C125

The Prefect's face was ashen, his expression as cold as that of the Underworld Judge.

"If you don't do as I say, you will be sentenced to death for murdering someone! You will be executed one day!"

Lu Daquan and Madam Luo were both just countryside grasslands. They had limited knowledge, and were scared witless by Doctor Li's words and evidence. After being yelled at by the government officials, their bodies trembled like a sieve.

If he wanted to be sentenced to death, he had to be beheaded!

A country bumpkin with low experience was rather greedy, but he greatly valued his own life.

Hearing that, the Madam Luo could no longer hold it in, he kowtowed and said: "This humble woman knows her crimes, this humble woman knows her crimes, this humble woman and husband were just temporarily used for a moment by people, and did not know that it was arsenic.

"This commoner's wife is speaking of this commoner's intentions. We really do not have the intention to harm you, Sir!" Lu Daquan said in a panic.

What a joke! If it wasn't for the fact that he was already dead and had no life, what was the point of asking for money and worldly possessions!

Hearing Lu Daquan's and Madam Luo's words, the Prefect was a little hesitant, and did not ask any questions for a long time.

The official glanced at him and snorted. "The two of you said that you didn't kill anyone, but why are you adding arsenic to Chen Mu Mu Mu's food? Who was the one who ordered you?"

"This …" Madam Luo and Lu Daquan looked at each other with hesitation.

If they all confessed and angered that person, would they still be able to stay in this Linzhou realm in the future?

"Speak your mind. If you have any concerns, you will have this servant speak for you." Chen Liang said.

It was actually Inspector Chen Liangzhu!

Lu Daquan and Madam Luo had long heard that Chen Liang was a man of his words. With him around, they had to get to the bottom of the matter.

Moreover, his official rank was far above the Prefect's.

With him here, even the Prefect wouldn't dare to do anything to them.

With that thought, Madam Luo said: "This humble woman is willing to admit that this meal was given to Chen Mu Mu Mu by this humble woman and her husband. This humble woman and her husband were not on good terms with Chen Mu's family, so when they saw her fall, they couldn't help but want to add insult to injury.

"Bean, laxative?" The waiter narrowed his eyes. "Where did you buy the laxatives?"

Most people don't own these things. If they wanted to buy them, they would only go to the Medicine Hall to buy them. However, if they did, they would definitely have a record of buying them.

Madam Luo still wanted to say something, but Lu Daquan interrupted her: "Master, the laxative was not bought from the medicine hall, but by someone who gave it to us."

"Lu Daquan!" Madam Luo was anxious.

Although they were prepared in their hearts, they might not be able to win the favor of others if they were to expose the truth!

"Oh? Who was that?" The official asked with raised eyebrows.

Lu Daquan did not care about the hint given by the Madam Luo, and said straightforwardly: "That person is the Lord Prefect's eighteenth concubine, Lin Qiu'er!"

"Bullshit!" Upon hearing this, the Prefect could no longer sit still. He immediately stood up and slapped his chest with his palm. "What a load of nonsense!"

"What's there to be anxious about? It's not like you're talking about the medicine that the Lord Prefect gave you." Qin Tiansei said with a smile, "She's just a concubine. Don't tell me that even after doing something wrong, the Prefect still wants to shield her?"

Just a concubine.

The Prefect's heart stirred. He realized that he had lost his composure and coughed twice before sitting back down. He quickly said to the constable, "Go and bring Lin Qiu'er here."

The constable received the order and left. After a while, he returned empty-handed.

"Where is he?" The Prefect flew into a rage, "Didn't I tell you to go capture him? Where did he go? "

The constable was in a difficult position. He looked at Chen Liang with a shaky gaze. "My lord, young master, he … he won't let us leave …"

"This evil son!" The Prefect was so angry that his beard was standing on end. Originally, the case could have had nothing to do with them, but Shen Tianba leaving the person behind, wasn't that just giving him face? He was even telling others that his son protecting that concubine, must this case have something to do with him?

If the son of the Prefect was involved in harming others, the Prefect's face would not be spared, nor would the Prefect's reputation be spared. Would the title of Prefect still be taken steadily?

"Constable Wang!" The magistrate hardened his voice, "Bring a few more people with you. If that vile spawn dares to protect that prisoner, tie him up and bring him to me!"

The messenger Chen Liang and the Li King Qin Tianshui were both here, yet they still dared to be so arrogant.

Things had gone on like this, and the commoners were not in a hurry. The Prefect's father and son had bullied the commoners quite a few times, and now that they saw them being humiliated, the commoners were very happy.

The Constable Wang was naturally different from others in terms of speed and quality, not to mention that he had the order of a Prefect.

After half an incense worth of time, he brought his subordinates and tied up Shen Tianba and Lin Qiu'er.

The moment Shen Tianba saw the Prefect, he shouted in grievance, "Father, why did you capture us? It is clear that this commoner pair is framing my beloved concubine, you cannot allow them to insult our Shen Family's reputation, and frame my beloved concubine!"

"Shut up!" The Prefect was so angry that smoke rose from his head.

Love concubines, love concubines! In front of his position, even his son was not fit to be his son's concubine!

"Lu Daquan, repeat what you said just now, who gave you the laxative?"

