On the wedding day, my wife was abnormal

Below are several cinnabar fingerprints, one of which is the largest and unclear, with a note next to it: "Zheng Wangshi" (Grandma Youmeng) and the names of two "lizheng" and "baojia".

Then came a few simple affidavits, signed by witnesses in a flamboyant style, with vague contents that stressed strongly that "everyone in the neighborhood knows that the Liu family has a bad reputation" and "Zheng Yuande has always been disobedient" and so on.

The autopsy record contained only a few words: "Zheng Youcai, occipital bone fracture, brain marrow overflow."

As for the plaintiff and defendant's confessions in court, the coroner's original investigation records, the scene drawings, the neighbors' key testimonies... all the links that may touch upon the truth are missing!

The entire file is like a carefully crafted fake, gorgeous but empty, with only the cold, hard, and unquestionable "final" conclusion left.

Cheng Xuan bit her lower lip tightly, and the taste of rust filled her mouth.

She stared at the so-called "file" with bloodshot eyes, and every line of words felt like a red-hot iron burning her nerves.

The fabricated "adultery" accusation and the deep-seated slander against Youmeng's mother caused the joints of her right hand holding the sword to creak from excessive force, and she could hardly control herself from drawing the sword and slashing!

She used all her strength to suppress the impulse. Her nails dug deep into the flesh of her palms, leaving several bright red crescent marks. Her knuckles made a slight "clicking" sound as the blood vessels in her knuckles swelled, unable to bear the weight.

She suddenly looked up at Lin Zhen, her eyes filled with grief, anger and confusion.

Is this the kind of "evidence" that the prince wants?

Just in time!

A ghostly gray shadow floated silently into the dark corner of the file library. It was Lin Zhen's close bodyguard.

He completely ignored Zhao Cheng who was kneeling beside him and Chen Changli who looked ashen, and went straight to Lin Zhen's ear, reporting quickly in a whisper audible only to the three of them:

"The secret vault in Chen's house has been opened. After digging over a foot deep, a triple-locked secret door was uncovered. Inside, the following is a cache: 168 square boxes of barefoot gold ingots, approximately 24,000 taels; over 73,000 ingots of high-quality snowflake-patterned official silver, totaling 400,000 taels; 130 hu of oriental pearls, the largest as longan; countless rare treasures like Liaobei's finest old ginseng and South China Sea blood coral trees; and seven volumes of account books. One is for 'Expenses for Privately Raising Bandits (mountain bandits),' costing 50,000 taels of silver annually... Another is for 'Yanshanbei (meaning Northern Yan) Market Invoice,' which shows a turnover of 170,000 taels of gold over the past three years..."

The secret guard paused for a moment, then added a bit more emphasis:

Every time a number was reported, Chengxuan's pupils contracted a little.

Those "gold", "official silver", "Eastern pearls", "blood coral", "seventy thousand taels", "fifty thousand taels", "one hundred and seventy thousand taels", "twenty-four thousand taels", ... these cold words, like heavy hammers, hit her poor cognitive boundaries again and again!

Such appalling corruption!

In comparison, the lives of Youmeng's parents seem so "insignificant" in the face of this heinous crime.

"boom--!"

Before the secret guard finished speaking, Chen Changli's fat body seemed to have all the bones pulled out, and he fell to the ground with a dull thud!

The blood color on his face drained away like the tide, his lips trembled, his eyes were wide open, and his pupils were unfocused due to extreme fear!

He finally knew why Lin Zhen came!

The butcher knife that had been hanging over his head for twenty years, which he had forged with his own hands but thought had long since rusted, fell!

"Your Highness...Your Highness! Your Highness the Crown Prince, please have mercy on me!!" A shrill cry that was not like a human voice suddenly ripped through the dead silence of the warehouse!

Chen Changli struggled to crawl using his hands and feet, his heavy body dragging his official robe against the cold blue bricks, and he pounced towards Lin Zhen's feet like a desperate maggot.

He was crying, his forehead banging against the bricks, his official hat tilted, his gray hair tangled with blood and tears, his greasy old face completely distorted by fear and complete collapse.

"I acknowledge my guilt! I plead guilty! Please show mercy and let me live! Those...those are just imaginary numbers! There aren't that many! It was...it was the people below who deceived me, Your Highness!"

He was talking incoherently and tears were streaming down his face as he tried to pick up Lin Zhen's boots, but he was so chilled by the cold air that he didn't dare to touch them.

"Your Highness, I understand! I have defended Cangzhou for nearly forty years. Even if I have no achievements, I have worked hard! When the Southern Chu attacked, I did not retreat a single step! I led the soldiers and civilians of the entire city to defend the battlements to the death! I dared not close my eyes for seven days and seven nights, Your Highness!"

He raised his head, trying to win a glimmer of sympathy with his muddy tears. "This old minister has been guarding on the scorching stone and wooden stakes on the city wall for seven days and nights, and has developed a leg disease. Every rainy day, the pain is excruciating, Your Highness!"

