The Ming family would naturally not be thrown into disarray by a midwife who appeared out of nowhere. Chen Bochang was also a skilled debater, fiercely attacking the midwife's testimony by pointing out the length of time that had passed since the birthmark was supposedly seen, the midwife's old age, and the unreliability of her memory. He was determined not to concede.

Xia Qifei's background only had these flimsy pieces of circumstantial evidence, which were insufficient. Moreover, the Prefect of Suzhou and the officials of Jiangnan Road were already leaning towards the Ming family.

Song Shiren was furious, thinking that the people of Jiangnan were indeed a bunch of troublemakers. He had painstakingly "designed" this midwife, but the other side was shamelessly denying everything. However, seeing the Suzhou Prefect's expression and hearing his words, Song Shiren knew that the evidence on his side was indeed rather weak when it came to the matter of the Ming family's property, and its persuasiveness was greatly reduced.

However, Song Shiren was very confident. Noticing Suzhou Prefecture's secret bias and unwillingness to accept his arguments, he resorted to using his own annoying, sharp tongue to denigrate the Ming family and subtly criticize Suzhou Prefecture. His words were full of ridicule and sarcasm. In any case, he was a famous figure from the capital and didn't care about the methods of the Jiangnan gentry. Relying on the support of Lord Fan, he was naturally very bold.

Ming Lanshi, Chen Bochang, and the Suzhou Prefect in court were not anxious at all. They watched the famous litigator perform with smiles, listening to the spittle flying around the courtroom. Although they hated him to death, they stubbornly suppressed their anger.

"Mr. Song, do you have any other evidence to prove that Xia Qifei is the seventh son of Old Master Ming?" the Suzhou Prefect asked, clenching his fist in his sleeve and frowning.

"Your Honor, the midwife clearly remembered everything. Why can't that be used as evidence?" Song Shiren stood on the courtroom floor with his feet apart.

"Alas, Brother Song's words are not appropriate," Chen Bochang said, bowing to the side. "That old woman is already inconvenient to move, her cheeks are weak, and she is a dying person. How can the words of someone who is so old and senile be accurate? Besides, she clearly remembered the Ming family's arrangements back then, but who knows if someone with ulterior motives told her about the events of that year… and then made her remember them to frame us?"

Song Shiren narrowed his eyes and said, "What a shameless frame-up."

Chen Bochang was slightly angry, thinking, you can do such shameless things, can't I even say it?

Song Shiren was too lazy to pay attention to him and directly asked the court, "Your Honor, do you also have the same opinion?"

The common people outside the courtroom had already generally believed in Xia Qifei's background. After all, the midwife's acting skills were truly superb. At this time, the onlookers saw that the Suzhou Prefect and the Ming family were probably going to deny it to the death, and some who enjoyed excitement started to jeer.

But most people were silent. After all, they still favored the Ming family in their hearts. Especially since Xia Qifei's backing seemed to be a force from the capital, the Jiangnan people were very wary and disgusted by this situation.

The Suzhou Prefect's old face flushed slightly. He knew that denying the midwife's confession to the death was indeed inappropriate, but looking at Ming Lanshi's eyes, he knew that he had to stubbornly persist like this. He cleared his throat and said, "That midwife is indeed old and senile. The right to accept or reject evidence rests with me. If it were a general civil case, then Mr. Song's argument would not be inappropriate. However, as Mr. Song mentioned earlier, the Ministry of Justice classifies this as third class. The Ming family's property case is undoubtedly a first-class example. Without more detailed and reliable evidence, I really cannot render a judgment."

This was exactly what Song Shiren was waiting for. He frowned slightly, pretended to look disappointed, and said in a shrill voice, "Your Honor! This is not right! The matter happened so long ago, where can I find other evidence? I have already found a witness, but Your Honor says it's not acceptable. What kind of evidence do you want?"

The Suzhou Prefect was secretly delighted, thinking that no matter how arrogant and famous you Song Shiren are, you are still like dough to be kneaded by us officials in the courtroom. No matter what kind of witnesses you present, I can always find a way to reject them. At this time, hearing Song Shiren's panicked question, he subconsciously said, "Both witness testimony and material evidence are required before a judgment can be made."

Song Shiren didn't wait for him to continue speaking. He opened his lips and spat out a series of words like a machine gun, "Your Honor? Who is making the judgment?"

