Chapter 528: Chapter 528
Official Pang was taken aback. "How come Han Yue suddenly got involved in this matter? Could there be some hidden truth within this case?"
Atop the Government Hall, the whole Dong family had gathered, with Old Lady Cui kneeling below. Her entire mind was in a haze.
"Officer... O-officer!"
She looked towards Han Yue sitting on the dais with upright rigor and unquestionable integrity, already sweating profusely, sweat dripping down her deeply wrinkled face.
"This humble person... this humble person’s surname is Cui. I haven’t done anything wrong! You must not listen to one-sided accounts, surely the Dong family is framing this old woman!"
Officer Han glanced at Dong Huiying standing below, who seemed quite unfamiliar to her, and from their behavior at the moment, it was impossible to tell that they had had any interaction before.
"Cui, you show no respect for the King’s Law and yet you do not know your offense!"
The wooden block was raised high and dropped heavily. Old Lady Cui was so frightened that she prostrated herself, her whole body almost flat on the ground.
At that moment, Fang Lanshan hurried in and whispered to Han Yue, "The officer, Official Pang has arrived."
After Fang Lanshan gave the report, a sedan chair was seen stopped outside the hall. A government official lifted the curtain, and Official Pang stepped out of the chair.
Official Pang smiled at Han Yue, who was adjudicating the case, and said, "Little sister need not worry about my presence. I am here merely to observe. The handling of the case should be fully in the hands of my sister, to enforce the law impartially. I believe my sister will be most fair and just."
Upon hearing this, Old Lady Cui was startled. What did Official Pang mean by that? She crawled on her knees towards Official Pang, hugging her leg and crying at the top of her voice for Official Pang to save her.
Official Pang found this very distasteful and moved away from Old Lady Cui. By then, Fang Lanshan had already brought forward a chair, and Official Pang took a seat to quietly observe the rest of the case.
Originally, because of Old Lady Cui’s way of distorting the truth, she was very displeased with the Dong family. Her intention in having the Dong family arrested was merely to give them a scare and issue a verbal warning.
However, the involvement of the Government Office and Han Yue made her realize that she might have been used as a pawn, manipulated by someone else.
The arrival of Official Pang could at most be considered a minor interruption.
Han Yue raised the wooden block high and brought it down with a bang to command respect in the hall.
She looked at the young girl bowing humbly below, thinking to herself what a remarkable girl she was. Clearly, due to her status as an official, ranking above the common people, she had to display a humble demeanor, but her proud nature shone through; she had the air of someone unyielding and unbreakable.
"Now, speak. Why do you accuse this Old Lady Cui?"
The Dong family members were excused from the formalities by Han Yue; they all stood upright, without needing to kneel.
At this moment, Dong Feiyan and Xu Wenzhou looked panic-stricken, Dong Xinyuan was facing such a situation for the first time and appeared quite dumbfounded, her complexion stiff, while Third brother Dong Nian was lowering his head, making it hard to see his expression or guess what he was thinking.
Dong Huiying bowed with clenched fists, "Reporting to Sir, I have three accusations! First, this Old Lady Cui was involved in human trafficking twelve years ago, abducted me, sold me to traffickers, causing me to be separated from my family and parents for ten long years, until two years ago, by some fortunate mistake, I was graced by the heavens and able to rejoin my ancestors and family."
"Second, Old Lady Cui, relying on her family’s marriage into the Pang Mansion, has been bullying and oppressing my parents and siblings in the village for over a decade, committing many evils."
"Third, recently Old Lady Cui slapped and bound my younger brother, Dong Nian. My brother is still young and has always been quiet by nature, but I have some medical skill, and I could see that Old Lady Cui’s slap made him dizzy and disoriented. Afterwards, he fell seriously ill from the ailment she caused, and Sir, I ask for your discernment in this matter!"