Qiu Chudong opened his mouth, but his face twitched and he couldn't say a word for a while.
He was also obsessed with lust at the beginning, so he dared to touch Li Qingwu behind Qiu Che's face.
On the other hand, she was also convinced that Li Qingwu was a woman after all and did not dare to reveal the matter.
But now Li Qingwu openly used the title of emperor to suppress him in front of so many people. He dared to retort, which was disrespectful to the royal family.
Li Qingwu tilted his head slightly, with a pure look on his face, and asked again: "...Why don't you speak?"
Someone next to him sneered and cursed: "You son of a bitch, you bully the weak and fear the strong!"
Qiu Chudong looked indignant, but glanced at Li Qingwu. , dare not speak.
The innocent smile on Li Qingwu's face slowly fell, and he became expressionless again.
She raised her chin, and the two government officials who escorted Qiu Chudong came to their senses, and slapped Qiu Chudong's arm fiercely, "Hurry up!"
Qiu Chudong staggered, amidst the scoldings of the people around him, in embarrassment. was sent to court.
When Li Qingwu came in, the Queen Mother had already arrived. She and the Queen Mother looked at each other calmly with Yang Qiu, who was sitting in the first seat. All three parties understood clearly - Qiu Che was sent to prison just to drag the Qiu family into the abyss. At this time, no matter what Qiu Che's outcome was. No matter what, the case of Qiu Chudong must be settled.
Li Qingwu took a seat beside the Queen Mother.
Yang Qiu waited for a while, and then waited until the prince came belatedly, followed by the third prince who followed him step by step and smiled at him.
The prince first saluted the queen mother, and then yawned and sat down next to her. He said with an indifferent expression: "Hurry up, I am busy. It is a waste of time for me to be present in person for such a small case."
"Brother, don't be anxious," Li Qingwu glanced at the slightly embarrassed third prince standing behind the prince, and said calmly: "I don't know that the third prince is coming today, please let Mr. Yang sit down for the third prince. "
Yang Qiu nodded.
The third prince was stunned, as if he didn't expect that Li Qingwu would even take care of him, and cast a slightly complicated look at her.
I thanked him again and again, and finally sat down.
The prince sneered at Li Qingwu's behavior: "Hypocrisy... is it okay now?"
Yang Qiu seemed not to feel the strange atmosphere. He coughed and said calmly: "Qiu Che, the former minister of Dali Temple, is here to offer you Judging from the case, Qiu Chudong, the head of the Qiu family, robbed dozens of people named Cui and killed dozens of his own daughters twenty years ago... The trial of this case officially started today."
As soon as these words came out, everyone present. Everyone fell silent.
"Qiu Chudong," Yang Qiu clapped the gavel and said, "Do you have any excuse for this accusation?"
Qiu Chudong seemed to be waiting for this sentence. Before he finished speaking, he knelt on the ground and cried. He shouted: "My lords, Mr. Qiu has been wronged!"
Yang Qiu had already expected it and said without even raising his eyebrows: "What are the grievances? Tell me one by one!"
"-Sir, the common people think that they are nothing more than Qiu Che. The unfilial daughter has a bad relationship with her father, so she deliberately spreads rumors to harm the common people. What's more, she herself has committed the crime of deceiving the emperor. She can even deceive the emperor, so there is nothing she can't do. "Yes! Adults, please don't believe what she says!"
The prince thought for a moment and said with a look of deep understanding: "I think what he said is quite reasonable... You actually expect someone who is guilty of deceiving the emperor?" It's ridiculous for a woman to tell the truth."
Li Qingwu didn't even raise his head and said calmly: "Brother, what you said is wrong. Concealing a woman's identity is a crime of deceiving the emperor, but people in the world make mistakes for various reasons. There are countless people. This does not mean that there is something wrong with her character, nor does it mean that she will lie about other things. "
"Besides, the consort's case has not been finalized yet. Please be careful in what you say in court. "
The prince chuckled.
He said it casually, and he was very happy to be able to throw dirty water on Qiu Che.
