Bang!
The emperor slammed his gavel in anger and demanded, "Shuang'er, tell me! Where were you the night Zhang Manguan's family was murdered?"
Qiu Shuang'er shuddered and said in a trembling voice, "Reporting to... Father, that night when Shuang'er went to find Kang'er, she encountered a masked woman who tried to assassinate her. She couldn't beat Shuang'er and fled into the Bai family's old house. Shuang'er fought with her for a while, and she took advantage of the fact that Shuang'er's clothes were caught on a tree branch to escape."
"Oh? Are there any witnesses?"
Qiu Shuang'er shook her head.
Prince Yan hurriedly spoke up, "Father, I can testify that this did happen. That night, when Shuang'er returned, her long dress was torn and her fingernails were broken. She really did encounter a villain and did not go to Zhang Manguan's house..."
Before Prince Yan could speak, Master Shen retorted sharply, "Prince Yan! I saw Princess Yan with my own eyes. Her figure and face are exactly the same as hers. Moreover, the bloody shoe print at the crime scene also belongs to Princess Yan. The evidence is conclusive. Why are you still protecting her?"
Exactly the same?
At this moment, Prince Yan suddenly realized, "The person who looks exactly like Shuang'er is Qiu Xue'er. Qiu Xue'er must have killed Zhang Manguan's family and framed Shuang'er. Qiu Xue'er is taking revenge on my Prince Yan's mansion. I beg Father Emperor to investigate thoroughly."
Qiu Shuang'er nodded. Although she never admitted that Qiu Xue'er looked exactly like her, others always mistook them for each other. The clothes and shoes Qiu Xue'er wore were all hand-me-downs from Qiu Shuang'er, which was why the shoe prints were exactly the same.
She kowtowed repeatedly to the emperor, pleading, "Father, if you don't believe me, you can summon my family for a confrontation. Qiu Xue'er looks like me. As long as we find Qiu Xue'er, we will know that I have been wronged."
The emperor actually hoped that Qiu Shuang'er was framed. If Qiu Shuang'er was convicted, it would not only damage the royal family's reputation but also greatly reduce the loyalty of the Qiu family army.
*Snap!* The Emperor looked towards the door and said, "Is there another culprit? Mu Chenyu, come in and report. The shoe print matches Qiu Shuang'er's, but how do you explain that strand of hair?"
Shen Yu pondered for a moment, then slowly walked into the hall, knelt behind Qiu Shuang'er, and said softly:
"Your Majesty, that strand of hair does not belong to Princess Yan, nor to any corpse. It is highly likely that the songstress took someone else's hair to the Zhang family."
Send someone to the Peony Pavilion to investigate and see who has been in contact with the courtesans. If that strand of hair wasn't brought from the Peony Pavilion, it's highly likely it was left by the culprit, or perhaps the culprit is someone else entirely.
Upon hearing this, Master Shen turned around and angrily shouted at her, "Mu Chenyu! You're spouting nonsense again!"
"Shen Yu is only making inferences based on the facts. If she really wronged Princess Yan, wouldn't that be letting the real culprit go free?"
"The footprints at the scene and the time of the crime match up; she's the culprit! I think you've been bribed by the King of Yan to exonerate Qiu Shuang'er..."
Bang! The official clerk slammed the gavel and shouted, "Silence! I heard that when Baozhu's birth mother cremated Baozhu, evidence was found. Should this case be examined? What are your opinions? Mu Chenyu, you speak first."
Before Chen Yu could respond, both Yan Wang and Qiu Shuang'er agreed, "Yan'er requests that Father Emperor order an autopsy."
"Please, Father, order an autopsy to clear Shuang'er's name."
"Very well! Summon all the coroners in the capital and immediately conduct an examination of the body in Zhang Manguan's case. Judge Bao and Prince Jin will supervise the process. First, take Qiu Shuang'er to prison. We will reconvene on another day. Court adjourned!"
------
The rain had stopped by then.
Shen Yu hurriedly left Dali Temple; she needed to find Old Li to treat the cripple.
She had just run out of the Dali Temple when Jiu'er came up to her and whispered, "Miss, Old Master Li has left with the cripple; they left through the east gate."
