Shocked, Shen Yu hurriedly ran over to ask the constable, "Who is this?"
"The perpetrator who defiled Wang Baozhu committed suicide by slitting his throat."
"Any evidence? A dagger?"
The constable was about to reply when he heard a reprimand, "What are you dawdling over there for?"
Shen Yu looked in the direction of the voice and saw Bao Qianshan walking over in a hurry. He looked at the yamen runner and said, "The case of Wang Baozhu being defiled has been closed. The perpetrator has committed suicide. The body should be disposed of according to regulations."
"yes!"
Watching the two corpses being carried away, Shen Yu was puzzled. Last night, Wang Baochai clearly promised to help Wang Baozhu and Gu Huai Wang get together, so why did Wang Baozhu leave the Lu Prince's Mansion? And then she just happened to encounter villains. This was exactly the same as Zhang Xing'er's experience. There must be a mastermind behind this.
She chased after him, stopped the bailiffs, and shouted, "I want to examine the body! I suspect there are other secrets behind Wang Baozhu's death. I hope Lord Bao will allow me to examine the body. We cannot let the real culprit go unpunished, lest the people of the capital suffer."
Bao Qianshan's face darkened instantly. In fact, he had not handled the Wang Baozhu case; it was the Sixth Prince who secretly manipulated it and hastily closed the case.
Although he was dissatisfied, he dared not object. After all, he had an elderly mother who was bedridden with illness and younger siblings who were not yet married. Since his father was assassinated, he was no longer the upright, fearless, and incorruptible Bao Qianshan.
If he allows Shen Yu to examine the body and finds any flaws, wouldn't he offend the Sixth Prince?
Therefore, he sternly ordered, "Bring Mu Chenyu to the court and immediately begin the trial of the case in which King Xiang and Prime Minister Kong accuse Hongyu."
"Lord Bao, you are upright, honest, and impartial. Why did you close this case so hastily today? How can you be at peace with yourself for treating human life so lightly..."
Just as Shen Yu was being restrained by the yamen runners, Prince Jing rushed in, wielding the imperial sword, and said sternly, "The imperial sword bestowed by the Emperor is here. In order to find out the truth, I hereby authorize Miss Shen Yu to examine the body."
Shen Yu nodded to Prince Jing in goodwill, then ordered the bailiffs to pull up the curtains and begin the autopsy.
After an incense stick has burned.
The yamen runners removed the curtains, and two of them covered Wang Baozhu's body.
Shen Yu's expression was grave. She hurriedly walked to the other corpse, lifted the white sheet, and saw that the murderer had also been killed by having his throat slit. The cut was identical to that of Wang Baozhu. It seemed that the murderer of the two was very likely the same person, both of whom were left-handed and the murder weapon was not found at the scene.
Prince Jing, who was behind her, also noticed the flaw and quickly approached Chen Yu's side to whisper and persuade her, "Although Wang Baozhu is the Sixth Prince's person, she has a lowly status in the Wang family. Her birth mother is a concubine, and Master Wang has registered her under the name of a concubine."
Actually, no one will pursue the matter if you don't seek justice for her; but if you do, you'll offend the Sixth Prince.
Shen Yu suddenly looked at King Jing and asked in surprise, "King Jing wants me to turn a blind eye? To hide the truth?"
Oh no, Chen Yu's stubbornness is kicking in again.
Upon seeing this, King Jing shook his head repeatedly. The reason he came here was to protect Chen Yu. Seeing that Chen Yu was stubborn, he still went along with it and whispered, "Whatever you want to do, I will agree to it. Otherwise, I will not draw the imperial sword."
Shen Yu nodded vigorously, strode to the front door, and told everyone about Wang Baozhu's cause of death: "Miss Baozhu was indeed defiled by villains before her death, and not just one perpetrator, but at least five..."
"ah!"
"This is terrifying! They've only caught one criminal. Doesn't this make the capital extremely dangerous?"
"We must ask the authorities to apprehend the criminals."
"..."
After a short while, the discussion subsided, and everyone looked at Chen Yu.
