"Who is kneeling in the hall?" Zhou Du asked, slapping the waking tree.
"The Qi family's daughter Surong." Qi Surong replied.
"Daughter of the Qi family, someone has accused you of poisoning Cao Xiang, the second son of the Cao family. Can you plead guilty?"
"Your Majesty, it is clear to me that the little girl definitely did not poison Mr. Cao's family." Qi Surong said calmly, "A few days ago, the little girl went to the Su Mansion at the invitation of Miss Su's family. At that time, she was arranged by a servant to wait for Miss Su in a guest room. The woman's maid followed the servant to get something, and the little girl was left alone in the room. At this moment, Master Cao suddenly broke in with the intention of insulting my innocence. The little girl looked into his eyes to protect herself. Sprinkle a handful of paprika.”
"You said you threw a handful of chili powder at him?"
"Exactly."
"Do you keep your chili powder in this kit?" Zhou Du picked up a kit from the desk.
Qi Surong looked up and replied, "Exactly. The golden butterfly on the brocade bag was embroidered by the little girl herself."
Zhou Du sneered: "Really? Then you still dare to say that the bag contains chili powder? I asked someone to check it, and it is clearly scorpion venom powder."
Qi Surong's eyes narrowed and he stared at the kit tightly: "Scorpion poison powder?"
"That's right." Zhou Du said coldly, "This poisonous powder can be fatal if eaten. If it is sprinkled into the eyes, it can cause blindness."
"I have never seen any scorpion venom powder. The chili powder in the kit must have been replaced by someone."
"This kit has been kept in the Yamen since the day of the accident. Do you suspect that I am committing fraud?"
"Young lady, you don't dare." Qi Surong was silent for a moment and asked, "Excuse me, sir, how is Mr. Cao's injury?"
"After diagnosis by several doctors, he was diagnosed with blindness in both eyes." Zhou Du said, "The nature of this case has changed. Daughter of the Qi family, you deliberately poisoned Mr. Cao. The evidence is conclusive, but you still haven't pleaded guilty?"
"What do you mean by conclusive evidence? Just the bag of tricks in your hand?"
"Of course there are more." Zhou Du said with a sharp look, "In addition to Miss Su, there were also the daughters of Governor Li, the daughter of Supervisor Fang Yuan, the daughter of Minister Wang, and their attendant maids, a total of twelve people. Everyone provided strong testimony. Mr. Cao’s eyes were red at the time and he was in constant pain, and you personally admitted that his injuries were indeed caused by you."
"Your Excellency, it is clear that Mr. Cao intends to treat me lightly. The little girl sprinkled chili powder on him to protect herself. She definitely did not use any scorpion venom powder." Qi Surong defended himself.
Zhou Du asked: "Then do you have evidence to prove that Mr. Cao is frivolous to you, and do you have evidence to prove that you only used chili powder?"
"This little girl doesn't believe that Mr. Cao is really blind, so she asks you to bring him to court and have his injuries examined on the spot." Qi Surong said without fear.
Zhou Du said: "It's okay to let him go to court, but he is the son of an official, and you are just a common woman. If you hurt others first and disrespect later, I will first punish you with thirty strokes."
As soon as these words came out, Gu Jinyun in the crowd couldn't help but wanted to rush over, but was held back by the attendant beside him. Qi Shuo ignored him, pushed aside the government officials who were blocking the road, rushed into the court, and shouted: "Who dares to hurt my Qi's daughter!"
"How dare you break into the court without permission! Someone, kick this person out!" Zhou Du ordered.
"Piff Zhou, how dare you!" Qi Shuo stared at him angrily.
"Qi Shuo, you now have no official title, break into the court without permission, and are lawless. Do you really think that I am afraid of you?"
Qi Surong secretly felt that something was wrong, Zhou Du seemed to intend to anger his father. If it were done in court, my father would not be able to escape the blame.
She quickly leaned over and said, "Sir, Ping Nu is willing to be punished."
"Su Rong!" Father Qi shouted.
Qi Surong took her father's hand and whispered, "Dad, don't be impulsive. Only those who are clean will be clean. Nothing will happen to my daughter."
"Is everything going to be okay?" Qi's father said angrily, "How can you still be fine after these thirty boards?"
"Dad, this matter was obviously deliberately framed. If you conflict with the government, you will definitely be imprisoned. Then who else can redress your daughter's grievances?" Qi Surong said sincerely, "Dad, please be patient for now. Thirty big bans. My daughter can still bear it.”
Father Qi glared, bared his teeth, and clenched his fists loudly. Finally, he was driven out by the Yamen servants.
Zhou Du snorted coldly and ordered: "Come here and be punished."
Qi Surong was put on the ground, and two government officials raised their wooden sticks and hit her hard on the body.
She bit her lip to prevent herself from making any sound. It doesn't matter, what is this pain compared to the suffering in the previous life
Qi's father's veins were exposed on his forehead, his chest was rising and falling violently, and he had the desire to kill. Has his daughter ever been humiliated and beaten like this? The only blame is that he was useless and failed to retain the power and position of the Qi family.
Gu Jinyun's eyes were cold, and the wooden stick fell on Su Rong again and again, like a severe blow to his heart. Looking at the clothes that were gradually stained with blood, he felt a heart-wrenching pain. For the first time, I felt so incompetent that I couldn't even protect my own woman.
Thirty big boards passed by, and the government officials stepped aside.
At this time, Cao Xiang slowly walked into the courtroom with the support of two servants.
He saluted slightly: "Cao Xiang has met Mr. Zhou."
"Master Cao, no courtesy, you are injured, so you can sit down and listen to the trial. Come and watch."
"Thank you, sir."
