bookrandom Chapter 151 Fight First and Talk Later
Chapter 151 Fight First and Talk Later
"Coroner, go and have a look." Lord Wei gave the order, and the coroner took his tools and went forward to examine the body. After a long while, the coroner stood up and reported to Lord Wei: "Sir, this person did die of poisoning, but whether it was caused by eating restaurant food, further examination is needed." After that, the coroner stood aside.
After thinking for a moment, Lord Wei said, "In that case, let's take the body back to the government office for an autopsy, and then make a decision after finding out the truth." Then he turned around and prepared to return to the government office.
However, at this moment, the old woman cried out again: "Sir! You can't do this! My son was clearly poisoned to death by this restaurant. What else is there to investigate?" As she spoke, she threw herself on the corpse and burst into tears.
Lord Wei frowned and was about to speak when Jiang Xing stepped forward and said, "Lord Wei, I think we should conduct a thorough investigation here to prevent Liweilou from being involved in a murder case for no reason."
Lord Wei then discovered that there was a young man sitting in front of the restaurant. He was beautiful and elegant, like a snow lotus on a high mountain. People couldn't help but want to get close to him but didn't dare to blaspheme him. There was a hint of coldness between his eyebrows, but he was gentle. His nose was high and his lips were slightly raised, with a barely noticeable smile. Even when he was sitting, it didn't affect his elegant temperament, which reminded people of the saying "The man on the street is like jade, and the young man is unparalleled in the world."
"Who are you?" Lord Wei looked at the man in front of him with extraordinary bearing, and couldn't help but feel a little doubtful, but from the temperament and majesty emanating from him, it was not difficult to judge that this person was not ordinary. The lady standing beside him was also not to be underestimated, and Lord Wei couldn't help but feel curious about their identities.
"Jiang Xing." The man replied calmly.
"Jiang Xing?" When Lord Wei heard the name, he frowned slightly, as if he was familiar with it but couldn't remember where he had heard it before. He began to recall hard, trying to find memories about this person. Suddenly, he remembered that not long ago, the eldest grandson of the Xie family, the Marquis of Wu'an in the capital, came to him with a token to mobilize troops. At that time, the young Lord Xie told him that Jiang Xing, the Minister of the Dali Temple, was attacked by an assassin and accidentally fell off a cliff. Could the person in front of him be the missing Jiang Xing? Lord Wei speculated in his heart, and at the same time he noticed the lady next to him. This lady seemed to be the same age as Xie Lan, the legitimate daughter of the Xie family, that is, the wife of Master Jiang?
Lord Wei once again cast his eyes towards the Liwei Restaurant behind him, his mind full of doubts. What was the connection between this restaurant and Jiang Xing? He couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
"Hello..." Lord Wei was about to step forward to pay his respects, but Jiang Xing raised his hand to stop him. Lord Wei instantly understood what the other party meant. It seemed that this lord did not want his identity to be exposed. So he quickly retracted his action and nodded in understanding, expressing his understanding.
"Well, since you don't want to go back to the government office, I will try the case here."
When Manager Liu heard this, he ordered the waiter to bring another chair for Lord Wei to sit down.
"Go get the doctor." Lord Wei gave the order, and someone immediately ran out to get the doctor. Not long after, the old doctor who had treated Jiang Xing was brought over by the yamen runners.
"Slow down, slow down!" The old doctor came in panting for breath. It seemed that the yamen runner had taken the old doctor with him without any delay on the way.
"Old doctor, please help me see what kind of poison this person on the ground has been poisoned by?" Jiang Xing spoke directly to the old doctor without waiting for Lord Wei's order.
"Young master, you have recovered well. You look much better than before." The old doctor said with a smile when he saw it was him.
"Thank you for your concern, doctor. I'm fine now." Jiang Xing said with a smile.
"Thanks to your miraculous healing skills." Jiang Xing thanked with gratitude.
"No, no, the previous one was a miracle doctor." The old doctor had always admired the medical skills of the previous doctor.
"Something happened in this building today. Please ask the doctor to help us see what kind of poison this person has been poisoned with!" Jiang Xing pointed to the corpse on the ground and clasped his hands together to express his gratitude.
"Okay, okay, let me take a look." The old doctor said as he squatted down and carefully examined the body.
The old doctor took out a silver needle and picked up some blood from the corner of the man's mouth. He smelled it and took out some bottles and jars from the medicine box. He carefully examined them for a long time before standing up. He packed up all the tools and walked up to Lord Wei.
