After being reborn, her aloof ex-husband and her crazy deceased husband got into a fight.

The murder of Mei Wanyin had a huge impact in the capital city, with rumors and speculations flying everywhere.

Many people witnessed her death that day, and given the sensitive nature of her identity, public sentiment was outraged. Therefore, to demonstrate fairness, the court decided to hold a public trial.

This trial brought to light the previous murder case at Ciyun Temple. It turned out that Xiao Qilang, who was impersonating the monk Jueming, was not hired by Li Aniu, and the silver notes were not given by Qiaoque.

He gave that testimony at Ciyun Temple because Mei Wanyin gave him a thousand taels of silver and instructed him to say it that way. He actually had no idea what happened between Qiaoque and Xiao Qilang.

Li Aniu knelt in front of the hall, crying and pleading that he never intended to kill Mei Wanyin. On the contrary, it was Mei Wanyin who wanted to kill him. He had no choice but to go to her to demand an explanation, and then accidentally killed her during the argument.

Li Aniu cried in the hall, tears streaming down his face, and then recounted the whole story.

Li Aniu was the eldest son in his family, a hardworking and honest farmer who lived an ordinary life after getting married and having children. Later, Qiaoque became an important maid in the Mei family and became the head maid of Luoxia Courtyard, and she would occasionally bring some money home to supplement the family income. With money in the family, Li Aniu gradually became idle.

With his free time, he developed a bad habit: gambling. The Li family's meager savings were far from enough for his extravagant spending, so he frequently went to the Mei residence to ask Qiaoque for money. Although Qiaoque would beat and scold him each time, she would eventually give him some silver. Therefore, Li Aniu's good life depended entirely on Qiaoque.

Suddenly, one day an old nanny from the Mei family came to him and gave him a thousand taels of silver. Only then did he learn that Qiaoque had died in a very dishonorable way at Ciyun Temple.

He recognized the old woman; she was the wet nurse of the second young lady of the Mei family, surnamed Chen. Later, he memorized the evidence as instructed by the old woman. In fact, he didn't even know who Xiao Qilang was.

With a loud "smack!", Tan Tong slammed the gavel and shouted sternly, "Since it was Granny Chen who gave you the money, and it was Granny Chen who instructed you on your testimony, why do you say it was Miss Mei who gave it to you?! If you don't tell the truth, you'll be subjected to severe torture!"

"My lord~~~ I'm telling the whole truth!!! After I gambled away that thousand taels of silver, I went to the Mei residence twice more. Both times, it was the second young lady of the Mei family who personally gave me the silver notes~~~"

"How much silver did you take in total on these two occasions?" Tan Tong asked.

“One thousand taels at a time, one thousand five hundred taels at a time…” Li Aniu answered timidly.

"Sigh~~~"

Gasps rose and fell from the courtroom, and murmurs rippled through the surrounding area.

"This person is really asking for an exorbitant amount."

"Tsk, let alone the Mei family, if it were me, I would also be determined to kill them."

"Sigh, they're too greedy..."

"You can't blame him for this. Who told the Mei family to make him give false testimony first? And it cost his sister her life. Besides, a few thousand taels of silver is just a drop in the ocean for the Mei family."

"Too."

"However, why is the Mei family going to such lengths to deal with the death of a maid?"

"I think there's something fishy going on here..."

......

Today, a huge number of people came to listen to the proceedings, creating a sea of ​​heads everywhere, so crowded that there wasn't a single empty space in the Jingzhao Prefecture's yamen.

Tan Tong's gaze drifted almost imperceptibly to the side room next to the main hall, where Mei Qingru sat listening in. Although he couldn't see her, he could imagine Mei Qingru's face, as black as the bottom of a pot.

With a resounding "smack!", the gavel struck again.

"Silence! Anyone who makes a disturbance will be thrown out with sticks!"

Silence returned to the hall.

"Since you took the money, why did you still kill someone!" Tan Tong shouted again.

"It's not that I wanted to kill anyone, it's that someone wanted to kill me. I was forced into it~~~"

As everyone had guessed, things unfolded much as they had predicted. Gambling is a bottomless pit, and before long, Li Aniu had lost all his money again, so he went to Mei Wanyin again.

