Chapter 120: Falling from the Altar (asking for monthly tickets)
Yao Yi looked at the Xie family's master and servants and asked, "May I ask if Madam Xie has anything to explain?"
The maid was secretly annoyed that those Xuan Ce soldiers actually took such a small matter into consideration!
Clearly nothing had happened in the building at that time. Why did they keep watching when their sedan bearers left and whether they had lamps in their hands or not for no reason?
Xie's face was cold and arrogant: "I have never left since I entered the building. How could I know where the sedan bearer went and what he did? I wonder what Yao Tingwei wants to hear from me?"
Yao Yi did not argue with her: "Since Madam Jie does not know, then we can only let the sedan bearer come up and answer, so as to avoid misunderstandings and misleading Madam Jie."
Xie sneered in her heart, "Yao Tingwei, please do as you please."
After getting Cui Jing's nod, a Xuan Ce soldier hurried downstairs and quickly brought the sedan bearer up.
The sedan bearer's heart was pounding. He felt at a loss as to what to do under the gaze of Yao Yi and the others when he entered the building. He kept looking at Madam Jie and the maid.
However, Mrs. Jie didn't look at him.
"I want to ask you, did you know about the maidservant beside Madam Jie going downstairs to get tea from the sedan chair?"
Hearing the words "this official", the sedan bearer was so frightened that his calves were shaking, and he subconsciously looked at the maid: "Madame Qiao, what...what's going on?"
Yao Yi frowned and raised his voice by two notches: "I am asking you a question, why are you asking someone else?"
The sedan bearer was so frightened at the sound that his face turned pale and he immediately knelt down.
Although they were both Madam Jie's men, compared with Nanny Qiao, he was just a hard laborer and no one even knew his name. His courage and status were not worth mentioning.
The maid said sternly, "Just answer the question as asked by Yao Tingwei!"
The kneeling sedan bearer's expression changed again and again. Although he was timid, he still had some brains. He thought quickly and nodded, "Yes... Madam Qiao went downstairs to get some tea."
Yao Yi: "Did she say anything to you when she got the tea?"
"Speak..." The sedan bearer's tongue was tied: "I told a few of you to guard the sedan!"
"If that's the case, then why did you leave alone after she went upstairs?"
The sedan bearer's face changed, and he could only say: "I, I'm going to pee!"
"Then why was the lantern in your hand gone when you left, but disappeared when you came back?"
The sweat on the sedan bearer's forehead suddenly felt cold.
How... do you even know this! In his mind, the words that Nanny Qiao had whispered to him echoed - hang this lamp in Fenggu Lane, don't talk to anyone, don't stay, go quickly and come back quickly. If someone asks you about it later, just say you went to relieve yourself.
That’s all he knows!
Although he felt that the order was a bit strange, as a sedan bearer he had no choice but to do it, and did not dare to ask any further questions.
But now he was suddenly brought here for questioning...
The man quietly raised his eyes, looking at the serious faces of the people in the building in a panic... Looking at this posture, could something serious have happened? Seeing that he didn't answer, Yao Yi asked coldly: "Did you leave the lamp in Fenggu Lane?"
The sedan bearer's head buzzed and he said subconsciously, "No... I have never been to Fenggu Lane!"
Nanny Qiao didn't let him talk nonsense in the first place. The more trouble he got into, the more he couldn't admit it!
Yao Yi: "Where is the lamp?"
"The lamp..." the sedan bearer said in a trembling voice, "When I was pulling up my pants after urinating, the lamp accidentally fell into the urine hole... and I didn't pick it up again!"
Some female relatives frowned slightly when they heard this.
Yao Yi then asked: "Where did you urinate?"
"It's at the end of the back street... under the old willow tree!" The sedan bearer answered without hesitation this time. "If you don't believe me, you can ask someone to go and have a look! But the lantern... has probably been blown away by the wind!"
Yao Yi thought for a moment.
Not to mention that more than an hour had passed and the urine marks had dried up. Just the fact that they claimed to have been in the back street would not mean anything even if they really saw it - it is normal to urinate on the way back from Fenggu Lane.
Although the sedan bearer was timid, he kept his mouth shut...
At this time, the attendant he had sent to check Fenggu Lane just now also came back: "Sir, no lanterns were found near Fenggu Lane."
Madam Xie raised her eyebrows slightly and said calmly, "A new batch of palace maids have arrived in the Eastern Palace recently. I have to go to the Eastern Palace tomorrow to inspect the palace rules. It's getting late now, so I won't accompany you."