"Naturally, it is I…"

"Since Your Honor is making the judgment, may I ask what constitutes material evidence?" Song Shiren pressed aggressively, not giving the Suzhou Prefect more time to react.

The Suzhou Prefect was slightly stunned, hesitating.

Song Shiren bowed with both hands, stared directly into the other's eyes, and pressed, "What exactly is material evidence?"

The Suzhou Prefect was startled by his aura, as if he had returned to the scene of his law examination many years ago. He subconsciously replied, "Traces, weapons, written documents…"

"Written documents? Good!" Song Shiren's eyes narrowed into a curve, and he praised loudly, saying, "Your Honor is wise."

The Suzhou Prefect was stunned again, not knowing where his wisdom lay. He hesitantly asked, "Mr. Song…"

Song Shiren still didn't give him a chance to finish a sentence, and asked extremely urgently, "Your Honor, if there is written evidence, can it be used as proof?"

"Naturally…"

Song Shiren interrupted again, "If there is written evidence, Your Honor must not deny it!"

The Suzhou Prefect nodded angrily and said, "What are you saying? I am also familiar with the laws of Qing, how can I not know the power of written evidence? You litigator are too rude. If you can produce written evidence, it will naturally be more credible than that midwife earlier."

As soon as these words came out, the Suzhou Prefect suddenly felt that he seemed to have said something wrong. Why had he suddenly become so talkative? He subconsciously looked down at the courtroom floor, only to see Ming Lanshi and Chen Bochang looking surprised and disappointed, while the litigator named Song Shiren had a smug smile on his face.

……

……

Song Shiren repeatedly interrupted the Suzhou Prefect's words, completely blocking his well-thought-out responses. Then, he suddenly left an opening at the end, provoking him several times, so that the Prefect confirmed the importance of written evidence in front of everyone before presenting the evidence, so as to avoid the shameless scene of denying it again later.

This was actually a very superficial psychological tactic and verbal skill in debate. It was like dangling a sausage in front of a dog, but never letting it eat a satisfying bite. When you finally shove a banana over, the dog will be overjoyed and eat it all, forgetting that it originally wanted to eat a sausage, not a banana.

Chen Bochang realized that the Prefect had fallen for Song Shiren's trick and sighed secretly in his heart. He didn't have a chance to interrupt earlier, because Song Shiren spoke really fast, and that arrogant and rogue tone was indeed very easy to anger people.

He and Ming Lanshi exchanged glances and shook their heads helplessly, feeling a trace of doubt in their hearts. What written evidence was the other party holding… that could prove Xia Qifei's identity?

The Suzhou Prefect knew that he had been played by Song Shiren. Looking at that person's hateful smile, he wished he could order someone to beat him up, but he couldn't do it at this time. He had to ask in a deep voice, "Since you have written evidence, why didn't you present it earlier?"

Song Shiren respectfully bowed and said, "I will present it now."

The Prefect sneered, "If your written evidence is invalid, don't blame me for closing the case."

Song Shiren said with a sinister smile, "Your Honor, don't worry. Although this written evidence is old, it is an inanimate object and won't become senile… Your Honor, please rest assured."

The Suzhou Prefect was choked and felt uneasy.

……

……

Song Shiren whispered something into Xia Qifei's ear. Xia Qifei frowned slightly, seemingly not expecting that he would have to take out that thing so soon. It seemed that proving his identity was indeed an extremely difficult matter.

He took out the small box from his bosom, carefully handed it to the clerk, his eyes constantly staring at the clerk's hands holding the box, as if he was afraid that someone would snatch the box away in broad daylight.

Seeing Xia Qifei's solemn expression, Chen Bochang's brow furrowed. He leaned over to Ming Lanshi's ear and asked, "Young Master, can you guess what it is?"

Ming Lanshi's face was somewhat puzzled, thinking that Suzhou was not like the capital and did not have the concept of a birth certificate. What exactly was that written evidence?

At this time, the Suzhou Prefect in the courtroom had already opened the box. He and the clerk glanced at it, and their expressions changed immediately!

Ming Lanshi and Chen Bochang were shocked.

The Suzhou Prefect looked at Ming Lanshi with a somewhat complex look in his eyes.

