Yan Tongshu took a deep breath.
No, as the presiding judge, she couldn't openly side with Lady Qing. She needed someone to defend Lady Qing, otherwise the entire courtroom would be led astray by Zhao Kuangzhi.
Yan Tongshu said in a low voice, "Lawyer Zhao, I warn you, if you continue to dodge the issue and ask questions irrelevant to this case, I will have you removed from this court immediately."
Zhao Kuangzhi looked at Yan Tongshu without a trace of fear: "Lord Yan, I assure you that every question I ask from this point onward is directly related to this case."
At that moment, Zhang Jiu spoke up: "Since the founding of our dynasty, marriage has been based on 'parental arrangement and the matchmaker's word.' If, as Lawyer Zhao claims, a mere objection before marriage could justify calling off a wedding and abandoning a wife, disregarding all propriety, then wouldn't our marriage laws be rendered meaningless?"
The onlookers were immediately persuaded again, nodding in agreement.
Zhao Kuangzhi raised an eyebrow and replied, "Assistant Magistrate Zhang, don't be hasty. This is certainly not the only argument."
Zhao Kuangzhi turned back to face Lady Qing: "Lady Qing, you said that before you were married, your mother said you could marry, so you did. What exactly did your mother tell you at the time?"
Lady Qing looked upward, refusing to let her tears fall: "My mother told me that she heard from the matchmaker that Consort Chen was handsome, had an extraordinary bearing, and was bound to achieve great things in the future. And although the Chen family was poor at the time, Consort Chen had already passed the prefectural examination. She said that if I married him, helped him manage the household, bore him children, and took care of his mother, then when he succeeded in the imperial examinations, he would remember my virtue and treat me well. If he failed the examinations, he could open a private school and teach children to read and write, which would guarantee us a comfortable life. And if I did some work on the side, the two of us working together would never lack for food or clothing."
Zhao Kuangzhi: "So, from the very beginning, your marriage was one of blind arrangement. Granny Chen wanted you for childbearing, and your Feng family wanted Consort Chen's future prospects. From the first day you married into the Chen family, your only intention was to trade your labor and fertility for rich returns from the Chen family. Therefore, your marriage was essentially a transaction. The two of you had no feelings, and no mutual obligation."
Yan Tongshu gripped the gavel tightly.
Zhao Kuangzhi was trying to strip away the moral foundation of Lady Qing's marriage to Chen Sizhen.
With this notion of no mutual obligation, all of Lady Qing's sacrifices for Chen Sizhen were reduced to a cold, calculated investment of fertility in exchange for money.
Lady Qing, once the devoted wife who shared her husband's hardships, was now being recast as a failed angel investor.
Lady Qing had never been educated, and her mind couldn't keep up. She was trapped again.
She wanted to say Zhao Kuangzhi was wrong, but she didn't know how to argue back. She stammered, "I... I..." and couldn't get the words out.
Zhao Kuangzhi pressed his advantage: "Isn't that what you thought? If not, why did you accept the two hundred taels of silver when Consort Chen gave them to you, and leave so peacefully? Wasn't it because your only purpose in marrying Consort Chen was money? After ten years of marriage, you felt that your sacrifices hadn't been rewarded with enough money, so you were angry, resentful, and hurt. But once you received what you considered sufficient and generous financial compensation, it became fine? So, you took the two hundred taels—a sum so large that an ordinary person couldn't earn it in a lifetime—and you thought you'd come out ahead, so you left?"
"No, that's not what I thought!" Lady Qing cried out.
Zhao Kuangzhi: "Then what was it? All those seven years of caring for your mother-in-law—weren't you simply waiting for your husband to pass the examinations and return to bring you wealth and honor? Dare you say that those seven years weren't spent waiting for exactly that?"
Zhao Kuangzhi pressed forward relentlessly, and the crowd's gaze toward Lady Qing began to change.
Especially the men's.
Pah.
So she was just a greedy, vain woman after all.
Yan Liangrong and Yan Liangyu gripped each other's hands, faces flushed with anger.
This Zhao Kuangzhi was a master of sophistry.
Bang!
Yan Tongshu shouted coldly: "Silence."
The crowd quieted down.
Yan Tongshu stared coldly at Zhao Kuangzhi: "Lawyer Zhao."
Zhao Kuangzhi bowed respectfully. Yan Tongshu asked, "Do you have parents?"
Zhao Kuangzhi answered warily, "What does Lord Yan mean by that?"
Yan Tongshu shot back: "Is Lawyer Zhao afraid to even answer whether he has parents?"