Yao Yi heard clearly that she was trying to use the palace to put pressure on others.
Like Chang Suining, he had already figured out in his mind whether Mrs. Xie was related to this matter - he had handled so many cases that the answer was almost obvious.
But speculation alone is not enough to convince people, evidence is needed. Without evidence, everything can be said to be a "coincidence" by the other party.
If he were given more time, he would definitely be able to find other clues, but given the other party's identity, he really had no sufficient reason to detain him.
Once the other party leaves, they will secretly try to erase the clues.
The most important clue at the moment is obviously...
When Yao Yi subconsciously looked at the sedan bearer, he heard Chang Suining, who was sitting in the chair, say, "Madam Jie can go, but this sedan bearer must stay."
Just now, she exchanged glances with Cui Jing.
As early as when she agreed to paint to prove herself, the two of them had a look.
At that time, Cui Jing spoke a few words to Chang Kuo, and then Yuan Xiang left Dengtai Tower at Cui Jing's instruction.
Chang Suining knew it at that time, and Cui Jing sent people to investigate.
Therefore, whether she deliberately painted a complicated and time-consuming painting, or those "contradiction" words directed at Xie just now, they all had another intention of delaying time.
The same logic applies to asking the sedan bearers to stay at this time.
Xie was angered by her request and asked with a sneer, "How long are you going to keep making trouble, Madam Chang?"
"Why are you just making such a fuss?" Chang Suining looked at the sedan bearer. "Who can prove that what he just said is true? Can we clear all suspicion with just a few words from him?"
"That's right." Wei Shuyi came over and said, "Unless he can prove that he has never been to Fenggu Lane—"
The word "self-evidence" made Xie's face darken. "Minister Wei is an important official of the court. He should be very familiar with the laws of our court. May I ask which law was violated by this farce tonight? Was there a death or a theft? And on what basis do you want to detain and interrogate my servants?"
farce?
They are almost ruining someone's reputation, but they are just saying it's a farce! Wei Miaoqing couldn't stand it anymore and stood up: "Whether the woman's so-called innocence is damaged or not, what law has she violated? Was there a murder, or was there a theft? Why can everyone come to interrogate and discuss it? It was Madam Jie who asked Madam Chang to testify in public, and now it's the turn of her own servant who is obviously suspected of being an accomplice to testify, but she is asking why?!"
She finished speaking in one breath and was surprised herself.
This...she actually said all this?
Sure enough, he was talented tonight, otherwise he would be able to speak so smoothly to Mrs. Jie? !
When Xie heard this, a layer of frost covered her face and she looked at Wei Miaoqing intently.
She recognized at a glance that this was the legitimate daughter of Duke Zheng.
In other words, she remembered very clearly those weird people who behaved improperly but refused to obey discipline.
She seemed to be disdainful of paying any attention to Wei Miaoqing, and only said in a cold voice: "This is completely false. I just allowed Yao Tingwei to interrogate you to give him face and to give you an explanation. But you have already answered everything you should. If you insist on pestering me, it would be suspected that you have ulterior motives!"
She usually liked to treat people with a solemn expression. At this moment, her face turned completely cold and her voice was deep, cold and powerful, which easily made it difficult for everyone, especially the women, to have any idea of refuting.
"Madam Jie, isn't it too early to speak?" It was Cui Jing who spoke.
His gaze passed Xie and looked at Yuanxiang who was walking quickly up the stairs.
Ming Luo, who had not spoken a word, also looked over. When she saw Yuan Xiang coming, she already had the answer in her mind.
Yuanxiang did not come back alone, he was accompanied by two people, one big and one small.
The older one was a young man dressed as a peddler, and the younger one was a boy of eight or nine years old.
"It's him! He is Zhou Laoer!" The boy walked over and pointed at the man named Zhou who was kneeling on the ground.
The man was stunned: "Why are you here?"
"I'm here to testify!" The boy glared at him. "I saw you sneaking around in the afternoon, holding a bag in your arms and thinking you might run away... I followed you all the way to Fenggu Lane, and when I saw someone hang up a lantern and you left, I knew you must have done something bad!"
The man also glared at him: "You... didn't you just borrow ten cents from your sister? Do you have to follow me like this?"
The boy snorted, "What do you mean by borrow? You cheated me by pretending to be sick. Who knows if you will run away without paying me back? You uncle and nephew are not good people!"
So he picked up the lamp and waited for Zhou Laoer to come out near Dengtai Tower, until he was stopped and questioned by Yuanxiang, who was leading people to investigate everywhere.
