Lian Yue’s smile remained unchanged: “What’s Boss Gu so anxious about? Could it be a guilty conscience? Let’s first listen to how this He Jie testifies.”

Gu De restrained his temper, his eyes still full of confidence: “Fine, let’s see how this lowly citizen tries to fabricate lies.”

Lian Yue signaled He Jie to speak. He Jie wiped his eyes with his sleeve and slowly recounted the events.

It turned out that after parting with He Shu, He Jie had an intuition that He Shu would come to harm. After struggling with himself, he still followed.

Though He Shu was hot-blooded, he wasn’t completely impulsive. Thinking that Gu De was entertaining guests in the front courtyard, he planned to enter through the back door to quietly rescue the person. Unfortunately, Gu De was cunning and well-prepared, having people guard the back door. Both He Shu and Old Man He, who had followed, were caught red-handed.

He Jie was frantic with worry. He had a familiar relative working as a servant in the He mansion. After brief consideration, he changed course and entered through the front gate, telling the gatekeeper he had urgent business with his relative. The gatekeeper didn’t suspect anything and brought the person out. He Jie made up an excuse, saying he knew the Gu mansion was having a celebration today and there would surely be plenty to eat and drink, wanting to go in for a cup. The man laughed at him, then quietly brought him in through the back door without alerting anyone.

Once inside, He Jie took the opportunity to ask about the mansion’s situation. The other person told him everything and brought him to his own room, saying he would come back to take him for some good wine after finishing his work, then hurried away. He Jie took the chance to explore around and found a secluded courtyard. Hearing sounds of cursing and beating from inside, he was startled and crept to the door crack to peek…

Gu De had personally killed He Shu, and He Shu’s blood had splattered all over Gu De!

“I feared Gu De’s revenge, so even though I personally witnessed He Shu’s murder, I dared not speak the truth, worried that if the case couldn’t be overturned, it would implicate my parents and relatives.”

He Jie smiled bitterly as he concluded.

Lian Yue ordered people to go to the Gu house and bring back the relative He Jie mentioned. Within the time of burning an incense stick, a young man was brought to court by bailiffs. He was terrified, not knowing what had happened, but truthfully answered Lian Yue’s questions, which completely matched He Jie’s testimony.

Angry voices rose both above and below the court, demanding harsh punishment for Gu De. At this moment, Gu De laughed instead of getting angry, looking at Lian Yue provocatively. Li Zhaoting, accompanying Quan Feitong at the lower seat, gave Huang Tianba a timely look. Huang Tianba looked at Lian Yue: “Your Honor, no matter how moving fabricated facts are, they’re still false. Everything requires evidence.”

Among the crowd were quite a few local scholars with some knowledge. Seeing this, they shook their heads slightly. Though He Jie’s testimony was important, what Gu De said was correct – since He Jie was He Shu’s close friend with a special relationship, without other supporting evidence, Gu De still couldn’t be convicted!

But Lian Yue was unhurried: “Naturally. Don’t rush, Magistrate Huang. Guards, bring up Boss Gu’s wives.”

Hearing this, Gu De’s expression immediately darkened: “Your Honor, how does this matter involve my wives?”

Lian Yue didn’t answer him. Soon, Gu De’s wives and concubines appeared, all looking panicked, not knowing how they had become involved in this case.

Lian Yue: “Ladies, when this official’s party visited your residence, we heard you discussing matters from Fifth Concubine’s wedding day.”

“Today in court, this official only asks one thing, hoping for your cooperation. If any of you show signs of concealment or fabrication, this official will certainly punish according to law. Of course, you may choose between finger torture or beating – both result in bloody flesh, so there’s not much difference.”

Gu De’s wives and concubines were immediately frightened pale. Only the head wife remained relatively composed, saying quietly: “Your Honor, how would we women dare to lie randomly? We only fear that… no matter what we say, it won’t satisfy Your Honor.”

Gu De was quite appreciative of this legitimate wife, nodding approvingly. His gaze swept coldly over the three concubines: “You must answer the official’s questions truthfully, otherwise, not only will the official not spare you, be careful that when I return, I’ll flay your skin!”

These words contained clear threats that everyone present could hear. The concubines listened with trembling hearts, not knowing what would be asked or how to answer properly. Offending either side would lead to no good end.

Of course, when possible to cover for Gu De, they would still choose to protect him. If Gu De fell, and the head wife turned against them, their days would be hard too.

Having made up their minds, they heard Lian Yue ask with a slight smile: “Ladies, this official remembers you mentioned that on that day, Boss Gu returned to his room to rest, and when he came out to toast guests, he had changed clothes and was no longer wearing his wedding robes. Is this true?”

Hearing this, Gu De’s expression changed dramatically as he shouted: “No…”

“Silence! Who asked you to answer!” Lian Yue was furious, sternly interrupting.

The concubines didn’t understand the implications, but the head wife had already answered first: “No, my husband naturally wore his wedding robes. Your Honor must have misheard.”