Qi Surong struggled to stand up and turned to look at Cao Xiang, only to see him sitting on a chair with his eyes covered with gauze and dressed neatly.
She straightened her back and said with a pale face: "Please send someone to examine the injury."
Zhou Du ordered a doctor to be called, and the doctor helped Cao Xiang untie the gauze, revealing a pair of red and swollen eyes. After checking for a moment, the doctor replied: "Sir, this young man's eyes were injured by scorpion poison powder, resulting in blindness."
"Is there any way to cure it?" Zhou Du asked.
"This poison is quite overbearing and difficult to eradicate. Even if all the toxins are removed in the future, vision will be affected." The doctor bowed and said, "And as far as the villain knows, no one in Wei State can detoxify the scorpion poison powder. , I’m afraid this young master will become disabled in the future.”
"Qi Surong, you are so cruel!" Cao Xiang slapped the armrest and said angrily, "Although I don't get along with you, I won't let you do this cruel thing! Give me my eyes back!"
The people watching from the government's periphery were originally quite sympathetic to Qi Surong, but after seeing Cao Xiang, they began to accuse Qi Surong of being too vicious.
When Qi Surong heard the doctor's diagnosis, she knew there was nothing she could do to save her. This was carefully planned from start to finish. The poisonous powder in the kit was exchanged, the doctor was bribed, Cao Xiang pretended to be blind, and Zhou Du secretly cooperated. The case seemed to be clear at a glance, leaving no one with the ability to fight back.
"Qi Surong, what else do you have to say now?" Zhou Du shouted.
"Little girl, I have nothing to say." Qi Surong said expressionlessly.
"So, can you plead guilty to poisoning Mr. Cao?"
"The little girl doesn't recognize it."
"With all the witnesses and material evidence, you still dare to quibble?"
Qi Surong knew that jail was inevitable and had no intention of escaping. She was willing to spend several years in jail in exchange for future peace for the Qi family. But she must not take the initiative to admit this crime, otherwise it will definitely bring shame to the Qi family.
"You don't plead guilty. Do you have evidence to prove your innocence?"
"The little girl was framed." Qi Surong said firmly.
"Who framed you?"
"The little girl doesn't know."
Zhou Du said angrily: "Are you kidding me? Come on, grab your stick. Today I want to see how long you can hold your tongue."
The government officials on both sides came over fiercely with instruments of torture.
"Ah!" Qi Surong's ankle was tightened by the clamping stick, and he couldn't help but scream in pain.
The officer showed no mercy and almost pinched off her legs. Qi Surong was in so much pain that she finally couldn't hold on and fainted. Before she fell into coma, she was secretly glad that it was not her hand that was pinched...
Seeing her fainted, Zhou Du slapped the wake-up wood and said loudly: "I have announced that the case of Qi's daughter suspected of poisoning Young Master Cao was established. Qi Surong was not angry with Cao Xiang's rhetoric/playing, so he administered scorpion poison powder to her. As a result, he became blind and acted excessively. The guilty woman Qi Surong is now sentenced to five years in prison and fined three thousand taels of silver."
As soon as the verdict came out, Qi's father had not yet reacted, but Cao Xiang refused to accept it and said: "Sir, this woman made me blind. Five years' imprisonment is too light."
Zhou Du said displeasedly: "If you have any objection to my judgment, you can appeal for a re-sentence. There will be no criticism in court."
Only then did Cao Xiang calm down.
"Master Zhou, how can the case be finalized when the daughter of the Qi family has not confessed her crime yet and been jailed?" Gu Jinyun gestured to an attendant beside him and asked.
"I will wait for the guilty woman to be detained before submitting the verdict to the Ministry of Punishment." Zhou Du slapped the sleeping tree and ordered, "Come here, take the guilty woman into custody and leave the court."
Father Qi stood stiffly outside the government office, staring coldly at the closed door.
Gu Jinyun turned around resolutely and ordered his attendants to find the doctor. Su Rong told him not to see her or take risks for her. But why is she willing to go to jail? Is there anything worth spending five years in prison for
No matter what, he couldn't ignore it. Su Rong, you wait. I will definitely clear your name and take you out of that prison.
Ping'er brought the doctor to the prison.
After checking her pulse, the doctor said to Ping'er: "Miss Qi's main injuries are flesh and blood. As long as you apply medicine regularly, she will be fine. However, the environment in the prison is damp and cold, which makes it easy for wind and cold to cause other diseases. I prescribed it to her. There are two prescriptions, one for external application on wounds, and one for body conditioning. Remember to take them to her on time."
"I know, thank you, doctor." Ping'er took the prescription and thanked him with tears.
She wiped Qi Surong's body, treated her wounds briefly, and then helped her put on prison clothes. The female prisoner's cell is relatively remote, with walls on three sides and no one around. Otherwise, Ping'er wouldn't have dared to help her wipe her body, change her clothes, and apply medicine.
"Are you ready? It's time to visit the prison." The officer's urging came from outside.
"Okay, come out right away." Ping'er covered Su Rong with a quilt and said softly, "Miss, you have a good rest. Ping'er will come see you tomorrow."
The next day, the news that the daughter of the Qi family poisoned the son of the Cao family quickly spread to the streets. There are endless rumors. Some say that the daughter of the Qi family is vicious, some say that Cao Xiang behaves inappropriately, and some even speculate whether the two are really having an affair...
As a result, the business of Yunrong Xiuzhuang plummeted. The Qi family may also be fined three thousand taels of silver, and Qi Surong's reputation will be damaged. If you want to help her reverse the case, the key is to expose Cao Xiang's disguise of blindness. But Cao Xiang stayed behind closed doors and had no chance to make a move.