bookrandom Chapter 468 Perfect Alibi
Chapter 468 Perfect Alibi
Hearing the Queen's question, Cao Lin's anxious heart relaxed a little.
I thought it was Hong Qiao who recruited her.
Hong Qiao is a really good girl. Even now, she hasn't called him out.
Gu Jianchu did not miss Cao Li's quiet exhalation of foul air.
The tone was relaxed too quickly, and this was just the beginning.
Gu Jianchu played with the jade pendant around his waist with his fingers, and looked at Cao Li who was kneeling on the ground with an indifferent look, with a bit of nonchalance on his face.
Others may not be familiar with the queen's expression, but Pingxibo, the prince and Kong Shangshu are very familiar with it. They have seen it on the emperor's face.
Whenever Xie Ci'an showed this expression, it was a sign of a coming storm and nothing good would happen.
Previously, the Governor of Nanzhou and the Emperor proposed to repair the canal. The Emperor had already allocated funds, but the other party was not satisfied and asked the Emperor to add more money. Xie Ci'an had this expression at the time. Not long after, the Governor of Nanzhou was exposed for corruption, and the Emperor executed him immediately.
And now the queen had the same expression on her face.
The couple are becoming more and more alike.
Unexpectedly, the resemblance between husband and wife was fully displayed in the emperor and empress.
Throughout history, there are very few emperors and empresses whose relationship is so stable. After all, many of them were married to weigh the pros and cons or to control the ministers of the previous dynasty to enter the palace, and they could only respect each other afterward. Although the empress was also trying to control the military power in the hands of Nanping Hou at that time, it is rare for the two to be so loving.
Cao Li's mind raced, and he lied, "Your Majesty, that's absolutely not the case. That Miss Sun must have made a mistake. I've been looking at houses over there lately. I heard that houses in that area were relatively cheap, so I went over to take a look. I heard that the house types there were similar, so I kept hanging around. Now, I've been mistaken for a bad guy, and this has even been reported to Your Majesty."
"Which good person would go to see a house at a fixed time or every day? Tell the truth." Chongfeng's sharp voice sounded in Cao Li's ears.
Cao Li looked up at Chongfeng, still feeling a lingering fear towards him. After all, she wanted to run away at that time, but Chongfeng picked up a branch on the ground and threw it at her. It was obviously an inconspicuous branch, but the force of the blow was so great that she was knocked to the ground, and her back still hurts.
"I have to go to the bookstore to copy books every day. I am free only during that time, so I can only go looking for houses during that time. After all, I am a scholar and I need to eat. I have to find a way to make money." Cao Li lowered his head angrily after saying this.
In order to clear himself of suspicion, Cao Li actually found a job copying books in a bookstore. Because he was a scholar himself and had beautiful handwriting, the owner liked him very much. He copied for two hours every day in the bookstore, and would let him take any unfinished books home to copy.
[This actually provided him with some perfect alibi.]
But the main purpose today is to deal with Mu Yao's affairs.
Let’s deal with Cao Li’s matter later. Cao Li is very cunning and we need enough evidence to pry him open.
"Take him outside the yard and wait first." Gu Jianchu waved his hand and asked someone to take Cao Li out.
Zhongfeng looked at Gu Jianchu and said, "Your Majesty, this Cao Li is probably not a simple person. Why don't you investigate him or torture him? He appeared in the same place at the same time for no reason, which is very suspicious."
"I know. There is no need to rush to use torture. Let's send someone to the bookstore to ask first." Gu Jianchu knew what Chongfeng wanted to say.
Chongfeng wanted to say that Cao Li appeared in the same place for no reason. Combined with the testimony of the two maids, this person must be related to Hong Qiao. As long as he followed this clue, he could completely prove that Hong Qiao hired someone to watch over the maid's family and threatened the maid not to tell the truth.
Indeed, if we continue to investigate, we will definitely be able to find out the truth, or Cao Li will confess to this, but those poor women may not be able to be rescued and get the justice they seek.
Hong Qiao is an extremely selfish person. She would not let others have a good life if she herself did not, so she might not be willing to tell others about Cao Li's crimes.
We can only wait for the people we send out to follow the clues and find them.
Cao Li, on the other hand, was not in a hurry to deal with the matter.
Chongfeng didn't say it explicitly to save her face.
Chongfeng wanted to say something else, but Wen Zhu shook his head at him.
The Queen Mother was not a stupid person. She understood Cao Li's little trick, but she did not deal with it. She must have her own concerns.
Seeing Wen Zhu like this, Chongfeng shut up and said nothing. He grabbed Cao Li's collar and naturally stepped aside.
Seeing that the queen had no suspicion about that matter at all, Cao Li felt relieved.
As soon as the heavy wind subsided, Yun He brought an old man in. The old man's hair and beard were all gray, and he was wearing a coarse linen robe. The old man did not have a hunchback, and his back was still straight. After seeing Gu Jianchu, the old man knelt down with his hands on his knees, "This old man greets the Queen. Long live the Queen."
"Please get up, old man." Gu Jianchu said softly.
Cao Li and she shared a common interest. Once Cao Li confessed, she would be worried that she would reveal that he had kidnapped and sold prostitutes from the brothel. So when she saw Cao Li being captured by the Queen, Concubine Wen was not worried at all.
She was secretly mocking the Queen for not being able to find evidence, but when she saw the old doctor walk in, Madam Wen's face changed instantly. Her body trembled with fear, and her fingers suddenly tightened, grabbing her dress tightly.
Seeing the confusion on the faces of the others in the room, Gu Jianchu kindly explained, "Since we want to find out how Madam Wen lost her child, we naturally need to know the specific condition of the fetus. This old doctor is the one who treated Madam Wen."
"Old man, was it you who diagnosed Madam Wen's fetus?"
To find out how the child died, they could just check for evidence in the Shangshu Mansion, or send Madam Wen to the Imperial City Division for trial. The truth would surely be revealed. I really don't understand why the Queen had to find an old man. It was a waste of time.
Although Pingxibo, Kong Shangshu and others had doubts in their hearts, they did not dare to ask more questions because the other party was the queen.
The old man nodded under everyone's gaze, "Yes, it was I who diagnosed your concubine's fetus. At that time, your concubine came to my clinic, saying that she was feeling unwell and often nauseous. I diagnosed her and found out that she was pregnant."
"How is the fetus?" Gu Jianchu continued to ask, and casually picked up the snack beside him and took a bite.
The snacks were taken down from the carriage by Qiutou. The snacks in the Shangshu Mansion were hard to swallow just by looking at their appearance. Moreover, the Empress was pregnant and could not eat food from outside. So she simply took down the osmanthus cake and red bean cake made in the palace's kitchenette from the carriage.