The governor looked at the evidence provided, then solemnly asked Feng Xiupei, “Feng Xiupei, witnesses and hard evidence have proved that you unintentionally caused the death of a man. Would you still like to defend yourself?”
“No. I plead guilty.” Feng Xiupei clenched her fists tightly and gritted her teeth as she admitted her guilt. The image she had crafted during her ten years away at the Flying Frost Pavilion had fallen apart the moment she’d come home, and she was not going to let this continue.
She would rather be found guilty of murder than allow her reputation to take a hit. The murder case could be overturned later, but it was hard to regain a reputation once lost or damaged.
“Your Honor, I am willing to take the rap for her. Please, spare Pei’er. She is South Winds Nation’s first female genius, and I can’t let her fall from grace like this,” Xu Jiayi cried as she pleaded.
Feng Xiang thought about it for a while, then he came out and said, “I am also willing to take the fall.”
The governor looked at them and thought about how the Fengs had sent someone earlier to tell him that he must find Feng Tianlan guilty no matter what, and he couldn’t believe how hypocritical they were. He looked at them with a nasty expression and said, “You are guilty, too, so don’t be in such a hurry to take the blame for others!”
Feng Xiang and Xu Jiayi’s faces turned pale. Was the governor serious about finding them guilty?
This was not what they had expected.
“A life for a life! No one can take her place!”
Someone in the crowd suddenly shouted this. Then, one after another, people started shouting the same thing. They were all hell-bent on making sure that Feng Xiupei received the death penalty.
Feng Xiupei and the rest instantly turned pale. At first, they’d wanted to use the Feng family’s influence to pressure the governor into letting them go, but it was difficult for the governor when the crowd was so determined to see Feng Xiupei sentenced to death.
The governor was also in a tight spot. He couldn’t sentence her to death because she was from the Feng family, and she was indeed the first female genius of the nation as well as a disciple from Flying Frost Pavilion. He couldn’t get her killed.
They had pleaded guilty, so he had to find some way of sentencing them, but not to death.
The governor turned to Feng Tianlan for help, since she was the main character in this mess. She was also the person whom his superiors wanted to protect. If she just opened her mouth, everything could be resolved.
Feng Tianlan just pursed her lips together in a small smile and refused to speak. She wanted to see what other tricks they had up their sleeve.
When he saw that Feng Tianlan had no intention of interfering, the governor felt his head spin. So, he finally took the paper on which the scribe had written the crime and started reading: “Er…Since there are both witness and evidence, I hereby sentence Feng Xiupei to dea-…”
Before he could finish the sentence, the scribe ran in from the back hall and shouted, “Your Honor, wait! The truth is out!”
“There are witnesses, hard evidence, and an admission of guilt. What truth are you talking about?” The governor breathed a sigh of relief. A solution had been found—but he had to keep up the pretense.
It was so hard to handle cases involving these elite families!
“The victim did not die from an exploded cinnabar field, but a heart attack. His heart was already weak, so after consuming the Marrow Cleansing Pill, he became agitated and had a heart attack. This is the latest autopsy report from the forensic doctor,” explained the scribe as he passed the new results to the governor.
The governor merely glanced at the report, because he knew that it had been fabricated. However, the report was well done because it still mentioned the Marrow Cleansing Pill, so these people were still guilty of something.
Feng Xiupei was overjoyed. Now both sides could easily get out of this sticky situation.
“The latest autopsy results are out, and the victim did not die from the Marrow Cleansing Pill itself, but a heart attack. So, Feng Xiupei is not guilty of murder,” declared the governor in a solemn voice, even though he was delighted that this was all over.
Xu Jiayi couldn’t help but look at Su Ji and laugh, “Doctor Su, the victim didn’t die from an exploded cinnabar field!”
