Suzhen was alarmed, but only smiled on her face, “This Hongtu Restaurant is one of the most famous taverns in the capital—only the very best is worthy of Prince Pei’s status. Speaking of which, this official was also fortunate enough to visit that night, though unfortunately… this official arrived early, otherwise I might have been able to serve as a witness for Prince Fengji.”

“This… so it was the minister that night. Speaking of it, this humble one did see the minister,” the manager seemed slightly surprised, then hurriedly said, “I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare. The minister flatters us. When the minister graced us, our humble establishment truly shone with brilliance.”

“What a coincidence,” He Sai seemed to see her nervousness and pressed step by step with a smile, “Minister Li needn’t hurry with reminiscing—the case is what’s important.”

Suzhen said “naturally” and glanced toward Quan Feitong from the corner of her eye.

That night, Lian Yu had also invited Quan Feitong to Hongtu, but unfortunately Lian Yu had business and returned to the palace afterward, so they didn’t go.

Deliberately choosing Hongtu for false testimony—San, is this your “return gift” to me?

Quan Feitong’s lips curved up slightly.

Suzhen was startled and dared not look again, quickly collecting herself and saying, “What Minister He implies is that these are all witnesses… This official would like to first ask the manager a question.”

The manager immediately said, “Please speak, minister. This humble person will certainly tell all I know without reservation.”

From two responses, one could tell this taciturn, seemingly honest manager was actually alert and cautious—not easy to deal with. Suzhen took a light breath and said, “That day, this official’s friends had also reserved one of the large private rooms on the second floor at your establishment, but we later couldn’t attend due to business. May I ask if the manager later gave that large private room to Prince Fengji?”

The manager smiled and shook his head, “Certainly not. Our establishment’s business is built on integrity. Though the honored guests didn’t arrive, they had paid a deposit, so naturally we kept it reserved until the next day before making other arrangements.”

“Oh, so it seems that given Prince Pei’s status, you naturally arranged them in another large private room on the second floor?”

“Exactly.”

“That day this official sat in the eastern private room—so the prince and his party sat in the southern private room?”

“Correct!”

“Good,” Suzhen quickly returned to the platform, drew out the red token from the table, and threw it on the ground.

Everyone in the hall was startled, unable to figure out who she intended to beat or punish—this red one was the punishment token!

But they saw this Li Huaisu stand before the table and say word by word, “Everyone present and Prince Fengji, please listen carefully. To prove that what you’ve all given is not false testimony—that at the time of the incident, the prince was indeed drinking with all of you at the tavern—this official will now question each of you. To prevent parroting and echoing others, each person will be given paper and brush. For every question this official asks, everyone must write their testimony on paper. If anyone is caught looking at others’ answers or giving hints to others, whether they are subjects of Great Zhou or friends from Great Wei, this official will punish them all equally.”

“Yes.”

This Chief Justice intended to find inconsistencies and contradictions in everyone’s testimony to overturn this coordinated false testimony. As everyone below answered in unison, the people outside cheered again with thunderous applause.

Yan and Wei’s expressions grew serious, Quan Feitong remained smiling, and Pei Fengji was the same.

Suzhen swallowed lightly and gripped her slightly trembling hands. At this moment, Xiaozhou and Leng Xue had already distributed paper and brushes to the merchants, manager, and two waiters.

“Please tell me, were there any decorative paintings hanging on the walls of the western private room? If so, what kind of painting was it?”

After the question was finished, there was complete silence as everyone bent their heads to write.

That private room did indeed have a painting—a flower and bird painting.

Everyone answered correctly.

Xiaozhou glanced at Suzhen, who nodded and took a deep breath to continue questioning.

After this, her questions came extremely fast, like rapid-fire, asking about seating arrangements, dishes, wines and teas… Everyone answered one by one, with identical responses.

Outside the court, people marveled. Suzhen’s breathing grew slightly heavy as she reached out to slowly wipe the thin sweat from her forehead.

She closed her eyes, about to ask again, when He Sai suddenly spoke to stop her, “Minister Li, they say ‘things don’t go beyond three times.’ You’ve asked everything you should ask—why continue this useless entanglement?”

“Minister Li, we respect Great Zhou and thus accepted this insulting retrial! Unfortunately, Great Wei yields one step, yet you advance one step. Ministers, is there such forcing logic?” Prince Zhennan also looked at her, his voice already slightly cold.

This prince had been cooperative in appearance before, but now showed displeasure. Yan Da naturally had to maintain order. He nodded to Prince Zhennan and said in a somewhat stern voice, “Chief Justice Li, let the witness questioning end here. It’s time to interrogate Xie Sheng and Mochou, or present other new evidence.”

Suzhen shook her head and cupped her hands, “Prime Minister, though the witnesses just now could answer everything, it’s actually unreasonable, because their testimony is too meticulous, without any omissions. Dozens of dish names, everyone’s seating positions… Human memory has deviations—it’s impossible for everyone to remember so clearly. We can do a live test—”

Yan Da frowned sharply, showing anger, while He Sai sneered coldly, “Minister Li, according to your logic, if they can’t answer, then the witnesses are lying. If they answer everything, then they coordinated their testimony beforehand. Either way it’s wrong—Chief Justice Li can judge however she wants. What’s the point of a trial!”

The voices of agreement outside grew smaller, though some intellectuals still thought this Li Huaisu’s words weren’t necessarily unreasonable—complete testimony was still powerful evidence after all.

Wei’s attendants now also took advantage to shout in low voices, “Release the prince immediately!”

Standing in the hall, Suzhen clearly saw the cold, contemptuous smiles in the eyes of all the officials at the inner hall exit except for Huo Chang’an. Li Zhaoting had half-retreated into the inner hall, his face hidden in shadows. Leng Xue and the others all had slightly changed expressions. At this time, Yan Da sternly said, “Chief Justice Li, if there’s no new evidence, then… close the case!”

Wei Chenghui swept his sleeves and slowly stood, “Chief Justice Li, Prince Pei indeed has witnesses here. After your personal examination, this cannot be denied. On Xie Sheng’s side, there’s no evidence proving he wasn’t at the scene at that time. This case should be concluded.”

Unlike Yan Da, the light in Wei Chenghui’s eyes was neither harsh nor sharp, yet it made her feel a chill.

Quan Feitong still sat in his chair. Afterward he hadn’t said a single word, yet the entire situation seemed to be completely in his palm.

Suzhen stared at the floor of the hall. Had she… lost?!