Song Shiren smiled and raised his voice by an octave, speaking calmly, "This written evidence is the will personally written by Old Master Ming, stating that he would leave all the Ming family's property to his seventh son, Ming Qingcheng… This will has been kept in Mr. Xia's hands. This is enough to prove that Mr. Xia is the Ming family's seventh son!"

Before everyone could wake up from their shock, Song Shiren changed his tone and preemptively added a patch, looking at the Suzhou Prefect and sneering, "Of course, some stubborn and foolish people can still say that Mr. Xia accidentally picked up this will and came to impersonate the Ming family's descendants… But with a midwife earlier and written evidence later, if anyone still dares to frame us so blatantly… Hmph, the eyes of the world are not blind, and they are not without brains. Who in my Qing Dynasty, from the officials above to the common people of Jiangnan, would believe it?"

Old Master Ming's will!

The situation in the courtroom changed abruptly. The crowd outside the Yamen clamored, while Ming Lanshi and Chen Bochang in the courtroom were dumbfounded as if struck by lightning. Ming Lanshi muttered to himself in shock, "Impossible, when did Grandpa write a will? This must be fake!"

Song Shiren looked at the young master of the Ming family from the side with a fake smile and said, "Sure enough, someone started saying it was fake without even looking at it… Could it be that Young Master Ming is a deity?"

Ming Lanshi was still in shock. Hearing Song Shiren's words, he angrily waved his sleeve and said, "This will must be fake!"

Hearing him speak like this, Song Shiren felt a little proud in his heart. He knew that the situation he was most worried about had not happened, and his patch had been added in time. If the other party did not dwell on the authenticity of the will, but instead, as he had said earlier, insisted that Xia Qifei had picked up this will and was now impersonating the long-dead seventh young master of the Ming family to seize the family property, that would be the most difficult thing to deal with – if the other party carried out the shamelessness to the end – he would really have no way to deal with it.

But now, the young master of the Ming family, in his shock, only cared about saying that the will was fake and did not accuse Xia Qifei of impersonating by picking up the will… In this way, as long as he could prove that the will was real, then… the fact that Xia Qifei was the seventh young master of the Ming family could be confirmed.

Song Shiren breathed a sigh of relief. Today's court hearing seemed like a farce, but in fact, every word he said and the planned sequence had great significance. Only in this way could he lead this difficult situation in the direction he hoped.

The Qing Dynasty's number one litigator was indeed worthy of his reputation.

—————————————————————————

The Suzhou Prefect's face was livid. He beckoned the litigators from both sides to approach the case table and said, "The written evidence is here, but its authenticity is unknown…"

Song Shiren was destined not to let the Prefect feel comfortable today, and interrupted, "Your Honor, whether it is real or fake can be determined by inspection. Why say it is unknown?"

Chen Bochang was, after all, a well-known litigator in Jiangnan. He had already recovered from his previous shock and knew that Song Shiren was using a tactic to test the waters today. He smiled and responded, "Your Honor, since the other party says this is Old Master Ming's will, then of course it must be inspected. The young master of the Ming family is present. Why not let him come forward and take a look?"

He turned to Song Shiren and said gently, "Mr. Song, you wouldn't have any objections, would you?"

"As long as Young Master Ming doesn't go crazy and swallow the will, what's the harm in taking a look?" Song Shiren narrowed his eyes and said with a sinister smile, "Brother Chen's composure is indeed remarkable."

"The same to you," Chen Bochang responded with a smile.

The Suzhou Prefect couldn't understand what the two great litigators were praising each other for. Only Song Shiren and Chen Bochang knew that since it was a family property lawsuit, proving Xia Qifei's identity was just an introduction. Which side would the huge property ultimately go to was the important drama. Even if the will Xia Qifei produced was real, according to the Qing Dynasty's laws, the Ming family could almost still stand on unassailable ground.

Therefore, Chen Bochang was not panicked, and Song Shiren was not happy. They both knew that the long road ahead still lay ahead.

At this time, Ming Lanshi had already walked over, looking at the will on the table with a face full of unease.

In Ming Garden, many of Old Master Ming's original writings were still preserved. The Ming family's children looked at them every day and had long been familiar with them. Therefore, as soon as Ming Lanshi saw the thin and withered handwriting on the will, he knew that it was indeed written by his grandfather. And the paper used for the will was indeed Qingzhou paper, which Old Master Ming had favored the most…

Ming Lanshi's face was somewhat disturbed. He saluted the Prefect and retreated.

