SBCEJM -Chapter 35 The Legal Wife Brings Hard Evidence to Court — One Blow Crushes the Old Pervert!

Imperial Study.

After listening to the Shadow Guard’s report, Xiao Juechen lightly tapped his knuckles against the dragon desk.

“Summon them.”

His voice was calm, yet carried unquestionable authority.

Moments later, two high-ranking officials were dragged in by guards, their robes torn and hair disheveled.

Grand Scholar of the Hanlin Academy, Li Wenyuan, had completely lost the dignity of a three-generation Imperial Tutor.

Hanlin Lecturer Wen Jingming’s eyes were bloodshot, his chest heaving as animal-like growls escaped his throat.

“Your Majesty!”

Li Wenyuan shook off the guards and crawled toward the throne in tears and snot.

“You must uphold justice for this old minister!”

“That brute Wen Jingming has no respect for his elders and has gone completely mad! He dared assault this old minister openly within the Hanlin Academy!”

“Such conduct disgraces scholarship itself! He has forgotten all teacher-student bonds! I beg Your Majesty to punish him!”

He wailed as though he had suffered some monstrous injustice.

“Li Wenyuan!”

The tightly restrained Wen Jingming suddenly raised his head. Veins bulged across his neck as he roared with all his strength.

“You sanctimonious old beast!”

“Your Majesty! This man is worse than an animal!”

“He carried on affairs with my wives and concubines! The six sons and three daughters I raised for over ten years… all of them are Li Wenyuan’s seed!”

The furious roar shook the entire Imperial Study.

Every official present, even the chief eunuch, lowered their heads even further, wishing they could turn into pillars on the spot.

Xiao Juechen rubbed his temples as he looked at the two men below him — one crying in heartbreak, the other roaring in agony.

Cases involving cuckoldry were the hardest to judge.

He couldn’t very well summon Madam Wen and all nine children into the palace for blood-testing in court.

Besides, that little Top Scholar Feng’s inner thoughts had already revealed the truth — blood tests were unreliable anyway.

Nor could he openly admit he could hear people’s thoughts and use that to pass judgment.

The situation fell into an awkward stalemate.

Standing among the officials, Feng Zexuan watched coldly.

【Tsk, what a yearly blockbuster this is.】

【That old bastard actually wants to accuse first and seize the advantage? Dream on.】

Feng Zexuan’s thoughts stirred slightly. Mere bedroom scandals would at most force Li Wenyuan into retirement. They wouldn’t truly destroy him.

If they wanted him dead, they needed a fatal blow.

【System, stop slacking off! Dig up every crime Li Wenyuan has committed since taking office. Keywords: dereliction of duty, framing innocents, embezzlement, murder. I want him dead!】

【Received! Excavating dark history… excavation complete! Highest-risk evidence locked on!】

【Three years ago, Vice Minister of Personnel Zhang Wei was exiled for “corruption and dereliction of duty.” His wife, Madam Liu, hanged herself in grief and rage, killing both herself and her unborn child.】

【The truth: Li Wenyuan coveted Madam Liu’s beauty and violated her after getting drunk. Later, he stole Zhang Wei’s painstakingly written “Jiangnan Flood Control Strategy,” claimed it as his own, and then fabricated charges to throw Zhang Wei into prison!】

A cold gleam flashed through Feng Zexuan’s eyes.

【Holy shit! Violating another man’s wife, stealing national policy plans, framing loyal officials — this old scumbag is rotten from head to toe!】

As the thought faded, Xiao Juechen’s fingers tightened slightly around the vermilion brush.

He lifted his gaze and swept it across the gathered officials before stopping on a trembling man near the back of the line.

“Hanlin Scholar Liu Cheng.”

The named official shuddered and stepped forward in confusion.

“Your Majesty.”

“If I remember correctly, the exiled Vice Minister Zhang Wei from three years ago was your close friend and fellow townsman?”

Xiao Juechen’s tone remained calm.

