Lady Wan Guan

Chapter 41 I'll Prove
The farce outside quickly reached the ears of the ladies who were sitting in the side hall waiting for the meal to begin.

Everyone looked at each other, the water in the Song family was muddier than they imagined.

Mr. Zhu was blocked by Mr. and Mrs. Xu as soon as he left the yamen.

"Sir..." Xu Changwei just started to speak but was interrupted by Master Zhu waving his hand.

"Brother Chang Wei, there is really nothing I can do to help with this matter. You have seen the raging public opinion."

"Sir, I know this matter is difficult. I just ask you to delay it for a few days."

Mrs. Xu Yao cried: "Sir, my sister was wrongly accused."

Mr. Zhu frowned. The evidence was conclusive, but he still said he was unjust?

Xu Changwei saw Mr. Zhu's expression of concern and gave Yao a look to signal her to stop talking.

He said in a low voice: "Sir, we don't know the specific situation very well, but for the sake of Master Song, please forgive me for a few days and don't make a decision in court."

"Don't worry, you can delay me as long as you can." Mr. Zhu was straightforward. This request is not too much. As long as it is not a death certificate, there are ways to slow it down.

Watching Mr. Zhu leave, Xu Yao complained: "How can you talk like this? Doesn't this mean that my sister is guilty?"

Xu Changwei said with a sullen face: "Don't you know the virtues of my sister? Didn't you know that she had a wishful thinking when she wanted to regret the marriage? But she was eyeing the Jiang family's rich dowry. The wealth is so attractive that she wanted to kill Lady Jiang. , I’m not surprised at all.”

"If we weren't on the same page, why would I be begging Lord Zhu in such a low voice? I can't control this matter. I can only delay Lord Zhu for a few days. It's better to wait for Song Qian to come back to solve it. Although Song Qian despises your sister, , but for the sake of his own official reputation, he will do his best. Otherwise, if a person does not govern his family strictly, his path to official promotion will be cut off."

"Don't say I didn't warn you. Once you find that something is inevitable, you have to get out in time and don't get involved too deeply."

"Also, you should take good care of A Yin. Although she is not your child, she has called you mother for more than ten years. Don't let her get confused again. It would be a shame to lose her own face. Don't bring trouble to the Xu family."

Being scolded by her husband, Xu Yao was angry and did not dare to argue, so she could only cry silently.

After everyone waited for more than half an hour, the prefect finally came to court to question the case.

Song Yao could no longer stand, so Master Zhu asked someone to move a chair so that she could sit and listen to the trial.

After all, before she was convicted, she was still an official's wife, and there was no reason to kneel down to hear the trial.

The gavel made a "snap" sound.

The courtroom was silent.

Master Zhu read the complaint filed by Lu Fugui and his son.

"Lu Fugui."

"The grass people are here."

"Ms. Cui died on the night of September [-]th. Why did you come to the Yamen to file a complaint today? Did anyone give you instructions?"

Mr. Zhu glanced at Mr. Li, the judge, who was sitting nearby, and Mr. Qian, who was standing nearby.

It took so many days to report the case, and in one morning, the autopsy, arrest of Dr. Wu, interrogation, and finally the Song Yao family were all completed in one go, breaking the fastest speed in the history of Jiangcheng government offices.From the arrest, to the manager, to the general judge, everything was kept secret. It was not until Song Yao was arrested that he, the prefect, knew what happened.

Mr. Zhu felt that there was a pair of hands behind this that was planning, promoting, and leading all of this.

Whose hands could these be?
Song Qian's political opponent?Song Qian had served abroad for many years. Where did Jiangcheng have political opponents?

The enemy of Song Mansion?This is not very clear. I learned from my wife that the Song Yao family did not have a very good reputation in Jiangcheng and was stingy.

Or...the Jiang family?
The Jiang family's wife married Jiangcheng from Ningchuan and was said to be alone, but as far as he knew, the Jiang family sent someone to help take care of the dowry.After all, the dowry was too generous and involved many industries.

