178 A Clear Conscience

Magistrate Liu glanced at Mo Ruyue coldly. His words were clearly biased, making Mo Ruyue’s complaint sound like he was making things difficult for her. He was obviously hinting that she was causing trouble.

“Old Master, the Qin family has slandered me for having an affair with Du Zhongheng. Before they could figure out the ins and outs of the matter, they rashly came to make trouble, destroyed my innocent reputation, and caused the rumors to spread to the county city. May I ask, Old Master, how is it difficult for me to seek justice for myself? ”

Mo Ruyue didn’t back down this time. The moment she opened her mouth, the commoners who were watching relaxed their brows and nodded in approval.

This was Lady Qin’s style, so her silence just now was not because she was guilty, but because there was a reason.

“Hmph, now you have a sharp tongue, but I never judge a case by which side is more eloquent. I need to pay attention to the evidence. Since you claimed that the Qin family slandered you, do you have any witnesses or evidence?”

“Old Master, this little one is Lady Qin’s witness.”

A voice suddenly came from the crowd. The person who parted the crowd and walked forward was Uncle Liu.

After Mo Ruyue brought the babies to the government office, he immediately sent the imperial carriage to the carriage store and then rushed back. In fact, the purpose of him following was to be Mo Ruyue’s personal witness.

This Lady Qin’s temperament was too cold and too stubborn. She would not easily open her mouth to ask for help. Although as long as she opened her mouth, there would be many people in the village who were willing to testify for her, but it was equivalent to owing a favor.

Uncle Liu had long regarded the Qin family’s first branch’s babies as his own grandsons. Not to mention for Mo Ruyue’s sake, he would definitely help them with this matter just for the sake of the babies.

“Who are you? You spoke without my permission, so why didn’t you kneel when you saw me?”

The county magistrate narrowed his eyes at Uncle Liu, who had stepped forward. He suddenly remembered that last time in court, when the situation was going well, someone had suddenly stepped forward to testify, causing him to fail at the last step. Was the past going to repeat itself now?

Therefore, when he spoke, his tone was extremely impolite, and there was even a hint of anger.

Uncle Liu was just about to kneel down and reply when Mo Ruyue reached out and held his elbow, stopping him.

“Old Master, he’s neither a criminal nor a servant of your family. He’s just a witness who can testify for me. Does it mean that no matter who it is, he has to kneel in front of Old Master when he replies?”

How could Mo Ruyue let Uncle Liu be humiliated because of her? Although the hierarchy was strict in ancient times and there was no reason between the people and the officials, it was not necessary to take the blame. If there was no mistake, it would instead give the official the bad name of bullying others.

The county magistrate had always shown that he loved the people like his own children, and his current appearance was truly a bit surprising.

He also realized this, so he only snorted coldly at Mo Ruyue’s question and didn’t continue to pursue it. He also didn’t ask Uncle Liu to kneel down and answer.

Mo Ruyue nodded slightly at Uncle Liu. The latter then cupped his hands and saluted the county magistrate. “To answer the Old Master’s question, this one’s surname is Liu. I’m a villager from Qin village and also Lady Qin’s neighbor. I saw everything that happened that day from beginning to end.”

“That day was the first time Lady Qin brought Mr. Du home. She wanted to see if he could get along with the babies. Lady Qin did her best for her five babies. Not only did she provide for their food and warmth, but she also provided for their education.”

“This teacher was invited because the babies were enlightened too late and she wanted to try her best to make up for the lack of time before the autumn school starts. I heard that it was Imperial Doctor Tian of Huichun Hall who introduced him. In short, we have never heard of or seen Mr. Du before this.”

The magistrate had already lost his patience after hearing all that. He waved his hand and said, “Get to the point. What do you want to tell me?”

“Yes, My Lord. That day, when Madam Qin just entered the village, Madam Qin got the news that she brought a strange man home. Then Madam Qin took the second branch’s wife and went straight to Lady Qin’s house, saying that they came to catch an adulterer.”

“In fact, she didn’t have any evidence, so she came to cause trouble. We all saw it clearly. At that time, the door of Lady Qin’s house was open, and teacher was talking to the babies in the room. Lady Qin was busy in the courtyard, so how could there be any illicit things?”

“Liu, do you dare to let the Old Master and everyone know how close your family is with that Mo Ruyue? She sends things to your house every other day, it would be strange if you don’t speak up for her!”

It was as if Qin Shi had suddenly come to life. She immediately began to act up against Uncle Liu.

“There’s such a thing? That means his position is biased, and his testimony can’t be trusted.”

Magistrate Liu immediately made use of Qin Shi’s words to make a fuss. He wanted to exclude all the evidence and evidence that were beneficial to Mo Ruyue. This way, not only would her accusation be invalid, but she would also be accused of false accusation in the end. Wasn’t that wonderful?

If this matter was successful, even the case of those who were sentenced to prison yesterday could be overturned. At that time, he could join hands with the Qin to deal with them.

The more Magistrate Liu thought about it, the more excited he became. It was as if the plan was already being carried out smoothly and Mo Ruyue could only wait to be captured.

“Old Master, this little one and Lady Qin are neighbors. Neighbors help each other, but this little one also helps family and not just neighbors. You can go to the Qin Village and ask around. When Lady Qin did those absurd things, this little one also didn’t have a good face for her. How could I go against my conscience and lie because of her things?”

Although Uncle Liu was a little flustered at the beginning, perhaps Mo Ruyue’s calmness infected him and he quickly calmed down.

He felt that he had a clear conscience and wasn’t afraid of being investigated, so he spoke with confidence and didn’t look guilty at all.

“Old Master, you’ve heard it too. That Mo Ruyue used to be a ridiculous person. When my son died in battle, she ruthlessly abused my five grandchildren. Later, she even wanted to sell them to the slave traders and ran away with the money!”

“If we had not seen through her scheme, my poor grandsons would not even know where they are now. Old Master, who knows if she had other thoughts outside and wanted to get rid of the burden and run away.”

Qin Shi did not mention Du Zhongheng. Her tone changed and she began to dig up old scores. Mo Ruyue used to beat and scold the children and indeed found a human trafficker. However, Qin Shi did not mention that Mo Ruyue suddenly changed and directly beat the human trafficker away.

“Old Master, although Mother has abused us in the past, she has never been with anyone else outside. I can testify to this.”

Da Bao suddenly opened his mouth. His words not only stunned the county magistrate and all the onlookers, but even Mo Ruyue looked at him in surprise.

Although she did not fully inherit the original owner’s memory, she did not find any traces of her thoughts in the limited memory. However, how could Da Bao be sure that the original owner really did not have such thoughts?

Magistrate Liu looked at Da Bao and suddenly burst into laughter.

“You child, in order to exonerate your mother, you can say anything? You should know that even though you are a child, you still have to be responsible for your words. How can you prove that your mother did not do anything with anyone?”

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