Chapter 306 The Storm Is Brewing
Now that things had come to this, the doctor dared not deny it at all, and replied in a trembling voice, "That's right, that's exactly it. It was originally said that I ate something wrong. Not long ago, that maid came to invite me over, and on the way she told me to insist that it was caused by a fall that disturbed the fetus."
His gaze fell on Gu Xiuming, who was still kneeling on the ground, and he continued, "It was this young master who gave me a small jade ornament made of top-quality jade. I was tempted by greed and agreed to it. But I really didn't know they would frame me."
Meng Jinyao took out the large purse that Yu Chuan had given her not long ago, opened it, and took out a Pixiu carved from high-quality mutton-fat white jade, about the size of a man's palm. She asked the doctor, "My unfilial son has a fixed monthly allowance and spends money recklessly. I don't have much cash. This is probably the only thing I can give you. Take a look, is this jade ornament?"
Upon seeing the small Pixiu, the doctor nodded hurriedly: "That's it! My good-for-nothing son, in his greed for money, fooled around with his cronies and secretly pawned it. It's now irredeemable, so today I had no choice but to insist that the concubine had a miscarriage. But how did it end up in your hands, Madam?"
Meng Jinyao took out another receipt from her purse and said calmly, "You weren't lying, it was indeed a dead pawn, but our people were able to buy it back and also retrieved the two copies of the receipt, just in case, so we could have solid evidence. I didn't expect it to actually come in handy."
Upon hearing this, the doctor was filled with remorse. He regretted not having been greedy earlier; now he was in deep trouble. This was the Changxing Marquis's residence! What was he to do? He looked at Meng Jinyao with pleading eyes and asked, "Madam, then... then what should I do now?"
Meng Jinyao replied, "Although you didn't intend to harm anyone at first, you overheard my rebellious son's words not long ago and should know that he wanted to frame me, but you didn't tell the truth. So you are not innocent in this matter. If I don't have evidence, I will be in real trouble because of you. As for what you should do, I really don't know. Let's wait for the Marquis to return before making a decision. He is the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review and is familiar with the laws of our dynasty."
Upon hearing this, the doctor nearly fainted. Ordinary people are afraid of seeing officials, and now he was about to see such a high-ranking official as the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. How could he possibly survive?
Meng Jinyao glanced at him, then remained silent, sitting calmly and waiting for Gu Jingxi to return.
The truth has come to light, and everyone understands the whole story. This whole affair, which started in the back garden, was a scheme. It's likely that Li Wan'er saw Meng Jinyao and then framed her. Or perhaps Li Wan'er and Gu Xiuming had already planned to frame her, and today just happened to provide the opportunity.
Zhang and Chen felt that they had watched a thrilling play today, more exciting than any play they had ever seen before.
Just then, Qingqiu came running over, calling out as she ran, "Madam, the Marquis is back! He's on his way here!"
The words had barely left his mouth when the doctor's vision went black; he was so frightened that he fainted and collapsed to the ground.
The crowd glanced at the doctor on the ground, guessing that he had probably fainted from fright, so they ignored him and waited for Gu Jingxi to arrive.
Gu Xiuming knelt on the cold floor, not daring to get up. Cold sweat poured down his forehead. He had a premonition that this punishment would be even more severe than the one he received for running away from the wedding. His stern and impartial father would definitely not let him off the hook, especially since his father doted on Meng Jinyao and felt sorry for her.
Before long, Gu Jingxi appeared in everyone's sight.
Everyone turned their attention to him, and saw him striding towards the flower hall with a gloomy face. Even before he entered the flower hall, everyone could feel the oppressive atmosphere coming towards them.
After entering the hall, Gu Jingxi's gaze was icy. He looked around and finally fixed his gaze on Meng Jinyao. The coldness in his eyes dissipated, and he asked gently, "Ayao, what exactly happened?"
Meng Jinyao glanced at Gu Xiuming and calmly recounted the whole incident to Gu Jingxi.
