Lu Zhaoling looked up and sized up Magistrate Chen once, and then once more. Her gaze, for some reason, made Magistrate Chen feel a bit uneasy.
"What are you looking at me for? Tell them to release Heir Zhu! You are making a mess!" Magistrate Chen pulled a long face and shouted coldly.
Lu Zhaoling truly felt her horizons had been broadened. Was this an official of the Capital Prefecture Office? Asking nothing, listening to nothing, and looking only at status? He was certainly not fit for this seat.
She took two steps forward.
"You stay right there. What are you walking over for?" Magistrate Chen glared at her.
"Your surname is Chen, Magistrate?"
"Correct!"
"Can you sit still right now, Magistrate? Doesn't your waist hurt?" Lu Zhaoling asked in a lowered voice.
Magistrate Chen's face twitched as he looked at her in horror. How did she know his waist was hurting!
"You..."
"Has Magistrate Chen not called for a doctor? Or perhaps you wouldn't dare?" Lu Zhaoling asked again.
The fear on Magistrate Chen's face deepened. Only he knew of this ailment until a few days ago. Last night, his wife had been nagging him for...
well, that, and feeling he could no longer hide it, he told her the truth. When his wife saw his waist, she fainted on the spot. She was still resting in her room today, sickly and seeing no one. It was impossible for her to have told anyone.
Yet this girl before him had stated it so accurately! Was this a haunting? But this courtroom was solemn and filled with a heavy, stern aura; how could a ghost simply wander in?
Lu Zhaoling could see Magistrate Chen's problem, and since she smelled no medicinal scent, she concluded he hadn't seen a doctor.
"Do you know what that is?" Magistrate Chen asked with a trembling voice.
Lu Zhaoling raised an eyebrow. "Naturally. Not only do I know, but I can also cure it. This ailment has probably been bothering you for seven or eight days, hasn't it? Truthfully,
you won't die immediately if it goes untreated, but the pain will persist until the Hungry Ghost Festival in mid-July. Once the Ghost Gate opens, then..." She trailed off.
Magistrate Chen's complexion had already changed. Hearing her speak with such certainty, how could he not panic?
"Then what?" His heart jumped into his throat as he pressed for an answer.
Heir Zhu was still over there making muffled noises, his eyes bulging as if they were about to pop out. That dog of an official, Chen! Why hadn't he ordered his men to seize Lu Zhaoling and these two wretched maids yet! At the very least, he should be rescued and that rag stuffed in his mouth pulled out he was about to vomit!
Because Magistrate Chen and Lu Zhaoling were speaking in hushed tones, no one else heard their conversation.
Lu Zhaoling stepped back. "Magistrate Chen, I am here to file a complaint. My complaint is against Zhu Minghao, the heir of the Marquis Qingfu Estate." Her voice was clear.
Magistrate Chen was speechless. He felt as if his lifeblood had been pinched! He took a deep breath and asked with a stiff face, "Is this perhaps a misunderstanding?"
"It is not." Lu Zhaoling didn't give him an out at all. Misunderstanding, my foot.
"Mmph! Mmph!" Heir Zhu struggled violently. The rag! Didn't you see the rag!
"Someone, remove the rag from Heir Zhu's mouth." Magistrate Chen finally noticed and quickly ordered a bailiff to pull the cloth out.
Lu Zhaoling did not stop them.
"Pah! Pah! Pah!" Heir Zhu felt his mouth was so stiff it could hardly close. He worked his jaw for a moment before he could finally curse. "Lu Zhaoling! You bitch, tell them to let me go this instant!"
"Qingyin, hit him," Lu Zhaoling commanded.
"Yes!"
Qingyin had Qingbao hold Heir Zhu down, then raised her hand and delivered a sharp slap across his face.
Slap! Slap! Two blows, one for each cheek.
The bailiffs and the crowd watching the excitement outside were all stunned.
Magistrate Chen's expression changed again. "How can you hit him!"
"Then how can he insult me?"
"He is the heir of Marquis Qingfu!"
Lu Zhaoling smiled. Ah, it was time to bring out Prince Jin again! She sighed softly. "I am the fiancée of Prince Jin, a match bestowed by the Emperor himself. By status, I am his senior, of the same generation as Marquis Qingfu.
For the heir of Marquis Qingfu to insult a senior is a total lack of respect for the Emperor and Prince Jin. It is disloyal and unfilial. As a senior, what is wrong with me teaching him a lesson?"
"Whoa!" The onlookers gasped. The playboys who had followed along looked at each other.
She was that Second Young Miss Lu who had been the talk of the town lately? They had indeed heard Heir Zhu call out her name just now! But wait, having grown up in the countryside, how did she have the nerve to be so bold in the Capital Prefecture Office?
Lu Zhaoling looked at Magistrate Chen. "What, does Magistrate Chen intend to shield Zhu Minghao without even questioning the matter? If this is how the Magistrate handles cases,
then I can only seek out Prince Jin and go to the palace to cry for justice. When the Emperor asks, I will naturally have to tell the truth that Magistrate Chen of the prefecture office simply refused to act."
Magistrate Chen's hair practically stood on end. He jumped up. The pain in his waist flared.
"Who the hell do you think you are calling a senior!" Heir Zhu shouted. He started off viciously, but then became smug. "Go ahead and complain in the palace. The Empress Dowager has always doted on me..."
Actually, if he hadn't been dragged to the office by Lu Zhaoling's maids, and if he didn't feel he had lost so much face...
"Qingyin, slap him."
"Yes!"
Qingyin raised her hand again. Slap! Slap! Another two blows. This time, both of Heir Zhu's cheeks were swollen.
"It is a fact that I am Prince Jin's fiancée, and thus, it is a fact that my seniority is higher than yours." Lu Zhaoling looked at him as if looking at a rebellious son. "Are you refusing to acknowledge the Imperial Edict? Are you dissatisfied with the Emperor?"
"I..." Heir Zhu's face stung with a burning pain that made him feel like he was going to explode, but Lu Zhaoling cut him off the moment he spoke.
"You refuse to recognize the Imperial Edict, show no respect for the Emperor, and now you want to drag the Empress Dowager into this? Are you implying that the Empress Dowager would go against the Emperor just to protect you?
The Emperor issued an edict for the marriage, and the Empress Dowager wants to break it? Is the bond between you and the Empress Dowager deeper, or is the affection between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager stronger? Why don't I have Prince Jin head to the palace later to ask about it?"
Magistrate Chen shuddered. He could see it now this Second Young Miss Lu was extremely difficult to provoke! The way she pinned these accusations on Heir Zhu was terrifyingly effective.
If he truly wanted what was best for Heir Zhu, he really couldn't let him keep talking. He had heard that Prince Jin actually dared to speak ill of the Empress Dowager.
Lu Zhaoling dared to use Prince Jin as a shield like this; what did that mean? It meant she was absolutely certain Prince Jin would back her up. Without his promise, how would she dare? Thus, he, Magistrate Chen, was essentially facing off against Prince Jin right now.
Add to that the fact that Lu Zhaoling had seen through his secret ailment, and Magistrate Chen truly didn't dare to stand completely on Heir Zhu's side.
"Um, Second Young Miss Lu, how about we find another place to sit down with Heir Zhu and clear up this misunderstanding?" Magistrate Chen felt life was getting very difficult.
"Misunderstanding?" Lu Zhaoling's cold eyes swept over him, making the Magistrate's heart tremble.
His mind went blank for a moment, and he let out a cry.
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