The surrounding commoners couldn't help but be startled. Why did Nanny Zheng change her story now?
"You're talking nonsense! How could it be me who instructed you to do this? Clearly, you, this evil servant, were afraid of being scolded by Li'er, so you framed her," Shen Shi glared angrily at Nanny Zheng. Then she turned to Lord Liang sitting on the high seat and said, "My lord, this evil servant is clearly afraid of being beaten with the rod, so she wants to shift the blame onto me. I beg my lord to uphold justice for me! Dispose of this evil servant quickly!"
Lord Liang stroked his round, protruding belly with his right hand. "You have a point! Guards! Drag this evil servant out!"
"My lord! My lord! Everything I said is true!" Nanny Zheng quickly crawled forward and pleaded with Lord Liang. "It was really the madam who instructed me to frame the eldest young lady! Please believe me, my lord!"
No matter how loudly Nanny Zheng shouted or how miserably she cried, Lord Liang just pretended not to see or hear.
Two yamen runners quickly grabbed Nanny Zheng's arms and were about to drag her out when they heard a loud voice from outside.
"Stop!"
"How dare you, who is this? How dare you disrupt the court?" Lord Liang slapped the gavel and glared angrily at a tall, dark - skinned man who had stepped out from the on - looking crowd.
This man was Lord Ye who had previously come out to testify for Mu Ruchu. Now, after witnessing Lord Liang's entire trial process, he was very dissatisfied and said straightforwardly, "Lord Liang, there are still many doubts in this case! And just now, the suspect changed her confession. Why doesn't my lord interrogate further?"
Lord Liang didn't expect that there would be someone who dared to question the cases he tried. He was extremely angry at the moment and, without much thought, said, "How dare you! You say I can't try this case well. Do you think you can do better?"
"If it were me, I would surely handle the case well!" Lord Ye took a big step forward and said to Lord Dong standing beside him, "Since Lord Liang has invited us so actively, we two can't decline!"
Hearing this, Lord Dong also nodded. "I'm really good at trying cases. Since Lord Liang is so self - aware, we two will accept his kindness!"
Hearing what they said, Lord Liang realized that they meant to take over the case for him. He panicked and stood up from his stool. "Who... who are you?"
After saying that, he squinted his small eyes and looked out. But due to the long distance and the fact that Lord Ye and Lord Dong were standing in the backlight, he could only vaguely see two general figures.
Lord Ye burst out laughing. "Hahaha! Lord Liang, we just met this morning. How come you don't recognize me now?"
After saying that, he stepped forward and stood still in the middle of the yamen hall.
As Lord Ye got closer, Lord Liang finally saw clearly. He quickly walked down the steps and bowed forward. "Your humble official pays respects to the minister! I didn't know Lord Ye was coming. I'm really sorry for not greeting you properly!"
"It's okay! Lord Liang, don't be panicked. Lord Ye and I just happened to be here today!" When Lord Liang saw Lord Dong walking behind, he was shocked again.
What "good luck" had he run into today? He had unexpectedly met Ye Yinglian, the upright and meddlesome Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and now he had also met Dong Ruohe, the iron - faced and fair - minded Minister of the Court of Judicial Review who was good at trying cases.
Moreover, these two were well - known as honest and upright officials in the court. They didn't embezzle, accept bribes, or form cliques. To put it bluntly, they didn't give in to anyone except the current emperor. Most importantly, these two were highly valued by the emperor and were close ministers of the emperor, the emperor's favorites.
Even though Lord Liang also held a fourth - rank official position, he could only smile obsequiously when he met these two big shots.
"I wonder what brings the two lords here today?"
"Lord Liang, don't be alarmed. Lord Ye and I just happened to witness this case today. After hearing you try the case just now, we felt that there were still many inappropriate aspects in this case. That's why we spoke up to stop it. Lord Liang, don't misunderstand. Lord Ye and I don't have any opinions on your handling of the case!"
"Lord Dong, you're being too polite!" Lord Liang wiped the cold sweat from his face.
"I wonder what good ideas the two lords have? Your humble official is willing to listen in detail!"
Lord Liang heard that Lord Ye and Lord Dong seemed to be willing to try the case on their own initiative. Immediately, he adopted a strategy of retreat as an advance and pretended to be eager to learn.
Although Lord Ye and Lord Dong held higher official positions and were more valued by the emperor than him, the current official position of the Prefect of the Capital was his. The cases in the capital were still under his jurisdiction. He didn't want to hand over this case to others now, which would make him seem very useless.
Unexpectedly, Lord Ye was really straightforward and ignored his words at all. He just said directly, "Forget about good ideas! Didn't you just ask us to try the case? Since you've already said so, Lord Dong and I are naturally willing to help!"
"This..." Lord Liang remembered the words he had blurted out in a moment of impatience, asking Lord Ye to try the case, and he wished he could bang his head against the wall.
"Does Lord Liang want to go back on his word now? Or do you have opinions on us two? Do you think we can't try this case well?" Lord Dong ignored Lord Liang's embarrassed face and asked a difficult question.
"Your humble official wouldn't dare! It's just that trying cases is after all the responsibility of your humble official. But today, I have troubled the two lords to try the case... This... If it spreads, I'm afraid..."
"In that case, the two of us will just assist Lord Liang in trying the case from the side."
Hearing Lord Dong say this, Lord Liang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He quickly said with a smile, "In that case, I'll have to trouble the two lords."
Shen Li watched Lord Liang's obsequious expression with amusement. These two lords, Ye and Dong, were not easy to deal with! I'm afraid Shen Shi was going to be in trouble!
The on - looking commoners below saw the yamen runners move two chairs and place them on either side of Lord Liang's seat. The two lords just now also sat on them respectively.
No one said a word. Since even Lord Liang had to show respect to these officials, they naturally didn't dare to say anything.
Sitting in his position, Lord Liang gave Shen Shi a look that seemed to say "fend for yourself" in response to her confused expression. Then he straightened his robe, slapped the gavel hard, and said, "Bring up the suspect, Nanny Zheng!"
Nanny Zheng, who had temporarily escaped the beating, had now recovered from her fear and her mind had cleared. Now kneeling in the middle of the hall, she didn't dare to turn back to meet Shen Shi's angry and venomous gaze.
"You just said it was Madam Shen who instructed you to frame someone. Do you have any evidence?"
"Your honor, my madam gave me a gold hairpin at that time and told me to do a good job! It's still in my room in the Shen Mansion."
"Oh? Guards, go to Nanny Zheng's room in the Shen Mansion to search for the evidence!"
Lord Liang immediately sent two yamen runners to the Shen Mansion to search.