Chapter 217: Confrontation in Court
Suppressing the unease in her heart, the wet nurse carefully hid away the things Shaoyin had brought back.
Just at that moment, Old Chen, the butler, returned from outside.
The wet nurse went to open the door, and Old Chen said anxiously, “I went to the wine house to look for her, but only a servant boy passed a message along, saying Yinyin escaped early this morning. I’ve searched all around, but she’s nowhere to be found!”
“I just checked at the magistrate’s office, and no one has reported any crime today. Yinyin escaped from the wine house, didn’t come home, and didn’t report it to the authorities—where could she have gone?”
Old Chen was well advanced in years, and in his frantic state, he hadn’t noticed Xu Shaoyin inside the room.
The wet nurse quickly said, “Yinyin is back!”
She briefly explained the situation: “She suffered some injuries, but she wasn’t violated. The younger sisters at Feiyue Pavilion helped her escape.”
Old Chen hurriedly took a few quick steps across the courtyard, where he spotted Xu Shaoyin walking out of the room.
Having just changed her clothes, Xu Shaoyin was now holding up the corners of her skirt, smiling brightly. “Butler Chen, I’m back.”
Two lines of old tears fell from Old Chen’s eyes. “Thank the Master and Mistress for their protection! Thank the Master and Mistress for their protection!”
If the wet nurse was like half a mother to Shaoyin, then Old Chen, the butler, was like half a grandfather to her.
Old Chen had been serving in the residence since the time of Shaoyin’s grandfather.
Now, even though his children and grandchildren had been freed from bondservant status and established their own households—meaning he could have gone back to live as a leisurely old man—he insisted on staying in the residence because Shaoyin’s parents had passed away.
He watched over the affairs of the household while also looking after Shaoyin.
After confirming that Shaoyin had only suffered a few superficial wounds and had not been mistreated by anyone, Old Chen let out a sigh of relief.
Xu Shaoyin explained the matter of the manor to Old Chen once again, and just as expected, his reaction was identical to the wet nurse’s.
“Child, there is no such thing as a good turn for nothing in this world. We cannot take advantage of this…”
Xu Shaoyin shook her head. “Butler Chen, this is not a good turn for nothing. Didn’t I mention that Madame Lin offered me a great deal of guidance?”
Xu Shaoyin said seriously, “Madame Lin told me that everyone who comes to the manor does so for a reason.”
“I remember that before I ended up at the manor, I swore an oath facing the river. I said I absolutely could not allow those wicked people to continue their evil deeds and harm innocent women. The sisters at Feiyue Pavilion have been oppressed all this time, and I didn’t want them to fall into the same plight as me…”
Tears welled up in Shaoyin’s eyes. “Sister Manor Owner said that heaven helps those who help themselves. It was because I first possessed the desire to strengthen myself that I encountered her.”
“Though Sister Manor Owner refuses to admit she is an immortal, Madame Lin told me that the Manor Owner is indeed an immortal… She helps us because she wants us to be strong and independent, and to change this injustice and hardship!”
The wet nurse and the butler felt their hearts tremble as they watched the young miss they had raised from childhood speak these words.
Indeed, the young miss had never been as weak as she appeared on the outside. As a lone girl, she had managed to sell off family property after her parents’ passing, clear their debts, vindicate her parents’ names, and hold onto the ancestral home…
Every single one of these actions was a reflection of the young miss’s strength and independence!
The white-haired butler, Old Chen, suddenly smiled with gratification. He turned to look at the wet nurse. “Yinjun, the young miss has grown up. We can rest easy now.”
Tears also shimmered in the wet nurse’s eyes. “Miss, we will listen to you! Whatever you say to do, we will do.”
Xu Shaoyin reported the crime to the authorities that very day, presenting her injuries one by one for verification.
The coroner’s assistant, a woman in her thirties, was highly astonished by Shaoyin’s decisiveness. “Out of all those I’ve met who suffered a beating, you are the first to come and report it to the authorities immediately!”
The woman was extremely efficient and capable, and she quickly verified the extent of the injuries.