He doesn't care about the truth of the matter, nor does he care whether Qiu Chudong is right or not. It's just fishing in troubled waters, just adding to the trouble.
But he just couldn't see Li Qingwu's worthless look eager to protect the female consort.
This always reminded him of the last time he was in Linglong Pavilion, when he was blocked by this "couple" and couldn't get off the stage.
Now that he saw this, he immediately became angry: "Fourth sister, why are you so anxious? I just said it casually... Even if this case is true, your consort will not be able to escape the punishment for deceiving the emperor."
"Oh . , By the way," the prince said with great interest: "Since she is a woman, doesn't it mean that when Qiu Che said that you two were in love and asked for a marriage, he was actually deceiving the king?"
Li Qingwu's heart trembled, and he suddenly realized ? Shocked: Marriage grant...
It turned out that when Qiu Che and she planned to ask for marriage by him, had they already thought that this day would happen?
Or is it actually earlier?
The prince was still taunting, and Li Qingwu heard him say: "My father is still seriously ill, and your consort has also been imprisoned. Who are you doing this to protect her now?"
Li Qingwu smiled: "Who said so? Is it for others to see?"
The prince immediately said: "Is it possible that his true feelings are revealed?"
Li Qingwudan smiled and said nothing.
The prince curled his lips and wanted to say something else.
"Your Highnesses," Yang Qiu had no choice but to interrupt and reminded, "This is a public trial."
The prince glanced at him: "Of course I know. Do you need to remind me?"
Li Qingwu nodded to him silently. , to apologize.
A clear view of superiority and inferiority.
Yang Qiu paused and sighed inwardly.
Then he said tactfully: "Her Royal Highness, the eldest princess, is right. No matter what, the Qiu family leader's words cannot be the reason for him to clear his name. Please provide the Qiu family leader with substantive evidence, and don't be quick to talk. In court. There is no room for childishness."
The people outside the yard stretched their necks to watch the show and nodded: "That's right!"
"After all that, I just want to know if this disgusting thing named Qiu can be convicted?"
Qiu Chudong, who had been waiting to see the situation, quickly took over the conversation, as if he could not hear the rebuke of the people outside the door, and said with a heartbroken look:
"When my unfilial daughter slandered the common people, there was no evidence. Now you want the common people to prove that they did not do anything. This kind of thing happens." "
Throughout the ages, I have only heard of those who have it, but not those who have it. How difficult is it? No matter what you do, you can't force it on others, right?"
Li Qingwu reacted immediately. This kind of well-founded statement is obviously not what Qiu Chudong, who is full of food, drink, whoring and gambling, can come up with - someone is teaching him how to do it.
No wonder he dared to shout openly at the gate of the courtyard today. It turned out that there was someone behind him. Who could it be? Li Qingwu's thoughts were racing, but for a while, apart from Wu Xiang, who wanted Qiu Che to die the most, he couldn't think of another person to choose.
ââIt is possible for the prince, but his mentality, saying that he can teach Qiu Chudong how to defend himself and avoid his suspicion, is simply a joke.
But if it's Prime Minister Wu, what's the benefit of spending such a boss's efforts to protect an autumn and early winter that has a bad reputation?
To cause trouble for them?
Yang Qiu was silent here and didn't reply. Suddenly he heard Li Qingwu smile and say in a calm tone: "Why not?"
"Can you still be called a human being with what you have done? It is not advisable to force others to do things, but you are not Man. "
In his previous life, wasn't Qiu Che unable to argue?
There is also no evidence to prove that she violated the girl, but she is in jail.
For such an impossible reason.
Qiu Che was clearly in Qiu Mansion that night. She explained that she had evidence of alibi and everyone in Qiu Mansion could testify for her.
The emperor therefore asked people to bring the Qiu family.
In addition to Wang, even Yunyan was brought here.
Qiu Che is such a smart person. He already had a premonition when he saw the girl who claimed that she had been violated.
She understood that this was an innocent disaster that Qiu Zhe had brought upon herself, but she still had expectations for the so-called father-daughter relationship.
