Bao Zheng was handling official business in Kaifeng Mansion, and the drum of grievance suddenly shook the entire government office.
After ascending to the hall, he saw Qin Xianglian and her two children kneeling under the hall. Bao Zheng said strangely:
"Qin Xianglian, haven't you returned to your hometown?"
Upon hearing this, Qin Xianglian quickly handed over the form.
Bao Zheng saw that in addition to the five crimes on the petition, including deceiving the emperor and abandoning his wife and remarrying, there was an additional crime of killing his wife and children.
Although he was angry, he was also a little embarrassed:
"This matter requires Consort Chen to come and confront..."
It would be fine if Chen Shimei cooperated, but if he didn't, he would have to force his way into the princess's mansion to get someone. Kaifeng Mansion had no right to do that.
At this moment, the gatekeeper came to report: "Master Bao, Prince Consort Chen is here to visit!"
Bao Zheng was stunned for a moment. It was quite strange that this guy had delivered it to his door before he sent someone.
But the opportunity was rare, so he quickly said:
"Please consort Chen, please come to the court!"
At this time, outside the lobby door, there were already crowds of people watching the excitement.
Chen Shimei walked in and asked in disgust:
"Is Bao Zheng asking a question? Didn't he post a message saying that he wanted to apologize to Chen? Why..."
When he saw Qin Xianglian's mother and son kneeling in the hall, he turned around and left, but was immediately stopped by the government officials.
He turned around and looked at Bao Zheng, with a livid face and said:
"Bao Zheng, how dare you deceive my consort!"
Bao Zheng was shocked and said: "Chen Prince Consort, do you know the person in front of you?"
Although he felt strange, he didn't look into it carefully. Prioritizing the case was the right thing to do.
Chen Shimei stared, shook her head and said: "This is a crazy woman, I don't even know her!"
Qin Xianglian couldn't help but said angrily:
"You are such a ungrateful person. Not only do you disown me, but you also disown your parents' tablets and your biological children?"
Chen Shimei said: "If you want to recognize me, please provide real evidence. I am a relative of the emperor and I have never known a country woman like you."
Bao Zheng asked: "Qin Xianglian, do you have any evidence?"
Seeing Qin Xianglian shaking her head, Bao Zheng was also a little embarrassed. It was rare for Chen Shimei to come out to confront him. If there was no evidence, he would have missed this opportunity.
At this moment, a voice came from outside the government office: "Give way, give way, witnesses are here."
Immediately afterwards, two big men from all walks of life walked in with seven or eight farmers and women.
When Chen Shimei saw those farmers, her expression suddenly changed.
One of the old couples took out the letter of engagement and marriage and said:
"Master Bao, when Chen Shimei and Qin got married, I was the matchmaker!"
Several others also said:
"Sir, we are all neighbors of the Chen family. We can all testify that Mrs. Qin is indeed the wife of Chen Shimei, the matchmaker."
One of them glanced at Chen Shimei, who was dressed in beautiful clothes, spit out a mouthful of old phlegm, and cursed:
"Bah, you are so wolf-hearted! You even gave up your ancestors for the sake of glory and wealth."
Chen Shimei was already panicking and took a few steps back: "Master Bao, I don't know them, you believe me."
Bao Zheng was also a little confused. He had never encountered such a worry-free situation when solving a case. It was so timely. Whatever was missing at the scene was provided.
He looked at the two leading men and said, "Who are you?"
The two big men bowed their hands to Bao Zheng and the crowd, raised their heads and said:
"We are the two heroes of the Xie family in Junzhou. We are given nicknames by others, playing tricks on the world, and reaching for the stars with our bare hands..."
Bao Zheng was speechless. I asked you why you helped Qin Xianglian and didn't let you brag.
But he was a righteous man after all, so it was not easy to interrupt him. After a long while, the two heroes of the Xie family said proudly:
"After receiving the summons from Uncle Cao, we immediately went to Chenjiazhuang and brought the witnesses over."
Only then did Bao Zheng realize that it was Cao Bin who was behind it, so no wonder it went so smoothly.
However, he did not expect that Cao Bin's name in the world was so famous. Even the people in Junzhou were proud to know him.
Bao Zheng didn't know that this effect was actually caused by himself.
If it weren't for the Three Heroes and Five Righteousnesses who gathered many heroes to help Yan Chasan when he was in Xiangyang, Cao Bin would not have a chance to sell well.
What left Bao Zheng most speechless was that Cao Bin had become a master of litigation and knew his own trial process very clearly.
Thinking of this, he immediately became vigilant. Any case involving Cao Bin would be bad.
At this time, Chen Shimei also reacted, gritting his teeth and muttering to himself: "Cao Bin, it turns out you were the one who harmed me!"
When the people watching heard Cao Bin's name, they talked a lot and gloated:
"Chen Shimei, a wolf-hearted and dog-eating person, meets the lawless Young Master Cao, and now there is something exciting to watch!"
"Chen Shimei is definitely doomed. Evil people need to be punished by evil people. In this regard, I have never seen Young Master Cao fail."
Someone laughed and said:
"Cao Bin is someone who dares to seduce the princess of Liao Kingdom. Why do you think he helps the Qin family?"
Another person said: "What else could it be for? I think Qin Xianglian looks good..."
Everyone burst into laughter, but the man from before said:
"Brother, your situation is too small. Who is Qin Xianglian? She is just a country woman."
"In my opinion, his real goal is Princess Zhaoyang. When Chen Shimei is killed, the princess will be the newly minted little widow, hehe..."
Seeing the commotion outside the hall, Bao Zheng frowned, slapped the hall hard and said:
"quiet!"
Bao Zheng looked at the paper, pondered for a moment, and then ordered:
"Come here, please bring your loyal uncle Cao Bin and escort Han Qi to come out to testify!"
The petition states that Princess Zhaoyang and Cao Bin prevented Han Qi from committing suicide, so it stands to reason that Princess Zhaoyang should also be invited.
But Bao Zheng was afraid that the princess would cause trouble and forcibly kept Chen Shimei alive, so he didn't ask anyone to invite her.
Chen Shimei was a little uneasy when she heard Han Qi's name.
Not long after the yamen set off, they had already returned. Cao Bin also walked into the court leisurely, cupped his hands and said with a smile:
"Master Bao, there is no need to call. Cao has been waiting for a long time."
He was drinking tea not far from the government office. As soon as Bao Zheng gave the order, he brought Han Qi over.
Seeing him appear, the boy suddenly beamed and shouted: "Dad!"
Bao Zheng was stunned for a moment, and Chen Shimei's face turned green. He looked at his son, then at Qin Xianglian, and cursed:
"Cao Bin, I'm your eighth generation ancestor, you bastard."
At this time, he was so angry that he didn't know what to say, although he wanted to kill his children to preserve his glory and wealth.
But when his son calls someone else daddy, he can no longer bear it.
This bastard Cao Bin not only seduced the princess, but also his own son.
He felt that green light was emitting from his hair to his heels, and he was a big wronged.
The crowd of onlookers suddenly became excited, and someone shouted:
"How is it, how is it? I'm right, even my son has become someone else's, haha!"
"Cao Bin is so awesome!"
