The next morning, Shuzhou's Zhizhou, Song Tianqi, held a public trial for the case of the fat black woman abducting and selling good girls to serve as military prostitutes in the South. As for Feng Yu Heng, she chose to avoid it, only leaving the case to Song Tian Qi to handle.
Perhaps it was because the Eighth Prince had indeed planned for Feng Yu Heng to meet and intimidate her, but he didn't expect that Feng Yu Heng would use this kind of public trial. The Eighth Prince thought that Feng Yu Heng would definitely kill her to vent her anger. Unfortunately, he still didn't understand this woman. Killing her was the stupidest method for Feng Yu Heng.
The old woman, several large men, and the coachman confessed to the case. Under torture, they also confessed that it was the Eighth Prince who ordered them to do it and framed His Ninth Highness. Song Tianqi announced that the group of criminals would be escorted to the capital and handed over to the governor for further trial. However, he concealed the identities of the kidnapped women. At the same time, he had people post the process and results of today's trial all over the streets and alleys of Shuzhou. At the same time, he also sent people to deliver it to the Meitian Fu's prefectural magistrate. Of course, he used Feng Yu Heng's banner to spread the news and expose the Eighth Prince's crimes.
At the same time, letters written to these women's families were sent out. Song Tianqi's wife, Liu-shi, also confirmed that the concubine-born daughter of Peng Zhou's Zhizhou was her niece named Wu Fangfei. Liu-shi also personally wrote a letter to her concubine-born younger sister and told the young miss that as long as she was willing to testify, Princess Ji 'an would support her in the future.
The concubine-born daughter gritted her teeth and nodded in agreement. Although admitting to being kidnapped was a very shameful thing, and she might not be able to get married for the rest of her life. However, if she had the support of Princess Ji 'an, then everything would be different. As a member of an official's family, she was able to hear about a few things in the capital. The people standing behind Imperial Daughter Ji An were His Highness the ninth prince and His Highness the seventh prince. There was also His Highness the eldest prince and His Highness the second prince that were on good terms with her. Even the Emperor treated her like his own daughter. With such a person backing her up, she would naturally have a good life in the future.
Wu Fangfei nodded in agreement and turned around to tell the other women about her decision. This young miss was very particular. Not only did she agree, she also encouraged the other women to testify as well. Of course, these women didn't receive any guarantees from Feng Yu Heng. Wu Fangfei only said to them, "If we didn't meet the princess, we would still be in the hands of those bandits. Our fate would be to be sent to the South as military prostitutes. At that time, not to mention our reputation to the outside world, I'm afraid that our families will try to distance themselves from us as much as possible. Even a family like mine might send assassins to kill me to avoid bringing shame to our family. It can be said that our lives were saved by the Princess. Now that we're watching those bastards slander His Ninth Highness, how can we just sit by and do nothing? "
She explained it with emotion and moved it with reason. It could be said that she managed to convince nearly half of the girls. There were also some girls that could not understand this and insisted on refusing. Wu Fangfei did not force them, only bringing the ones that were willing to testify to Liu shi to listen to her arrangements.
Very quickly, these girls were sent to the capital. Their families were also told to go to the governor's manor in the capital to pick them up. Of course, Feng Yu Heng also wrote letters to the governor, Xu Jing Yuan, as well as Xuan Tianming and Xuan Tianhua, informing them of the situation of these girls. She also told them to take special care of Wu Fangfei. Especially when Wu Fangfei's family arrived in the capital, they had to do their best to stabilize things. They could not allow their daughter to agree only to have her family go back on their word.
But Feng Yu Heng also had an understanding. Peng Zhou was east of the capital and was considered the number one province in the Lu Province. Based on what she knew, the prefect of the Lu Province had quite a good relationship with Xuan Tianhua. This matter should not be too difficult to handle. If the prefect of Peng Zhou was tactful, he should understand where he stood.
Their group remained in Shu Zhou for five days until they received an eagle message from Xuan Tianming. After confirming that everyone had been sent to the governor's manor, they felt at ease and left Shu Zhou to continue on their journey.
As for the capital, on the day that those people were sent, a medical clinic called "Thousand Herb Hall" was opened. His Highness the eighth prince, Xuantian Mo, made a public appearance and brought the Persian doctor to meet with the citizens. He told them that the capital was not a place where they could not live without Hundred Herb Hall. He had opened a Thousand Herb Hall and invited a Persian doctor. All of the medicine's prices were 30% lower than the previous Hundred Herb Hall, giving the greatest benefit to the citizens.
This action allowed him to recover quite a bit of his reputation. Some of the citizens saw that the medicine was cheap and felt that the Eighth Prince was a good person. Thus, Thousand Herb Hall was opened in a lively manner. That day, there was an endless stream of people who came to see a doctor. The medicine was even more fiercely fought over. The Persian doctor was also surrounded so tightly that not even a drop of water could trickle through.
Xuantian Mo saw this situation and felt happy. The medicine that was sold for 30% lower than Hundred Herb Hall's price was just old and moldy medicine that had lost half of its effectiveness. Not only did he not suffer a loss, but he also made a large profit. It was just that someone had secretly reported that the fat granny's group had been sent to the governor's manor. This was a bit outside of his expectations. Wasn't it said that Imperial Daughter Ji An, Feng Yu Heng, had a fiery temper? Shouldn't she have killed the woman and her group on the spot to vent her anger? He had interacted with Feng Yu Heng a few times during the new year's celebration, and he felt that that girl was very vicious. She would seek revenge for the smallest grievance, and there were times when she would play some small tricks; however, they were all tricks that a girl would use; however, who knew that she would cause him such a big problem.
