Rebirth Grand Marshal's Wilful Fiancée-Chapter 13: Confession 3
"Impossible!" Wang shi screamed. With her angry and ferocious face, she was fierce as if she would pounce on to tear that speaker. Her eyes bulged with rage, veins protruding from her temples as spittle flew from her mouth. The ornate hairpins adorning her elaborate coiffure trembled with each furious exclamation, threatening to come loose entirely.
The speaker was shocked to step back repeatedly, nearly tripping over her own robes. Her face drained of color as she cowered before Wang shi's wrath, hands raised defensively before her.
"So insolent!" Tao Feng angrily ordered the Yamen runners to pull Wang shi away, his voice cutting through the chamber like a whip. "Gag Wang shi for this magistrate!" His ornate official hat gleamed in the lantern light as he brought his gavel down with a resounding crack upon the wooden bench.
Two burly runners moved forward, their weathered hands reaching for Wang shi's flailing arms. The crowd gasped collectively at the order, to gag a noble lady of Wang shi's status was almost unheard of in the court.
"Lord, lord! Please let her off. Our lady is the hostess of Ling family, and for this reason, please save some dignity for our Ling family." The butler of Ling family shouted loudly, rushing forward to intercede. His graying hair and stooped posture belied the surprising strength in his voice. He kowtowed deeply, forehead repeatedly touching the cool stone floor in supplication.
"This magistrate has enough of her insolence. How could I connive at her repeatedly provoking my stateliness!" Tao Feng fumed, nostrils flaring with indignation. The gold embroidery on his official robes caught the light as his chest heaved with righteous anger. Years of maintaining order in his court had taught him that allowing such disrespect would only invite more.
The butler of Ling family then approached Wang shi with careful steps, like one approaching a wounded tiger. He gently tugged at her sleeve and persuaded in hushed tones, "Madam, please calm down." He leaned closer, his lips barely moving as he whispered to Wang shi, "Let's wait for Commander Zheng."
The name of Commander Zheng worked like a charm, instantly cooling Wang shi's blazing fury. Although she still stared malevolently at the four people kneeling before the magistrate, the wild, uncontrolled rage in her eyes dimmed to a smoldering hatred. Her fists remained clenched at her sides, knuckles white with strain, but she showed no sign of rushing to them and tearing them apart as she had clearly wished to moments before.
Jiang Feng jia observed this transformation with keen interest, her delicate eyebrows arching slightly. She looked at Wang shi's face and sneered sarcastically. This woman had presented a noble and graceful look in Ling family just now, parading around with an air of superiority and refined dignity, but here in the harsh light of the magistrate's court, she showed her true color, that of a common shrew, no better than the fishwives who squabbled in the marketplace.
Even the crowd of onlookers outside the court's inner circle began to remark loudly as they pointed at Wang shi, their whispers growing to a dull roar as gossip spread like wildfire.
"Did you see that? The great lady of Ling family, acting like a madwoman!"
"And they say the nobility are better than us common folk!"
"Hush! They say her temper is legendary even among her servants."
"Silence!" Tao Feng shouted, his voice echoing off the high wooden beams of the court ceiling. He struck his gavel three times in quick succession, each blow louder than the last.
All the people outside were quiet, the sudden hush falling over the crowd like a heavy blanket. Not even the rustling of robes could be heard as everyone held their breath, waiting.
"Go ahead with your confession." Tao Feng looked at the person who spoke before, his stern gaze brooking no further delay or obfuscation. The wooden tablet in his hands, symbol of his authority, pointed directly at the trembling woman.
However, that miss began to hesitate again. Her eyes darted around the room like a cornered rabbit, seeking escape where there was none. She wrung her hands in her lap, twisting the fine silk of her sleeves until a small tear appeared in the fabric.
With a disapproving frown creasing her otherwise flawless forehead, Jiang Feng jia berated coldly, "Why did Long Yuanling incite you to frame me? I am generous to you and always treat you as my own elder sisters." Her voice carried the chill of winter frost, yet remained controlled and measured, the voice of someone who had suffered greatly but refused to be broken.
This was also what hurt Jiang Feng jia most before her rebirth. In her previous life, she had treated these people with all sincerity and took them as friends and sisters. She had shared her secrets, her dreams, her fears with them. She had defended them when others spoke ill, had gifted them with precious items from her own dowry. But these people stabbed her in the back without a moment's hesitation or remorse!
The memory of that betrayal burned anew in her heart, like salt rubbed into an old wound. Only her rebirth had given her the wisdom to see through their false smiles and honeyed words.
