He was, after all, from the Qian family, and he figured this wouldn't do him any harm.
The beating stopped, the crowd fell silent, and Duan Jingcheng spoke.
"Please sit down. Ye Xingchao is the biggest victim in this case."
Ye Panjiu then sat down, and Old Man Ye and Old Lady Ye also sat down, both of them sitting very stiffly with their backs straight.
A lawyer standing next to Qian Zixuan bowed and said, "Your Honor, Qian Zixuan only sent guards to arrest Ye Xingchao yesterday. He did not beat Ye Xingchao, so he did not violate the law and should be released."
Duan Jingcheng glanced at Mu Gu.
Mu Gu immediately said, "Last night, I treated Ye Xingchao. Ye Xingchao's arm was twisted by a guard, and it is red, swollen and painful. It will take more than three months for him to fully recover."
The lawyer wasn't afraid at all and said loudly, "What a joke! How can you prove that the injury was caused by the guard, and not that Ye Xingchao deliberately fell and injured his arm just to slander my young master?"
Old Man Ye was so angry that he was about to curse, but Ye Panjiu stopped him and shook her head at him.
It's obvious that Duan Jingcheng arranged everything.
Mu Gu glanced at the lawyer with disdain. "Last night, Ye Xingchao still had the marks of being grabbed by the guards on his arm. Are you doubting my medical skills? I come from the Imperial Hospital."
The lawyer paused, glancing subtly at the crowd, a sudden unease creeping into his heart.
How could it be possible to both avoid offending the Imperial Medical Academy and exonerate Qian Zixuan?
My mind raced, and beads of sweat appeared on my forehead.
Duan Jingcheng slammed his gavel, "What else does the sinner have to say? Present it at once!"
Qian Zixuan looked up and glared at the lawyer, "Hurry up and speak!"
The lawyer's hands trembled, and in his haste, he suddenly said, "That guard went to arrest Ye Xingchao on his own; this has nothing to do with Young Master Qian!"
Duan Jingcheng slammed his gavel again. "How dare you! I was right here, and I heard Qian Zixuan shout 'Catch him!' How could my ears be so deceiving?"
The lawyer closed his eyes in despair and knelt on the ground.
Qian Zixuan was so angry that she shouted at him, "Say something! Stop pretending to be dead!"
Duan Jingcheng asked, "If you have nothing to say..."
Qian Zixuan shouted, "No, no, it's all my fault. I was too audacious. I'm willing to pay Ye Xingchao one hundred taels as compensation. Please, Ye family, don't pursue this matter, considering how good my attitude is."
Ye Panjiu sneered, stood up, and said firmly, "Just because you have money, you dare to commit violence in the street. If you get caught and don't want to go to jail, you try to bribe your way out. Do you really think that having a little money makes you superior?!"
Could it be that you appointed this prefect?
"Your Honor, please punish this person severely! The negative impact of this matter cannot be underestimated. Our Ye family will never reconcile!"
The onlookers were enraged by these words. "Put away your worthless money! Punishment for crimes is a matter of course!"
"Does being rich mean you can get away with assaulting someone? Give us an explanation!"
"Your Honor! Punish the wicked!"
At this moment, Duan Jingcheng admired Ye Panjiu greatly. People's hearts are never so easy to control, and stirring up people's emotions is not simple.
But she accomplished it with just two sentences.
The gavel slammed down. "Silence! Qian Zixuan has committed a public act of violence in the street, causing Ye Xingchao to suffer an arm injury. He is to be given ten strokes of the cane and sentenced to one year in prison!"
His guards should be punished as well!
Qian Zixuan kept shouting, "Your Honor, I'm innocent! I'm innocent!"
But the constables held him tightly.
Ye Panjiu bowed deeply, her voice filled with gratitude, "Thank you, Your Excellency, for upholding justice for this humble subject!"
The crowd cheered and jumped for joy, "The Prefect is wise!"
"A year in jail is too lenient! This bad guy got off too easy."
The middle-aged couple, dressed in fine clothes, looked ashen-faced.
The man glared at Ye Panjiu with fiery eyes.
The Ye family, very good, he'll remember that!
A bench was quickly set up, and Qian Zixuan lay down on it.
There was a constable on each side of him, and the constable glanced at Duan Jingcheng.
Duan Jingcheng nodded, and the nod was quite deep.
"Smack!"
With a heavy thud, blood immediately seeped from Qian Zixuan's body.
"Ah!" Qian Zixuan cried out in pain.
The middle-aged woman pushed the constable away forcefully, trying to rush forward to protect Qian Zixuan, crying, "My son! My son!"
Ye Panjiu watched this scene without feeling upset at all.
If Duan Jingcheng hadn't been with them that night, the Ye family might have been cruelly abused by Qian Zixuan.
To sympathize with the enemy is to be cruel to oneself.
But she didn't intend to watch the execution. Instead, she took Old Man Ye's arm and headed home, trying to avoid being bumped into by the crowd.
Grandma Ye followed along.
As the three approached the Drunken Immortal Pavilion, an elderly, wealthy-looking man dressed in blue silk called out to them, "Hey, you surnamed Ye! Don't go!"
His tone was extremely arrogant and rude.
Ye Panjiu turned a deaf ear, and neither did the old man and woman.
The portly man reached out to grab Old Man Ye's clothes.
Ye Panjiu said coldly, "Think about what happened to Qian Zixuan, and take your hand back!"
The portly man was furious, hands on his hips, "What are you all! Didn't you hear me calling you? My master wants to speak to you! The Qian family invites you in!"
Ye Panjiu was truly fed up with the Qian family. "Go back and tell your master that if the Qian family hasn't had enough of their good days, they shouldn't bother me."
The portly man was intimidated by her imposing presence and dared not say another word.
After Ye Panjiu and the other two had walked away, he jumped up and spat, "A bunch of peasants, how dare they talk to me like that!"
But his body obediently headed towards the Qian family's house.
He wasn't afraid, he was just afraid of messing up the master's business!
The elegantly dressed couple were in the main room of the Qian family home.
The man was Qian Zixuan's father, Qian Ziyu's second uncle, Qian Tairan.
He was incredibly annoyed by Feng Shu's crying. "Can you please stop crying? What's the use of crying now?! Will crying get Xuan'er out of jail?"
Feng Shu was born into the Feng family in Shuzhou. She lived a life of luxury and never suffered any hardship.
Her only son had been given ten strokes of the cane and was to be locked up for a year. The pain was so intense that she could hardly breathe. "My Xuan'er... what a miserable life!"
Qian Tairan could hardly sit still. "Isn't this all because you spoiled him? When I sent him to school, he cried because he was playing, and you threatened to kill yourself if he didn't go! When I sent him to the army, it was you who, through the Feng family, managed to get him out again! A doting mother spoils her son!"
Feng Shu cried even harder after being scolded by him.
Qian Tairan was extremely annoyed. He flung his sleeves and walked out of the house, where he ran into Steward Zhou, who was returning home.
Where are they?
Butler Zhou hurriedly replied, "The Ye family has a terrible temper! They're not coming. That girl in the hall even asked me to tell you that if the Qian family hasn't had enough of their good days, they shouldn't bother her!"
Qian Tairan was stunned. "Did she really say that?"
Butler Zhou nodded repeatedly, "After investigating, the Ye family turns out to be just a poor peasant family. I really don't know where they get the confidence to be so arrogant."
Qian Tairan fell silent and headed towards the clan chief's study.
He didn't even knock on the door, he just rushed in.
Qian Zhi, the head of the Qian family, frowned in displeasure. "When will you learn to knock on the door?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
