Zhou Sheng and Zhou Yan concealed themselves in the crowd. With just a few words, they ignited the public opinion.
Everyone has a sense of justice in their hearts. Once someone took the lead, more and more people began to sing praises.
Occasionally, there were a few who murmured that Shen Yuhe had ruined her own reputation, but their voices were soon drowned out by the praise.
The more the common people praised Wen Congbai and Shen Yuhe, the more viciously they scolded Cheng Jingxuan and even the entire Cheng family.
Some brave commoners who had been oppressed by the Cheng family even spat at Cheng Yong.
Cheng Yong made one wrong move after another.
Nanny Lin's risking her life to testify had already taken him by surprise.
And Shen Mu, who cared most about the family's dignity and reputation, actually let his granddaughter Shen Yuhe step forward and tell her story in person!
The commoners were scolding so viciously that Cheng Yong was at a loss in the face of the overwhelming public opinion. He wished he could grow a turtle shell on his back and shrink into it!
With Shi Jinglu's authority, he could easily control the discussion, but he did nothing.
He just let the common people talk and scold the Cheng family.
"Cheng Jingxuan deserves his punishment! Young Master Wen should be released without guilt!"
Someone took the lead and shouted, and the common people followed suit.
In front of the Dali Temple, the shouts of thousands of people shook the heavens and the earth.
Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, Cheng Yong's oily face was replaced by cold sweat, and his face turned deathly pale.
He angrily shouted at Shen Yuhe, "You said my son kidnapped you and had you insulted. My son has no grudges against you. Why would he do such a thing to you?"
Cheng Yong was finally forced to ask this question.
This was exactly the question Shi Jinglu had been waiting for.
"Bang—" The gavel struck, and instantly, there was complete silence inside and outside the main hall.
The nickname of the "Living Hades of the Capital" was not for nothing.
The common people were terrified of this iron - faced judge to the core.
"Wen Congbai, do you have anything to say about Lord Cheng's question?"
Wen Congbai was tall and straight. He walked up to Cheng Yong, and the shackles on his feet clanged.
Cheng Yong's face tightened, and he stared at Wen Congbai fearfully and angrily.
He didn't believe that Wen Congbai would dare to tell the truth!
A sneer curled up on Wen Congbai's lips, and his eyes were full of contempt for Cheng Yong.
"The Cheng family is the lackey of the Princess. Cheng Jingxuan is the favorite of the Princess. The Princess intended to stir up the conflict between the Wen and Cheng families so as to take this opportunity to bring down the Wen family. Once the Wen family falls, the Crown Prince will lose a great helper, and the Princess will gain the upper hand.
The Princess knew my affection for Yuhe and that she was the most important person to me. As long as Yuhe was hurt, it would surely arouse my anger.
She instructed Cheng Jingxuan to do such a heinous thing to Yuhe in order to provoke me into taking revenge on Cheng Jingxuan, and thus achieve her goal!"
Wen Congbai's words were sonorous.
Inside and outside the hall, there was complete silence.
The Princess was extremely powerful, and everyone was afraid of her. No one in the capital dared to discuss her.
Everyone respected Wen Congbai as a real man.
Cheng Yong pointed at Wen Congbai's face, his finger and voice trembling, "How dare you! You actually dare to slander the Princess!"
"Since this case is related to the Princess, Wen Congbai, do you have any evidence?"
Wen Congbai pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth. There was a bit of indignation and a bit of helplessness in his expression.
"Not for the moment."
"Without evidence, it's slander. The Princess is a royal relative. Slandering a royal relative is a capital crime!"
Seeing a glimmer of hope to turn the tables in his panic, Cheng Yong shouted loudly, for fear that the common people wouldn't hear.
Shi Jinglu's eyes darkened slightly.
Even Liang Yuzhou, who was so resourceful, hadn't been able to find strong evidence within three days.
The five men who had molested Shen Yuhe had been killed by the Princess before Wen Congbai could take revenge on them.
The case was thus at a deadlock.
But Wen Congbai had a justifiable reason for killing, so the capital punishment could be waived.
