Chapter 772 A Stunning Complaint

Of all the people in the Duke's mansion, the one most likely to catch the Second Young Master's eye is none other than Meng Yunlan herself! After all, the Second Young Master treats her completely differently from how he treats others.

Fuling stuck out her tongue, feeling that her thoughts were rather rebellious, but she vaguely felt that Meng Yunlan herself might also have this understanding, otherwise she wouldn't have repeatedly approached her brother-in-law Gu Qianhan, and her actions in the past few days could even be described as attentive.

It's not like Gu Qianhan is the only young master in the manor. Besides him, Meng Yunlan has several younger brothers-in-law, but they are all born to the Duke's concubines and their status is far inferior to that of Gu Qianhan, the legitimate son.

I've never seen Meng Yunlan take such good care of his illegitimate brothers-in-law.

After a long while, Fuling said, "Since Miss wants to try her luck with the Second Young Master, I will naturally inquire for you. You don't need to worry about that. You should worry about how to avoid incurring the Second Young Master's dislike!"

Qiao Zhiyu glanced at Fuling but didn't say anything.

She didn't care whether Gu Qianhan liked her or hated her; her target was never Gu Qianhan, but Gu Qianling.

She said all this just to lull Fuling, the one keeping an eye on him, otherwise how would she have had the chance to get close to Gu Qianling?

After returning to Fucui Courtyard, Qiao Zhiyu pretended to fall asleep.

After Fuling fell asleep, she got out of bed and secretly left her small courtyard.

She knew that Gu Qianling hadn't gone back to Yulu Courtyard to sleep tonight, but had gone to the West Courtyard instead.

The west courtyard was actually for guests who occasionally stayed overnight at the Duke's mansion. Although it was just as ornate and luxurious, it was much less lively and had far fewer servants.

So it was relatively easy for Qiao Zhiyu to sneak in.

There were several courtyards in the west wing. She looked at them one by one and found that one of the courtyards still had lights on, so she knew that this was probably where Gu Qianling lived.

She walked a short distance away, squatted down by the koi pond, slapped herself hard across the face, and then began to sob softly.

In the courtyard, Gu Qianling was processing official documents when he vaguely heard crying outside, but he didn't pay any attention.

His servant, Shusong, handed him something: "Young master, the petition you requested has been sent to you by Lord Chen of the Dali Temple."

Gu Qianling took it, tore open the envelope, and opened the complaint.

A moment later, a look of shock and amazement appeared on his face.

He had only heard others mention how well-written and impressive this complaint was, but he had never seen it in person. However, when the complaint was actually placed in front of him, he realized just how valuable it was.

This is definitely not something an ordinary young woman could have written!

If no one told him that this was a complaint written by Shen Wantang, he would have thought it was written by a well-known official who had served in the Dali Temple for many years and adjudicated countless cases.

The entire complaint is concise and powerful, with detailed facts and a clear structure. The writer not only demonstrated strong literary skills and keen logical thinking, but also showed a thorough understanding of the laws of Dafeng.

Shu Song also stood aside and watched, but he couldn't quite understand whether the complaint was well-written or not, because it contained many profound and obscure legal provisions.

However, he understood something: "Young Master, is this really written by the Second Young Mistress? Her handwriting is so good! I never understood why you said that so-and-so's handwriting lacked spirit and character. Now that I see the Second Young Mistress's handwriting, I finally understand what you mean by spirit and character!"

Hearing the servant's voice, Gu Qianling finally snapped out of her shock.

He gave a wry smile and said, "But do you know what? The least noteworthy thing about this lawsuit is its stunning handwriting."

Shu Song was taken aback: "Huh?! The handwriting is the least noteworthy thing? Then... then how well is the content written?!"

Gu Qianling looked at the complaint in her hand, her voice slightly hoarse: "Now I roughly understand why my second brother married her. Originally, I thought that my second brother had his eye on her..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but Shusong knew what he wanted to say.

He thought that Gu Qianhan was attracted to Shen Wantang's beautiful and refined face.

He wasn't the only one who thought this way; almost everyone in the Duke's mansion thought so.

The room fell silent.

As the night deepened and all was quiet, the crying outside seemed to grow louder and more distinct.

Gu Qianling frowned: "Who's crying outside in the middle of the night?"

"I don't know, shall I go out and take a look?"

"Okay, go ahead."

Shusong quickly left the yard and returned a moment later.

When he returned, he found Gu Qianling still staring intently at the complaint.

"Young master, the one crying outside is Miss Qiao."

Gu Qianling didn't respond. After a long while, he seemed to come to his senses: "Oh, it's her?"

He folded the complaint again, took a new envelope, put it back in, sealed it with wax, and handed it to Shu Song: "Send someone to send it back to Chen Qian."

"yes!"

Shusong accepted the letter, turned around, and went out.

Gu Qianling sat at her desk, no longer in the mood to look through the official documents.

His mind was filled with the complaint he had just read, and the words Shen Wantang had said to him when he returned in the evening.

"I don't want a young, righteous life to die in vain."

"My elder brother said I was no match for Lord Tai, but he underestimated me."

"Since I dared to get involved in this case, I naturally made thorough preparations."

...

Actually, he didn't believe Shen Wantang was capable of fighting against Tai Yuliang before, and even thought she was too naive and innocent.

But now, he's starting to doubt his own judgment.

That lawsuit was enough to prove that Shen Wantang was not a naive or innocent person. She was thoughtful and well-prepared. She even found a very famous lawyer in the capital to help her submit the lawsuit.

And coincidentally, today, Lou Yun'er, the most important witness in Chen Xiaowu's murder case, recanted her testimony.

He initially thought it was a coincidence, or the work of lawyer Fang Xuning, but now it seems that it is very likely the work of Shen Wantang.

Unfortunately, he worked in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, not in the Ministry of Justice or the Court of Judicial Review; otherwise, he would have known more details about today's events and made a more accurate judgment.

The crying outside continued. Gu Qianling endured it for a while, but a sense of irritation rose in her heart.

He was already feeling a bit of a headache and fatigue, and the incessant crying made his headache even worse.

He finally lost his temper, stood up, and walked out.

Following the sound, he walked up behind Qiao Zhiyu: "Cousin Qiao, why are you here so late at night..."

Before he could finish speaking, Qiao Zhiyu was startled and screamed. Then she twisted her ankle and fell headfirst into the koi pond.