Chapter 133 Coercion
"What nonsense are you spouting? This is my son! You heartless bastard, how dare you slander a helpless old woman like me! This is outrageous!"
"Silence! I will determine the truth myself. Men, bring the coroner to examine the body!"
Upon hearing this, Song Yushu clearly noticed that the old woman panicked. Her eyes kept glancing in the direction of the coroner examining the body, and she seemed to calm down a lot. She kept wiping her face with her sleeve, but it was unclear whether she was wiping sweat or tears.
"Reporting to Your Excellency! The deceased was only seven years old. He had rashes on his body, caused by evil toxins invading his skin. He also had bruises on his limbs and pinch marks on his face, all of which were caused before his death."
After examining the body, the coroner quickly gave his answer.
“Sir, I have taken people to visit this person’s neighbors. They all say that this Li moved in half a year ago. The sound of a child crying can often be heard from her residence. They have also personally witnessed Li beating and scolding the child. All the injuries on the child’s body were caused by Li!”
After a while, the officials who went to investigate the situation also brought back news.
"Li, what else do you have to say?" When Prefect Liu heard the news brought back by the officials, his face instantly turned cold. Even tigers don't eat their cubs, this Li is truly inhuman.
"My lord! I am just a widow, raising a child alone is not easy. This child is disobedient, so I can't help but be anxious. I have raised him all these years, so it's not illegal to beat him a few times, is it?"
The old woman then shamelessly defended herself, saying that since the child was hers, it was none of anyone else's business how she hit him.
"My lord! What's more important now is to severely punish the murderer who killed my son! As for the rest, my son is already dead, what's the point of dwelling on these trivial matters?" The old woman worried that the longer things dragged on, the more out of control the situation would become, and her expression showed some anxiety.
"Sir, judging from the strangulation marks on the deceased's face, he may not have eaten the pumpkin pancake willingly. I'm afraid this case can't be closed anytime soon."
Having performed autopsies for over thirty years, the coroner had assisted the government in solving numerous murder cases, so naturally he could spot something amiss this time.
"Guards, immediately take them to prison and keep them under strict guard. No one is allowed to visit them. This case will be tried again after sufficient evidence is available!"
Since someone has died this time, the truth must be found out before the person can be released, so Song Yushu can only stay in jail for now.
However, the cell was relatively clean this time, and the straw inside was newly replaced, so there wasn't a strong odor.
Although she was in prison, she was not flustered. She was even interested in looking at the words carved on the wall by other prisoners. Anyway, she believed that Prefect Liu could clear her name. Moreover, the old woman made her feel very uncomfortable. She didn't look like the child's biological mother at all. Instead, the look in her eyes when she looked at the corpse was a kind of cold hatred, not the grief that a mother should have.
Song Yushu wasn't sure if she had guessed correctly. She and the old woman were now being held separately and could only hope that Prefect Liu would find out the truth as soon as possible.
...
Xu Qingyan has been living in dire straits lately. Not only is he being forced by Old Madam Xu to drink all sorts of tonics and unable to even leave the house, but the things he originally took over have also been divided up by his father between the first and second branches of the family. He doesn't even have a chance to argue with Old Master Xu.
"Young Master, the Old Madam instructed me to watch you finish this bowl of tonic before you can leave. The Old Madam has consulted a doctor for the Young Madam, and today is an auspicious day for the wedding ceremony. Please, Young Master, spend more time with the Young Madam for the sake of having offspring," the old lady's servant arrived on time with the medicine to urge him on.
It had only been ten days since Xu Qingyan went from being impatient at the beginning to compromising now. Now that he had gotten used to drinking the tonic, he felt increasingly desolate. Being confined to the house by his own mother and unable to go anywhere except to produce offspring made him feel like a puppet.
He used to be fine when he was philandering, but now he is extremely averse to sex and becomes increasingly perfunctory with Ning Shi in bed, ending things hastily.
This made Ning feel that he disliked her, which hurt her feelings. As a result, she became somewhat perfunctory about the matter. Although the couple was lying in the same bed, they barely exchanged a few words.
"How is it? Is she pregnant?" Every two weeks, Madam Xu would ask a doctor to examine Ning's pulse, but unfortunately, she never got the result she wanted.
This time was no exception. If it weren't for the high consultation fee offered by the Xu family, Doctor Wu wouldn't have wanted to step into the Xu family again. Not to mention the young mistress of the Xu family, even he, as a doctor, was being pressured by the old lady of the Xu family to the point of exhaustion. Every time he didn't get the desired result from taking the pulse, she would urge him to change the prescription. If he didn't have some integrity, he probably would have changed the prescription several times by now, given the real money offered by the old lady of the Xu family.
"Madam, it's best not to push too hard now. Your son is still young, and your young mistress is in good health. Let nature take its course regarding the child; we shouldn't force it. If we push too hard, it will be detrimental to your ability to conceive," Doctor Wu said after carefully considering the words he had prepared beforehand.
"Oh! Doctor Wu, Qingyan is my youngest son, and I just can't put my mind at ease! The thought that he might end up without an heir keeps me up at night!"
Looking at Ning Shi, who seemed completely unconcerned, Dr. Wu felt that Madam Xu was the one who was most seriously ill. He hesitated whether to prescribe some medicine for Madam Xu, since the consultation fee was quite generous.
Unfortunately, Old Mrs. Xu did not give him that chance. Dr. Wu's prescription did not show any effect in the short term, and he was unwilling to change the prescription for her. She was already thinking of sending someone to invite Dr. Lin back. Perhaps with a different prescription, her son's health could recover faster.
Doctor Wu had no idea that he was about to lose his biggest patron, and he left the Xu residence with his medicine chest on his back.
"Master, you're finally back! Master Liu has been waiting for you for half an hour!"
As soon as Dr. Wu returned to the clinic, he was informed that Old Master Liu had arrived.
"It's rare to see you take the initiative to come to the clinic. You didn't really come here just to have this old man take your pulse, did you?" Doctor Wu joked with his old friend.
"What else can you do at a clinic if not take your pulse?"
"Oh! Did I hear that right? Has your bad temper changed?" Doctor Wu looked like he'd seen a ghost.
"Stop talking nonsense. I heard you've been living quite comfortably lately. You must have been skimming off the top from the Xu family, haven't you?" Old Master Liu glared at his old friend, his beard bristling.
“How can this be called making money? I earned it with my own skills! But I’m afraid I won’t be able to earn this money next time,” Doctor Wu could guess that Madam Xu was dissatisfied with him, but he didn’t know how long she could tolerate it.
"What do you mean? Could it be that you really cured that young master of the Xu family?"
"No? Madam Xu is too impatient. I'm afraid that if the third young master of the Xu family continues to be forced like this, he might even have difficulty with sex." Doctor Wu expressed deep sympathy for the third young master of the Xu family. Having such a mother, he really didn't know whether it was a blessing or a curse.
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