447 Blaming Others (2)
Shen Wenbo’s idea was indeed vicious. This way, Shen Pingxiu went from being the target of everyone’s ridicule to a victim.
They would think that his mistress was fake, and the mastermind was his biological daughter. When the time came, more people would sympathize with him. Who would still remember that he had swaggered around naked?
This matter would get resolved, but Shen Yijia, who was the scapegoat, could not escape death.
In order to prevent Song Jingchen from coming out to cause trouble, he specially begged Second Young Master to get him out of the capital. When he returned, the matter would already be settled.
Lord Cai spoke. “Madam Song Shen, Madam Zhang complained that you bribed her to slander the imperial court’s officials first. After that, you intended to silence her. Do you plead guilty?”
Now, they were only talking about Madam Zhang’s complaint. However, if she admitted it, Shen Yijia would also be charged with kidnapping and beating up an official of the imperial court.
Beating up an official of the imperial court was a serious crime. It could result in several beheadings.
“What?” Before Shen Yijia could speak, Shen Pingxiu, who was lying half-dead on the wooden frame, struggled to sit up. He looked at Shen Yijia bitterly. “You did it? Second Daughter, it’s fine if you don’t listen to me. I remembered that you’ve lost your biological mother since you were young and thus indulged you, but I didn’t expect you to…”
As he spoke, tears streamed down his face. It was said that men did not cry easily, but they would if they were hurt deeply enough.
Putting aside whether it was true or not, his actions made the surrounding commoners who were watching outside sigh.
Shen Yijia rolled her eyes and straightened her back. “I didn’t do it. I won’t admit it.”
Lord Cai stared at Shen Yijia for a long time but did not find any guilt on her face. He turned to look at the three witnesses kneeling in the middle.
The people living in the south of the city were all commoners. How could they dare to go against officials? They had long been bribed by Shen Wenbo.
As soon as Lord Cai asked, they spilled the beans they had prepared.
It was nothing more than proving that Madam Zhang was a widow and seeing Shen Yijia looking for Madam Zhang on the day of the incident.
After they finished speaking, the bailiffs who had gone to the city gate guards to take out the city record book returned.
One had to register to leave the city. It clearly stated the time Shen Yijia left the city. It was two hours before Madam Zhang reported the case.
At this moment, there was a commotion among the surrounding commoners.
Lord Cai frowned and asked the advisor to see what had happened.
Soon, the advisor returned, followed by a sixteen-year-old boy.
The young man trembled in fear and did not dare to look around. He knelt down and kowtowed.
The advisor whispered in Lord Cai’s ear. Lord Cai raised his eyebrows and looked at the young man. “Who are you? Why are you making so much noise outside?”
The young man shrank back and said with a trembling voice, “I’m a shop assistant in a longevity shop.”
“A day ago, I saw this young lady come to the shop to buy incense, candles, and paper money.”
The reason why he remembered was because Shen Yijia was good-looking. He took a few more glances.
This way, as soon as he contacted Shen Pingxiu, everything would make sense.
Lord Cai slammed the wooden stick in his hand on the table and said in a low voice, “Madam Song Shen, the witnesses and evidence are all here. What else do you have to say?”
Shen Yijia did not know that the Shen family was so powerful. They had figured out her schedule within a day.
There was also this shop assistant. It was such a coincidence that he was watching from outside and recognized her. She did not believe that there was such a coincidence. It must have been arranged in advance.
“I did buy paper money before leaving the city that day.” These two things were set in stone. There was no way to deny it.
As soon as she said this, a smug look flashed across Shen Pingxiu and Shen Wenbo’s eyes.
Shen Yijia blinked and continued innocently, “But I didn’t do anything else. Is it illegal to buy paper money and leave the city?��
“As for what the three of them said…” Shen Yijia looked at the three women kneeling in front of her with disdain. “Who knows if they’ve been bribed? After all, some people are rich. It’s not difficult to bribe a few people.”
Shen Wenbo sneered. “You’re saying that these people were arranged by our Shen family to slander you?”
Shen Yijia tilted her head and looked over. “Are you admitting it?”
Shen Wenbo choked and snorted. “Nonsense! If we hadn’t heard this today, we wouldn’t have known that you were so vicious.”
He seemed to be angry and said, “You’ve been back in the capital for so many days and never returned to your parents’ house to take a look.