He was crying and his voice was sincere, as if he was really an old loyal minister who had suffered injustice.

However, every time he kowtowed, the contempt and disgust in Chengxuan's eyes deepened.

She looked at the old face covered with tears and her stomach churned.

Is this the local official?

Is this the provincial governor who holds the power of life and death?

In the face of life and death, such a despicable and shameless performance!

Lin Zhen looked down at Chen Changli, who was lying limp and wailing like mud at his feet, without a trace of emotion on his face.

Those eyes, as deep as a cold pond, contained a chill and determination that could freeze the soul:

"Hard work?" A deep voice echoed off the stone walls, each word weighing a thousand pounds.

"If it weren't for you, a parasite, emptying the Cangzhou treasury and granaries, enriching yourself, and nurturing the enemy! How could your Cangzhou have been so defenseless and its military equipment so dilapidated? Of the one thousand soldiers defending the city, more than half of their weapons were broken! The soldiers had no food to eat! The city walls were piled with enough rocks to kill several people? Were they rocks or sandbags?! Seven days and seven nights? Oh, if the border troops hadn't rushed to your aid from a thousand miles away on the third day! If this wasn't the main attack direction! Your Cangzhou city would have been turned into a living hell long ago! You, the so-called upright official in the eyes of the Cangzhou people, should have been hung on the city gate tower to be fed to stray dogs long ago!"

His voice suddenly rose, like thunder exploding in the silent warehouse:

"Chen Changli! You embezzled state funds to an appalling amount! You supported bandits who robbed merchants and oppressed the people! You secretly communicated with enemy chiefs and hid royal treasures! Furthermore, out of selfish desire, you corrupted the law, fabricated false evidence, framed the innocent, and murdered innocent people! You caused loyal men to suffer injustice and were executed! And you caused a chaste woman to be tarnished for twenty years!"

He pointed his halberd finger at the pile of files that smelled of forged ink, then suddenly pointed at the archway in the void outside the warehouse:

"This evil is so utterly sinful that even the bamboos of the four seas cannot even be written down! Even the ink of the universe cannot even be written to describe it! If we don't kill them—how can we comfort the heroic spirits in the afterlife?! How can we deter the pests of the world?! How can we uphold the principles of the glorious laws of the Great Qian!!!"

"Get him!" The last word came out like a huge axe chopping down!

Four black figures lurking in the shadows of the warehouse suddenly jumped up!

Fast as a ghost!

The two men held Chen Changli's fat arm joints tightly like iron clamps and twisted them upwards. One of them used his knee to press against his lower back as he twisted and kicked wildly. The other man held a special iron chain as thick as a child's arm and soaked in tung oil, which was put around his neck with a "clang" sound and bit tightly with a "click" sound!

Locking the throat, tying up behind the back, and pressing down with the knee, the whole subduing process takes less than a breath!

Chen Changli's fat body was pressed tightly against the cold blue bricks, his mouth and nose biting the ground, and all his cries and screams were instantly strangled by the chains and turned into "ho ho" gasps!

"Uh... cough... Your Highness... spare... spare..." Chen Changli's face turned purple, his eyes bulged, and white foam mixed with blood came out of his mouth.

Zhao Dianli, who was around, and the yamen runners who were peeping at the door, were already scared out of their wits. Their faces turned pale and they were crawling on the ground, trembling.

Lin Zhen said solemnly to the leader of the secret guards, "The evidence of Chen Changli's guilt is irrefutable; arrest him immediately! Take my token and dispatch the commander of the Cangzhou Guards to block all important roads in and out of the city! Strictly investigate all officials and clerks connected to him! All official documents and account books in the Cangzhou government office must be sealed and await investigation!"

A sharp light flashed in his eyes:

"The Chen residence is raided! All family members and servants are taken into custody! All property, deeds, and documents, the Cangzhou Guards and our secret guards will be tasked with inventorying and compiling a list! Once the inventory is complete, pack them into carts and escort them to the capital! They will be brought to the palace's inner treasury for inspection!"

The last few words were decisive and gave a clear destination to this huge amount of wealth - the palace treasury!

This money must not be given to Murong Yan, otherwise she will either make skirts or cause trouble.

"Yes, sir!" The leader of the secret guards took the order and left quickly.

Cheng Xuan watched Chen Changli being dragged away like a fat pig waiting to be slaughtered, and listened to the sudden clash of weapons and rapid shouts outside the courtyard. The joy of revenge didn't surge through her as she had expected, but instead, it was like a huge rock dropped into a deep pool, stirring up heavy, turbid waves.

The execution of a murderer cannot overturn the final verdict; the stigma of a memorial archway is far from being cleared.

She raised her eyes and looked at Lin Zhen: "Then what? You have to give me something to do, right?"

"First, count the stolen money and have the Governor of Jizhou and the Chief Supervisor of Hebei Province come to see me!"

"it is good."

Chengxuan took the order and went out.

This case will be overturned soon.