The smug look vanished from Zhao Kuangzhi's face: "My parents are alive and well."
Yan Tongshu: "How do you treat them?"
Zhao Kuangzhi: "With utmost filial piety."
Yan Tongshu: "So Lawyer Zhao is a devoted son."
Zhao Kuangzhi: "I don't deserve such praise."
Yan Tongshu: "When I compliment you, are you pleased?"
Zhao Kuangzhi was confused but still answered: "When Lord Yan praises me, I am naturally pleased."
Yan Tongshu: "Then, since Lawyer Zhao is such a talented man who serves his parents with utmost filial piety, if I were to recommend you as a model of filial virtue, would you be pleased?"
Zhao Kuangzhi: "If Lord Yan truly did so, I would naturally be pleased."
Yan Tongshu asked again: "And if others, not knowing the full story, cursed you as an unfilial, immoral man, would you be angry?"
Zhao Kuangzhi frowned: "What exactly is Lord Yan getting at?"
Yan Tongshu: "Answer me."
Zhao Kuangzhi pressed his lips together, already sensing where this was going: "This question is irrelevant to the case."
Yan Tongshu retorted coldly: "How is it irrelevant? Lawyer Zhao would certainly be displeased if insulted. And pleased if praised for filial piety. When caring for one's parents, one naturally hopes to be commended for it. That's only human nature. But—"
Yan Tongshu shifted her tone: "Lawyer Zhao, are you saying that your filial piety was merely for the sake of reputation? If others insult you without knowing the truth, why would you be angry? Deep down, you know you're filial to your parents—isn't that enough? Or is it that your filial devotion is nothing but a show, done only to earn yourself the title of a filial son? Dare you claim you never hoped to be praised for your filial conduct?"
Smack.
The gavel shook the courtroom into silence.
Yan Tongshu declared with force: "Answer me!"
Zhao Kuangzhi's face hardened.
Zhang Jiu seized the moment and said: "Expecting some return after giving is only human nature. Even if you hand a beggar a bowl of porridge, you hope he'll say thank you. If the beggar drinks the porridge and then curses you for putting on airs, who wouldn't be furious? But that kindness was never motivated by the mere hope of a thank-you. Lawyer Zhao, this case concerns only evidence, not matters of the heart. If you continue to twist words and make a fuss over irrelevant matters, I will, without needing an order from the magistrate, have you punished with ten strokes of the cane for disturbing the court and thrown out."
Yan Liangrong scoffed: "Right now, Lawyer Zhao and Consort Chen are exactly like that beggar—drinking the porridge and then cursing Lady Qing for being a hypocrite."
Yan Liangyu quickly added: "Lifting the bowl to eat, then setting it down to curse the cook. Since ancient times, heartless people have always been just like this."
After Zhang Jiu finished speaking, Zhao Kuangzhi and Chen Sizhen wore faces as dark as ink. The crowd that had been insulting Lady Qing earlier now dared not make a sound, cowed by the authority of the court. And so, in that silence, the voices of Yan Liangrong and Yan Liangyu rang out especially clear.
Many of the people who had been cursing Lady Qing lowered their heads, but there were still plenty who held their heads high and stubbornly supported Zhao Kuangzhi and Chen Sizhen.
At this moment, outside the Kaifeng Prefecture Office.
Zhao Sheng pulled Gao Qi over: "Hey, big brother, today the Kaifeng Prefecture is trying the consort. That's the consort! Don't you want to see such a big commotion?"
Gao Qi dragged his feet unwillingly: "What's there to see? What's the point of putting those powerful people on trial? In the end, it's always raising them high and setting them down lightly, and it all fizzles out, doesn't it?"
Zhao Sheng pulled for a long time, managing only a few steps, then simply pushed Gao Qi along: "Big brother, Lord Yan is different."
Gao Qi spat at Zhao Sheng: "Different how? All officials are the same."
The two of them tussled back and forth and finally came to an alley next to the Kaifeng Prefecture Office.
Huh?
Zhao Sheng stopped moving.
Gao Qi pulled his hand out of Zhao Sheng's grip: "What is it? I said I'm not going!"
"Shh." Zhao Sheng pulled Gao Qi into hiding and pointed at the little boy over there: "Big brother, that looks like Lady Qing's son."
Gao Qi looked over—a thin, small boy: "You know him?"
Zhao Sheng lowered his voice: "Oh, back then Lady Qing set up a stall selling pancakes next to my mother. I've even eaten some. If I didn't know her, why would I drag you here to watch the excitement?"
