Chapter 307 Things Get Out of Hand
"Min Qiao Shi!" Lady An'nan turned around and glared angrily at Min Qiao Shi as she watched the old woodcutter and his companions run away. "The evidence is overwhelming. Do you think you can escape?"
Min Qiao scoffed, "Since the evidence is conclusive, why are you so nervous?"
Just then, Mrs. Zhao secretly wiped her sweat and whispered, "Madam, today is New Year's Eve. I have many things to do at home that require my return. Do you think I can leave first?"
Upon hearing this, Lady Annan grabbed Zhao Si's wrist, "Min Qiao killed my son-in-law Min Hui, and you are a witness. How can you leave?"
“But I didn’t see anything!” Mrs. Zhao’s rebuttal blurted out.
Lady Annan tightened her grip. "How could you not have seen it? Min Hui died right at Min Qiao's feet, and the dagger that killed him was lying on the ground. This is Min Hui's home, and everyone here is Min Hui's person. Besides Min Qiao, who else would have killed Min Hui?"
Mrs. Zhao was powerless to refute.
It was clear that she was caught up in this and wouldn't be able to get away easily.
"Then I'll send someone back to the manor to let them know, is that alright?"
"It's convenient." Only then did Lady Annam release her grip.
Madam Zhao glanced at the composed Madam Min Qiao, then at the Annan Earl's wife who was staring intently at Madam Min Qiao, and walked to the side. She whispered to her personal maid, "Go back and report everything that happened here to Fourth Master, and ask him to ask the old master for a solution."
The personal maidservant accepted the order and left.
After watching the people leave, Madam Zhao Si walked back to the Earl of Annan's side and whispered, "Earl, we don't know how long it will take for the yamen officials to arrive. The scene here is bloody and terrifying. Why don't we move to another room?"
"Also, let Madam Qiao go downstairs to wash up and change her clothes."
Lady Annan looked at Min Hui lying in a pool of blood, then at the bloodstains splattered on Min Qiao's clothes, and shook her head resolutely, "No! The bloodstains on her body are also evidence, we can't let her destroy the evidence."
Madam Min Qiao glanced disdainfully at the Lady of Annan, then gave Madam Zhao a grateful look. "I appreciate Madam Zhao's kindness. However, it's alright. Let's wait for the officials to arrive."
Inside the main room, Madam Min Qiao, the Earl of Annan, and Madam Zhao Si sat facing each other, with Min Hui's corpse lying on the floor between them. No one spoke again. The atmosphere was eerily silent.
I don't know how much time passed before the officials finally arrived.
Hearing that a murder had occurred and that the matter involved the Dowager Lady of Xuanping Marquis and the Lady of Annan Earl, the Prefect of Jingzhou disregarded the New Year celebrations and rushed over with his men after changing into his court robes.
The constables surrounded the main hall, and the coroner examined the body on site.
The cause of Min Hui's death and the murder weapon were quickly identified.
But who is the murderer?
Madam Min Qiao said that Min Hui was killed by a man named Hua Conglin. After killing Min Hui, that man escaped through a window. The servants and Madam Wang Zhang who were present were witnesses.
However, when questioned, the servants and Wang Zhangshi unanimously identified Min Qiaoshi as the murderer.
Wang Zhangshi could only keep saying, "It shouldn't be like this, it shouldn't be like this..." and she couldn't get any other information out of her.
Meanwhile, Lady Annam insisted that she personally witnessed Madam Min Qiao kill Min Hui, and that Madam Zhao Si was a witness.
When questioned, Madam Zhao's attitude was ambiguous. She only said that when she and Lady Annam arrived, they did see Madam Min Qiao squatting in front of Min Hui's body. But she did not see who actually did the killing.
The matter reached a stalemate.
The prefect of Jingzhou suggested, "Why don't you all go back first? This matter is of great importance and cannot be taken lightly. I think we should wait until the yamen runners have investigated the case thoroughly before holding another trial."
“That’s perfect.” Madam Min Qiao nodded.
But Lady Annam firmly objected: "No! The evidence against Min Qiao is conclusive. She should be detained pending trial. How can we release her?"
The prefect of Jingzhou was in a difficult position.
He had heard of Min Qiaoshi's great reputation. He also couldn't afford to offend the extensive network of connections behind her.
But Lady Annam was no pushover either. Moreover, the Earl of Annam was currently stationed in the western border region. Who would dare disrespect Lady Annam?
Just then, Wenxiu arrived with Su Rongrong.
"Grandmother, are you alright?"
