"If Lord Han has any doubts about this matter, feel free to voice them. After all, it's everyone's right, not an overstep of authority. What do you think, Lord Han?"
Shen Li looked at the Deputy Minister Han with a half - smile.
"Miss Shen is truly eloquent, beyond the reach of ordinary people!"
In response to Deputy Minister Han's veiled remarks, Shen Li thanked him gracefully, "Thank you for your compliment, Deputy Minister Han!"
At Shen Li's behavior, Deputy Minister Han just turned his head and looked elsewhere.
"Lord Liang! I have something else to tell you!"
Every time Lord Liang heard Shen Li call him, he felt a headache, but he still maintained a smiling expression on his face. "Miss Shen, please go ahead!"
"This matter concerns the previous witness, Niu Er. This morning, Niu Er's house caught fire. While his family was putting out the fire, they carried out a large amount of silver from the room. The neighbors around Niu Er can testify to this. As for the origin of this silver, I wonder what you think, Lord Liang?"
As soon as Shen Li finished speaking, there was an uproar. It was obvious to everyone that Niu Er was just a handyman in the academy. How could he have so much silver?
Now that the case of Qin An had emerged and Niu Er happened to be an important witness, and then he was found to have suddenly become rich overnight. It didn't take much guessing to know that Niu Er must have received a bribe to get that silver.
Lord Liang and Deputy Minister Han exchanged glances across the room. Lord Liang then ordered the yamen runners below, "Come here! Go and arrest Niu Er!"
Two yamen runners with swords at their waists left the Jingzhao Prefecture and headed towards Niu Er's home.
Shen Li watched the two yamen runners leave. When her gaze shifted to the place where Deputy Minister Han had been, she found that he was no longer there.
A sarcastic smile flashed across Shen Li's face. She quietly withdrew her gaze and stood aside silently. After a while, while pretending to lower her head, she looked towards Deputy Minister Han's position again and found that he was standing there.
Nearly half an hour passed before the two yamen runners hurriedly brought Niu Er back.
Niu Er's hair was in a mess, his face was covered in black ash, and even his clothes had a few burnt marks.
At this time, one of the two yamen runners who had brought Niu Er back said to Lord Liang, "My lord, when we arrived, Niu Er's house had just finished burning. We wanted to take him away, but suddenly four black - clothed men appeared. They were actually trying to kill Niu Er."
"We fought with the black - clothed men for a while and then brought Niu Er back. Those black - clothed men managed to escape. But unfortunately, Niu Er's parents, wife, and children were all killed."
The yamen runner's words not only shocked the common people outside but also the remaining yamen runners. It was the first time in the capital that a whole family had been killed in broad daylight!
No one had expected that what was originally one case had now turned into two.
Since Niu Er had been brought in by the two yamen runners, he had been sitting on the ground with a dazed expression.
Shen Li looked at Niu Er, frowned hesitantly, worried that he might have become stupid after the accident. But she still tried to call his name twice, "Niu Er! Niu Er!"
"Ah!" Niu Er, who had been motionless, suddenly let out a loud scream. He cowered to one side and kept saying, "Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I don't want the silver anymore! I don't want it!"
"Niu Er!" Shen Li shouted loudly, "This is the Jingzhao Prefecture now. No one wants to kill you, and no one can kill you!"
Hearing this, Niu Er did calm down a bit. He first looked around the environment, then at Shen Li standing in front of him. His face was still full of caution and wariness.
"Niu Er, don't be afraid. I'm not here to harm you. I just want to ask you a few things. If you know them, please tell me everything!"
"No! No! I don't know. I don't know anything!" Niu Er didn't let down his guard because of Shen Li's words. He resisted and moved away from Shen Li.
"Niu Er! I know you've just had a narrow escape and you're very scared now. But have you ever thought about your elderly parents and your young children? What did they do wrong? Those people killed them all! They were so cruel and showed no mercy, trying to wipe out your whole family!"
"Have you ever thought about avenging them?"
Niu Er looked at Shen Li and hesitantly nodded, "They're very powerful! I... I can't beat them."
"Niu Er, you don't need to do anything else. There's an opportunity right in front of you now. You just need to tell us who bribed you with so much silver!"
Seeing the hesitation on Niu Er's face, Shen Li continued, "Have you ever thought about why those black - clothed men wanted to kill your whole family? Your family didn't have any grudges with others on a daily basis. So who sent those black - clothed men to kill you?
"Your house caught fire today, and so much silver was carried out. With your status, you couldn't have gotten this silver. Everyone knows that you took the money and gave false testimony. So if the person who bribed you finds out about this now, what do you think he will do to prevent you from talking?"
"Niu Er, have you thought about all these things?"
Shen Li's questions were progressive, gradually making Niu Er suspicious. And Niu Er didn't disappoint Shen Li. After thinking for a while, he began to confess.
"Lord Liang! I didn't see Young Master Shen that night at all. The words I said a few days ago were all because I took someone's money and did things for them." Niu Er knelt in front of Lord Liang, crying so much that his tears formed a small puddle on the ground in front of his body, and the puddle was getting bigger.
Lord Liang was now in a difficult situation. He had seen Deputy Minister Han go down and give orders earlier and thought he could solve these problems, so he had confidently agreed to summon Niu Er. But he didn't expect Niu Er to come back like this.
Lord Liang didn't know whether to blame the people sent by Deputy Minister Han for being too incompetent or to blame Niu Er for having such a hard life.
Seeing that Deputy Minister Han was likely to lose, Lord Liang was very good at judging the situation. He no longer showed partiality and said to Niu Er below, "Niu Er, I'm asking you, who gave you the money to be a false witness? If you tell me now, I can forgive your past mistakes and won't punish you this time."