Chapter 120 Dabai
"Don't be afraid, auntie. I'm asking my maid, Zisu, to personally invite the Tongzhi of Jingzhao Prefecture. I'm sure you've all heard of his name.
The Tongzhi is the most upright and honest person. With the Tongzhi here, he will surely be able to determine the right and wrong and clear all of our names."
Jiang Qingning raised his voice and said the last sentence, his voice suddenly became sharp, as if he saw through the conspiracy.
The woman shuddered, raised her finger and pointed at her for a long moment before retorting, "If you collude with officials and businessmen and go to the government, I...will I still be alive?!"
"Jiang Qingning, you want to kill someone to silence them. Look everyone, she wants to harm me, she's guilty!"
"She didn't dare to test it, so her rouge was poisonous. She's the one who harmed me. God, please open your eyes and let this black-hearted profiteer get what he deserves!"
She cried and wailed, holding onto Zi Su's legs tightly to prevent her from leaving, looking like a madman.
The instigators also took the opportunity to make a fuss again:
"That's right! We can't report it to the authorities! The government will definitely favor the rich!"
"That's right! Look at her guilty conscience!"
"How pitiful! Not only was his face disfigured, but he was also forced to death!"
The situation was about to get out of control again.
Just when the crowd of onlookers was becoming suspicious again.
A clear and pleasant female voice sounded, full of majesty: "How can you be so noisy? You are blocking the way of this princess!"
The crowd automatically separated to the sides in an instant.
A team of well-dressed and well-trained palace guards led the way, and a gorgeous carriage slowly approached.
The curtain of the carriage was lifted by a maid, and a woman dressed in a crimson and gold-woven palace dress, with a radiant face, walked down with the help of the maid.
Li Youwei had an innate dignity between her brows, and her eyes swept across the chaotic scene indifferently.
Finally, it fell on Jiang Qingning, who was surrounded in the center but still had his back straight, and on the face of the woman who was crying while holding Zi Su's legs.
Her beautiful eyebrows were slightly frowned.
"Greetings, Princess!" The onlookers knelt down and saluted.
The shopkeeper and clerk of Ningxiang Pavilion knelt down in a hurry.
Jiang Qingning knelt slightly in greeting.
"No need to be polite."
Li Youwei casually waved the golden fan in her hand, her eyes falling on the woman's horrible face, with a hint of obvious disgust, "What's wrong with that face? She's crying and wailing in the busy city so early in the morning, disturbing the peace and quiet."
The woman was intimidated by Li Youwei's aura, and her crying became much softer. She just sobbed and dared not cry out loudly anymore.
Jiang Qingning calmly and concisely recounted what had happened, including the woman's accusations, her request to report the case to the police, and her fierce resistance.
"oh?"
After listening to this, Li Youwei curled her red lips slightly, revealing a half-smile, and her eyes shifted between Jiang Qingning and the woman.
"It's interesting that he didn't dare to report to the police after using rouge to disfigure his face."
She walked forward, stood in front of the woman, and looked down at the sores on her face.
The woman trembled all over and avoided her gaze when she looked at her.
"From my observation, your symptoms don't seem like a common allergy to rouge."
Li Youwei said slowly, "It seems like he came into contact with some strong poison, or took something he shouldn't have."
The woman shuddered suddenly, her eyes becoming even more panicked. "No...no, I only used her rouge and didn't eat anything else. Your Highness, please understand!"
"Yeah?"
Li Youwei chuckled and stopped looking at her. She turned to her maid and said, "Go, invite Doctor Wang over. He happened to be out of the palace with me today. Let him show this lady how she got this face."
"Yes, Princess."
The maid took the order and quickly called down from the carriage behind an old man with white hair and beard, carrying a medicine box and a calm demeanor.
"Doctor Wang?"
Someone in the crowd exclaimed, "Is it Wang Yuanpan from the Imperial Hospital?"
Doctor Wang stepped forward, bowed to Li Youwei and Jiang Qingning, and then carefully examined the woman's face.
He looked very carefully, even using a silver needle to pick up a little pus, put it under his nose and sniffed it, and then asked the woman, who dared not disobey, to open her mouth and look at her tongue coating.
After a moment, Doctor Wang stood up and said in a loud voice, "My Lady, Miss Jiang, after my examination, the sores and swelling on this woman's face were not caused by external application of rouge or powder."
"What?!" the crowd was in an uproar.
Doctor Wang continued, "Although her symptoms appear serious, the edges of the ulcer are neat, and the pus that flows out has a distinctive fishy-sweet smell. Her tongue is coated with a blue coating, and her pulse is slippery with a hint of sluggishness."
"This is a typical case of strychnine poisoning. This poison is potent and would certainly cause redness, swelling, and ulceration if applied topically to the skin, but it would never occur so quickly and concentratedly on the face. Her pulse indicates the toxin has already entered her internal organs. This is clearly the result of repeated oral ingestion, not simply the application of rouge."
Doctor Wang’s words were like thunder, completely exposing the truth.
"Oral poisoning?"
"It's not Rouge's problem?"
"Could it be that she took the poison herself to frame Ningxiang Pavilion?"
The crowd exploded instantly.
All suspicious eyes instantly shifted from Jiang Qingning to the woman.
The woman collapsed to the ground, shaking like a sieve, mumbling: "No... no... I... I didn't..."
Li Youwei sneered, pointing her golden fan at the woman. "What a wicked woman! She actually dared to poison herself and then use it to frame others, slandering Ningxiang Pavilion. How audacious!"
"Come here! Arrest this wicked woman and those who fanned the flames and are just trying to unleash chaos on the world. Send them to Jingzhao Prefecture and let the Tongzhi Lord conduct a thorough investigation to find out who is behind this!"
"Yes, sir!"
The guards rushed forward, pulled out the frightened woman and the instigators who tried to escape from the crowd, and tied them up tightly.
The truth is revealed.
The onlookers looked at Jiang Qingning with embarrassment.
"It turns out that Miss Jiang was wronged!"
"I told you, the things from Ningxiang Pavilion are still fine after being used for so long."
"This bitch is so abominable. There must be someone behind this."
"Thanks to the princess and Doctor Wang, otherwise Miss Jiang would never be able to clear her name even if she jumped into the Yellow River."
"The princess is so perceptive!"
A carefully planned frame-up has come to an end.
The storm subsided and the crowd dispersed.
The palace guards escorted the prisoner to Jingzhao Prefecture.
Order was restored in front of Ningxiang Pavilion, but the atmosphere was still somewhat subtle.
"Thank you, Princess, for your righteous words and your help."
Jiang Qingning walked up to Li Youwei and bowed solemnly again with a sincere tone.
She accepted this favor.
Regardless of Li Youwei's purpose, she did help her a lot today and solved her urgent problem.
Li Youwei waved her round fan, indicating that she didn't need to be so polite.
Those bright eyes looked Jiang Qingning up and down with a complicated look, filled with inquiry, unwillingness, and admiration that she herself had not even noticed.
"snort."
She snorted softly, raised her chin slightly, and still looked noble and proud. "Don't try to be so arrogant. This princess is not trying to help you."
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