All the officials in the hall were trembling with fear. They were all corrupt, and seeing that Zhou Yan had already fallen from power, they could only pray that they wouldn't be implicated.
Zhu Huaizhang continued the trial, "Guards, summon Song Laifu."
Song Laifu was the first servant to mention Ghost One during the trial.
" Song Laifu, what is your relationship with Yao Yuniang?"
Laifu's heart tightened suddenly. He hadn't expected Zhu Huaizhang to ask about this. He stammered, "My lord... Yao Yuniang and I entered the manor at the same time, and we have no other relationship."
"Lying... Someone has already told me that you and Yao Yuniang are in love with each other. Is that true?"
Upon Laifu's eyes immediately welled up with tears. Memories of the past flashed through his mind like a shadow play. Qiuju was anxious to see his reaction, fearing that he might say something inappropriate.
Zhu Huaizhang had a sharp eye and instantly spotted Qiuju in the crowd, certain that she knew something.
The gavel slammed down, startling Laifu. "I'm asking you a question!"
Laifu knelt down with a thud. "Your Honor, please understand. Yuniang and I entered the manor at the same time and took good care of each other. I originally planned to go home and get married after the contract expired."
She suddenly disappeared...
Zhu Huaizhang said in a deep voice, " Laifu... the Crown Prince is in the main hall. Tell me whatever you know, and I will definitely stand up for you."
Laifu dared not speak, as he was followed by more than a dozen embroiderers, so he could only downplay the matter and say, "The last time I saw Yuniang was when she was going home to visit her family."
She said she was going to the beach to collect some seashells to give to Xiaju as wind chimes, but she never came back.
Zhu Huaizhang flipped through the roster and found Xiaju's name. He scrolled down the names with his finger, "Could Qiuju be..."
Qiuju's heart skipped a beat. She quickly composed herself and stepped forward, "Reporting to you, sir... my name is Qiuju."
Seeing that she was calm and composed, Zhu Huaizhang knew she was quick-witted, so he left her aside and continued to question Laifu.
"How do you know Bai Yunjin was strangled with embroidery thread? Were you perhaps at the crime scene?"
Ordinary people are most afraid of government officials. When they enter the courtroom, how can they not be timid? Moreover, Laifu was guilty of thievery and completely forgot whether he had said those words or not.
"I... I only heard about it..."
"Who told you that?"
"I..." Laifu's lips trembled, his Adam's apple bobbed a few times, and his gaze unconsciously drifted to Qiuju again.
Zhu Huaizhang gave him no chance to breathe, slamming his gavel down and shouting sternly, "I'm asking you a question! What are you looking at her for? Could she be the murderer...?"
"It wasn't her, it wasn't her, it was me, it was me... I'm the murderer." Upon hearing this, Qiuju felt a chill run down her spine, as if she had fallen into an ice cave.
All the embroiderers turned their gazes toward Laifu, their eyes filled with shock, restraint, and sorrow.
Laifu's face turned deathly pale. He stood frozen in the center of the hall, tears streaming down his face without warning. "Father, Mother... I'm so sorry."
He gritted his teeth and said, " Bai Yunjin harmed the embroiderer and beat the maid to death... She deserved to die. I will avenge Yuniang."
The hall was deathly silent. Even Xiao Yuan's fingers, which were caressing his teacup, stopped moving.
At this moment, Li Xiao walked up to Zhu Huaizhang from the side and whispered, "Sir... Fang Rui found some things in Bai Yunjin's study," as he handed over a booklet.
Zhu Huaizhang's serious face immediately darkened as he opened the booklet. Li Xiao continued in a low voice, "Five whole boxes, filled with these drawings, and this one too."
He handed over another booklet, densely filled with the names of the embroiderers, the dates of their addiction, and the times when their addiction would flare up. It was a thick book that made one's scalp tingle.
Zhu Huaizhang pressed his finger on Qiuju's name, unable to look away for a long time. He had been an official for decades and had tried countless cases, big and small, but today he suddenly dared not continue the trial.