She thought that no matter how cruel Qiu Chudong was, even if she considered it from the perspective of interests, she would not abandon a child with a bright future to save a good-for-nothing playboy.
She thought she could be cleared of suspicion.
She thought...
it was all she thought.
Who would have thought that in autumn and early winter, she actually didn't have the option of "being chosen" at all?
It's so ridiculous and ridiculous.
When he saw everyone's eyes averting and they categorically said they had no idea where she was that night, when even Yunyan betrayed him -
what was Qiu Che thinking?
When Li Qingwu thought of this, he felt a surge of sadness in his heart.
She endured it again and again, so that she did not shed tears in the courtroom and in full view of the public.
Qiu Che may have thought that the reason why Li Qingwu was reluctant to wake up from his dream under the canopy of the canopy was because her eyes were never on Li Qingwu in her previous life, which made her heartbroken.
But it's not.
Li Qingwu thought.
She had seen half of Qiu Che's life, and she had seen a lot -
what Qiu Che had said and not said to her, what had happened, what had not happened yet, and what should have happened in the future.
She was shocked to realize that during the ten years when she was not with Qiu Che, Qiu Che had been alone and struggling to climb up.
She clearly owed no one, but it seemed that the world was particularly malicious to her.
Li Qingwu felt ridiculous.
I feel even more distressed.
She didn't want to wake up because she didn't know how to face Qiu Che in this life.
There was never a moment when Li Qingwu hated his own powerlessness so much.
In the dream, she could not save Qiu Che from those ten years.
Outside the dream, she had no face to face Qiu Che, who was always dragged down by her.
She thought, how should she explain to Qiu Che that her feelings for her at the beginning were not pure?
Regardless of whether it was voluntary or not, and whether it was true betrayal or not, it was an indisputable fact that she had conveyed news about Qiu Che to the emperor and empress secretly.
At first she said she admired Qiu Che just to escape from the prison of the palace.
At that time, her love for Qiu Che was only superficial, not even love.
So she could calmly plan. After hearing the name of the number one scholar, she calculated whether Qiu Che's family background would treat her badly. She left the city early for an outing and met by chance when she returned to the city. The crowds in Linglong Pavilion attracted attention, and she kowtowed three times and nine times in the Jinluan Palace. Gan Yusi contacted Qiu Che in advance, and during the Queen Mother's birthday banquet, she deliberately scratched her finger and dripped her own blood into the incense burner that she knew was faulty... to create her own character of being deeply in love.
She is a born schemer.
How innocent can a child who grew up safely in the palace be?
Qiu Che is a politician, but her feelings are more pure and sincere than anyone else's. Love and hate are passionate and sincere, without any concealment.
And she was born in silt, so even love has traces of ugly and calculation.
Even during the ten years in his previous life when Qiu Che felt he owed Li Qingwu, Li Qingwu couldn't actually call her in love with her.
It's just that he hasn't gotten rid of the sad "marry and obey the husband" thinking. He regards Qiu Che as his only way out, and at the same time he is unconsciously attracted to him.
She still looked forward to the day when Qiu Che would turn around and look at her, so that she could live with Qiu Che according to the standard of "happiness" defined by the world, so she came to rescue him many times.
As soon as Qiu Che died, she lost all her spiritual support and felt that there was no need to live anymore.
Does she really love Qiu Che?
Do you love a woman who you have met less than ten times in more than ten years?
Li Qingwu didn't know.
But she must love herself.
Qiu Che thought that during those ten years of being lonely and helpless and not being chosen by anyone, at least one Li Qingwu truly loved him, and at least Li Qingwu would choose her.
But the sad thing is that in fact, even this is just a false and beautiful lie that Li Qingwu even deceived himself.
How much Li Qingwu loves Qiu Che in this life, but how much he hates himself after seeing Qiu Che's past memories.
But being unconscious is not a long-term solution.
So she thought it would be a good idea to pretend to have amnesia.
What Qiu Che likes is what she likes.
Only at this time, she is no longer the eldest princess Lehe, and she is no longer the hypocritical "Li Qingwu" who even she herself cannot tell the difference between true love and falsehood.
