"Someone, come and arrest Zhu Xiu'er." Shen Qingqiu shouted to the outside of the door. As soon as he finished speaking, Tu Jiu brought his servants in and controlled Zhu Xiu'er.
Zhu Xiu'er was still struggling, "Shen Qingqiu, you are framing me. Just based on the one-sided statements of those few people, you dare to conclude that I was the one who poisoned them. They are clearly jealous of my favor. And you, you have always been dissatisfied with me. Since I entered the Hou Mansion, there has not been a day when you didn't want to pick on me?"
Before she could finish, Shen Qingqiu slapped her in the face, "Zhu Xiu'er, I have already tolerated you time and again, but you crossed my bottom line. If my mother takes it seriously, and anything happens, I will tear you into pieces. Take her away and send her to the authorities tomorrow!"
"yes!"
The room finally returned to silence, and Shen Qingqiu looked at the maid who had been serving Liu, "How is my mother?"
"My lord, the old lady rescued him in time. Although he is still unconscious, he is no longer in any serious condition."
After hearing this, Shen Qingqiu finally felt relieved, "Take me to see my mother."
At this time, on the other side, Tu Jiu threw Zhu Xiuer into the woodshed.
"Let me out, let me out!" Zhu Xiu'er knocked hard on the wooden door and said, "Shen Qingqiu, I won't let you go. I will make you pay the price, Shen Qingqiu!"
However, after hearing Zhu Xiuer's shouting behind him, Tu Jiu locked the door, sent two guards to guard it, and left.
Late at night, Zhu Xiuer's voice became quieter and quieter until it disappeared.
Xiao Si rubbed his ears and looked at the wooden door with disgust. "This woman is really good at yelling. My ears are almost deafened by her yelling." As he spoke, his stomach suddenly started to growl. "It's so cold. A bowl of hot soup would be great."
Another servant nodded and said, "I think this crazy woman is asleep and the door is locked, so nothing will happen. Let's go outside and eat something before coming back. This damn weather is going to freeze us to death."
The servant opposite turned his head to look at the woodshed, nodded and said, "Well, it's really freezing. It's all because of this crazy woman. She made us sit here in the middle of the night." After saying that, the two of them got up and left, but they didn't know that Zhu Xiuer in the house also opened her eyes at this time.
At night, Shen Qingqiu was sleeping soundly when he suddenly heard a burst of noise in the courtyard.
"Hurry, hurry, there's a fire, everyone hurry up and put it out!"
The servants all ran out with their clothes on, "Where is the flood?"
"The wood room, there's a fire in the wood room!"
"What?!" Xiao Si was surprised: "There are still people imprisoned in there. Has anyone come out?"
The maid shook her head, "I don't know, I'm afraid he's still inside."
The conversation outside made Shen Qingqiu lose all sleepiness immediately. She casually put on a piece of clothing and ran out. It was already burning hot outside as if it was daytime. She caught a maid carrying water and asked, "What's the situation? Has Zhu Xiu'er come out?"
"Princess, the fire was very big, and I don't know if anyone has been rescued."
Looking at the anxious crowd in the courtyard, Shen Qingqiu frowned. This incident happened too suddenly. She had just locked up Zhu Xiu'er when the woodshed caught fire. If this was an accident, no one could accept it.
The fire was put out all night long until dawn.
The woodshed was burned down to the point where only dry frames were left. Tu Jiu had been searching inside for quite some time.
"Princess, I found it!"
Hearing the sound, Shen Qingqiu immediately looked over, but at this moment, the yamen runners suddenly rushed in. Seeing the people suddenly surrounding the yard, the Marquis and Shen Qingqiu both frowned.
"Lord Liu, what do you mean?" The Marquis said angrily as he looked at Lord Liu who had barged in.
Lord Liu smiled and said, "Don't misunderstand, my Lord. We received a report early this morning that someone had burned someone to death in the mansion. I was just following orders. I hope my Lord will not make things difficult for me."
"Mr. Liu really handles business impartially. I admire you!"
"Thank you for your praise, Lord. Someone is coming. Seal off the area and do not allow anyone to approach!"
The fire started last night and was put out this morning. The soldiers broke in so quickly. Shen Qingqiu frowned and looked around at these people. She knew that this should be just the beginning. There must be someone planning behind the scenes. Who could be helping Zhu Xiuer?
"Sir, the body is here."
Hearing the sound, Lord Liu covered his mouth and nose with a piece of white cloth and walked towards the body that was burned to charcoal. "Tsk, hurry up, find someone to take the body away."
Several people were preparing to move the body when bursts of crying were heard from outside the door.
"Xiu'er, Xiu'er." Everyone in the yard looked outside the door, and saw the Zhu family supporting Zhu Xiu'er's mother rushing in.
Mother Zhu's eyes were red from crying, and anyone who saw her would feel pity for her.
"Xiu'er, my Xiu'er, how could such a thing happen?" As she spoke, Zhu's mother looked up at Shen Qingqiu, "Princess, I know you have never liked Xiu'er. Ever since Xiu'er entered the Marquis' Mansion, you have been making things difficult for her. I also advised her to bear it, but why were you so cruel to burn someone to death in the woodshed, my daughter?" As she spoke, Zhu's mother cried even more painfully.
