When Bai Qingsheng saw this, he was immediately frightened out of his wits. He wondered who had let this criminal woman out.
Yunniang fell to the ground and cried out, "Your Majesty, please help me!"
"Bai Qingsheng, what else do you have to say!" Zhao Huan slammed the gavel.
"Oh, Your Majesty, I am so frightened. I don't know what I have done wrong. Please give me some advice." Bai Qingsheng pretended to be confused even though he knew the truth.
"Yun Niang! Tell me all your grievances in detail, and I will definitely take care of it for you!" Zhao Huan was furious.
Yunniang then recounted her case, and when she spoke so emotionally, the guards below were filled with righteous indignation, wishing they could tear Luo Xiaohu into pieces. However, Yunniang remained silent about Bai Qingsheng's demand for a bribe of two hundred taels of silver.
"Bai Qingsheng, what else do you have to say?" Zhao Huan asked coldly.
Bai Qingsheng's forehead was covered in cold sweat. He pointed at Fan Zha angrily and said, "Fan Zha, I treat you well all the time, why are you trying to hurt me like this?"
Fan Zha said softly, "County Magistrate Bai, I only know the law and that you shouldn't frame innocent people. There are many suspicious points in the Yunniang case, and I only just discovered today how many twists and turns there are."
"Your Majesty, this is all Yunniang's one-sided statement. Your Majesty must not listen to the false accusations of this criminal woman. I have sent a coroner to investigate and it is confirmed that her husband Luo Sheng was indeed poisoned to death by her. I have witnesses and physical evidence of this matter!" Bai Qingsheng said.
Zhao Huan knew this case wouldn't be that simple: "Come here! First, arrest Du Huachang and Luo Xiaohu. I'll get to the bottom of who's lying and who's distorting right and wrong. Bai Qingsheng, I won't wrongly accuse a good official, nor will I let a corrupt official go. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear!"
Bai Qingsheng didn't dare to say anything more, but he didn't seem to be very scared.
Zhao Huan ordered the guards, the captain and several officers to arrest Luo Xiaohu and Du Huachang from the Luo Family Restaurant.
Yunniang's mother-in-law was begging on the street. Her skinny body was wrapped in dirty clothes. She held a broken bowl with a broken corner in her hand and leaned on a wooden stick with her left hand. She coughed from time to time: "Please be kind and give me something to eat!"
The people of Fengxian County all sympathized with the Luo family's plight, so Yunniang's mother-in-law had been begging on the streets these days and fortunately she did not starve to death.
"Mother-in-law Luo, please go to the government office quickly. The emperor has come to Fengxian County today and is trying your daughter Yunniang. There is hope for your Luo family's case!" The neighbor came running to tell her the good news.
With a clang, Grandma Yunniang's broken bowl fell to the ground and broke into eight pieces. She tightly grasped her neighbor's hand and asked, "Are you telling the truth?"
The neighbor nodded hurriedly. "I saw it with my own eyes. Guards in imperial robes were everywhere outside the yamen. The emperor's dragon sedan chair was parked right outside. You've never seen such a grand spectacle in your life. It's said that the emperor descended on Fengxian County just to investigate your case. Grandma Luo, your family is truly blessed."
When Grandma Yunniang heard this, she felt that her illness was almost healed. She threw away the stick and immediately ran towards the government office in two or three steps.
The neighbor was shocked when he saw her retreating figure: "Is this old woman healed?"
"Your Majesty, there is a beggar woman outside the yamen. She says she is Yunniang's mother-in-law and wants to see her!" The guard came to report.
Zhao Huan waved his hand: "Please let her in!"
Bai Qingsheng's shoulders trembled, and he became even more flustered.
"Mother Yun!"
"Mother-in-law!"
The mother and daughter hugged each other and cried bitterly. The people watching nearby whispered to each other, saying that the Luo family had a chance to overturn the verdict this time.
After a while, the guards escorted Luo Xiaohu and Du Huachang to the lobby. When they came in, Du Huachang looked at Bai Qingsheng and the two exchanged glances.
The two men each announced their names, then knelt and saluted to meet the emperor. Zhao Huan slammed the gavel and said, "You, Luo Xiaohu! You poisoned Luo Sheng to death. What else do you have to say?"
Luo Xiaohu knelt down and cried out in injustice: "I am wronging you, it's really wrong! It was Yunniang who poisoned my husband to death, not me."
Zhao Huan was too lazy to waste time talking to such a shameless villain. "Regardless of whether you poisoned someone or not, based on the fact that you embezzled the Luo Family Restaurant, you can be skinned alive. Drag Luo Xiaohu away and torture him severely until he confesses. If he doesn't, torture him to death!"
Luo Xiaohu was so frightened that he was shaking all over. He hugged Bai Qingsheng and said, "Master Bai, save me! Save me!"
Zhao Huan laughed heartily: "Bai Qingsheng can barely protect himself, how could he possibly save a scoundrel like you? Drag him away!"
"Emperor, please spare me! Grandpa Emperor, please spare me! Yes, it was Lord Bai. He gave me the idea to rob the Luo family restaurant. This, this restaurant is said to be mine, but it actually belongs to Lord Bai!" Luo Xiaohu had only seen Grandpa Emperor visiting the Moon Palace in operas, so he had no idea what to call Zhao Huan. He was maybe even older than the emperor, but at this moment he was kneeling on the ground and shouting Grandpa Emperor.
"I ask you, was it you who poisoned Luo Sheng to death? If you confess, you can be spared the pain!"
Luo Xiaohu wasn't stupid. He knew that embezzling the Luo family restaurant would at most result in exile, not death. But if he confessed to poisoning Luo Sheng, he'd be beheaded. So he gritted his teeth and said, "I'm innocent, innocent! I absolutely didn't poison anyone."
"Drag him away! Give him severe punishment!" Zhao Huan said angrily.
Two guards dragged Luo Xiaohu, who was screaming like a pig being slaughtered, to the prison. Although the torture instruments there were not as good as those in the Tiger Court in the capital, they could still make people live a life worse than death.
"Du Huachang, you are Bai Qingsheng's brother-in-law. It was Bai Qingsheng who sent you to the Luo family and extorted two thousand taels of silver from the Luo family. Is this true?" Zhao Huan asked.
As soon as these words came out, Du Huachang shouted: "No! I didn't ask the Luo family for a single ounce of silver!"
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