Chapter 1188: The Han Chang Case

"A murder case?" Hearing Liu Yang bring it up, a trace of doubt first appeared on Emperor Liu's brow as he looked at Liu Yang: "Beneath the Son of Heaven's very feet, it's been a long time since we've had such a vicious crime as murder. What a coincidence that you encountered it?"

Noticing Emperor Liu's expression, Liu Yang hurriedly explained: "It was merely a chance encounter outside the Western Market!"

"Tell me, what happened?" Emperor Liu immediately asked. He didn't think an ordinary murder case would warrant Liu Yang, the Crown Prince, personally reporting to him.

Liu Yang didn't beat around the bush either, quickly reporting what he had learned from his inquiries: "The two parties involved are Han Qingxiong, third son of Han Lingkun, Marquis of Wuning, and Chang Kan, grandson of the late founding minister Chang Si!"

Hearing this, Emperor Liu understood, and his expression calmed: "Scions of meritorious nobles! How did these two come into conflict, to the point of costing a life?"

"According to the investigation, the two were inside the Peony Pavilion in the Western Market, competing over a singing girl's affections. It's said Chang Kan's words were cutting, mocking and ridiculing Han Qingxiong to the extreme. Han Qingxiong, though slow of speech, was hot-tempered and had drunk quite a bit. Unable to win the argument, he drew his sword in anger and stabbed him. Chang Kan couldn't dodge in time and died on the spot!" Liu Yang briefly recounted the sequence of events.

Having heard the full story, Emperor Liu's anger rose, and he said coldly: "What a fine farce. This Han Qingxiong is quite the son. How long has it been since Han Lingkun died, and already he's idling among the flowers and stirring up trouble!"

Regarding this matter, Emperor Liu made no effort to hide his disgust. Among the Great Han's many meritorious officials, Han Lingkun's fame wasn't particularly great, but with his decade-plus military career, he had participated in many major battles and rendered no small number of distinguished services.

Though he had some sense of "talent unrecognized," feeling his merits outweighed his rewards, and occasionally voiced some complaints, he was ultimately a meritorious official, enfeoffed as Marquis of Wuning. This summer, Han Lingkun, due to a relapse of a back abscess in Luoyang, died suddenly — an untimely death at under fifty years of age.

As for Han Qingxiong, he was Han Lingkun's youngest son and heir to the title and property. Barely a few months after his father's death, he committed this sort of incident in a brothel in the bustling market. Hearing this, Emperor Liu couldn't help but be angered.

As for Chang Kan, he was Chang Si's grandson. Old Chang Si had long since passed away. Though he had faded from court politics for many years, he was ultimately a founding meritorious official, and Chang Kan was his cleverest grandson.

He was also a jinshi from this year's spring examination, ranked eighth in the second class in the palace examination. This young man lived up to his name — eloquent and glib of tongue. But his temperament followed his grandfather's: overly caustic, fond of teasing and ridiculing others, never letting go when he had the upper hand, and stirring up trouble even when he didn't. In short, he had a sharp tongue. This time, it was his sharp tongue that cost him his life — Han Qingxiong likewise spoke with his sword and took his life.

"How has the matter been handled?" After pondering for a moment, Emperor Liu asked.

Liu Yang replied: "Chang Kan's body has been received by the Luoyang Prefecture, and Han Qingxiong has also been arrested and detained. Further disposition awaits the Luoyang Prefecture's report. However, your son believes that given the special status of both the killer and the killed, a result may not be forthcoming in the short term..."

Hearing this, Emperor Liu immediately rebuked: "What 'special status'? What is the Great Han's law for?"

With that, he looked up and fixed his gaze on Liu Yang: "What do you think should be done about this?"

Meeting Emperor Liu's gaze, Liu Yang clasped his hands: "This case is simple in process, clear in facts, and not difficult to gather evidence for. If following the law, the killer must die..."

Liu Yang's words stopped right there. Though the second half of the sentence went unspoken, Emperor Liu knew roughly what he meant to say. After all, this was an era of rule by men — even a simple murder case, when the parties involved had special status, inevitably required consideration of factors beyond the law. How to execute judgment was one thing; how to weigh interests, favors, and human relations behind the scenes was quite another.

The Han and Chang families were military meritorious nobles in the Great Han, and not particularly prominent ones at that, with limited influence. But considering the web of interests and personal connections they were entangled in, one had to think carefully.

