Chapter 219 Revealing the Truth
"Could it be true?"
"This man's story sounds very plausible; I'm afraid there really is something going on between them?"
"Oh dear, so it seems Miss Qiao's character is rather questionable..."
"Exactly! She seduced a man who had a fiancée, got caught, and then made the man take the blame. Tsk tsk!"
...
"Are you all stupid? This man is obviously putting on an act! Didn't you hear from the Marquis's family that his fiancée is a lowly maid from Cuihong Pavilion?"
"Even the name is fake, how could this fiancée be real?"
"If you ask me, most of these people are here to pick a fight and frame someone!"
...
Opinions vary.
Min Qiaoshi naturally didn't care.
She watched Jiang Junyan finish his performance with amusement before continuing, "Jiang Junyan, Jiang Xiucai, is from Gaoshan Village, twenty li east of the capital."
"A child prodigy, he passed the county-level imperial examination at the age of twelve, but then became arrogant and his studies stagnated, resulting in repeated failures in the imperial examinations. To this day, he has not even passed the provincial-level imperial examination."
"I came to the capital to make a living recently and was offered a large sum of money to perform this play in front of the Marquis of Xuanping's mansion today."
Jiang Junyan stared at Min Qiaoshi in disbelief, his previous composure completely gone.
“You are right. I am a down-on-his-luck scholar who has failed the imperial examinations many times, but my feelings for Miss Qiao are as clear as day.”
Yeah, still being stubborn.
Min Qiao ignored him and turned to the woman surnamed Wang, "Wang Xinghua, from the west of the city, lost her husband early, her mother-in-law is blind, and her young son is seriously ill and urgently needs a large sum of money for treatment..."
"Do I need to continue?"
The woman surnamed Wang's previous sharp tongue and bluster vanished in an instant, leaving only trepidation and unease.
"Three people who have absolutely no connection got together and put on quite a show for me."
Madam Min smiled and asked with an ambiguous tone, "It's rare that the people behind you have gathered you all together and put together such a grand show."
"...I, I don't know what you're talking about! I'm not Xiao Cui at all! I'm Chun Ya, I'm Jun Yan's fiancée! Qiao Yuan Yao seduced my Jun Yan!"
Like Jiang Junyan, Xiao Cui was still being stubborn.
However, as soon as he finished speaking, Wen Xiu, who had retreated to the side at some point, emerged from behind the crowd with several people.
One of the middle-aged women, dressed in brightly colored clothes, stepped forward first, grabbed Xiao Cui's ear, and scolded in a shrill voice, "You shameless hussy! You took half a day off, saying you were going to buy things for Yi Mei. But as soon as you stepped out the door, you disappeared like a kite with a broken string!"
"I never expected this! You've really gotten bold! You actually came here to cause trouble at the Marquis's mansion with your men?"
"Just wait and see how I deal with you!"
As she spoke, the woman pinched Xiao Cui's arm hard a few more times. "Hmph, don't forget, your father took twenty taels of silver from me and sold you to me!"
"If you dare to run away, I'll go and drag your sister into this building to pay off the debt!"
"You're not good-looking enough; you can only be a lowly maid!"
"But your sister's appearance, tsk tsk..."
"Don't touch my sister! I won't run away!" Xiao Cui was anxious, angry, and scared.
If it weren't for earning money to redeem herself and pay off her father's gambling debts, why would she have gotten involved in this mess?
Now that even the brothel madam has arrived, she can no longer keep up the pretense.
Knowing that the matter was beyond repair, Xiao Cui turned around and knelt down in the direction of Madam Min Qiao and Qiao Yuanyao, kowtowed heavily, and said simply, "I'm sorry, Madam, I did lie."
“My name is Chunya, and I am not Jiang Junyan’s fiancée.”
"I'm sorry, Miss Qiao. I only came here to slander you because of money."
“Someone approached me and gave me twenty taels of silver. He said that if I did as he said, he would give me another thirty taels of silver after the matter was settled.”
"Fifty taels of silver is enough for me to redeem myself and also enough to pay off my father's gambling debts."
"I was momentarily blinded by greed. Please forgive me!"
As she spoke, Xiao Cui kowtowed to Min Qiao Shi and Qiao Yuanyao again.
Wang Xinghua, who was terrified because her identity had been exposed, finally breathed a sigh of relief after Xiao Cui relented.
Especially after seeing the old woman and the child brought by Wenxiu, she couldn't wait to kneel down and kowtow, readily admitting that someone had given her money to act in this play.
In the end, only Jiang Junyan remained, stubbornly putting up a last-ditch effort.
Even though his identity was exposed, he still insisted that he and Qiao Yuanyao were in love.
Min Qiao ignored him and only looked coldly at Xiao Cui and Wang Xinghua, "Do you know the person who bribed you?"
Both of them shook their heads.
"If that person stood right in front of you, would you still recognize them?"
The two nodded in unison.
Soon, Wenxiu and Ajiu each brought a man with his hands bound and his mouth gagged to them.
"Is it them?"
The two men stood up and carefully examined the two men before pointing at the same young man.
Xiao Cui blurted out first, "It was him! He paid me to come and slander Miss Qiao!"
Not to be outdone, Wang Xinghua quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes, that's him! I remember him clearly, with his pointed face and monkey-like features, he doesn't look like a good person at all!"
Min Qiao glanced at the man with the pointed mouth and monkey-like face. The man's face was pale, his forehead was covered in sweat, and his eyes kept glancing at the middle-aged man next to him who was also tied up.
"Take the thing off his mouth."
Min Qiao gave the order, and Wen Xiu raised her hand to remove the object from the man's mouth.
"Madam, spare me! Spare me!" The young man knelt down before Madam Min with a thud. "My uncle made me do it! I didn't know anything, I was just a gofer!"
Madam Min then pointed to the middle-aged man next to her, "Take the thing out of his mouth too."
Soon, the middle-aged man's mouth was also freed.
Unlike the timid young man, the middle-aged man immediately threatened arrogantly, "Do you know who I am? I'm the steward of the Wu family! Let me go right now!"
Madam Min scoffed, "The Wu family? There are so many Wu families in the capital, which one are you talking about?"
The middle-aged man said arrogantly, "Naturally, it's the Crown Princess's family!"
"Hmph! Now you know how powerful I am, huh? Why don't you let me go right now?"
Madam Min Qiao looked at the middle-aged man with amusement. "So, the ones who bribed these people to slander my niece are the Crown Princess's family?"
The middle-aged man retorted, "I don't know what you're talking about. Don't try to slander the Wu family! Our Wu family isn't so easily bullied!"
“You are the steward of the Wu family, and this person kneeling on the ground is your nephew. Your nephew bribed these people to cause trouble…”
Madam Min Qiao looked at the middle-aged man with a half-smile, "Tell me, the person behind this isn't the Wu family? Or could it be the Crown Princess?"
"How dare you! You dare to slander the Crown Princess!" The middle-aged man was not intimidated at all. "I warn you, release me immediately. Otherwise, I will sue you for kidnapping."
Madam Min smiled and said, "Perfect timing, I was just about to take you to the yamen."
With that, he ordered, "Send all these people to the Jingzhou Prefecture government office. I want to see if there is any law left under the emperor's nose!"
"The dignified Marquis of Xuanping's residence has actually become a stage for these people to put on a show!"
Seeing that Min Qiaoshi didn't seem to be faking it, the middle-aged man panicked. "I didn't do anything, why are you sending me to the yamen? Let me go!"
Madam Min sneered, "Save those words for the officials."
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