Rebirth: From being expelled from the imperial court to becoming a high-ranking official

Qin Yunhe sat upright in the hall and ordered someone to bring everyone up again.

Since she was cleared of the charges of adultery and murdering her husband at the last trial, Yan Guixiang has been in a good mood and has been able to eat and sleep well. After a few days, her complexion and condition have improved a lot.

Looking at the Jin family, they are in a completely different situation.

Although Mrs. Zhao was only flogged twenty times, she was quite old and was obviously limping when she came up.

In addition, he was locked up in a detention center for the past few days, and he was anxious and looked very bad.

Ever since Doctor Chen said that he had indeed not cured Jin Biao of the poison, Yang Zhong looked like he had given up and didn't say anything else.

The servant girl who testified that she had seen Yan Guixiang having an affair had been living in fear for the past few days, not knowing what crime she would be convicted of in the end.

Doctor Chen was in agony after being proven to have lied. He kept thinking over and over what Qin Yunhe had said about giving him a lighter sentence if he confessed sooner.

The Dianshi of Fuyu County knew that the matter was a foregone conclusion.

He was forced to stay here these days and was not allowed to send any letters back to Fuyu County, so he did not try again, so as not to displease the prosecutor further.

Jin Biao and Jin Cheng were the last to be brought up.

Jin Biao probably adjusted his mood, and he bowed leisurely and said, "Jin Biao greets the Magistrate."

As soon as Jin Cheng appeared, Mrs. Zhao's face changed: "Jin Cheng! Why are you here?"

Jin Cheng smiled grimly, "Why can't I be here, mother?"

"Jin Cheng, please don't talk nonsense."

"What nonsense can I say? The judge is here, so I will just tell the truth."

Jin Biao couldn't help but grit his teeth when he heard the conversation between the mother and son.

Qin Yunhe did not interfere with their conversation, but just paid attention to their expressions until they finished communicating, then he spoke.

"Jin Biao, what do you have to say about Jin Cheng's accusation that you strangled Fang?"

Jin Biao remained calm and said, "Jin Cheng also said that he had an affair with Fang and got pregnant. My Lord, as a man, it is reasonable for me to do something drastic when I encounter such a thing, right?"

"So, you admit that it was you who killed Fang?"

"Yes, I had someone kill her. Such an unfaithful and unclean woman deserves to die." When he said this, Jin Biao's face became a little distorted.

"If she committed adultery, you can report her to the government office, or ask the village elders to make a decision. Don't you know what it means to make a private decision?"

"Sir, you are also a man. If your wife has an affair with someone, would you be willing to let others know?"

"What nonsense!"

Even though he was always good-tempered, Qin Yunhe was so angry at these words that he felt dizzy. After yelling for a while, he reacted and said, "Do you know what crime you have committed by disrespecting the court? Come here, I will punish you twenty times."

Qin Yunhe directly threw out the blackhead stick.

Jin Biao raised his eyebrows and said, "Sir, I have a reputation and cannot be tortured."

Qin Yunhe then remembered that Jin Biao seemed to be a scholar.

Qin Yunhe has calmed down now. Jin Biao will be executed sooner or later, so why get so angry now?

"It's okay. The laws of this dynasty do not allow private judgments. You have violated the law. I will immediately report to the academician and have your honor taken away. You can't escape this."

But Jin Biao took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and said, "Sir, please allow me to report. I have already negotiated the price of Fang's life with her family. This is the settlement agreement. Please take a look at it."

Qin Yunhe did not look closely at the settlement agreement presented by his men. He knew it was not a fake without even looking at it. Fang's father and brother did not care much about her, so it was not surprising that they accepted the silver for her life.

Qin Yunhe calmed down and continued, "Jin Biao, you previously accused Yan Guixiang of adultery and murdering her husband. However, after my interrogation, there were witnesses who came to court to prove that it was all false accusations. What do you have to say?"

Before Jin Biao could defend himself, Mrs. Zhao said, "Sir, it was not the master who made the false accusation! It was me, it was all me. I asked the maid to falsely accuse Yan Guixiang of having an affair, and it was also me who falsely claimed that Yan Guixiang was trying to murder the master and instigated him to sue Yan Guixiang."

Jin Cheng laughed angrily on the spot: "Old woman, you are going to take the blame for him? Do you know what false accusation is? False accusation means you will be sentenced to death by hanging! Do you know that if you are sentenced to death by hanging, it is you who will be hanged!"

Mrs. Zhao ignored him and continued, "Sir, what I said is true. The master is really kept in the dark!"

Qin Yunhe still looked at Jin Biao, who said calmly, "Your Excellency has also heard it, and Jin has really been kept in the dark.

The maid said she had uncovered Yan Guixiang's scandal, and I believed her. It was also Mother Zhao who told me that Yan Guixiang was going to poison me, and I was confused for a moment and reported Yan Guixiang to the county government."

"Ha, you treat Jin Biao as his own son, but does he treat you as his own mother? In his eyes, you are nothing but an insignificant servant!" Jin Cheng's eyes were red.

Yan Guixiang also said: "Sir, don't listen to Jin Biao's nonsense. How could he not know? Jin Biao definitely did it himself! Jin Biao is vicious. Kou'er saw him poisoning me with his own eyes, and then he falsely accused me of murdering him!"

Qin Yunhe asked the servant girl, "I want to ask you, did Jin Biao know about your false accusation of Yan Guixiang for adultery?"

The little maid was so frightened that her body shook like a sieve and she couldn't speak.

Qin Yunhe said in a serious tone: "Think carefully, you have participated in the false accusation of Yan Guixiang, which is already a crime. If you still insist on hiding something, it will be a crime on top of a crime. But if you confess the truth, I can give you a lighter punishment."

Qin Yunhe glanced at Yang Zhong and Doctor Chen and said, "Although you all participated in the false accusation of Yan Guixiang, you are not the main culprit after all. I can make my own decision on punishments below caning, and there is no need to report to the Censorate. Moreover, I can also give you leniency because I think you were coerced.

But if you still want to hide it now, I will find the evidence myself, and then don't blame me for being ruthless."

After Qin Yunhe finished speaking, he waited for the reactions of several people.

At this time, someone among the people listening to the trial outside the hall shouted: "Sir, I have something to say."

A man stood out from the crowd, it was Zhang Ben.

Zhang Ben walked into the hall and bowed deeply: "Sir, I am the eldest brother of Jin Biao's second wife Zhang, and I have questions about my sister's death."

Jin Biao saw Zhang Ben's face full of surprise, obviously he didn't expect Zhang Ben to appear here.

After a while, Jin Biao finally reacted: "Brother, why do you say that? Although Yingying and I have a shallow relationship, we are in love. How could I harm her?"

"Yingying once said when she came home that you were gentle and polite in public, but you were fickle behind the scenes. Later, Yingying died of illness. I thought it was because she couldn't stand your temper and was depressed.

Now thinking about Yingying's condition again, it dawned on me that it might be possible that she was poisoned by you.

Sir, please open the coffin and do an autopsy to judge my sister!"

Someone from the Yang family also stepped forward and said, "Sir, I am a servant of Jin Biao's first wife, Yang. My master is also suspicious of the cause of my aunt's death. I hope you can make the decision."

----

P.S. The regulations on adultery here do not completely refer to ancient laws. In ancient times, people could be killed directly.