"Sir, this man was poisoned by arsenic." After the old doctor said this, he stood next to Shopkeeper Liu. He and Shopkeeper Liu were also acquainted, and the two nodded.
"Arsenic? Go check the sales of Arsenic in all pharmacies, especially in Nancheng as soon as possible!" Lord Wei had clear ideas. The Shang Dynasty had some clear regulations on arsenic. Purchases of this type of medicine must be registered.
The thin man panicked when he heard that. He glanced at the old woman, and his trembling hands betrayed him.
This time, the yamen runners were out for a long time. After all, they needed to check all the medicine shops in the city one by one, and the workload was really not small. However, since more people were sent to Nancheng, they came back relatively quickly.
"Sir, this is the record of arsenic sales in Nancheng in recent days. The drugstore in Nancheng only sold two units, one of which was sold to the Wang family, but the arsenic in the Wang family has not been used yet; and the other was sold to this old woman." The yamen runner reported to Lord Wei in a low voice and handed over the record. Lord Wei took the record, looked at it carefully, and frowned slightly.
"Tell me, why did you buy arsenic and kill this man!" Lord Wei asked sternly.
When the old woman heard this, her face turned pale instantly, her legs went weak, and she sat down on the ground, trembling all over as she said, "I... I didn't kill anyone!" Her voice was full of fear and innocence.
"What exactly made you want to frame Liweilou after killing someone?" Lord Wei had already seen through the old woman's intentions. But he felt that the specific reasons needed further interrogation.
"I also want to know why?" Jiang Xing asked with a frown.
"I didn't kill anyone, it really wasn't me. He ate the food in the restaurant and died after returning home!" The old woman repeated with tears in her eyes, as if she had said it countless times but still couldn't change anything.
"Impossible! Arsenic is a deadly poison that kills instantly upon contact with blood. If he can eat food tainted with arsenic and still return to South City, it's impossible!" The old doctor stepped forward and said, his tone firm, and he was obviously very confident in his judgment.
"Since she doesn't confess, give her twenty lashes first!" Jiang Xing had been sitting for a long time and felt a little tired, so he wanted to end it quickly and didn't want to wait any longer.
After hearing what Jiang Xing said, Captain Li looked at him, then turned to look at Lord Wei, waiting for his instructions. Lord Wei nodded in agreement.
"Ah, ah, sir, spare my life!" The old woman screamed in agony. Soon, her clothes were stained with blood. The onlookers could not bear to see such a cruel scene and scattered in all directions, but they had roughly understood what had happened in their hearts - the old woman poisoned the person lying on the ground, and now she turned around to blackmail the restaurant.
"Sir, the twenty lashes of the cane have been imposed!" Captain Li stepped forward to report to Jiang Xing.
"Speak!" Lord Wei also lost his patience at this time and his tone became serious.
"I didn't kill anyone! It was the restaurant that killed my godson!" Despite being beaten with twenty sticks, the old woman still refused to plead guilty and continued to argue stubbornly.
"Then give her another fifty strokes of the cane!" Jiang Xing gave the order again. She had just received twenty strokes of the cane. If she received another fifty strokes of the cane, the old woman would probably die on the spot. When the old woman heard this, she turned pale with fear and knelt down to beg for mercy: "Sir, I know I was wrong. Please have mercy on me!"
"Sir, I was wrong. I confess! It was him. He gave me fifty taels of silver and asked me to find someone to frame Liweilou." The old woman suddenly spoke, her finger pointing at the thin man next to her who had been silent.
"Don't talk nonsense. What does it have to do with me? I bought the poison and you were the one who put it there." The man retorted hurriedly, but the expression on his face looked very nervous and flustered.
"Give him fifty lashes!" Jiang Xing ordered again, his voice cold and firm. He had lost his patience at this moment, and the anger in his heart was burning more and more vigorously. The coldness between his eyebrows could no longer be hidden, as if he wanted to freeze the whole world.
Xie Lan stood beside him and patted his back gently. He knew Jiang Xing's injuries very well and knew that his patience had reached its limit. She knew her son's injuries better than anyone else, and Jiang Xing must have been holding back the pain by sitting there for so long.
"Yes." This time, Captain Li did not hesitate and immediately carried out the order. The board fell heavily on the man, and each hit made a crisp sound. After ten hits, the man finally couldn't bear the pain and began to beg for mercy.