The laws of the Dayong Dynasty were strict; even the manager of Feiyue Pavilion and wealthy merchants could only use pressure, deception, and inducement to cause dancing girls and songstresses to fall into ruin—they were strictly forbidden from using force.
In the past, the magistrate’s office had received reports, but unfortunately, not everyone had the courage to stand up and testify, exposing their injuries before everyone.
Xu Shaoyin was the first.
She stood in the middle of the magistrate’s courtroom, wearing only her inner robes with an outer garment draped over her shoulders.
In front of her sat the County Magistrate, the magistrate’s advisor, and the court scribe. To her sides stood the legal advocates, the coroner’s assistant, the bailiffs, and those who had been brought in: the manager of Feiyue Pavilion, the wealthy merchant, her dancing sisters, and the tavern attendants.
Behind them stood a vast crowd of commoners who had come to listen to the trial. They squeezed together at the doorway, their remarks far from pleasant; amid the noisy clamor, there were sighs of sympathy, but also curses and expressions of disgust.
Yet Xu Shaoyin stood in the courtroom, neither submissive nor overbearing, completely unmoved.
They underestimated her too much.
Years ago, when both her parents died, her young self had taken her wet nurse, the butler, and the servants to beg for justice everywhere. Finally, with the help of her clan and her parents’ close friends, she had uncovered the truth behind her parents’ deaths and brought the killers to justice.
Back then, many people had said that though she looked fragile, she possessed a spine of pure rebellion.
How could a young, fragile girl dare to go to the public court to file a lawsuit!
But she was determined to do it!
If she hadn’t, the injustice surrounding her parents would never have been washed clean in their lifetimes, and the world would only have said her parents were blinded by greed and had fled with the money.
Because she did it, her parents’ innocence finally came to light.
It turned out that when they went out to do business with so many people’s money, they hadn’t run off with it. Instead, the person who provided the funds had leaked the news, attracting the malicious intent of bandits, who murdered them for their wealth.
Her parents’ bones were submerged in the Grand Canal and could not be salvaged, but from then on, their innocence was clear.
She was also no longer that worthless girl “abandoned as bait by parents who fled with the money.”
She proved that she was a daughter deeply loved by her parents, and that up until the very moment of their deaths, they were thinking of her.
After her parents’ grievances were cleared, the young Shaoyin still had to face the demands of the creditors.
The bandits had been captured and executed, but the money they had plundered was never recovered.
The creditors made no mention of who had leaked the news, nor did they mention that this matter stemmed from bandits and was not the fault of the Xu couple—they only recognized the money.
“The money was taken by your parents, so now it is up to you to repay it!”
The young Xu Shaoyin had to face all of this. She did not blame the people demanding the money; her parents were innocent, but the creditors were not in the wrong either.
Therefore, she sold off the family assets to repay the debts.
Regrettably, a substantial amount was still lacking at the end, and at one point, she was on the verge of selling the ancestral home.
Old Chen, the butler, had said, “If it’s sold, it’s sold. Miss, you can come with me to live in the countryside from now on, and just count as my granddaughter.”
The wet nurse had also said, “You can also come back with me. Though my family is poor, as long as I have a bite to eat, there will be a bite for the young miss.”
But Xu Shaoyin had refused.
Her parents were dead, and the family assets were gone; only this residence held her memories of her parents.
Before her parents left, her mother had stayed up through the night to embroider a new camisole for her, and her father had said that this time he would surely bring back the huqin fiddle she wanted…
She couldn’t abandon this house.
Ultimately, she chose to go to the entertainment house to become a dancing girl.
Selling her art but not her body, her life was much harder than that of ordinary people. But because her appearance and dancing skills were outstanding, she fortunately earned some tips, and slowly, she paid off the remaining debts one by one.
Such hardships hadn’t broken her, let alone this minor matter before her eyes.
Xu Shaoyin stood in the courtroom looking fragile, yet upright and honorable.
The world’s pity and ridicule would not change her; they would only turn into the sun, moon, wind, and rain, illuminating the path of her journey forward.
In the courtroom, Xu Shaoyin revealed everything about Feiyue Pavilion forcing innocent girls into prostitution.
