Amid the gloating of the onlookers, the officers and soldiers all withdrew, and one of the leading officers presented Lord He with a long, blood-stained dagger held in both hands.
"Sir, this was found under the wardrobe in the room. Please identify it!"
Everyone was shocked. Just now, Tian Sangui had spoken so confidently that they were still wondering if she might have been wrongly accused.
Now, the evidence is presented before us, with remnants left behind during the crime, likely due to her haste and forgetfulness in cleaning up.
The truth is clear. What excuses can this murderous woman possibly have?
With Madam Zhang supporting him, Tian Sangui could clearly feel her legs buckle, and she would have collapsed to the ground if Madam Zhang hadn't been supporting her.
Madam Zhang began to panic. Seeing Tian Sangui's reaction, she realized he was clearly frightened by the evidence.
Could it be that Tian Sangui really killed someone?
How could she have imagined that a child of ten years old was actually a murderer? Would her grand gesture of coming to help her implicate her husband, who was far away on the border?
That damned Tian Sangui, if it weren't for the rouge in her hand, she wouldn't even bother with him if he gave her ten thousand taels of silver.
But things had come to this point, and she couldn't just walk away now. She decided to wait and see. If all else failed, she would lead the ladies behind her to the Shen family to demand justice.
The Shen family bears an unshirkable responsibility for such a serious incident.
Lanjuan and her brother stood beside Tian Sangui, staring at the knife, their hands clenched tightly at their sides.
Tian Sangui's lips curled up slightly, her watery eyes sweeping over the three people in the crowd. Seeing that they were all enjoying themselves, she was happy too.
Lord He picked up the dagger and examined it; without a doubt, it was the murder weapon.
"The evidence is conclusive. Men, take the entire Hefang Restaurant to court and seal it off!"
Lord He glanced at Tian Sangui with disappointment, then shook his head and strode away.
Tian Sangui was taken away by the soldiers. Madam Zhang did not stop them and let them take Tian Sangui away.
When Tian Sangui met with Lanjuan and her brother, he looked at them questioningly, and the siblings nodded to him in tacit agreement, indicating that everything was arranged.
Tian Sangui felt relieved and made a token attempt to break free, but the soldiers behind him held him even tighter.
The crowd witnessed it together, and Xiao Tang and the men in black smiled one after another, then followed to see what was going on.
Seeing that Madam Zhang hadn't moved, the ladies came up and asked anxiously, "What's wrong? Is she really the murderer?"
"Should we still go? What if things change and we fail at the last minute?"
"Her rouge is so incredibly good! My husband spends every day with me and hasn't visited his concubine's courtyard since. We were almost out of rouge, and this is the perfect opportunity we've been waiting for..."
The ladies expressed their opinions, and Mrs. Zhang listened attentively, her delicate eyebrows furrowing tightly.
She was the same way, rushing to support Yan Zhi, but unfortunately Tian San Gui was a disappointment.
Madam Zhang took a deep breath. "Go, we can't jump to conclusions until things are completely over. At worst, there's still the Shen family ahead of us!"
“What Madam Zhang says is true, but the matter has been widely publicized and we all know about it. So why hasn’t the Shen family made a move yet?”
"Didn't they say that Tian Sangui was their adopted niece?"
Madam Zhang then thought, "Perhaps... the Shen family is trying to find a way to save her!"
The ladies, unsure of what to do, went to the government office to await the outcome.
In the courtroom, Lord He sat upright at the table, picked up his official tablet, and slammed it down on the table with a loud "bang!"
Everyone was startled awake at the same time.
"Bring suspect Tian Sangui to the hearing with his gun loaded!"
The prefectural governor shouted in a clear, resonant voice.
The soldiers holding Tian Sangui strode forward and forced him to kneel on the ground.
Surprisingly, Tian Sangui stopped resisting, which puzzled the officers. She had struggled the most on the way, but now she was as docile as a mouse in court.
