My name is Chang An, your name is Gu Li

The person who made the complaint was the old woman that Chang An had helped up. Kneeling beside her was a young lady who looked pretty good.

At this time, Gu Li only heard the old woman say: "Sir, County Magistrate, this morning, I accidentally fell on the road due to an old illness. Later, I was helped up by the Duke of Kangguo who passed by and sent back home."

"I thought that Duke Kangguo was compassionate, but I never thought that Duke Kangguo's driver would defile my daughter! My husband died early, and I only have this daughter to depend on."

"Now, I, your daughter, don't know how to deal with the world in the future."

As she spoke, the old woman started to cry. At this time, Li Linfu and Wu Zhong were mixed in the crowd outside, watching the excitement.

This was a "bad move" that Li Linfu had come up with. Regardless of whether Chang An really did it or not, it would have a significant impact on him. At worst, he would lose the support of the people and make the emperor disappointed in him.

Wu Zhong was watching with great interest, but Li Linfu frowned, feeling something was wrong. Wu Zhong asked, "What's wrong? Isn't Hu the popular choice?"

Li Linfu just shook his head and asked, "When do you plan to hand in the testimony written by the secret guard?"

"I'll be there in a moment."

The county magistrate stroked his beard, slammed the gavel again, and then asked the driver, "What do you have to say?"

"My Lord, the old lady just said that her old illness had recurred. I also heard from her that she had medicine at home. So I followed the order of our Duke and went to the west room to get the medicine, but I never thought..."

But when it came to the end, the driver stopped talking, obviously finding it difficult to say.

Gu Li said at this time: "Don't forget, you are from our Chang family, our Kangguo Mansion. No matter what you say, we are here, no matter what you say, we are behind you."

"Yes, ma'am."

The driver responded and continued, "Then I saw the lady in the west room looking at me recklessly. Then she took off her clothes and started shouting, saying that I had molested her."

Gu Li's eyebrows were slightly lowered at this time, and the county magistrate said at this time: "Then that lady, why don't you tell us now, what was the situation at that time?"

"My Lord, the medicine in our house is indeed in the west room, but I was also in the pharmacy at that time. It was July, and the sun was high and hot, so I temporarily left. But I never thought that after this person entered the west room, he..."

"I am a quiet girl in my boudoir. How could I have done such a reckless thing?"

As she spoke, the woman began to cry. Gu Li then asked Chang An, "Chang Lang, what is going on?"

"What they said before and what they said themselves are all correct. We did hear the lady's cry. Sister Qi is faster than us. From what she said, when we arrived at the west room, our driver was still standing at the door."

Gu Li frowned: "But in this situation, no one saw whether he was really just standing at the door. Even if he said so, no one might believe it."

Chang An smiled at this time and said, "Then just wait and see, Madam Gu, I have a way to make them tell the truth themselves, don't worry."

Afterwards, the driver also hurriedly explained: "Sir, I was standing at the door when he shouted, I didn't even enter the house!"

The county magistrate was in a difficult situation at this time, after all, the Duke of Kangguo was sitting below. So he asked, "Duke Kangguo, can you tell me what you saw at that time?"

"This maid of ours was the first to arrive at the west room. She also said: Our coachman just stood at the door. Although he was only one step away from the door, he did not go in."

"So, what I saw was the same as theirs."

Hearing this, the old woman and the lady both began to cry: "Oh my God! This so-called Duke Kangguo is so hypocritical!"

"You instigated the servants to do such a shameful thing, and you still refuse to admit it. You want to favor your own servants! Lord County Magistrate, you must do justice for us, mother and daughter!"

"My daughter is still waiting to be married. What will happen to her future if this happens?"

Compared to the old woman, the girl was much quieter and just cried.

Seeing this, the driver looked at Chang An with some fear and cried, "My Lord, My Lord, I have been driving for you since four years ago. You know my character."

Chang An leaned over, patted his shoulder gently, and whispered, "It's okay, I will definitely clear your name later."

"But, no matter what I say later, you must not interrupt me. Just say one thing: it's all my orders. Do you understand?"

"I understand, I understand. I will follow your orders, sir." The coachman kowtowed quickly but was stopped by Chang An.

"No need to kowtow, that's not the norm in our family."

Chang An smiled and told him to go back, and then the county magistrate began to feel a little embarrassed, not knowing whether it was true or false. At this time, the lawyer came in with a letter and said, "Sir, here is a letter from someone else."

The county magistrate nodded, took it and began to read. When he saw the last part, his face changed, and he looked at Chang An and said, "Duke Kangguo, there is a letter here, which describes the situation at that time."