But it's just the "Qingqing" of "A Ning".
Now I have the opportunity to treat others the same way I treat them.
Let Qiu Chudong himself experience the feeling of not being able to escape even if there is no evidence to prove "he did this".
Li Qingwu only felt happy for Qiu Che.
After hearing these words, Qiu Chudong probably didn't expect that she could say "I just want to convict you" so grandly. She was stunned for a moment, and then her face quickly turned the color of pig liver.
Li Qingwu noticed that he began to look in the direction of the prince frequently and anxiously.
Outside the courtyard, the people applauded like a roar: "Your Highness, the Princess, said it well!"
"Yes, the rules are to safeguard human rights. He is not a human anymore! What the hell does he do!"
The prince was very unhappy after hearing this and sneered. : "A bunch of stupid people."
"It's too fanciful to want to convict someone without any evidence."
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, Your Highness the Eldest Princess, you have all misunderstood. It's not that there is no evidence." Yang Qiu said slowly: "The case presented by the Prince Consort Zongzhong has made clear confessions about the Nan clan of Xinzhou, the Feng clan of Xinchuan, and the Yan clan of Jinzhou..."
"There are confessions from ten people, one by one describing in detail how they raped women and girls in the early autumn and early winter. How to take away girls after they give birth to them and torture them to death.â
"He and Wu Zuo also searched the Qiu family's residence and found the girl's skeletal remains and smell. I have reason to suspect that the Qiu family had prepared and removed the girl's bones early."
Yang Qiu held up the remains on the desk. A roll of files, looking at Qiu Chudong, with a calm face, but a voice like thunder: "Qiu Family Master, do you have any explanation for this?"
Qiu Chudong frowned tightly, and the aura of being a pig who was not afraid of boiling water was weak. many.
He stuttered and said, "It's just the smell. Isn't it just a dog's nose? What does he say?"
"What if he was sent by Qiu Che to slander me? Who doesn't know that my unfilial daughter was still Itâs not unusual for senior officials of Dali Temple to have such connections, right?â
Qiu Chudong said, feeling confident again, âBesides, how could I have the ability to know in advance that my unfilial daughter would frame me for such a thing? ?"
Yang Qiu then asked, "How do you explain the confessions of those women?"
"Is there any real witness?"
Seeing Yang Qiu look at Li Qingwu and then fell silent, Qiu Chudong suddenly acted like a rogue and said proudly:
"Since No, then how do you know if Qiu Che made it up?"
"After all, confessions can be forged, don't you all know that?"
Yes, this is what Qiu Che and others are most worried about.
After all, it was just a confession and some clues. If Qiu Chudong bit him to death and he didn't know or knew about it, then as long as no other evidence could be found and time went on, it would be much simpler if someone wanted to protect Qiu Chudong.
Qiu Chudong probably knew that no one would dare to stand up and identify him, so he was so proud.
ââThis kind of thing, in today's era, no matter whether it is wrong or not, is a stain on a woman that will be criticized for the rest of her life.
Li Qingwu said coldly: "This is the court of Dali Temple, not the Qiu family where you can run wild. A few sophistry cannot clear your guilt."
Qiu Chudong shrank his neck and said: "Oh... eldest princess Does Your Highness mean to use your power to suppress the common people? It turns out that the common people have no power, so they have to admit this crime? How can any adults do this? The eyes of the people outside are watching... "
Anyway, after talking about it, I kept holding my neck in autumn, early and winter, and said one sentence to death: There is no evidence, and I refuse to plead guilty.
The people watching were almost tired of listening, and the whispers and discussions continued.
"That's right. You can't arrest people without evidence, right? What if you arrest the wrong person
?" "Master Qiu has killed his relatives and been imprisoned. How can he still be false?"
"Stop calling me an adult. How can I be an adult?" , Do you understand that you are imprisoned for the crime of deceiving the emperor?"
"But I think Master Qiu is a good official. A few years ago, my grandfather was robbed of ten acres of land by those dog officials, and this is the compensation she wants back..."
