The daughter of the emperor was reborn and was spoiled by the sickly prince.

Chen Qian originally thought that he was just here for the formality, but he did not expect that Duke Zheng would actually give him the important task of trial.

He had seen with his own eyes how much Liao Qinglan protected Gu Mingzhao, and he didn't want to get involved between the Prime Minister's Mansion and the Duke's Mansion at all!

But Duke Zheng had already spoken, so he could only sort out his thoughts, coughed lightly, and began to ask Gu Mingzhao: "Gu Mingzhao, many people have seen you wearing this lotus jade pendant. Why did your jade pendant appear at the crime scene?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Mingzhao replied calmly, "This jade pendant is not mine."

Cheng Yuan stood aside, feeling helpless.

He had finally secured an opportunity for a retrial for Gu Mingzhao, but Gu Mingzhao was so frugal with his words that he did not make many excuses.

He sighed. Fortunately, his cousin was well prepared. She searched the capital and found a very similar jade pendant. She also told him how to speak for Gu Mingzhao.

So Cheng Yuan stood up again, holding a lotus jade pendant that looked very similar to the evidence, and said loudly: "Master Chen, there are many lotus jade pendants in the world. I happen to have one in my hand, and it looks very similar to the one that Master Gu has. If a person is convicted based on just a jade pendant, then if I committed a crime and threw the jade pendant at the scene, can I also say that Master Gu did it?"

Cheng Yuan's words shocked everyone present.

They didn't expect that Cheng Yuan could actually take out an almost identical jade pendant.

At this moment, Duke Zheng's expression became even uglier. He stared at Cheng Yuan with anger flashing in his eyes.

Chen Qian saw Duke Zheng's reaction and hurriedly continued to ask before he got angry: "Gu Mingzhao, let's not talk about the physical evidence for now. What about Ruyan's statement that you had a dispute with the son of Duke Zheng that day? How do you explain it?"

"I have never been to Zuihonglou, and it is even more impossible for me to have a dispute with the prince of Zhengguo."

This time, Cheng Yuan was mentally prepared and knew that Gu Mingzhao would not be able to say anything fancy.

So, he said to Chen Qian, "Master Chen, I also have a witness here. She may be able to prove Gu Mingzhao's innocence. Can you summon her to come forward for questioning?"

Chen Qian nodded and signaled Cheng Yuan to bring the witness into the court.

After a while, a trembling nanny was brought into the hall. She knelt beside Gu Mingzhao, looking a little nervous.

Chen Qian asked, "Who is here?"

The maid replied, "I am the cleaning maid of Zuihonglou. On the day of the murder, it happened to be my turn to clean the second floor. When the dispute occurred, I hid aside."

"What did you see?" Chen Qian asked.

The nanny mustered up her courage and said, "The one who had the dispute with the Duke of Zheng that day was not this Master Gu, but the Master's half-brother, the second master of the Duke of Zheng's mansion."

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar in the hall.

Duke Zheng was so angry that he jumped up and shouted angrily: "You rude and unruly people, stop talking nonsense!"

The nanny was so frightened that she lost her soul. She kowtowed repeatedly and said, "I dare not lie. It was indeed the second son of the Duke of Zheng's mansion that day! Afterwards, Miss Ruyan found me and gave me a large sum of money and asked me to leave the capital. But after I left, someone still wanted to kill me. I was really scared."

Duke Zheng's face turned blue and purple, and he felt very unhappy.

He originally wanted to convict Gu Mingzhao directly, but he didn't expect things to develop to this point.

He only had two sons, and having already lost his crown prince, he could no longer be involved with his only bloodline.

Thinking of this, Duke Zheng was more eager to prove Gu Mingzhao's guilt.

He gnashed his teeth and said, "Cheng Yuan, you found a troublemaker from somewhere and want him to be a witness? I can also bribe another servant of Zuihonglou to say that it was Gu Mingzhao who was at the scene that day!"

Cheng Yuan smiled slightly and said, "It's actually very simple to confirm who was at the scene that day."

Chen Qian asked curiously, "What's Mr. Cheng's plan?"

Cheng Yuan said confidently, "Since Miss Ruyan said that it was Master Gu who was at the scene that day, then she must have seen Master Gu. Why don't we ask Miss Ruyan to come over and let her identify him among the crowd to see if she can recognize Master Gu."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qian's eyes lit up, and he thought this method was quite feasible, so he ordered the jailer to bring out a few more prisoners from the Dali Temple prison, and at the same time sent yamen runners to Zuihonglou to invite Miss Ruyan over.

After a while, Ruyan arrived in a carriage.

She was wearing a water-green long dress with the hem fluttering in the wind. Her long hair was tied up with a golden hairpin, leaving a few strands of black hair dancing in the wind, making her look particularly charming and attractive.

Her arrival made the onlookers stare at her in awe.

Ruyan's reputation has long spread throughout the capital, but ordinary people rarely have the opportunity to see her true appearance.

Now that they had seen each other, everyone finally understood why those dignitaries were willing to spend huge sums of money on her just to make her smile.

She walked to the front of the hall, bowed gracefully, and said in a charming voice: "Ruyan greets all the adults."

Chen Qian said in a deep voice: "Miss Ruyan, I asked you to come here today because I need you to identify who was the person who had an argument with the prince of Zheng that day."

Ruyan nodded slightly, her eyes charming as she glanced at everyone in the hall, as if she was trying hard to recall the scene of that day.

Liao Qinglan, who had been watching from the side, was actually a little nervous.

She had come into contact with Ruyan and knew that this person was not easy to deal with.

Gu Mingzhao's appearance was too outstanding, and she was afraid that Ruyan could guess who Li Jin was afraid of based on his appearance and identify Gu Mingzhao.

She held her breath and watched Ruyan's every move.

Ruyan was seen looking at the faces of the prisoners carefully from left to right.

When she saw Gu Mingzhao, she paused slightly and stopped.

Liao Qinglan secretly thought that something was wrong and nervously clenched the handkerchief in her hand.

However, to her surprise, Ruyan did not identify Gu Mingzhao.

Ruyan's eyes were filled with tears. She lost her previous elegance and composure. She turned around abruptly, knelt in front of Chen Qian, and said in a trembling voice, "Please forgive me, sir. I don't know Gu Mingzhao. The one who was in Zuihonglou that day was the second son of Duke Zheng's mansion. He was the one who killed the crown prince. Afterwards, he threatened me and asked me to bear false witness for him."

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar in the hall.

Liao Qinglan did not expect that Ruyan was obviously Li Jin's woman, and she had tried to persuade her for a long time but it was useless, so why would she suddenly change her statement today?

Duke Zheng's face changed drastically, and he angrily said, "You are talking nonsense! Have you also been bribed by Cheng Yuan?"

"I dare not lie in court! Everything I say is true. If I tell even a lie, I will be struck by lightning!" Ruyan spoke every word with a loud voice.

Chen Qian was also stunned. He didn't expect things to take such a sudden turn. He said, "Miss Ruyan, do you know what you are talking about? Identifying the murderer is not a joke. It requires solid evidence."

Ruyan gritted her teeth and said, "Of course I know, but everything I said is true. I saw with my own eyes that day the second son of Duke Zheng's mansion had an argument with the prince. It was the second son who forced me to go to the Dali Temple to frame Gu Mingzhao! I don't want to be threatened by him again, nor do I want to go against my conscience, so I decided to tell the truth."

Duke Zheng was so angry that he was shaking all over. He pointed at Ruyan and said, "You bitch! It's obvious that you colluded with Gu Mingzhao to frame my son! Now you bite back, how shameless!"