Chang An looked indifferent, then walked over, took the letter, and read it with Gu Li. Just as the county magistrate said, the contents above were all what happened at the time, and they were very detailed.

"Chang Lang, this..."

"Just wait and see how I perform, Madam Gu." Chang An smiled at Gu Li, then stood up and handed the letter to the county magistrate.

The county magistrate also said at this time: "Duke Kangguo, the content of this letter..."

Chang An waved his hand, sat back down, and said, "Forget it, since there are witnesses and physical evidence, even if we say something else, it will be useless."

"If I ask you to plead guilty, will you do it?" Chang An looked at the coachman kneeling on the ground and asked.

"I..." The driver stood up and was about to say something, but he quickly changed his words and said, "I will follow your orders, my Lord."

"Okay!" Chang An clapped his hands and said, "In that case, we will plead guilty. How about this, County Magistrate?"

The county magistrate quickly stood up and said, "I dare not address you as your Excellency."

"According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, my family's coachman offended and teased my wife. How should he be punished? Just handle it impartially."

The county magistrate bowed and said "Yes."

"According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, if you flirt with a girl, you should be punished with a cane and a fine of thirty sticks."

When the county magistrate announced this, Wu Zhong in the crowd laughed, and the constable also came up and prepared to take the driver away.

"It seems that this Duke Kangguo is really cruel," Wu Zhong said to Li Linfu with a smile, "but his crime of not raising children properly is indeed true."

Just as the driver was about to take the man away, Chang An spoke again: "Wait a minute."

Wu Zhong was stunned: "Could it be that he wants to go back on his word?"

Chang An came to the driver at this time and asked sternly: "Do you know your mistake?"

"My Lord, I know I was wrong."

"Is it enough to admit one's mistakes?" Chang An asked again, causing everyone present to be puzzled.

"You have not only violated the laws of the Tang Dynasty, but also the innocence of other women. Do you think you can escape this responsibility by relying on thirty strokes of the cane? Have you forgotten what I taught you? I said that you are a man, a real man, and you should shoulder your responsibilities."

"My Lord, what are you doing..."

Chang An turned his gaze to the woman and continued, "Since my driver has offended you and tarnished your innocence, I will make him bear the responsibility."

This sounds normal at first, but when it falls into the ears of this woman, it seems to have a different meaning.

"Well, your innocence has been tarnished anyway, and you will be criticized when you get married in the future. Then my driver will naturally take on this responsibility. In a few days, I will have him personally deliver the marriage certificate to your home. I will be responsible for the betrothal gifts and other matters!"

"Mr. County Magistrate, do you think this is possible?"

When the county magistrate saw that he was mentioned again, he nodded quickly and said, "Of course, in this way, although this lady is considered to be marrying down, at least she doesn't have to be troubled by this matter, and she doesn't have to worry about the future."

"No!"

At this time, the lady began to kowtow and said, "No! County Magistrate, this is absolutely not allowed!"

"Why not? My coachman has tarnished your innocence, so he will naturally take responsibility. I, Chang Yonghe, always keep my word!" Although Chang An looked very serious, he was already laughing in his heart.

"I don't want to marry him!" The lady crawled to Chang'an's feet and said, "Duke Kangguo, I was wrong, I was wrong!"

"You are right, it is he who is wrong—my driver!"

"My Lord County Magistrate! I was wrong. This coachman did not tarnish my innocence. He is innocent. He and I are innocent!" The lady now faced the County Magistrate and began to kowtow.

Li Linfu and Wu Zhong's faces changed at this time, thinking something was wrong! The county magistrate was stunned for a moment, then sat down again and asked, "What do you mean? Did you falsely accuse the driver of Duke Kangguo?"

The woman was so angry that she said, "The driver is innocent. I falsely accused him. It was the woman who was bewildered and framed him."

"He didn't do anything at the time. He just stood at the door. What the Duke Kang and the coachman said were all true. It was I who lied!"

The county magistrate picked up the letter and said, "So, this letter is also fake?"

The lady nodded quickly and said, "This is all fabricated, it's not true!"

"Then why did you, mother and daughter, slander Duke Kangguo? Tell the truth!" The county magistrate slammed the gavel and shouted.

"Sir, actually..." The lady was halfway through her words when she suddenly got stuck and then changed her words:

"We are mother and daughter, poor and destitute, so we thought of doing this on the road. We wanted to cheat some money to make a living! This driver is innocent!"

Chang An raised his eyebrows, as if he had expected it.