Chen Bochang leaned over to his ear and said softly, "Is it real or fake?"

Ming Lanshi frowned and said, "I'm afraid… it's real…" But the young master Ming had, after all, begun to manage the family's business in recent years, and his mind had been tempered to be quite resolute. He felt a trace of strangeness in just a moment, and coupled with the few secrets his father had revealed in the past, his face became strange, and he lowered his voice and said, "No… this is fake!"

Chen Bochang said in surprise, "Oh? How do you judge?"

Ming Lanshi gritted his teeth and said darkly, "My ancestor's methods… if she had wanted to take action back then, where would she have left a will!"

Chen Bochang was stunned. He knew that the other party was talking about the Old Madam Ming. Thinking about it, it was indeed like that. If Old Madam Ming had wanted to seize the family property back then, kill people, and expel them from the family, the first task would definitely have been to take care of the will. This will should not have remained in this world at all.

"Then this will…" He frowned.

Ming Lanshi said dimly, "Like that midwife, I'm afraid they are all fakes made by the Supervisory Council."

At this point, the Ming family was shocked to discover how long and deep the Supervisory Council had worked on this matter for Xia Qifei, and how much effort had been spent. That perfectly fabricated will, without several months of time, could not have been made so meticulous. Just the aging of the paper and the choice of materials were extremely complicated things.

It should be known that this kind of Qingzhou paper had already been discontinued ten years ago. Who knew that the Supervisory Council could still find it.

The methods used by the Supervisory Council were powerful enough, and the litigation method they adopted was even more shameless to the extreme… making fakes all the way to the end… Was there still justice in this world?

Ming Lanshi thought sadly, but he couldn't help but have a person appear in his eyes, that young and handsome Imperial Envoy, who seemed to be standing somewhere looking at him with a gentle smile on his face, his lips slightly open, as if he was about to have a big meal.

Behind this matter, Lord Fan was naturally in charge.

……

……

Once the will was produced, its authenticity had to be verified. Suzhou Prefecture had sent people to Ming Garden to compare the handwriting with Old Master Ming's original writings, and at the same time, according to Song Shiren's seemingly fair suggestion, to the Inner Treasury Transport Department to retrieve the signature archives of the bidding documents of that year, and also to invite officials from the Suzhou sub-office of the Supervisory Council's Fourth Division to come and check the age and paper used in the will.

Everyone knew that the Supervisory Council was best at doing this kind of work.

Since they were good at making fakes, they were of course also good at identifying fakes. But since it was originally a fake made by the Supervisory Council, and the Supervisory Council was asked to verify it, it was like asking a wolf to solve the case of a missing lamb.

The Suzhou Prefect cursed in his heart, but he didn't dare to directly say anything bad about the Supervisory Council in front of everyone, so he had to agree to the proposal. But at the same time, he had other ideas. He sent people to invite the patrolling censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and also to the Jiangnan Governor's Office to invite that powerful criminal law master to judge the authenticity of the will.

Because of the appearance of the will, the trial in Suzhou Prefecture was temporarily suspended. Verifying the will always took time, so the onlookers quickly went to the teahouse to buy tea and sesame cakes. After satisfying their hunger and thirst, they had to hurry back to watch the show.

But when those people returned, they found that the best spots had been taken by the onlookers who had endured their hunger, so they had to curse a few times in secret, but they couldn't take them back.

The Ming family had long sent over food boxes. Ming Lanshi ate the food tasteless, not knowing what Chen Bochang said in his ear, Ming Lanshi's spirits were a little better.

And over here, Hua Garden had no qualms about anything and sent food boxes to Xia Qifei. There were very few people here, only Song Shiren and Xia Qifei were eating. Song Shiren glanced at the Ming family over there and said softly to Xia Qifei, "With the will out, Master Xia's identity can be clarified."

The excited look in Xia Qifei's eyes flashed and disappeared, and he said gratefully, "Thank you, sir."

"However…" Song Shiren said seriously, "Recognizing Master Xia as a descendant of the Ming family does not mean you can get back what belongs to you."

Xia Qifei understood what he meant.

