Chapter 368 Public Trial
After Lian Xing finished speaking, He Jinglan's eyes had widened into copper bells.
"Silly girl! Zichu! Jiang Zichu! He is the number one scholar himself!"
The room was filled with silence.
After a moment, the maids all exclaimed in surprise, "Ah?!"
Everyone looked at Gu Xixi, feeling excited, curious, but more importantly, genuinely happy for her.
Gu Xixi opened the wooden box under everyone's expectant gaze.
Inside the box lay an apricot blossom and a note with orchid patterns.
She picked up the note, looked at it, and said, "It looks like Brother Zichu's handwriting."
"Great!" Guangzhu clapped her hands, "I think this apricot blossom is the same one that the top scholar wore in his hair yesterday!"
Zi Yan was careful and said, "Indeed, they are exactly the same. The end of the flower branch is wet, which shows that it was carefully kept in a water bottle last night."
Lu La looked at Gu Xixi and smiled, "The champion is really attentive."
No wonder the maids were happy.
There is only one number one scholar every three years, and the only apricot blossom picked by the emperor himself, which contains multiple meanings.
From today's perspective, whoever receives apricot blossoms personally presented by the top scholar is equivalent to winning the first place among women, and the people around her will also be proud.
Besides, the top scholar is young, handsome, and kind-hearted, with a bright future. He is also a cousin of Boss Gu and knows him well.
No matter how picky you are, this is still a perfect match blessed by the matchmaker and a perfect match.
He Jinglan looked at Gu Xixi with mixed feelings.
Although emotionally, she has always hoped that her two friends can get married and be happy.
But from a rational point of view, she never thought that Mu Nanzhao was Gu Xixi's best and only choice.
"Xixi, how do you plan to respond to Lord Jiang's gift?"
Gu Xixi closed the wooden box and said, "I don't know."
"I never thought he would give me this."
She looked at He Jinglan with calm eyes and no intention of avoiding the question.
It's like stating the simple fact that "it's a nice day today."
"Let's do the business first, and then think about it slowly after we return from Jingzhao Prefecture."
Locust-killing drugs have been sprayed all over Gyeonggi Province, and the first phase has come to a temporary end.
He Jinghui returned to Beijing exhausted, and as soon as he entered the mansion he found that the servants were all in high spirits.
So I casually asked the reason, and found out that Mr. Gu, who was staying here as a guest, received apricot blossoms from the top scholar this morning.
He Jinghui was confused. After asking a lot of questions, he returned to his room, still feeling a little indigestion.
Ever since Gu Xixi moved into the Xiao He Mansion, He Jinghui has been worried sick.
In order to prevent Mu Nanzhao from going crazy, he followed the principle that nothing should happen in his own home.
He Jinghui deliberately separated An Qinghe in the front yard and asked the servants and maids to serve and watch him attentively.
Despite all precautions, nothing happened between Gu Xixi and An Qinghe.
How come a top scholar suddenly appeared out of nowhere?
He Jinghui had heard of Jiang Mingyuan a long time ago, and also knew that he was a distant relative of Gu Xixi.
Compared to An Qinghe, who was always sticking to Gu Xixi, Jiang Mingyuan showed no signs at all.
Who would have thought that he could accomplish great things quietly?
The apricot blossoms of the top scholar have the emperor's blessing, and countless families with daughters in the capital are eyeing them.
Once it is sent out, it means a public proposal for marriage.
The worst thing is that Boss Gu's attitude is still unclear, and he actually said that he needs to consider it...
The more He Jinghui thought about it, the more he felt that this matter was of great importance, and he suddenly stood up.
No, I must tell Mu Nanzhao as soon as possible.
Otherwise, if Mu Nanzhao gets dumped one day, people will blame him for not reporting the truth!
At the beginning of the morning hour, Jingzhao Prefecture.
The thunderous sound of drums attracted the people to gather.
People in the streets and alleys rushed to tell each other that the orphan girl's case of redressing injustice would be heard today. In order to make the truth clear and prove that the court would never be partial, the regent specially authorized the opening of the three gates of Jingzhao Prefecture and invited the people of the world to supervise.
The prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture opened the court on time and first brought forward the suspects in order according to the confession submitted by the regent prince.
The evil slaves and thugs kept in Fan Dongping's family were a mob. When they entered the court, as soon as they heard the gavel sound, before they heard any news, they kowtowed and begged for mercy, and shouted that they admitted their guilt.
But when it came to the turn of the people in the county government of Nanyi County, something unexpected happened.
Led by the county magistrate, everyone denied their previous confession.
The prefect glanced at the regent who was listening and asked the county magistrate, "This confession has your own fingerprints."
The county magistrate fell to the ground and shouted, "I am innocent!"
"There are all kinds of tortures in the prison. If a humble scholar like me doesn't confess, I will die unjustly in prison!"
When the prefect saw that Mu Nanzhao did not respond, he ordered someone to bring Fan Dongping to the court.
Let Fan Dongping and the county magistrate confront each other.
The county magistrate remained calm and said, "Although I know the suspect Fan Dongping, we have no relationship with him."
"Even if he has some wealth, he is just an ordinary citizen."
"Please put yourself in my shoes and think about it. I, Han Shuang, have studied hard for thirty years and it is not easy to get an official position."
"Is it worth it to risk breaking the law and helping him kill people just for a commoner and his little profit? He is not worthy of it!"
The prefect sneered, "It does sound absurd that a local official would be willing to be a lackey of a local thug."
At this time, Fan Dongping was a little panicked.
No matter how stupid he was, he knew that the county magistrate was disassociating himself from the matter in order to put all the blame on him.
But he looked around, clenched his teeth, and refrained from speaking, as if he was expecting something.
The county magistrate straightened his back a little more.
"Fan Dongping said that I provided him with protection in recent years, but where is the evidence?"
"When did he bribe me? What was the bribe? Is there any record? Where is the physical evidence?"
"If you convict me based on the one-sided words of a ruffian, I will never be convinced even if I die!"
The prefect looked embarrassed.
There is indeed a lack of physical and circumstantial evidence in this case.
It would have been fine if the county magistrate and others had confessed their guilt, but they changed their confession in court.
The prefect slammed the wooden clapper, stared at Fan Dongping and shouted, "Fan Dongping! It is a serious crime to slander an official of the imperial court! Don't you have anything to say?"
Fan Dongping turned his head to glance at the county magistrate with resentment in his eyes, but he just shook his body and said nothing.
The prefect said angrily, "Just answer the question! You are making a wrong calculation if you want to bring the street vendor's tricks to Jingzhao Prefecture!"
After saying this, he was about to throw down an order for the bailiff to start the caning.
At this time, Mu Nanzhao put down the teacup and said slowly, "County Magistrate Chen, right?"
"A little clever, but not much."
"You privately speculated on your master's intentions and concluded that Fan Dongping had become a discarded pawn because no one came to rescue him."
"So he confessed first to avoid suffering, then changed his statement in court and put the blame on Fan Dongping."
County Magistrate Chen was startled, lowered his head, and his eyes flickered.
Fan Dongping looked at County Magistrate Chen in shock. He was not a cunning man to begin with, but he could no longer hold back and said in a lost voice:
"Is he telling the truth?"
"My father really doesn't care about me anymore? Impossible!"
"It must be you. You made a blind guess to protect yourself!"
Upon hearing this, the people watching outside were in an uproar.
"It seems that the rumors about the Fan family's illegitimate child are true?"
"Is he that person's illegitimate son? No wonder he can be so domineering and kill other people's families!"
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