He looked at the embroiderers filling the room, only to find himself Jin Shanyao.
Jin Shanyao thought Zhu Huaizhang was asking for help, and thought to himself that this stubborn mule had finally remembered him. So he waved his hand and shouted, "Sir... I can recreate the scene. One copper coin, how about it?"
Zhu Huaizhang rolled his eyes. The evidence was laid out before him, clearly showing which official had visited Cloud Brocade Workshop, when, and with whom.
A conviction relies on irrefutable evidence. Does she expect to recreate the entire scene on the spot every time she meets someone?
Jin Shanyao that Zhu Huaizhang ignored her, Jin Shanyao awkwardly withdrew her hand and glanced at the group of embroiderers.
Just as she was thinking about how to help them, Zhu Huaizhang spoke to Xiao Yuan, "Your Highness... there is a provision in this dynasty's law that anyone who kills out of duress, in a desperate situation to save themselves, or to escape death for their husband/relative/themselves, shall be released without charge."
Xiao Yuan nodded. "There is indeed such a law."
After speaking, Lu Chi leaned close to Xiao Yuan's ear and whispered something. Xiao Yuan's gaze fell on Jin Shanyao, and he said in a deep voice, "I've heard that Miss Jin is proficient in Yin and Yang. Why don't you let me broaden my horizons?"
Jin Shanyao was overjoyed. The crowd automatically made way for her. As soon as she stepped into the hall, Qiuju's expression changed drastically. She had heard of Jin Shanyao's great name, which had once caused a sensation throughout Qingzhou Prefecture for her soul-summoning trial.
She wasn't afraid of being arrested herself; she was afraid of her sisters' shameful acts being exposed to everyone. Just as Qiuju was about to speak to stop them, she found herself unable to move or speak.
Not only was she frozen, but all the embroiderers present stood rooted to the spot.
Jin Shanyao feigned profundity, took out two talismans, gestured vaguely in the air, and muttered incantations.
Before the words were even finished, the talisman spontaneously combusted in mid-air. The expected soul did not appear; instead, a mirage-like scene appeared in the sky above the hall.
It turned out that this was not a summoning of souls, but rather the Jin Shanyao its Spiritual Power to connect the past memories of the plants and trees in Cloud Brocade Workshop and bring them all to the main hall.
The scene unfolded like a shadow puppet show, starting with a fourteen-year-old girl collecting seashells on the beach.
When Yao's parents saw their daughter appear in mid-air, they burst into tears. Regardless of where they were, they cried out and tried to hug the phantom, but were pulled back by a quick-thinking constable.
In the illusion, Yao Yuniang saw a seashell stuck in a crevice in the cliff wall, and taking advantage of her short stature, she squeezed through.
She had just picked up a seashell when she suddenly heard voices coming from afar. Looking in the direction of the sound, she saw two men talking, one of whom was Bai Yunjin, the owner of Brocade Workshop.
"It's Lord He has the ability to obtain this Five Minerals Powder..."
He Liangzhong laughed, "Those foreigners, as long as you pay enough, they'll get you anything..."
Just as Yao Yuniang was completely confused, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her ankle. She instinctively cried out in surprise and turned around to find that she had stepped on a Crab.
Before she could get the Crab off the cliff, her arm was grabbed tightly and pulled out of the crevice. Bai Yunjin recognized who it was and blurted out, "How come it's you?"
Yao Yuniang clutched the seashell tightly in fright, her eyes filled with terror as she looked at Bai Yunjin, "Master, Master..."
He Liangzhong glanced at Bai Yunjin, said indifferently, "Clean it up," and then turned and left.
Inside the hall, He Liangzhong was so terrified by what he saw that he slumped into his chair. He pointed at the Jin Shanyao, "Witch... how dare you use magic to harm me!"
Bang! The gavel slammed down, and Zhu Huaizhang roared, " He Liangzhong... Today at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), I personally witnessed someone using your name to bring in a batch of Five Minerals Powder from a foreign land, and you still dare to deny it?"