The manager of Feiyue Pavilion quibbled, “It was clearly you who broke Boss Wu’s white jade wine cup and couldn’t afford to pay it back, so you falsely accused me! Do you know that false accusation is a severe crime, punishable by twenty strikes of the heavy board?”
But Xu Shaoyin showed no fear. “I am not afraid of things I haven’t done. On the contrary, you claim I broke Boss Wu’s cup—do you have proof?”
The manager had long been prepared and ordered someone to present several shards of a white jade wine cup. “The one you shattered is precisely this one!”
“How do you prove it?”
“Boss Wu himself is the proof.”
“Then I could also say Boss Wu shattered it himself to frame me.”
Shaoyin’s voice was gentle, but her tone and attitude were unyielding. “Now, Boss Wu and I are accusing each other, and there was no one else at the scene. This matter cannot be proven!”
The manager’s eyes darted around. “Who says there was no one else? On that day when you toasted Boss Wu, Shishi… right! Shishi and Huahua were also there!”
The manager looked at the two dancing girls he had brought along. “Shishi, Huahua, tell us—did Yinyin break Boss Wu’s cup that day?”
Shishi hesitated.
In truth, when the incident happened that day, they had been present, but no one had seen how it occurred.
Because they were all on the stage at the far end of the room, and it was only when they heard a commotion and looked over that they saw Boss Wu and Yinyin pushing and shoving each other, while a shattered white jade wine cup lay conspicuously on the floor.
But regardless of what happened that day, before the court opened today, the manager had warned them, making sure they knew what should and shouldn’t be said.
Shishi bit her lip and remained silent.
But under these circumstances, her silence was an expression of her stance—she would not testify that Yinyin had broken the white jade wine cup.
The manager’s expression turned cold. “Fan Shishi, you’ve got nerve. Just wait until we get back and see how I deal with you!”
On the other side, Huahua spoke up with great conflict: “That day we were on the stage, and there was a pearl curtain separating the stage from the wine table. I…”
“Qin Hua! Think carefully!” the manager bellowed.
He always said these dancing girls who hadn’t signed deed-of-sale contracts were unreliable; they had grand ideas of their own, wanting to run off the moment they earned a bit of money, and they were completely disobedient.
Xu Shaoyin looked over with gratitude. Shishi and Huahua were close friends of hers, and it was already no small feat for them to achieve this much today.
Only…
There was another woman present, and that woman stood forward to say, “I was at the scene that day! I saw it—Yinyin shattered the wine cup!”
Shishi and Huahua looked over, their eyes widening in fury. “Ruan Xiang! You were clearly with us that day behind the curtain; it’s impossible for you to have seen it!”
But Ruan Xiang kept a wooden expression. “I saw it. Yinyin is the one who shattered it!”
The manager smiled triumphantly, the coroner’s assistant frowned, and the murmuring among the surrounding commoners grew louder.
Shishi and Huahua turned deathly pale, looking at Xu Shaoyin with worry.
However, Xu Shaoyin’s expression did not change at all. She looked at the manager. “Manager Yue, do you accept what Ruan Xiang said?”
Manager Yue nodded confidently. “Of course!”
He was about to speak further: “Now that we have both witness testimony and physical evidence, what else do you have to say…”
But Xu Shaoyin abruptly cut Manager Yue off. “Then I would like to ask Manager Yue a question: what is my status at Feiyue Pavilion?”
“Naturally, a dancing girl.”
“Did I sign a deed of sale or a labor contract?”
“Naturally, a labor contract.”
“Then does a free citizen dancing girl need to sell her body and accompany guests in drinking and making merry?”
“Naturally, there is no need…” Manager Yue suddenly startled. Why did he feel like something was wrong with these words?
“Good. Since it is a labor contract, since I am a free citizen, and since the other dancing girls were all on the stage, why was I beside the wine table? Was it because you were forcing an innocent girl into prostitution, dragging me there by force?”
Cold sweat poured down Manager Yue’s neck, and the assured Boss Wu also shifted slightly from his position as a heap of flesh slumped in his chair, sitting up a bit.
