Chapter 403 Lying Smoothly
Upon hearing the words "strychnine," Gao's eyes darted around, clearly showing her guilt. She secretly pinched her thigh and burst into tears, crying out, "My husband is gone! He was clearly pushed to his death by Xiao Dazhuang. So many people saw it. Now they're making up a poisoning story to exonerate him?"
In court, Gao was so bold as to directly question the defendant.
"Whether they've been poisoned by strychnine or not, we can find out by searching the Gao family's house."
Entrusted by the former magistrate Zhang, the county magistrate took good care of Lin Yuesha's family. Xiao Dazhuang was wronged in this matter, so he delayed the court hearing for two days and kept searching for the cause of Wu Gang's death.
Thanks to the presence of a renowned doctor who identified the medicinal herbs, he has already sent people to search the Gao family's home.
If Gao was the one who poisoned the person, she could have done so without anyone noticing. She assumed that others wouldn't recognize the poison and that it must have been hidden at home or on her person.
"My lord, our men found this in Gao's dressing case."
A constable stepped forward and handed the county magistrate a dark blue purse. They didn't recognize strychnine seeds, and with the help of Physician Liao, they actually found them.
As the case gradually became clearer, everyone increasingly felt that Wu Gang's death was related to the Gao family.
The magistrate gestured for the constable to show the purse to the female doctor Yan, and received her approval once again.
Gao was surprised that her purse was found as evidence. She couldn't find an explanation for herself, so she rolled her eyes and fainted.
She closed her eyes tightly, pondering how she could escape. Now that the person was dead, as long as she didn't admit to poisoning, the county magistrate couldn't do anything about it.
Wu Gang, a镖师 (bodyguard/escort), had traveled all over the country and was far more knowledgeable than a woman like her. Besides, strychnine was used to disperse nodules and reduce swelling, and it was a medicinal herb. If she could just pretend to know nothing about it, the county magistrate wouldn't be able to prove that she was the one who poisoned him.
"Sister Yue Sha, feigning fainting is an art."
Standing beside Lin Yuesha, Doctor Yan shook her head regretfully. Gao was plain-looking and born into an ordinary family. If she had been born into a prominent family in the capital, she would definitely have been someone important.
"Look, Gao's eyelashes didn't even tremble; most people couldn't do that."
Following what Doctor Yan had said, Lin Yuesha took a few steps forward. She looked down carefully and found that it was indeed so.
It takes incredibly superb acting skills to convincingly portray someone faking fainting!
"Sister Yan, could it be that Madam Gao has really fainted?"
Lin Yuesha began to doubt her own eyes, and could not believe that Gao was faking fainting.
The female doctor Yan gestured for Lin Yuesha to examine her carefully. She squatted down and gently tapped the slightly concave area below Gao's knee. If she was truly unconscious, she should be completely weak and wouldn't respond to the tap.
"ah!"
Gao shouted, her leg springing up. She looked at Doctor Yan in horror.
"Pretending to faint in front of the doctor, you're really something."
The female doctor glanced at Madam Gao indifferently, her voice devoid of any inflection.
To find out whether Gao knew that strychnine was highly poisonous, she should have been given a bowl of herbal medicine. However, the constables arrived too quickly and explained the situation directly in court, which gave Gao the opportunity to deny it.
"So, I asked the constable to arrest the widower who sells tofu as well."
Lin Yuesha had considered using strychnine as a test, but to ensure everything went smoothly, she didn't do it. If Gao Shi were tested and committed suicide out of guilt, snatching the medicine and drinking it to end it all, Xiao Dazhuang would be in an even more difficult situation.
It's a bit sad to say, but the Chen family had experience. When they cleared Chen Dahua's name, they found a breakthrough by targeting Ma Lao Er's wife.
Capturing Gao's lover to intimidate him might be more effective than interrogating Gao himself; Gao has a strong mentality and is far too cunning.
For a full half hour, no one spoke. Gao was filled with doubt and uncertainty, wondering what kind of drama was going on.
“Your Honor, you are wise to judge. Wu Gang did not beat the woman. Although her reputation was tarnished, he still refrained from doing so because… he was impotent!”
Gao casually threw a grenade, and then smeared the name of Wu Gang, who had been poisoned to death.
The crowd, deceived by Gao, immediately shifted their attention, wondering why Gao would have an affair; she had been married to Wu Gang for several years but had not conceived any children.
“Ms. Gao, you say Wu Gang abused you, but the bruises on your body are all fake. Now you say Wu Gang is impotent, but we didn’t hide under your bed…”
Chen Xiaohua regained her composure and used Gao's own words as a counterattack, leaving Gao speechless.
Half an hour later, the hunchbacked tofu seller was brought to court by the constables.
"Sir, our men went to his tofu stall but found nothing. This hunchback has actually packed his bags and is preparing to run away."
The constable stuffed a rag into the hunchback's mouth to stop him from speaking.
When Gao heard that her lover was going to abandon her, she stared wide-eyed in disbelief. How could that be?
The two had known each other for a long time, but when their parents were alive, they didn't like the hunchback's appearance, although Gao herself was willing to accept it.
Forced by circumstances, Gao married Wu Gang, simply because he was often away from home on his escort missions, giving her time to meet with the hunchback.
After years of affection, he actually wants to run away?
"He also confessed that you murdered your husband and that he had nothing to do with it."
The constable continued to add insult to injury, repeating the pre-arranged story: "You faked your injury to gain sympathy. Once Wu Gang dies, you can take his money and house and marry your lover. No one will gossip; instead, they'll sympathize with you."
"You bought the nux vomica yourself from a peddler in the south, and you know its medicinal properties..."
The constables followed Lin Yuesha's pre-prepared fabricated story more and more smoothly, but Madam Gao was even more incredulous. She angrily retorted, "Bullshit! He clearly gave me the strychnine!"
Okay, very good, you got the question out.
In her anger, Gao accidentally told the truth. The widower who sold tofu looked dejected. It was all over.
The two had already discussed how to deal with the constables and had anticipated when they would arrest someone. However, they did not expect that these people would shamelessly lie and trick Gao into revealing himself.
Lin Yuesha's eyes held a smile. She was using poison to fight poison. Gao Shi, who was full of lies, never expected that someone could lie and fabricate stories even more smoothly than her, thus lowering her guard.
"Gao, did you poison Wu Gang?"
The county magistrate pressed for answers, but Gao, despite being at a disadvantage, still tried to argue and put up a stubborn resistance.
"Apply severe torture!"
Gao continued to argue, but the county magistrate had already lost his patience.
After thirty strokes of the cane, Gao and the hunchback confessed everything; the two had conspired to poison Wu Gang.
“If Wu Gang were to settle down and continue his escort duties instead of staying at home, I wouldn’t wish for his death.”
Gao gritted her teeth in anger, because Wu Gang prevented the two from meeting in secret, and also resolutely refused to divorce her.
Confined and living a gloomy life, Gao Shi, unlike the taciturn Wu Gang, was not as charming as the hunchbacked girl, so she harbored some thoughts.
Upon learning that nux vomica was highly poisonous and rare in the north, Gao took drastic measures. She did not expect that an unexpected complication would arise, as her quarrel with her husband would involve the meddlesome Xiao Dazhuang, thus leading to her being exposed.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