Shen Yu raised her voice and continued to tell the truth: "Miss Baozhu did not commit suicide by slitting her throat. She was silenced by someone else. And this so-called murderer was also silenced by someone else. It was not a suicide out of fear of punishment. The real murderer is still at large."
"ah!"
"How dare these villains be so brazen! They ruined someone's reputation and even killed them to cover it up."
"Ah... my poor daughter..."
At this moment, amidst the clamor of discussion, a heart-wrenching cry broke out. An elderly woman with gray hair pushed forward, leaned against the fence, stretched out her hands, and cried out, "My daughter! Yesterday she returned from the Prince of Xiang's residence, saying she was going to Guli with Prince Guhuai. How could she have been suddenly murdered..."
Upon hearing this, Chen Yu felt as if she had found a way out. She thought to herself that the old woman's words proved that Wang Baozhu was willing to be with Gu Huai Wang, and that it had nothing to do with Hong Yu. She hurriedly ran towards the old woman, but before the fence could be moved, the old woman was dragged away by a man wearing a veil.
"Bai Yejing, quickly help me find the witness!"
She yelled and jumped over the fence to chase the old woman, but after running a few steps, she saw Bai Yejing swiftly pass by her.
Fifteen minutes later.
Prince Jing returned with the old woman, followed by two constables who were holding up the man in the veil.
Shen Yu hurriedly went to greet him, but just as she was about to lift the veiled man's hat, Prince Jing grabbed her hand.
Their eyes met, and their cheeks instantly flushed.
King Jing hurriedly released his grip and stammered, "Don't look anymore, he's already slit his throat and committed suicide."
Shen Yu was shocked; it seemed that Wang Baozhu's death had far-reaching implications.
To confirm whether the man in the veil was the murderer of Wang Baozhu, she removed the veil to examine him closely.
No, the man in the veil isn't left-handed. There's more to it than meets the eye. The murder weapon the constable brought back doesn't match Baozhu's wounds.
It seemed the mastermind was observing the whole situation and wanted to silence the witness. To protect the witness, she quickly brought the old woman into the main hall. There, Hongyu had already been brought in for trial. King Xiang and Prime Minister Kong were both furious and arguing fiercely.
“If Zhang Hongyu hadn’t defied the imperial decree and attempted to escape the marriage alliance, Wang Baozhu wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get close to the Ancient Locust King.”
"Yes, Lord Bao, my people said that Wang Baozhu entered my Prince Xiang's mansion with Zhang Hongyu, so Wang Baozhu's death is inextricably linked to Zhang Hongyu."
Hongyu sneered and glared at the Prince of Xiang sitting to the side, retorting, "Yesterday, I entered the Prince of Xiang's mansion alone. The sedan bearers all saw me. Who knew that Wang Baozhu was following behind me? It was clearly the guards of your mansion who failed in their duty. What does it have to do with me?"
"Besides, it was your steward who sent Wang Baozhu and Gu Huaiwang into the same room. Wang Baozhu's loss of virginity is inextricably linked to you, Prince Xiang. The Wang family hasn't settled accounts with you yet, but you two old geezers are here biting me like mad dogs, clearly trying to kill me."
"You...you..."
"You bastard!"
Bang! Bao Qianshan slammed the gavel and looked at the bailiff beside him, "Has the Wang family arrived?"
"The people sent to the Wang family have returned, but the Wang family's gates are tightly shut, and no one is to be seen."
Shen Yu hurriedly pulled the old woman to kneel down, "My lord, this is Wang Baozhu's birth mother, Sixth Sister. She can confirm that Wang Baozhu was with King Guhuai willingly, and it was not anyone's scheme."
The old woman knelt down and wept bitterly, “My lord, yesterday Baozhu returned from the Xiangwang Mansion and went to my place first. She told me herself that... the King of Guhuai said he wanted to marry her as his concubine, take her to the Guli tribe, and also take me with him to leave this... cage where we are bullied by everyone.”
Upon hearing this, Kong Xiang angrily stepped forward, glared at the old woman, and asked, "Wang Baozhu is a concubine's daughter of the Wang family. Who are you? Besides, what you said is only Wang Baozhu's side of the story. Regardless of whether it is true or false, who knows if the King of the Ancient Locust Tree said it or not?"
"I can testify!"
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