Chapter 349: Tit for Tat
"What nonsense!"
After a brief silence, the crowd erupted in disbelief.
"That's the daughter of the Duke's mansion, a precious and honorable lady. How could she have been abducted by human traffickers? Are you kidding me?"
"That's right, grandstanding, you must have seen it wrong."
"If the Duke's Mansion had lost their young lady, wouldn't the world be turned upside down? How could there be no news at all?"
The man who first pointed out the identity of the person was questioned by everyone and his face turned red.
The veins on his neck bulged, as if he had suffered a great humiliation, and he shouted at the top of his voice:
"I'm not talking nonsense! I've seen Miss Zheng with my own eyes.
Last year on the Double Ninth Festival, a temple fair was held at Ci'en Temple outside the city, and the women of the Duke's Mansion went there to burn incense and pray for blessings.
It was a big scene... guards clearing the way, maids surrounding them.
Miss Zheng was sitting in the front carriage with a green curtain and a canopy and the emblem of the Duke's Mansion.
I was close enough to see it clearly, and it was this face!"
He pointed excitedly at the two people in the hall who were in such a mess,
"And the one next to her is her maid, her name is... Ying
Yes, it’s Chunying, I’ve seen it before, there’s no doubt about it!”
This convincing accusation was like pouring a bucket of cold water on boiling oil.
The people were immediately in an uproar, with discussions and exclamations rising one after another, even more noisy than before!
In the hall, Deng Hongyi, the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, was so shocked that he almost jumped up from his official chair.
No wonder, no wonder I felt familiar with it just now!
The contours of her eyebrows and eyes, the delicate bone structure that could not be concealed even by dirt, isn't that Zheng Huiyin, the eldest daughter of Duke Zheng, whom she had met several times at various palace banquets?
How is this possible? How is this possible!
How could the jewel in the crown of the Duke's family be abducted by human traffickers?
After being kidnapped, how could the Duke's Mansion remain silent and allow him to disappear for several days without announcing it?
Deng Hongyi felt a chill running from the soles of his feet straight up to the top of his head.
He had been the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture for many years and had tried countless strange and unsolved cases, so he prided himself on being knowledgeable and experienced.
But the absurd scene before him made his mind go blank. He really couldn't think of a logical reason to explain this scene.
In the center of the lobby, the victims who were originally crowded together subconsciously dispersed, looking back and forth at Zheng Huiyin and Chunying with surprised and doubtful eyes.
Chunying's hand froze in mid-air, her face pale with a mixture of fear and confusion.
And Zheng Huiyin's chaotic thoughts were finally split apart by finger pointing and countless piercing gazes!
She turned her stiff neck blankly, her eyes sweeping over...
The Jingzhao prefect, sitting upright in the hall, with a sullen face;
On both sides were yamen runners holding terrifying water and fire sticks with astonished expressions;
The prisoner kneeling on the ground, looking sad;
The equally disheveled "companion" around him;
And outside the government office, those densely packed faces were filled with shock, curiosity, and pity...
Boom!
It was as if a thunder exploded in her mind, splitting open all the fog.
At this moment, she understood, completely understood!
"Miss...what on earth is this..."
"shut up!"
Zheng Huiyin turned her head suddenly and let out a beast-like growl!
Those beautiful eyes that were once filled with talent and pride now only contained the ferocity and despair of choosing someone to devour.
The coldness and madness in his eyes frightened Chunying so much that she fell silent instantly and even her breathing stopped.
At this moment, several voices outside the yamen sounded hesitantly:
"It seems...it seems that she is really the eldest daughter of the Zheng family..."
"Yes, it was her. I saw her from a distance once during the Flower Festival two years ago, when we were outing by the Imperial River. She looked just like this."
"Oh my God! It's really Miss Zheng! How...how did she end up in the hands of human traffickers?"
"Damn human traffickers, they even dared to touch the daughter of the Duke's Mansion. They must be tired of living."
"Oh! Look, Miss Zheng's dress... the hem..."
