Longevity, starting from traveling and telling stories

Chapter 23 Mysterious Woman
The next day.

The gate of the yamen was already filled with common people who had come to listen to the trial, and they were all whispering and discussing.

Among the crowd, there was a woman wearing a veil, she looked like a fairy isolated from the world.

A light veil covered her face, yet it couldn't conceal the unique aura that emanated from her. Her bright eyes, hidden behind them, still shone with a shimmering light. Her figure was graceful, and although her face was half-hidden, her peerless grace still drew a few stealth glances from the crowd.

Soon, there were bursts of majestic shouts coming from the yamen, and everyone shouted in unison: "Mighty."

As the yamen runners stood still, the drums sounded three times, and the heavy vermilion lacquered door slowly opened. The county magistrate, wearing official uniform and a black gauze hat, walked into the court with steady steps.

He swept his gaze across the entire room with authority, and the hall suddenly fell silent.

The county magistrate coughed lightly, picked up the gavel, slammed it down with a loud "clack", and said in a deep voice: "Court is open! Today I will try the case of Qin Ruoxi murdering his mother. Bring the prisoner Qin Ruoxi."

"Bring the prisoner Qin Ruoxi." With a loud shout, Qin Ruoxi was brought into the court by the bailiffs in handcuffs and shackles.

"Qin Ruoxi, do you plead guilty?"

"Sir, I didn't kill anyone. Please understand me." Qin Ruoxi's hands were red and swollen, obviously she had been tortured.

"How dare you deny it? The evidence is irrefutable. Bring the witness, Liu Fusheng."

"Call the witness, Liu Fusheng." With a loud shout, a handsome man with dark circles under his eyes appeared.

"I am Liu Fusheng, your humble servant, and I pay my respects to Lord Hou."

"No need to be polite," Magistrate Hou said politely, "Liu Fusheng, please tell me what's going on."

"I was a guest at the Qin family that day. I felt bored at night and was about to take a walk, but I heard an argument. Puzzled, I went to check, only to find her standing behind her stepmother and breaking her neck."

"So I shouted loudly, and she fled the scene."

Snapped!
After Liu Fusheng finished speaking, the magistrate banged his gavel and said, "Qin Ruoxi, do you have anything else to say?"

"Sir, no, it's not like that. When I got there, I found my second mother dead. I heard Master Liu shouting and I ran away because I was scared. I didn't kill anyone." Qin Ruoxi hurriedly defended herself, but her words seemed pale and weak, and it was hard to convince people.

"How dare you quibble? It seems you won't confess unless you are tortured." The magistrate immediately showed off his power, which was so impressive that the mysterious woman frowned.

Just as she was about to step into the courtroom, a light shout stopped her in her tracks.

"Wait." Ye Beixuan walked slowly into the courtroom and passed by the mysterious woman. Suddenly, he felt as if he had been electrocuted and turned around to look at the woman unconsciously.

A moment later, he arrived at the court, suppressed his thoughts, and bowed, saying, "I am Ye Beixuan, the storyteller of Hongxiu Pavilion. I pay my respects to the magistrate."

Is he the Ye Beixuan mentioned in Xianglian's letter? He's quite handsome. The mysterious woman began to look him up and down.

"No need to be polite. What do you have to say? I'm warning you. If you say something wrong, you will be punished together with me." Before the meeting even started, County Magistrate Hou threatened in advance.

"Sir, I can prove that Miss Qin is not the murderer."

"Oh? What evidence do you have?" The magistrate raised his eyebrows and asked in confusion. They did it so perfectly, how did he find out?
"First, Mr. Liu said he saw Miss Qin break the deceased's neck from behind. However, I saw the coroner perform the autopsy and found that the neck was broken in the wrong direction."

"A normal neck break should be from right to left, but the victim's neck was broken in the opposite direction. This proves that the murderer is left-handed, which is obviously not the case for Miss Qin."

Ye Beixuan glanced at Liu Fusheng, and his left hand holding the fan subconsciously hid behind his back, and he immediately understood.

"Secondly, the deceased struggled violently before her death. A small amount of flesh was found under her fingernails, clearly scratching the murderer. Find a nanny to examine her to see if there are any scratch marks."

After saying that, he looked at Liu Fusheng again, and the latter touched his chest unconsciously.

