Chapter 679 Resignation
How could the officials not know who they were arresting?
But following Zhang Xiao's habit, he would still ask questions to prevent the wrong person from being arrested.
Below the hall, Erpang knelt and curled up on the ground.
He glanced up and saw the long stick in the hand of the constable beside him. His heart skipped a beat, and he was terrified.
Although he had visited the government office several times, he was never tried in the main hall.
Seeing that Erpang was still unable to calm down, Wan Qiqi raised her hand and bowed, "Your Excellency, I am Wan Qiqi, the second owner of Xinglong Restaurant, and this is Erpang, the waiter of my restaurant."
Her composure and calmness are rarely seen.
At least in a small place like Yunhe County, no woman could speak with such confidence in court.
Zhang Xiao looked up at Wan Qiqi, and upon hearing her name, he paused slightly, seemingly somewhat surprised.
But this feeling was fleeting, and he immediately returned to a serious demeanor.
The gavel rose and slammed down on the table with a "thud," followed by questions:
"Wan Qiqi, five days ago, the authorities came to arrest fugitives. Did you harbor any criminals?"
Wan Qiqi raised her bright eyes slightly, a smile curving her lips. "My lord, I cooperated with Constable Liang that day and did not do such a thing. Please investigate thoroughly, my lord!"
In the past, Wan Qiqi would have panicked if she had faced such an interrogation.
But now, she felt unusually calm.
Perhaps because he had been here for almost a year, he had become accustomed to the local customs and culture, and had also become used to the trials in the Mingtang.
Although she wasn't tried as a criminal, she testified quite a few times because of some things that happened at the restaurant.
Because, kneeling in the Mingtang once again, she no longer felt nervous.
"Never done this?" Zhang Xiao sneered, slamming his hand on the table and demanding, "Then why has anyone seen that a criminal lived in the small house you rented?"
"Oh?" Wan Qiqi looked curiously at Xie Xing sitting to the side and asked, "Sir, what does the criminal look like?"
Zhang Xiao: "..."
He wasn't sure if the woman was trying to bluff him or if she genuinely didn't know.
However, out of caution, he still had Zhao Yi's body brought to the court.
The weather was hot, and the body had been buried in the ground overnight before being dug out, so it was inevitable that it would have a certain smell.
Upon smelling the odor, Wan Qiqi immediately covered her nose and frowned.
Erpang was already nervous, but upon smelling the stench, he immediately started gagging.
When he saw who was being carried in, his eyes reddened, but he vomited even more violently.
Because the smell was so strong, Zhang Xiao immediately ordered the body to be removed after confirming that both of them had seen it.
"Well? Have you seen him or not?" Zhang Xiaozhi asked.
"I've met him!" Wan Qiqi replied frankly, then looked at Xie Xing with a slight smile. "I've seen this person before; he does indeed live in the courtyard I rent!"
Wan Qiqi's frankness surprised Zhang Xiao and Xie Xing alike.
Xie Xing was starting to have trouble figuring out what Wan Qiqi was up to.
The man is dead, and no one can prove Fang Ziming's innocence. Once he digs up the body, Fang Ziming will have no way to deny it.
But to his surprise, Chen Yongnian brought the body back with his men and revealed the relationship between Zhao Yi and Erpang.
This initiative caught Xie Xing somewhat off guard.
He knew this was definitely Wan Qiqi's scheme, but he didn't know what Wan Qiqi was planning.
He couldn't understand why Wan Qiqi, knowing Zhao Yi had problems, would still rent a courtyard for him to stay in.
Isn't this just creating trouble for myself?
Xie Xing had many questions, so he could only ask Wan Qiqi for answers.
"Sir, my restaurant waiter, Erpang, said that some relatives were coming to visit, so I offered the small courtyard I had been renting to Erpang and his relatives to live in. I don't know anything about any fugitives!"
Wan Qiqi explained calmly.
She seemed to place all the blame on Erpang.
Erpang immediately kowtowed and cried out, "Sir, I really didn't know what kind of criminal he was. I just happened to run into him and recognized him as my uncle. I felt sorry for him, so I provided him with a place to stay!"
Zhang Xiao listened, his brows furrowing slightly.
I remember someone saying that Wan Qiqi was someone who would protect her own people, but now it seems that's not the case anymore?
He slammed his gavel and demanded, "Tell me the truth! And how did this man die?"
Erpang immediately explained, "That day when I came back from delivering food, I found that the person lying on the side of the street looked familiar, so I went over to ask and found out that it was my uncle who should have died ten years ago. I was shocked!"
He lowered his head and said in a hoarse voice, "I originally wanted to ignore him, but then I thought of my poor aunt, so I decided to take him in and listen to him tell me what happened and why he is in this state!"
"Why?" Wan Qiqi asked, feigning curiosity.
"Ten years ago, he was working at the Jia family mansion when he witnessed the young master of the Jia family stealing his money. Instead, he was framed by the young master and taken to the authorities."
As Erpang spoke, his lips trembled and tears streamed down his face. "That young master Jia used my aunt to blackmail my uncle, forcing him to confess, which led to his death by beating... Young master Jia deserved to die!"
"Outrageous!" Zhang Xiao slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "Where are the people from the Jia family? Bring them to me!"
Xie Xing immediately stood up and bowed, "Sir, the entire Jia family perished five years ago due to the bandits of Lianshan, and there is no way to verify this!"
When he said this, it was like saying that it was hard to define whether Erpang's words were true or false.
After all, Zhao Yi is dead, and so are the people of the Jia family!
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiao frowned. "The bandits of Lianshan are indeed troublesome. I have heard about them in the capital!"
"Yes! Fortunately, the bandits of Lianshan were all wiped out by the end of last year!" Xie Xing finished speaking, straightened up and looked at Erpang, then asked, "If he was beaten to death, how did your uncle survive?"
“My uncle should have died, but he was left with a breath when he was thrown into the mass grave, and he was saved by a kind person, so he survived!” Erpang said, tears streaming down his face.
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