kingnovel Chapter 358 Torture to extract confessions
Chapter 358 Torture to extract confessions
"It could be anyone in your house, and you don't carry it with you all the time. Besides, if it was poisonous when I sold it to you, why did it take effect only now?" Li Xiaoxiao asked back.
"That's because there is no poison on the upper layer. You have evil intentions and are scheming, so you put the poison on the lower layer." Qiao Yueru used her imagination to the fullest and it must be like this.
"It's a pity that everything is just your imagination. I don't recognize it."
"It's not up to you to admit it or not. The facts are in front of me. I believe the prefect will give me justice." Qiao Yueru glared at her fiercely.
"My Lord, I am Qiao Yueru's mother. I can prove that my daughter's face was ruined after she used Li Xiaoxiao's concealer." Si Shuiqing took two steps forward and pretended to be dignified and generous, and said slowly,
"Your Excellency the Prefect, I can prove it. My young lady only used concealer, and no one usually enters her room, let alone put poison in it." A little maid stood up timidly. It was obvious that she was Qiao Yueru's personal maid.
Hearing their words, Qiao Yueru glanced at Li Xiaoxiao with a smug look, as if to say, let's see how you can still make excuses?
"Sir, my shop sells twenty bottles of concealer every day. Each bottle looks exactly the same. When customers come to the store to pick them up, they just pick up a bottle at random. On the day Miss Qiao came to buy, there were nineteen other people. If there is really something wrong with my product, please invite the other nineteen people to come and see if they have any signs of poisoning."
Li Xiaoxiao was not flustered, and spoke in a logical and clear manner.
"No need to invite me, I'm not poisoned." Suddenly a hearty female voice sounded, and then Zhu Lingling came over and gave Li Xiaoxiao a reassuring smile.
"Miss Qiao and I bought it together. Does Miss Qiao still remember?"
"Of course I remember." Qiao Yueru felt scared when she saw her. It was so unlucky to meet her again.
"Your Excellency the Prefect, I am Zhu Lingling, and I can prove that the concealer sold by Li Xiaoxiao is not poisonous. Moreover, many women of my age have bought it from her, and none of them have had any problems. Therefore, I believe that Qiao Yueru's poisoning has nothing to do with Li Xiaoxiao."
Zhu Lingling clasped her fists towards the prefect and spoke loudly.
The prefect gave her a look that was not exactly friendly. The situation on the scene was that the husband had his own reasons and the wife had her own reasons. It was really hard to judge at the moment.
"After Qiao Yueru bought this thing, who has come into contact with it?" the prefect asked after thinking for a moment.
"I have kept it in my room since I bought it. Usually, there are only two maids going in and out of my room, and no one else." Qiao Yueru answered truthfully.
"Did your two maids come with you today?" the prefect asked again.
"They are all following." Actually, there was no need to bring the maids, but Qiao Yueru wanted them to come out to testify, so she brought them along.
Then two maids came in from outside and kowtowed to the prefect. The two maids were not very old, probably only twelve or thirteen years old. They knelt on the ground timidly, not daring to look up.
"It's you two who take care of Qiao Yueru's daily life." The prefect looked dignified.
"Yes, it is us two servants." The two maids had never seen such a situation before, so they said timidly.
"Has anyone touched the bottle of concealer in Qiao Yueru's room?"
The two maids lowered their heads, glanced at each other secretly, and then said in unison: "No."
Li Xiaoxiao was closer to them, and while the two maids were answering questions, she was carefully observing their expressions.
One of the round-faced maids trembled slightly and lowered her head even more when the prefect asked her questions.
There must be something wrong with this maid.
"You must think carefully before you answer. If you dare to tell a lie in front of me, the consequences will be unimaginable to you." The prefect is a fair and honest person. He has been trying cases for many years, so he naturally knows how to use both kindness and severity.
"No, no." Although the two maids were trembling with fear, they still insisted on what they said.
"Sir, I have something to say." Li Xiaoxiao suddenly spoke from the side.
"You say." The prefect said in a deep voice.
"Thank you, sir. I suspect that one of them poisoned them. I hope you can torture them to extract a confession." While speaking, Li Xiaoxiao secretly winked at the prefect.
After receiving Li Xiaoxiao's secret signal, the prefect pretended to be silent for a moment and said: "I will give you one last chance. If you confess, I can give you a lighter sentence. If you are stubborn, you will be severely punished." After the prefect finished speaking, he slammed the gavel heavily.
The two maids were so frightened that they trembled. The round-faced maid was so frightened that she burst into tears: "My lord, I saw Zhang, the cook in the back kitchen, sneaking around in front of the young lady's door yesterday evening. There was no one else."
"You little bitch, did you see it clearly? Why didn't you say it earlier?" Qiao Yueru kicked the maid in the back with such force that the maid, who was originally kneeling, was kicked to the ground.
The maidservant seemed to be used to it, she got up from the ground and continued to kneel.
"I have seen clearly that I dare not say anything nonsense." The round-faced maid was terrified and kept kowtowing to her. She subconsciously moved a little further away, fearing that Qiao Yueru would kick her again. It was obvious that Qiao Yueru often punished her.
"Qiao Yueru, I am trying a case, how can I allow you to act so presumptuously here?" the prefect shouted.
"I thought she just happened to pass by, so I didn't think much about it. It was only when the prefect asked about it just now that I remembered it." The maid's voice was as low as it could be, and it was almost inaudible if you didn't listen carefully.
"Go to the Qiao residence and bring over cook Zhang." The prefect instructed the bailiff beside him.
Cook Zhang was brought in quickly. Her eyes were filled with fear and panic, and she didn't dare to look at Qiao Yueru and Si Shuiqing.
"I, a humble girl, greet the prefect." Cook Zhang knelt down and kowtowed.
"You are Cook Zhang."
"That's exactly me," replied Cook Zhang.
"What did you do at Qiao Yueru's residence yesterday evening?" The prefect didn't beat around the bush and asked directly.
"I didn't go there." Cook Zhang knelt on the ground, her eyes wandering and she didn't dare to look at anyone.
How could the prefect not notice that something was wrong with her? He picked up an execution sign on the table and threw it to the ground.
"Mrs. Zhang, the chef, deceived me in court and was punished with twenty strokes of the cane."
"Your Excellency the Prefect, I really didn't go there." Upon hearing that she was going to be beaten with twenty sticks, Cook Zhang shouted anxiously.
"Execute immediately." The prefect ignored her cries.
The torture instruments were quickly brought up, covered in dried blood. Chef Zhang was so frightened that she stepped back, but she was in the court, where could she retreat to?
The two bailiffs, ignoring her struggles, grabbed one of her arms and pressed her onto the torture device.