The Han family had always been close to the Zhao family. Han Lingkun and Zhao Kuangyin, Duke of Rong, were childhood friends. In the current court, though Zhao Kuangyin hadn't dared to organize something taboo like the "Ten Brothers of the Righteous Society" within the military, a considerable military-political force had still formed around him — as a power outside the imperial clan and consort families, used by Emperor Liu to balance the court.

And Han Lingkun was Zhao Kuangyin's close comrade-in-arms and dear friend, a core pillar of his faction. Even setting aside the ties of interest, given the private relationship between the Han and Zhao families, if something happened to the Han family's heir, Zhao Kuangyin would not stay silent, whether by reason or by sentiment.

As for the Chang family, it rose with Chang Si. Though that was in the past, he was ultimately a founding meritorious official, a general in the Hedong uprising, and later became one of the notable military provinces.

If the argument that Chang Si later fell from power, paid to avoid disaster, and retired to the countryside isn't convincing enough — well, the closeness between the Chang and Guo families was no less than that between the Han and Zhao families.

That old man Chang Si was greedy, base, and stingy, mediocre in ability, with a terrible reputation. But the proudest and luckiest thing in his life was hitching his wagon to Guo Wei's train, making an early risk investment that paid dividends for a lifetime.

Over all these years, the relationship with the Guo family hadn't really cooled. Now that a direct-line descendant had been killed outright — regardless of the reason, given this outcome, Guo Wei couldn't possibly remain indifferent.

Would a murder case born of a petty rivalry over a woman provoke hostility between the Guo and Zhao families? If so, would Guo Rong, constrained by personal feelings, get involved? One should note that by the late Qianyou era, the relationship between Guo Rong and Zhao Kuangyin — jointly known as "Chai and Zhao" in the Great Han's military-political circles — had already grown quite distant.

Would this trigger a struggle and contest among meritorious officials? Would it break the current balance at court? And what stance would the civil official faction take?

Emperor Liu didn't know whether Crown Prince Liu Yang had considered all this, but Emperor Liu couldn't help thinking deeper...

"As for the judgment in this matter — make no announcement, pay it no special attention. Let the Luoyang Prefecture, the Ministry of Justice, and Dali handle it according to the court's regulations!" After pondering for a while, Emperor Liu looked up and instructed Liu Yang.

Seeing Emperor Liu's grave expression and grasping his meaning, Liu Yang clasped his hands and acknowledged: "Yes!"

Clearly, even when the squalid squabbles of noble scions resulted in a death, after a brief flash of anger, Emperor Liu's mood returned to calm. To Emperor Liu, those two aristocratic youths were of little consequence. What he was considering was using this matter to observe how the related noble and meritorious families would react, and how the affair would ultimately be resolved.

As the arbiter, Emperor Liu could sit securely on his fishing platform and watch the situation develop — this even aroused considerable interest in him.

"That Han Qingxiong holds a post in the Patrol Inspector's office, and Chang Kan was also observing governance at the Ministry of Justice, right?" Having settled his plans, Emperor Liu couldn't help but press further: "It's neither a rest day nor a holiday — how did these two end up in brothels stirring up this mess?"

"Send someone to the Patrol Inspector's office and the Ministry of Justice, to ask Han Tong and Li Ye how they manage their subordinates! Can this corrupt wind within the military and civil administration truly never be reformed?" Emperor Liu said coldly.

These words were quite severe. If Han Tong and Li Ye were present, they would surely kneel and beg forgiveness immediately, then curse the troublemaking Han and Chang youths in their hearts.

The matter of Han Qingxiong and Chang Kan spread quickly through the Western Capital. Though Luoyang was vast with ten thousand buildings, that in no way hindered the flow of information — by that very night, it had reached countless households. Thus, a large portion of the populace turned into spectators, ready to watch how things developed.

Among the Great Han's meritorious officials, harmony naturally did not prevail — ability, seniority, achievements, power, status, and so on could all become sources of conflict between them. Their sons naturally formed their own cliques, with no shortage of interactions on ordinary days, and no shortage of conflicts either.

However, this was the first time a death had resulted among noble scions, and the cause was so absurd. Though the incident had occurred, it was far from as serious as Emperor Liu imagined — there simply hadn't been enough time; it still needed to ferment.

The most affected were the Han and Chang clans. Indeed, while Emperor Liu was receiving Liu Yang and the others in the palace, Han Qingxiong's uncle Han Lingjun, after ascertaining the full course of events — though angry at his nephew's lack of ambition — still went knocking on doors that very night, visiting Duke of Rong Zhao Kuangyin.