Silently hoping the Kong or Jiang families would protect her own, Kong Jialiang did indeed make some efforts. However, as they were leaving, Li Yifei exchanged a look with her maid, who nodded in understanding and followed the yamen runners.
The yamen runners gave him a helpless look, indicating they could not help.
With her family dragged to the courtroom, Siqin no longer harbored any hope.
Especially the painful cries as they were beaten and the resentful gazes of her family members caused her immense torment.
"Please, Your Honor, spare them. This has nothing to do with them. If you keep beating them, someone will die," Siqin said, anxious as the official showed no signs of stopping.
Li Yifei sneered disdainfully, "People like them deserve to die. You don't think your family members can walk away alive after harming my brother, do you?"
Meeting his hateful gaze, she suddenly regretted her actions. She shouldn't have taken all the blame upon herself, and her young mistress had no intention of helping her. After a moment's hesitation, she hardened her heart.
"Reporting to Your Honor, actually, all of this was ordered by my young mistress..."
"Siqin, do you know what you are doing?" Before she could finish, Jiang Yin immediately stopped her, knowing what she was about to say and not understanding why she would betray her.
"Madam Kong, what do you mean? Let her speak if she wants to. I will not let anyone who harmed my brother go," Li Yifei said, looking at her with a meaningful gaze.
"I know what I'm doing. In fact, all of this was ordered by my young mistress." Siqin did not look at Jiang Yin's expression, her eyes fixed on the county magistrate as she confessed all the wicked deeds she had committed.
Since she was going to die anyway, she decided to drag her mistress down with her. Since she wouldn't save her, then they would sink together. Why should she go to hell while her mistress returned to being an official's wife?
"It's not like that, it's not like that! I didn't do it. This damned girl is framing me because she resents me for not saving her," Jiang Yin knew she was finished and could only try to defend herself, struggling in her final moments.
Even Kong Jialiang, who wanted to save her, couldn't help but be surprised, looking at her with shock. Others might not know, but he knew that these matters were more than likely true. He had initially thought his wife had only made one mistake regarding Zhou Shaoqiu, but it turned out she was a ruthless woman who would stop at nothing to achieve her goals.
"Your Honor, in fact, every time my young mistress ordered me to do something, I kept evidence, just in case something like this happened," she said, quickly providing the county magistrate with an address. Yamen runners were immediately dispatched to the tree in the middle of her family's courtyard. Sure enough, after digging for a short while, they found a wooden box wrapped in oiled paper.
Inside were many letters that Old Master Liu had written to Jiang Yin, which Jiang Yin had given to Siqin to burn. She had secretly kept them all, along with many items she had given her to harm others. Even without the case of Li Yiming, it would have been enough to sentence her to beheading in the autumn.
Kong Jialiang closed his eyes, knowing it was futile to try and salvage the situation. What made him feel even more disgusted was her past affair with Old Master Liu. Even so, she shouldn't have murdered him out of fear of him finding out. This sent a chill down his spine. If he ever wronged her, would she take his life too?
Although Jiang Yin still tried to argue vehemently, with irrefutable evidence and witnesses, she had no defense. She was immediately sentenced to beheading in the autumn. Her accomplice, Siqin, naturally did not fare any better. Siqin's family, as accomplices, each received twenty heavy blows and were expelled from the capital.
When the news reached Old Madam Kong, she was shocked. Then she realized that the Kong family would soon be disgraced because of Jiang Yin. Even with her composure, her expression changed. At this moment, she truly regretted her past actions. If she hadn't interfered and had married Zhou Shaoqiu into the family, with her capabilities, perhaps the Jiang family would have risen along with them?
Even in the current situation, if the two hadn't clashed, Jiang Yin wouldn't have met such a disaster.
Despite having made many foolish mistakes, the thought of her niece about to be beheaded caused Old Madam Kong unbearable pain.
Her own daughter had a bad temper, which Old Master Jiang knew. He also knew her hands were not clean. But to him, these were not major issues. After all, what businessman could withstand an investigation by the authorities? However, he never expected the situation to escalate to a point where even the Kong family was powerless.
Although he was also heartbroken, his first thought was the impact on his own family. He couldn't allow his daughter to ruin the reputation of the Jiang family.
Unfortunately, his hope was dashed. Many people had done business with him precisely because they wanted to connect with the Kong family and leverage their influence. Now that his daughter had ruined the Kong family's reputation, he expected the Kong family to distance themselves from them in the future.
Although Old Master Jiang tried his best to salvage the situation, some people immediately turned to do business with others. This made him furious, as he saw these people as opportunistic.
Jiang Yin, who had been in prison for several days, still could not accept this outcome. She looked at Siqin not far away, and thinking that it was all Siqin's fault for her downfall, she couldn't help but step forward and get into a fight with her. In the past, Siqin, mindful of her being her young mistress, had always considered her feelings and tolerated her actions. But now that both were facing execution, neither was superior to the other. All their resentment and hatred were unleashed without any restraint.
Both had been accustomed to a life of ease, but Siqin, being a maid, had more strength. With great effort, she managed to pin Jiang Yin to the ground and forcefully punched her in the stomach.
Jiang Yin struggled desperately but couldn't break free. She felt as though she was about to die here. Although her life was nearing its end, she still wanted to make a final struggle, so she shouted loudly for help.
"What are you doing, what are you doing? Haven't you reached the execution ground yet, and you're seeking death?" the jailer said impatiently, looking at them with a whip in his hand. It seemed as though the whip would fall on them at any moment, so they quickly stopped and silently sat in the furthest corner from the jailer.
Seeing that they had settled down, the jailer was satisfied and warned them, "If you fight again next time, I don't care who is right or wrong. Each of you will get twenty lashes, beaten half to death, so you won't have the strength to fight each other."
Silence fell upon the cell again. The two tacitly stopped fighting but still couldn't stand each other. Jiang Yin snorted and turned her head to look elsewhere.
Not long after, they heard footsteps. This time, the sound was different from the jailer's. Jiang Yin's face involuntarily showed a hint of joy, and she quickly looked towards the source of the sound. She thought it was her husband or father coming to visit her and find a way to save her. To her surprise, she saw the face she most wished she would never see in her life.