"Third, and most importantly, Miss Qin's forehead was injured by me, not from a fight."

As if grasping something, the magistrate immediately said, "What evidence do you have to prove that you were the one who caused the injury? If you can't produce any proof, I will charge you with perjury."

"Sir, I naturally have evidence." Ye Beixuan then took out a stone from his arms, glanced at everyone and said, "Please take a good look."

The stone imprint on her forehead matched the faded mark perfectly. "As expected, I knew it! Miss Qin is usually kind and charitable, how could she be a murderer?"

"that is."

"Yes!"

The mysterious woman's mouth corners also rose slightly, showing her satisfaction.

Seeing that everyone present was in shock, Ye Beixuan continued, "Now, may you please examine Miss Qin's body to see if she has any scratches on her body."

After a while, the person came to report: "Your Excellency, there are no injuries on the prisoner's body."

"This" county magistrate was completely speechless, and now he was in a dilemma. On the one hand, there was pressure from the prefect, and on the other hand, there was pressure from the people.

"Zhizhou Liu is here." With a loud shout, the county magistrate hurried down to greet him.

"Are there any other doubts in this case?"

Liu Zhizhou's eyes were as sharp as torches. After scanning around, they settled on the county magistrate.

The county magistrate hurriedly told the known circumstances one by one, and his words were inevitably hesitant.

"Since there's insufficient evidence to catch the murderer, we can detain her temporarily. We can release her later once we find the real culprit."

When Ye Beixuan heard this, she realized that this was not an option. If she was sent to jail, she might be tortured to death by these people and then confess her guilt.

"Wait a minute, I've just stated the evidence. The murderer has scratches on his body and is left-handed. It's obvious that Miss Qin is not left-handed. Why don't you let them go and find the real murderer first?"

"Who are you? How dare you tell me what to do? Come on! Give me twenty lashes of the cane."

No way! They're not even allowed to speak? It's truly dark! No wonder the Great Zhou is so rotten and so overwhelmed by the Northern Liang. Ye Beixuan sighed helplessly.

"Sir." A person who looked like a maid suddenly walked into the court with a letter in her hand.

"Who are you?" the prefect frowned and asked in confusion.

"Sir, my master said that she witnessed the whole process and is aware of the entire case. If it is not handled properly, my master will be very unhappy." The maid looked at Liu Zhizhou with contempt, and her tone was quite disrespectful.

Liu Zhizhou was no fool. To reach this position, he was definitely someone he shouldn't mess with. He would never mess with him, so he slowed down his speech and whispered softly, "May I know who the young lady's master is?"

The maid handed him the letter and said, "You will know who my master is after reading it. By the way, if my master investigates it himself, the consequences will be very serious."

Liu Zhizhou took the paper, looked at the contents and seal on it, his pupils shrank, and even his tone suddenly stuttered, saying: "Your master is, the chief..."

That’s right, it’s her, definitely her, the female devil who kills people without blinking an eye. Why is she here?

"Hush!" the maid gestured to silence him. "Liu Zhizhou, you can do whatever you want!"

After saying this, she turned and left, leaving all the pressure to Liu Zhizhou.

After reading the contents, Liu Zhizhou seemed to have lost all his strength. He sat down heavily on the chair and said, "Hou County Magistrate, pronounce the verdict!"

It's not that he doesn't want to exonerate his nephew, but he really can't save him. If he forcibly saves him, even the entire Liu family will be in jeopardy.

The magistrate straightened his official uniform, his expression solemn and dignified. He slowly spoke, "Everyone in the court, please listen to the verdict. After several days of detailed investigation and careful examination, I can now conclude that the suspect is innocent. I hereby declare him not guilty and release him immediately."

Qin Ruoxi cried with joy, and Qin Wenjie went forward and hugged his daughter tightly, feeling the joy of regaining what he had lost.

Ye Beixuan smiled slightly, blended into the crowd, turned around and left. In fact, he was not a righteous person, he just wanted to feel at peace with himself.

As for finding the murderer? Judging from Liu Zhizhou's appearance just now, the murderer must be able to escape.

The mysterious woman who had just been wearing a veil saw Ye Beixuan leaving and said a few words to the maid. After the maid nodded, the two of them left quietly.

(End of this chapter)