I was chased by my sickly junior brother who had two lives

On the official road of the capital, a shabby carriage came galloping. The bells on the shaft made rapid sounds as the carriage was bumped, breaking the tranquility of the early morning.

The carriage came to an abrupt stop in front of the Dali Temple. The curtain was suddenly opened, and a ragged old man staggered out of the carriage. His face was full of fatigue and vicissitudes, but his eyes were firm.

The old man held a petition tightly in his hand, the paper was soaked with sweat, and his slightly trembling hands showed his inner nervousness and excitement.

Inside the Dali Temple, Chen Jue was reviewing official documents. Hearing the noise outside, he frowned slightly and stood up and walked towards the door.

The old man knelt on the ground with a thud and shouted, "Sir, please help me!"

Chen Jue hurried forward to help the old man up, "Old man, please get up first, and tell me what's going on slowly."

The old man stood up, tears welling up in his eyes, "Sir, the King of Zhao's men have been encroaching on the people's fields in our county, and we are really left with nowhere to go."

As he said this, he handed the complaint to Chen Jue.

Chen Jue took the petition and his face gradually became solemn. He unfolded the petition and saw a detailed record of how the King of Zhao's men seized the people's land, used coercion and bribery, and caused many farmers to lose their land and become homeless.

A surge of anger surged in Chen Jue's heart. He knew very well that if this evil act was true, it would surely cause public outrage.

"Don't worry, old man. I can take your case here and I will give you justice."

Chen Jue's voice was firm and powerful, and his eyes showed unquestionable determination.

After hearing what Chen Jue said, the old man kowtowed repeatedly, "Thank you very much, sir. Thank you very much, sir. On behalf of the villagers, I kowtow to thank you for your great kindness."

Chen Jue helped the old man up again and ordered his men to take care of him properly.

Afterwards, Chen Jue went to see the prince with the complaint. The prince's palace was magnificently decorated. Chen Jue walked into the palace, bowed to the prince, and reported the whole story in detail.

After hearing this, the prince's face turned serious. "How dare the King of Zhao's men act so boldly? If we don't punish them, where is the law of the country?"

Chen Jue nodded and said, "Your Highness, I am willing to do my best to collect evidence and bring these criminals to justice. However, the power of King Zhao in the court is not small, so I am afraid there will be many obstacles in this matter."

The prince stood up and paced for a moment, thinking, "It's okay. I will work with you to collect evidence and will not let them get away with it. I want to see how bold they are to do whatever they want under my nose."

After Chen Jue and the prince took on this difficult case, they knew that evidence was the key to exposing the evil deeds of King Zhao's men to the public, so they immediately launched an intensive evidence collection operation.

They first disguised themselves and wore plain cloth to avoid attracting attention. The village outside the capital should have been a peaceful and tranquil pastoral scenery, but at this time it was shrouded in haze.

The paths in the fields were bumpy and the weeds beside the roads trembled in the wind, as if they were also lamenting the fate of the villagers. They walked into the village and saw that many farmers' homes were in ruins, and some even had their doors closed and no one was in the house.

Chen Jue frowned and said softly, "Your Highness, the men of King Zhao are really despicable. They turned a good village into this state."

The prince looked solemn and nodded in response: "Brother Jue, we must make the truth known and give justice to the villagers."

They visited the villagers door to door, and listened patiently to the villagers' complaints at each house. An old woman was sitting at the door of her house with empty eyes. When she saw Chen Jue and the prince coming, she felt like she had grabbed a life-saving straw.

"My two lords, you don't know that those people are like vicious wolves. They rushed into my field and drove us out without saying a word. My old man tried to stop them, but was beaten by them. Now he is lying in bed and can't get up."

As the old woman spoke, tears could not stop flowing.

Chen Jue stepped forward and comforted her: "Auntie, don't be sad, we are here to seek justice for you. Do you still remember some details at that time, such as how many people there were, and whether there were any special marks?"

The old woman tried to recall: "I remember there was a leader with a big black mole on his face. There were about a dozen of them, all holding sticks."

Chen Jue was taking notes carefully.

Continuing on, they came to a barren farmland where the crops that had once thrived had been trampled beyond recognition and the land had been turned into a mess.

Chen Jue squatted down, carefully examined the traces on the ground, and said, "Your Highness, judging from these footprints and the remains of farm tools, there must have been a fierce conflict at that time."

The prince also squatted down and observed for a moment, "Yes, and the direction of these footprints seems to be heading towards the mountain behind the village."

They followed the footprints to the foot of the mountain and found a dilapidated hut. The hut was surrounded by weeds and had a gloomy atmosphere.

Chen Jue approached the hut carefully and looked inside through the window. He saw that the hut was filled with all kinds of looted food and farm tools.

The prince whispered, "It seems this is one of the places where they hide the stolen goods."

Chen Jue nodded, "Let's not alert the enemy yet. Let's go back and find some people to confiscate the evidence here."

In the process of collecting witness testimony, they encountered many difficulties. Many villagers were afraid of the revenge of the king of Zhao and did not dare to testify. There was a young farmer who was strong, but he was so scared that he waved his hands when he was asked to testify.

"Sir, I don't dare. I have old people and children to support at home. If I offend the people of King Zhao, they will definitely not let us go."

