"Injustice!" Hongyu shouted, then glared at General Qiu and retorted, "Do you know who Zhang Jiubing is?"

"Isn't Zhang Jiubing Zhang Manguan's grandson?"

“Zhang Jiubing is not only Zhang Manguan’s grandson, but also Yan Wang’s confidant. Before I divorced Yan Wang, I personally witnessed Zhang Jiubing forcing Qiu Xue’er to do something despicable, which may have been instigated by Qiu Shuang’er. I was afraid of ruining Qiu Xue’er’s reputation, so I didn’t make a fuss. This is also the main reason why I pitied Qiu Xue’er and sold her to the Xue family.”

"Shut up!"

With a loud crash!

General Qiu was furious and kicked Hongyu away, sending her crashing into the long table. Fortunately, Second Master Bai reacted quickly and pulled Lord He away, otherwise the table would have hit Lord He in the abdomen.

Blood trickled from Hongyu's mouth as she propped herself up, lying prone on the ground. Looking at the enraged General Qiu, she secretly rejoiced. Zhang Manguan's entire family had been wiped out, and Yan Wang was dead; where could she find witnesses? Absolutely no one could refute her testimony, Zhang Hongyu's.

At this moment, Master Bai ran in with a letter in his hand. Seeing Hongyu lying on the ground, he quickly stepped forward to help her up. "Madam Yu is injured. I just came in and saw Miss Chenyu at the door. Quickly call Miss Chenyu in to examine Madam Yu."

Shen Yu's eyes were already blurred with tears. She knew that Hong Yu was taking advantage of the situation and had told a huge lie in order to clear her name. How was she any different from a despicable and shameless murderer?

She wiped away her tears with her sleeve and left angrily.

Cuiwei and Jiu'er hurriedly followed, "Miss, let's go back. An'er has been looking for you these past few days."

"Yes, An'er was still crying at 9 PM last night. Oh, right, Constable Gu came then and gave me a letter to give to the young lady first thing the next morning."

Shen Yu stopped in her tracks, took the letter from Jiu'er, and then saw Gu Dalang running towards her. "Seventh Sister, Father sent word that he wants me to take you to the morgue."

Heavily guarded the entrance to the morgue. Master Jia was already waiting at the gate. When he saw Gu Dalang and Chen Yu arrive, he quickly led the two into the courtyard.

"Eh eh eh eh..."

Hearing the man crying coming from inside the room, Master Jia gestured for the two men to go in, and then hurriedly left.

Gu Dalang pushed open the door, and what came into view was a hanging corpse. The two looked up, and Chen Yu couldn't help but shout, "Second Brother!"

"Quickly put him down," Gu Dalang said, hugging Gu Erlang's legs.

"We're too late!"

"Ah!" Gu Dalang screamed in fright. Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw Master Gu squatting on the ground with tears streaming down his face.

Gu Dalang hurriedly stepped forward to help his father up. "Father, have you reported it to the authorities? Erlang is honest and straightforward, how could he have hanged himself? He must have been murdered."

"Alas!" Master Gu sighed, wiping away his tears with his sleeve, and sobbed, "The reason I called Yu'er here was to verify whether Erlang had been murdered. Now that the Dali Temple and the yamen are all involved, I'm afraid I won't be able to investigate this case myself."

Shen Yu nodded, then led Master Gu and Gu Dalang out to avoid further damaging the scene.

The three of them retreated outside the door. Shen Yu remembered the letter Jiu'er had given her. She took out the letter and saw that it was indeed Gu Erlang's handwriting:

Seventh Sister, when you were in the Gu family, Second Brother always bullied you, and even almost beat you to death. Now Second Brother has committed a murder and must pay with his life. Before he dies, he still wants to apologize to Seventh Sister, and hopes that Seventh Sister will forgive Second Brother...