Upon hearing this, Gu Jingxi frowned, looked down at his son kneeling on the ground, who was filled with panic, narrowed his eyes, and looked at the several strong servants. He said in a deep voice, "You guys, tie up Aunt Li and Hongling and bring them out." Then he turned to Yu Chuan and said, "Yu Chuan, go and prepare the writing brush, ink, paper, inkstone and ink pad."
Upon hearing this, Yu Chuan knew what he was going to do and immediately agreed to do it.
Everyone except Yu Chuan was bewildered, staring blankly at him, wondering what he was up to. Wasn't the purpose of this event to punish those involved in the incident? Why was he preparing writing brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, and ink pads?
When Gu Xiuming saw that his father had returned without saying a word to him, he felt a chill in his heart. When he heard the words "pen, ink, paper, and inkstone," he felt a nameless fear. All sorts of fears piled up, and several times when he opened his mouth, he couldn't find his own voice.
Not long after, Li Wan'er and Hong Ling were also brought over by the servants. Both of them knew that their secret had been exposed, so they knelt on the ground, trembling uncontrollably.
Not long after the mistress and servant were brought over, Yu Chuan prepared writing materials, and even moved a table over for writing. Then he pinched the doctor's philtrum to wake him up.
Then everyone knew what Gu Jingxi was up to. He was using this small flower hall as a temporary courtroom. In front of everyone, he showed no respect to Gu Xiuming and interrogated Gu Xiuming, Li Wan'er, Hong Ling, and the doctor like criminals, not allowing them any excuses.
After the trial, they made each of them sign and affix their fingerprints to their confessions.
Li Wan'er, Hong Ling, and the doctor were already terrified and confessed very quickly. They basically confessed on their own without being asked and readily signed and sealed their confessions.
Gu Xiuming originally did not want to sign, but Yu Chuan forced him to sign and put his fingerprint on the confession.
Gu Jingxi reviewed the four confessions, then handed the two confessions of Hongling and the doctor to Yu Chuan, instructing, "Take Hongling and this doctor to the authorities and give them their confessions. Let them uphold justice and sentence them accordingly."
Yu Chuan accepted the order, took the confession, and then had his servants escort Hong Ling and the doctor with him.
Two of the kneeling people were taken away, leaving only Gu Xiuming and Li Wan'er kneeling. Li Wan'er was still trembling, while Gu Xiuming was in slightly better condition. However, upon learning that he had not been sent to the government office, a glimmer of hope arose in him, and he thought of pleading with his father for leniency.
However, Gu Jingxi didn't even glance at him. He ordered the remaining servants to tie up Gu Xiuming as well, lock him in the house, and sent a few more servants to guard them. Then he took Meng Jinyao's hand and left.
Zhang and Chen followed, but they were curious about what kind of punishment Gu Xiuming and Li Wan'er would give them.
Gu Jingxi ignored him and pulled Meng Jinyao out of Qingyuxuan without looking back.
Knowing that Gu Jingxi was extremely angry, Zhang and Chen were somewhat intimidated by him and dared not gossip. They left Qingyuxuan in a hurry.
Meng Jinyao glanced at the backs of her two sisters-in-law, then turned to look at the courtyard gate of Qingyuxuan, and asked softly, "Husband, Hongling and the doctor have been sent to the government for punishment, but what about Xiuming and Aunt Li?"
Gu Jingxi paused, turned to look at her, and said gently, "Ayao has been wronged. I will give you a satisfactory explanation tomorrow."
Meng Jinyao was taken aback: "Does dealing with them need to wait until tomorrow?"
Gu Jingxi said meaningfully, "If it were just a matter of beating someone up, I could handle it now. Other matters will have to wait until tomorrow. It's getting late, you should go back and have dinner first. I'm going to see my mother."
Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyao's heart skipped a beat. She had a premonition that her husband was planning something big!
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