Chapter 125: The Holy Body of Lawsuit
Officer: I’ve learned a lot.
The leading officer tapped his sword at his waist, looked around, and asked in full force, "Who reported this to the police?"
As he spoke, his beard trembled.
Lu Mingchao stood up from the only carved wooden chair in the grain store, stepped calmly across the threshold, and said in a steady and clear voice, "It's me. I sent someone to report it to the authorities."
"Are you the victim?" The bearded officer looked at the smashed and devastated grain store.
"My Lord, my Lord, I am the one who suffers."
The old man used his hands and feet to crawl and hug the boots of the bearded official, crying and sobbing, "Official, I am Wang Laoer, my wife has been poisoned by the rice she bought at Chaofu, and she is about to die, and this evil woman is the first to complain."
"If someone kills someone, he must pay for his life. Your Excellency, please do justice for me."
The old man's crying could be compared to the blood-crying of a cuckoo and the mournful cry of an ape.
It's really hard to listen to such hoarse and mocking noises!
Lu Mingchao chuckled and said calmly, "Sir, I am Mrs. Lu."
"The old man claims to be the victim, and I also claim to be the victim. I implore the officials to conduct a fair trial and make a ruling together to clarify who is the real victim."
"I ask the officials to clear the name of Chaofu Grain Store and to wait until the facts of the case are clear before testifying and determining the damages. The father and son must compensate Chaofu Grain Store for all its losses."
The bearded officer was worried.
This young woman looked a little familiar in her calm and composed manner when meeting the official.
Xie Lu!
Xie Lu!
The bearded official's hand that was stroking his beard suddenly stopped. His pupils shrank slightly at first, and then quickly dilated. Several broken whiskers suddenly appeared in his big, fan-like hand.
It was Xie Lu who sent Young Master Sun to jail personally!
Could it be that Xie Lu has some kind of innate tendency to get into trouble?
Lu Mingchao said calmly, "May I ask, old man, when and when did your wife buy food from the Chaofu Grain Store?"
The old man gnashed his teeth and glared at Lu Mingchao fiercely, "The day before yesterday!"
"Black can never be proved to be white, these profiteers are murderers."
Lu Mingchao's brows relaxed, not showing any panic. "Sir, please wait a moment, and the kind-hearted villagers should not leave in a hurry."
"A Yan." Lu Mingchao leaned over and whispered a few words in his ear.
Xie Yan nodded, waved to the shopkeeper, and walked towards the small courtyard behind the grain store.
After a while, a wooden cabinet about seven or eight feet high was brought in, with two rows of neatly arranged drawers carefully carved on the top.
Lu Mingchao opened the drawers one by one without getting tired of it. What came into view were small pottery jars with the time and people's names clearly engraved on them. "Everyone who is a regular customer of Chaofu Grain Store knows that Chaofu opens at 9:00 p.m. every day, and closes at irregular times, the earliest at 5:00 p.m. and the latest at 15:30 p.m.."
"However, what is less known is that Chaofu Food Store would invite Doctor Xu from Huichun Hall in the north of the city, Doctor Zhang from Nanshan Hall in the south of the city, Doctor Hua from Ninghe Hall in the east of the city, and Doctor Ge from Shunkang Pharmacy in the west of the city to come to the food store every day before the hour of Si. They would sample the rice and grains that would be supplied and sold that day to ensure their safety and check for any spoilage or corruption."
"After the random inspection is passed, the four doctors will personally seal the inspected rice and grain into medicine jars and carve the inspection time and the doctor's signature on the jar."
"It's like this every day, and there's never a day that's missed."
"Although I am a woman, I will never do anything that goes against my conscience. Food is the foundation of life. How dare I sell rice that contains toxins to others?"
"Sir, this is the rice that was sampled the day before yesterday."
Lu Mingchao picked up a pottery jar and handed it to the bearded official, "Sir, please have a look."
"Doctor Xu, Doctor Zhang, Doctor Hua, and Doctor Ge are all veteran doctors in Changhe County who are highly respected and have saved countless lives. Their medical skills are beyond doubt."
The bearded official took the pottery jar and gently stroked the mark on the jar with his fingertips. His eyes were clear and he understood everything in his mind.
Lu Mingchao continued in a calm voice, "If the magistrate does not believe my one-sided statement, you can summon four doctors to ask questions."
The bearded official winked at the young yamen runner beside him.
The young yamen runner understood what he meant and left in a hurry.
Within the time it took for a stick of incense to burn, four doctors came forward one after another to verify Lu Mingchao's statement. Even Doctor Zhang, who was over fifty years old and had gray hair, from Nanshan Hall was willing to use his medical ethics to guarantee the rice that had been inspected by Chaofu Grain Store.
The onlookers were shocked when they heard this and started talking about it.
"Does anyone know whether the food sold to my wife by Chaofu Grain Store has been inspected?" the old man shouted at the top of his lungs.
The young man also hurriedly agreed, "That's right. Chaofu Grain Store sells so much grain every day. What if the grain that the doctors have checked is sold out and the grain that my mother bought when she arrived late happens to be poisonous?"
"My mother is dying of poisoning from the food from Chaofu Grain Store. You must give an explanation, otherwise, otherwise, I will..."
"He hit his head against the injustice drum outside the county government office and died?" Lu Mingchao's eyes were gloomy and dark. "Or he went directly to the capital to file a complaint, accusing our Fuliangsi of killing people by eating rice?"
"According to the Daqian law, those who beat the drum to report a case and bring the complaint will first be beaten with thirty sticks in the court, and then rolled and nailed to the board before they can see the emperor."
"The three courts will hold a joint trial. If there is any false accusation, all property will be confiscated and the person will be exiled for 3,000 li."
"Think twice before you speak."
"My dear son who is filial to his mother, if you dare to file a complaint, I, Chaofu, will fight you to the end."
"If you are upright, you have nothing to fear. No one should think of throwing dirty water on Chaofu's head."
The young man's face changed drastically, from blue to white, and he hesitated for a long time before finally saying, "Sir, this little woman is really arrogant. She dared to threaten me in front of you."
The bearded official remained calm. “She is stating the facts.”
"Mr. Xie Lu, what do you have to say about the claim by the father and son that what they bought was poisonous food that had not been tested?"
Lu Mingchao smiled and said, "Of course I have to explain it."
"As I just said, all regular customers of Chaofu Grain Store know that Chaofu opens at the beginning of the Si hour every day, and the closing time is not fixed, the earliest is Shen hour, and the latest is 3:55 of the You hour."
"The reason why the store closed and reorganized at irregular times was that Chaofu Grain Store supplied a fixed amount of rice every day, but the number of people who came to buy rice varied from day to day."
"If there are many customers, the staff and accountants of the grain store can go off work and take a rest at 12:00 p.m. If there are few customers, the store will be closed at 15:30 p.m. even if all the food cannot be sold."
"As for the remaining rice and grains from that day, I have already negotiated with the Ji Ci Hospital. The storekeeper will personally deliver them after work. It is a gesture of kindness."
"It was a very windy day the day before yesterday, and the account book clearly showed that there was still more than a bushel of the rationed rice left."
"Sir, to prove that I am not lying, I beg you to ask the nun who manages the Ji Ci Yuan to question me."
“That’s the woman’s explanation.”
"The Chaofu grain shop owned by the common people can withstand the test and supervision."
The bearded official's eyes flashed with admiration.
Standing in an invincible position