Chu Yu sat down again.
A young man called out, and the people automatically cleared the way. Then they saw a carriage stop, from which a woman dressed in white with a veil descended first, followed by her helping a white-haired elderly lady down with great care and caution.
Under the old lady’s wide sleeves, there were arms but no hands, and a face but no eyes - her eyeballs had clearly been gouged out.
Watching this, Yun Jinnian was suddenly transported back to her days in the cold palace, where she had been dismembered and silenced, living a fate worse than death.
Her whole being felt as if it had plunged into an icy cellar, the cold biting to the bone.
Next to Chu Yu, Magistrate Liao’s face had already undergone a drastic change.
The woman in white slowly walked forward, supporting the old lady, and knelt down in front of Chu Yu.
"With my grandmother, I pay respects to Your Highness. May Your Highness enjoy peace and prosperity!" the woman in white said, her voice hoarse as if it had been scorched by something.
"Dispense with the formalities!" Chu Yu said.
Nevertheless, the woman in white and her grandmother continued kneeling on the ground, refusing to stand.
Chu Yu did not take offense, "What injustice have you suffered?"
"Your Highness, my grandmother and I have suffered a grave injustice. The person I wish to accuse is not anyone from the Azure Dragon Sect, but the Governor at Your Highness’s side!"
The crowd burst into an uproar at the woman’s words.
Magistrate Liao exclaimed in a hurry, "You, do not spout nonsense!"
His heart was filled with fear and dread.
"I’m spouting nonsense?" The woman in white countered and suddenly lifted the veil from her head, revealing a face full of pockmarks, and she was also bald.
"Is that a human? That looks like a demon!"
Yun Jinnian, who was relatively close to the woman, had a clearer view. The scars on the woman’s face were from being burned by a great fire, and they had been left untreated properly afterward, leading to infection and festering wounds.
She did not feel terror or disgust; she simply thought that the woman must have led a very pitiful life.
Chu Yu slammed his palm down on the tabletop, "All of you, shut your mouths for this prince!"
The onlookers fell silent at once, having witnessed Chu Yu’s methods.
Nobody dared to cause a commotion.
Seeing the crowd quiet down, Chu Yu turned to Magistrate Liao, "Do you recognize them?"
The old lady was very aged, her face covered with wrinkles; how could he recognize her?
But with the old lady having her eyes gouged out, her hands hacked off, and her tongue cut out, he had already guessed...
"No, I do not recognize them!" Magistrate Liao said, his voice trembling.
Chu Yu did not expose him, "Since they accuse you, you’re the defendant. Kneel down!"
Magistrate Liao did not dare hesitate and knelt beside the granddaughter and grandmother.
But he did not dare to look at them for a second.
Chu Yu then continued, "Why do you wish to accuse an official of the Imperial Court, do you not know that as a common citizen, to accuse an official, you must be flogged with fifty strokes and roll on a studded board?"
After bowing devoutly with both hands on the ground, the woman in white spoke, "Your Highness, I am aware of all that you have said, but my family numbers one hundred and twenty-eight people, including my baby brother who was not yet a month old."
Chu Yu was slightly taken aback, and his eyes shifted from the woman in white to Yun Jinnian, whose face had turned pale among the crowd. After a slight frown, he said, "If you bear such a huge injustice, I will grant you an exception and waive the fifty lashes and the rolling on the nail board. But if you falsely accuse someone, I shall punish you tenfold, a hundredfold. Do you understand?"
Chu Yu nodded, "If that is the case, then hand over your written complaint!"