Chen Jue looked at him and said sincerely, "Brother, don't worry, we will definitely protect your safety. Just think about it, if no one dares to stand up, such things will continue to happen in the future, and your life will be even more difficult."

After Chen Jue's repeated persuasion, the farmer reluctantly agreed.

In order to protect the witnesses, Chen Jue arranged reliable personnel to secretly transfer them to a safe place.

At the same time, they continued to track down the whereabouts of the land. After much inquiry, they learned that most of the embezzled land had been sold to some wealthy businessmen.

Chen Jue and the prince decided to start with these wealthy merchants. They visited a famous silk merchant. The merchant lived in a luxurious mansion with a courtyard full of exotic flowers and plants. When he met Chen Jue and the prince, the merchant denied it at first.

"My two lords, I bought all this land legally, and I have the land deed as proof. I don't know anything about embezzling the land of the people."

Chen Jue sneered, "Really? Then do you know that this land deed is forged? If you confess now, maybe you can get a lighter sentence."

The prince also said majestically: "Don't try to get away with it. I already have a lot of evidence."

The merchant saw that the situation was not good, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. After hesitating for a moment, he finally told the truth: "My two lords, I was also coerced and induced by the people of King Zhao to buy these lands. They gave me a land deed, but I didn't read it carefully. I just wanted to make some money from it. I still have some letters I exchanged with them, which I can give to you two lords."

Chen Jue took the letter, examined it carefully, and was overjoyed. "Your Highness, these letters are enough to prove that King Zhao's men colluded with these wealthy businessmen to embezzle the people's land."

The prince also looked relieved, "Finally we have found the key evidence. This time we will make sure they receive the punishment they deserve."

They came to the house of a landowner who was quite powerful in the local area.

Chen Jue went forward and knocked on the door. After a long while, a man who looked like a housekeeper came to open the door. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

The housekeeper asked arrogantly. Chen Jue said politely: "I am here to investigate some land matters and would like to talk to your master.

"The housekeeper sneered, "My master doesn't see strangers, you can go."

Chen Jue frowned and said, "This matter is of great importance. If your master refuses to cooperate, I'm afraid there will be trouble in the future."

The housekeeper was about to close the door impatiently. At this time, the prince stepped out and said majestically: "If you dare to stop me, you will be implicated in the evil deeds of the King of Zhao. I will not forgive you."

When the housekeeper heard this, his face changed. After hesitating for a moment, he let them into the yard.

When Chen Jue met the landlord, he explained his purpose, but the landlord denied it flatly: "The land I bought is legal and compliant, don't slander me."

Chen Jue took out some fragments of evidence and said, "Look at these. These are clues we found elsewhere. They are inextricably linked to your land. If you tell the truth now, it's not too late."

The landlord's eyes flickered, but he still refused to give in.

Chen Jue continued, "You must know that the evil deeds of the King of Zhao will be exposed sooner or later. If you blindly cover up for him, you will only fall into a deeper predicament."

After some negotiations, the landlord finally wavered. He sighed, "I was forced to do this. The people of King Zhao threatened me that if I didn't buy those lands, my family property would be destroyed by them. I have some threatening letters here, I can give them to you."

Chen Jue took the letter and put it together with the previous evidence, making the chain of evidence more complete.

During the investigation, Chen Jue also found some villagers who were persecuted by King Zhao's men hiding in the mountains. He and the prince crossed mountains and ridges to find these villagers.

An old man saw them and asked in horror, "Who are you? Are you sent by the King of Zhao's men?"

Chen Jue quickly explained: "Old man, we are here to seek justice for you. We have collected a lot of evidence and want to bring King Zhao's men to justice."

The old man was skeptical, "Can you really do it? King Zhao has so much power in the capital."

Chen Jue said firmly: "Old man, we are officials of the Dali Temple and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. We will not let them get away with it."

The old man shed tears of excitement after hearing this, "That's great, we finally have hope."

These villagers also provided some important testimonies, allowing Chen Jue to have a clearer understanding of the entire case.

Chen Jue and the prince also found a servant who had once worked for the king of Zhao, but was now dismissed and disgruntled. When Chen Jue found him, he was hiding in a remote alley.

"You are Ah Fu, right? We know that you have served under King Zhao. We are now investigating their embezzlement of civilian land. If you can provide useful clues, it will be beneficial to you."

Ah Fu looked at them warily, "Why should I trust you? If King Zhao knew that I betrayed him, I would be dead."

Chen Jue took out some money and said, "Take these first. We will protect your safety. Besides, the evil deeds of the King of Zhao have aroused public outrage. He will fall sooner or later."

Ah Fu hesitated for a moment and whispered, "I know they have a secret warehouse in an abandoned manor outside the city. There are many looted items hidden there."

Chen Jue and the prince immediately led people to the abandoned manor, and indeed found a large amount of stolen goods and some important accounts.

After some hard work, Chen Jue and the prince finally collected enough evidence, laying a solid foundation for exposing the crimes of King Zhao's men in the court.

These evidences included not only witness testimonies, evidence of forged land deeds, letters of collusion with wealthy businessmen, but also hidden stolen goods and accounts. These were enough to prevent King Zhao's men from making excuses, to reveal the truth to the world, to give justice to the people, and to uphold the dignity of the law.