SBCEJM -Chapter 287 Truth-Telling Talisman—No Wronged Ghosts Under Its Light! The Fake “Good Man” Persona Collapses!

The spit and fury of the common people nearly flooded the steps of the county yamen.

Inside the hall, Jiang Jinyu knelt straight-backed.

Listening to the “voices of the people” behind him, a faint, almost imperceptible curve rose at the corner of his lips.

In the next instant, he switched back into that grief-stricken expression of a man who had lost his son and been falsely accused.

“Father… I am wronged…”

That cry was bloodied with tears.

On the high seat, Jiang Yunfeng’s hand gripping the gavel had turned bone-white.

His twenty years of official reputation, the century-old honor of the Jiang family, and the son he had painstakingly raised—were they all going to be ruined today?

Completely unlike this suffocating tension…

The Feng siblings sitting beside Jiang Yunfeng were relaxed, as if they were enjoying music in their own courtyard.

Feng Zeyuan completely ignored the raging chaos outside.

From her storage space, she pulled out a round tangerine and slowly peeled it.

“Brother, eat an orange.”

She handed the peeled segments to Feng Zeykai’s mouth, while taking another one to continue peeling.

Feng Zeykai could only helplessly cooperate and take a bite.

Before long, a small bamboo basket at their feet was already piled high with orange peels like a glittering golden hill.

Jiang Yunfeng was stunned.

At that moment, the voice that made his scalp go numb exploded in his mind again.

【Keep acting. Go on.】

【What is County Magistrate Jiang still hesitating about? Reputation?】

【As long as I have no morals, no one can morally blackmail me.】

【Face is just like orange peel—once you strip it off and throw it away, what remains is the real fruit.】

【If you insist on keeping that rotten peel, in the end you’ll swallow both peel and rotten flesh—poisoning yourself and disgusting everyone else.】

BOOM!

These thoughts were far more lethal than the crowd outside.

Jiang Yunfeng’s entire body trembled.

Rotten peel… rotten flesh…

Yes.

What exactly was he afraid of?

Afraid of exposing family shame?

But if that demon was not eliminated, what justice would there be for those six children who never even had the chance to see this world?

That was not his son anymore.

It was a ghost wearing his son’s skin!

A surge of decisive, murderous resolve burst from Jiang Yunfeng’s chest.

Bang—!

The gavel slammed down hard, shaking even the container of lots on the desk.

“SILENCE!!!”

That roar used all his strength.

The entire hall and courtyard fell instantly silent.

Feng Zeyuan clapped the orange residue off her hands and stood up slowly, a teasing light in her eyes.

“County Magistrate Jiang, dealing with someone like this stubborn dead duck—reason won’t work.”

She flipped her wrist.

A yellow talisman covered in eerie red runes appeared between her fingers out of thin air.

“I have a good item here, called the ‘Truth-Telling Talisman.’”

“Once it’s attached, even the Heavenly King himself must speak the truth.”

【Heh, the system lottery gave me a pile of these. I was just looking for a place to offload them.】

The moment she said this, the crowd outside exploded.

“A truth-telling talisman? You’re kidding, right!”

“This young Daoist looks so young—how is she already using scam tricks?”

“I don’t believe it! Unless you demonstrate it right now!”

Feng Zeyuan wasn’t angry at all—she only smiled brighter.

“Don’t believe me? Then let’s pick a few lucky volunteers to try it?”

That suggestion was too exciting.

Curiosity instantly overpowered anger.

“I’ll do it!”

“Choose me, Daoist! I never lie!”

The crowd surged forward, several bold men waving their arms wildly.

Feng Zeyuan casually pointed.

“You. The man in the brown short coat.”

A burly butcher was brought forward by the officials, his face flushed with nervous excitement.

Feng Zeyuan waved the talisman in front of him, smiling.

“Sir, how many years have you been married?”

“Ten… ten years,” the butcher replied honestly.

“And last night when you got home, did you hide any secret money?”

The butcher straightened his neck proudly.

“No! All my money goes to my wife! That’s our family rule!”

A plump middle-aged woman in the crowd nodded in satisfaction.

With a swift motion—

Slap!

The talisman was firmly pasted onto his forehead.

“Now, look into my eyes.”

Feng Zeyuan’s voice carried a strange power.

“Last night… did you or did you not hide secret money?”

