With a warehouse full of supplies, I stood alone as king in this chaotic world, gun in hand.

The three officials—the Censor-in-Chief, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and the Vice Minister of the Left—served as the presiding judges of the joint trial by the three judicial departments, and sat side by side behind the table.

The Prefect of Jingzhao was the chief official of the capital region and not the chief judge of the joint trial by the Three Departments. However, he was specially summoned by Beichen Yan to participate in the trial, and Zhang Qing placed a table next to him to assist in the investigation.

Bei Chenyan's seat was placed next to the Prefect of the Capital, directly facing the Grand Tutor Wan.

Sitting in the middle, Vice Minister Gu slammed his gavel on the table.

"Snapped!"

The lobby immediately fell silent.

One of the constables immediately shouted, "Court is in session!"

Nangong Wu stepped forward and cupped her hands in greeting, "This humble woman, Fan Wuyou, greets all of you esteemed officials."

"Fan Wuyou, who are you? And what grievances do you have?" Vice Minister Gu asked.

The Ministry of Justice was in charge of trials and case assessments. As the main person in charge of the case, he was the one who started the interrogation.

Nangong Wu replied, "My lord, I am the daughter of Shi Shengqing. I am twenty-five years old this year. My birth mother is Fan Zhaodi. Shi Shengqing is my mother's son-in-law who married into the family, so I take my mother's surname, Fan. This mansion was originally the ancestral home of my Fan family."

Upon hearing this, the three presiding judges exchanged a secret glance.

They had also heard about Shi Shengqing's past as a son-in-law who had married into his wife's family.

Vice Minister Gu looked at the Prefect of the Capital, "Your Excellency, is Fan Wuyou's identity true?"

The Junior Magistrate of the Capital immediately opened a box he had brought and took out several files, placing them on the desk of the Prefect of the Capital.

The Prefect of Jingzhao opened the file and examined it carefully.

Shi Shengqing and the Wan family looked displeased when they saw that the supplies had been prepared so promptly.

They realized that the Crown Prince was serious.

This morning they killed Ji Tong, and now they're going to target Shi Shengqing. Is the Crown Prince really going to make enemies of the Wan family just for the sake of an insignificant Fan Wuyou?

After reviewing the files, the Prefect of the Capital said, "Fan Wuyou was indeed a person. His birth mother was Fan Zhaodi. According to these records, Fan Wuyou died at the age of five and his household registration was cancelled that year. After that, the Fan family was changed to the Shi family."

"I am not dead." Although Nangong Wu was not Fan Wuyou, she was also angered by Shi Shengqing's viciousness.

"When I was five years old, Shi Shengqing sent me to a farm to fend for myself. I never imagined that he had already declared me dead by then, making me an unregistered resident." Nangong Wu pointed at Shi Shengqing and angrily rebuked him:

"Shi Shengqing, even tigers don't eat their cubs. To make room for Wan Shuhua and to seize my Fan family's property, you hired someone to murder my maternal grandfather and poison my pregnant mother. You can't even tolerate your own daughter! You're a heartless beast!"

Shi Shengqing's face flushed red. "You're talking nonsense..."

"Silence!" Vice Minister Gu slammed the gavel on the table and asked:

"Shi Shengqing, your daughter Fan Wuyou was not dead at the time, so why did you declare her dead?"

"I don't know..." Shi Shengqing quickly retorted, "At that time, Fan Wuyou was weak, so we sent her to the estate to recuperate. It was the nanny who took care of her who came to report that she had a high fever that wouldn't break during the night... and died..."

"He died from a persistent high fever at night?" Minister Gu noticed the suspicious points. "Even if he really is gone, as his father, didn't you even go to see him? Did you just cancel his household registration based on the words of a mere servant?"

Shi Shengqing panicked, "That old woman deceived me..."

"Where is that old woman? Bring her up!" said Minister Gu.

The steward of the Shi family, who was waiting outside the door, hurried in and knelt down to report, "The old woman who served the eldest young lady died of illness a few years ago."

"So you've already died of illness," Bei Chenyan suddenly sneered.

Upon hearing this, Vice Minister Gu picked up the gavel and slammed it on the table. "Crack!"

"Shi Shengqing, you abandoned your five-year-old daughter on the estate, leaving her to fend for herself, not even bothering to check on her until she dies. You are utterly unworthy of being a father! Guards! Drag her out and give her ten lashes!"

"Yes!" The two constables immediately stepped forward to arrest Shi Shengqing.

"Stop!" Duke Wan blocked Shi Shengqing's path with his cane and said to Minister Gu, "Although Shi Shengqing is at fault, he was deceived by his servants and was unaware of the situation at the time. Besides, he is an official appointed by the court; how can he be punished with caning?"

"Deceived by servants?" the Imperial Censor, responsible for overseeing all officials, asked.

"As the Minister of Justice, how could he be deceived by a mere servant? In my opinion, Shi Shengqing abandoned his five-year-old daughter on the farm to send her to her death. He didn't even want to see her one last time after hearing that she had died. Such a person is not fit to be a father, and his moral character is so flawed that he is even less fit to be an official."

"Since he is morally deficient and unfit to be an official, then remove his official robes and give him twenty strokes of the cane," Bei Chenyan said at the opportune moment.

"yes!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qing and Wei Yang immediately stepped forward, pulled Shi Shengqing out from behind Wan Guozhang, and forcibly removed his official hat and robes.

Shi Shengqing, his face filled with panic, shouted at Wan Guozhang, "Father-in-law, please save me..."

Once his official robes are removed, he will lose his position as Minister of Justice.

Wan Shuhua panicked and tugged at Wan Guozhang's sleeve, pleading, "Father, please say something!"

She felt that as long as her father used his status as her maternal grandfather to put pressure on Bei Chenyan, he could protect Shi Shengqing.

However, the Grand Tutor Wan closed his eyes and sat there motionless.

Shi Shengqing abandoned his five-year-old daughter on the farm and didn't care for her at all. He didn't even want to see her one last time before she died. Such a morally reprehensible act would surely lead to his impeachment if the Censorate found out.

Seeing him like this, Wan Shuhua loosened his sleeve.

It's all because of that little bitch Fan Wuyou.

"You're not Fan Wuyou at all!" Wan Shuhua pointed at Nangong Wu, gritting her teeth as she said, "I saw with my own eyes that Fan Wuyou is dead; she's just an imposter..."

"Sister, watch your words!" Wan Wenting exclaimed in surprise, quickly covering her mouth. "Don't get involved in today's events anymore."

Bei Chenyan has made such a big show of things today, it's obvious he came prepared. He doesn't even respect the Wan family anymore, so Wan Shuhua had better not get involved.

Shi Shengqing had already been dragged out, and Zhang Qing, fearing that the yamen runners would secretly go easy on him, personally carried out the execution.

"Slap—slap—"

With each strike of the board, Shi Shengqing let out a scream of pain.

"what!"

Over the past twenty years, he has interrogated countless prisoners and used dozens of different instruments of torture on them. He never imagined that one day the rod would fall on his own body.

After twenty heavy blows, blood was seeping from Shi Shengqing's buttocks.

Zhang Qing and Wei Yang dragged the person in and threw him on the ground.

"Master..." Wan Shuhua tried to rush over, but Wan Wenting held her back tightly and whispered, "We'll talk about everything when Her Majesty the Empress arrives."

Wan Shuhua looked at Nangong Wu with such a vicious gaze that she seemed to want to tear her to pieces.

She now understood that the reason why the Crown Prince had refused to marry Shi Peiqiong and had been away for several years must have been because of Fan Wuyou.