The four people who were questioned did not dare to look Jiang Feng jia straight in the eye and bowed their heads in shame. Their elaborate hairstyles and colorful hairpins now seemed gaudy and inappropriate in the somber atmosphere of the courtroom. Their fine silks and embroidered sleeves, once symbols of their status and wealth, now only served to highlight how far they had fallen.
"We, we didn't mean to do that," the first woman finally stammered, her voice barely audible. "It is Yuanling who said that your Jiang family, and, and..." she faltered, glancing fearfully at Wang shi, whose eyes promised retribution.
"Continue," commanded Tao Feng, leaning forward slightly.
The woman swallowed hard before continuing, "Yuanling said your families were so close that you may stand in Ling family's way. If we throw the responsibility of the concubine's scandal on you, you will lose your reputation. And this will teach your Jiang family a lesson." Each word seemed to be dragged unwillingly from her throat.
A second woman, emboldened by the first's confession, raised her head slightly. "Yuanling didn't like you from the very beginning. You were too stupid to not even notice it." There was a hint of cruel satisfaction in her voice, as if she took pleasure in revealing this truth.
"That's right," chimed in a third, her voice stronger now. "How could you blame us? You should blame your own stupidity." The fourth woman nodded vigorously in agreement, relief evident in her features as the burden of their secret was finally lifted.
Jiang Feng jia's hands, gracefully positioned behind her back in a pose of dignified restraint, clenched tightly until her nails bit into her palms, drawing tiny crescents of blood. The pain helped focus her thoughts, channeling her rage into cold, clear purpose. She just looked at the four women and Ling Yuanling coldly, her eyes sharp like the finest blades forged in the imperial armory.
The crowd had fallen completely silent now, every ear straining to catch each word of this scandalous revelation. Even the usual coughs and shuffling feet had ceased, as if the entire courtroom held its collective breath.
Although Jiang Feng jia had known all this before her rebirth, had lived through the humiliation, the whispers, the destruction of her reputation that had eventually led to her tragic end, when hearing it directly again from the mouths of those who had once called themselves her friends, she still felt her anger burning ceaselessly within her chest. The flame of righteous fury threatened to consume her from within, and she just wanted to kill these malicious people by herself! To watch the light fade from their eyes as they realized, too late, the consequences of their treachery.
At this time, Ling Yuanling, who couldn't speak because of the blood in her mouth, a result of the brutal questioning tactics employed by the yamen runners before the public hearing, met Jiang Feng jia's eyes across the crowded courtroom. She saw the anger in Jiang Feng jia's eyes and, remarkably, even gave a bloody and mocking smile. The smile seemed to be laughing at Jiang Feng jia's ignorance and stupidity in the past, with disgust and contempt in her eyes despite her current predicament.
The crimson stain on Yuanling's teeth should have made her appear pitiful, but instead, it transformed her into something almost demonic, a fallen beauty whose outer appearance now matched the ugliness of her soul.
When Jiang Feng jia saw such a gaze, the anger burning in her heart somehow cooled down, replaced by a glacial clarity of purpose. She had met this kind of gaze for too many times in her previous life, and she had even experienced gazes more undisguised and more humiliating than this. Ling Yuanling's stare was nothing compared to them.
She had vowed upon her rebirth to send these people to hell, not in a burst of hot rage, but with the methodical precision of one who has seen the future and returned to rewrite it. Every step she had taken since opening her eyes in this second chance at life had been leading to this moment of revelation.
Jiang Feng jia quickly calmed down, her breathing evening out as her shoulders relaxed imperceptibly. She looked at Ling Yuanling coldly, her gaze no longer that of a victim but of an executioner. She said, her voice carrying throughout the now-silent courtroom, "It turns out that Ling family has long hated our Jiang family. And this is the reason why you have framed me."
The simplicity of her statement belied its devastating impact. With those few words, she had shifted the entire narrative of the case, transforming it from a personal vendetta into a matter of family honor, something the magistrate could not ignore.
Seeing that Jiang Feng jia quickly recovered her calm, Ling Yuanling was very surprised. She had expected tears, recriminations, perhaps even a hysterical outburst that would further damage Jiang Feng jia's standing in the eyes of the court. The calmer Jiang Feng jia was, the more Ling Yuanling appeared to be a real clown, a petty schemer caught in her own web of lies. This role of conversion made Ling Yuanling's face distort with rage and disbelief.
The carefully constructed mask of the noble young lady crumbled completely as Ling Yuanling realized that her prey had somehow transformed into a predator while she wasn't watching. The tables had turned so completely that she could scarcely believe it. Where was the naive, trusting fool she had so easily manipulated before?
In her place stood a woman of steel and ice, whose gaze promised not just revenge, but utter annihilation.