Faced with the bottomless pit of Li Aniu, Mei Wanyin naturally harbored murderous intent, and then mobilized her personal guards in the Mei residence to deal with Li Aniu.

If it weren't for the Imperial Guards patrolling the city, he would have been sunk to the bottom of the lake long ago and died silently.

Only then did Li Aniu truly become frightened, realizing that Mei Wanyin was no ordinary young lady. He feared that his younger sister's death was not a simple accident.

After that, he lived a life of constant hiding. In the end, he could no longer hide and decided to risk his life to see Mei Wanyin and beg her to give him a way out. He promised to leave immediately and never return if she gave him some money.

He learned from several familiar servants of the Mei family that Mei Wanyin was going to go boating on the lake that day, so he lay in ambush there to wait for her.

When Mei Wanyin saw him, she showed no surprise and simply waved. Then, three guards from the Mei family appeared, and only then did he realize he had fallen into a trap.

Driven by an intense will to survive, he lunged at Mei Wanyin like a madman. Unexpectedly, this lunge actually succeeded. He pulled out a knife and held it to Mei Wanyin's neck, intending to force her to agree to leave.

To everyone's surprise, Mei Wanyin completely ignored him and ordered her guards to kill him. She said that he had robbed and kidnapped a respectable woman in broad daylight, and that killing him on the spot was justified and not against the law.

Only then did Li Aniu realize that he had fallen into a trap again. Knowing he was going to die either way, he was filled with rage. He lost control of his strength and plunged the knife into Mei Wanyin's neck.

Seeing Mei Wanyin bleeding and lying on the ground, he plunged into the lake and ran away. He was caught a few days later.

To emphasize his helplessness, Li Aniu described Mei Wanyin as as vicious as possible, and himself as as pitiful as possible.

Although Li Aniu's account of the case was full of twists and turns, the overall structure was clear and the events were interconnected. It was not a particularly difficult case.

Li Aniu's attempt to extort Mei Wanyin led to his death, and he ended up accidentally killing her. This general direction is likely correct.

But why did Mei Wanyin ask him to give false testimony? What was the false testimony meant to cover up? How was Mei Wanyin killed right under the guards' noses? How did Li Aniu escape? ... Every detail here is full of doubts.

Tan Tong glanced at the side room again and felt a headache coming on.

This time it's different from the one at Ciyun Temple. This time, the interrogation involves not only the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice, but also hundreds of ordinary people from the whole city listening to the proceedings. Without rigorous logical deduction and irrefutable evidence, it would be impossible to close the case.

With a "smack!", the gavel struck again.

"Court adjourned. The trial will be held at a later date."

Tan Tong stood up and left the hall. Li Aniu was taken to the Ministry of Justice prison and held in solitary confinement.

The officials dispersed, but the crowd lingered for a long time. They gathered together, discussing the case animatedly, each offering their own wildly varied and outlandish theories, more fascinating than the stories told by the storytellers in the tavern.

At this moment, in the Regent's study, Gongsun Yi was also concerned about this case.

"The trial of the Mei family case started today. Has there been a result?" Gongsun Yi asked.

"Your Highness, the trial has been conducted, but the verdict has not yet been reached," Fan Sui replied.

"Hasn't the murderer already been apprehended? What's the tricky part, or is there something else going on?" Gongsun Yi frowned, displeased.

"There must be more to the story," Fan Sui said after a moment's thought. "This case may involve the inner workings of Prime Minister Mei's household."

"Mei Qingru is decisive and efficient in political affairs, so how come he can't even manage the women in the inner quarters? Ha, I think his abilities are nothing special." Gongsun Yi scoffed disdainfully.

"Mr. Fan, send your guards out to investigate the truth of this matter. Only then can I have a drink and a chat with Prime Minister Mei, and discuss heroes."

"Yes, my subordinate will go right away."

Fan Sui felt a surge of joy, realizing that the prince intended to uncover the truth in order to control Mei Qingru.

That's the Mei family, the most prestigious family in the capital. If we can take them down, how can the prince not achieve his great ambition?