Gao Qi shot Zhao Sheng a disgusted glare. He wasn't interested in this kind of official mess, but—
Gao Qi stared carefully: "That one pulling and tugging with the kid... looks like a servant from Princess Tijia's mansion."
Zhao Sheng was shocked: "Big brother, you even recognize people from the princess's mansion?"
Gao Qi rolled his eyes: "Obviously. When I was stealing from the princess's mansion, you didn't even know where you were yet."
Zhao Sheng stared at the scene: "Too far away. Can't hear what they're saying."
Gao Qi looked over, watching the man's lips, and repeated word for word: "Brother Jiang, why can't you understand? Uncle isn't trying to hurt you; he's trying to help you. Think about it—your father is now the consort, a big official. As long as you help him, from now on you'll be a child of the princess's mansion. Not only will you eat meat every day, but you'll get a full five taels of allowance every month. You can study, take the imperial examinations, become an official. What a great thing that would be. Follow your mother, and what do you get?"
Zhao Sheng was stunned again: "Big brother, you even know lip-reading?"
Gao Qi kicked Zhao Sheng: "Obviously. If I didn't know lip-reading to eavesdrop on people's conversations, how would I find where they hide their money?"
Zhao Sheng laughed ingratiatingly: "Big brother, you're amazing. What else did they say?"
Gao Qi: "That man said if the kid's father is sentenced and jailed, then according to this dynasty's laws, the kid will also be implicated. He'll never be able to take the imperial exams and will have to farm the land for the rest of his life. He told him to think it over carefully."
Those words hit right at the advantages and disadvantages. Zhao Sheng's heart leaned toward Lady Qing, and he quickly asked: "What about Lady Qing's son? Did he agree?"
Gao Qi: "The kid never said anything."
With that said, the princess's mansion people left, and Chen Jiangge also went back into the government office.
Gao Qi and Zhao Sheng came out. Zhao Sheng scratched his head: "Big brother, do you think Lady Qing's son will really betray her?"
"None of my damn business!" With that, Gao Qi strode away.
Zhao Sheng, seeing he really couldn't drag Gao Qi to watch the excitement, went off on his own.
By the time Zhao Sheng arrived, Yan Liangrong and Yan Liangyu had just finished speaking.
Zhao Kuangzhi had been slapped in the face, but he only darkened for a moment before building up a wall of thick-skinned pride and smiled: "What the two lords say is true. But not everything can be seen from one side. Since I dare draw this conclusion, I must have other evidence."
Zhao Kuangzhi changed his target and looked at Granny Chen: "Granny Chen, how do Consort Chen and Lady Qing get along day to day?"
Granny Chen: "I..."
She asked in utmost confusion: "What do you mean by 'get along'?"
Zhao Kuangzhi: "How is the relationship between Lady Qing and Consort Chen?"
Granny Chen immediately said: "Qing Niang and my A-si—oh no, Consort Chen."
Whenever she got nervous, she made mistakes in addressing him.
Granny Chen said: "The two of them get along very well. When they first married, they would occasionally bicker, but later their feelings only got better, and even their quarreling became rare."
"Is that so?" Zhao Kuangzhi looked at Chen Sizhen: "Is that really so, Consort Chen?"
Chen Sizhen's expression was complicated—there was sadness, anger, embarrassment, and a touch of helplessness.
He was handsome, with the elegant, orchid-like looks of a gentleman, and so when he revealed this fragile, sickly beauty, it was especially pitiable.
He lowered his gaze and, exactly as Zhao Kuangzhi had instructed, let his voice carry a bitterness only a man could understand: "I, Chen, am not talented, but I am a scholar. I keep company with poetry and elegance every day. But she—a village woman who doesn't know a single character. How could I communicate with her? How could there be any feelings? And besides... sigh... if I weren't cornered with no way out, I wouldn't want to expose my own scars. Qing Niang is crude, vulgar, hot-tempered, and fond of cursing and hitting people. If I didn't do as she wished, she would hit and scold me whenever she pleased. The foul language from her mouth is simply unbearable to hear. Every time I hear it, it's like a demonic noise—truly hard to endure. Sometimes after being beaten and scolded by her, I couldn't sleep all night. Even when I did sleep, in my dreams she was tormenting me, making life worse than death. I'd wake with a start in the middle of the night, drenched in cold sweat. I can't out-argue her, can't out-fight her. And my mother kept pressuring me to have a child with her. My heart was tormented and boiling, and I didn't dare defy my mother's orders, so I could only endure day after day. To the point where I grew more and more silent and stopped speaking altogether. Little did I know, my mother thought my relationship with Qing Niang was getting better and better. The truth was that during that time, I nearly jumped into a river to end my life."
