The Yangs trial took nearly twice as long as Mingzhe's. Many of the soldiers and guards who'd testified during his trial returned to testify again. A handful of the Yang's lowest-level soldiers gave testimony that she'd instructed them to fire as soon as they had a clear shot of Beng Shai, answering the question Chenzhou had had since the Bandri leader died in his arms.
The servants in the household proved too loyal to willingly incriminate the family, but there were plenty outside the Yang Manor who were desperate not to get dragged down with them.
In a surprising gesture of self-sacrifice, Lord Wen had confessed to his involvement with the Yangs, but insisted he was the only one in his family involved. He testified that Lady Yang asked him to hide the magical tomes despite his reservations, that he'd ordered his soldiers to follow her commands, and even designated a group that was supposed to go north and die in an ambush before Zhao Mingzhe's forces beat them there. He'd even linked Lady Yang to several deaths around the estate that most had thought were accidents and identified the rest of the bones found in the Yang cellar. He'd even recalled several tense private meetings with Lady Yang where she railed and threatened Chenzhou's former regents, who'd held her in check far more powerfully than anyone had realized.
Lord Wen had given his testimony with the understanding that the rest of his family would be spared and he would take sole responsibility. It was a deal Chenzhou and Eirian had expressed strong support for, not just because he didn't want to have to execute another family, but because Eirian had wanted the assurance of knowing exactly where the books had come from. Lord Wen had confirmed that the Yangs had some of the books well before Eirian was even born, but three of them had been purchased while he was around to witness it. All from a book dealer in one of the larger trading villages in the borderlands, who also did a significant amount of business with the Land of Song and Snow. Li dispatched a small cadre of guards to bring him in, but it would be weeks before they were back.
It didn't make a difference for the Yangs case anyway.
Not after Hikari testified about everything that had happened with Mingzhe, and Lady Zhao detailed everything she had found, which, unfortunately, didn't exonerate her son, but was damning for Lady Yang. The Yang sons had been their mother's blades, carrying out her will even when they didn't know the full breadth of her plans. It was clear by the second week that all four of them would be executed. So would the spouses of the oldest two, who'd willingly taken part in the conspiracy. Bo Malin and Meimei gave testimony about what they had heard, about being shuffled off to different rooms when family talks were happening, about servants that wouldn't let them in certain areas of the manor. Family time with their children they weren't allowed to attend.
Rat hadn't been able to testify in front of the court, for his own safety, but he had given a detailed statement to Counsel Margrave, detailing which rooms on the manor contained a selection of artifacts stolen from the Vault and which guards would be easiest to turn against the Yangs. There weren't many. Rat suspected that the Yangs weeded out those who didn't show an inclination towards worship of the family and tended to arrange marriages between servants and guards, practically breeding followers.
By the final weeks of the trail Chenzhou and Eirian had become convinced that every single lock in the Camelia needed to be changed. The reach the Yangs had managed was almost unbelievable, but Lord Wen and several others had testified that it started well before Lady Yang. Chenzhou and Eirian weren't sure if that information had helped or hindered the case, really, and they'd spent several nights talking long into the darkness about it. It was overwhelming to think of the level of planning and how long it had all been going on for the two of them, never mind everyone else.
"This is going to damage Sorrow's willingness to allow refugees in." Chenzhou had murmured to the darkness, Eirian's head resting on his chest. "Can you talk to Eric? If we have to start turning away the tribes… so many will die."
"I'll talk to him," Eirian promised, pressing a kiss over her gentle husband's heart. "He's never been the kind to react out of fear." High society will be a more challenging issue, but Eric seems to be getting them under control. Or they're not stupid enough to interrupt the new queen's mourning period for her brother.
Beng Shan arrived in the last week of the Yang's trial, something arranged by Kai Low to the surprise of the rest of them. With a stack of letters as damning as her testimony. Lady Yang's communications with Beng Shai and several other tribal leaders had been well hidden, except for the fact that Beng Shai trusted his sister and truly wanted peace. Beng Shan was dedicated to his legacy and to protecting her people, and Lady Yang's double cross made her, as far as the new tribal chief was concerned, one of the biggest threats to both those things.
After everything, the High Court's recommendation wasn't surprising.
Nor was Chenzhou's eagerness to get it over and done with as soon as possible.
~ tbc