Courtroom.
Zhao Xin and Jing'er had been waiting for a long time, and the slave trader Li Wei was summoned over again.
As Su Qinghe entered the hall, she immediately saw a woman kneeling in the center, but her back was turned to her, so her face could not be seen.
"My lord, I am late."
Su Qinghe bowed to Luo Pinzheng, who was seated at the head of the table.
Luo Pin was frowning, clearly very displeased.
"Alright, now that everyone's here, let's begin!" She slammed the wooden board in her hand.
“Zhang Yun, according to the official investigation, you and your brother Zhang Jing’er faked your deaths to gain Zhao Xin’s sympathy.”
"Zhang Jing'er has only been in the Zhao family for a few years, yet she harbored malicious intentions and conspired with you to sell the Zhao family's legitimate son. Do you admit to these two crimes?"
Her voice was authoritative, and with each word she spoke, the woman kneeling on the ground trembled even more violently.
"I...I plead guilty..."
Zhang Yun trembled like a leaf, knowing that his secret had been exposed, and dared not look at Zhang Jing'er and Zhao Xin beside him.
When she was first brought to court, she vehemently denied that she was Zhang Jing'er's sister, saying only that she looked like someone else and that they had mistaken her for someone else.
But when Zhao Xin pointed out the birthmark on her body that was exactly the same as Zhang Jing'er's, she knew that everything was over.
Although the siblings were not twins, they had the exact same birthmark. She had no idea that her silly brother had even told Zhao Xin about it.
"You son of a bitch, how dare you lie to me!"
Seeing that she finally admitted it, Zhao Xin angrily kicked her in the face and rubbed her face on the ground.
"Master Wife!"
Jing'er, who had been slumped on the floor since entering, stared blankly at Zhao Xin's furious back, muttering despairing words.
During the days he stayed at the inn, Zhao Xin beat him every day, no matter how much he begged or pleaded for mercy. He wasn't given medicine for his injuries, and when he was hungry, he was only given leftovers.
Now his whole body is covered in bruises and his face is swollen so badly that he is completely unrecognizable from his former self.
He was in excruciating pain in his leg; it was broken, a result of his escape attempt the previous night.
"If I've been lied to, I've been lied to. I'll just consider it as me paying for Zhang Jing'er."
"Instead of taking the money and getting out of here, you dare to come back and scheme against my Zhao family? I'll make sure you're dead!"
Zhao Xin grew angrier with each kick, and Zhang Yun's face was already covered in blood. Unable to resist, she could only curl up and cover her head.
"Hurry up and pull them apart!"
Luo Pinzheng shouted, and the constables standing next to him immediately pulled Zhao Xin, who was in a rage, away.
"Alright! The criminals will be punished by the authorities."
Luo Pinzheng cleared his throat.
“During this operation, some constables discovered that you still have quite a few respectable girls, all of whom were obtained through illicit means. Repeatedly trafficking respectable girls is a capital offense.”
Upon hearing the words "death penalty," Zhang Yun trembled, and a strong stench of urine filled the hall; he had wet himself in fear.
Su Qinghe frowned slightly and silently took a few steps back, standing closer to the door.
"Guards, take this man to the death row and execute him after the New Year!"
Luo Pin waved his hand in disgust. After the others were dragged away, he immediately ordered his men to clean up the water stain.
Once the smell had dissipated in the lobby, she turned to look at the man lying on the ground.
“Zhang Jing’er, although you have not sold good girls many times, as a wife, you were jealous and violated the duties of a husband, colluding with outsiders to harm your own husband.”
Luo Pinzheng paused, then turned to look at Zhao Xin beside him.
"Zhao Xin, do you have anything else to say to him?"
Zhao Xin frowned, her face still showing anger and hatred.
"This humble subject has nothing to say to this vile woman. Your Excellency may deal with her according to the law."
She flicked her sleeves, not even glancing at Zhang Jing'er on the ground.
"My lady! Jing'er has served you for so many years, you can't be so heartless, my lady!"
Seeing the woman's heartlessness, Zhang Jing'er trembled with fear and struggled forward to grab her leg, but she couldn't even touch a hem of her clothes.
Zhang Jing'er was dragged away, leaving him with ten years of imprisonment.
However, given his current physical condition, with a broken leg and numerous injuries, he probably wouldn't survive even a month without medical treatment.
"Su Qinghe, this matter is settled. You can go back now."
The onlookers had dispersed, and Luo Pinzheng had also told Su Qinghe to leave.
"yes."
Su Qinghe remained neither humble nor arrogant, and bowed to take her leave.
After seeing that the person had left, Luo Pin gave Zhao Xin a look and then turned and went into the inner room.
"Your trip to Tianhe County this time is probably not just for business, is it?"
She walked behind the desk and sat down to begin writing the conviction document. Zhao Xin followed her in and sat down in the chair next to her.
"Lord Luo is wise."
She noticed Luo Pinzheng's rather arrogant expression, first offering a compliment, and then continued:
"His Highness's birthday is approaching. This year, because it is a tenth birthday, the celebration will be more grand than usual. At that time, dignitaries from both inside and outside Yuzhou will come to offer their congratulations."
As she spoke, she picked up the teapot on Luo Pinzheng's desk and poured herself a cup of tea. Since it had been sitting for a long time, the tea had long since gone cold, and she drank it all in one gulp.
"You know that the Prince is planning something big, so he certainly won't miss this opportunity to win people's hearts. That's why all these years of collecting pregnancy fruits and money from various places have come in handy."
Zhao Xin looked at her with a half-smile.
Seeing her smug and self-important demeanor, Luo Pin frowned in displeasure.
"I really don't know how someone like you managed to get close to the Prince of Changping."
Hearing the disdain in her tone, Zhao Xin's eyes turned cold.
"Hmph! What's wrong with someone like me? Someone like me is more useful than you."
Although Luo Pinzheng looked down on her behavior, it was a fact that she was someone close to the Prince of Changping.
Seeing that she didn't speak, Zhao Xin continued to show off to himself.
“My husband’s maternal family was one of the wealthiest merchants in Yuzhou. In recent years, their business has grown bigger and bigger, and they have almost controlled the rice and grain business in the entire Yuzhou and several surrounding small towns.”
"Ever since the prince came to Yuzhou, he has been trying his best to win them over, but unfortunately my mother-in-law is a proud and aloof person."
"But she doesn't seem to realize what good can come of offending the lord of the fiefdom. I don't want to die with her."
"I now control all of the Ji family's businesses, and I can bring you far more benefits than you can!"
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