"Ah... A-si..."
Granny Chen couldn't believe what she had heard.
She staggered toward Chen Sizhen: "A-si, is what you said true?"
Chen Sizhen shed tears: "Of course. Otherwise, mother, do you think I stayed silent at home for no reason? Did you think I just naturally liked being quiet?"
Chen Sizhen wiped his tears with his sleeve, his voice weak: "Not only that, she never spoke a gentle word to me. Every day she forced me to read—at least three books—and to write a full twenty pages. She never cared whether I was tired or in pain. She only ever said: our family is poor, make me study hard, pass the highest examinations, and lead the whole family to a good life. She'd say: husband, work hard, study hard, earn money. You're our family's only hope... On one hand she beat and scolded me, on the other she tormented my spirit... I truly... I was on the verge of collapse several times."
Chen Sizhen's words made countless men who were heads of households and breadwinners feel deep sympathy. Some even reddened at the eyes.
Even the women felt that Lady Qing had gone too far in pushing her husband so hard—what a shrew, what a termagant.
"I..."
The pointing fingers and accusations came like a tide. Lady Qing was panicked and trembling all over. She seemed to have become a criminal of the worst kind, a figure everyone shouted at and vilified.
Yan Liangrong gritted his teeth in fury. This Chen Sizhen was utterly outrageous!
Yan Liangrong's temper flared up. Yan Liangyu, not as personally affected, was more worried about Yan Tongshu on the court floor.
This was the first case involving someone of noble rank that her eldest brother had encountered since taking office in Kaifeng Prefecture. If he failed to handle it well, he would inevitably be besieged and impeached by all the officials.
Moreover, her brother had personally led troops to Princess Manor to arrest the consort. If Consort Chen managed to overturn the case, her brother's position would be in grave danger.
Both siblings were wholly focused on the courtroom proceedings, neither paying the slightest attention to the two people beside them.
Zhou Zhengxun naturally felt a deep sense of empathy and understanding; his sympathy for Chen Sizhen outweighed any condemnation.
Zheng Chun pressed his lips together, saying nothing, a flicker of grief passing through his eyes.
Granny Chen, a mother's heart aching for her son, was even more pained by Chen Sizhen's heartfelt confession. "A-si..." She called his name over and over as she walked toward him.
Zhao Kuangzhi blocked Granny Chen's path, his gaze ice-cold, and accused: "So, the way things have developed to this point, in the final analysis, it's your fault as the mother. You forced your son to marry a shrew, a virago, and nearly drove him to death. When he finally managed to escape, now you're helping this woman who nearly killed your son scheme against him. You are the one who drove your son to flee his family, to flee you!"
The words landed heavily. Granny Chen was deeply shaken. She shook her head, unable to bear such a grave accusation. In a surge of emotion, she crashed to the ground with a thud.
"Mother——"
Lady Qing rushed over and supported her.
Chen Sizhen, sitting in his wheelchair, reached a hand toward Granny Chen, then let it fall back, turning his head away.
Granny Chen had fainted.
Zhao Kuangzhi smiled.
Yan Tongshu had no choice but to adjourn the court and set another date for retrial.
Coming down from the courtroom, Yan Tongshu's face was as dark as ink.
Zhang Jiu said, "Lord Yan, that Zhao Kuangzhi deliberately provoked Granny Chen into fainting. He must have a follow-up strategy."
Yan Tongshu's left eyelid twitched hard. "Does he think he can overturn the interrogation with a few twisted words and reversed truths?"
In his dreams!
Yan Tongshu silently cursed Zhao Kuangzhi thoroughly in his mind.
Yan Tongshu pulled Zhang Jiu aside and whispered in his ear: "Listen, here's what you do..."
After a few sentences, Zhang Jiu nodded: "I will not fail the mission."
After finishing his discussion with Zhang Jiu, Yan Tongshu went to see Granny Chen.
Granny Chen lay on the sickbed. The doctor had just finished applying acupuncture. She seemed to have sunk into a deeply painful nightmare, her withered hands flailing randomly in the air as she murmured defensively: "No, that's not it... don't..."
Lady Qing sat beside the bed, saying nothing, her head drooping as if all her vitality had been drained away.
Chen Yingge clung tightly to Lady Qing. The little girl didn't know what was happening, frightened and worried, tears falling drop by drop.
Chen Jiangge's face was taut, his lips pressed tight, fists clenched hard. He said not a word, lost in thought.
The doctor wrote out a prescription, and Yan Tongshu sent a runner and the doctor to fetch the medicine.
