Poor Lady Chapter 49: Fraud (3)

"Who is kneeling in the hall?" Zhou Du patted Xingmu and asked.

"Qi Surong's daughter." 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?"

"My lord, the little girl definitely did not poison Mr. Cao's family." Qi Surong said calmly, "A few days ago, the little girl was invited by Miss Su's family to go to the Su residence. Miss, the little girl's maid went with the servant to get things, and there was only the little girl left in the room. At this moment, Mr. Cao broke in suddenly, intending to insult my innocence. The little girl wanted to protect herself, and turned to His eyes had a handful of paprika."

"You said you sprinkled a handful of paprika on him?"

"Exactly."

"Your chili powder is stored in this kit?" Zhou Du picked up a kit from the case tray.

Qi Surong looked up, and replied: "Exactly. The golden butterfly on the kit was embroidered by the little girl herself."

Zhou Du sneered: "Really? Then you dare to say that the kit contains chili powder? I have someone inspect it, and it is obviously scorpion poison powder."

Qi Surong's eyes were fixed, and he stared at the kit: "Scorpion poison powder?"

"That's right." Zhou Du said coldly, "This kind of poisonous powder can be fatal if eaten, and if it gets into the eyes, it can blind people."

"I've never seen any scorpion poison powder. The chili powder in the kit must have been replaced."

"This kit has been in the yamen since the day the accident happened. Do you suspect that this official is a fraud?"

"Little girl dare not." Qi Surong was silent for a moment, then asked, "Excuse me, my lord, how is Mr. Cao's injury?"

"After being diagnosed by several doctors, he was diagnosed as blind in both eyes." Zhou Du said, "The nature of this case is already different. Daughter of the Qi family, you deliberately poisoned Mr. Cao, the evidence is solid, and you still haven't pleaded guilty?"

"What do you mean by the so-called solid evidence? Just relying on the kit in your hand?"

"Of course it's more than that." Zhou Du said sharply, "In addition to Miss Su, there were also the daughters of Li Dudu, Fang Yuanjian, Wang Shilang, and their attendants, besides Miss Su. A total of 12 people have provided strong testimony. At that time, Mr. Cao’s eyes were red and he was in pain, and you also admitted that his injury was indeed caused by you.”

"Your Excellency, you clearly understand that Mr. Cao intends to be contemptuous of me. The little girl sprinkled chili powder on him for self-protection. She never used any scorpion poison powder." Qi Surong argued for herself.

Zhou Du asked: "Then do you have any evidence to prove that Mr. Cao is contemptuous of you, and is there any evidence to prove that you only used chili powder at that time?"

"My little girl doesn't believe that Mr. Cao is really blind, so I ask your lord to announce him to the court for an on-the-spot examination." Qi Surong said without any fear.

Zhou Dudao: "It's okay to let him go to court, but he is the son of an official family, and you are just a mediocre girl. You hurt others first, and disrespect last. This official will punish you with thirty boards first."

As soon as this remark came out, Gu Jinyun in the crowd couldn't help but wanted to rush over, but was grabbed by the attendants beside him. Qi Shuo didn't care about it, he threw the yamen guards blocking the way, rushed into the court, and shouted: "Who dares to hurt my Qi's daughter!"

"Bold, how dare you trespass in the courtroom! Someone, throw this person out!" Zhou Du ordered.

"Zhou Piff, dare you!" Qi Shuo glared at him angrily.

"Qi Shuo, now that you have no official title, you are trespassing in the courtroom, and you are lawless. Do you really think that the official is afraid of you?"

Qi Surong secretly felt something was wrong, Zhou Du seemed to intend to provoke his father. If he did something in court, his father might not be able to escape the responsibility.

She quickly leaned over and said, "My lord, Ping Nu is willing to be punished."

"Su Rong!" Father Qi yelled.

Qi Surong took his father's hand and persuaded in a low voice: "Father, don't be impulsive, the clean will clean itself, and my daughter will be fine."

"You'll be fine?" Qi's father said angrily, "If you go down to thirty boards, will you still be fine?"

"Father, this matter was obviously framed by someone intentionally. If you conflict with the government, you will definitely be imprisoned, so who else can appeal for your daughter?" Qi Surong said earnestly, "Father, bear with me for now. Daban, my daughter can bear it."

Qi's father grinned, bared his teeth, clenched his fists, and finally retreated under the urging of the yamen servants.

Zhou Du snorted coldly, and ordered: "Come here, let me punish you."

Qi Surong was framed on the ground, and two yamen servants raised their sticks and hit her heavily.

She bit her lip to keep herself from making any sound. It doesn't matter, what is this kind of pain compared to the suffering in the previous life?

Qi's father showed blue veins on his forehead, his chest heaved violently, and he had the intention to kill. When had his daughter ever been humiliated and beaten like this? The only blame is that he is useless and failed to keep the Qi family's power.

Gu Jinyun's eyes turned cold, and the wooden stick fell on Su Rong again and again, as if it had hit him hard in the heart. Looking at the gradually blood-stained clothes, he only felt a heart-wrenching pain. For the first time, I felt that I was incompetent, that I couldn't even protect my own woman.

Thirty boards passed, and the government servants stepped aside.

At this time, Cao Xiang walked into the courtroom slowly with the support of two servants.

