“…”
Chen Feicai bit down on his lip, glaring at Lin Xiazhi as if he wanted to devour her alive.
Lin Xiazhi acted as though she hadn’t noticed.
At that moment, she was crying her heart out. Tears poured down her face like a river bursting through a broken dam.
While sobbing, she rolled up her sleeves and pant legs, exposing limbs covered in bruises and scars.
“Your Excellency, please look! I was raised in the Chen family as a child bride, yet they treated me worse than an animal. Last night, they even forced me to jump into the river to prove my innocence. Fortunately, kind villagers rescued me. Otherwise…”
Her voice trembled as fresh tears streamed down her face.
“Brother Chen had barely passed the scholar examination before he became desperate to secure his future. He plotted to force me to my death. How can such a person be called an honorable scholar? He’s even more vicious than a murderer!”
“And furthermore, I was forced here by him to dissolve our engagement! I don’t know which young lady he has set his sights on, but he has been cruel to me at every turn, each scheme more deadly than the last!”
Lin Xiazhi lowered her head and continued wiping away tears.
Yet the corners of her lips secretly curved upward.
She was getting completely immersed in the performance.
Slowly, she pulled aside the collar of her robe, revealing several obvious marks on her neck.
Her face flushed with embarrassment and indignation.
“Your Excellency, last night he already…”
She covered her face and sobbed.
“How could I possibly agree to break off the engagement willingly? Wuuuu…”
“Whoa!”
The spectators immediately erupted into an uproar.
Fingers pointed toward Chen Feicai as angry curses filled the air.
“Scum!”
“Beast!”
“What kind of scholar is that?”
Magistrate Zhao was so furious he nearly exploded.
He shot to his feet and pointed at Chen Feicai with a trembling finger.
“Y-you… Last night… and then…”
Not only had he violated his fiancée, but he had also ruined Xiuxiu’s innocence!
A beast.
No.
He was worse than a beast!
Magistrate Zhao collapsed back into his chair as though all strength had left his body.
His lips trembled violently, drained of all color.
Seeing his future father-in-law’s utter disappointment, Chen Feicai hurriedly tried to defend himself.
“Your Excellency, don’t believe her! I never touched her! She’s lying!”
He pointed accusingly at Lin Xiazhi.
“Lin Xiazhi, speak! Who instructed you to ruin my reputation? Do you have any idea what crime it is to slander a scholar?!”
Unfortunately, as a bookish scholar, Chen Feicai lacked both the talent for cursing and the presence to intimidate others.
His threats sounded weak and hollow.
If anything, they only made people doubt him more.
Ignoring him completely, Lin Xiazhi collapsed onto the floor in tears.
“Every word I have spoken is true. Your Excellency may investigate Maple Leaf Village himself. Please, I beg you, uphold justice for me!”
“This poisonous woman is twisting the facts! Your Excellency must not believe her!”
Magistrate Zhao had no interest in hearing him.
“Guards!”
His voice rang through the courtroom.
“Go to Maple Leaf Village and investigate last night’s incident at the Chen residence. Return immediately with your findings!”
He wanted to see just how rotten Chen Feicai truly was.
“Yes, Your Excellency!”
“…”
Chen Feicai couldn’t understand.
Why wouldn’t the magistrate listen to him?
Why was he siding with Lin Xiazhi?
Unless…
Something had gone wrong with Zhao Xiuxiu.
He simply couldn’t understand it.
Wasn’t a newly certified scholar worthy of the county magistrate’s daughter?
Magistrate Zhao must have lost his mind!
At that moment, two women suddenly pushed through the crowd.
It was Liu Juan and Zhao Xiaomei.
“This commoner is from Maple Leaf Village. We know exactly what happened last night. Your Excellency may question us freely.”
After speaking, both women knelt beside Lin Xiazhi.
“This commoner, Liu Juan, greets Your Excellency.”
“This commoner, Zhao Xiaomei, greets Your Excellency.”
Already impatient, Magistrate Zhao waved his hand.
“Enough formalities. Tell this court exactly what you witnessed.”
Liu Juan immediately began recounting the events.
“Your Excellency, it happened like this. We villagers heard loud noises coming from the Chen household. At first we thought they were slaughtering a pig. But when we entered the courtyard, we found the Chen family and Lin girl lying on the ground. The entire house had been ransacked. It was obvious thieves had broken in…”
She vividly described everything she had seen.
When she reached the part where Wang Chuntao forced Lin Xiazhi to jump into the river, her storytelling became especially animated.
The scene seemed to come alive before everyone’s eyes.
The spectators sighed repeatedly.
Many began to sympathize with Lin Xiazhi.
Others cursed Wang Chuntao for treating her daughter-in-law like dirt.