Song Shiren sighed, "The laws of Qing are strict, based on the scriptures. The regulations on inheritance of family property in the 'Household and Marriage' section of the Qing Dynasty's laws are too rigid. The other party is the eldest son of the eldest branch and has an absolute advantage. Even if you have Old Master Ming's will, it is impossible for the government to award the Ming family's property to you. What's more, these officials of Jiangnan Road… seem to listen to the Ming family."

Xia Qifei nodded slightly, with a determined look on his face and said, "If I can be vindicated today, it is already an unexpected joy. As for the matter of the family property, everything is according to what you say, sir. Lord Fan has also said that this matter cannot be rushed. As long as the will is confirmed, this lawsuit can be dropped."

Song Shiren shook his head with a smile and said, "The lawsuit must continue to be fought. Even if we know that we will not win in the end, we must continue to fight, so that the Ming family is overwhelmed and unable to cope, and so that the Ming family is disgraced. I have this ability."

The litigator said this easily and freely, but in fact, he had a stomach full of complaints against Fan Xian.

He was summoned to Jiangnan by that Lord Fan from thousands of miles away. Who knew that he was going to fight… a lawsuit that was bound to lose! And Fan Xian also ordered him to drag out the process of the lawsuit as long as possible… Song Shiren had only lost to Fan Xian once in his life in the courtroom, and now he was going to lose a second time because of Fan Xian, which made him feel full of sorrow. But there was no way… who made him invest in Lord Fan, and who made Lord Fan's generosity so great.

In the afternoon, the joint inspection team, consisting of officials from the Supervisory Council, officials from Suzhou Prefecture, officials from the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the criminal law master from the Jiangnan Governor's Office, studied the yellowed paper for a long time.

First, they compared the handwriting and signature. Old Master Ming's withered handwriting was extremely difficult to imitate, and the personal writing habits, such as the tail of all the "zou zhi" radicals dragging down… were all fully displayed on the will.

And the paper used was indeed the Qingzhou paper that had long been discontinued. The criminal law master judged from the degree of yellowing and dampness that the writing time of the will was very close to the year claimed by Xia Qifei.

The tone and wording of the will were also completely consistent with Old Master Ming when he was alive.

The most important thing was the seal. After comparing it with Old Master Ming's seal brought from Ming Garden, it was exactly the same!

……

……

But it was this exact sameness that made the experienced old official from the Jiangnan Governor's Office feel a trace of strangeness. A will that had been kept for more than ten years, the color of the seal was indeed old and slightly faded, but the slight scratches were actually exactly the same as the current seal… This was too strange.

However, the old official also understood that this matter was very complicated, and this point could not be considered a suspicious point at all, so he didn't pay too much attention to it. As for the officials from Suzhou Prefecture and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, they were一心想证实这封遗书是假的，最后甚至动用了内库特产的放大型玻璃片……却依然找不到一丝漏洞.

After some discussion among the officials, a consensus was reached, and the Suzhou Prefect had no choice but to announce helplessly in court: the will was real, then Xia Qifei was also really that seventh young master of the Ming family who should have died long ago – Ming Qingcheng.

……

……

(The first day of 2008, I originally prepared to write something, but thinking about it, I decided to let it go. I won't say too much nonsense, just wish everyone a Happy New Year, live happily, and cast more monthly votes, which is beneficial to your physical and mental health, haha…

Last month's monthly ticket was fourth, which has nothing to do with my ability to solicit votes. Everyone knows that my level in this area is very poor. It all depends on everyone giving me face, which gave me 3,000 yuan more bonus, and I bought a new mobile phone, Nokia 6300, a grey import. In addition, I have to buy a Sony Ericsson 608C for my mother, because it has handwriting, so that the old lady can learn to send text messages… Oh, the happy 3,000 yuan, all given by everyone, sincerely thank you.

I drank three bottles of beer last night, and as a result, I was dizzy for a long time. I got up late today… This shows that people are already old… During the Spring Festival in February, I may have to ask everyone for some leave, because I have to go back to my hometown to warm the grave for my uncle, and I have to go back to the village. The mountain roads are difficult to travel, and I am afraid that I will not be able to work those days. I will explain in advance and ask for leave pending approval. Happy New Year, nonsense to here.

I said to say less nonsense, but I still talked so much nonsense. Of course, this paragraph is not counted in the word count. I wish you a Happy New Year again, sincerely.)