Chapter 386 Zheng Jinyu, Why Won’t You Let Me Go?

Chapter 386 Zheng Jinyu, Why Won't You Let Me Go?

Minister Yu nodded and said, "That makes some sense, but it's all your words and cannot be used as evidence. This official still needs to hear the testimony of the Zhou family."

"Yes."

Minister Yu had already sent people to arrest the Zhou family from the Lu residence, and they should have arrived by now.

Accompanying them was Fang Jinxiu.

She appeared pale and clung tightly to the sleeve of Lady Zhou.

Lady Zhou was also terrified. How could something that happened so long ago resurface now? But then she reassured herself that the other party had no evidence. She comforted Fang Jinxiu, "Miss, if one is innocent, one has nothing to fear. We will be fine."

Fang Jinxiu cried, "Nurse, I only have you two left. You must be safe."

"Rest assured, we'll be fine."

The Zhou family was brought before the court and made to kneel down.

Fang Jinxiu watched them, feeling extremely distressed.

By chance, she spotted Zheng Jinyu in the crowd and suddenly exploded with anger.

"Is it you? Did you harm them?"

Everyone turned to look at them.

Zheng Jinyu gave a cold laugh. "You got it wrong. Didn’t you try to harm me? Didn’t you place those two maidservants by my side? When you saw Chunmei siding with me, you wanted to use Zhang Dezhi to ruin her. But Chunmei was clever and took a knife with her, which led to a bigger mess and exposed Qiujv, who was loyal to you. To cover up your crimes, you had the Zhou family kill people."

Not a single word of Zheng Jinyu’s was superfluous; every sentence hit the mark.

Fang Jinxiu’s face changed dramatically, and even the composed Zhou family lost their composure.

Minister Yu on the dais looked at them in surprise.

The crowd began whispering among themselves.

So this was the real and fake heiress?

They were witnessing the drama firsthand.

People surrounded them, asking Zheng Jinyu if she really suffered a lot in the countryside, when she discovered she wasn’t the family’s biological daughter, and how the Zheng family compensated her after her return. They asked about the Zheng family’s favoritism towards the adopted daughter and what life was like for Fang Jinxiu in the Zheng household—what she ate, what she wore, and whether she always targeted the real heiress. They also asked her thoughts on seeing people around her leaving one by one and how she felt about her biological parents facing execution.

Zheng Jinyu thought these people should become journalists; their questions were sharp and hit right at Fang Jinxiu’s heart.

Fang Jinxiu was almost driven mad, unable to respond to the barrage of questions.

Minister Yu was also losing his patience due to the noise.

"Silence!" He slammed the gavel, and everyone quieted down.

The trial couldn’t proceed.

"Miss Zheng, if you wish to sue Lady Lu, please wait a moment. The Zhang family’s case comes first. This official must handle their case first."

"Yes."

"Why don’t you two go rest in the back hall? Your presence here disrupts the trial."

Zheng Jinyu bowed with a smile. "Thank you, Minister Yu."

Zheng Jinyu, accompanied by maid Chunmei, followed the official’s subordinate into the back hall. It wasn’t time for Chunmei to appear yet; let them sort things out first. She would reappear later.

This room was the same one she visited last time, with small holes through which she could see the proceedings in the courtroom and hear everything clearly.

After a while, Fang Jinxiu also entered.

Her gaze toward Zheng Jinyu was venomous.

"Why won’t you let me go?"

"What do you mean by not letting you go?"

"Don’t you think so?" Fang Jinxiu glared at Zheng Jinyu. "Ever since you returned, you’ve been taking away everything that belongs to me. From my parents’ love, the teacher’s praise, my brother, friends… even my fiancé Prince Chen and my dowry. You’ve taken everything. You’ve already gotten everything, yet you still won’t let me go. Even my nurse you want to take away. Why?"

Zheng Jinyu looked at her calmly. "Have you ever considered that those things were originally mine? As for Lady Zhou, don’t worry; I won’t take her. What would I do with her? I don’t lack a mother. The one who wants her dead is Zhang Dezhi. You should be saying this to him."

Fang Jinxiu retorted angrily, "Can you say Zhang Dezhi didn’t act on your orders?"

"Huh." Zheng Jinyu laughed. "Don’t you find that ridiculous? How long had I been back then? Who was Zhang Dezhi? I didn’t even know him. Clearly, it was you who wanted to harm me and used Zhang Dezhi. After being manipulated by you, he suffered terribly. It’s natural for him to seek revenge. Don’t blame everything on me."

"You…" Fang Jinxiu was about to say more when she noticed two more people entering.

Madam Zheng and Concubine Luo had arrived.

Good.

Zheng Jinyu smiled.

The more people who come, the better.

Lady Zheng sat down expressionlessly, ignoring everyone.

This was a rare moment of fairness.

Fang Jinxiu immediately put away her menacing demeanor and showed a pitiful look instead.

"Mother."

Lady Zheng ignored her.

Feeling somewhat nervous, she called out again softly, "Mother."

Only then did Lady Zheng turn to look at her, still with no expression on her face, her voice calm, "Watch the trial carefully."

Fang Jinxiu couldn't quite grasp what she meant, so she didn’t dare say more. She moved her stool closer to Lady Zheng and sat quietly beside her.

In the courtroom, both sides were confronting each other. The advantage of Madam Zhou and her son was that they believed Zhang Dezhi had no evidence.

Zhang Dezhi, however, produced the sample of the knockout drug from that year. He had discussed it with Qiujú; although the drug wasn’t consumed, he had stored it in a porcelain bottle.

Initially thinking it was poison, he naturally kept it, only to find out later that it was just a knockout drug.

Additionally, he had a doctor who could testify for him.

"At that time, I was beaten by the Zheng family and needed someone to take care of me. Everyone in the Zheng family can testify to this, as can Doctor Xu. Given my condition, escaping for my life was already a challenge. How could I fight anyone? Qiujú isn’t stupid; she wouldn’t just stand there and let me beat her."

The autopsy report on Qiujú was on Lord Yu’s desk. The coroner who examined the body told Lord Yu, "The deceased showed no signs of resistance against the attacker. The attacker could not have been a sick person."

At this point, the doctor who treated Zhang Dezhi spoke up, "When he came to me, his injuries were severe. He could barely walk and would only be able to endure blows if he fought anyone."

Another servant from the Zheng family testified, "Madam ordered someone to beat him with twenty strokes, leaving him bleeding and bruised. He was carried out. Zhang Dezhi and Qiujú recuperated outside for a few days, but those few days weren’t enough to heal completely."

At this moment, Zhang Dezhi added, "To punish Qiujú, Madam assigned her to me, saying she wanted her to be my wife. I may be bad, but I’m not stupid. Even if I harbored resentment towards Qiujú, I wouldn’t beat her when I was injured. I still needed her to take care of me."

Lord Yu nodded.

Logically, it made sense. A person lying in bed waiting to be taken care of would not, unless foolish, beat someone at that time.