Tian Sangui is just acting; he's not stupid. Why is he making things difficult for himself?
"Tian Sangui, do you plead guilty?"
Thinking she would be frightened and obediently confess, Lord He, considering her young age, did not impose further punishment.
However, Tian Sangui raised his bright eyes and looked directly at Lord He with a righteous expression.
"This woman is innocent, so why should I confess?"
Before Lord He could speak, the crowd outside the hall began to clamor.
"Murderer, the evidence is conclusive and you still dare to deny it! Kill her!"
"Kill her! Kill her!"
The ones stirring things up were the shopkeepers across the street; they hated Tian Sangui no less than the other two.
Seeing that she was in mortal danger, they all tacitly agreed to do everything in their power to kick Tian Sangui while he was down, so that she would have no chance of making a comeback.
Tian Sangui listened carefully and kept it in mind, and would go to each household later to deal with them one by one.
Lord He was so annoyed by the commotion outside that his head was about to explode. He quickly picked up his official tablet and slammed it three times to finally stop the chaos.
"Outsiders are not allowed to make noise. Anyone who interferes with this official's judgment will be punished with twenty strokes of the cane!"
After he finished speaking, a hush fell over the area outside the hall.
Lord He then questioned Tian Sangui, "In that case, bring the official witnesses to court to testify!"
Xiao Tang instinctively stepped forward, knelt to the upper left of Tian Sangui, and respectfully listened to Lord He's questions.
"Xiao Tang, besides the unusual behavior you saw Tian Sangui that day, was there anything else strange about it?"
“Sir, ever since I started working at her restaurant, I’ve never seen the vegetable supplier. She never lets us servants know about these things.”
"Until recently, a strange old woman started bringing her vegetables in a mysterious way, shouting loudly in the backyard."
The little boy, out of curiosity, secretly hid in the backyard to peek and saw that the old woman would finish delivering the vegetables each time...
They would hand her a large black cloth bag, and the little girl thought that the vegetable delivery woman was her accomplice.
"The magistrate can send someone to summon him and we'll find out!"
Lord He leaned back slightly and glanced at Tian Sangui. "Do you know where that old woman lives and what her name is?"
At this moment, the middle-aged Black man stepped forward and replied, "Sir, I know who it is."
"speak!"
The man in black sneered at Tian Sangui and replied respectfully, "It is indeed Granny Long from the foot of Changshan Mountain. She often delivers dishes to various restaurants. A few days ago, her voice was unusually loud, and I could hear it clearly even while I was sitting in the shop."
His words caused the people behind him to whisper among themselves: "Yes, I heard it too. They were shouting so loudly, they were definitely trying to cover their tracks!"
"Yeah, I heard it too, and I thought it was strange at the time!"
"So it turns out he was secretly doing those heartless and evil things behind everyone's back!"
Just as everyone was discussing the matter, Lou, the wealthy man, received the news. Supported by his beautiful concubine and many maids, he walked unsteadily to the outside of the courtroom, tears streaming down his face. He must have been heartbroken to learn of his daughter's tragic death.
"My daughter, you died such a terrible death!"
"Third Miss, it's all my fault for not taking good care of you, causing you to suffer at the hands of evil people!"
The people, hearing their sorrow and self-reproach, all wiped away their tears. No matter how disliked Lou Yuanwai was by the people, their daughter was innocent, and as parents themselves, they easily sympathized with him.
"Please accept my condolences, Master Lou. Lord He has already found the murderer for you, and I believe he will surely bring justice to your daughter."
Upon hearing this, Lou Yuanwai looked at Lord He, who was sitting upright, with tears streaming down his face.
"My lord, you must do justice for my daughter! You must not let this hypocritical beast get away with this!"
Lou Yuanwai pointed at Tian Sangui's back and cursed him fiercely.
Tian Sangui clenched his arms, trying hard to suppress his emotions. He couldn't afford to give up now that things had come to this.
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