Chapter 261: Chapter 261: The Truth Comes to Light

At these words, Lu Lan finally turned pale with fright and began to scream frantically, "Your Excellency, I object! This wretched maid has been bribed to frame me! And I didn’t send anyone to kill her! I didn’t do any of that! I’ve been wronged..."

"As for the matter of Huan’er and her family nearly dying in a fire, this official will investigate it thoroughly. I will not wrong an innocent person, nor will I let any true culprit escape!" As Ouyang Lei spoke, he glanced at Li Bingcai.

Li Bingcai broke out in a cold sweat.

"But as for the murder of your birth mother, Xu Yumei, the evidence is conclusive. You cannot deny it!" Ouyang Lei’s gaze turned back to Lu Lan.

"I didn’t—I didn’t kill anyone! I certainly didn’t kill my mother! I’ve been wronged..." Lu Lan roared.

"Disrupting the court adds to your crimes!" Ouyang Lei tossed down a command tally. "Take her into custody for now!"

Lu Lan’s expression changed drastically. She grabbed the hem of Li Bingcai’s robe and cried, "Mr. Li, save me!"

Li Bingcai’s eyes flickered. He said to Ouyang Lei, "Junior Minister Ouyang, to conclude that Lu Lan is Xu Yumei’s murderer based solely on this maid’s one-sided testimony—isn’t that a bit arbitrary?"

"The evidence is conclusive, and you call it arbitrary? Then tell me, Mr. Li, what would not be arbitrary in your opinion? This maid is the very person who reported the crime. Mr. Chen and all the government officials saw her. She is Lu Lan’s personal maid. If she wasn’t acting on Lu Lan’s orders, why would she have gone to the authorities?

Furthermore, this maid nearly lost her life. Lu Lan is inextricably linked to all of this.

On the contrary, Mr. Li, this official intends to hold you accountable for perjury!" Ouyang Lei looked at him with a cold gaze.

Li Bingcai’s legs gave out, and he nearly fell to his knees. "Everything this subordinate has said is the truth! Not a single word is false!"

"Not a single false word?" Ouyang Lei sneered and ordered the guards, "Bring in Nanny Lin and her son!"

Soon, Nanny Lin and her son were dragged in like dead dogs.

"Nanny Lin, the case of Lu Lan murdering her birth mother, Xu Yumei, has been proven with conclusive evidence. She has been sentenced to beheading after the autumn assizes. As for your perjury just now, you are suspected of disrupting social ethics, disturbing the legal order, and committing a grave offense that nearly caused this official to misjudge the case. According to the laws of the Great Chen, the punishment is having your tongue cut out, being paraded through the streets in a cangue, and being exiled for ten years!"

The moment Ouyang Lei’s voice fell, Nanny Lin burst into tears, wailing, "Your Excellency, I’ve been wronged! This old woman was coerced into making such a mistake! I beg Your Excellency for leniency..."

"Coerced? Who coerced you? Speak quickly, and it may reduce your sentence!" Ouyang Lei said in a deep voice.

Nanny Lin gritted her teeth and pointed at Li Bingcai. "It was him! He’s the one who coerced me! Everything I said just now, he taught me to say!"

"You’re full of shit! When have I ever coerced you?" Li Bingcai cursed loudly.

"Your Excellency, please see the truth! It was this Mr. Li who instigated me to commit perjury! It’s the absolute truth! My good-for-nothing son got into gambling and racked up a mountain of debt. This Mr. Li suddenly found me this morning and told me that if I just came here and said a few words, he would pay off my son’s debts. After it was done, he would give us a sum of silver and let us go far away.

I was greedy for a moment, and that’s why I listened to him and said those things. But it wasn’t my true intention! I beg Your Excellency to see clearly and grant us a lenient sentence!" Nanny Lin said urgently.

She was filled with regret. ’I never should have been so greedy.’

’And now I’m going to be exiled.’

Her insides twisted with regret.

"So you’re saying that yesterday, during the Hour of the Serpent, you did not see Lu Lan and Li Bingcai at the back gate of the Duke Dingguo Mansion?" Ouyang Lei asked.

"No, no, this old woman never saw them at all." Nanny Lin shook her head hastily.

Ouyang Lei slammed his gavel. "Li Bingcai, do you have anything else to say?"

Li Bingcai’s legs gave out, and he knelt.

"As a court-appointed official, not only did you commit perjury yourself, but you also bribed and coerced others to do the same. You knowingly broke the law, which makes your crime even worse. I will report this to the Emperor, have you stripped of your official rank, and see you severely punished!" Ouyang Lei said coldly.

Li Bingcai’s head drooped, his face ashen.

Seeing his state, Lu Lan knew all was lost. Her heart turned to ash.

But then she thought about how she had schemed and plotted so much, only for Zhi Wan to be perfectly fine and completely unaffected, and she was filled with indignation.

She screamed angrily at Zhi Wan, "Zhi Wan, you’ve ruined my entire life! Even as a ghost, I will never let you go!"

"You’re at death’s door and still you don’t repent. You’ve brought this all on yourself, so stop blaming your misfortune on others! You murdered your own mother—you’re worse than an animal!" Zhi Wan said with disgust.

"Exactly! Did someone else teach you to murder your own mother? Stop making excuses for your own stupidity and viciousness! You alone are responsible for the fate you face today. It has nothing to do with anyone else!" Lady Wei added hatefully.

"No, I didn’t! I didn’t kill my mother! I’ve been framed!" Lu Lan shook her head frantically, then turned to Old Madam Lu. "Grandmother, you have to save me! I wasn’t the one who killed my mother, it was Zhi Wan!" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Old Madam Lu, who had been stunned by Ouyang Lei’s methods, finally snapped back to her senses. Her lips moved, and just as she was about to speak, Lady Wei interrupted her. "Old Madam, it would be best if you didn’t say a word. Just now, Junior Minister Ouyang said that those who commit perjury will have their tongues cut out, be paraded through the streets in a cangue, and be exiled for ten years. You’re already of a certain age. Aren’t you afraid of losing your dignity in your final years and suffering such a fate?"

Old Madam Lu’s expression stiffened. Faced with Lu Lan’s plea for help, she ultimately chose to remain silent.

Seeing her grandmother ignore her, Lu Lan’s face turned deathly pale. As the government officials were dragging her away, she cursed viciously, "Zhi Wan, you’ll die a terrible death! Even as a ghost, I won’t let you go!"

Lady Wei was so furious she looked ready to go up and slap her, but Zhi Wan held her back.

"Aunt, those are just the ravings of someone at the end of her rope. Pay her no mind."

Lady Wei’s anger still hadn’t subsided. "How could our Lu Family produce something worse than an animal?" As she said this, she shot a sideways glance at Old Madam Lu.

’That old witch. As long as she’s here, the mansion will never know a day of peace.’

She thought hatefully, having already made a decision in her heart.

For committing perjury, Nanny Lin was also taken away by the government officials.

As for Huan’er, although she had concealed her knowledge of the crime, Ouyang Lei took into consideration that she was willing to come forward to testify and identify the culprit at the critical moment. He sentenced her to only ten strokes of the paddle as a disciplinary measure.

"Thank you, Your Excellency!" Huan’er prostrated herself on the floor, kowtowing and weeping uncontrollably.

At this point, the truth of the case was revealed, and everything came to light.

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Alright, Cousin Zhi Wan, your name has been cleared. You are free to go," Ouyang Lei said.

"Junior Minister Ouyang, thank you. I am truly indebted to you this time," Zhi Wan said with sincere gratitude.