Chapter 265: Tricky Cases (1/2)

Qi Yun frowned, looking over at Prince Duan reflexively. The excited glint in the old man's eyes was a clear enough indication that he was behind this.

After some deliberation, Qi Yun hit the table with the gavel, putting a stop to the women's argument. They begged for Qi Yun to find justice for them. Gui Yuan vehemently accused Widow Mu of killing her chickens, while the widow cried out that she was innocent. He was getting a headache listening to them.

Such cases were always troublesome. Qi Yun rubbed at his forehead, trying to clear his thoughts, and yet the two women refused to settle down. Their argument prevented him from thinking clearly. He frowned and turned to Prince Duan with a faint smile. “What does Your Highness think we should do?”

Prince Duan had been waiting for him to ask the question. He relaxed slightly and waved his fan, putting on a thoughtful look. “I believe that they should be subject to a maximum of thirty hits with wooden stave until either of them admitted her guilt.”

The women froze and fell silent. Qi Yun's forehead creased like he was seriously considering the option, which prompted the women to accuse Qi Yun of abusing his power and disregarding peasants' lives.

The farce was interrupted by Jun Huang's sudden appearance. She was dressed in men's clothes today. Her arrival dissolved some of the tension in the room.

“Prince Duan has a point,” she said as she entered the hall. She glanced at Prince Duan before greeting Qi Yun.

Prince Duan didn't expect her to agree with him. Anyone with a lick of sense would know his proposal would do more harm than good. He wondered what she was planning.

Jun Huang didn't spare him even a glance. She laid down the facts she'd discovered. It turned out that she'd heard about what happened and sent people to conduct an investigation. The truth was Gui Yuan was responsible for her chickens' death. She had been unable to sell her flock and decided to set Widow Mu up because of the woman's constant barraging. She poisoned the chickens herself and put the blame on the widow, trying to get compensation from her.

Gui Yuan felt chilled to the bones. She didn't expect the gentle-looking man to be this shrewd. She broke into sweat.

Jun Huang threw her a cold glance and smiled slightly. “You may not know much about the law. Your false accusation not only doesn't benefit you at all, it's enough reason for you to be thrown into prison.”

Her smile didn't reach her eyes, and her tone was frigid. Gui Yuan didn't dare claim innocence anymore. She bent down and hit the floor with her forehead, making a loud thud, her eyes misty with tears. She painted a pitiful picture.

Widow Mu didn't seem as happy as a woman being proven innocent should be. She looked at Gui Yuan and waved a hand in the air. “Esteemed officials, this is merely a little prank we women play on each other. It is inappropriate for us to take the case to the court. I don't want to go through with the lawsuit anymore. Please don't lock her up. We'll settle the case ourselves.”

Jun Huang thought for a moment. “Even so, disturbing the proceedings of the court is a crime in itself. Thirty hits are considered merciful.”

Widow Mu's face went pale. After some hesitation, she volunteered to take the beating for the other woman. Jun Huang raised an eyebrow at Qi Yun, who got the message and helped the two women up, seeing them out of the court.

The case was closed. Prince Duan went red in anger and left with a huff. Qi Yun sighed in relief. To his dismay, though, there were other cases just as troublesome waiting for them to deal with.

Qi Yun didn't want to exhaust Jun Huang. He sent for Ji Bo and his other advisors to help reach a verdict. The first of the cases was a theft committed by a blind man. The crime itself was puzzling. How could a blind man steal?

As soon as the suspect entered the court, however, Ji Bo saw through his pretense and pointed out that he wasn't actually blind. Jun Huang soon spotted the signs as well.

The man was a good actor, but it'd been a hobby of Ji Bo to observe all kinds of people. He knew how a blind person should act. The suspect refused to admit that he was acting, but a simple trick was enough to make the man slip and blow his cover. He was put in jail, awaiting his sentence.

Then there was a homicide where the head of a respected family was killed in a locked room. His concubine was the one who brought the case to the court, accusing the man's first son of murder and demanding for him to pay with his life.

Qi Yun's first reaction was the son had killed his father for inheritance. Jun Huang and Ji Bo disagreed. They went to the family's manor in the afternoon to check the corpse. They both knew enough in medicine to conclude that the physical trauma wasn't what killed the man.

The concubine's expression clouded, which didn't escape Jun Huang's notice. She narrowed her eyes at the woman in her thirties.