At this time, Jian Tong also recognized the boy.
When he was following Zhou Ding that day, Zhou Ding was caught by the boy when he came out of the gambling house. Impulsive, he wanted to do something bad to the boy, so he picked up a stone and smashed it to wake up the black dog in the alley, thus saving the boy's life.
I didn't expect that this child would become a witness today.
"I'm not a good person. I was bribed, and I don't deny it..." Zhou Laoer knelt on the ground and sighed.
"This young man just said that he saw someone hanging lanterns in Fenggu Lane with his own eyes?" Yao Yi spoke at the right time.
The boy nodded quickly: "Yes! I have been watching it the whole time, and I can see it clearly!"
Yao Yi nodded with relief.
Children are really energetic. Only these children can do such things in such hot weather.
"Then check to see if that person is in the building?"
The boy spotted the sedan bearer immediately and pointed: "That's him!"
The sedan bearer was shocked: "You are talking nonsense!"
"I saw it clearly, it was you who secretly hung this lamp at the entrance of the alley!" The boy did not give Yao Yi a chance to quibble, and said to him: "He had his sleeves rolled up at the time, and I saw a big black mole on his arm! It seemed to be on the right side!"
When the weather was hot, it was common for men who did rough work to wear shirts and go shirtless, but Xie's rules were strict and did not allow servants to wear clothes that did not cover their limbs, so the sedan bearers wore long-sleeved shorts.
At this time, his sleeves were down, and he shook his head repeatedly after hearing the boy's words.
At Chang Kuo's signal, two servants stepped forward, one of them restrained him, and the other rolled up his right sleeve, revealing a conspicuous black mole.
The maidservant beside Xie gritted her teeth and said, "Where did you find this little brat... I don't know who he colluded with to dare to slander my wife!"
It would have been fine if she didn't speak, but the moment she spoke, she was accused of something -
"It was she who... bought the lantern from the villain."
The peddler said to Yuanxiang.
The maid then recognized that this was the lantern vendor and her face turned pale.
Although she originally thought that there would be no mistakes, she was still extremely careful and did not dare to use the lanterns in her own house. Instead, she bought a plain lantern on the way here...
But who knew these people could actually touch this vendor!
The maid's face was covered with cold sweat, but she kept saying, "You...you may have colluded with each other a long time ago!"
However, everyone had already made a distinction in their hearts.
The victim today is Madam Chang, how can the victim collude? Countless eyes turned to Madam Jie.
The sedan bearer knelt on the ground and trembled.
Zhou Laoer moved towards him and said in a familiar tone: "Brother, you should learn from me and admit it... Think about it, if you go back like this, will you still be able to survive?"
He had been crying and howling all night, his mouth was dry, he had no strength left, and his knees were sore from kneeling, so he just wanted to end it quickly.
This empathetic and slightly concerned advice almost made the sedan bearer, who had already collapsed, cry, and the last string broke.
"Yes... it was Madam Qiao who asked me to hang the lanterns! I didn't do anything else and I don't know anything else! Madam Qiao told me to lie just now. I am a lowly slave and my life and death are all decided by my master's words... I dare not disobey!"
As the sedan bearer spoke, he suddenly rushed forward and hugged Yao Yi's legs, crying and begging, "Master Yao, I heard that you are a good official. Please have mercy and help me redeem myself from this sea of fire! I am willing to work like a slave for the rest of my life to repay your kindness!"
"..." Yao Yi was silent for a moment, then nodded: "I can help you redeem it."
The sedan bearer was overjoyed and kowtowed immediately.
Zhou Laoer was stunned when he heard this.
He just gave this little guidance...how did this big brother suddenly become a phoenix?
At this point, there was no longer any dispute about the truth, and everyone was in an uproar.
The way the women looked at Xie also changed completely.
Xie felt that these subversive gazes were like a pair of hands. These hands that had once held her high were now about to pull her down from the unattainable altar.
"Using such despicable and shameful means to deal with an innocent girl, is this what Madam Jie claims to be her teacher's way?" Chang Kuo asked angrily.
This is also what the female members want to ask.
They were angry but also terrified.
Such a prestigious person can praise or destroy others with a single word. If he only has prestige but no corresponding morality, wouldn't it be a disaster for them? "I have never offended Mrs. Xie before." Chang Suining looked at Mrs. Xie with a stiff face: "Mrs. Xie's action seems to be entrusted by someone."
Xie's heart was shocked.
As she looked into the girl's eyes, her ten trembling fingers dug into her palms and she sneered through her teeth.
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