Chen Ruolan completely broke down, panicked and at a loss. It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her head, making her shiver with cold.
She experienced Chen Qingqing's ruthlessness once again. Desperate to survive, she didn't care about anything else. She crawled on her knees with all her might to Chen Qingqing's side, kowtowing and begging for mercy.
"Sister Qingqing, I was wrong. It's all my fault for being so competitive, so foolish, so petty, and so arrogant. I shouldn't have taken advantage of your misfortune."
But you have to believe me, I never intended to kill you. I just wanted to show off a little and regain the face I'd lost.
"Please, please don't let them kill me. Just spare my life, and I'll do anything for you, even be your slave."
Seeing her pathetic state, Chen Qingqing scoffed, "You don't deserve it! You brought this all on yourself. You reap what you sow. Just wait to die!"
"No, Sister Qingqing, I really know I was wrong, please forgive me this time..." Chen Ruolan held Chen Qingqing's hand, tears streaming down her face.
Chen Qingqing frowned and coldly shook off her hand. "Chen Ruolan, you have schemed against me time and time again. If I hadn't discovered your trick in time, I would have been the one defiled by Fan Tong. And after you became the magistrate's wife, you took advantage of your position to try to seize my family property and kill me. Now that things have been exposed, you want me to spare you? Do you think that's possible?"
Chen Ruolan's face turned deathly pale. She knew Qin Shousheng had abandoned her, but she didn't want to die. Her gaze suddenly fell on the stunned Miao Hong, and she pointed at him, loudly accusing him.
"Sister Qingqing, it's really not my fault. It was Miao Hong. He couldn't stand seeing your clinic doing well and got jealous, so he came up with this insidious plan. It was all his doing, and it has nothing to do with me."
Miao Hong suddenly came to his senses. He knew he couldn't escape his fate. To save his life, he could only try to deflect responsibility and lessen his punishment. He hurriedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly, begging for mercy.
"Miss Chen, spare my life! It's not that I wanted to harm you. Even if you gave me two lives, I wouldn't dare to scheme against you!"
He pleaded while pointing at Chen Rulan, "It was her. She was the one who came up with the idea of framing him."
"Bullshit! When have I ever given you any advice?" Chen Ruolan glared angrily at Miao Hong, wishing she could pounce on him and strangle him.
Enraged, Miao Hong spat at her, "Pah! You vicious woman, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be in jail now."
After saying this, he kowtowed and bowed to Chen Qingqing again.
“Miss Chen, it was this wretched woman who asked me to find a way to get the magic pills from you, and then tamper with them. She said that as long as she could poison someone, she could kill you. I’m telling you the truth. Please help me plead for mercy. I don’t care if I’m fined a lot of money, as long as you don’t kill me.”
Chen Qingqing's eyes were icy cold. It was like dogs fighting, each with their own sharp tongue!
They're all birds of a feather, not a single one of them is any good!
Her eyes were filled with murderous intent as she looked at Miao Hong. "Miao Hong, a doctor should have a benevolent heart. You are not skilled enough and your business is not doing well. You actually conspired with Chen Ruolan to kill people for your own selfish desires. You all deserve to die!"
Seeing that he had successfully diverted the hatred, Qin Shousheng naturally assumed he was safe and hurriedly flattered Chen Qingqing.
"Yes, yes, Miss Chen is absolutely right. These two colluded to commit evil deeds and should be executed immediately to pay for the death."
Having said that, he looked at Chu Jiuqing with a relieved smile.
“Your Highness, you must be exhausted from traveling day and night. I will take care of things here. You should go to the county office to rest. I will immediately give the order to prepare a fine banquet to welcome Your Highness back.”
Zhui Feng shouted angrily, "How dare you! Who told you to get up? Kneel down right now!"
"This...this..." Qin Shousheng's legs went weak with fright, and he knelt down again. "Your Highness, although I was negligent in judging the case and wronged Miss Chen, I have already realized my mistake. Please forgive my rudeness and do not punish me any further."
Chu Jiuqing glanced at him disdainfully, "Qin Shousheng, I can let this murder case go, but shouldn't you give me an explanation for your embezzlement, bribery, and misappropriation of salt taxes?"
Qin Shousheng shuddered. His worst fears had come true. Prince Ning really had come to smuggle salt. No, he was a cautious man, and no one would get any evidence. Prince Ning's words were just a bluff.
Thinking of this, Qin Shousheng forced himself to remain calm. "Your Highness, I have always been an honest and upright official and have never accepted any money or valuables. As for the salt tax and smuggling of salt that you mentioned, those were all handled by the county magistrate. I am not qualified to do my job and am completely unaware of how things work out. I hope Prince Ning will investigate thoroughly."
Chu Jiuqing already knew that Qin Shousheng had been embezzling salt taxes on a large scale by abusing his position, but he just wanted to hear Qin Shousheng admit to his dealings with the Crown Prince.
"Since Lord Qin doesn't remember, guards, give each of them thirty strokes of the cane to refresh them and make them remember."
Shen Yuanze was dumbfounded and looked to Qin Shousheng for help. Qin Shousheng was too scared to care about him and had already collapsed to the ground.
"Yes, Your Highness." Upon receiving the order, the guards dragged Qin Shousheng, who was lying like a dead dog, and Shen Yuanze began to carry out the execution.
Qin Shousheng and Shen Yuanze were beaten until their skin was torn and blood gushed out.
The two had never suffered such torture since birth, and were immediately beaten until they cried out for their parents.
Even so, Qin Shousheng did not dare to beg for mercy. He knew that if he did not speak, he might still have a sliver of hope. If he really revealed the Crown Prince, he would die even faster.
He could endure it, but Shen Yuanze couldn't. He knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing.
"Prince Ning, spare my life! I'll tell you everything! Over the years, Qin Shousheng's embezzlement has reached an unbridled level. He openly solicits and accepts bribes, deliberately falsifies expenses, levies additional taxes, misappropriates and deducts funds, and so on. Last year, when collecting public grain, he added 1.5 qian to every tael of silver, resulting in an extra 20,000 taels of silver, all of which went into his pocket. Although I was in charge of the salt administration, those salt merchants only gave gifts to Qin Shousheng; I didn't get a single benefit!..."
Qin Shousheng turned pale with fright upon hearing these words, staring at Shen Yuanze with resentment and hatred. "Shut your filthy mouth! If you dare to slander me again, I'll kill your whole family!"
All crows are black, but when disaster strikes, they all fly away.
Knowing that the situation was hopeless and that he had no choice but to confess, Shen Yuanze actively exposed Qin Shousheng in an effort to gain merit and atone for his crimes.
He ignored Qin Shousheng and instead swore to the heavens, "Prince Ning, everything I have said is true. Just arrest all those salt merchants in Anyang and we will know the truth in one interrogation."
Qin Shousheng also knelt on the ground and argued like a chicken being slaughtered, "Prince Ning, please don't listen to this villain's nonsense. Although I like money, I have never collected more taxes behind the court's back. This is all fabricated and utter nonsense!"
......
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