"My lord, no one has given me instructions. It's just the common people who are getting more and more angry. My wife joined the Yao Mansion when she was 12 years old. She has been serving Mrs. Song with all her heart. She has been doing her best to be loyal. Because she is a gambler, she owes a lot of debt. My wife I had no choice but to accept Aunt Zheng's benefits, but my wife has never really betrayed Mrs. Song or done anything detrimental to Mrs. Song."

"And Mrs. Song ruthlessly killed my wife just because she received some benefits from Aunt Zheng. The common people cannot swallow this tone, and the common people will complain about my wife."

Lu Fugui burst into tears, which made those who heard it sad and those who heard it shed tears.Mr. Zhu collected his thoughts and said: "Lu Fugui, you have to know that Mrs. Cui is a slave. According to the laws of Daqi, slaves are the private property of the master, and the master can dispose of them at will."

"My lord, five years ago, Mrs. Song returned my wife's body deed, and my wife is no longer a slave."

Lu Fugui took out a deed letter and presented it with both hands.

Xing Baotou forwarded the deed of interpretation to Mr. Zhu.

Mr. Zhu sighed secretly. With this interpretation of the deed, it would not work to excuse the Yao family of Song Dynasty by saying that the master's family could dispose of private property at will.

So Master Zhu asked Song Yao: "Mrs. Song, can you admit what Lu Fugui said?"

Song Yao said: "I don't admit that it is true that Cui died of poisoning, but she took the poison herself. She felt ashamed of me and committed suicide. Steward Zhong and Aunt Liu have testified."

Lu Fugui said angrily: "It's nice to say that you committed suicide. My wife was imprisoned in the woodshed by you. Where did she get the arsenic? You didn't send the arsenic to her and forced her to die."

"Bah bang bang..." Mr. Zhu knocked on the gavel tree repeatedly.

"Lu Fugui, please don't make any noise in the courtroom."

Lu Fugui shut his mouth angrily.

"Call the steward and Aunt Liu."

Manager Zhong and Aunt Liu were called to the hall.

The two of them had already compared their confessions, claiming that Madam was just testing Aunt Cui and did not want Aunt Cui's life. Unexpectedly, Aunt Cui was so stubborn that she drank the arsenic and wanted to die to prove it. Although she accepted Aunt Zheng money, but did not really betray his wife.Madam also regretted it, so she gave the Lu family and his son 50 taels of silver so that they could bury Nanny Cui safely.

Master Zhu breathed a sigh of relief. If he said this, Mrs. Song's crime of killing Cui would not be established.

Unexpectedly, someone in the hall shouted: "Sir, my servants can testify that they were the ones who killed Aunt Cui."

Mr. Zhu's brain was twitching, and he thought in his heart: There is a nosy person out of nowhere.

I saw a woman walking out from the crowd listening to the trial with her head held high.

"Send her to court." Mr. Zhu said angrily.

With so many people watching, it was difficult for him to ignore it, so he just put it aside and just called out.

The mother-in-law strode into the hall and knelt down.

"Who are you?"

"My lord, Cao Min is the steward of Song Mansion, Mrs. Wang."

"You said you can prove that Ms. Cui was murdered. You have to think carefully. If you give perjury, you will be punished."

"Sir, everything the common people say is true, and there is absolutely no lie."

Grandma Wang's piercing eyes and confident manner made Song Yao, as well as Manager Zhong and Grandma Liu who had perjured themselves, tremble in their hearts.

"Tell me how you can testify."

"Back to your lord, on the night of the [-]th, I wanted to go to the woodshed to see if Aunt Cui was okay. I usually receive a lot of care from Aunt Cui. As a result, I walked halfway and saw the lady with the clock. The steward and Aunt Liu went to the woodshed where Aunt Cui was imprisoned, and the servant followed behind out of curiosity."

"The slave saw from the crack in the door that Steward Zhong was holding down Aunt Cui. Aunt Liu grabbed Aunt Cui's chin and poured soup into Aunt Cui's mouth. Soon she saw Aunt Cui falling to the ground, twitching, and uttering white words. Mo. The slave was frightened and ran away. Not long after, he heard that Grandma Cui was dead."

There was an uproar in the hall.

This is really killing people.

(End of this chapter)