Feng Changchao, sitting upright in the hall, shouted, "Who is beating the drum? Whom do you want to accuse?"
At the same time, his gaze pierced through the lobby and landed directly on Lin Qixia standing at the door, a hint of provocative smile on his face.
Clearly, he already knew who Zhao Datian was going to sue.
Lin Qixia, standing not far away, realized that this was a trap set for her by the other party. She didn't panic at this moment, but just watched them perform quietly.
"My lord! Please, my lord, do justice for us!" Qian Ju seized the opportunity and immediately crawled over, crying and shouting incessantly.
Zhao Datian then stepped forward, bowed respectfully to Feng Changchao, and said, "It was I who beat the drum! I'm going to sue her!"
As he spoke, he turned around and pointed to Lin Qixia in the crowd.
"Oh?" Feng Changchao looked surprised, but then called Zhao and her son very seriously, "You two come forward and explain things to me in detail."
At the same time, he waved to Zhao Hu and Zhang Zhong and ordered, "Take down that suspect!"
Soon the two of them arrived to capture Lin Qixia.
In the short time it took, Lin Qixia went from being a plaintiff seeking justice for the people to being a defendant and suspect.
What are you doing?
"Let her go!"
Seeing several constables approaching Lin Qixia and behaving violently, He Zhilan immediately stepped forward to try to stop them.
As a result, Zhang Zhong suddenly shoved her, and He Zhilan almost fell.
Lin Qixia quickly reassured her, "You all calm down, it's okay."
Although Feng Changchao's move surprised her, she was not without a countermeasure.
She will handle it.
He Zhilan was still worried, but she didn't try to confront the constables anymore.
Lin Qixia was forcibly escorted away from the crowd and into the yamen by Zhao Hu.
She glanced back at the crowd and noticed that Huo Yanqing was no longer among them, which she found strange.
The next second, Zhao Hu kicked him without hesitation, and she was forced to kneel down in the hall.
With a "snap," the gavel was struck.
"Court is in session!"
Feng Changchao sat high above in the hall, ready to begin the trial.
"Wait!"
Just then, a voice suddenly rang out from outside.
Lin Qixia turned around and saw Tong Xuewei.
"Lord Tong, you've arrived!" Lin Qixia's face lit up with surprise when she saw him.
After all, Tong Xuewei had promised yesterday that he would personally handle the case.
But now that things have changed, she was worried that Tong Xuewei wouldn't come back, but now that he has appeared.
Then she would know what to do.
Tong Xuewei nodded slightly to her as a greeting.
When Feng Changchao saw Tong Xuewei, his face turned pale and he tensed up for a moment.
However, he immediately thought of something and smiled politely at him: "It's just an ordinary case, why did Lord Tong come in person?"
"An ordinary case? I thought it was a murder case." Tong Xuewei said as he walked to the left side of the desk. "Or does Lord Feng intend to handle this lightly?"
Feng Changchao was taken aback by his words, not expecting that Tong Xuewei had no intention of protecting Lin Qixia.
He realized what was happening and smiled, quickly agreeing, "Yes, yes, Lord Tong is right. I will certainly investigate this case carefully."
"Guards! Quickly invite Lord Tong to take a seat!" he ordered the people beside him.
Soon someone went to bring a chair for Tong Xuewei.
Seeing this, He Zhilan, who was outside the door, nervously grabbed Wen Xuan's clothes: "How could this happen? Didn't Xia'er say that she had already made arrangements with Lord Tong?"
Why would he help Magistrate Feng target Xia'er at this time?
"Madam He, please don't worry." Wen Xuan calmly reassured her, "It's obvious that this mother and son are after Miss Lin right now, and perhaps Lord Tong has no choice."
“But if that’s the case, wouldn’t Xia’er’s situation become even more difficult?” He Zhilan frowned, staring at Lin Qixia’s kneeling figure in the hall as she asked.
Wen Xuan sighed, "That's true, but I believe that Lord Tong is actually on Miss Lin's side."
"Furthermore, I believe that with Miss Lin's intelligence, she can handle this!"
He Zhilan was also affected by Wen Xuan's emotions when she heard Wen Xuan's last words.
"Yes!" She nodded slightly and said, "You're right. Xia'er is so smart, she will definitely be able to get through this smoothly."
In front of the hall, Lin Qixia did not panic because of Tong Xuewei's words.
Although she was somewhat surprised that he would say that, she quickly guessed that Tong Xuewei was probably saying it on purpose to make Feng Changchao lower his guard.
Soon, Feng Changchao slammed his fist on the table and entered the courtroom, allowing Zhao Datian, who was sitting below, to recount his grievances.
Tong Xuewei listened from the right.
Zhao Datian knelt beside Lin Qixia, raising his voice to plead his case, "My lord—my brother Zhao Shao died unjustly! The situation was like this—"
He then embellished the story, recounting what happened on the day Zhao Shao was burned to death by Lin Qixia.
During this time, he downplayed the seriousness of the matter, and spoke of Zhao Shao's prior plan to burn Lin Qixia alive in a nonsensical way, only saying that his younger brother was young and ignorant and had played a joke on Lin Qixia.
As a result, Lin Qixia took it seriously and burned Zhao Shao alive in front of everyone.
"How could such a thing happen in my territory of Li Chong!" Upon hearing this, Feng Changchao's expression turned solemn.
Many onlookers outside the government office behind them also looked shocked.
"Zhao Datian described the matter in such detail that it seems there's no way he could lie about it."
"Could it be... that the owner of 'Xiahe Manor' really did such a cruel thing?"
"For someone like this to still be able to do business outside Chong County and even swagger in to sue the county magistrate, it's simply—the world is going to the dogs!"
Qian Ju suddenly cried out, "Please, Your Honor, do justice for my son and me! My son is still young; he only made a small mistake in a moment of confusion. He doesn't deserve to die!"
She looked so pitiful.
Many people felt sympathy for the mother and son because of this.
However, at that moment, Lin Qixia's mocking laughter suddenly rang out from the side: "Heh, he 'just made a small mistake'? That's the most ridiculous joke I've ever heard!"
"Lin Qixia, what do you mean!" Qian Ju jumped up immediately upon hearing her words.
Lin Qixia immediately said, "Don't you understand what I mean? It was clearly your son who wanted to harm me back then. I was just fighting back to save my life!"
"Shut up!" Qian Ju nervously lunged at Lin Qixia, trying to stop her from saying anything more.
Tong Xuewei shouted sternly, "How dare you!"
Qian Ju shuddered, and Zhao Datian reacted quickly by pulling her back.
Feng Changchao cleared his throat before asking Zhao Datian, "Since you're convinced Lin Qixia murdered your brother, do you have any concrete evidence?"
"Of course!" Zhao Datian said confidently, "When Lin Qixia harmed my brother, many villagers from Xiahe Village were there. They all saw it! They are all witnesses!"
"Have any of those people come forward to testify for you?"
"Yes! They've all come, sir!"
"Then—" Feng Changchao announced, "The successor certificate!"
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