“Mother…” Feng Xiupei called out to her with a frown. She had learned not to say everything she wanted to in one shot. She always left her sentences unfinished so that others could fill in the blanks with whatever they thought. That way, even if something happened, she could insist that she hadn’t been the one to say something wrong, and the blame would fall on others.
But Xu Jiayi didn’t get her hint and looked at her with great pain on her face. “Pei’er, you are also my daughter, so my heart aches for you. Stop trying to take the rap for her. The governor will surely get to the bottom of this, and then I will step in to help.”
Feng Xiupei was nearly driven mad by what Xu Jiayi had said. Thankfully, she’d also left the last sentence open to interpretation.
Doctor Su was annoyed by just looking at them, so he mockingly remarked, “My Lord has not yet made a judgment about who the murderer is, but since the trial began, all of you have been saying that you would take the fall for Feng Tianlan. On the surface, you look like a good mother and sister, but, actually, aren’t you secretly instigating others to say that Feng Tianlan killed this man?”
“What Doctor Su says seems to make sense.”
“So, they’re the type that is good at sweet-talking but suddenly stabs you in the back?”
“That’s not possible, right? Second Miss has such an excellent character, why would she need to frame a good-for-nothing like Feng Tianlan?”
“But it’s also true that there are many clues that point to Feng Tianlan as the killer. Even though she says she’s going to take the fall, the clues are pretty obvious.”
“From the beginning of the trial, they were the only ones who kept talking. On the contrary, Feng Tianlan has barely uttered a word. She looks calm and confident. If she had really killed someone, she would have run in a panic by now, right? After all, if a person in training kills a commoner, the penalty is death.”
“Feng Tianlan is just an outstanding actress; she’s even acting now. She’s jealous of Second Miss’s talent and fame, so she wants to frame her in public.”
“Exactly! Feng Tianlan was known as a good-for-nothing for ten years, but then she managed to destroy Feng Xiuyu’s cinnabar field during that battle. That’s a scary level of acting—she’s obviously scheming, so I’m not going to believe a single word she says.”
“You can’t put it like that, either. Feng Xiuyu’s cinnabar field was destroyed because she ate an illegal pill. Also, Feng Xiuyu was clearly out to kill Feng Tianlan from the beginning of the battle. Don’t twist the facts.”
“…”
After hearing what Su Ji had said, the crowd started to split into two opinions. One side was thinking logically, but the other side had been hired by Feng Xiang to mislead purposely.
“Silence!” The governor hit the gavel hard and waited for the crowd to quiet down before looking at Feng Tianlan. “They’ve been talking since the beginning of the trial, so it’s your turn now. Even those who deserve the death penalty also get a chance to defend themselves.”
He then quietly instructed the person next to him to think of some way out of this sticky situation quickly. They definitely couldn’t sentence Feng Xiupei to death, but they still had to find her guilty of something.
All those ideas about not forgetting his original motivation were nonsense. There were many things he had no choice about because of his position in the court.
Feng Tianlan looked at the crowd, then looked over at the pale and pitiful Feng Xiupei. She asked in a loud and clear voice: “I want to ask my Second Sister. Did you tell me exactly which day you were coming home?”
“No,” replied Feng Xiupei as she frowned, not understanding why Feng Tianlan had asked her such a question.
“I want to ask you another question. Did you ever inform me in advance that you had brought a Marrow Cleansing Pill back for me or that you’d planned to give it to me in front of everybody?”
Feng Xiupei’s frowned deepened, and she could no longer hide the sharpness in her eyes. She stared straight at Feng Tianlan—her questions were equally sharp.
