Listening to her daughter's heartfelt words, the pregnant Lady Hou went on a killing spree.

It was easy for the yamen runners to find the person. One group went to the Lei residence to arrest Lei Qu, and a few others went to the Yu family to find out where Steward Liu was before going there to arrest him as well.

The crowd gathered outside was buzzing with discussion. Nobody was a fool; it was obvious that someone was trying to sabotage the Yu family behind their backs. They wondered who the Yu family had offended.

Amidst the public's discussions, Lei Qu and Steward Liu were brought to the courtroom one after the other.

Lei Qu really didn't understand what he had done wrong. The yamen runners hadn't told him anything on the way here, and bribing him was useless.

He went through all the immoral things he had done since childhood, and the more he thought about it, the more horrified he became, feeling that every single one of them seemed to fit his description.

Before the trial even began, the man had already turned pale and was nearly scared out of his wits.

"This humble subject, Lei Qu, greets Your Excellency."

"Lei Qu, do you recognize this?"

Lei Qu looked at the mahogany box that the yamen runner had given him, which contained a bronze tripod.

"Your Excellency, I recognize this bronze tripod. It is a bronze tripod that I entrusted to the Yu family's antique shop."

"Where did you get this?"

"My lord, I bought it from my close friend Zhou Cheng. I paid five thousand taels of silver for it."

Although I bought the item, I wasn't sure if it was genuine or not, so I took it to Yu's antique shop hoping that Yu's experts could take a look.

However, his mother fell seriously ill as soon as he arrived home, so he had to leave his belongings at the Yu family's antique shop and come back to pick them up in a couple of days.

"If that's the case, do you know whether the carving on this bronze tripod is a dragon or a jiao (a type of dragon-like creature)?"

"Of course it's a dragon. Dragons are forbidden in our Great Ming Dynasty. How could a commoner like me dare to keep one?"

Knowing that he had come for the matter of the bronze cauldron, Lei Qu immediately became more assertive, and a few traces of color returned to his pale face.

The Marquis of Anshun was quite capable to be able to work in the Ministry of Justice; things were all interconnected.

If the Yu family hadn't investigated further, this matter would probably have been left unresolved.

An An sighed with emotion, and Ji Yueru deeply agreed.

In her previous life, she didn't notice anything amiss until her death. In this life, she would still be completely unaware if An'an hadn't told her.

Now that Lei Qu had done nothing wrong, and even the Yu family had no objections, the Prefect of the Capital had no choice but to continue the trial of Liu Quan.

However, the Prefect of the Capital had a premonition that Liu Quan wouldn't be able to find anything out from this interrogation.

Sure enough, Liu Quan answered all the questions perfectly, without any flaws.

Old Madam Yu and her three sons stood to the side, listening quietly without saying a word.

After hearing Liu Quan's words, the eldest son of the Yu family stepped forward.

"My lord, I would like to ask who reported to the government that my Yu family's antique shop has contraband."

The constables entered the shop and searched it without saying a word. They wouldn't have done that if someone hadn't reported them.

The Prefect of the Capital looked at Constable Zhang, who then approached the Prefect and whispered something in his ear.

"Sir, it was Old Li who reported the Yu family's antique shop to me, saying that his shop had contraband."

The constables of the Kyoto Prefectural Government would plant informants throughout the city. Most of these informants were from all walks of life. Old Li was one of the informants that Constable Zhang had planted on South Street.

If their report to higher authorities is true, they will receive a reward. After receiving Old Li's report, Zhang, the head constable, took his men to Yu's shop without thinking twice. After finding the item, they brought it back without even checking it carefully.

"I cannot disclose the identity of the whistleblower, but I will have him interrogated in the back room."

Officer Zhang retreated to the back hall and sent someone to fetch Old Li. After questioning him in detail, he returned to the hall.

"Sir, the person who reported this said he learned about it from two women chatting on the street."

The person who reported it said that he later followed the woman who had mentioned the incident back to her residence.

After inquiring with several households in the vicinity, they learned that the woman was Cao, the wife of Liu Quan, the steward of the Yu family.

All eyes were on Liu Quan, who suddenly felt immense pressure.

"My lord, someone must be slandering me. My wife knew nothing about this, so how could she possibly be talking to someone on the street?"

The matter implicated Liu Quan, and Marquis Anshun, who was hiding in the crowd, became uneasy.

He knew that given Liu Quan's nature, it was only a matter of time before the Prefect of the Capital tortured him into revealing his identity.

He hurriedly made a flustered appearance and walked from the crowd of onlookers into the courtroom, looking anxious at the Yu family members.

"My lord, what offense has the Yu family committed?"

"It's nothing urgent, Marquis Anshun, there's no need to be so nervous."

"That's good."

The sudden appearance of the Marquis of Anshun disrupted the rhythm of the proceedings, but since the Prefect of the Capital had already taken charge of the trial, he naturally had to get to the bottom of it.

"Someone, bring Liu Quan's wife, Cao Shi, here."

A constable went out, and by then it was already dark outside, but none of the people waiting outside left. They all wanted to know the truth of the matter.

"Madam Yu, if the Yu family is in trouble, you can send someone to the Marquis of Anshun’s residence to find me. Why make a scene in court?"

"I used to be the son-in-law of the Yu family. Although I am not now, Tianci and Wanwan are still the Yu family's grandson and granddaughter. Of course, I can't just stand by and watch the Yu family suffer."

Madam Yu wore a forced smile; if it weren't for Tianjue, she would have wanted to tear Marquis Anshun apart right now.

"Mei'er is gone. How dare our Yu family trouble the Marquis any further? It's best to handle our own family matters ourselves."

Marquis Anshun felt a surge of anger. In the past, the Yu family had always been very respectful to him, so what did this mean?

However, what the Yu family means is not important. The most important thing now is to stop the case. If the investigation continues, they will definitely implicate him.

Marquis Anshun stepped forward and came to the side of the Prefect of Jingzhao.

"My lord, this matter is a family affair of the Yu family. As far as I know, it was caused by a collateral branch of the Yu family."

If this gets out of hand, it will look bad for both the Yu family and the Marquis of Anshun's household. Why don't we just let this go? I'll handle things with the Yu family myself; after all, they were my in-laws before.”

The Prefect of the Capital looked at the Yu family members. Old Madam Yu knew perfectly well what Marquis Anshun was planning.

He stepped forward and bowed to the Prefect of the Capital, who was seated at the head of the table.

"My lord, the Yu family has suffered such a great loss today. No matter who is behind it, the Yu family must find them. There is no reason for us to settle this privately."

The Prefect of the Capital looked at Marquis Anshun with an expression that said, "Look, it's not that I disagree, but that the Yu family disagrees."

"Madam Yu, this is a private matter of your Yu family. Why bring it to court and air your dirty laundry in public?"

In my opinion, this matter should be dropped; there is no need to investigate further.

"Your Excellency should understand that you are merely the former son-in-law of the Yu family."

Now that my daughter is dead, even if she were still alive, it's not your place, Lord Marquis, to rule the Yu family!