CHAPTER 93: CHAPTER 93: THIS IS THE YOUNG MASTER OF THE QIN FAMILY!

Zhang Bingwen wiped his forehead, which was sweaty, as the newly arrived witness had left them utterly bewildered, and now with another one...

Is this turning the world upside down?

But it’s not possible not to call them...

"Call... bring them in..."

His voice trembled a little as he saw a man carrying a tray walk in.

What is happening now?

"Sir, inside is a document, a contract signed between Mrs. Li Zhou and Miss Zhou, clearly stating in black and white, including the exact date, that once she testifies, she will receive the remaining one hundred taels of silver! Here is part of the stolen money!"

"Bang!"

A bag containing several ingots was thrown to the ground, its opening revealing the shiny ingots inside.

Seeing the document and the ingots, Mrs. Li Zhou was stunned and then wailed: "Which damned villain did this, came to my house to steal... It must be A qiu, that little bastard, he... he..."

"Mrs. Li Zhou, this wasn’t given by A qiu, we found it during the search of your house. That poor boy is still locked in your woodshed!"

Someone in the crowd shouted, and Mrs. Li Zhou immediately became agitated: "Which maggot from the cesspool crawled out to my house to steal? Sir, you must stand up for this humble woman!"

"It was I who led the search!"

Village chief Wang Zhihuan pushed through the crowd, coming forward slowly, looking at Mrs. Li Zhou with a face full of sorrow!

He pointed at Li Qingmu, then at Zhou Zhiqin kneeling on the ground, and angrily said, "Our Qingshui Village finally has a scholar, yet you not only drove them out of the house, but even colluded with outsiders to frame... Truly disheartening!

If no one had mentioned that they hadn’t seen A qiu for a long time, I wouldn’t have known; A qiu was locked in your woodshed, almost starved and frozen to death! Even a tiger wouldn’t eat its cubs, you... you wicked woman!"

"Truly wicked, if she can do this to her own son, let alone an adopted one! No wonder she’s colluding with outsiders to frame him, after all, it’s more than a hundred taels of silver!"

At this moment, a crowd had already gathered near the courtroom, and upon hearing the village chief’s testimony, the crowd erupted, all condemning Mrs. Li Zhou.

Mrs. Li Zhou felt like everyone was pointing fingers at her, her face turned pale, and after today, she feared she wouldn’t be able to face anyone again!

Li Qingmu stood with hands folded behind his back, speaking in a clear voice: "Sir, now the matter is clear! This is slander! Why sign such a contract if not for false testimony? Why use silver to bribe if not for deceit? So, these rebels are merely slandering! Sir, what is the crime for slandering someone of good reputation?"

Bang!

Zhou Zhiqin felt as though something struck her head, it exploded, she looked at them in horror, how could they know her plan so well and even counter it this way?

More frightening, they not only cast aside the accusation with a few words but turned the table on her, questioning her guilt of falsifying charges?

How could these two be so cunning?

Zhou Zhiqin felt a chill throughout her body, such opponents were terrifying, but she didn’t want to concede, kneeling to kowtow and cried out: "Sir, they are talking nonsense, this jade pendant is his, he is the descendant of a traitor, should be killed, should be killed! Sir, traitors must be eradicated, better wronged and killed than let go!"

"Yes, yes, he is the descendant of a traitor, only those bad people would give birth to such a heartless brat! Sir, I raised this brat for eighteen years, and he turned against me..."

Afraid of being questioned for her crime, Mrs. Li Zhou started struggling, even speaking incoherently: "Right, I remember now, he has a swaddling cloth, it looks just like it’s from a rich family... Maybe there’s still some evidence on the swaddling cloth..."

Heavens, this whole thing is something they concocted themselves, how could Li Qingmu possibly be the descendant of a criminal?

But Mrs. Li Zhou didn’t see it that way, ever since the boy was brought by a man in black years ago, she thought his background wasn’t simple, maybe he really is the descendant of a criminal, so she wanted to see the swaddling cloth.

Long Yue had foreseen this, so without a word, she took out the swaddling cloth: "Mother, is this the one?"

Mrs. Li Zhou took one look and quickly nodded: "Yes, yes, this is the swaddling cloth. Sir, please quickly check if there’s any evidence on it to prove he’s a descendant of the Zhuo Family?"

Long Yue knew she was grasping at straws in desperation, so she pouted disdainfully, muttering: "Sir, who says that those from wealthy families are necessarily officials? What if they’re merchants?"

"Yes, who says wealth equates to officialdom? Our family is wealthy, we also want to be officials!"

"Hahaha..."

The crowd burst into laughter again, which made Zhang Bingwen very distressed, for although he was an official, he had little money under his control...

This area was under Prince Lingjiang’s jurisdiction, who had high standards for governance, with annual inspections and supervision, so even if he wanted to profit, he couldn’t be too blatant, and he had a large family with many concubines and children to support, he truly had no money!

Just as Zhang Bingwen was feeling extremely embarrassed, wanting to find a hole to hide in, a commotion arose outside.

"Make way, let us through!"

"Move aside, all of you, move aside for me!"

The first voice was that of a woman, rather gentle, but the latter voice was quite irritable, sounding as if ready to devour someone.

The crowd immediately made way, and an old man with a vegetable knife rushed in.

"Who? Who is it? Who’s trying to harm our young master? I’ll fight them to the death!"

The newcomer was Elder Qin, charging into the courtroom with murderous intent, scaring some timid villagers into sharp cries.

Only when he stood before Li Qingmu did his fierce expression subside, replaced with concern and worry: "Young master, are you alright? Who, who is trying to harm you? Tell me, and I’ll cut them down!"

As he spoke, he waved the knife in his hand with a fierce look, causing Li Qingmu to worry it might slip out accidentally...

He quickly supported Elder Qin, comforting him: "Elder Qin, I’m fine, with my wife here, they can’t touch me!"

He looked dreamily at the young woman shielding him, while Long Yue felt a black line over her face, thinking this man was growing more shameless, hiding behind a woman yet gloating?

"Scoundrel, outrageous, outrageous, you people have all rebelled!"

Zhang Bingwen, thinking how the courtroom had been intruded upon by these people, was so angry he couldn’t speak, and Elder Qin’s entrance gave him the excuse, and he immediately shouted: "Arrest him, arrest this descendant of Zhang Wen Zhuo, and throw him into the dungeon!"

"What descendant of Zhang Wen Zhuo? Nonsense, he’s a young master of the Qin Family! The embroidery on that swaddling cloth is done with Qin Xiu!"

A woman in red stormed in, coldly shouting.