Just as he was about to pronounce Wen Congbai innocent, another person walked into the main hall.
"Your Honor Shi, I can prove that Cheng Jingxuan was acting under the Princess's instructions!"
It was a woman in her twenties, with a woman's hair bun. She was extremely beautiful, and her clothes and ornaments were delicate and gorgeous.
Her belly was bulging high, and she was about six or seven months pregnant.
Everyone was shocked.
Wen Congbai and Shen Yuhe looked at each other in surprise.
Neither of them knew this woman.
The case had taken so many twists and turns that it was both exciting and tense.
Just when everyone thought Wen Congbai had no chance to turn the tables, there was a complete about - face.
Shi Jinglu squinted slightly at this woman who seemed to have dropped from the sky.
"Who are you?"
The woman lowered her eyes and looked very docile. She spoke in a soft voice, "My name is Dong Xianzhi. I'm the concubine of Young Master Cheng the Third."
She stroked her belly, "The child in my womb is Young Master Cheng the Third's flesh and blood."
Young Master Cheng the Third was none other than Cheng Jingxuan!
Cheng Yong was struck as if by lightning. His eyes were bulging, as if his eyeballs were about to pop out of their sockets at any moment.
Even Shi Jinglu was extremely shocked.
Liang Yuzhou was really amazing!
Who would have thought that Cheng Jingxuan, who had climbed into the Princess's bed, would be so bold as to secretly keep a concubine behind the Princess's back?
Zhou Sheng and Zhou Yan looked at each other in confusion, "Did our master find this woman?"
If it was really their master, why didn't they know?
Shi Jinglu saw the hope of the case turning around.
"Dong Xianzhi, you said you can prove that Cheng Jingxuan was acting under the Princess's instructions?"
Dong Xianzhi nodded. She took out something wrapped in a silk handkerchief from her bosom and unwrapped it in front of everyone.
It was a golden bracelet inlaid with blood jade, shining brightly and dazzlingly.
"Your Honor, Young Master Cheng the Third had rendered meritorious service to the Princess. The Princess was so pleased that she rewarded him with this bracelet. He then gave it to me and told me in person that the Princess trusted him and gave him the opportunity to charge into the battle. He told me everything about how he had ruined Miss Shen's reputation."
Shi Jinglu ordered the clerk to take the golden bracelet.
On the back of the bracelet, there was a prominent mark—Zhaoxian.
Zhaoxian was exactly the title of the Princess.
With Dong Xianzhi's status, unless Cheng Jingxuan had given it to her, there was no way she could have obtained something from the Princess's mansion.
"The golden bracelet bears the mark of the Princess's mansion. Your words are true and can be accepted as evidence!"
Wen Congbai and Shen Yuhe looked at each other and smiled.
Shi Jinglu pronounced the judgment on the spot—
Cheng Jingxuan had ruined Shen Yuhe's reputation in an extremely despicable way. According to the law, he should be beheaded.
Wen Congbai had acted on behalf of heaven. He was a man of love and righteousness. The capital punishment could be waived, but he would be fined eight hundred taels of silver and receive twenty strokes of the cane.
As for how hard the strokes would be, it all depended on the strength of the jailer's hand.
Cheng Yong's face was no better than that of a dead man.
His knees went weak, and he slumped to the ground. His buttocks were cold, and his heart was even colder.
The Princess had instructed him to win the lawsuit no matter what and smear the Wen family so that the censors of the Princess's faction could seize on Lord Wen's mistakes and attack him vigorously.
But not only had he lost the lawsuit, but he had also dragged the Princess into the mud.
He kept swallowing saliva, filled with extreme panic.
Dong Xianzhi left the Dali Temple and got into a carriage, leaving without a sound.
She had appeared mysteriously, which had completely reversed the case and confirmed the Princess's crime of disrupting the court.
And then she left quietly.
When Zhou Sheng and Zhou Yan met with Shi Jinglu, they confirmed that this woman was not the witness found by Liang Yuzhou.
Shi Jinglu murmured, "There's a mastermind behind this woman."
Moreover, this mastermind was on the Crown Prince's side!