Chapter 66

In the case of Gu Chengyi, although the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishments did not make a judgment on the same day, the situation of the trial was very unfavorable to Gu Chengyi.

Gu Chengyi had no witnesses, and he was unconscious at the time of the incident, making it impossible for him to defend himself. Moreover, all the evidence pointed to Gu Chengyi, and the presiding officials had already preconceived that Gu Chengyi had committed murder while drunk.

After the trial, the sequence of events was as follows...

On the day of the incident, Feng Sijin and Jing Yan were invited to Donglin Academy to comment on the students' work. At that time, an article by Gu Chengyi received high praise from both Feng Sijin and Jing Yan, who had a very good impression of Gu Chengyi and even told him to seek them out if he had any questions.

Gu Chengyi was very happy, and his friends reacted in different ways; some were genuinely happy for him, while others were jealous. When someone suggested a celebration, everyone around Gu Chengyi joined in, disregarding his wishes and forcing him to drink to celebrate.

Gu Chengyi, who had been in the spotlight that day, was repeatedly encouraged to drink by the students at the banquet. Despite his intelligence, he was still a child and had never had the opportunity to drink before. He quickly became drunk and lost consciousness, eventually being carried back by others...

The more than ten students who drank with Gu Chengyi could all testify that he had drunk too much. They all said that when Gu Chengyi was drunk, he became very strong, and it took four or five of them to restrain him and take him back.

In addition, some students testified that they heard noises coming from Gu Chengyi's room in the middle of the night. However, they thought Gu Chengyi was just drunk and causing a commotion, and since they were also quite drunk, they did not check, only finding out what happened the next morning.

As for the other students, they all had alibis, leaving only Gu Chengyi unable to account for his actions at the time of the incident.

In other words, this was a case of a student getting drunk and committing murder while intoxicated.

The case seemed simple, but it was hard to find any flaws. Even the footprints found by Gu Qiancheng in the inner room could be explained as those of the students who carried Gu Chengyi back.

Of course, the damage to the door hinge could also have been caused when they carried Gu Chengyi back...

"After listening to the testimonies of the witnesses, the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishments did not make a judgment on the spot but said they would review the case again in three days." Uncle San's face had not been good since he returned.

With both human and physical evidence present, the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishments did not make a judgment on the spot not because they doubted the case, but because the case had a very negative impact. They did not want to make a hasty decision and delayed for two days to show the public that they were still investigating seriously.

"The testimonies of the students are very unfavorable to Chengyi. The murderer must have chosen Chengyi as the scapegoat because he knew Chengyi could not defend himself." Gu Qiancheng did not believe that the murderer had bribed the witnesses.

One or two witnesses could be bribed, but over ten?

If the murderer had bribed so many witnesses, there would certainly be traces, and the murderer would not do such a thing. Moreover, the students of Donglin Academy all came from good families, and bribing over ten witnesses would be impossible.

This case also involved Feng Sijin and Jing Yan, and no student would dare to give false testimony, as it would anger the Feng family, which would be counterproductive.

"Chengyi was framed. Those people must have been jealous of Chengyi being praised by Lord Feng and Lord Jing, so they came to harm him." Lady San looked depressed and secretly resented Feng Sijin and Jing Yan.

If these two had not praised Chengyi, he would not have been forced to drink, and none of this would have happened.

In fact, Feng Sijin and Jing Yan were also quite upset. They had not expected such an incident to occur. When they praised Gu Chengyi, they had no ulterior motives; they genuinely believed the child had talent.

"I hope this case can have new developments; otherwise, the Gu family will hate us to death." Jing Yan thought of Gu Qiancheng and couldn't help but smile.

That woman must have a way, right?

"What? Did you find something new?" Feng Sijin looked at Jing Yan in surprise, as he rarely saw Jing Yan smile so brightly.

"Yes. When I went to fetch Xiao, I saw an interesting person." Jing Yan told Feng Sijin about seeing Gu Qiancheng at the crime scene.

"Did you do it on purpose?" Feng Sijin had his suspicions, but since Jing Yan didn't say anything, he didn't press the issue.

He usually didn't like to meddle in other people's affairs.

"Are you not curious why the Gu family's young lady came to Donglin Academy?" Jing Yan avoided the topic by asking a question.

Feng Sijin shook his head decisively, "I'm not curious at all."

"You're such a boring person." Jing Yan put down the book in his hand, stood up, and walked a few steps, turning his back to Feng Sijin. "Gu Qiancheng is not like other young ladies. I think she discovered something at the scene, and this case might have a turning point."

"She can't do it alone." Unless...

"Prince Qin can handle it." Jing Yan continued, then looked puzzled and turned to Feng Sijin, "I'm curious, how did Prince Qin and Gu Qiancheng become acquainted, and why is he so special to her? Wasn't Gu Qiancheng previously the fiancée of the Crown Prince of Zhao?"

"The new concubine of the Crown Prince of Chu is the second daughter of the Gu family." After saying this, Feng Sijin ignored Jing Yan and focused on the book in his hand...

If Jing Yan... had only ambition, it would be better, but if he had other ideas, it would be dangerous.

Gu Qiancheng did not care about how the Ministry of Punishments would judge Gu Chengyi's case; she was more concerned about whether Qin Jiyu had found the real culprit.

As long as the real culprit was found, the ironclad evidence against Gu Chengyi would not be a problem. However, the issue was...

Since that night, Qin Jiyu seemed to have disappeared, and Gu Qiancheng received no news. She could not go to Donglin Academy, so she had no choice but to wait.

However, Gu Qiancheng was not anxious. Qin Jiyu was not someone who would let others bully him; he would certainly counterattack, and the Ministry of Punishments was a good breakthrough...

Three days later, the judgment on Gu Chengyi's case was announced.

Although the Xianqi Marquis's residence had exerted pressure, the Ministry of Punishments and the Dali Temple did not dare to impose a severe sentence. Although the evidence pointed to Gu Chengyi as the murderer, he had committed the act while drunk, and given his young age, he could not be sentenced to death.

The Ministry of Punishments and the Dali Temple jointly decided to sentence Gu Chengyi to twenty years in prison.

This judgment greatly displeased the people from the Xianqi Marquis's residence, who insisted that the murderer should pay with his life. The Gu Guogong's residence did not comment, but Uncle San was very uneasy...

If Prince Qin did not overturn the case, Chengyi would have to serve twenty years in prison.

A twelve-year-old boy, by the time he was released after twenty years, would not be old, but the twenty years and the experience would be enough to ruin Gu Chengyi's life.

Lady San fainted on the spot when she heard the judgment. The old master said nothing and left silently, but before leaving, he glanced at Gu Qiancheng.

This glance was enough for Gu Qiancheng to understand its meaning.

The old master indeed knew everything, and Gu Qiancheng was immensely relieved that she had not told Uncle San everything. Otherwise, she would be in trouble.

Although the old master was selfish, he was much more difficult to deal with compared to the Gu Guogong and others.

"Now, I can only hope that Prince Qin has some news, otherwise..." Not only would Gu Chengyi be in trouble, but she would also suffer.

If Prince Qin took no action, the old master would certainly think that Prince Qin did not value her as much as she claimed.

If she could not win Prince Qin's favor and kept ruining Qianxue's affairs, damaging the Gu family's interests, the old master would not let her off easily...