Finally, Zhao Xiaomei finished the account.
“This is everything I witnessed. Please judge fairly, Your Excellency.”
“I see.”
Magistrate Zhao’s voice grew colder.
His sharp gaze landed on Chen Feicai.
“Scholar Chen, since you insist that Madam Chen Lin is the thief, do you have any witnesses?”
Chen Feicai clenched his fists.
Witnesses?
Of course he didn’t have any.
Lin Xiazhi always beat people behind closed doors.
Nobody had ever seen it.
Wait.
Someone had!
Mu Zheng!
Excitement surged through him.
Hope returned instantly.
“Your Excellency, I do have a witness!”
He practically shouted the words.
“The witness is Mu Zheng from Maple Leaf Village!”
Hearing that familiar name, Lin Xiazhi narrowed her eyes.
How had she forgotten about that guy?
“Guards, bring Mu Zheng—”
“There is no need.”
A deep voice interrupted Magistrate Zhao.
“This commoner is already here.”
The crowd turned around.
A young man dressed in black robes pushed through the spectators and entered the courtroom.
His bearing was extraordinary.
Though he limped slightly as he walked, his appearance still drew countless admiring gazes.
Those admiring looks quickly turned to pity when people noticed his injured leg.
Lin Xiazhi glanced at Mu Zheng.
He secretly winked at her.
She immediately looked away and lowered her eyes.
“Your Excellency.”
Mu Zheng knelt respectfully.
“This commoner, Mu Zheng, greets Your Excellency.”
Before Magistrate Zhao could speak, Chen Feicai eagerly interrupted.
“Mu Zheng, you’ve arrived at the perfect time! Quickly tell everyone what happened last night and expose this poisonous woman’s crimes!”
“Silence!”
Magistrate Zhao slammed the court block onto the desk.
The courtroom instantly fell quiet.
“Mu Zheng, speak.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
Mu Zheng straightened his back.
“Last night, I heard noises coming from the Chen family courtyard, so I climbed the wall to take a look.”
Magistrate Zhao leaned forward.
“What did you see?”
Chen Feicai couldn’t resist blurting out an answer.
“Of course he saw Lin Xiazhi attacking my father—”
“What I saw,” Mu Zheng continued calmly, “was Scholar Chen beating Madam Chen Lin.”
“He was abusing her.”
“When his father tried to stop him, Scholar Chen injured his hand.”
“At the time, he looked like a mad bull that had completely lost control.”
The crowd exploded once more.
“A mad bull?”
“That can kill people!”
“Unbelievable!”
“You… I… Since when did I become a mad bull?! No, that’s not the point!”
Having his own witness suddenly turn against him, Chen Feicai fell into complete panic.
His mind went blank.
For several moments, he couldn’t think at all.
Whether he had a disease or not wasn’t important.
Defending himself was.
But Mu Zheng was clearly siding with that wretched woman!
Forcing himself to calm down, Chen Feicai quickly pointed out a flaw.
“You claim I was beating her, but my legs were already broken last night. How could I have attacked anyone?”
Mu Zheng deliberately glanced at his legs.
“This commoner saw Scholar Chen walking normally. His legs were not broken.”
“!!!!”
His legs really were healed now!
Everything had been part of Lin Xiazhi’s plan from the very beginning!
What should he do?
What could he do?
Desperation consumed him.
At last, he could only turn toward the magistrate for help.
“Your Excellency! They’re all working together to frame me! Please uphold justice!”
Magistrate Zhao’s expression darkened.
“If only one or two people accused you, this official might have doubted them.”
“But even the witness you personally summoned has testified against you.”
He leaned forward.
“You abuse your fiancée.”
“You assault your own father.”
“You lie repeatedly.”
“And you ruin the reputations and innocence of others.”
The words innocence of others were spoken with particular emphasis.
“With conduct this vile, how did you ever pass the scholar examination?”
Magistrate Zhao narrowed his eyes.
“There must be something suspicious behind this matter.”
At this point, he had completely seen through the young man standing before him.
Deeply calculating.
Unscrupulous.
Willing to do anything to achieve his goals.
Even though his daughter’s innocence had already been compromised, he would never allow her to marry such a man.
Chen Feicai’s face turned pale.
“No… No, it’s not like that! Your Excellency, please listen—”
“Enough!”
Magistrate Zhao had long since reached the limit of his patience.
The anger in his chest was suffocating.
If he didn’t vent it now, he would never be able to let it go.
“Even though you hold the title of scholar, this official will still sentence you to fifty strokes of the board today!”
Technically, punishing a scholar before stripping his title was against procedure.
But after reporting the matter to higher authorities and having his scholar status revoked, Magistrate Zhao fully intended to deal with him properly.