Jiang Pengji laughed coldly and asked, “Why is the chief’s face so strange? Is it possible that this witness you speak of doesn’t actually exist?”

After a few seconds, Wuma Shang’s blank stare regained its light.

“No need to be rash. Let’s see how you find your excuse when the witness comes with the testimonial, shall we? Lying to the crown is a crime punishable by death. I suggest that you consider your options.”

While there was a sneer on Jiang Pengji’s face, the rest of the ministers were only laughing silently.

After hearing that Jiang Pengji had gone from a district magistrate to a magistrate, they were indeed quite salty. However, being salty was one thing. They wouldn’t dare speak up about it.

With the authority of the Liu family right now, even if they were to raise their swords up against the throne, for the sake of their current status, nobody would dare to make any comments, let alone lie to the crown. At most, they would just roll their eyes. Going after Jiang Pengji’s life was out of the question, and Wuma Shang’s words were completely laughable.

Lying before the crown was indeed a grave crime, but under certain situations, it wouldn’t even be worth mentioning.

The crowd was eagerly waiting to watch a show and completely ignored the fact that this was supposed to be an assembly.

After a short while, an elderly woman dressed in sackcloth who looked frosted from a harsh journey knelt before the main gate to the palace.

Even though she looked like an average elderly lady, her demeanor was calm and collected, even before a full crowd of ministers and the emperor himself.

The elderly woman bowed and greeted the crowd with her aged voice. “My name is Zhao Jia. I am here to formally pay my respects to Your Highness.”

Jiang Pengji laughed as she watched the person. “Chief Wuma, is this the witness you speak of? Don’t make me laugh.”

Wuma Shang pointed at Jiang Pengji and Liu She and asked the elderly woman, “Are you sure these two are the masters you’ve served before?”

The elderly woman lifted her head slightly and glanced at the two. She answered quietly, “That is indeed the old master and my lady.”

The ministers were all stumped. Huang Song’s face looked like it had “Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing here?” written all over it.

The elderly woman’s Mandarin was very good. Her voice was clear and sound.

Everyone onsite could understand the words she spoke, but they could not comprehend anything when the words were put together.

Huang Song was taken aback for a bit before he found himself and attempted to correct the elderly woman’s comment.

“I think…you might be mistaken. It should be ‘the old master and second Langjun.’”

The elderly woman responded firmly, “What I said was correct. I may be old, but my memory is still good. That is clearly a beautiful lady.”

Huang Song went silent as he thought—this elderly woman’s memory may be intact, but she might be blind.

How blind did one have to be to mistake a handsome young man for a beautiful young lady and say such nonsense?

The elderly woman lowered her head once again after responding, and Wuma Shang let out a small, proud laugh.

“Liu Zhongqing, do you want to admit that this Zhao Jia used to be a servant at your place?”

Liu She laughed and said, “I am a man, and the women in the household are in charge of all the chores and family business. How should I know?”

Wuma Shang sneered back at him. “Avoiding the question, I see. You can’t deny it either. This Zhao Jia was brought in by your first wife Gu Min as a dowry servant. When your wife passed, you personally let go of a group of the servants she brought in. How can you say that you don’t know her?”

Liu She responded nonchalantly after hearing this proclamation, “This was many years ago. I am not like Chief Wuma, who could remember all the details of other people’s family business. If you say that this Zhao Jia is my wife’s dowry servant, then she is. I have no objections.”

Everyone else who heard this felt that Liu She’s attitude was a little strange.

The others were clearly attacking Liu She’s son, but Liu She didn’t even bother protecting his son. He was instead letting the accusation take its course.

Before they could figure out his intentions, as the person in question, Jiang Pengji suspiciously dug her own grave.

“Father, I heard from Stepmother once that there certainly was an elderly woman beside Mother by the name of Zhao Jia. Perhaps it is her.”

Liu She glanced at the elderly woman and acknowledged her casually.

At this time, everyone could tell that this father-and-son duo didn’t even care about the situation and were purposely letting others make fools of them.

The elderly woman knelt on the ground, quietly clenched her fist, and said in a hoarse voice, “I am indeed a dowry servant of the late mistress. Back then, our lady had already lost two children and was physically at her limit. She passed very soon after and left only the old master and our young lady.”

Wu Ma Shang asked the elderly, “Are you certain that Liu Xi before you is this ‘young lady’ you speak of?”

The elderly woman nodded firmly and said, “I can confirm, for the lady’s eyebrows, nose, and chin are very similar to the late mistress’. Back then, the late mistress loved the four-year-old second child, Langjun, but the servants taking care of him were careless, and Langjun drowned in an accident. In order to appease the late mistress’s grief, the old master lied, claimed that the child who drowned was the young daughter, and let her take on the name of Langjun.”

Liu She sneered. “To me and my late wife, each child was our blood and flesh. There was no such thing as a bias towards one or another. Using this ridiculous excuse to let a daughter take on the name of a son and making her live under the shadow of her brother would mean that our parenthood was all in vain.”

Wuma Shang quickly followed up with a question. “Does that mean you are denying the truth?”

Liu She said, “I am only denying that laughable excuse.”

In other words, aside from the excuse, Liu She was not denying anything else.

Wuma Shang felt like he had just punched a ball of cotton at how easily Liu She had admitted to this and could almost feel pain.

Then, it was Jiang Pengji’s turn to add on to the scandal.

She looked at Wuma Shang as if she were pitying someone with low intelligence and asked, “Did Chief Wuma mobilize the entire assembly and witness just for this?”

Both Wuma Shang and the elderly woman froze at the same time, as if they were completely stunned.

Jiang Pengji continued, “Actually I’d like to thank Chief Wuma. Because even if you didn’t bring it up, my father and I were already planning on telling His Highness and the empress dowager the truth after the assembly. However, because this is something we were already in the wrong to begin with and lied about, we weren’t sure how to bring it up. Thankfully, Chief Wuma has been kind and understanding by helping us out and giving us a solution to our troubles.”

Wuma Shang’s expression stiffened. while the elderly woman also looked to be at her wits’ end.

A short while later, Wuma Shang said, “You sure are calculating, but you must not assume that your belated effort now can lighten your punishment for lying before the crown! If I didn’t bring it up, who could guarantee that you two would have voluntarily confessed after the assembly and not continued to hide away from the rest of the world?”

Jiang Pengji looked at him worriedly and asked, “This is just a trivial matter. Why is Chief Wuma so desperate to cling onto this issue?”

“The crime of lying before the crown is only considered a trivial matter in your eye? Then what is big enough to be considered a problem to you?” Wuma Shang scolded loudly. He knelt before the young emperor as he said fervently, “Your Highness, if you do not punish this criminal heavily for their crimes, they will not learn! If you do not punish this person harshly, from now on, everyone will see lies before the crown as trivial matters. How will Your Highness maintain his authority? How will the royal family maintain its authority?”

Jiang Pengji clicked her tongue. This mocking sound seemed extra clear within the grand palace.

Wuma Shang’s face was severe and blue. His eyes glared like bronze bells at Jiang Pengji with a heavy aura of murderous intent.

“Chief Wuma said I lied before the crown? Then I have a few questions for the chief. If you can answer them, I will accept the criminal accusation.”