Chapter 913: Case Trial
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Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Yu Youyao did not appear with much fanfare, and the carriage she was in was also low-key. Old Madam Sun took the princess’s business card and quickly got out of the carriage to knock on the door beside her.
A bailiff opened the door. Old Madam Sun quickly handed over her business card and explained why she was here.
The bailiff took it and took a closer look. He quickly said, “So it’s the Princess. Our lord has long instructed that after the Princess comes, we’ll invite her into the government office.”
As he spoke, he opened the door.
Old Madam Sun quickly thanked him and turned around to report to Yu Youyao. Then, she informed Tao Da to continue moving forward.
Someone at the side noticed this scene and saw that the bailiff’s att.i.tude was a little strange. Upon closer inspection, although this carriage was low-key, there was the emblem of the Yu Clan hanging on it.
The emblem of a family was often the symbol of a family. After all, the North was not under the emperor’s rule, and n.o.bles were everywhere. Not everyone recognized the emblem of the Yu Clan, so no one noticed it for a moment.
It was obvious who was sitting in the carriage.
“Look, that’s Princess Shaoyi’s carriage. There’s even the emblem of the Yu
Clan on it. . .
“Is Princess Shaoyi here? Where is she? It’s not a lie, right…”
“She doesn’t even dare to sit in the princess’s carriage? 1 remember that when she went to the Dragon Phoenix Temple back then, there was a showy display of luxury, and the canopy was luxurious. Hundreds of guards accompanied her, and it was an ostentatious carriage. Liaodong has never had such a lineup.”
“What’s this? You didn’t see it. On the day Princess Shaoyi came to Xiangping City, thousands of You soldiers escorted her. Wherever she went, be it humans or animals, they retreated. The commoners along the street really thought that some “living Bodhisattva” had come to save them. They knelt down to welcome her and wished that she lived for a thousand years.”
“Isn’t that revealing her true colors? These women don’t just stay at home obediently to cultivate etiquette, learn the rules of the family, and accept the three virtues. They’re not just filial to their elders and obedient to their parents. Instead, she ran to Liaodong to show her faces. Since ancient times, it’s only right for the men to go out to work and the women to stay at home. Just because of her status, she doesn’t know any better and even interferes in the court matters. She’s like a female chicken crowing in the morning.”
“You can’t say that. Princess Shaoyi was indeed the first to successfully plant sweet potatoes. Moreover, they were promoted in many areas of Liaodong…”
Someone tried to speak up for Princess Shaoyi.
“Forget it.” Before he could finish speaking, someone in the crowd immediately jumped out to refute. “The Imperial Court encourages new seeds to be planted, and new seeds are distributed for free every year. The commoners can use their household registration to collect new seeds from the government office under the rules. According to the number of new seeds they receive, a portion of the farmland tax will be reduced. There are also relevant clear rules. Those who succeed in planting the seeds will receive a reward from the Imperial Court. The level of the reward will be calculated according to the harvest of the new crops.”
As soon as these words were spoken, someone immediately jumped out to join
in.
“In that case, everyone understands, right? New seeds are a national policy implemented by the Imperial Court. Those high officials and n.o.bles either have family members or relatives in the court who are officials. They more or less have to follow the national policy to show their loyalty to the Imperial Court. Which of their families doesn’t have thousands of acres of good farmland? They can divide the tens of thousands of acres and choose a few who know farming. If they succeed, they will gain both fame and fortune.
Even if they don’t succeed, it won’t affect anything. It’ll be beneficial.”
“Moreover, I heard that many high-ranking officials and n.o.bles received a large number of new seeds distributed by the Imperial Court. They lied and hid the number of new seeds planted. Then, they colluded with the government to profit from the money that was supposed to be “a reduced portion of the farmland tax…”
It was an indisputable fact that Princess Shaoyi had tried to plant sweet potatoes. There were indeed many commoners in the Liaodong area who had enjoyed the high yield of sweet potatoes and the many benefits to the stomach.
The commoners were all very honest. They thought that whoever filled their stomachs was good.
It was not advisable to deny Princess Shaoyi’s merit.
These words were extremely sinister. Through the Imperial Court’s implementation of the new seeds, they had “weakened” Princess Shaoyi’s “credit” for trying to plant sweet potatoes. They took away Princess Shaoyi’s actions of trying to plant the sweet potatoes from her “meritorious” actions, and determined that this action that benefited the country and the people was a national policy of the Imperial Court.
Not to mention the various difficulties during the planting process, he deliberately pointed out that Princess Shaoyi was among the “high-ranking officials and n.o.bles” and had ‘good farmland”.
Princess Shaoyi “did not need” to plant the sweet potatoes herself. She was just using “her mouth” to hire a few commoners to “help her” plant them.
If she succeeded in planting the seeds, she would “gain both fame and fortune”. If she did not succeed, she would lose “nothing”.
Who would be happy about such a good thing?
Not only that, but they had even maliciously engaged in some shady matters regarding the distribution of new seeds and the exemption of farmland tax.
Although they did not explicitly criticize Princess Shaoyi, they insinuated that Princess Shaoyi was involved.
They were not afraid to speculate about others with the greatest malice.
However, reality was very cruel. When a person fell into the tide of public opinion, the number of angry people who speculated about others maliciously was much higher than the rational people who stopped rumors.
The outcome was obvious.
Princess Shaoyi was planting sweet potatoes to deal with the country’s policies. The success of planting sweet potatoes was not Princess Shaoyi’s credit. She was just famous and enjoyed the power brought by the aristocratic families. She stepped on the hard work of the commoners, but she obtained both fame and fortune.
These words with ulterior motives caused a commotion in the event location.
The focus of everyone’s discussion immediately shifted from Liu Dagen’s case to Princess Shaoyi. Soon, Princess Shaoyi was in the limelight.
Such public opinion had been spreading in Xiangping City for many days. At first, considering Princess Shaoyi’s ident.i.ty, they did not discuss it openly. However, as public opinion continued to ferment, Yu Youyao seemed to show weakness and did not say anything about it. The Bai Residence’s detention seemed to indirectly confirm that the Bai Residence was indeed related to Liu Dagen’s death. Public opinion began to intensify.
Princess Shaoyi appeared in a low profile manner, and the tide of public opinion seemed to have reached its peak in an instant.
At this moment, Yu Youyao had already been invited to the main hall of the state government office. She sat at the specially arranged hearing table.
Ye Xiaoci was wearing an official’s uniform and sitting in the court.
The two of them chatted politely for a while before the tightly shut door of the government office finally opened. The commoners rushed to the door.
Ye Xiaoci did not waste any time. First, he summoned Madam Zhang, the plaintiff of this case, and the boss of the People’s Relief Hall, the Bai couple, to be interrogated in court.
Madam Zhang insisted that her husband had just caught an ordinary cold and had lost his life only after taking the medicine from People’s Relief Hall.
After her husband’s death, Madam Zhang happened to find out from a hooligan in the same village that two days ago, this hooligan had b.u.mped into a doctor at the entrance of the village and asked for directions.
When the doctor saw the medicinal dregs by the roadside, he casually asked the hooligan, “This medicine is a method to treat ordinary chills entering the body, but there’s also ox bezoar in the medicine. However, does the patient have symptoms of fever, dizziness, and convulsions? If there aren’t such symptoms, you can’t use medicine recklessly. Although ox bezoar can relieve heat, it’s not beneficial to treat chills..