Jiang Yaoguang immediately cried out that he was wronged, "Sir, I am not very familiar with this person. We just fled famine together before. How could I be so wronged? Sir, you must do justice for me!"
Those idiots couldn't even kill a woman; he might as well have done it himself. Luckily, he was prepared in advance, so the authorities wouldn't have discovered his involvement.
The onlookers were stunned by these words. Chen Shaofu was so angry that she was trembling all over. If she hadn't been held back, she would have rushed up and beaten this scumbag right now.
It's ridiculous that she still had expectations of this scumbag, thinking he could take care of them!
It's her fault for waking up too late.
Song Quanzhao frowned, looked at the bearded men, and asked coldly, "Was it Jiang Yaoguang who sent you to kill people?"
The bearded man carefully examined Jiang Yaoguang for a few moments, then recalled the figure in his mind before saying, "That person was shorter and thinner than him, and their voices were different too."
It wasn't him who came looking for us.
The other two nodded quickly as well.
Although they hadn't seen each other's faces, they had talked together and could still clearly remember each other's voices and figures.
Jiang Yaoguang sneered inwardly, but his face remained respectful. "My lord, there must be some misunderstanding. I am a scholar and I have the utmost respect for the laws of the Great Jin Dynasty. How could I possibly do such a thing as hiring someone to kill?"
On the contrary, these two might be conspiring to slander ordinary people.
"My lord, you may not know this, but my cousin has a bad relationship with our second branch of the family. We should have fled the famine together, but they chose to hide in the mountains, showing no regard for family ties whatsoever. It is only natural that they would join forces with outsiders to slander me."
His biggest regret was that the members of the eldest branch of the family hadn't been killed by the refugees earlier. If it weren't for Jiang Yimian, this scourge, he wouldn't have to worry about these things at all.
Jiang Yimian raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised that Jiang Yaoguang was so calm. As expected of that pretentious scumbag, he could still lie without batting an eye even in front of so many people.
She almost wanted to applaud the other person on the spot.
"Really? My cousin's memory doesn't seem to be very good. He doesn't even recognize his wife who has given birth to a child."
If Sister Chen truly has nothing to do with you, why would she join this woman in slandering you? Don't you think your excuses are utterly weak, cousin?
In my opinion, Your Excellency would be better off interrogating my cousin and the second branch of the Jiang family separately. I'm truly curious how long my cousin can maintain this story.”
Upon hearing this, the onlookers cheered, now completely trusting the two based on Chen Shaofu and Jiang Yimian's previous words.
After all, no one would risk their reputation to slander a stranger for no reason.
Jiang Yaoguang was so angry that his veins bulged. He hurriedly said, "Sir, I did not lie. How can you torture me and my family? Sir, you cannot believe them just because of their one-sided story."
You're kidding, he endured the torture, but how could his parents have? They'd probably confess everything before they even got a chance to use him.
No matter how he tries to deny it, he will not be able to distance himself from the case.
Jiang Yimian simply smiled and said, "Cousin, the magistrate has the right to use torture when handling cases. Are you trying to disobey orders?"
For the first time, she felt that the method of using torture instruments in ancient times was good. It didn't require her to exert too much effort. Once the people from the second wife's family saw the torture instruments, they would probably all confess.
Jiang Yaoguang clenched his fists in anger. If he weren't still in court, he would have rushed up and killed this man right now.
He should have killed the eldest son's family members much earlier if he had known they were still alive.
After thinking for a while, Song Quanzhao nodded and said, "Men, use torture."
However, no sooner had he finished speaking than a disgruntled voice came from outside the yamen.
"Wait a minute, does Lord Song think he can change his decisions based on just a few words from the common people?" Madam Bai walked in from outside, her cold eyes sweeping over the people in the hall.
Song Changfeng, who was following behind her, frowned when he saw Jiang Yaoguang. He glared at him with a mixture of anger and dissatisfaction before turning his fierce gaze to Jiang Yimian.
Jiang Yimian seemed oblivious to the murderous glare in the other person's eyes, calmly glancing at her before looking away.
Song Changfeng bowed to Song Quanzhao before saying, "Sir, although torture can be used in investigations, if torture is used without any evidence as in today's case, you might end up with a reputation for being tortured into confessing."
Adults should think about this more.
Song Quanzhao frowned, about to lash out, when he saw Bai Shi take out a token, which startled him. He quickly stood up and bowed to her, saying, "This humble official was unaware that the Minister's wife was here. I hope Madam will forgive me."
Bai waved his hand dismissively, but his voice carried a clear reminder: "Sir, there's no need for such formalities. I've only come to observe your handling of the case. I hope Lord Song won't wrongly accuse an innocent person."
Of course, we must not let any malicious person with ulterior motives get away with it.
"Alright, sir, please continue the trial."
Song Quanzhao hurriedly agreed and ordered someone to prepare a seat for Bai Shi before silently wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
It is said that a higher-ranking official can crush a person, let alone a second-rank official. He, a mere nobody, cannot afford to offend this powerful figure.
Although it wasn't the Minister himself who came, with that token on his person, there's no way he can be expected to torture the Jiang family. This case is going to be difficult to try.
Thinking it over, he subtly shook his head at Jiang Yimian, signaling her to know when to stop and not to offend anyone.
Jiang Yimian simply smiled.
Just then, a beautifully made-up young woman walked into the yamen, her extraordinary demeanor causing everyone to pause in surprise.
Madam Bai hurriedly came to greet her, "Thank you, Miss Xie, you actually came."
She thought the other person was just unhappy with the flower viewing party she organized and wanted to come out and take a look, but she never expected that this person would actually come to the government office.
Xie Yu glanced at her and said casually, "Since I said I would come, I will. But you, you actually arrived before me."
Bai chuckled awkwardly and quickly led the person to her original seat, while she stood behind the person.
If Song Miaoyin hadn't asked her to come to the yamen quickly, she wouldn't have wanted to come at all.
She hadn't expected Xie Yu to come too. Now she hoped that he would just take a look and not meddle in her affairs.
After all, the Song family was practically her maternal family, so she naturally didn't want their reputation to be damaged.
Song Quanzhao stared at Xie Yu for a long time without daring to make a move, but his forehead was covered in even more cold sweat.
If he wasn't mistaken, the jade pendant at the girl's waist should be a uniquely colored warm jade, the kind only royalty could possess.
What major event has occurred in Qingshui County? Why have all these dignitaries from the capital come here?
Seeing that Song Quanzhao hadn't moved for a while, Xie Yu said with some dissatisfaction, "Isn't this a trial? Continue!"
Song Quanzhao quickly responded and returned to the main hall before continuing, "Chen Shaofu, Jiang family daughter, do you have any other evidence to prove that Jiang Yaoguang sent someone to murder you? If not, this case cannot be solved based on your one-sided statements."
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