Chapter 77 The whole story
Xie Lingxiao was extremely angry. He couldn't even bear to speak loudly to the girl he loved so much, but Lord Zhao made her kneel down.
Lord Zhao was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat: "Your Majesty, I am not tired at all. I will continue my investigation now."
He hurriedly turned around and looked at Qiuyou: "Girl, please continue."
Qiu You said boldly, "Sir, Zhao Hu and his men first took poison and then went into the shop to eat, hoping to frame Sheng Yan Lou."
"If my young lady hadn't come here, the person who took the poison would have really died. The couple can testify to Shengyanlou."
Lord Zhao's face almost turned green with anger: "Why didn't you tell me earlier that there was a witness? Why did you think of talking about it now?"
How come this girl is so stupid? Isn't this just looking for trouble for him?
Qiu You was puzzled. She looked at Lord Zhao and frowned: "Sir, you just said that you were not allowed to speak unless you asked."
Lord Zhao wanted to slap himself in the face. He had completely forgotten that it was he who just said not to let others speak without asking questions.
He covered his mouth and coughed awkwardly: "Since there is a witness, where is the witness?"
"Sir, my name is Lin Han, and what this girl said is true."
Lin Han looked at Zhao Hu with red eyes: "Sir, it was Zhao Hu and his men who came to me secretly yesterday, saying that they could make some money."
"I didn't agree at first, but today they secretly gave me the medicine to drink."
"They took the young man and his wife to the Feast House for dinner. I don't know what happened next."
"Sir, I know that they were the ones who said the food in Shengyanlou was poisonous. However, Shengyanlou hired a doctor for my husband, but Zhao Hu refused to let the doctor see him."
"It was that girl who gave my husband the antidote, so he's alive." The woman started crying after she finished speaking. She was still scared when she thought about what had just happened.
Lord Zhao didn't dare to bang his gavel hard this time, but just knocked it symbolically: "Zhao Hu, do you plead guilty?"
Seeing that there was no room for maneuver, several people lay on the ground, their bodies shaking.
"Brother, tell the truth, otherwise we will all go to jail."
"Brother, I don't want to suffer in prison, you should think of a solution quickly."
Zhao Hu roared: "Shut up." Is that someone they could offend?
But he never thought that he couldn't afford to offend the people here either.
"My Lord, I say, I do not want to go to jail."
Xie Lingxiao said directly: "As long as you know how to repent, I will forgive you."
When he saw Shen Jingxuan still rubbing her legs, he knew that she had just kneeled too hard. He wanted to finish the case quickly and send her home.
"Sir, it was a woman who asked us to do this. She gave us two hundred taels of silver and said she would give us another two hundred taels of silver after we succeeded."
"We didn't know who she was, but we were afraid she would cheat us and we wouldn't be able to find her afterwards, so we followed her secretly, and she ended up going to the Prince's Mansion."
The other person was afraid that he would be criticized by others and would not have a chance to show his ability, so he quickly spoke up: "I know, I know."
"I secretly heard the concierge call her Miss Aqiao. Yes, Aqiao."
Xia Mei was delighted when she heard this: "Miss, isn't that Miss Three's maid?"
Seeing Shen Jingxuan's chin raised upwards, Xia Mei turned her head to look at Lord Zhao: "Sir, that woman is the maid of Concubine Shen in the Crown Prince's Mansion."
Lord Zhao was confused. What was going on? Not only did it involve the Regent's Palace, but now it also involved the Prince's Palace.
He secretly looked at Xie Lingxiao, and seeing that he pursed his lips and didn't speak, he had no choice but to order the official: "Go to the Prince's Mansion and invite the Prince and Concubine Shen. Don't forget the maids."
After the official left, another half an hour passed before he returned to the yamen with the prince and Shen Jinghuan.
Lord Zhao explained the whole story, and Xie Zihan's face was visibly angry.
He looked at Shen Jinghuan angrily: "Tell me, what's going on?"
He is a person who is incapable of doing anything good but always causes trouble. He did such a thing and even implicated the Prince's Mansion.
Shen Jinghuan panicked when she saw the prince was angry: "Your Highness..."
"Don't tell me, tell Lord Zhao." Xie Zihan yelled at her and turned his head away and stopped looking at her.
He turned around and happened to see Shen Jingxuan. She was wearing lotus-colored clothes and sitting there lazily. Her skin was as white as snow and her face was as beautiful as a flower.
Xie Zihan stared at Shen Jingxuan without blinking, and was obsessed for a moment.
Shen Jinghuan's tears flowed down: "Sir, I don't know what's going on."
She turned around and looked at Aqiao: "Aqiao, what's going on?"
Aqiao was also smart. When she saw Shen Jinghuan asking her, she guessed that the third young lady was going to abandon her.
She lowered her head and said nothing. Thinking of her parents who were still in the second room, Ah Qiao gritted her teeth and said, "Sir, I just can't stand the eldest lady."
"She always bullied the third young lady before, and I just wanted to vent my anger on my young lady."
Shen Jinghuan's tears flowed even more fiercely: "Aqiao, how can you say that? Big sister is very good to me, you shouldn't do this."
To vent her anger? No, she really wanted Shen Jingxuan to die, and this time she was just collecting interest.
But she never expected that not only would she fail to accomplish her task, but she would also lose her maid.
"Miss..." Aqiao also started crying.
Aqiao didn’t know how she would react after this incident, nor did she know whether her parents would be sad if they knew about it.
Shen Jingxuan stood up slowly: "Have you finished the performance? If you have, let the adults announce the results."
Her legs really hurt. It was the first time in her life that she had to kneel for so long.
She also didn't want to watch Shen Jinghuan perform the drama of deep love between master and servant here.
Xie Lingxiao said: "Announce the results."
Lord Zhao secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "After this official..."
"Tell me the result." Xie Lingxiao impatiently interrupted Lord Zhao from continuing to speak official language.
"Sentence Zhao Hu and others to be beaten with 30 sticks each as a warning to others, and sentence Miss Aqiao to be beaten with 30 sticks and imprisoned."
Lord Zhao finished speaking in one breath, his face flushed red, and he turned to look at Xie Lingxiao and Xie Zihan.
Xie Lingxiao took Shen Jingxuan and walked straight out of the hall, followed by Ling Feng and several maids.
Xie Zihan saw that Shen Jingxuan never even looked at him from beginning to end, and he felt inexplicably uncomfortable in his heart.
Didn't Shen Jingxuan like him since she was a child? Why didn't she even want to look at him now?
Shen Jingxuan didn't know what Xie Zihan was thinking, and even if she knew she would be too lazy to care.
She sent a few maids back to the shop and wanted to go back to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion alone.
But he didn't expect to be stopped by Xie Lingxiao: "Get in the carriage."
After saying that, regardless of whether Shen Jingxuan agreed or not, he pulled her into the carriage.
Shen Jingxuan looked at Xie Lingxiao's profile. For some reason, she always felt that he was different from before.
The carriage drove along, but it did not go back to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, but went straight to the Regent's Mansion.
Outside the Lingxu Courtyard, the carriage slowly stopped. Xie Lingxiao got off first and stretched out his hand to help Shen Jingxuan.
The car curtain was lifted again, and Shen Jingxuan saw Xie Lingxiao's hand. She dodged it and jumped down directly.
"Hiss." The moment her feet touched the ground, Shen Jingxuan's knees bent uncontrollably and her body lost balance and fell to one side.
"Be careful."