LEGEND OF NEVETSECNUAC - THE ASSASSINS - SECTION 11
Lord Wutenzar Thuxur Marrog Zhon, true to his word, in the ensuing months had spared no expense in the effort of exonerating Sorgun Dufo.
Before long the news
reached them that Lord Wutenzar’s able men, through their persistence and
prodding, through bribes dispensed covertly, and despite the fact that Lord
Wutenzar Thuxur Marrog Zhon had no jurisdiction or influence in Fukken
province, had brought down the barriers of stiff opposition to finally uncover
the hidden facts (evidence) pertaining to this case. What's more they had managed to procure
irrefutable proof of Sorgun's innocence and used this to force the local
authorities to reopen the investigation.
It so happened that
Sorgun's father, Kerek, in his shame, had indeed forced his daughter-in-law
Linnsar to commit suicide then, after writing a letter of confession and
begging forgiveness from Sorgun which he left in his study to be discovered,
had taken his own life with one cut to the throat.
Fortunately for Sorgun the trusted Steward
Alec, who had discovered the bodies when Minakos came to call the next day,
managed through his quick wit and sharp eye, to sneak a peek at the contents of
the letter over Minakos’s shoulder as latter broke the seal and read it.
The Steward Alec had been
constrained however, perhaps out of fear, to keep his tongue when Minakos with
his false exclamation (shriek), declared that the content had pertained to him
and that it had only been about an insignificant, trivial matter- then crumbled
it and cast it into the fire.
The ambitious Minakos, seizing this rare, golden opportunity, from then on had conspired to buttress an ironclad case against his own nephew Sorgun, who had disappeared, to convict him of many grievous crimes, foremost being patricide.
With his suspicious nature Minakos had kept
the steward in line with his close scrutiny and insinuated threats as he spread
damaging rumors (hearsay) and bogus accusations same time planted incriminating
evidence to support his fabricated version of the events leading up to the now
perceived case of multiple murders and abduction.
Rumors fanned by Minakos'
hirelings spread quickly far and wide, that Sorgun in a jealous rage, had
killed them both and kidnapped his own son, legitimate next beneficiary, as a
hostage to be used if he was threatened.
At the corrupted inquest
Minakos' testimony directing all blame towards Sorgun was corroborated by
others who he had surreptitiously bribed or intimidated. As they dragged Sorgun's name through the mud
he quickly became the most hated, despised criminal in the history of the
Fukken province.
Leaving nothing to chance, Minakos bribed many
of the key officials to exert influence on the Magistrate Kokos to pronounce
the appropriate guilty verdict despite the absence of the accused.
Aside from covertly hiring a number of experienced thugs to comb the province and assassinate his nephew, Minakos Vidart so far as to lavish rare gifts on the provincial Governor Toku, under the pretext of asking, as the future head of the Dufo clan, his invaluable help in quickly putting an end to this shameful, scandalous episode.
The underlying motives of this request had
positively confirmed the Governor's suspicions about this case, but he
pretended to consider the matter further to extract more benefit from Minakos. In fact, Toku had carefully weighed the
untold rewards he could reap from granting the incumbent Esquire his wish
against the unlikely repercussions of enacting such an irregular procedure.
In the end, when he deemed, he had wrung
enough out of Minakos, he had reluctantly agreed to turn a blind eye to justice
and pressured Magistrate Kokos to forgo the normal procedures and expeditiously
wrap up the case.
The indignant steward
Alec, having served the clan practically all his days, out of fear for his life
and with nowhere else to go had swallowed this great injustice done to the
rightful heir of Esquire Kerek Dufo and, painful as it was, maintained his silence.
At the inquest Alec was further constrained to mechanically parrot the slanderous, erroneous accounts leading up to multiple murders, as dictated to him by Minakos. He'd sporadically choked on the words but delivered them just the same, then Minakos Vidart on to serving his new, shrewd master, who had readily seized all power and had assumed the title of Esquire even before the case was settled.
The steward's fear of Minakos was so great
that it took a great deal of persuading and reasoning by Lord Wutenzar Thuxur Marrog Zhon's agents
to get at the truth. When Sorgun
surrendered and was placed in custody, Alec had retracted his former testimony
at the retrial under Magistrate Kokos and moreover confessing to his
impropriety (misconduct), revealed the true contents of the letter Minakos had
destroyed.
This, however, instead of
clearing Sorgun, was quickly overturned as it had been the case with other
submitted irrefutable evidence as dubious dispositions. Esquire Minakos'
supporters arguing the case successfully had the steward's testimony thrown
out, discredited as hearsay from a presumably deranged mind, overwrought as he
was proclaimed to have been by the tragic loss of his former master.
On top of that, Alec was accused of now
maligning his present master because of
his recent chastisement over a rather despicable, of course fabricated,
incident. The Magistrate, however, had
seemingly shown leniency in view of the steward's insanity and passed a
sentence of only ninety hard strokes for Alec’s false deposition in court and
had him sent away. Shortly afterwards,
the steward's sudden, suicidal death was pronounced as a matter-of-factly at
court as just recrimination.
Meanwhile, Lord Wutenzar
Thuxur Marrog Zhon on his way to the Capital Channing, was apprised of the
developments in Fukken province through his fast couriers and able spies. Reaching the Capital, the Lord's first initiative
had been to directly petition the Metropolitan Censorate to appoint an
independent commission to oversee Sorgun Dufo's case, pointing out the
irregularities and the gross miscarriages of justice in its handling. Being bogged down with more pressing issues,
however, the Censorate underestimated the depth of the corruption, summarily
ordered the Provincial Governor Toku Neron, to investigate the case once more.