Shen Yu's eyes instantly welled up with tears. When she was little, Gu Erlang often abused her, but she hadn't held a grudge. Wait, she remembered the day Hongyu became a godmother to the Duke's family; she had personally promised: "Anyone who has bullied Sister Yu, Hongyu will make them pay with their lives."

It now appears that Gu Erlang's death was something Hongyu had planned long ago.

Chen Yu was terrified and dropped the letter on the ground.

Gu Dalang picked up the letter and handed it to Master Gu. The two looked at each other, bewildered. "What murder did Erlang commit?"

Master Gu shook his head repeatedly.

Shen Yu, however, understood perfectly well that Hong Yu had likely already cleared her name. Hong Yu was terrifying; she could actually win people's hearts and use others to kill. Gu Erlang and Qiu Xue'er had indeed killed people and deserved to die, but Hong Yu's crimes were even more unforgivable.

Even if she guessed the truth, so what? She couldn't defeat Hongyu, nor did she want to confront her directly, because she still had to raise An'er and Ping'er.

She faced the morgue door, her back to Master Gu, and said in a deep voice, "Father, there's no need to examine Second Brother's body. He hanged himself. Let Master Jia report to Lord He and let him investigate the case."

In the courtroom.

General Qiu was pinned to the ground by three guards, but he still glared at Hongyu with resentment.

Hongyu sat in the armchair, clutching her chest, and watched as Third Master Bai handed the letter to Lord He. She was overjoyed.

When the master took the letter, he was surprised to find it was Gu Erlang's confession:

The other day, I, Gu Erlang, took poisoned water from the Kong family mansion and mixed it into Qiu Xue'er's soup, killing her. Qiu Xue'er abducted the infant, burned down the Xue family's storeroom, and wiped out Zhang Manguan's entire family. Her crimes are truly heinous. I, Gu Erlang, will act on behalf of Heaven and personally eliminate this evil person!

This testimony? Even the adults were skeptical after reading it? Gu Erlang wasn't exactly bright, but he wasn't exactly a righteous person either; he had clearly been misled.

The one who bewitched Gu Erlang must be Hongyu.

Lord He turned to look, and his gaze met Hongyu's. Her eyes, seemingly smiling yet not smiling, were both alluring and sharp, as if she could see right through one's thoughts. This sent a chill down Lord He's spine. He quickly struck the gavel, and after a moment of stunned silence, he spoke: "Summon Gu Erlang to come in and report."

Master Jia rushed in, reporting in a panic, "Sir, Gu Erlang has hanged himself."

General Qiu suddenly stood up, knocked three guards to the ground, rushed towards Lord He, snatched the letter, and after reading it, was first shocked, then burst into laughter:

"Haha...Gu Erlang killed Xue'er? Xue'er was bullied since childhood, and she's actually a heinous villain? The person who wronged my Xue'er will surely be struck by lightning and die a horrible death..."

General Qiu was both amused and exasperated, and stormed out of the yamen.

Everyone was shocked and exclaimed, "Gu Erlang is the murderer?"

"Has General Qiu gone mad?"

"Yes, the legitimate daughter died unjustly, and the illegitimate daughter is the murderer. No one could bear that!"

"..."

Snap...

The judge gently tapped the gavel and slowly said, "The perpetrator committed suicide, and there are no witnesses. This case must be reported to the Emperor. Court adjourned."

After saying this, he hurriedly left with tears in his eyes.

As everyone dispersed, Hongyu, supported by Emerald, left. Just as she stepped out of the yamen, she saw the Emperor approaching quickly with two attendants.

Upon hearing that Hongyu had been injured by General Qiu, the Emperor rushed over in plain clothes. Seeing a footprint on Hongyu's white bodice, he hurriedly went to greet her and anxiously asked, "Where is Hongyu injured?"

Hongyu shook her head, then bowed in greeting. Out of the corner of her eye, a dark shadow suddenly flashed past and disappeared behind her.

Having witnessed the assassinations of Prince Hong and Prince Yan, she was extremely wary of the men in black, certain that someone was plotting to assassinate the Emperor.