eurekapd Chapter 252 252 Involvement
Chapter 252 252 Involvement
Chapter 252 252 Involvement
Meanwhile, back in Shuntian Prefecture, upon hearing that a woman was willing to come forward as a witness, the heavy weight on Ye Pianran's heart was immediately lifted.
This was the first time she had ever handled a case like this. She thought that with all the evidence intact, the trial would go smoothly. However, she never expected that the matchmaker who had clearly admitted to killing someone on the mountain would change her mind in court, which was extremely infuriating.
Just as everyone was waiting for the witness to come to court, the yamen runners finally arrived late with the woman. But no one expected that the person brought into the courtroom by the yamen runners, besides a woman in gray and masked, was also the fourth prince of the Great Xia Dynasty, Prince Chunyu Jing of Nanping!
The moment Ye Pianran saw Chunyu Jing, her pupils suddenly contracted, and she reflexively took two steps back, hiding behind Ye Lingyue.
As Chunyu Jing followed the constables into the courtroom, he immediately spotted Ye Pianran listening in from the side. However, due to the Heart Gu poison in his body, the strange pain in his heart returned as soon as he saw Ye Pianran, causing him to almost kneel down in pain.
Barely managing to steady himself, Chunyu Jing gritted his teeth, enduring the excruciating pain, and subtly shifted his gaze away from Ye Pianran.
Not only Ye Pianran, but no one in Shuntian Prefecture expected Chunyu Jing to arrive at this time. Feng Ling suddenly came to his senses, quickly stood up, and said:
"I didn't expect the Fourth Prince to arrive so suddenly, and I was unable to come out to greet him. It was Feng Ling's negligence."
Chunyu Jing took a deep breath, his voice unusually low:
"Lord Feng, you are too kind. This is Lord Feng's territory. It would be presumptuous of me to come here uninvited."
Feng Ling dared not truly blame Chunyu Jing. He chuckled twice in agreement and hurriedly ordered the yamen runners to provide Chunyu Jing with a seat.
The constables worked together to carry out a grand chair, intending to place it to Feng Ling's left, but Chunyu Jing stopped them, saying:
"I just happened to be passing by after returning from the palace. I was simply curious to see so many people gathered outside. I think I'll just listen from the sidelines like these two young ladies." He finished speaking and pointed to Ye Pianran and Ye Lingyue.
The constable glanced back at Feng Ling, who nodded in response, and then moved the chairs next to Ye Pianran and Ye Lingyue.
Seeing Chunyu Jing sit down less than a foot away from her, Ye Pianran got goosebumps all over her body. She clenched her hands tightly under her sleeves to keep herself from running away.
Unbeknownst to her, Chunyu Jing was also suffering greatly at this moment. Being so close to her and smelling the subtle fragrance emanating from her, Chunyu Jing couldn't help but feel a little distracted. This, in turn, stirred up the venomous insects hidden in his heart, causing him to appear even more gloomy in pain.
With a resounding clang of the gavel, Feng Ling looked at the gray-clad, masked woman brought in by the constables and shouted:
"Who is kneeling below the hall? Why is their face veiled and unwilling to be shown?"
She, Wang Bao, and the cloth shop owner were all secretly observing the gray-clad, veiled woman, trying to guess who she was.
The woman knelt upright on the ground, her eyes lowered and lifeless. After hearing Feng Ling's words, she slightly raised her eyes, calmly looked at the plaque behind Feng Ling that was inscribed with the four characters "Justice and Integrity," and then raised her hand to personally remove the cloth covering her face.
When the veil covering her face was completely removed, a gasp rippled through the courtroom, and even Ye Pianran, who was listening in the audience, showed a shocked expression.
The woman's upper face had delicate features, and one could still vaguely tell that she must have once been a pretty and charming woman. However, the lower half of her face was burned beyond recognition, making her look like a vengeful ghost crawling out of hell.
