The sudden voice interrupted everyone's discussion. Imperial Censor Wang waved his hand, "Bring her in!"
The person who spoke was brought in by the yamen runners. She was also a young lady dressed as a servant. She knelt down as soon as she entered, but her speech was very sharp, "Replying to daren's question, I know that Miss Jiang was wrongly accused?"
"What do you mean?" Imperial Censor Wang asked anxiously.
The servant girl raised her head, revealing a round face that was still childish. It was Lu Zhu, who had a bit of friendship with Lian Qiao. She scratched her head, "Chen Zhao said that on the night Chun Ying jiejie died, I was carrying the washed clothes from the courtyard outside when I passed by Miss Jiang's courtyard. At that time, I heard movement in the well. At first, I was very scared, but later, I thought it was a cat's meow, so I ignored it. " Lu Zhu thought for a while, "But at that time, I wanted to talk to Lian Qiao jiejie, but there was no one in the room. Miss Jiang was not in the courtyard, so it was even more impossible for her to have thrown Chun Ying jiejie into the well."
Just as Lu Zhu finished speaking, another voice came from outside, "I can also testify for Miss Jiang. This servant met Chen Zhao outside that day. At that time, Chen Zhao was in a hurry, and it was already late at night. He looked extremely flustered. At first, I did not understand, but now that I think about it, I'm afraid that he had just killed someone and wanted to splash this basin of dirty water on Miss Jiang!"
This time, the one who spoke was Xiao Yuan.
The situation seemed to have reversed, and all kinds of evidence pointed towards Chen Zhao. Chen Zhao did not expect that so many servant girls would come forward to accuse him, and his mind was in a mess. He looked at Jiang Ruan in confusion, and could not think of when Jiang Ruan had bribed these servant girls.
While Chen Zhao was out of his wits, Zhang Lan, who was outside, was so anxious that her eyes were red. She wished she could break through the yamen runners' blockade and barge in. Her mouth could not stop scolding. At a time of life and death, she could not care less about her status as a servant. Her string of vulgarities were all directed at Jiang Ruan. The surrounding people frequently cast sidelong glances at her, but they admired the calm Miss Jiang.
Qian Wanli could see that Chen Zhao would not be able to get any benefits from today's incident. He did not know whether Jiang Ruan was lucky or had a benefactor helping her, for her to be able to come back from a hopeless situation. He looked at Censor Wang. "My Lord, what do you think …"
Censor Wang waved his hand and said, "Qiuyan, you said you saw Chen Zhao kill with your own eyes, do you have any evidence?"
Chen Zhao heaved a sigh of relief. He had done his job very well that day. He was absolutely confident that he would not leave any traces behind. Even if he sent someone to investigate, they would not be able to find anything.
Qiu Yan nodded, "Yes!"
Chen Zhao was taken aback. Censor Wang asked, "What is it?"
"Replying to Milord's question, at that time, this servant personally saw Chen Zhao choking Chun Ying's neck. Chun Ying must have resisted with all her might because Chun Ying had scratched Chen Zhao's neck. Daren only needs to see if there are any scratches on Chen Zhao's neck, and if there are any bloodstains on Chun Ying's nails, then you will know the truth. "
Chen Zhao's heart skipped a beat and he subconsciously grabbed his neck. Censor Wang waved his hand without hesitation and ordered a few bailiffs, "Go forward and inspect!"
Chen Zhao wanted to struggle, but his body was not as sturdy as the bailiffs in the yamen. He was subdued in a few moves. Li Mi went forward to inspect and reported to Censor Wang, "Replying to Milord, there are scratches."
Censor Wang nodded, "Someone, go and see if there are any bloodstains on Chun Ying's nails."
Chen Zhao knew that he had lost the upper hand. His body went limp and fell to the ground. Very quickly, the people who went to inspect returned and confirmed that there were bloodstains on Chun Ying's nails.
Censor Wang shouted, "How dare you, Chen Zhao! You killed someone to silence them and destroyed the corpse to erase the evidence. You dare to slander others? Now that both the witness and the evidence are here, there is no way to deny it. Do you plead guilty?"
Chen Zhao knelt down and kowtowed anxiously. As he kowtowed, he shouted, "Spare my life, Milord, spare my life. I was just muddle-headed for a moment, no, it was a moment of carelessness. I did not intend to kill her on purpose. She was the one who threatened me, and I was angry. I did not do it on purpose. Milord, please spare me …"
When Zhang Lan, who was outside, saw this scene, she felt her vision blacking out and fainted among the crowd.
Censor Wang ordered his men to bring Chen Zhao away. The trial had come to this point and it was considered a climax. The people on the eastern street had not seen such an exciting case for a long time. The steward's son was a thief who cried "Stop the thief". He killed someone but blamed the young mistress. It was a heinous crime.
Everyone thought that the matter was about to end. Who knew that an untimely voice rang out again. A bailiff came over and reported, "Milord, someone is beating the drum for injustice again."
"Ah, beating the drum again?" Qian Wanli almost jumped up. He looked at Censor Wang and felt even more guilty. He did not know why there were so many people beating the drum for injustice today. From Censor Wang's point of view, it was because of his lack of discipline that led to so many unjust cases. When he thought about this, even though Qian Wanli felt extremely uneasy, he had no choice but to put on a straight face and said, "Bring her here!"
The person who was brought in was also a servant girl. The crowd could not help but discuss what day it was today. Why were all the servants beating the drum for injustice?
When the servant girl was brought in, Censor Wang asked, "What injustice do you have?"
The servant girl kowtowed, "In reply to milord's question, this servant is crying for injustice on behalf of my young mistress."
"Your young mistress, who is she?" Qian Wanli asked curiously.
"My young mistress is Miss Jiang," the servant girl replied.
Lian Qiao also smiled at her. Her smoke ring was slightly red. She turned her head and kowtowed to Censor Wang again, "This servant may be so bold as to ask milord, as a servant girl, how should I be punished for mistreating my mistress and even deliberately plotting to murder her mistress?"
Censor Wang stiffened his neck, "A country has its laws and a family has its own rules. Although the matters of servants are governed by the family's laws, the family rules follow the country's laws. Plotting to murder a person is already a great crime and should be severely punished."
"Good." Lian Qiao nodded, "In that case, milord, I will cry for injustice on behalf of my young mistress and sue Zhang Lan and her mother. My young mistress has been living in the rural residence for five years and has suffered all kinds of cruel mistreatment. Zhang Lan and his family have bullied my young mistress for her kindness, forcibly occupying her property and abusing her at every turn. In the last nine days, she has gone up the mountain to chop firewood, and in the cold winter, she has gone down the river to wash her clothes. My young mistress has been living in the rural residence for five years and has never had a full meal. She has never enjoyed a good day. Sewing clothes, embroidering to earn money, living with rats and being eaten by ants. When she is sick, there is no medicine to cure her. She has withered like weeds … "
Lian Qiao spoke tirelessly, causing the people around her to shed tears. There was no lack of softhearted women in the crowd who had long cursed the viciousness of Zhang Lan's family and felt sorry for this young mistress. Even Qian Wanli could not help but sigh. Even the children of ordinary families lived better lives than Jiang Ruan.
Lian Qiao had yet to finish her words when she raised her head, "If this can be ignored, this servant can only blame heaven and earth for being unfair and have nothing else to say. However, murder must be paid with one's life. Even if it was an attempted murder, one must still pay the price. Chen Zhao pushed my young mistress into the water and attempted to murder her. Who knew that my young mistress was lucky and managed to escape from the hands of the King of Hell alive. First Master, please uphold justice for my young mistress and punish those evil people! "
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