Chapter 697 Audience (Part 2)
Although Sun Shaozong had done a lot of "idle things" in the past few days, he naturally did not dare to delay the important case ordered by the emperor.
By examining past case files, as well as the remaining evidence and testimonies, we have roughly sorted out some new evidence that is not absolute but can be considered to be substantial.
Hearing Emperor Guangde's question, he calmly asked for a pen, and started drawing a topographic map of the Tiewangshan crime scene on the low table in the corner.
After thinking for a while, he added a few pictures of physical evidence in the blank space at the bottom and side. Finally, he circled all the key points with a cinnabar pen. Then he asked the eunuch Qiu Shi'an to take it and present it to the emperor's desk.
"His Majesty."
Sun Shaozong returned to his original position and bowed, saying, "I have sorted out the previous case files and found that most of the officials who handled the case were arguing over whether it was manslaughter or murder. Therefore, I think this is the first thing we should verify."
"I have carefully examined all the testimonies and evidence, and finally found some clues."
"Wei Ruolan loves hunting, and his family has plenty of money, so he naturally bought a good horse and a good saddle - even the bows and arrows he used for hunting came in several styles."
"Because they were going hunting in the mountains that day, Wei Ruolan carried a specially made three-edged arrow with long feathers, a wooden shaft, and a heavy cluster. It is known for being 'stable, accurate, and fierce', but its range is inferior to that of ordinary bows and arrows."
"This is naturally because the forests in the mountains are dense, and it is difficult to achieve results even if the range is far. It is better to pursue accuracy and stability. When I conquered the Wuxi Barbarians, the bows and arrows they used were also like this."
"At the time of the crime, the arrow flew through the forest and hit Master Niu who was more than 20 steps away."
"I have ordered people to survey the area. The trees on both sides of the mountain road are relatively sparse. Even if you go more than ten steps deep, you can still clearly see people walking on the road."
"It's not until you get 20 or even 30 steps deep into the forest that your vision is blocked by the trees and you can't see the road clearly."
"If it was an accidental shot in the forest, the distance must have been at least fifty steps away."
"Plus, Master Niu was going down the mountain at the time, and the arrow was shot from bottom to top, which made the difficulty even greater."
"According to the results of the experiments conducted by my people, Wei Ruolan can only shoot Master Niu who is fifty or sixty steps away if she uses the maximum bow force."
"This is obviously unreasonable!"
This analysis is well-reasoned and much more sophisticated than the "motive theories" that were based on conjectures made during the previous trial by the three courts.
Although it is inevitable that some of the previous officials did not understand the situation and therefore deliberately slowed down their work.
However, Sun Shaozong's profound and easy-to-understand inference was still praised and affirmed by Emperor Guangde.
"So that's it."
Then he asked, "Did Wei Ruolan really deliberately shoot and kill the eldest son of the Niu family?"
"That may not be the case."
Sun Shaozong shook his head and said, "After completing these tests, I also did some other verifications."
"Although the shooting range is not important, the power of the shortbow used by Wei Ruolan is still far beyond that of an ordinary hunting bow - and the specially made long-feathered arrow is also much more powerful than an ordinary arrow."
"If you are within thirty steps, and use pork as a target, and shoot with Wei Ruolan's hunting bow at full draw, the distance into the meat should be four to five inches - if it encounters a rib, the distance will drop to about two inches."
"With Young Master Niu's thin body, if there were no obstruction from his ribs, every arrow would be able to penetrate his body."
"According to the autopsy records of three consecutive times, the arrow that shot Mr. Niu penetrated the flesh about two inches and four points, piercing the heart and causing his death, and did not injure the ribs."
"And to reduce the damage to this level, the power of the hunting bow must be reduced to 60% to 70%."
"So another question arises: If he planned to shoot Master Niu, why didn't he pull the bowstring to its full strength, but only used 60% to 70% of the force?"
Because Sun Shaozong's description was so vivid, Emperor Guangde couldn't help but get into the story when he looked at the topographic map.
After listening to him, I nodded involuntarily and murmured, "If you are worried about losing your aim, it is possible to use only 80% or 90% of your strength. 60% or 70% of your strength is indeed unreasonable."
"Your Majesty is wise."
Sun Shaozong flattered him and continued, "After I discovered this suspicious point, I ordered someone to find the short bow used by Wei Rong, the servant of the Wei family, and after a simple repair, I conducted a test similar to the previous one."
"The result is exactly the same as Young Master Niu's injury, the full bow has penetrated the flesh about two inches to two and a half inches!"
"In that case..."
When the emperor heard this, he couldn't help but blurt out, "Is it true as Wei Ruolan said, that arrow was actually shot by Wei Rong?"
"His Majesty."
Sun Shaozong said helplessly: "After all, speculation is just speculation, and it cannot be used as ironclad evidence. Moreover, it has been two years, and there may be some factors that I have not been able to deduce. It is unknown."
When Emperor Guangde heard this, he finally smiled. He stroked his beard and nodded, saying, "This is the attitude that a chief official of the Dali Temple should have. My dear minister, just investigate carefully. No matter who comes to you, you don't need to pay any attention to them!"
This naturally refers to the Niu family, but how could the emperor know that Sun Shaozong had actually accepted the "bribe" from the Wei family?
The emperor and his ministers exchanged a few words, and Emperor Guangde scribbled the memorial, which was passed from Qiu Shi'an to Sun Shaozong.
This was the emperor's intention to "see the guests off".
Therefore, Sun Shaozong put away the memorial, bowed tactfully, took a few steps back, turned around in front of the door and left the warm room.
According to the original rules, one had to follow the eunuch leading the way and leave the palace directly from the Donghua Gate.
But just as Sun Shaozong said "thank you", the eunuch who led the way said with a smile: "Eunuch Li just told me to take you over to talk. I think we have been waiting for a while. Sir, please follow me!"
As he spoke, he led Sun Shaozong to the corridor.
Over there is the side door of Jingren Palace, which is more convenient to enter and exit than the main gate. However, since the warm room is built near the main gate, we just went through the main gate.
Sun Shaozong had been here before and knew that there were no taboos along the way, so he didn't think much about it and followed the eunuch into the corridor.
As they were walking along the road and were not far from the side door, a sneaky little eunuch suddenly came towards them. When he saw Sun Shaozong and the other man, he turned around and left in a panic.
Who knows what's going on in this deep palace?
Sun Shaozong naturally did not look away, as if he did not see it.
However, the wind would not stop blowing even if the tree wanted to be still. The eunuch leading the way saw this and shouted, "Where are you going, you little monkey? Come back here!"
The young eunuch was also feeling guilty, so he would have pretended not to hear anything and walked away quickly, or stopped and said a few words to evade the question, and the matter would have passed.
But he paused, turned around stiffly, and subconsciously covered his abdomen with his hands - and when he covered his abdomen, a small bag immediately appeared under his robe.
