Chapter 50: Accusation and Testimony
“Silence!” Princess Yunyin’s eyes were nearly splitting with rage as she abruptly stood up!
Lu Sheng and Fifth Young Master Kong looked at Xiao Jinyu with shock and astonishment after realizing the truth: it turned out that having them write their names was just to leave evidence! They had not expected that while Xiao Yun had set this trap to lure her in, they were the ones who had fallen into this young lady’s scheme.
From being the hunter to becoming the hunted, they never thought that this seemingly charming and delicate young lady would have such deep cunning!
“What a brilliant counter-plan! Young lady, your intelligence is truly remarkable, I, Li Mi, am deeply impressed!”
As Li Mi spoke, he cast his gaze upon the scroll spread on the floor. Previously, he had been captivated by the boundless spring scenery depicted in the painting and had not noticed the inscription on it. Now, upon closer inspection, he actually spotted the name “Lu Sheng” amidst the stamen of an apricot blossom. He curiously pointed at the characters and turned to Lu Sheng, who had fallen into deep thought, saying, “It seems to be the name Lu Sheng there. Young Master Lu, you wrote this, right?”
“Oh, yes! And here, this is Zhu Qian!”
“This is Kong Ke!”
“……”
“So, you young masters did indeed inscribe your names on this scroll! It seems that what this young lady said must be true!”
At this moment, Princess Yunyin had reached her limit of tolerance. She suddenly shouted, “Someone, get rid of all these irrelevant people, except for this wretched servant!”
The guards in the hall responded to the order and were about to take action when Li Mi stopped them, shouting,
“Your Highness, this is not right. Just now you wouldn’t let us leave, and now you want to drive us out. Are you afraid of the truth being spread?”
“What do I have to be afraid of? It’s just that this wretched servant used such a vicious scheme to harm my son. I will make her bear the consequences! Besides, what she said just now must be true, right? Just based on a painting, she wants to shift all the blame onto my son? Couldn’t she have just found any random painting to fabricate evidence? And also…”
Princess Yunyin’s gaze pierced Xiao Jinyu like a knife as she added word by word, “Who can testify for you?”
She was actually gambling that no one could testify for Xiao Jinyu. It was true that Xiao Yun had booked the entire Elegant Poetry Pavilion, and apart from her, everyone else present were either the young masters from aristocratic families invited by Xiao Yun or the servants and attendants he brought along.
These people would naturally not testify for her!
At this moment, the onlookers couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: it seemed that Princess Yunyin was determined to twist the truth and place all the blame on this young lady!
Sometimes, in the face of supreme power, the truth didn’t seem to matter that much!
If Princess Yunyin had the intention to kill and was determined to have this young lady die, then…
Just as everyone was casting sympathetic and emotional gazes towards Xiao Jinyu, a young voice suddenly shouted, “I, I can testify for her!”
Everyone followed the sound and saw a young man, about fifteen or sixteen years old, dressed as a guard, running out from the crowd. He approached Xiao Jinyu with a grin and then looked at Princess Yunyin, saying, “This humble servant, Yu Juquan, greets Your Highness. Everyone, my master and I have been following this matter the whole time, so I can testify. When this young lady and the young master beside her were still riding horses on the training ground, my master and I overheard the conspiracy between Eighth Young Master Xiao and these young masters!”
“Conspiracy?”
“Yes, yes, or rather, a scheme! Anyway, Eighth Young Master Xiao’s intention was to… to take advantage of this young lady and then ruin her reputation in front of everyone!”
“You’re talking nonsense!”
Princess Yunyin couldn’t help but interrupt sharply.
The young guard was so frightened that he immediately jumped back a step and waved his hands repeatedly, saying, “No, no, I’m not talking nonsense. Then we followed them to this Elegant Poetry Pavilion and hid on the roof of the upper floor, watching secretly. We saw this young lady receive a letter from Eighth Young Master Xiao and come to this Elegant Poetry Pavilion. Afterwards, the young masters asked this young lady to drink wine and compose poems. The young lady said she was not good at drinking or composing poems, so she offered to paint a picture for them…”
Speaking of this, the young guard’s face was filled with fascination and longing, “You all haven’t seen this young lady’s painting and dance. It’s truly a spectacle that exists in heaven, not on earth, a unique wonder in the human world. I, Yu Juquan, have never seen anyone who could be so beautiful even when painting!”
He then glared at Lu Sheng and Kong Ke, “You had such good fortune to witness this painting and dance, yet you were still not content. You actually had the same wicked intentions as Eighth Young Master Xiao, wanting to take advantage of this young lady. You are truly shameless!”
“You——”
Kong Ke was so angry that he was speechless, and Lu Sheng was too ashamed to utter a word. The other young masters simply lowered their heads to avoid eye contact.
“I’ve digressed, I’ve digressed. Anyway, after finishing the painting, this young lady seemed to be somewhat drugged and was carried to the Dream Journey Pavilion by Eighth Young Master Xiao. Oh, my master followed them there too and saw everything. Eighth Young Master Xiao wanted to take liberties with the young lady, but she unexpectedly stabbed him unconscious with a needle.