" Mr. Qiu, donât mention it. Letâs talk about this case if we canât find evidence. To be fair, if we just arrest people without evidence, wouldnât it lead to chaos in the future?â
Li Qingwu sat on the chair, leaning on the armrest, watching coldly. Standing, thinking, Aning.
Are these the people you want to save?
Is this the homeland you want to protect?
Not worth it.
She only hated that her power could not be higher or higher.
If she were not an illusive eldest princess, if she also had the intimidating power of her words, wouldn't it be easier to convict Qiu and Chudong at this time?
Qiu Che had made all preparations to deliver the person to her, but she didn't even have the ability to directly drag him down and convict him.
Power.
She wants more power.
Li Qingwu's grip on the sandalwood armrest became tighter and tighter, and his jawline became more and more straight.
Just when Yang Qiu was hesitating whether to interrupt the court interrogation.
Suddenly a clear female voice came from outside the yard.
"Who said there is no evidence?"
The crowd was squeezed out of the way.
Li Qingwu came to his senses and looked up.
I saw a woman in cloth squeezing in from the outside of the crowd.
Behind her, there were one, two, three, four... ten women, filing in.
Some have timid looks, some are very determined, some are clothed in commoners, some have skirts and hairpins, some are young and beautiful, and some are old and shabby.
But without exception, these ten people all held a piece of yellowed paper in their hands.
Yang Qiu had a vague premonition of something, and looked at each other with the Queen Mother.
Before the others had come to their senses, Yang Qiu slapped the wooden door and said, "Who is this person in the hall? Please tell me your name!"
The leading woman stepped forward and said in a clear voice, "The daughter of the Nan family of Xinzhou."
"I am concubine . Xinchuan Feng family."
"Jinzhou Yan family..."
"Yanzhou Qing family..."
"Yunfan Mu family..."
Every time he said a word, a woman stepped forward and raised the yellowed card in her hand. Deed paper.
Until the last ten women reported their names one by one and stood in a row, holding the deed papers in their hands.
This scene has an unspeakable and silent shock.
Li Qingwu recognized it -
it was their body bond.
These women are the aunts who were still alive and were snatched away from the mansion by Qiu Chudong. After the Qiu mansion was defeated, they went their separate ways.
Li Qingwu once went to lobby Qiu Che for them to come forward to testify and bring down Qiu Chudong.
Later, because Qiu Che couldn't bear to let them be pointed out, the plan was interrupted.
The leader, whose surname is Nan, was the one who cooperated most with Li Qingwu at the beginning.
Except for her, the other aunts were more or less reluctant about this matter.
But now...they are all here.
Li Qingwu's heart began to beat violently.
She knew themâand they naturally knew Li Qingwu.
The leader Nan smiled at Li Qingwu.
Immediately, he was the first to kneel down and shouted loudly: "I have ten concubines, all of whom were once concubines of the Qiu Mansion. They testified for the case of Qiu Cheqiu, Lord Qiu, who sued the Qiu family for robbing civilian girls and killing virgins in the early winter of Qiu. All the reports are true! This is a personal contract. You can send someone to verify whether it is true!"
She paused and said forcefully: "Her Royal Highness Princess Qiu once came to us to avenge our grievances. When I heard that Mr. Qiu was imprisoned, I had to tell others that the two nobles had chosen not to let us testify in court in order to protect us from the influence of the rumors."
"However, the nobles killed their relatives out of justice and went to jail to redress the injustice, and I and the others are all grateful. I dare to forget that I will go out to testify with my deed today to accuse Qiu Chudong, the head of the Qiu family, for robbing civilian girls and killing virgins... I have been wronged for more than ten years and have no place to complain. Today I can express my regrets."
"Please, Mr. Yang, The Empress Dowager and the Crown Prince have made the decision for me, and I want Qiu Chudong, the head of the Qiu family, to pay with my blood!"
Behind her, the remaining nine women also knelt down, and also shouted: "I beg you, sir, for my concubine and so on. I want Qiu Chudong, the head of the Qiu family, to make the decision and pay with his blood!"
