In my previous life, I killed my whole family. In my next life, I killed the royal family.

Although Prime Minister Pei followed the Queen Mother's wishes and made a deal with her, when he taught the Emperor how to govern, he would always mention, "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother loves her two sons, so she made the Crown Prince your brother."

The emperor was young, and all he knew was to say, "My mother said so."

The prime minister kept reminding the emperor that this was the queen mother's intention and had nothing to do with anyone else. He just had to wait until the emperor was sensible enough to look through the history books and recall what his mother had said before deciding for himself what to do.

Empress Dowager Lu's wish was fulfilled. She immediately ordered the government office to investigate the case truthfully and temporarily let the Qi family go.

Inside the government office, the officials sitting in the hall discussed the matter after receiving the Empress Dowager's decree.

Minister Jiang said, "If we want to get this case thoroughly investigated, we may have to give the witness some sweet treats. Otherwise, who will come out to testify?"

Mr. Yuan took the opportunity to suggest, "Why not start with Shi Qing first and let other witnesses see that as long as they come to testify, their previous crimes can be forgiven." Mr. Yuan especially hated people who wanted to help Ding Jinxiu.

Minister Jiang nodded, "Okay, let's do it."

Lord Xiao sat in front of the hall again. He said to Shi Qing, "Tell me the details of killing Qi Fu again. Don't hide anything. Maybe I can spare your life."

After hearing this, Shi Qing told everything about Qi Fu's collusion with Wang Yigui.

He said, "Our master set up a trap to make Qi Fu's son Qi You lose tens of thousands of taels of silver in the casino. Since then, Qi Fu and his son have been captured by my master, and he wants to harm Qi's eldest son's family."

The casino owner came out to confirm, "Sir, this is indeed the case." He also took out a booklet.

Then, several witnesses came and personally testified that "after the boat capsized, Qi Fu threw his wife and children into the river, and his daughter was abducted and her whereabouts are unknown." They turned out to be Qi Fu's followers, and Qi You's uncle.

The onlookers cursed, "He plotted against his own brother, he deserves to die."

The case is basically clear. Qi Fu killed his wife and children, and then he was killed by Wang Yigui.

Lord Xiao announced: "The plaintiff's accusation is not true, it is a serious false accusation." After that, he slammed the gavel and shouted: "Ding Jinxiu, you are so bold, you dare to come and frame the Marquis' Mansion!"

Ding Jinxiu knew something was wrong, her face turned pale, she knelt in the hall, trembling, her heart filled with fear and despair.

Her eyes were wandering and she turned her head to look outside from time to time, as if she was expecting someone to come and save her from the dire straits.

However, she did not see even a familiar face in the crowd. Only then did Ding Jinxiu realize that her so-called life-saving straw, Duke Huiguo, could no longer be here.

Master Xiao shouted, "Come here, first give her ten sticks, and then sentence her to the crime of false accusation."

Ding Jinxiu pleaded in fear, "Sir, please spare me."

"Uncle, cousin, please spare my niece. I am your relative!"

Qi Wan was worried that her father would be soft-hearted, so she stepped forward and whispered to Qi Lu, "Father, she has teamed up with outsiders to harm our family and put our Qi family to death. Wan Li cannot forgive her."

Qi Lu was furious when he thought of what Qi Fu's family had done. He refused to plead for Ding Jinxiu and looked at her coldly, "Before, you didn't treat us as relatives."

Several old women came forward and pinned Ding Jinxiu down. A yamen runner came forward with a torture instrument and beat Ding Jinxiu's buttocks hard, leaving her buttocks bruised and Ding Jinxiu fainted from the pain.

Her hair was disheveled and her pearl hairpin had fallen to the ground. The maids bent down to pick it up and held it in their hands.

Ding Jinxiu was beaten to death, her clothes were stained with blood, her face was as pale as paper, and her lips had lost their color.

She never expected that her dream of glory would be shattered so quickly. She originally thought that as long as she got rid of the Marquis's Mansion, she would be able to become a superior person and enjoy wealth and honor. But now, everything has turned into a bubble. Not only did she not get any benefits, but she fell into a desperate situation.

She was beaten until she passed out, and was woken up by a yamen runner pouring cold water over her. Her body was shaking, as if all her vitality had been drained away. "Ouch, ouch."

Ding Jinxiu moaned in pain, her voice was weak and hoarse, as if it would break at any time.

She opened her eyes and looked around, and saw Qi Wan looking at her with a sneer, saying two words: idiot.

Ding Jinxiu gritted her teeth, her heart filled with anger and hatred. She wanted to stand up and step on Qi Wan, letting her taste the pain she had suffered. But her body was unable to move, and she could only watch Qi Wan's smug look.

Lord Xiao spoke again and made the judgment. His voice was cold and ruthless: "Ding Jinxiu has falsely accused the Marquis' Mansion and her crime is extremely heinous. She is sentenced to death by slicing." These words were like a bolt from the blue. Ding Jinxiu was stunned, her eyes widened, and she couldn't believe her ears.

She looked at Lord Xiao in horror, her eyes filled with despair and fear: "Lingchi?" She screamed, her voice sharp and piercing, as if it would break through the roof. "No, no, spare me." She begged bitterly, tears rolling down her cheeks.

At this moment, Ding Jinxiu clearly realized that both Hu Dingmin and Duke Huiguo had given up on her.

"You are heartless and ungrateful, so let's die together." Ding Jinxiu said hatefully.

She cried, "Sir, if my report is meritorious, can I be spared from death?"

Lord Jiang shook his head at Lord Xiao.

The adults present at the trial knew that if they let this woman go, what would happen if someone else framed them in the future? They had to kill her to serve as a warning to others.

Lord Xiao blinked and said, "That depends on what you are talking about and how much merit there is in reporting it."

Ding Jinxiu lay on the ground and told a story that shocked everyone present: "Hu Dingmin has killed many people. When he came to the capital, he also ordered people to kill Xiaochuan, a prostitute in a brothel."

Qi Wan laughed at this. Ding Jinxiu really knew a lot. It seemed that no one needed to report Hu Dingmin for killing the princess.

Lord Jiang immediately sent his men to "arrest Hu Dingmin."

Lord Xiao asked hurriedly: "Who else did he kill?"

Ding Jinxiu counted: "In order to marry the prefect's daughter, he killed his wife, who was the county magistrate's daughter."

"He married the prefect's daughter, who is now his wife. He had an affair with the prefect's concubine, and when she became pregnant, he was afraid of being discovered, so he killed her."

Everyone was amazed when they heard this, "Hu Dingmin turned out to be such a person."

The officials present heard about Hu Dingmin's promotion experience, but they did not expect that he was so cruel and brutal that he killed his wife, his pregnant lover, and even women in a brothel.

Lord Xiao asked, "Why did he want to kill Xiaochuan?"

Ding Jinxiu didn't know either, but a tiny voice sounded in her ears, "He was killed for Lu Fengyun."

In order to survive, she didn't care whether the voice was an illusion or someone was really telling her something, and immediately shouted, "He killed Xiaochuan for Lu Fengyun."

"Ah, the Lu family!" Everyone exclaimed.