Su Rongrong quickly walked to Min Qiao's side, looked her up and down, and found that apart from a few bloodstains on her clothes, she was fine. Only then did she relax a little.
She turned around and looked at the Lady of Annan, then at the Prefect of Jingzhou. "Today's events were clearly a trap set for my grandmother to fall into!"
"You're saying my grandmother committed murder?"
"Ha, I think it's obvious that the Marquis of Annan's family killed someone and framed my grandmother!"
"With me here, let's see who dares to take my grandmother away today!"
Lady Annan looked at Su Rongrong with an unfriendly expression, "Lady Enping, are you trying to influence the way the officials handle the case? Aren't you afraid of causing trouble for the Earl of Enping?"
Su Rongrong ignored Lady Annam and looked directly at the Prefect of Jingzhou. "Prefect, it's best to find out the truth of the matter. Don't let yourself be used as a pawn."
"This..." The prefect of Jingzhou was in a real bind.
Before he could speak, another group of people entered from outside.
The person who came was none other than Madam Zheng, Min Qiao's closest friend, and her daughter-in-law.
However, that wasn't the end of it; Min Yuexi, the soon-to-be Third Prince's consort, followed closely behind.
Min Yuexi was the first to receive the news and should have been the first to arrive, but the matter was sudden. She needed to arrange things at the Xuanping Marquis's residence first, especially to have someone keep an eye on Min Rong, so that Min Rong wouldn't cause trouble at this time.
Therefore, we arrived a little late.
Seeing that the newcomers were all of increasingly higher status, the Prefect of Jingzhou was about to explode with rage.
However, that was not the worst of it. When Grand Secretary Zhao himself arrived, the matter escalated completely.
Even Emperor Xiaozhao in the palace received the news immediately.
It was already tough enough for him to be handling state affairs in the Imperial Study during the Lunar New Year, but unexpectedly, these idle ladies from the imperial family outside the palace also came to cause him trouble.
Emperor Xiaozhao's mood immediately turned extremely bad.
"What did the spies say?"
The chief eunuch Liu Xin hurriedly reported: "Third Master Min and the Annam Marquis's Mansion set a trap to lure Madam Qiao to their home. Subsequently, people arranged by the Annam Marquis's Mansion killed Third Master Min and framed Madam Qiao."
"The Lady of Annam also dragged the Zhao family into it."
"The Earl of Enping's mansion and the Duke of Jin's mansion have also gotten involved."
Emperor Xiaozhao pinched the bridge of his nose. "What does the Annam Earl's Mansion want to do?"
Liu Xin dared not speak rashly and could only remain silent.
Just then, a young eunuch ran in from outside the imperial study, saying, "Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince requests an audience."
Emperor Xiaozhao frowned more and more, but he still suppressed his anger and raised his hand, "Let him in."
The young eunuch went out to deliver a message, and the crown prince hurried in.
"Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty." The Crown Prince knelt down and kowtowed respectfully.
"Get up. What are you doing here at this time?"
"I heard about Min Hui's matter, which is why I came to submit two memorials to Father Emperor."
As the Crown Prince spoke, he took out two memorials from his sleeve. “Originally, I intended to present these two memorials to Father Emperor after the New Year when the seals were opened.”
"However, I never expected that a murder would occur today."
"What kind of memorial is this that requires your attention, Crown Prince?" Emperor Xiaozhao gestured for Liu Xin to bring the memorial forward.
The Crown Prince dared not be vague and hurriedly reported: "One account states that the Dowager Lady of the Marquis of Yongning and the Marquis of Xuanping harbored treacherous intentions and used her fourth daughter, Yu Huanzhen, to murder Dowager Lady Yu and her third daughter, Yu Yin'er."
"One book is a personal complaint by the Marquis of Xuanping against his mother, Lady Min Qiao, the Dowager Lady of the Marquis of Xuanping's residence, for being an unkind mother who plotted to murder his former stepmother, Lady Wang. He requested his father, the Emperor, to revoke Lady Qiao's title of First Rank and grant her a divorce from her deceased father, the Marquis of Xuanping."
"It seems that Min Hui's death was related to his deceased mother, Wang."
Emperor Xiaozhao gave the Crown Prince a deep look, but did not investigate why the memorials from Marquis Yongning and Marquis Xuanping were in his hands. Instead, he sternly ordered Liu Xin, "Issue my decree that the three judicial departments will hold a joint trial on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month for the murder case of Lady Min Qiao. Now let them all go home and not cause me any trouble on New Year's Eve."
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