He saluted slightly: "Cao Xiang has met Mr. Zhou."

"Mr. Cao is not polite, you are injured, you can sit down and listen to the trial, come and watch."

"Thank you sir."

Qi Surong stood up with difficulty, turned his head to look at Cao Xiang, and saw that he was blindfolded and sitting on a chair with gauze.

She straightened her back and said with a pale face, "My lord, please send someone to examine the injuries."

Zhou Du ordered someone to invite a doctor, and the doctor helped Cao Xiang untie the gauze, revealing a pair of red and swollen eyes. After checking for a while, the doctor replied: "My lord, this young master's eyes were injured by scorpion poison powder, resulting in blindness in both eyes."

"Is there a cure?" Zhou Du asked.

"This poison is quite domineering and it is difficult to eradicate. Even if all the toxins are removed in the future, the eyesight will be affected." The poison of the powder, this young master is afraid that he will become disabled in the future."

"Qi Surong, you are so ruthless!" Cao Xiang clapped the armrest and said angrily, "Although I don't agree with you, I won't let you do this! Give me back my eyes!"

The people watching outside the government were quite sympathetic to Qi Surong at first, but after seeing Cao Xiang, they began to accuse Qi Surong of being too vicious.

When Qi Surong heard the doctor's diagnosis, he knew it was impossible to recover. The event was meticulously planned from start to finish. The poison powder in the kit was exchanged, the doctor was bribed, Cao Xiang pretended to be blind, and Zhou Du cooperated secretly. The case seemed to be clear at a glance, making people powerless to fight back.

"Qi Surong, what else do you have to say now?" Zhou Du asked.

"Little girl has nothing to say." Qi Surong said expressionlessly.

"Then, can you plead guilty to poisoning Mr. Cao?"

"The little girl doesn't recognize it."

"There are all witnesses and material evidence, how dare you argue?"

Qi Surong knows that this prison disaster is inevitable, and she has no intention of getting rid of the crime. She is willing to use several years of prison disaster in exchange for the future peace of 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 plead not 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 playing tricks on me? Come on, put on a stick, today I want to see how long you can be stubborn?"

The yamen servants on both sides walked over fiercely with instruments of torture.

"Ah!" Qi Surong's ankle was tightened by the stick, and he couldn't help crying out in pain.

The yamen servant was relentless and almost pinched her feet off. Qi Surong was in extreme pain, and finally couldn't bear it anymore and passed out on the ground. Before she fell into a coma, she was secretly glad that it wasn't her hands that were pinched...

Seeing that she had fainted, Zhou Du patted Xingmu and said loudly: "I have pronounced the verdict that the daughter of the Qi family is suspected of poisoning Mr. Cao. Qi Surong was displeased with Cao Xiang's tone/teasing, so he punished her." The poisonous powder caused him to be blind in both eyes, and he was too defensive. Now the criminal wife, Qi Surong, is sentenced to five years in prison and fined three thousand taels of silver."

As soon as the verdict came out, Qi's father hadn't reacted yet, but Cao Xiang refused to accept it first: "My lord, this girl made me blind. Five years' imprisonment is too light."

Zhou Du was displeased and said: "If you have any objection to the judge's judgment, you can appeal for a heavy sentence, and there will be no criticism in the courtroom."

Cao Xiang stopped now.

"Master Zhou, the daughter of the Qi family hasn't pleaded guilty yet, how can the case be settled?" Gu Jinyun asked an attendant beside him.

"I will wait for the criminal woman to be taken into custody before submitting the verdict to the Ministry of Punishment." Zhou Du patted Xingmu and ordered, "Come here, take the criminal woman into custody and leave the court."

Qi's father 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 visit her, and not to take risks for her. But why is she willing to go to jail? What is worth her five years of unjust imprisonment?

No matter what, he couldn't ignore it. Su Rong, you wait. I will definitely return your innocence and take you out of that prison.

Ping'er brought the doctor to the prison.

After the doctor checked the pulse, he said to Ping'er: "Miss Qi mainly suffers from flesh injuries, as long as you apply the medicine regularly, you will be fine. But the environment in the prison is damp and cold, and it is easy to catch wind and cold, which can cause other diseases. Old man Give her two prescriptions, one for external wounds, and the other for body conditioning soup. Remember to take it for her on time."

"Understood, thank you doctor." Ping'er took Fang Zi and thanked him with tears.

She wiped Qi Surong's body, treated the wound briefly, and then helped her change into the prison clothes. The prison for female prisoners is relatively remote, with walls on three sides and no one around. If it weren't for this, Ping'er wouldn't dare to help her wash her body, change her clothes, or apply medicine.

"Are you ready? It's time to visit the prison." The urging voice of the yamen servant came from outside.

"Okay, come out immediately." Ping'er covered Su Rong with a quilt, and said softly, "Miss, you should rest well, Ping'er will come to see you tomorrow."

The next day, the matter of the daughter of the Qi family poisoning the son of the Cao family was quickly spread to the streets. All kinds of rumors emerged endlessly, some said that the daughter of the Qi family was vicious, some said that Cao Xiang had misbehaved, and some even speculated whether the two were really having an affair...

The business of Yunrongxiuzhuang also plummeted as a result. The Qi family may also bear a fine of 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 never got a chance to make a move.