After the eldest sister-in-law of a fishing family became a widow, her disabled younger brother-in-l

No wonder Song Jinglan dared to say he would keep his promise within a month; I never expected he had so much evidence of his crimes!

Before she went in, Jixiang lowered his voice and said, "Miss Jiang, it's your turn. Don't be nervous. With His Highness present, you only need to state your grievances."

Jiang Yuyue nodded, straightened her clothes slightly, took a deep breath, and strode towards the main hall.

When she walked into the main hall, everyone turned their heads to look at her. They hadn't expected that the witness that Prince Jing had mentioned would be such a young and beautiful woman.

Song Yunming also turned around and saw that it was Jiang Yuyue there, which made him even more flustered.

"Daughter of the people, see your majesty!"

Jiang Yuyue walked up to the main hall and bowed solemnly to the emperor. Although she was a merchant girl from the common people, she did not show any nervousness in front of the emperor.

She stood up, her expression solemn, and began to introduce herself, "I am Jiang Yuyue, from the Jiang family of Jinling in Jiangnan. Last year, on that day, I was at home when I witnessed a group of men in black break into my house, burning, killing, and looting, and slaughtering everyone in my family!"

"Afterwards, the gang of thieves destroyed the evidence by fire. If my parents hadn't been away on business that day and I hadn't escaped through the back door of the house that night, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to appeal to Your Majesty here today."

"But the next day, the authorities ignored the sword and knife wounds on the corpses in the house, and after the examination, they simply said that it was caused by a fire in the kitchen, but that was not the case at all!"

Song Jinglan glanced at her sideways, and seeing that she was not afraid at all, he immediately felt more at ease and continued to listen to her statement.

"Prince Ning had arrived in Jiangnan before the incident. Upon hearing that the woman's family was the richest in Jiangnan, he intended to recruit them and tried to force them to pay tribute to him. However, my father refused such an unreasonable request."

Jiang Yuyue knelt on the ground, head held high before the emperor, her words dripping with tears, "This matter angered Prince Ning, who then ruthlessly murdered my family and robbed them of their possessions! I have lived in hiding for a year, all for the sake of seeking justice for my family!"

In her previous life, she was finally able to seek justice for the tragic deaths of her Jiang family.

At this point, a wave of sorrow welled up in Jiang Yuyue's chest, and she bowed again, "I beg Your Majesty to do justice for my family!"

Hearing Jiang Yuyue's slander, Song Yunming was filled with indignation. He turned around and angrily said, "You vile woman! How dare you spout such nonsense! When have I ever done this for the Jiang family's money? I was clearly doing it for..."

At this point, Song Yunming suddenly realized he had let something slip and quickly fell silent, but it was too late.

Jiang Yuyue lowered her eyes, feeling utterly contemptuous. As expected, the treasure was important enough that even if she lied and said that Song Yunming wanted to seize the money, he would have no way to refute it.

Upon seeing Song Yunming's reaction, the Emperor knew that what Jiang Yuyue said was true. At this moment, Song Jinglan spoke again, "The yamen runner who was in charge of the Jiang family case was also brought to the capital. In order not to wrong the Second Prince, I ask Your Majesty to also listen to his words."

Song Jinglan actually brought even the yamen runners from Jinling City?

Jiang Yuyue was slightly taken aback, and couldn't help but be shocked by how meticulous this person was.

Several constables walked into the main hall in a panic. Seeing such a scene, their legs went weak and they knelt down. One of them, who was bold, trembled and said, "Your Majesty... it was Prince Ning. Prince Ning ordered us to close the case as a routine fire, no matter what we found in the Jiang family. We... had no choice but to do so, Your Majesty!"

After saying this, the constables kowtowed repeatedly, pleading, "Your Majesty, please spare our lives!"

The emperor's already muddled mind became even more throbbing. Song Jinglan was indeed Song Jinglan; so many witnesses and pieces of evidence pointed to Song Yunming, leaving him with absolutely no room for maneuver.

Even though the emperor was mentally prepared, he really didn't expect that his good son would commit such a heinous crime.

At this moment, Song Yunming's back was already soaked with cold sweat. Trembling, he tentatively raised his head, wanting to plead with the emperor again, "Father... Your Majesty, I know nothing! Please believe me!"

"believe!?"

The emperor's pale face flushed with rage. "Faced with so much evidence of your crimes, how can you expect me to believe you?! You keep calling yourself 'Father Emperor,' but when you did these things, did you ever think that you still had me as your father?!"

"I am not even dead yet... and you are already so audacious. If I were to die, I wonder what you would do next!"

Such a furious outburst caused Song Yunming to immediately bow his head. The emperor was furious, his chest heaving violently. Eunuch Liu quickly patted his back to help him catch his breath. After calming down for a moment, the emperor immediately announced the verdict against Song Yunming.

"Consort Chun colluded with the Zhou family to form a clique for personal gain, and was banished to the Cold Palace. All adult males of the Zhou family were beheaded, and their wives and daughters were made government slaves. All officials involved in the case of buying and selling official positions were imprisoned and punished according to their crimes. As for the Second Prince, Song Yunming..."

The emperor paused, his gaze towards Song Yunming carrying a hint of disappointment and frustration. "Second Prince Song Yunming may be spared the death penalty, but he cannot escape punishment. Effective immediately, he shall be stripped of his title and reduced to a commoner, and exiled to Zhuzhou. For the rest of his life, he shall never set foot in the capital without an imperial edict."

With the verdict handed down, Song Yunming was powerless to plead for leniency. Now, even his mother and the Zhou family had suffered the consequences, and he was truly left with no way to seek help.

All his painstaking planning over the years has vanished in an instant...

The court officials were shocked by the verdict, and then they all knelt down in unison, saying, "Your Majesty is wise!"

Then the guards stepped forward and took Song Yunming away. Song Yunming was so distraught that he didn't even struggle and was taken away by the guards.

The emperor felt utterly exhausted. Seeing that Song Jinglan had no intention of continuing to speak, he prepared to adjourn the court. However, he noticed that Jiang Yuyue remained kneeling on the throne, which made him frown.

Why are you still kneeling here?

The emperor asked, "Do you perhaps have grievances against my judgment?"

Upon hearing this, Song Jinglan immediately turned to look at her, equally puzzled. Jiang Yuyue was not someone who did not know manners; could it be that she was going to do something else?

"Your Majesty is just in dealing with matters, and I have no complaints about Your Majesty's judgment."

Jiang Yuyue raised her head and solemnly said, "This commoner also wants to expose to His Majesty the crime of deceiving the emperor committed by Xie Yunqi, the consort of Princess Huajin."

Upon hearing this, Song Jinglan immediately understood. She realized that Xie Yunqi was truly not one to miss any opportunity to take revenge on her. Nothing was quicker than exposing him in front of the entire court and the emperor.

"Xie Yunqi was once the husband of this commoner."

Jiang Yuyue began, “After Xie Yunqi married me, he went to the capital. However, he concealed from the princess that he was already married and deliberately seduced her to curry favor with her. I could not bear to let Your Highness be deceived, so today I am exposing his crimes to His Majesty!”

Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked. They never expected that Princess Huajin's husband would be such a heartless and ungrateful person!