Looking at the Zhu family members who suddenly appeared in front of him, Shen Qingqiu was even more certain that this was a planned conspiracy.
"You said I burned Zhu Xiu'er to death. Do you have any evidence to frame the princess? Do you know what the crime is?"
Mother Zhu cried even harder, "You can't bully us just because you are the group leader. Everyone in the mansion knows that you and your mother have always been dissatisfied with Xiu'er's favor and have always made things difficult for her. Now that she has died in your mansion, who else could it be except you?"
"Master Liu." Zhu's mother cried, "You must make the decision for us. My daughter died so unjustly."
Lord Liu still covered his nose, glanced at Mother Zhu, and said to Shen Qingqiu: "Princess, please follow me."
"Mr. Liu, how dare you!" the Marquis roared.
"Ouch." Lord Liu quickly put away the handkerchief and said, "My Lord, please don't be angry. I am just doing my job. Otherwise, you see, this matter has become so big. If I don't give the people an explanation, they will think that I am not an honest official and that the Marquis' Mansion is bullying them by taking advantage of its power."
Lord Hou ignored him. Although he was wearing casual clothes, he still had an intimidating aura in front of Lord Liu.
"But don't worry, my Lord. The princess will never suffer any injustice in my place. Once I find out the truth, I will definitely send the princess back safely."
“Princess, I’m in trouble.” He made a gesture to Shen Qingqiu to invite him in. Shen Qingqiu glanced at the woodshed in front of him that had been burned to charcoal ash, then glanced at the people of the Zhu family, raised his head and walked up to Lord Liu, “You’d better check it out for this princess.”
"Of course." Having said that, he followed Shen Qingqiu and prepared to leave.
"By the way." Lord Liu suddenly turned around and said to the Marquis with an apologetic smile, "Given the current situation in the Marquis' Mansion, I still think that no one should go out for the time being. Once I have investigated the matter thoroughly, I will definitely give the Marquis' Mansion a satisfactory explanation." As he said that, he signaled the people around him to stay in the Marquis' Mansion.
"Who gave this Liu Sheng the courage to show off his power in the Marquis' Mansion?" Tuan Ge'er said angrily.
The Marquis looked at Tuan Ge'er and said, "The Emperor is currently holding a grudge against me. This Liu Sheng is just someone else's dog. He knows the situation in our Marquis' Mansion and is just showing off."
"So what should we do now?"
"Don't go out for the next few days. Your sister has always been smart. Let's wait in the mansion and listen to the news from the government office."
"That's all we can do for now."
At this time, on the other side, the princess came back with Lord Liu and was brought to the court, along with Zhu Xiuer's body.
In just a short while, the outside of the yamen was crowded with people. Even if the news spread quickly, it would not be possible for so many people to hear it at this moment. It seems that everything that happened from last night to today was premeditated.
Just as Shen Qingqiu was thinking, Lord Liu had already changed into his official uniform and slowly walked towards the hall.
"mighty………"
"Shen Qingqiu!" Lord Liu slapped the wood in the hall and shouted, "Someone accused you of locking up the concubine Zhu Xiu'er in the woodshed last night and setting her on fire, burning her to death. Do you admit it?"
Shen Qingqiu looked at Lord Liu who was acting pretentiously on the stage, and sneered, "I did lock her up in the woodshed, because he poisoned my mother's medicine. I was about to send her to the government office today, but I didn't expect a fire to suddenly break out at night."
"Can anyone verify what you said?"
"Everyone in the Hou Mansion can prove it for me."
"Someone, call Zhu Xiuer's family."
Soon, Zhu Xiuer's family members knelt in the hall and said, "Your Excellency must make the decision for us. You cannot let my daughter die in vain."
Lord Liu slapped the wooden post and said, "Ms. Zhu Zhao, how can you be sure that Zhu Xiu'er was killed by Shen Qingqiu?"
"Last night, Xiu'er's maid ran to us and cried, saying that the princess had locked Xiu'er in the woodshed and was going to set her on fire. When we heard that, we rushed here immediately, but it was too late. Xiu'er still died in her hands, my daughter."
"You said it was Zhu Xiu'er's maid. Where is she now?"
"Your Excellency, it's outside."
"pass!"
Shen Qingqiu looked outside the hall, and saw the maid who had been serving Zhu Xiuer walked in and knelt in the hall, "My lord."
"May I have your name?"
"The common girl Cui Xi."
"Cui Xi, were you the one who ran to the Zhu residence last night to tell the Zhu family that Shen Qingqiu had locked Zhu Xiu'er in the woodshed and was going to set her on fire?"
"yes."
Shen Qingqiu looked at the woman in front of him and frowned, saying angrily: "Do you know what crime it is to frame the princess?"
The maid kowtowed quickly and said, "I would never dare to do that. Everything I said is true." Then she and Zhu's mother started crying together.
Shen Qingqiu looked at their pretentious appearance, sneered and slowly walked towards the corpse, "Master Liu, this princess locked Zhu Xiu'er in the woodshed last night, but this charred corpse is not her."
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