Following this exclamation, everyone's eyes instantly focused on Zheng Huiyin's tattered dress, whose original texture could no longer be seen.
The dusty lower part of his collar was stained with a dark brown bloodstain!
Not only her, but also Chunying beside her had similar dark stains on her equally dirty coarse cloth trouser legs.
This silent "evidence" is more impactful than any words.
"It's over..." an old woman murmured in the crowd.
"After being locked up in that den of wolves for so many days...
This innocent girl might have been ruined..."
"This... no wonder Miss Zheng didn't sign up. It turns out she suffered such a great disaster..."
The commotion among the people spread instantly, but this time, the voices of discussion were much lower than before, with a sense of awe and taboo.
That’s the Duke’s Mansion. Who dares to talk loudly about the “scandalous deeds” of the Duke’s daughter?
But the buzzing sound formed by the whispers was like countless fine steel needles, piercing the tottering figure in the hall.
In this suffocating low pressure, there was a sudden commotion outside the crowd.
"Get out of the way! Everyone, get out of the way! What nonsense are you talking about? How could my young lady be kidnapped?"
A male voice filled with shock and anger roared, and he roughly pushed through the crowd and squeezed in.
The people who came were Liu Feng, the captain of the guards of the Duke's Mansion, and Chunying's brother.
They had been waiting in a carriage diagonally opposite Jingzhao Prefecture, and did not pay much attention to the trial in the government office until they heard the young lady's name burst out in the crowd.
Liu Feng was extremely anxious, with a murderous look on his face. He scanned the crowd with a fierce gaze, trying to find the source of the rumors and trouble.
But the people around him were whispering, and he couldn't tell who shouted first.
The people were frightened by his ferocious appearance and subconsciously made way for him.
Liu Feng and the other man finally squeezed to the front. When they saw the extremely familiar figure in the center of the hall, they were struck by lightning.
He froze on the spot for a moment, the color draining from his face.
"Miss...?" He exclaimed in shock, his voice changing in tone.
The brother also saw Chunying's miserable appearance, and his eyes were immediately filled with anger: "Sister! What's wrong with you?"
He was about to rush in regardless, but was stopped by the yamen runners.
"Silence! No noise is allowed in the courtroom!"
Deng Hongyi slammed the gavel down heavily, the sound carrying an unprecedented solemnity.
However, the sound of the gavel seemed like a thick barrier to Zheng Huiyin.
She only felt a loud buzzing sound in her head, and all the sounds from the outside world instantly moved away from her and became blurred.
Her pupils trembled violently, and everything in her vision began to distort and spin.
How could this happen... How could it become like this?!
Not long ago, she was still immersed in the ambitious dream of becoming a "Duke", planning her future with surging emotions.
She tried hard to recall, but the end of her memory was only the sudden dizziness in the abandoned signing room.
She stumbled and would have collapsed to the ground if Chunying had not used all her strength to support her.
Qin Zhaoyue! Qin Zhaoyue!!
This name was like a poisoned dagger, piercing her heart.
She never thought about reconciliation. This was a trap set for her from the beginning!
The most noble lady in Fengjing, the eldest daughter of the Duke's Mansion, had fallen into the hands of human traffickers and was imprisoned...
No matter how she defended herself afterwards, no matter how hard the Duke's Mansion tried to cover it up and whitewash it, it would be like a brand deeply engraved on her body and in everyone's heart, and it would never be washed away!
Since Qin Zhaoyue acted so ruthlessly, how could he leave her any room for recovery?
At the birthday party, he wanted to use Master Pei to destroy his reputation;
Today in court, she will use even more brutal means to completely destroy everything she owns.
Tit for tat, how precise, how... vicious!
"Oh……"
An extremely slight sneer, filled with endless sadness, escaped from Zheng Huiyin's clenched teeth.
She bit her lower lip tightly, as if she wanted to crush and swallow all the pain, humiliation and hatred!
Bright red blood oozed from her torn lips, slowly slid down her filthy chin, and dripped onto the equally filthy collar of her chest, blooming into a small, sad and beautiful flower...
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