But Liu Cheng’s face instantly turned deathly pale, his lips trembling soundlessly.

“I ask you again — who submitted Zhang Wei’s ‘Jiangnan Flood Control Strategy’ on his behalf?”

With a loud buzz in his ears, Liu Cheng felt the world spinning.

His friend’s miserable state before exile… the blood-written letter pleading innocence… the deliberate forgetting born from three years of fear…

The emperor’s gaze, as if capable of piercing straight into a man’s soul, shattered the last of his defenses.

Thud!

Liu Cheng dropped heavily to his knees, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Your Majesty! Zhang Wei suffered a monstrous injustice!”

He suddenly raised his head and pointed straight at the stunned Li Wenyuan.

“It was him! Li Wenyuan! Back then, he not only violated Zhang Wei’s wife and drove innocent people to death, he also stole Zhang Wei’s ‘Jiangnan Flood Control Strategy’ and used it as a stepping stone for his own advancement!”

“This minister… this minister still possesses the blood-written testimony Zhang Wei secretly smuggled out back then! I beg Your Majesty to investigate!”

The moment those words fell, Li Wenyuan’s crying stopped abruptly.

All color drained from his face. His legs gave out beneath him as he failed to comprehend how this old case had suddenly resurfaced.

“Slander! You… you are framing me!”

His dry rebuttal trembled uncontrollably.

Just then, commotion erupted outside the hall.

“Stop! Who dares trespass!”

“Get out of my way! This madam seeks an audience with His Majesty to plead injustice! Whoever stops me, I’ll die right here!”

A woman’s voice rang out — sharp and resolute.

A cold glint flashed through Xiao Juechen’s eyes.

“Let her enter.”

Moments later, a woman dressed in plain-colored robes slowly walked into the hall under the guards’ watchful eyes.

Her face was haggard, her lips pale, yet her eyes were as calm as a frozen lake without a single ripple.

It was Wen Jingming’s lawful wife, Madam Du.

She did not cry or scream. Facing the emperor upon the throne, she performed a flawless formal salute.

Then she raised an old wooden box high with both hands.

“Your Majesty, this common woman, Madam Du, has come to seek justice for my husband. Inside this box lies irrefutable evidence.”

A eunuch immediately stepped forward to present the box.

Madam Du’s voice echoed through the deathly silent hall, every word cold as ice.

“Inside the box are the obscene love poems and lustful letters Li Wenyuan wrote to me over the years. Thirty-seven letters in total.”

She paused, her gaze drilling into the now ashen-faced Li Wenyuan like an awl.

“There is also a secret ledger detailing every occasion he visited our residence under the excuse of ‘paying a visit’ to engage in illicit affairs, along with every reward he bestowed afterward.”

“From gold hairpins and jewelry to estate deeds and farmland contracts — nothing was omitted.”

Her tone remained completely emotionless, as though recounting somebody else’s story.

“The most crucial piece of evidence is this jade pendant.”

She drew out a piece of warm jade from her sleeve and held it high.

“This jade is a Li family heirloom that should have been enshrined in their ancestral hall. After tricking me into giving birth to the so-called ‘eldest son,’ he personally gifted it to me, saying it was a token for the Li family’s eldest grandson!”

“His personal seal is engraved on the bottom of the pendant! I beg Your Majesty to inspect it!”

The moment the jade pendant appeared, there was no room left for denial.

It was as though Li Wenyuan’s spine had been ripped out of him. He collapsed completely into a puddle of useless flesh.

Xiao Juechen picked up the ledger and casually flipped through it before his gaze stopped on one particular page.

He looked toward the collapsed Li Wenyuan, his voice unreadable.

“Grand Scholar Li.”

“This ledger records that every year, you gifted Crown Prince’s Grand Tutor Wang Xianzhi three thousand taels as a ‘summer cooling tribute’ and five thousand taels as a ‘winter heating tribute.’”

His tone suddenly turned icy.

“And what, exactly, was the reason for that?”