The Governor Toku Neron, who had pressed for the previous judgment even in the absence of the accused, simply went through the motions instructing the Yeko Prefecture to conduct a new investigation. On the sly, Toku lost no time in informing Esquire Minakos of the pesky interference of Lord Wutenzar Thuxur Marrog Zhon and demanded the Esquire use his ample resources and part of the vast fortune now at his disposal to do a more thorough job on the (conspiracy) cover-up. Meanwhile, in view of the petition and newly presented evidence, the death sentence on Sorgun was temporarily postponed until the successful conclusion of this third judicial inquiry.
Esquire Minakos' sources
in (Imperial Capital) Channing had all independently confirmed these dangerous
developments; furthermore, they had unilaterally reported the Lord's unyielding
persistence and his relentless stand on this issue. Every avenue had been exhausted, they
claimed, but Lord Wutenzar Thuxur Marrog Zhon could neither be bribed nor
intimidated.
Esquire Minakos' tentacles
reached far and wide, right into the very jail in which Sorgun languished. Still, he could do very little to harm the
scholar, let alone stage another suicide, as Sorgun had been, from the first,
closely guarded by the Lord's competent men.
Neither could Minakos, despite his best efforts, reach the child
Kundrick to inflict injury or kidnap him to hold as hostage to break Sorgun's
defiant will.
Esquire MInakos did the
next best thing and, by once more underhandedly dispensing generous bribes, had
gotten Nuer of Yeko prefecture to collude with the Magistrate Kokos. They both simultaneously submitted another
detailed report stating that no injustice had been done; in fact, there were no
irregularities whatsoever in the case under review. Furthermore, pretending that it had just been
obtained, they had furnished their report with more indisputable proof and had
asked that, without any further delay, the Magistrate to be allowed to mete out
justice to the guilty party.
When word reached the Lord
through a good friend that the Censorate was now considering overturning the Lord's protests, Lord Lord Wutenzar
Thuxur Marrog Zhon at once wielded his power and influence to secure an audience
with, and promptly memorialized, the Throne.
This time, armed with all
the proof exposing the most recent dirty dealings of Esquire Minakos, the
Governor General, Provincial Governor Toku, Prefect Nuer and Magistrate Kokos
and the whole host of others, he proposed that the Board of Punishments intervene
directly. His proposal was accepted.
Chinzo Doken, the Minister
of Punishments, took personal charge of this most grievous matter. After reviewing all the documents and
submitted pertinent evidence, old and new, Chinzo Doken became duly concerned
at the apparent widespread corruption in Fukken Province.
It so happened that the central government had
been for some time considering the appointment of a Commission to expose the
bad elements which were sapping, crippling the strength of the nation.
The courtiers advocating
change jumped at the opportunity to exploit this case and pushed for more
severe measures and tighter controls to make the border provinces more
accountable to the central government.
All involved were, without exception, summoned
to the Imperial Capital to be interrogated at length by the Grand Council with
the cooperation of the Board of Punishments.
Since murder was at the
root of this matter, it was decided that, in order to get at the true facts,
the only alternative was an autopsy on the deceased.
So, after an internment of
nearly four years, the corpses of Esquire Kerek Dufo and his daughter-in-law
Linnsar Dufo were exhumed and brought to Capital Channing for a second, more
thorough, examination.
Fortunately, due to the
arid, cold climate of Fukken Province, the bodies were remarkably well
preserved.
The autopsy was conducted under the watchful gaze of Minister Chinzo Doken and his competent assistants. A careful, rather fastidious examination by the coroners took into consideration the angle of the cuts as well as the previously overlooked minor lacerations, bruises and internal injuries. Their findings tallied perfectly with the facts as related by Sorgun. Their report concluded that Esquire Kerek Dufo and his daughter-in-law Linnsar Dufo's deaths were both due to self-inflicted wounds, therefore a suicide. Sorgun's innocence was established once and for all.
When the Grand Council and
the officials on the Board of Punishments cross examined Esquire Minakos Dufo,
Governor Toku, Prefect Nuer, Magistrate Kokos and the rest they all, after
being subjected to torture and interrogated at length, one by one pleaded
guilty and confessed to their part in this grievous conspiracy.
All were severely
punished, jailed for life, demoted, stripped of office or exiled after
confiscation of their property according to the degree of their involvement in
the crime. This, in one stroke, rooted
out (purged, eradicated) the long existing corruption in Fukken Province.
Minakos, for tampering
with evidence, and murder of the steward Alec as well as his purposeful
manipulation and misdirecting of the facts, perjury, intimidation, extortion,
bribery and corruption of government officers among a host of charges, received
extreme due punishment.
In the public square of
Fukken Province he was quartered by four oxen.
His immediate family, consisting of his wife, Dijek, daughter Mirek aged
seven, and son Enkaz aged three years were stripped of all wealth and power,
given the tattoo of the criminal on their left cheek, then, with only the
clothes on their back and a bag of dry grain, were driven out of Fukken
Province then Wenjenkun forever.
Soon after being entirely
exonerated, Sorgun was re- installed in his rightful position in Fukken
Province.
~
(END OF SECTION 11)
