Feng Cheng also said, “Second Young Master, even if you want to clear Wu Meixue of her crimes, you can’t wrongly accuse us like this. Perhaps the Second Young Master remembered incorrectly—that box of pearls contained seventeen, so adding the one found would make the numbers match exactly.” Although he tried hard to maintain composure on the surface, he still revealed a trace of panic.

Li Shimin walked to Feng Cheng and said coldly, “After hearing the night watchman’s ‘testimony,’ you wanted to make Meixue’s murder charge more solid, so you took the opportunity when finding pearls at the Wu family home to secretly take one away and give it to Li Feng, who has marriage relations with your family, having him mix this pearl into the evidence and then inform County Magistrate Qin in court. Such pearls are extremely rare for ordinary families, yet the Wu family happened to have them, naturally making it so-called ‘ironclad evidence.'”

Feng Cheng said uncomfortably, “Our Feng family would never do such a thing.”

“If not, then why did you signal Li Feng with your eyes in court earlier, and you…” He pointed at the anxious Feng Chunming, “Why did you say those words?”

“I… I…” Before Feng Chunming could answer, Li Shimin said again, “Feng Chunming, the gods watch from above. If you continue lying and framing the innocent, beware of divine retribution!”

Feng Chunming was frightened into trembling all over and involuntarily looked up, fearing that thunder might actually strike down. In the next moment, he actually heard a thunderclap!

Everyone looked in amazement at the clear blue sky outside. Although it was somewhat overcast now, there shouldn’t be thunder without warning. Could it… truly be divine retribution?

While everyone was filled with doubt and uncertainty, Feng Chunming was already so frightened that he knelt on the ground trembling. “Don’t strike me! It’s not my fault—it was Father’s idea! He made me do it!”

Upon hearing this, Feng Cheng hurriedly kicked him and said, “You worthless brat, what nonsense are you spouting? Shut your mouth immediately!” Despite his words, his own eyes were also filled with persistent fear.

“Feng Chunming, Heaven already knows of your evil deeds. If you’re willing to tell the truth, there’s still a way out for you. Otherwise, the moment you step out of this yamen, you’ll surely face divine retribution and die without an intact corpse!”

“No! Spare my life!” Feng Chunming was now beyond terrified. Upon hearing Li Shimin’s words, he hurriedly said, “I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything!” He swallowed and said frantically, “After Father heard what the night watchman said, he was very angry and immediately ran to the Wu family to find Wu Meixue. After turning the place upside down and not finding Meixue, he found this box of pearls. I originally wanted to take them all, but later Father saw and changed his mind, only having me take one pearl, saying this pearl would definitely make Wu Meixue pay with her life. Later… later I only know that Father gave the pearl to Uncle, and I don’t know anything else.”

Seeing Feng Chunming tell Li Shimin everything he had done, Feng Cheng trembled with rage. Ignoring the presence of Li Shimin and others, he stepped forward and viciously kicked him, cursing, “Worthless thing!”

Li Shimin looked at him, his voice exceptionally cold. “Feng Cheng, what more do you have to say?”

Feng Cheng’s face alternated between pale and flushed. After a while, he stiffened his neck and said, “That’s right, I had Li Feng plant that pearl. So what? Wu Meixue killed the person—the evidence is solid as a mountain. I didn’t wrongly accuse her.”

Hearing his unreasonable words, Jiang Caiping became furious and shouted, “The witness testimony was forced by you, the physical evidence was fabricated by you, and you still have the nerve to talk about solid evidence? Do you have no shame?!”

Over there, County Magistrate Qin stared at the terrified Li Feng with an ashen face and scolded, “How dare you fabricate evidence and break the law knowingly!” Li Feng was the head of this group of guards, usually careful in his work and quick-witted, earning County Magistrate Qin’s trust. Now that he had done such an audacious thing, it truly broke the magistrate’s heart.

Li Feng also knew he had caused great trouble this time and hurriedly knelt down, saying, “This subordinate knows his error. This subordinate will never dare again. Please forgive this subordinate this once, Your Honor!”

“You’re dealing with a human life now. Can one sentence of ‘knowing your error’ offset that?” County Magistrate Qin angrily shouted, then said to Li Shimin with a face full of shame, “This subordinate failed to govern his men strictly, allowing subordinates to act with favoritism and pervert justice. I have truly failed the Governor’s trust. Second Young Master, rest assured—this subordinate will personally go to the mansion to beg the Governor’s forgiveness.”

Li Shimin supported him and said, “County Magistrate Qin speaks too heavily. What’s most important now is to try this case and clear Wu Meixue’s name.”

“The Second Young Master is right.” County Magistrate Qin nodded repeatedly, then returned behind the bench and forcefully struck his gavel, saying solemnly, “In the case of Feng Cheng accusing Wu Meixue of murdering Feng Chunxiu, there is no evidence proving Wu Meixue is the murderer. She is to be released immediately!”

“Thank you, merciful magistrate!” Wu Laosan was extremely excited, pulling Yunyi to kowtow repeatedly, making the latter quite helpless. She was, after all, a princess of a nation, yet now she was kowtowing to a mere county magistrate. Really… she didn’t know what to say.

“You can’t release her!” Feng Cheng glared with his triangular eyes and said, “Wu Meixue is clearly the murderer. How can you let her go!”

County Magistrate Qin was already extremely annoyed with Feng Cheng, and now he was saying things to oppose him, making him even more displeased. He immediately darkened his face and said, “Audacious Feng Cheng! First you conspired with Li Feng to fabricate evidence, and now you’re disrupting the court. What crime should this be?!”

Feng Cheng knew he couldn’t escape this time and simply gave up completely, lifting his chin and saying, “This commoner will naturally acknowledge whatever crimes I’ve committed, but Chunxiu’s case absolutely cannot end here. If Your Honor refuses to handle this fairly because of the Second Young Master and shows favoritism to Wu Meixue, as long as this commoner has breath left, I will definitely continue appealing, appealing to… appealing to…” He was just a butcher who barely knew how to read and wasn’t familiar with the court’s official system, having only occasionally heard Li Feng mention it. After a long while, he finally remembered and hurriedly said, “Appeal to the Regional Inspector, or even to the Metropolitan Commandant!”

The Metropolitan Commandant was a fourth-rank official whose position wasn’t even as high as many governors, but he was responsible for supervising the Metropolitan Commandery both inside and outside the capital. Under him, besides his subordinate officials, were fourteen Regional Inspectors. When encountering corrupt governors, he had the authority to dismiss them, and when they had merit, he would report their achievements and commend them.

Therefore, when governors, assistant governors, county magistrates, and others throughout various regions encountered these people, they were inevitably extremely careful and dared not offend them, lest they bring trouble upon themselves.

“Insolent!” This time County Magistrate Qin was truly angry. He slammed his gavel hard and scolded, “You troublemaker! This magistrate and the Second Young Master both judge cases based on evidence. When have we ever shown favoritism to the Wu family? If you continue speaking nonsense, this magistrate will definitely not be lenient!”

Feng Cheng said hatefully, “Chunxiu being killed is an absolute fact—her body is still lying in the charity morgue. If it wasn’t Wu Meixue, then who could it be? Could she have killed herself?”