Chapter 67 of 100
Chapter 67
16 min read4,075 words
Qin Jiyi did not withhold information from Gu Qiancheng, but rather he was very busy...
By hanging the people who were monitoring him on the city walls, he had created a deterrent effect, but it also caused the Emperor's dissatisfaction. The Emperor believed that Qin Jiyi had gone too far and decided to give him a good reprimand to make him more restrained.
The older the Emperor got, the softer his heart became. He did not want to see his son and grandson kill each other in his later years. Seeing how Qin Jiyi had recently changed from being accommodating to being aggressive, the old Emperor couldn't help but think of the late Crown Prince.
Afraid that Qin Jiyi would become another Crown Prince, the old Emperor changed his previous indulgence and showed his dissatisfaction with Qin Jiyi...
Qin Jiyi was already struggling in the Ministry of Punishments. Now that the Emperor clearly showed his dissatisfaction, the several princes naturally would not miss this opportunity and began to secretly trip up Qin Jiyi.
Originally, Qin Jiyi was only temporarily assigned to the Six-Fan Gate to handle a locked-room murder case. When the princes saw that the Emperor wanted to reprimand Qin Jiyi, they hinted to their subordinates to submit memorials, placing Qin Jiyi in charge of the Six-Fan Gate.
The Six-Fan Gate was established by the Ministry of Punishments a year ago, gathering top talents from various departments to solve cases that the government and local authorities could not. Initially, the Six-Fan Gate was set up to enhance the reputation of the Ministry of Punishments, to show the capabilities and professionalism of the department, and to help certain people achieve political accomplishments and promotions. Therefore, the Six-Fan Gate had a high status, and the person in charge of it had significant power in the Ministry of Punishments, second only to the Minister. Placing Qin Jiyi in this position was not a demotion.
The work of the Six-Fan Gate was to solve cases that others could not. As long as one had the ability, one could definitely achieve political accomplishments in the Six-Fan Gate. Solving a few major cases in the capital would certainly earn the Emperor's favor, and the future prospects would be limitless.
When the Six-Fan Gate was first established, many people tried to secure a position there. However, since its establishment, the Six-Fan Gate had taken on many cases but solved none. Five officials had held the position, but all left in disgrace.
It wasn't that the people in the Six-Fan Gate were incompetent, but the cases reported to them were inevitably major, significant, and violent, which the government could not hide. How could such cases be solved easily?
One of the leaders, under pressure or to achieve political accomplishments, reported a case as solved despite insufficient evidence. However, when the report was submitted to the court, it was exposed, and he ended up being exiled to the border.
The Six-Fan Gate became a burden to the Ministry of Punishments. Those who had entered the Six-Fan Gate tried every means to transfer out, leaving only those who were incapable and had no connections. There were very few who could truly get things done.
When the Emperor's sons learned that the Prince of Qin was to come to the Six Ministries for training, they thought of the Six-Fan Gate in the Ministry of Punishments. If the Prince of Qin stayed in the Six-Fan Gate for a year or two without achieving anything, the entire court would see how incompetent he was, without needing them to say a word.
However, everyone knew what kind of place the Six-Fan Gate was. The Emperor's sons had to work hard to get Qin Jiyi temporarily in charge of a case in the Six-Fan Gate, but they couldn't bind him there permanently.
Now that the Emperor clearly wanted to give Qin Jiyi a lesson, this was too good an opportunity for the princes to miss. The next day, someone submitted a memorial, praising Qin Jiyi and then proposing that the Six-Fan Gate be separated and placed under the full responsibility of the Prince of Qin.
Each of the Emperor's sons was in charge of a different task, and none of them stood out. The official who submitted the proposal naturally did not want the Prince of Qin to be too special.
The Prince of Qin was to go through all six ministries and then be designated as the heir apparent, which was something the Emperor's sons did not want to see. Therefore, these princes, who usually avoided each other, were unusually united and cooperated in this matter.
The princes did this just to test the waters, not expecting it to succeed. However, the Emperor this time tacitly approved the court's suggestion...
Thus, Qin Jiyi's temporary training at the Six-Fan Gate turned into a full-time position as its leader. The Emperor also ordered Qin Jiyi to solve the case he was currently investigating within a month.
Solving this case would allow the Six-Fan Gate to become independent from the Ministry of Punishments, and it would become Qin Jiyi's responsibility, as well as his power base in the court.
The case the Emperor wanted Qin Jiyi to solve within a month was a major case that had recently shocked the capital. In just three months, eleven people had died.
The victims died suddenly in their sleep, with no wounds on their bodies, no signs of poisoning, and no traces of anyone entering the room. The coroner initially determined that they died from intracranial hemorrhage, but after several similar deaths, the government recognized it as a murder case.
The victims died in their bedrooms, which showed no signs of disturbance or forced entry. The Ministry of Punishments classified it as a locked-room murder case.
The victims included both men and women, with no connection in age, personality, or daily interactions. The only similarity was that they were of high social status and from wealthy families, with the lowest being the wife of a wealthy merchant and the highest being the legitimate son of a second-rank official.
Since the first case, the government had not found any leads. They only knew that this case was similar to a murder case from over a decade ago, which remained unsolved.
The incident occurred in the capital, and one of the victims was the son of a second-rank official. The families of the victims joined forces to pressure the government. Under immense pressure, the government had to submit the case to the Ministry of Punishments, which then transferred it to the Six-Fan Gate.
After taking over the case, Qin Jiyi reviewed all the details of the eleven cases. However, due to the time that had passed, the crime scenes and bodies had been destroyed, making it impossible to find useful evidence. Occasionally, he would find a new clue, but it would quickly dissipate like ripples in water.
Because of this case, Qin Jiyi lost the seal given to him by the Emperor. He already had a personal stake in solving this case, and now that the Emperor had ordered him to solve it within a deadline, he spent a lot of time on it.
If solving Gu Chengyi's case could help the Prince of Qin establish himself in the Ministry of Punishments, then solving this case would help Qin Jiyi establish himself in the court.
Although the Emperor intended to suppress Qin Jiyi, he was also giving him an opportunity. The princes had been operating in the court for many years, and the six ministries were already under their control. If Qin Jiyi succeeded, he could independently manage a department and cultivate his own loyalists...
Taking full charge of the Six-Fan Gate, Qin Jiyi had many things to oversee and was very busy. However, he did not forget about Gu Chengyi's case. After learning that the verdict had been handed down, Qin Jiyi found time to question the people responsible for investigating the murderer at the Donglin Academy. These people brought Qin Jiyi some good news...
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