The reborn girl always wants to escape, but the abstinent marquis hugs her and coaxes her!

Chapter 240: No More Sophistry

"Ah..." Lin Jiaoyue screamed miserably. Her body was already in pain, so how could she withstand Cheng Jintong's powerful kick?

"How dare you!" Madam Lin rushed over, hugged Lin Jiaoyue in her arms, and glared at Cheng Wenzhi, "You, the dignified Minister of Rites, are like this? You break into someone's home and beat and scold them as you please?"

Mrs. Lin, who was usually taciturn, became angry, and Lin Zhihen's face also looked very ugly.

Cheng Wenzhi beat and scolded his daughter wantonly in his Lin family's mansion. How could he save face?

He said coldly: "Master Cheng, don't go too far!"

"I have been an official for decades, and this is the first time I have encountered such a situation! We served in the same dynasty, belonging to two different ministries. I have never made things difficult for the Ministry of War, and I have always treated you, Minister Lin, with courtesy. The girls of our two families have been close since childhood, and I have never stopped them! But the eldest daughter of your Lin family is so vicious that she almost wanted to kill my sister Tong. How could I sit back and watch?" As expected of the Minister of Rites, Cheng Wenzhi was very calm when he said this.

"The more you say it, the more outrageous it becomes!"

Seeing that the other party didn't cry until he saw the coffin, Cheng Wenzhi glanced coldly at the maid standing behind Cheng Jintong: "Come here! Tell Minister Lin everything you heard, saw, and felt while accompanying the young lady at the garden party today."

"Yes!" The maid hurried forward, bowing slightly to Lin Zhihen and Madam Lin. She then recounted in a loud voice how Lin Jiaoyue had been directing the conversation towards the Fourth Prince all morning, how she had gotten her dress wet while changing during the banquet, and how she had accidentally overheard the plot between the Lin residence's servant and the Fourth Prince's guards. "...My young lady now knew that everything was planned by Miss Lin and the Fourth Prince. Miss Lin had even hidden aphrodisiac powder and sprinkled it all over my young lady's skirt when she wasn't paying attention... Once she had coaxed my young lady into the private room, the Fourth Prince would arrive immediately. Then Miss Lin would have someone come and catch them all, and then, using the aphrodisiac powder, she would insist that my young lady had deliberately seduced the Fourth Prince, leaving her speechless and burdened with a lifelong stigma!"

A maid who could be taken out to a banquet by the eldest daughter of the Shangshu Mansion must be extremely smart.

What she said was well-reasoned and well-founded.

"My young lady initially refused to believe it, until she saw with her own eyes how Miss Lin, whom she trusted the most, sprinkled aphrodisiac powder on her skirt... My young lady's heart was broken, and she had no choice but to excuse herself and leave..."

When she said this, Lin Jiaoyue, who had been keeping her head down, finally understood why Cheng Jintong suddenly left with an excuse and would never come forward no matter how she tempted her.

She was confused by the sudden change, and worried that the Fourth Prince would become impatient after waiting too long, so she wanted to go to the private room to explain things to him.

But as soon as he entered the house, he lost consciousness.

The maid continued, her voice full of emotion, "...Luckily, God has mercy on my young lady, allowing her to escape this disaster! Otherwise, if the evildoers had truly succeeded, I'm afraid my young lady would have committed suicide to clear her name!"

"Do you think you're telling a story?" Lin Zhihen sneered. He knew exactly what kind of idiot Cheng Jintong was and what she was thinking about the Fourth Prince! To die to prove his loyalty? How could that be possible?

Being suddenly interrupted by him, the maidservant quickly fell silent.

She took out the lilac dress that Cheng Jintong had worn that afternoon and said, "This is my young lady's dress. The traces of perfume powder are clearly visible on the hem."

After saying that, she held the dress and walked to Madam Lin: "Madam, you can check it."

Mrs. Lin's hands kept shaking.

She didn't even dare to answer it. "Impossible! This is absolutely impossible! My Tongtong would never do such a thing!"

As she spoke, her face turned pale and her whole body was trembling.

"At this point, you're still trying to quibble? It shows the Lin family is rotten to the core!" Cheng Wenzhi sneered. "The court doctor has already examined the traces on this, and it's full of aphrodisiac powder! Not only that, the person who drugged it was quite cunning, using a powder that's not very potent, but has a very strong smell. It's hard to detect in the garden, but once it enters the house, it will spread quickly. By then, I'm afraid my foolish granddaughter won't be able to wash it off even if she jumps into the Han River!"

Mrs. Lin's hands were shaking as she looked at the row of stains on the hem of her skirt in disbelief.

She couldn't believe that such a dirty thing was done by her daughter whom she had carefully educated!

She felt like she was about to faint!

If losing one's virginity ruined the reputation of the women of the Lin family, then using this vicious scheme to murder others was enough to destroy the entire Lin family, as well as her mother's Chu clan!

Looking coldly at his wife's trembling appearance, Lin Zhihen said coldly: "Step aside."

He walked up slowly, looked at Cheng Wenzhi and said:

"Since Lord Cheng is the Minister of Rites, he should know that everything is governed by etiquette and laws. Now that you've barged into my house, you accuse my daughter Jiao of murdering someone. Do you have any concrete evidence?"

"Since you claim to have heard my Lin family servant and the Fourth Prince's guards discussing this matter, please find these two people! If you can't find them, I will report you to the Emperor for slander!"

Cheng Jintong jumped up and said, "Those two hid their heads and showed their tails. They just slipped away after saying that. How can we find them?"

Lin Zhihen sneered, "Isn't this just a complete lack of evidence? Who knows if it's not just your Cheng family making up a false accusation?"

"You..." Cheng Jintong was speechless.

Cheng Wenzhi understood that Lin Zhihen dared to say this, which meant he was determined to never admit it.

He gently raised his hand, pulled Cheng Jintong behind him, and pointed at the dress the maid was holding in her hand: "The evidence is here, what do you have to say?"

"Can this even be considered physical evidence? Who can prove that it was my sister Jiao who did it? In my opinion, this might have been done by your good granddaughter herself, plotting against the Fourth Prince! She was simply afraid of being scolded by you if the deed were exposed, so she backed down and shifted all the blame onto others!"

"Hahaha!" Cheng Wenzhi laughed out loud when he heard that. He glanced at Lin Jiaoyue, who was sitting slumped beside him with a pale face.

"Master Lin, your daughter looks guilty, she doesn't look innocent."

Lin Zhihen didn't even look at his daughter. He just glared at Cheng Wenzhi: "Master Cheng, you can't slander others without any evidence."

Cheng Wenzhi laughed in anger, without even turning his head: "Sister Tong, why are you still standing there?"

This sentence was like an order. Cheng Jintong rushed forward, grabbed Lin Jiaoyue's sleeve, and dragged her in front of Lin Zhihen: "Sir, why don't you smell it yourself and see if your good girl's cuffs have the same scented powder!"

If the maid had not reminded her to be more careful and had not rubbed some of the aphrodisiac powder on Lin Jiaoyue's sleeve without making a sound, she would have been blamed by the Lin family today.

Although there was not much powder left on the sleeve, a closer smell revealed traces of it.

This time, Lin Zhihen could no longer make excuses.