Xuantian Mo secretly held his breath, but it wasn't a big problem. A woman and a few strong men. Who would believe that such people couldn't bring him down? Even if there were witnesses, it would only cause a bit of trouble. There wouldn't be any substantial harm. They couldn't convict him, a prince, based on the woman's confession, right? However … he was afraid that the other plans to kidnap people would have to be suspended. If this matter spread to the capital, it wouldn't matter if it happened once. If it happened one after another, he wouldn't be able to suppress it. Old ninth and old seventh were not to be trifled with. He did not want to cause too much of a ruckus before old ninth left the capital.
He secretly ordered his subordinates to immediately notify the other people in charge of the kidnappings. The plan was to be terminated, and all of the girls that had been kidnapped were to be sent back the way they had come. No one was to be mentioned, including His Ninth Highness's name. This matter would be dropped.
It was as Xuantian Mo had thought. The governor had opened a court hearing for the case, and the fat woman still confessed, but her words were not very convincing. Even if there were that many girls testifying, they could not pose any substantial threat to the Eighth Prince. As long as the Eighth Prince insisted that there was no such thing and that the fat woman had been ordered by someone else, he would be able to push all responsibility away.
Xu Jingyuan also understood the reasoning behind this, and he did not insist. He just wrote a notice about the case and sent it to the various prefectures and counties, saying that this sort of thing would happen in the next few days. This would serve as a reminder to everyone. But he used this excuse to let even more people know about the suspected kidnapping of the Eighth Prince. Yet at this time, there were already many families whose daughters had been kidnapped. Everyone began to set their sights on the Eighth Prince, and the officials began to feel resentful. The merchants also agreed to do business in the future to avoid the Eighth Prince as much as possible. As long as it was related to the Eighth Prince, no matter how profitable it was, they would not do it.
As for the officials that had lost their daughters, although they did not clearly express which prince they favored, if it was the Eighth Prince, they would definitely feel conflicted. And this sort of conflict did not seem to be much at the moment; however, it could become a powerful stumbling block for Xuantian Mo in the future. Just the fact that these people would occasionally send him memorials to cause trouble for him was enough for him to choke on. As for Emperor Tianwu, he was happy to share these memorials criticizing His Highness the Eighth Prince with the officials. During this period of time, this created a situation where the Eighth Prince had many enemies.
Xuantian Mo had smashed his own foot with a rock, and he felt even more resentment toward Feng Yu Heng. From time to time, he would inquire about where the reports from the South had gone. He was just waiting for Emperor Tianwu to send Xuan Tianming over. The battlefield in the South was his territory. Once Xuan Tianming went onto the battlefield, he had 100 ways to ensure that Xuan Tianming would never return.
Unfortunately, before the reports from the South could reach the capital, something big had happened to the Thousand Herb Hall that he had opened with great fanfare. For the sake of imitating Feng Yu Heng's treatment methods and allowing Thousand Herb Hall to quickly replace Hundred Herb Hall in the hearts of the people in the capital, the Persian doctor actually took a risk and performed a thoracotomy on a patient. Unfortunately, he didn't even understand the most basic principles of the operation. With a few cuts, he directly cut the patient to death.
Someone had died in Thousand Herb Hall, and the patient's family members made a fuss. Even the people who had bought cheap herbs from Thousand Herb Hall recently found that the herbs were not effective at all. Some people even found moldy spots in the herbs and smelled moldy. These people gathered together and analyzed the matter from beginning to end. They immediately understood the Eighth Prince's treachery. As a result, the people couldn't sit still. The people gathered in groups of three to five at the gate of the capital magistrate's office. The family members of the patient who had died carried the corpse of the deceased to the gate of the magistrate's office to beat the drum. At the same time, someone else forcefully escorted the Persian doctor to the scene. When the capital magistrate slammed the table and opened the court, he directly sued Thousand Herb Hall and the Eighth Prince, Xuantian Mo.
There weren't many cases of people suing officials, but it was even more unheard of for people to sue a prince. Logically speaking, if one offended one's superiors, one would first be beaten 30 times with nails nailed on the board. If one could endure it, then the court could proceed and let one sue. If one could not endure it and died, then that could only be considered unlucky.
But there were too many people in the capital that had gone to Thousand Herb Hall to get medicine. The people were not completely ignorant of the law. As for beating the drum to complain about a grievance, they still understood. That was why all of the citizens that had come had gone to beat the drum a few times. It was such that the hall was now filled with people. There were already at least 200 citizens that had participated in beating the drum, and the drums outside continued to sound, as more and more people came.
Everyone was pointing at Thousand Herb Hall, and the corpse of the deceased was placed in the hall. The family members' cries shook the heavens, and even the officials' "mighty" cries could not suppress them.
As for the capital magistrate, Xu Jing Yuan, who sat in the courtroom, watching this scene from below, he did not get angry in the slightest. Even if the citizens continued to crowd in and loudly curse Thousand Herb Hall and the Eighth Prince, he did not get angry. In fact, he even squinted his eyes and smiled.
Very good, he liked this sort of effect. Eighth Prince, your Highness Prince Sheng, let's see what you will do this time!
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