paranoianovel Chapter 2352 Special Case
Chapter 2352 Special Case
Li Shen's loud roar startled everyone in the hall, and Ma Siyuan fell to his knees with a thud.
"Your Highness Prince Ji, please calm down. I have not lied in the slightest. I hope Your Highness Prince Ji will understand."
"Clear investigation? This file has already checked it clearly, and you still dare to quibble?
You have disregarded my majesty and deliberately deceived me in the hall. Here, I will punish you severely, with sixty strokes of the cane."
Li Shen sneered and shouted.
"Your Highness Prince Ji, please spare my life. Your Highness Prince Ji, please spare my life." Ma Siyuan was so frightened that he kowtowed repeatedly.
Prince Ji is trying to kill him. He's so old, and he's being caned sixty times? All the bones in his body can be broken.
At this moment, Wang Xuance, who was standing nearby, leaned over and whispered in Li Shen's ear:
"Your Highness, isn't sixty strokes of the cane too severe? It could kill him. There are so many people watching here, don't let it get out that you're abusing the law.
This will affect the reputation of Prince Ji’s Mansion.”
As the Chief Secretary, this is his job, to correct and advise the prince when he makes mistakes.
"Ah."
When Li Shen heard Wang Xuance nod, he felt a little dizzy and kept thinking about the TV series he had watched in his previous life.
He was often tortured and exiled to Lingnan. His father was also called Li Erhe.
"Forget it, considering your advanced age, I will forgive you this time. If you deceive me again, I will never forgive you.
This king will give you one more chance. I hope you will think it over carefully before answering, so as to avoid physical pain."
Li Shen waved his hand at the bailiff.
"Thank you, Your Highness Prince Ji, thank you, Your Highness Prince Ji." Ma Siyuan was almost scared to death just now.
"Ma Siyuan, from what I hear from you, you should be a literate person. How many years of education have you had?"
Li Shen took the teacup handed to him by Shi Tou and blew on it.
"Your Highness, Prince Ji, I studied very hard for ten years, but unfortunately, I never passed the imperial examination. In the end, I was forced to become a merchant to make a living."
Ma Siyuan said with some regret.
Looking at Ma Siyuan's age, Li Shen speculated that he was probably born before the Sui Dynasty, in a period later called the Northern Zhou Dynasty and now called the Zhou Dynasty.
The dynasty was founded by the Yuwen family, so Ma Siyuan can be said to have witnessed the change of dynasties.
The imperial examination system only started in the Sui Dynasty. Before that, if you didn't have a strong background, it was really hard to get ahead.
Even if you are extremely talented and knowledgeable, it will be useless if there is no one to recommend you, and a lot of talents will be buried.
"You should also be from the Central Plains, right?" Li Shen spoke again.
"Your Highness, I am a Taoist from Longyou," Ma Siyuan replied.
"Longyou Dao, then why do you live in Xizhou City?" Although it was not far away, Li Shen felt strange at such an old age.
“Ten years ago, His Royal Highness Prince Ji made it safe for merchants to roam, so I started the reselling business.
Xizhou is the only way to go west and east, so I bought property in Xizhou City. Now I have handed over my property to my son, and I will spend my remaining years here."
Ma Siyuan said so.
"So that's how it is, Ma Siyuan. Everything mentioned in this file is based on the investigation conducted by the yamen runners. I'm giving you one last chance. Will you plead guilty?"
After understanding the situation, Li Shen looked at Ma Siyuan.
Ma Siyuan opened his mouth to deny it, but swallowed the words back as soon as he opened his mouth. It had become a habit for him.
He was a Tang person, so he was somewhat arrogant and superior here, and he had no psychological burden to bully the remnants of Gaochang.
To be honest, if he were in Longyou, he might not dare to do this.
"What? Do you still want to quibble?" Li Shen asked coldly when he saw that he didn't speak.
"No, no, no, I...I plead guilty." Finally, Ma Siyuan lowered his head.
"That's good. According to the law, rebellion is exiled..." Li Sheng had just said this when Ma Siyuan spoke:
"Your Highness Prince Ji, I am already seventy-three years old."
"Seventy-three?" Li Shen was stunned. He was surprised by Ma Siyuan's age. In the Tang Dynasty, living to seventy-three was considered a long life, and one must be rich or noble.
You have to eat well, drink well and take good care of yourself to survive to this time.
But Li Shen quickly came to his senses, frowned and said angrily:
"I don't care if you're seventy or over. What's so great about you being seventy-three?"
"Your Highness Prince Ji, according to the law, those who are seventy years old and above can be exempted from punishment." Ma Siyuan said cautiously.
"You're talking nonsense! How come I don't know that there's such a clause in the Tang Dynasty law? Can I escape punishment after breaking the law?
You actually deceived this king again, someone come and give... "
"Your Majesty."
When Li Shen was about to lose his temper again, Wang Xuance leaned over and shouted again.
Li Shen paused, then turned to look at Wang Xuance and asked in a low voice:
"You won't tell me that this is true, will you?"
"Your Highness, there are indeed some. Tang law contains specific provisions for punishing crimes committed by the elderly and the young."
Wang Xuance nodded slightly.
"Oh~~~~~" Li Shen suddenly understood. He turned to look at Ma Siyuan:
"Ma Siyuan, it seems you are quite knowledgeable about Tang law. No wonder you are so fearless. You are just relying on your age to act so recklessly."
"Your Highness Prince Ji has misunderstood. I am old, and sometimes I do things a little confusedly. I beg Your Highness Prince Ji to show some mercy."
Ma Siyuan begged him, saying that his behavior had been going on for a long time and the government had never done anything to him in the past.
The government never detained him, fearing that he would die in prison. After all, he was a Tang person and had some connections in Longyou Road.
If he died in prison, his son would definitely go to Longyou Road to find someone to make a big deal out of this matter. When the imperial court found out about it, it would also punish the officials of Xizhou.
"Hehehehe."
Seeing Ma Siyuan's expression, Li Shen sneered and turned around to ask:
“What does the law say?”
Wang Xuance immediately replied:
"Those who are over seventy but under eighty years old and have committed crimes punishable by exile or less may be redeemed. Those who have been subjected to forced labor may be exempted from forced labor, though they may not be redeemed."
Li Shen thought about it after hearing this:
"Then how should he be punished for his crime?"
"Your Highness, he should be exiled, but he can be redeemed." Wang Xuance replied.
"Snapped!!"
After hearing this, Li Shen turned around and slammed the gavel.
"Ma Siyuan, this king has always been fair and refusing to abuse private punishment. For your crime, this king sentences you to exile. Are you willing to accept the ransom?"
"I am willing, I am willing. Thank you, Your Highness, Prince Ji, for your grace."
When Ma Siyuan heard this, he immediately kowtowed to express his gratitude. It was just a few dollars, which might be more for ordinary people.
But considering his many years of business, it was nothing to worry about, just a few strings of cash.
Li Shen nodded and said with satisfaction:
"That's good. Since you injured someone, you must compensate them. First, you must compensate them for their medical expenses, mental damages, and lost wages, a total of thirty strings of cash."
"Thirty strings of cash?" Ma Siyuan was extremely surprised.
"Your Highness Prince Ji, the injured man's medical treatment only cost two hundred coins. I am willing to give him one coin.
Why would they have to pay thirty strings of cash as compensation?"
(The house keys are handed over today, so I’ll send you two first and make up for it when I get back.)