Shen Yu hurriedly chased after her with her two maids. When she passed the Bai family's old house, she saw a familiar figure, slender and tall, wearing a face mask. It was the woman with the face mask she had seen at the gate of the Yan Prince's Mansion yesterday.
She ordered Jiu'er to follow the woman in the face mask and had Cuiwei accompany her to sneak into the Bai family's old house to gather evidence of Qiu Shuang'er's innocence.
She believed Qiu Shuang'er was telling the truth, because she had indeed seen the woman with the veil who looked very much like Qiu Shuang'er. Furthermore, the woman with the veil secretly monitoring the Prince Yan's residence must have a hidden story.
She carefully examined the trees in the courtyard, searching for any clues.
Cuiwei stared absentmindedly at the tree branches and complained, "Prince Yan sealed off our villa, and Princess Yan took the opportunity to kidnap An'er and Ping'er. Why did you help her, Miss?"
“I’m not helping her; I want the truth and justice. If we wrong Princess Yan, wouldn’t that be letting the real culprit go free? Look carefully from the bottom up; see if there are any threads on the branches.”
After saying that, Chen Yu walked to another tree and looked it up from below.
Footprints? It just rained heavily; these must be fresh footprints. They're a size smaller than Cuiwei's, yet a size larger. Could someone have been here?
Looking up, I saw a tree branch that had been broken, with sap still sticking out of the cut. The woman with the face mask must have taken the evidence.
The woman with the face mask wanted to kill Qiu Shuang'er, so she must have been acting on the orders of Yan Wang's formidable enemy—the Sixth Prince.
Shen Yu was furious. The Sixth Prince not only killed Wang Baozhu and Liu Niang, but also tried to frame Qiu Shuang'er. If such a despicable and wicked person became emperor, wouldn't he bring disaster to the people?
In order to catch the real culprit, she rushed to the Yan Prince's residence and told him what had just happened.
Yan Wang hurriedly found the clothes that Qiu Shuang'er wore that night and removed four silk threads from the hem of the skirt.
Since there is no evidence that Qiu Shuang'er was not at the crime scene, it can only be proven that the hair did not come from a customer of Mudanlou, but was dropped by the murderer.
Shen Yu changed into men's clothing, put on a veil, and followed Yan Wang to the Peony Pavilion.
The madam said that only one person had been intimate with the songstress that day, and that was the handsome young master Xue Liulang. Unfortunately, he was burned to death last night, and it would be difficult to find even his bones, let alone a single hair!
With tree branches broken off and witness remains nowhere to be found, evidence proving Qiu Shuang'er's innocence was destroyed one after another, making Chen Yu even more convinced that Qiu Shuang'er was framed. It seemed that only by finding the masked woman could they prove that Qiu Shuang'er was being framed.
King Yan was certain that the veiled woman was Qiu Xue'er, and he summoned the steward to ask, "Where was Qiu Xue'er sold to?"
The steward hurriedly knelt down and replied tremblingly, "At that time, Princess Yan was Zhang Hongyu. She said she would send someone to handle this matter, so this old servant does not know where Qiu Xue'er was sold?"
Hongyu sold Qiu Xue'er? Chenyu hurriedly returned to Jingwang Villa to inquire about Cuiwei.
Cuiwei replied, "This servant remembers very clearly that it was Young Master Xue who bought Qiu Xue'er."
Shen Yu and Yan Wang rushed to the Xue family, where they found the place filled with weeping and wailing, a truly tragic scene.
Xue Dalang, the eldest son of the Xue family, with tears in his eyes and unsteady steps, led Prince Yan to the seat. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse:
“My sixth brother doesn’t usually go to the storeroom, but I don’t know why. Yesterday, after dinner, he took some people to the storeroom to take inventory, and a fire broke out there. Someone must have deliberately murdered my sixth brother. I urge Prince Yan to urge the Dali Temple to investigate this case as soon as possible.”
Prince Yan nodded in response, "I will certainly urge the Court of Judicial Review and also report this matter to His Majesty..."
Seeing that Yan Wang did not get straight to the point, Chen Yu, who was sitting to the side, asked directly, "Young Master Xue, do you have a maid named Qiu Xue'er in your household? Bring her here."
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