After Shen Tianba heard this, he turned and glared at Lu Daquan and Madam Luo, "You two lowly commoners, you should clear this up first. If you continue to speak nonsense and offend my father and I, then this father will make it so that you two can't stay in the entire Linzhou anymore!"

Lu Daquan and Madam Luo looked at each other, not feeling a little shaken.

The little overlord's words were not a threat, after the lord messenger left, Linzhou would still be the little overlord's territory, and it would be a simple matter to flatten them! How could they afford to offend the Prefect and the Prefect?

The envoy sneered, "Yo, I didn't know that a stately Prefect not only bullies the commoners, but also makes them not dare to speak the truth!"

This was worse. If these words reached the ears of His Majesty, then even if the magistrate's black gauze hat wasn't guaranteed, he'd still be found guilty of dereliction of duty!

The Prefect's face turned pale as he hurriedly apologized, "Your excellency, please forgive me. It was this official who taught my son a lesson. My son has always been reckless. This official will definitely discipline him properly. Nothing that could suppress the commoners will happen."

Hearing this, the people in the hall booed.

If the Prefect and son of the Prefect do not oppress the people, unless the sun rises from the west.

Amidst the hissing sounds, the Prefect's face was green and purple. He fiercely glared at Shen Tianba and said to the Constable Wang, "That thing gag him!"

Constable Wang did things cleanly and decisively. When he got the order, he would find a piece of cloth from somewhere and cover Shen Tianba's mouth.

Chen Liang swept a cold glance over Qin Tiantai, but when he saw that Qin Tiantai was indifferent and unconcerned about his own matters, he retracted his gaze.

"Prefect, it's best for you to investigate this case thoroughly. There's actually such an unfair case occurring under the feet of the emperor. If word of this got to His Majesty's ears, it'd definitely infuriate Long Yan!"

No matter how foolish the Prefect was, he would understand the seriousness of the situation. He patted his wooden stick and said to Lu Daquan and Madam Luo: "The two of you, speak the truth. If there are any problems, I will guarantee it for you."

With the Prefect saying this, Lu Daquan and Madam Luo felt slightly more at ease. They then pointed at Lin Qiu'er and said, "It's this woman who gave me that package of so called laxatives. It's actually arsenic!"

"Sir, we haven't been studying for too long, so we don't know the difference between arsenic and laxatives. That's why we made the mistake, please be clear about it, sir."

"Nonsense, I didn't give you any arsenic. You two lowly commoners, if something were to happen, you would push it onto me. How preposterous!" Lin Qiu'er was no fool, and hastily said to the Prefect, "My lord, I have never given arsenic to these two people, but they intentionally set them up."

"He said he didn't have it, but the medicine you gave us is on him!" Madam Luo scoffed. When this kind of life time was at stake, she would not take the blame for Lin Qiu'er.

The Madam Luo pushed Lu Daquan, who hurriedly took out a paper bag from his chest and replied: "Reporting to my lord, this Lin Qiu'er and her mother are not good talkers in our village, she has let this commoner do what she wants, and this commoner is also worried about her taking advantage of them, thus this paper bag has not been discarded yet.

Not every pill sold by the Medicine Hall was recorded, but for a highly toxic drug like arsenic, the Medicine Hall had to place a high amount of it on sale.

For this reason, the poison sold every day had to be recorded in the records.

The messenger nodded his head and said to the Constable Wang, "Go to the Baohe Hall and check who has bought arsenic these days."

"Yes, milord." Constable Wang accepted the order and was about to leave.

"Wait." Lin Qiu'er panicked, "Master, this humble woman did go to Baohe Hall to buy arsenic, but that was because there was a rat in the family that she wanted to poison. Even so, this doesn't mean that the poison in Lu Daquan and his wife's hands was given by this humble woman."

"Then where are the arsenic you bought today?" the messenger asked.

Glimmers danced in Lin Qiu'er's eyes as she mumbled, "It's all used to feed rats."

"Summon the maidservants in her room and interrogate them." As matters stood, he could only allow Lin Qiu'er to plead guilty. He couldn't let her implicate his career and son.

Lin Qiu'er's face was ashen.

After Lin Qiu'er married the son of the Prefect, there was a maid in the room. From poor to simple, from extravagant to poor, when there was a maid in the room, it was impossible for Lin Qiu'er, who lived a life with status, to not use her maid. Especially from the Linzhou City to Xingyu Village, the journey was long and her identity was not easy to travel …

Naturally, it was to let the maidservants handle the matters.

But the servant girl was not herself, even if Shen Tianba swore that the servant girl was reliable, but after something happens, the servant girl would definitely not take responsibility for her.

With a thought, Lin Qiu'er's personal maid, Bai Xing, was brought up.

The young maid had never seen much of the world, coupled with the fact that her master was in court, she sold Lin Qiu'er without hesitation.

"The arsenic that Madam Eighteen bought was not used to poison mice at all. She had her servant pass the arsenic to Madam Luo and told him that it was laxative and to give it to Chen Mu in prison for eating. Madam Eighteen said that Lu Daquan and his wife had released the medicine, and if anything happens, it will be and his wife's fault. It has nothing to do with us, so this servant will be at ease. "