Seeing the wife answer thus, the concubines knew this elder sister was clever and were about to follow suit. But Lian Yue preempted them, saying sternly: “To prevent anyone from misremembering that day’s events, bailiffs are currently taking testimony from the day’s guests in the inner hall. Once you ladies finish answering, the bailiffs will bring several gentlemen and their signed testimonies for comparison. This official thinks that one or two people misremembering something is quite normal, but surely not everyone would remember incorrectly.”

Gu De’s whole body shook, and Huang Tianba’s expression also became very ugly. They hadn’t expected this Princess Imperial to have such a move!

“My husband indeed… came out wearing different clothes…”

The concubines spoke up one after another. As soon as they finished answering, they immediately lowered their heads, not daring to look at Gu De’s hateful, furious expression.

“Very good.” Lian Yue looked at the head wife, her lips curving slightly: “It seems the head wife remembered incorrectly.”

Just as she finished speaking, a group of bailiffs timely emerged from the inner hall leading several men, holding testimonies. Lian Yue ordered the testimonies presented to Quan, Yan, Huo and others, as well as the front-row people in the crowd, to show fairness.

Indeed, all testimonies uniformly stated: Gu De had indeed changed clothes.

Some people vaguely guessed Lian Yue’s intention, while more still didn’t understand. Lian Yue said coldly: “Boss Gu, on such a joyous day, changing wedding robes is inauspicious. Why did you do this?”

But Gu De remained composed, pressing his lips in a smile as he answered: “Your Honor, I accidentally soiled my wedding robes and had to change them. This is perfectly ordinary. I don’t understand why Your Honor is so concerned with this matter!”

Lian Yue quickly walked to Gu De, her expression turning serious as she said word by word: “Is it really so ordinary? Then why did Boss Gu rush to answer just now, even saying ‘no,’ and why did the head wife lie for Boss Gu? Wouldn’t it have been fine to just answer truthfully?”

“Gu De, the wedding robes weren’t accidentally soiled – when you killed He Shu, you were splattered with blood and had to change! Also, you habitually wear a jade thumb ring, but this ring had tiny cracks. When your hands were covered with blood, the blood seeped into the jade and could never be washed out, so you had to remove it!”

Gu De’s eyes bulged: “Minister Lian, you’re slandering me! I removed the thumb ring because I didn’t like it anymore, and I changed the wedding robes because they were dirty!”

Lian Yue: “This official has inquired – this thumb ring was passed down from Boss Gu’s ancestors. Because the jade had cracks, Boss Gu had worn it consistently for ten years. Now you suddenly don’t like it? Boss Gu, what’s behind you!”

Her eyes suddenly showed a strange expression, as if seeing something that startled even her. Gu De seemed bewitched and suddenly turned around, only to see wedding robes spread forlornly on the ground, covered in bright red, bloody stains. Above the clothes lay a dark green and red thumb ring…

Gu De shuddered and cried out: “Impossible! I tell you, I burned that cursed robe long ago and threw the ring into the river. It’s impossible, impossible for it to be here…”

Breathing heavily, he turned to lunge at Lian Yue, his face contorted, having lost his senses. A tall figure landed in front of him almost simultaneously, blocking with his arm. Gu De’s sturdy body immediately fell to the ground…

Below the court, the people erupted!

Huo Chang’an looked tense, staring intently at Lian Yue: “Are you alright? He didn’t touch you, did he?”

Lian Yue smiled sweetly, shook her head, and grasped her husband’s hand.

In the inner hall, Wu Yan also stared intently at everything, hands clenched tight, fingernails digging into her palms, before quietly withdrawing.

In the crowd, a man in white civilian clothes sneered slightly: This Gu De seemed decent at first, but his skills were still too shallow! He was about to wait for the second trial to begin when a middle-aged man pushed through the crowd to reach him, looking urgent: “Young Master, something’s wrong! The young mistress is crying out in pain – it seems like early labor. You should hurry back to see!”

The man frowned, considered briefly, then said: “I just asked the yamen people – our case is scheduled for the third trial. I’ll go back to check first. You stay and watch the trial.”

“Yes,” the middle-aged man respectfully agreed.

Returning to the Cheng mansion, he found the entire household in chaos. He grabbed the steward to ask what happened. The steward said the two madams were inside attending to her, the young mistress was clutching her belly in pain, and everyone initially thought it was early labor, so they quickly called for a midwife. But when the midwife looked, she said it wasn’t early labor. However, the young mistress was vomiting large amounts of fresh blood. Despite the impropriety between men and women, he immediately had a doctor summoned. The doctor was now in the bedroom taking the mistress’s pulse…

“Damn it!” Cheng Qizhu’s expression turned fierce as he strode quickly toward the bedroom. Though ruthless by nature, he deeply loved his wife – they were a young couple truly in love.

Entering the bedroom, he saw chaos inside. His mother and mother-in-law were crying while holding each other outside the curtains. Several female servants and maids looked panicked, carrying in basins and cloth, going in and out. The basins were full of pus and blood. The doctor was taking the wife’s pulse from outside the bed curtains, frowning deeply. With an “Aiya,” he stood up and said tremblingly: “This pulse… this time someone’s going to die!”