules governing the imperial guards were the most rigorous.

Before the He family's retainers entered the capital, they were required to remove their armor.

Yet the regulations governing the imperial guards were far stricter than those of the He family.

Military equipment was normally kept within the armory.

Only upon receiving orders from above could the armory be opened and equipment issued; once the mission was completed, the equipment had to be returned to its place.

Wang Jianzhi quickly grasped several key characteristics: organized formation—Pei Zhixiao had brought every single one of his personal guards, leaving none behind; equipped with weaponry—while it was normal for military commanders to bring personal guards when traveling during peacetime, bringing weaponry was abnormal (though perhaps permissible in border regions, it was strictly forbidden in the capital; even if brought out, walking the streets clad in iron armor was unheard of); and the complete absence of a military order.

Throughout the case files, from beginning to end, there was no mention of why Pei Zhixiao had done this, let alone any trace of a military order.

"Audacious! How dare you make wild and baseless accusations—" Pei Yuan panicked, shouting furiously, "Does your He family raising private soldiers in the capital amount to treason? If you do not understand the rules, do not spout nonsense!"