After that, you young masters also excitedly rushed into the Dream Journey Pavilion together, and finally…”
It was the scene you see now!
However, before he could finish his last sentence, he was met with Princess Yunyin’s furious roar, “Where did this scoundrel come from, spreading such lies? Drag him out and behead him!”
Two guards responded to the order and raised their swords, but before they could take a step forward, “Swish!” A short knife fell from the sky and landed precisely in front of their feet. At the same time, a voice boomed from above, “Who dares to kill my guard!”
A dark figure descended from the air and stood before everyone.
Just like Xiao Jinyu, this person was also dressed in a black robe with long sleeves and a veiled hat covering their face, making it impossible to discern their features.
“Who are you? This princess wants to execute a scoundrel, what business is it of yours?”
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“I don’t usually interfere in matters of the Southern Lands, but you want to kill my guard. How can it not concern me?”
Princess Yunyin’s expression changed drastically. At that moment, another burst of hurried and forceful footsteps came from outside the Elegant Poetry Pavilion, as if another group of armored soldiers had surrounded the place.
Soon, a middle-aged man in official attire walked in, accompanied by Cui Heng.
“So it’s Princess Yunyin here. May I ask what has happened here that has led Your Highness to bring armored soldiers and private troops?” The middle-aged man bowed and asked politely.
Princess Yunyin looked at him.
“You are Zhang Mao, the Prefect of Jiankang. Hmph, today’s matter is a private affair of my Xiao family, but since Master Zhang is here, then let us judge together!”
After saying that, Princess Yunyin instructed Nurse Jiang to lead Zhang Mao into the Dream Journey Pavilion. At that moment, a physician arrived and was about to examine Xiao Yun. However, upon seeing the injury to Xiao Yun’s lower body, the physician was so terrified that he collapsed onto the ground, repeatedly pleading, “I’m afraid I cannot treat this injury, please forgive me, Your Highness!”
Seeing this, Zhang Mao was also somewhat horrified and asked, “How did this happen?”
“Master, all of this is thanks to this wretched servant, Xiao Jinyu. If anything happens to Eighth Young Master, that servant will definitely not leave this Elegant Poetry Pavilion alive. This is the princess’s intention, does Master Zhang understand?”
Zhang Mao knew that the arrogant and domineering princess was trying to bully others with her power. Was she hinting at how he should judge the case?
After a moment of silence, Zhang Mao walked out of the Dream Journey Pavilion and asked, “Who is Xiao Jinyu?”
“I am!” Xiao Jinyu replied.
“Do you admit that the injury on Eighth Young Master Xiao was inflicted by you?” Zhang Mao asked directly.
“It was me!”
To everyone’s surprise, Xiao Jinyu answered so affirmatively and readily. Zhang Mao was momentarily taken aback, and the other onlookers were even more astonished.
Even the veiled figure in black looked at her in confusion.
“It wasn’t you, why are you admitting to it?” Cui Heng asked in disbelief. He had brought people here to help her, not to harm her.
Xiao Jinyu glanced at Cui Heng and then turned to Zhang Mao with a smile, “Prefect Zhang, I know you won’t believe anything I say now. I have this painting as evidence and this young master as a witness, but the princess insists that I fabricated everything. So, there’s no point in arguing further. Justice lies in the hearts of the people.
Therefore, I admit, I harmed him!”
“Then you shall pay with your life!”
Princess Yunyin shouted angrily and was about to call for someone to arrest her when Zhang Mao interjected, “Wait, let her finish.”
Xiao Jinyu continued, “But why would I harm him? Young Master Xiao Yun set up this trap, intending to use slander to kill me and put me in a desperate situation. Why can’t I defend myself and use his own methods against him?”
“How did he intend to slander and kill you?” Zhang Mao asked.
Xiao Jinyu smiled, “Prefect Zhang, do I really need to spell it out? He gathered all these young masters in this Elegant Poetry Pavilion, using Wei Dan ink and Galangal incense to create an aphrodisiac. Wasn’t his intention to have them gang-rape me one by one?”
As she spoke, the hall fell silent once again, and Zhang Mao’s expression turned extremely grim.
“But even so, I still gave him a chance. When I called him Uncle Yun, when I addressed him as Young Master Xiao, and even when I asked him if he would feel any regret if I died, I was hoping to awaken a shred of conscience in him. But…” Her tone shifted, as if she was addressing the people inside the Dream Journey Pavilion, “Young Master Xiao Yun, did you ever have even a tiny bit of pity for me? Or is my life simply worthless in your eyes?”
From within the Dream Journey Pavilion, Xiao Yun was still making muffled groans of pain, but everyone in the Elegant Poetry Pavilion fell silent. Many of them actually felt a sense of shared sorrow.
The legacy of the Wei and Jin Dynasties still lingered, and the profound emotions, insights, and appreciation for beauty that scholars admired were deeply moving.
Even Li Mi, who usually wore a mocking smile, couldn’t help but suppress his laughter. A hint of pity and sadness appeared in his eyes.
“Prefect Zhang, are you still going to accuse me now?” Amidst the sighs and sadness of the crowd, Xiao Jinyu asked again with a serious expression.