Painting Doctor Jinhua

Zhang Mao didn't know what to say, especially facing Xiao Jinyu's cold and mocking gaze, and even the angry glares from some young scholars around him, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

Although this is an age of the survival of the fittest, everyone has a heart that loves beauty and cherishes jade! Especially some young scholars who pursue and appreciate beauty as a fashion.

At this time, even Cui Heng couldn't help but urge him, "Zhang Mingfu, I asked you to come here to judge the case fairly. What are you hesitating about?"

"Humph, a fair judgment? This princess doesn't care what the cause or process was. What I see now is that she is unharmed, while my son is seriously injured. Therefore, this matter is her fault and she should be punished and convicted!"

Princess Yunyin's unreasonable and loud shouting attracted everyone's attention again. Many onlookers were angry but dared not say anything. Xiao Xian almost wanted to crush the armrest, and Xiao Shiniang was so anxious that she stamped her feet and clenched her hands, thinking to herself: I warned her a long time ago not to mess with this vicious woman, but she just wouldn't listen. Now, things have evolved to the point where they are out of control. I'm afraid Princess Yunyin will have to kill her!

Just as he was thinking this, he heard Xiao Jinyu's cold and sharp laughter suddenly rang out in the hall.

"Hehe... Princess, do you want to listen to what you are saying? So, you don't care about the truth or the evidence at all, you just want to kill me!

You can always find excuses to accuse someone of something. You are accusing others of my faults and yet you say that this is the crime I should bear?"

"That's right, you hurt my son, and that's the crime you committed!" Princess Yunyin didn't think there was anything wrong with her words at all, and she continued to raise her voice and argue.

Everyone's faces turned pale with horror, and their eyes towards Princess Yunyin were filled with anger and contempt.

Many people looked at Xiao Jinyu with worry and pity in their eyes, but they saw that this sister-in-law was not frustrated by this, but calmed down, and asked in a more teasing and cold tone:

"So sixteen years ago, you used the same methods on my mother that you used on me now, right?"

Sixteen years ago, her mother? The eldest daughter of the Xiao family who was driven out of the Xiao family and wandered in a foreign land?

The atmosphere became cold again. This sentence has led everyone to deep thought. So, that old incident many years ago, those unbearable rumors about the eldest daughter of the Xiao family, are the hidden secrets and the truth in it the same as today?

"Oh, you are a bastard born from your mother's secret relationship with someone else. What right do you have to question this princess? All you have done is just to become a member of my Lanling Xiao family. What qualifications do you have to join my Lanling Xiao family? Even if you want to trace your roots, you should go to the Han family, right?" Princess Yunyin was still unyielding.

"You—you are totally unreasonable and slanderous!"

Fenghuang couldn't hold back any longer and was about to punch her, but Xiao Jinyu stopped him and looked at Princess Yunyin with neither arrogance nor servility.

"Your Highness Princess may not understand the rules set by the ancestors of the Xiao family. Do you think that I, Xiao Jinyu, really want to be a member of the Lanling Xiao family?" She sneered and said loudly, "I, Xiao Jinyu, swear here that I can set up my own family in the future and will never set foot in your Xiao family again..."

Xiao Xian and Xiao Shiniang's faces suddenly changed when they heard this, but Xiao Jinyu changed the subject and said, "But as a son, I cannot let my mother's soul drift to the north, lonely and helpless. She was framed and persecuted by you when she was alive, and had to wander in a foreign land and die in the north. Now, I just want my mother's tablet to return to the Xiao family, so that her soul can return to her hometown!"

After a pause, she emphasized, "I want you, the Xiao family, to mourn for my mother!"

This sentence was undoubtedly like a bolt of thunder, making everyone's eyes light up!

The Xiao family must mourn for his mother!

"You're right! As children, we should fulfill our filial duties. It's unfortunate that his mother died in a foreign land. It's the relatives who should be mourning, summoning her soul and letting it return to her hometown!" Someone couldn't help but stand up and speak for Xiao Jinyu.

"How dare you, a little bastard, ask my family to mourn for an abandoned girl who has long been expelled from the family?"

Princess Yunyin sneered and once again used her eyes to signal a soldier to drag the man who was talking out. Li Mi stepped forward to stop her and said:

"Your Highness, calling me a little bastard is really beneath your royal demeanor, isn't it?"

Princess Yunyin glanced at Li Mi coldly, and was about to get angry when she saw Xiao Jinyu actually took out a jade seal and a piece of paper from her sleeve, holding them in her palms and saying:

"This is the jade seal given to my mother by the Xiao clan leader when she was the eldest daughter of the Xiao family. It represents that my mother has the power to manage the family. This piece of paper is also the written document signed by the Xiao clan leader. It says that the eldest daughter of the Xiao family does not need to marry, but can marry a son-in-law. Therefore, no matter who my father is, my mother is a descendant of the Xiao family.

Back then, she held the Xiao family's jade seal and led the clansmen to avoid the war, thus ensuring the survival of the Xiao family. After the empire was initially settled, the Xiao family settled in Jiankang, and Princess Yunyin married into the Xiao family at this time. Is she going to erase everything my mother has done for the Xiao family?

Your Highness, isn't everything you have in the Xiao family what my mother did her best to protect?"

"How come you have this jade seal in your hand?"

When Princess Yunyin saw Xiao Jinyu take out the jade seal, she was horrified. After hearing these words, she could no longer control her anger and gnashed her teeth and said, "Take the jade seal from her hand and kill her!"

"No-"

Following her order, all the scholars in the hall took a step forward and shouted in unison!

