The presiding judge slammed his gavel and said, "Bring Tang Shi, Yu Huaizhu, Yu Changrong, Old Cai Shi, Young Cai Shi, and Yu Huai'an to the court."

Tang Caiyun, Manman, Yu Changrong, Madam Yu, Cai Ping'er, and Yu Huai'an were brought to the courtroom.

The chief judge said, "Tang and Yu Huaizhu, tell us your grievances in court."

Tang Caiyun said angrily, "This humble woman wants to sue Cai Ping'er for abducting my daughter, Yu Huaizhu, the eldest daughter of the Yu family! Twenty years ago, Cai Ping'er instructed her servants to sell my daughter to kidnappers, and to cover up her crime, she killed the servant to silence him..."

Before she could finish speaking, Cai Ping'er burst into tears: "Master, you've been wronged! She's talking nonsense... Waaah, cousin, how could she frame me like this?"

The presiding judge, his face grim, said, "Interrupting in court is punishable by a slap!"

The bailiff picked up the warrant and slapped Cai Ping'er twice across the face. Cai Ping'er covered her face and shut up.

Tang Caiyun recounted the scene in detail, crying as she spoke, and Manman also started crying along with her.

After she finished speaking, the chief magistrate began to question her: "Yu Changrong, why didn't you go looking for your biological daughter back then, but instead went to accompany Xiao Caishi?"

Yu Changrong blushed deeply, filled with regret, and said, "My niece Yu Hanyan fell and broke her leg, and there was no one to take care of her..."

He couldn't continue, and Tang Caiyun sneered, "Yu Changrong, you can't say anything more either, can you? The Yu family has so many servants, why is it that you have to take care of her children? Why is it that whenever she has a problem and comes to you crying, you abandon your own children to take care of hers? Have you ever thought that she is your cousin, but she is also a widow?"

Yu Changrong now regrets it, saying, "At that time, my second brother left, and I only felt sorry for the three of them, and I had no other thoughts."

"The woman and nephew you cherished your whole life caused you to lose your official position and ruined the Yu family's century-old legacy," he said angrily. "My brother was framed time and again by her son, and now his path to the imperial examinations is cut off. I was even sold to a kidnapper by her! What kind of man are you? What kind of father are you?"

Yu Changrong had just heard the chief clerk mention bringing Yu Huaizhu, and he was a little confused. Why did that name sound so familiar?

He stared at the woman's face, which bore an eight-tenths resemblance to Tang Caiyun in her youth, and was so surprised he almost stood up: "You, you are Zhuzhu?"

“Yes, Yu Huaizhu, who survived a great calamity and came back alive! Surprising, isn’t it?” Manman looked at Yu Changrong and said, “Cai Ping’er is despicable, but you are even more despicable.”

The forensic officer let Yu Changrong curse him, then asked Cai Ping'er, "Tell me in detail how you abducted Miss Yu?"

Cai Ping'er cried out that she was innocent, saying that she had not abducted Manman at all, and that it was the servant who threw the young lady into the Jing River.

Chief Judge: "Bring Liu Ji and Li Si to the court."

Liu Ji and Li Si were originally two servants in the Yu family, and also trusted confidants of Xiao Cai Shi. Now, well...

Liu Ji and Li Si came up and spilled the beans, directly telling the story of how Cai Ping'er tricked the servant in Tang Caiyun's courtyard into taking Yu Huaizhu out under the pretense of watching the dragon lantern, and then handed her over to the waiting kidnapper. They then ordered Li Si and Liu Ji to beat the servant to death to silence him.

"At that time, Madam Cai promised that servant boy that she would give him money and even marry his maid to him," Li Si said.

It was no use for Xiao Cai to deny it again. In addition to Liu Ji and Li Si testifying, several of Yu's concubines also came forward to testify.

The fourth wife of the Yu family, who was born out of wedlock, stepped forward to testify: "We don't believe that the eldest master and Cai Ping'er have nothing between them. They're exchanging glances all day long, who doesn't know that?"

Yu Changrong angrily said, "Shut up! I never had such thoughts. I was just thinking that my brother is gone and I should take better care of his wife and children. Otherwise, I would be letting down my deceased brother."

The fourth wife rolled her eyes; she wasn't going to be polite to him at all!

Her own husband and children were implicated, so why should she be polite?

"Yes, you took such good care of her! No need for maids or servants, you did everything yourself. You took care of her in bed, you took care of her children who dragged the Yu family into the abyss, you took care of your son who lost his path to the imperial examinations and was exiled with you, you took care of your daughter who was kidnapped..."

Thankfully, she was bought by a wealthy person. If she had been sold into a brothel, would you still have the face to live?

Yu Changrong was speechless after being scolded, wishing he could disappear into the ground.

The head of the Tang family couldn't help but have tears well up in his eyes. He said bitterly, "I beg you, sir, to uphold justice for my sister, my nephew, and my niece! And to execute Yu Changrong and Xiao Caishi to the death!"

Cai Ping'er sobbed, "Cousin, Tang Caiyun is kicking us when we're down! She knows Yu Huaizhu is dead, she knows we're already prisoners, yet she still wants us dead and deliberately finds a woman to frame us! Tang Caiyun, you're so vicious!"