Lady Qing tucked Granny Chen's blanket in properly, then looked up at Yan Tongshu with hollow eyes: "Lord Yan, you're a man of learning, a cultured person. Am I truly that terrible to Chen Sizhen, that I made him suffer so much he only wanted to run away?"
Lady Qing had completely fallen into the trap Chen Sizhen had set.
Yan Tongshu gazed at her steadily and answered her question with another: "And what do you think? Do you believe you're a terrible person?"
Lady Qing's eyes remained lost and confused.
Yan Tongshu softened his voice: "Chen Sizhen says he doesn't like you. But did you ever like him?"
Lady Qing shook her head: "I've never thought about that question. My mother said, a woman obeys her father at home and her husband after marriage—this is how it has always been for women. She told me that after marriage, I must put my husband first in everything, be diligent, work hard, and serve my husband and in-laws well. Only if I treat them well would they treat me well in return."
Yan Tongshu: "After you married into the Chen family, you got up before dawn every day, cooking with your mother-in-law, cleaning, doing laundry, working in the fields. Chen Sizhen, from start to finish, did nothing but study. Is that right?"
Lady Qing nodded.
Yan Tongshu: "Did you have to do all these things at your own home before marriage?"
Lady Qing shook her head: "My mother said that unless a woman marries into a wealthy family, she'll never have an easy life. And with our family's standing, the wealthy families would never even look our way. She said... since there would be long hard days ahead, she let me rest and be idle while I was still at home."
Yan Tongshu's brows knitted tightly at this. He instinctively glanced at Chen Yingge: "Is this what you also told Yingge?"
Lady Qing nodded: "I wanted Yingge to be stronger, like that fairy woman—capable, able to bring fortune to her husband. That way, her husband's family would treat her well too."
Yan Tongshu: "So you were very good to your husband's family, but your husband's family was not good to you. You did everything your mother taught you, but your husband's family didn't give you the return you deserved. Since you already did everything your mother taught you, why do you still doubt that you're a terrible person? Because Chen Sizhen says you made him suffer? But he also made you suffer—why don't you think he's terrible? Why don't you doubt him?"
Yan Tongshu paused, then asked: "Chen Sizhen says you beat him. Did you?"
Lady Qing nodded: "I have a quick temper. Sometimes, when things heated up, I would raise my hand."
Yan Tongshu: "And did you ever curse at him?"
Lady Qing nodded again: "Sometimes he'd go drinking with villagers, stay out all night, and neglect his books and copying work... I would scold him, tell him to study properly."
Yan Tongshu looked at her and continued: "Did your parents ever argue or fight?"
Lady Qing nodded: "My father was naturally lazy, didn't want to work the land properly, always dreamed of going out to make big money. But every time, he'd come back loaded down with debts, forcing my mother to use the money she earned from her vegetable garden and selling grain to repay them. My mother couldn't stand it, so she would quarrel and fight with him."
Yan Tongshu: "In your village, have you ever seen a married couple who never once raised their voices or their hands at each other?"
Lady Qing thought carefully. Villages were full of trivial disputes—when had there ever been a husband and wife who were harmonious every single day? One household argued, another brawled—over money, over affairs with widows, over mother-in-law conflicts... She'd heard of plenty, hadn't she?
Seeing a glimmer of light return to Lady Qing's eyes, Yan Tongshu said gently: "Not just in your village—even here in the capital, every married couple has quarreled, and every one of them has had more than one moment of wanting to strangle the other. Even those who aren't married—friends, too—always have differences of opinion. If they started pointing fingers at each other, anyone could dredge up countless old grudges.
You and Chen Sizhen became husband and wife for whatever reason, but he enjoyed every ounce of dedication you gave as a wife. If he was dissatisfied with you from the start, he should have firmly refused and stood his ground. He accepted the marriage, so he should have borne his own responsibilities.
And if, after marrying, he truly found it unbearable, he could have chosen to divorce by mutual consent. Even after he met the princess, if he wanted to cling to power and position, he could have been honest with the princess, returned to his hometown, explained everything to you, and divorced you—while giving you generous financial compensation on top of that."
"But he did none of that," Yan Tongshu said, his gaze clear and sharp. "He threw all the responsibilities he should have shouldered—raising the children, taking care of his mother—onto you alone. Because he knew you were a good person, and he was certain you could never bring yourself to be the villain."
He enjoys everything you all give, yet refuses to take any responsibility. He never reflects on himself, always shifts the blame onto others, and forever complains that no one does enough. Plainly put, he's selfish and contemptible.