Upon seeing the woman's half-burned face, the matchmaker's expression suddenly changed. She collapsed to the ground, feeling dizzy and disoriented, muttering as if she had seen a ghost, "You—it's you—you're not dead!"
Wang Bao's eyes widened as he stared at the woman in disbelief, his hands trembling uncontrollably at his sides, clearly recognizing her as well.
But the woman ignored the matchmaker and instead opened her mouth, slowly saying to Feng Ling:
“My daughter’s name is Zheng Yan. Today, I voluntarily come to court to testify and accuse Madam She of conspiring with Master Zhao to lure women from other places to an unnamed villa outside the city and force them to become prostitutes.”
Because the lower half of her face was burned, her lips could only open slightly, so her speech was not only very slow but also somewhat unclear, and one had to listen carefully to understand what she was saying.
Her strange tone, echoing in the quiet courtroom, was like a green-tailed snake silently crawling through the grass, sending a chill down one's spine.
"Rumors circulated in the capital that Master Zhao had many concubines, but that's not true. It was just a rumor he deliberately spread. Those 'concubines' were actually women he and Madam She had seduced. He kept them in a separate courtyard under the guise of 'concubines' for the amusement of high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital. After they got tired of them, he would kill them to cover his tracks and bury their bodies on the mountain behind the courtyard in an attempt to destroy the evidence."
As soon as the woman surnamed Zheng said this, another gasp came from the courtroom, especially from Min'er, the ninth concubine of Master Zhao, whose body trembled uncontrollably.
No wonder she hadn't seen any of Master Zhao's other "concubines" during her stay at the Zhao residence; it turned out all those women were dead! If it weren't for her affair with Wang Bao, she probably would have died a violent death like that scholar's wife!
God knows, she was just one step away from death!
Ye Pianran, recalling the smelly burlap sacks she had just seen outside, looked up at Feng Ling, her eyes meeting his.
Feng Ling withdrew his gaze, his expression extremely grave: "Zheng Yan, is what you said true?"
The woman named Zheng Yan chuckled, raised her hand, rolled up her sleeve, revealing her arm, which was also badly burned, and said:
"My lord, look at these wounds on my face and body. Do you know how they got here? They left these wounds because they wanted to burn me alive! I will never forget what they did to me, even if I become a ghost! I was spared from death and have been living a miserable life in the capital until now, waiting for this moment!"
"If what you say is true, why didn't you report it to the authorities back then?" To everyone's surprise, the scholar Wang stood up agitatedly and questioned, "If you had spoken up sooner, that scoundrel Master Zhao wouldn't still be at large, to the point that—to the point that—"
Tears welled up in Wang Shusheng's eyes as he thought of his deceased wife.
"If you had reported this to the authorities sooner, my wife wouldn't have died!"
"Easy for you to say. Report to the authorities? How would I do that?" Zheng Yan retorted coldly. "Not to mention that Master Zhao has connections with high-ranking officials in the capital, I am just a commoner. How could I possibly fight against them? Besides, how would I know that the magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture has no dealings with Master Zhao in private? If I report to the authorities, wouldn't I be walking into a trap?"
"Insolence!" Upon hearing this, the constables in the hall immediately shouted angrily and stepped forward to arrest Zheng Yan.
"Stop!" Feng Ling quickly intervened, his expression softening as he said to Zheng Yan, "I am an upright and honest official, and I would never have any dealings with that Master Zhao. You can rest assured about that, young lady. In any case, it is already very difficult for you to testify in court today. I promise you that I will investigate this case thoroughly and give you justice."
Zheng Yan lowered her head slightly upon hearing his words.
Feng Ling paused, then said, "However, you just said that Master Zhao has connections with high-ranking officials in the capital. Do you know who those people are? Do you have any evidence?"
Upon hearing this, Chunyu Jing raised an eyebrow slightly.
He had thought it was just an ordinary case, but he never expected it to involve an official of the imperial court. How interesting, how very interesting.