Qiu Chudong's face was pale, he couldn't say a word and collapsed directly to the ground.
He knew he was finished.
Just like in the previous life, no one would believe that a woman would destroy her innocence in order to frame Qiu Che -
no one would believe that these ten women would stand up and lose their reputation for the rest of their lives in order to frame Qiu Chudong. sue him.
There was silence for a long time in the courtroom.
The prince was stunned and couldn't help but murmured: "Are you crazy... As for, you are involved in suing a man..."
"Your Highness," Nan raised her head and looked at him gently but firmly. He said, "You are right, no one will risk the rest of his life for revenge - so on this trip, I want to express my innocence for Mr. Qiu who has been imprisoned."
The prince immediately became serious.
Yang Qiu gestured to her and said, "What do you mean?"
"If the head of the Qiu family is destined to be unable to pay with blood, I and the others will not force it," Nan said, "but I will allow me to say something treasonous and unethical - even if it means beheading "I don't know
what others say about Master Qiu."
"But in my eyes, the people's lives have become much better after she took office... I haven't read a book, no." I know a few words, but I will only mention the case of Master Qiu. She worked hard for this case. Just because of this friendship, I believe that she is a good official and will risk my life to avenge Lord Qiu. "
"If Qiu Chudong can be released, then Master Qiu Cheqiu must also be innocent." After
the words fell, several women behind him nodded, saying unevenly: "That's right!"
"If Qiu Chudong can be released, then Master Qiu, He must also be innocent!"
Outside the courtyard, someone also whispered: "Actually, I also think Lord Qiu is a good official..."
"Yes, what's wrong with a woman, she doesn't stop her from doing practical things for us people."
" Isn't it just that you lied to the emperor? How big a deal is it that all the good deeds Mr. Qiu has done in the past are wiped out? "
" Mr. Qiu is not here, I don't even dare to complain about being bullied by the dog officials..."
"Me too... ..."
"I have already said that Mr. Qiu is a good official. A few years ago, my grandfather was robbed of ten acres of land by those dog officials..."
"That's enough. I have said it three times."
"Now Mr. Qiu is out. If you don't come, a group of women will have to stand up and speak for Master Qiu without fear of death, and beg them in exchange for letting this beast go... Why are we, a group of grown men, so timid? "
"Yes, what does it look like?"
"If our daughter-in-law and I are robbed and killed by beasts in the future, do we have to let them go like this?"
"God damn it, no, the old beast named Qiu must die! Mr. Qiu must let go!"
Gradually, the sounds outside the courtyard became louder.
All these sounds, combined with the voices of these women, became even more deafening.
Li Qingwu heard it - she believed everyone in the court heard it.
"Master Qiu is a good official, why should she be locked up!"
"Qiu Chudong is a beast, let him pay with blood!"
"Let Master Qiu go! Kill this beast!"
"Let Master Qiu go! Kill this beast! "
The expressions of the people present were different.
Even the prince was so shocked that he collapsed on the chair: "Absurd... Ridiculous!"
"They are going to rebel, aren't they!"
The third prince reminded in a low voice: "Your Highness, stop talking."
But it was too late.
I saw Nan suddenly raised his head and asked in a raised voice:
"No one is a sage, how can he have no faults? What's more, if there is no other fault, just cheating the emperor will lead to death, then what way do we have to survive? In this case, like this Your Majesty... don't do it!"
"Don't do it!"
The anger of the people hit the prince's face directly and strongly for the first time, and a mountain of shouts came over him instantly, and the anger on the prince's face froze. .
Li Qingwu was equally shocked.
She was stunned for a moment, then took a deep breath and turned her head.
A long-lost sincere smile appeared on his lips.
she thought.
What a pity, Aning.
You should come and see it with your own eyes.
It turns out that the people you want to protect are not heartless and do not understand good and bad.
They are ignorant, they are pedantic, they are frogs in the well.
But they also know how to be grateful.
Maybe most of the people here are just getting carried away for a while, so they join the crowd in shaking their fists angrily.
But thatâs how people areâ
otherwise, how can we say people are unpredictable?