After all the officials had left, Zhuang Guoqiang finally looked at Hu Ke and the others.
"Now that you have sounded the drum of grievance, speak out your grievances!"
Hu Ke raised his eyebrows and began to question,
"My young master, along with Doctor Luo from the Luo family clinic and the two plaintiffs, one dead and one alive, were all brought to the government office by you yesterday. Where are they?"
Zhuang Guoqiang replied without hesitation:
"They're all in the prison. I'll send someone to bring them here later."
"Wait? We're going to hold court now, what's the point of waiting? Bring them out!"
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Guoqiang frowned, and Lord Zhu's face immediately turned ashen.
His young master? Isn't that His Highness the Crown Prince!
Is His Highness the Crown Prince imprisoned in Yong'an City?
This Zhuang Guoqiang is incredibly audacious.
He immediately spoke up.
"Lord Zhuang, since they have requested to see the person, why don't you go and invite them over?"
Considering that His Highness the Crown Prince was among these people, he specifically used the word "please".
Zhuang Guoqiang frowned slightly and waved to the officials outside.
"Go to the prison and bring the person here."
Then he looked at Sun Dachuan.
Where is the plaintiff?
Sun Dachuan blinked hard a few times, bowed and nodded in reply:
"He went to bury his father."
Upon hearing this, Li Ping nearly jumped up.
"What? Burial? The ceremony just started, how can there be a burial already? Did the coroner perform an autopsy?"
Sun Dachuan glanced furtively at Lord Zhu and stammered:
"This...it's so hot today, the body will rot if it's not buried. Besides, the matter has already been investigated, so there's no need for an autopsy?"
"Find out? What did you find out?"
"It has been determined that the deceased died from taking Luo Zhiwan's medication."
"fart!"
Seeing Sun Dachuan spouting nonsense without asking any questions, Luo Tianhe angrily pointed at him and cursed.
“Sun Dachuan, what makes you think he died from eating my medicine? I could say his son killed him.”
"How dare you insult me!"
“Sun Dachuan…”
He had barely uttered those words when Zhuang Guoqiang quickly intervened, saying, "Lord Zhu is here; you can't just flaunt your official power here."
Sun Dachuan then realized that in his haste, he had completely forgotten that Censor Zhu was sitting right there.
He immediately bowed, feigning humility, and replied:
"Your Excellency is right. I spoke carelessly in the heat of the moment."
Zhuang Guoqiang waved his hand impatiently.
"Go and fetch the plaintiff. Since someone has come to plead for justice, and since Lord Zhu happens to be here, let's close this case!"
Zhu Dachuan then nodded hurriedly.
"Yes, I will go right away."
After saying that, he swung his obese body and strode away.
After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Leng Chuchen and Luo Zhiwan, accompanied by several government officials, arrived at the main hall of the Yong'an City government office.
Upon seeing him, Lord Zhu immediately stood up from his chair and was about to step forward to pay his respects when he was stopped by a look from him.
The Crown Prince was standing while he was sitting; this was the first time he had ever experienced something like this.
When he sat down again, he felt extremely uncomfortable.
A while later, Sun Dachuan appeared in the courtroom with the middle-aged man from yesterday.
Now that everyone was present, Zhuang Guoqiang looked at Lord Zhu.
"Lord Zhu, everyone is here. May we begin?"
Lord Zhu nodded immediately.
"Um……"
"Smack!"
Zhuang Guoqiang then slammed his gavel heavily and asked:
"Jia Qi, you said your father died from medicine from the Luo family's clinic, do you have any evidence?"
The man named Jia Qi took out a prescription from his pocket.
"Sir, this prescription was written for my father by this woman. He took it and died that very night."
The official presented the prescription, and after Zhuang Guoqiang glanced at it, he asked Zhiwan:
"Luo Zhiwan, how do you explain this?"
Luo Zhiwan frowned slightly and replied directly:
"I have nothing to explain. My medicine won't kill anyone. Please investigate, sir."
As soon as she finished speaking, Li Ping continued:
"Lord Zhuang, I have a few words to say."
Zhuang Guoqiang glanced at him, his brows furrowing in displeasure.
"You are neither the plaintiff nor the defendant, so what do you want to say?"
“I am a witness, I can testify to this.”
Zhuang Guoqiang then waved his hand helplessly.
"Then you tell me!"
Li Ping turned to look at Jia Qi.
"Your name is Jia Qi, and you live in Hongxing Village. Your father and mother died of the plague when you were eight years old, leaving you as the only bachelor in the family. Your family has two thatched houses and two acres of poor land, nothing else. I would like to ask you, where did your father come from? Was he a newly adopted son? Or did you dig him out of his grave?"
Upon hearing this, Jia Qi immediately panicked.
Because what Li Ping said was true, he really didn't recognize this father.
However, he still argued:
"I...you're talking nonsense, you've mistaken me for someone else, I'm not from Hongxing Village."
"Alright, you say you're not from Hongxing Village? Then I'll find a few people from Hongxing Village to identify you. If it's confirmed that you are Jia Qi from Hongxing Village, then you've committed the crimes of malicious false accusation and fraud. Do you know who's sitting up here? He's Censor Zhu, someone close to the Emperor. If you dare to lie to him, your head will be gone."
Upon hearing this, before anyone from Hongxing Village could come out to identify him, Jia Qi immediately broke down, kneeling on the ground and begging for mercy.
"Please, Lord Zhu, do me justice! Sun Dachuan ordered me to do this. If I don't agree, he's going to burn down my house and kill me. Please, sir, do me justice!"
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