Xiao Xian even "walked" forward in a wheelchair and said sternly: "Stop! My Xiao family's troops are here to protect our family, our country, and our people, but we must never bully women, children, or the weak. What's more, she is the daughter of your former master!"

After Xiao Xian said this, several of his men looked obviously ashamed and hesitated to step forward.

"Xiao Xian? You are committing treason. Are you going to go against your mother?"

In this age where filial piety is more important than anything else, the reputation of being "unfilial" can indeed put a person to death. Lu An, a friend of the famous scholar Ji Shuye, was falsely accused of being unfilial by his brother Lu Changti and was sentenced to exile, while Shuye, who testified for Lu An, was even sentenced to beheading.

Princess Yunyin's words were clearly a hint and a threat.

At this time, Xiao Xian said: "I dare not disrespect mother, but this matter is indeed the fault of my Xiao family. Why did mother want to kill us all?"

"Xiao Xian! Be careful about what you say today! Don't regret it in the future!"

……

The atmosphere was tense to the extreme. Suddenly, in this extremely tense atmosphere, someone said in a cold voice: "Zhang Mingfu, when you handle cases in the South, do you always compete to see who has a higher status and speaks more powerfully, and who is right? I think that as long as there are witnesses and evidence, the case is clear and there is no need to argue any more. If Zhang Mingfu can't make the decision, shouldn't we find someone who can take charge?"

"and who are you?"

Princess Yunyin then turned her hostile gaze towards the man in black clothes wearing a veiled hat. She saw that the man had a noble and dignified demeanor, and was fearless. This was not the demeanor that an ordinary child from a noble family in the South could cultivate. The most important thing was that this demeanor, while noble and wise, also contained a fierce and murderous aura.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Mao looked at the man in black clothes and was shocked. He already had a guess in his mind: he had heard a long time ago that the North sent an envoy to Jiankang to meet the emperor. On the surface, he came to participate in a gathering of elegant discussions, but in fact he came to have another alliance with His Majesty. The envoy had only arrived in Jiankang two days ago, and it was said that the envoy did not like to show off, so His Majesty only sent a respected minister to greet him.

And this important official was none other than Xu Ling, the Shang Shu (Shang Shu Zuo Pushe) and the Prince's Junior Tutor!

Could this man be?

Just as I was thinking this, I heard a voice coming from outside the door: "Your Highness is right, Lord Zhang, investigating a case requires evidence, how can you let Your Highness do whatever she wants?"

Zhang Mao looked up when he heard the voice and saw an old man in red official uniform walking out of the door.

What surprised him was that the old man was none other than Xu Ling!

Xu Ling is now nearly sixty years old. During the Southern Liang Dynasty, he was a famous scholar in the Eastern Palace. He was proficient in Laozi and Zhuangzi and well-versed in historical books. He was known as "the stone unicorn in the sky" and "the Yan Hui of the time". After the establishment of the Southern Chen Dynasty, Xu Ling was even more appreciated by Emperor Wen, and he served successively as the Minister of the Treasury, the Minister of the Five Armies, the Palace Attendant, the Chief Censor, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and until now the Minister of the Left.

This man is eloquent, but he is upright and does not cling to the powerful. When Your Majesty was still King Ancheng, he criticized King Ancheng for not being strict with his subordinates. Later, he assisted King Ancheng in deposing the deposed Emperor Chen Bochong and ascended the throne today.

Therefore, Your Majesty appreciates him very much and gives him trust!

Not to mention the princess, even if he was a prince or a royal relative, this person would be reprimanded without showing any mercy!

Zhang Mao sighed in his heart and immediately stepped forward and bowed.

"Your humble servant pays respect to Minister Xu!"

Xu Ling nodded, and walked up to the man in black clothes, bowed and said with a smile: "Your Highness Prince Lanling, how do you like to see the scenery of Jiankang?"

Prince of Lanling?

When this name came out, everyone was even more shocked, and immediately several eyes were cast towards the man wearing a veiled hat and hiding his true face.

"Your Highness Prince Lanling!"

"Is he Prince Lanling?"

"It turned out to be Lanling Prince Gao Changgong?"

Some people secretly sighed in their hearts: No wonder this person has such a majestic and dignified bearing!

It is rumored that Prince Lanling is the most handsome man in the north. Although his true appearance has not been seen, his cheerful and upright demeanor, like a jade mountain, is enough to arouse people's imagination.

But at this moment, Lanling Wang ignored everyone's admiring and envious gazes and said calmly, "I first arrived in your place and saw beautiful things and beautiful people. Unfortunately, I encountered an unfair incident. I also saw it with my own eyes, so I asked my guard to come out to testify. I didn't expect that I was almost beaten to death by Princess Yunyin!"

He spoke in a very calm tone, but everyone who heard it was shocked. Princess Yunyin's face turned pale, and she thought to herself: What a close call! If his guards were really killed, it would not be a trivial matter such as a personal grudge. It would embarrass his country, and in more serious terms it would be a declaration of war!

But why did Gao Changgong come to the Xinghua Yanyu Tower and happen to run into what Xiao Yun and his cronies were doing?

Princess Yunyin was filled with remorse and anger, but she dared not say anything in front of the envoy from another country. Xu Ling had already apologized on her behalf, saying, "I'm sorry, Princess Yunyin didn't know the identity of Prince Lanling, so she made this big mistake. I am willing to apologize to Your Highness on behalf of the princess!"

"You don't need to apologize. I've heard that Minister Xu is the most fair and strict person in the South. He will never be partial or corrupt. Please let Minister Xu make the decision on today's matter!"