Chapter 691 Liu Kui is doomed
Huzhou.
I wish Prefect Zhu will become even more adept at government affairs during this period.
In the past two years, Huzhou has been developing better and better, and its tax revenue is far ahead of others, making it the number one prefecture in Yunnan Province.
A state's tax revenue is equivalent to its political achievements. As his political achievements improve, as long as he continues to work hard, a promotion is only a matter of time.
Just as I was busy, the clerk rushed in: "Sir, Sui Shuren and Magistrate Bai of Baiyun County have arrived. They say they want to report a case, which seems to be related to the Yangzhou crayfish poisoning incident."
Prefect Zhu immediately stood up.
He had received so many benefits from Sui Shuren, and now, he finally had a place where he could put his skills to use.
He put on his official hat and quickly walked out. At the entrance of the prefectural government office, Cheng Wanwan and Magistrate Bai stood one in front of the other, with two constables supporting a drunk man behind them.
Having traveled all the way to Huzhou, Liu Kui was still hungover after most of the day.
Cheng Wanwan stepped forward and handed the indictment to Prefect Zhu.
Prefect Zhu quickly finished reading, his face extremely grim: "That Liu Kui! He dared to poison the village pond, almost killing a hundred people. His crime is unforgivable! Guards, take Liu Kui in and open the court for trial!"
The clerk brought over two buckets of water and poured them over Liu Kui's head. Liu Kui regained consciousness for a moment and immediately started making a scene: "Why are you arresting me? Let me go! Let me go right now, or I'll have someone tear down this government office!"
Prefect Zhu sat on his high throne and slammed his gavel down: "Liu Kui, the one below, has spoken insolently. Guards, bring the instruments of torture!"
The only way to get the information you want from someone as unruly as this is by using torture devices.
Two constables brought up the wooden frame, forcibly stuffed Liu Kui's ten fingers into it, and then pulled hard.
"ah--!"
Liu Kui screamed in agony, rolling on the ground in pain.
Cheng Wanwan lowered her eyes and took a sip of tea. As a modern person, she did not agree with using torture to extract confessions, but when dealing with Liu Kui, who was about to die, no torture device was too much.
Prefect Zhu sneered, "Are you sober now? Can you answer my questions?"
Liu Kui nodded weakly: "Yes, yes, yes, whatever you ask, I'll answer..."
"Was the crayfish poisoning in the pond of Lijia Gou caused by you?" Prefect Zhu's voice was cold and stern. "You'd better think carefully before you answer."
Liu Kui's hands were in excruciating pain, and he was on the verge of collapse. He knew that if he dared to deny it, the prefect would definitely put him back on the torture instruments.
But if he admits it, the person behind it will never let him off the hook...
He curled up into a ball: "I did go to Lijia Gou, but that's because I have an old flame in the village. I went to talk to her for a bit. I didn't do anything else besides meeting her. You can't assume I poisoned someone just because I've done some petty theft... Sir, I'm innocent, I'm truly innocent..."
"You're still being stubborn!" Prefect Zhu gave his clerk a look, and the clerk immediately presented the evidence. He sneered, "Then tell me, why did you hide such a large amount of realgar, also known as arsenic, in your house? Tell me, where did it come from, and what are you planning to do with it?"
Liu Kui looked up at the bundle on the tray. It was the bundle he usually carried when he went out. Inside the bundle were dozens of packets of medicinal powder.
He clearly used up all the medicine powder, so why is there still so much left in the house? What's going on...?
Could it be that the person deliberately fabricated evidence to frame him in order to escape punishment and make him take the blame?
He was so principled that he didn't reveal the person behind him even when he was severely interrogated, yet that person secretly betrayed him.
"I confess, I confess everything!" Liu Kui clenched his fists. "A merchant from Huzhou named Wu Songbai approached me and said he would give me a sum of money if I could pour arsenic into the pond in Lijia Gou. He gave me two hundred taels of silver at the time of the negotiation. Later, many people in Yangzhou were poisoned after eating crayfish, so I went to his door, and he gave me another five hundred taels of silver... But for some reason, a while ago, he suddenly came to me in a rage and took all my money. He also drove away my wife and concubines... Your Honor, he is the bad guy. I am innocent, I am really innocent..."
Prefect Zhu narrowed his eyes: "Men, go and find out who Wu Songbai is. If he is still in Huzhou, summon him immediately to assist in the investigation!"
The constables accepted the order and immediately set about carrying it out. After inquiring for a long time, they learned that Wu Songbai was not from Huzhou at all. He had left Huzhou ten days earlier and his whereabouts were unknown.
Cheng Wanwan had already guessed all of this.
With the He family's scheme exposed, all of their interconnected subordinates naturally went into hiding, otherwise the He family would have been in deep trouble.
It is said that after the imperial court learned of the Yangzhou incident, it sent people from the Dali Temple to Yangzhou to thoroughly investigate the case. By the time the Dali Temple people arrived in Yangzhou, the He family would probably have already erased all the witnesses and evidence. In other words, even if the matter alarmed the imperial court, the He family would probably not be substantially affected. The worst outcome would be that He Tongji would be pushed out to take the blame. Of course, the He family's reputation among the people would not be very good.
This is probably one of the advantages of having a large and powerful family; no matter what happens, there are always family members willing to be pushed out as cannon fodder.
Cheng Wanwan put down her teacup and looked at Prefect Zhu, saying, "This case should be more or less related to the death of Wan Guangyuan in Yangzhou. Why don't you wait for the investigators from the capital to arrive before jointly trying the case?"
Prefect Zhu was not a fool. He had roughly guessed the intricacies of the matter. Since the He family was involved, the only option was to ask someone from the capital to solve the case.
He looked down at the courtroom and said coldly, "Guards, take the criminal away and keep him under strict guard!"
Cheng Wanwan nodded and said, "They definitely need to be kept under close guard, as this is currently the only witness."
Upon hearing this, Prefect Zhu understood; she was warning him to be wary of someone assassinating the witness…
Back then, Huang San'er from Yangzhou was silenced in broad daylight, so Liu Kui's life is probably in danger as well.
“It’s not a big deal that Liu Kui is dead.” Cheng Wanwan raised her eyes. “Using a life to uncover some evidence that we couldn’t get otherwise is a worthwhile deal.”
Prefect Zhu's eyes lit up: "Sui Shuren is truly remarkable."
Using Liu Kui as bait, he remained still while responding to any movement. As long as the person behind him made a move, he could seize the opportunity to obtain unexpected evidence.
Cheng Wanwan looked indifferent.
Even if Liu Kui manages to survive, he will still be sentenced to beheading after the case is adjudicated. In short, he is already dead to her.
She stayed overnight in Huzhou and didn't return to Dahe Town until the next day.
As autumn arrives, the continuous rains cause the previously drained ponds to fill with water again, their clear ripples creating a picturesque scene.
However, the pond still contains residual toxins, making it unsuitable for raising shrimp, fish, or lotus roots. It should be left vacant for at least three to five years until the toxicity level drops to a safe level before the land can be put back into use.
Moreover, she feared that the surrounding land might still contain some residual poison, so she simply had Wu Xiaochui buy up all the surrounding farmland as well.
Since farming is no longer an option, why not build a leisure estate? We can have wealthy families come to Dahe Town for tourism and relaxation, and stay here for a few days...
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