The butcher’s face instantly turned the color of pig liver.

He resisted.

His lips were tightly sealed, his eyes darting around wildly.

But the force was overwhelmingly domineering—it pried open his mouth against his will.

“I… I did!”

“It’s… it’s hidden behind the latrine, inside the hollow of that old crooked-neck tree! There’s a mouse hole—I stuffed three hundred coins in there! I saved it for half a year to go drink at the brothel!”

The moment the words fell—

Dead silence.

Then—

“WANG DA-CHUI!!! YOU BASTARD!!!”

The plump woman in the crowd roared, pushing through and rushing forward, a rolling pin suddenly in her hand.

“I scrimp and save for the family, and you want to go to a brothel?! Tonight you’re sleeping in the pigsty!”

“HAHAHAHA—!”

The entire hall erupted in laughter.

The reversal was too fast, too real—impossible to fake.

Feng Zeyuan didn’t stop.

She pointed again and brought up three more people.

“Madam, last time you said your daughter-in-law’s cooking was too salty and made you sick—was that true?”

The woman, now under the talisman, flushed with shame and could not even cover her mouth.

“No! I was jealous that her waist is thinner than mine! Why does she still fit into the dress I wore when I was young after giving birth to two kids?! I just wanted to make things difficult for her!”

“You, young scholar—do you really stand outside Miss Cuihua’s house every day because you love her?”

The scholarly-looking young man burst into tears.

“No! I like her family’s old sow! It’s a pure black pig breed—one litter of piglets sells for two taels of silver! Cuihua is too fierce—I only want the pig!”

“Village head, those jars of ‘daughter’s red wine’ in your cellar—are they really for your daughter’s dowry?”

The dignified old village head turned beet red.

“Nonsense! I was saving them for when that old bastard father of mine dies so I can drink them at the funeral feast! Who would give them to that money-losing girl!”

The entire courtroom shook with laughter.

The common people laughed until they doubled over, tears streaming down their faces.

This wasn’t a courtroom anymore—it was a massive public humiliation spectacle.

This “Truth-Telling Talisman” was terrifyingly real.

There was no way to fake it.

And in the midst of this joyful chaos…

Jiang Jinyu, kneeling in the hall, felt as if he had fallen into an ice abyss.

His calm facade shattered bit by bit.

Cold sweat slid down his temples and dripped onto the stone floor, spreading into dark stains.

He was afraid.

Fear rising from the deepest part of his bones.

Feng Zeyuan no longer looked at the farce.

She turned around, her skirt sweeping in a sharp arc.

Her clear eyes locked tightly onto Jiang Jinyu.

No smile.

Only bone-deep coldness.

“Everyone done laughing?”

“If you are, then let’s take a look at this so-called ‘great benefactor,’ County Magistrate Jiang.”

Jiang Jinyu frantically recoiled, his voice sharp and distorted.

“No! I won’t wear it! This is sorcery! Forced confession!”

“Whether it’s sorcery or not—you just saw it, didn’t you?”

Feng Zeyuan gave him no chance at all.

She moved like lightning.

A blur flashed.

Jiang Jinyu only felt a chill on his forehead.

That light yellow talisman, once weightless, now felt like a mountain sealing away his disguise.

The entire hall fell silent instantly.

Everyone held their breath, staring at the “perfect good man” who had always been beyond reproach.

Feng Zeyuan’s voice was soft—but each word cut like a blade.

“First question.”

“Are the ferocious beasts in the underground chamber of Yunqi Manor raised by you?”

Jiang Jinyu clenched his teeth so hard his gums bled.

His entire body trembled violently, veins bulging on his neck like ugly writhing worms.

He resisted.

He tried to fight it with twisted willpower.

But—

“…Yes.”

The word burst out through his teeth like a desperate scream.

The crowd stirred.

Feng Zeyuan stepped closer, staring into his eyes.

“Second question.”

“How did your six children, who ‘died of illness,’ actually die?”

Jiang Jinyu’s pupils contracted violently.

His eyes were bloodshot.

His mind screamed: Don’t say it! Saying it means death!

But his mouth had already become the most honest traitor.

“No… not illness…”

“It was… I…”

“It was me…”

“I personally… threw them… one by one… into the tiger cages…”

“Listening to their cries… watching them be torn apart…”