“You…”
Xu Shaoyin looked at Manager Yue. “Did the wine house force an innocent girl into prostitution, or did Boss Wu break the cup himself to frame me?”
Manager Yue looked at Boss Wu, whose squinted eyes squeezed out from his rolls of fat to glare at Manager Yue.
Manager Yue’s heart turned cold, but in the end, better a dead companion than a dead self.
A false accusation only meant enduring twenty strikes of the board, but forcing an innocent girl into prostitution was a major crime, punishable by the confiscation of assets and exile!
Manager Yue closed his eyes and shouted loudly, “I remember now! Boss Wu broke the cup himself! Our wine house has always operated according to the rules, there was never any coercion!”
Xu Shaoyin raised her head proudly and bowed to the County Magistrate on the bench. “Lord Magistrate, this civil woman has finished saying what needs to be said. I ask Lord Magistrate to handle this matter impartially!”
The matter was already completely clear, and the commoners who had been discussing animatedly just moments ago now raised a chorus of cheers.
“What a clever girl!”
“This ought to be recorded in the case judgments!”
“Fortunately this girl is sharp-witted; otherwise, she would probably have had her virtue ruined by this Feiyue Pavilion manager and this pig plotting together!”
The coroner’s assistant nodded gently, also feeling happy for Xu Shaoyin.
The County Magistrate’s judgment was unequivocal: twenty strikes of the heavy board each for Manager Yue and Boss Wu, and Xu Shaoyin was innocent.
Ruan Xiang was sentenced to ten strikes of the staff for perjury.
Immediately following this, Xu Shaoyin removed her outer garment, rolled up the sleeves and pant legs of her inner robes, and fully exposed the injuries on her body.
“Lord Magistrate, I am originally a free citizen, and I signed a labor contract at Feiyue Pavilion.”
“Yet not only did the manager of Feiyue Pavilion falsely accuse me, he also confined me and beat me brutally. The injuries on my body were entirely inflicted by Manager Yue!”
“He did this for the sole purpose of forcing me to sign a debt agreement, thereby forcing me to sell my body to repay the debt.”
“Therefore, the second charge I wish to bring is against Manager Yue for forcing an innocent girl into prostitution!”
Manager Yue had just received his slip for the twenty strikes of the board and was currently trembling all over. Hearing Xu Shaoyin’s words, he completely broke down.
“Xu Shaoyin! I already admitted the cup was broken by Boss Wu himself—why are you still suing me for forcing you into prostitution!”
Manager Yue had never expected that Xu Shaoyin, who cared so much about face and dignity at Feiyue Pavilion that she refused to accompany guests or sell her body even on pain of death, would actually strip off her outer garment in front of everyone today!
To say nothing of the fact that she was still wearing her inner robes and undergarments; although the rules of the Dayong Dynasty weren’t entirely rigid, ordinary people were still unwilling to appear in public wearing only inner robes.
Xu Shaoyin was throwing even her own reputation to the wind.
The coroner’s assistant stepped forward at the opportune moment to provide corroboration: “Lord Magistrate, I have verified the injuries. It is exactly as the woman before the court stated: seventeen old injuries, plus nine new injuries inflicted within the past two days.”
The assistant presented the injury report. “Based on the condition of the wounds, it is estimated that the burns on the hands occurred within the past three days and more than one day ago.”
“The injury on the forehead is approximately two days old, as evidenced by the thin scabbing.”
“The ankle injuries occurred approximately one day ago, showing clear signs of friction from struggling.”
The County Magistrate flipped through the injury report and asked further, “How do you prove that the injuries were caused by the manager of Feiyue Pavilion?”
The coroner’s assistant fell silent.
She could only examine bodies and injuries, but she could not prove who had caused those injuries.
Just as a dead silence fell over the court and the gallery, Ruan Xiang, whose previous actions had incited such indignation, suddenly spoke up again: “I will testify!”
“I am precisely the person who, along with Manager Yue, bound Xu Shaoyin inside the secret chamber of Feiyue Pavilion!”
The courtroom instantaneously erupted into an uproar.
