Chapter 192: Chapter 192: Imprisonment

“Yes.” Jing Lai took the order and sent someone to handle it.

Aunt Liu was indeed making a fuss in the courtyard.

Jing Lai simply didn’t wait for Aunt Liu to continue her commotion, directly ordered people to drag her back to her room, and nailed the doors and windows shut.

“From today, no one from Aunt Liu’s courtyard is allowed to leave, all must stay quietly in the courtyard.” Jing Lai said, “No matter what happens, do not leave.”

“Meals will be delivered outside the courtyard each day, and those delivering the meals must not contact or speak with anyone inside Aunt Liu’s courtyard. Violators will be punished.” Jing Lai said.

The servants in Aunt Liu’s courtyard all got nervous.

What did Aunt Liu do?

Would they be implicated?

“Listen well.” Jing Lai said to the servants in Aunt Liu’s courtyard, “No matter what Aunt Liu tells you, do not comply. Just focus on your original tasks each day.”

“Yes.”

Everyone’s mind started to become active.

Especially those who were not close aides of Aunt Liu, all were thinking about how to leave Aunt Liu’s courtyard and find another place.

It seemed Aunt Liu was in for a difficult time.

News of Lin Qingqing being taken to the governmental office had spread among the servants in the residence.

Now Aunt Liu returned, yet Lin Qingqing and Xiao Fengxing were nowhere to be seen.

Following that, Aunt Liu was immediately confined.

Judging by this situation, it’s likely hard for Aunt Liu to come out once locked up.

Mr. Lin and Mrs. Lin never imagined that Xiao Fengxing would become so unbearable.

Now it seems they can’t rely on Xiao Fengxing at all, they must figure out a way to rescue Lin Qingqing themselves.

Mr. Lin used his connections, and Mrs. Lin spent some silver, finally managing to enter the prison and see Lin Qingqing.

Lin Qingqing and Xiao Fengxing were not confined together.

“Mother!” Lin Qingqing cried out upon seeing Mrs. Lin, “Please get me out, Mother.”

“First, tell me the truth.” Mrs. Lin said, “How much were you involved in this matter?”

“Your father said, if it was just about drugging Mingzhu, it would be a household matter, not reaching the level of legal judgment.” Mrs. Lin said, “What Fu Zhijin and his wife accused at the governmental office was also about your attempt to harm their maid, because they know only this could be brought to the governmental office, so they didn’t mention a word about your scheming against Fu Mingzhu.”

“Fortunately, you were smart enough to mention the scheming against Fu Mingzhu in court.” Mrs. Lin said, “I ask you now, how much were you involved?”

Lin Qingqing said, “I only plotted against Fu Mingzhu with Xiao Fengxing.”

“Our original plan was to either send a servant over casually or let Chang Tai directly ruin Fu Mingzhu’s reputation, so she couldn’t marry into the Gu family.” Lin Qingqing said hatefully, “Never expected Xiao Fengxing also aimed to make Fu Mingzhu his concubine, so he went himself.”

“If he hadn’t gone himself, the Fu family might not have suspected us, even if they did, they couldn’t be sure.” Lin Qingqing said angrily, “All because of Xiao Fengxing’s greed, failing at everything!”

“That’s enough, we’ll talk about this later.” Mrs. Lin said, “Were you aware of Chang Tai going to kill that maid to silence her?”

“I didn’t know, I really didn’t know.” Lin Qingqing said, “Xiao Fengxing hid many things from me, only letting me participate in part of it, he wouldn’t let me handle the subsequent matters.”

“I really didn’t know about Chang Tai going to kill that maid.” Lin Qingqing said anxiously, “But now, Chang Tai accuses me of ordering him. Even if I say I didn’t know, is it useful?”

“As long as you weren’t involved, your father and I can think of a way.” Mrs. Lin said, “Do you have any evidence in the hands of Xiao Fengxing or Chang Tai?”

“No.” Lin Qingqing said, “If there was evidence, Chang Tai would have already produced it; they could have convicted me last night.”

“As for Xiao Fengxing and Chang Tai…” Lin Qingqing said, “Chang Tai has Xiao Fengxing’s Token, for some matters Xiao Fengxing finds inconvenient to appear, he would let Chang Tai handle them with his Token.”

“Is there anything else?” Mrs. Lin said, “Whether it’s related to this maid’s case or not, tell me everything related to Xiao Fengxing. There might be an angle for us to cut in.”

Lin Qingqing nodded, now eager to get out, determined to divorce Xiao Fengxing once she’s free.

Xiao Fengxing was utterly ruthless in letting her take the fall this time, not caring about her fate at all; how could she trust him in the future?

She was blind before, now it seems, Fu Mingzhu was lucky to break off the engagement early and not fall into Xiao Fengxing’s trap.

Thus, Lin Qingqing answered whatever Mrs. Lin asked, without any suspicion.

She told Mrs. Lin everything she knew.

“Aunt Liu knows a medicine merchant. This merchant travels around the region and has many herbs unseen in central China.” Lin Qingqing said, “This merchant and Aunt Liu are from the same hometown, both hailing from the Northern Desert. Aunt Liu gave him many benefits and purchased many harmful medicines from him.”

“Later, Aunt Liu also introduced this merchant to Xiao Fengxing, and Xiao Fengxing bought many medicines from him too. Because these medicines are uncommon, even if someone senses something wrong, they wouldn’t think of the medicine.” Lin Qingqing said.

“In the past, when Xiao Chengyu was young, his illness repeatedly recurred, thanks to these medicines. Whether it’s the Imperial Physician or famous doctors in the city, they could only find bodily deficiencies, but couldn’t determine poisoning because they hadn’t seen these medicines.”

“This time, the drug given to Fu Mingzhu was also bought from that medicine merchant.” Lin Qingqing said, “This was handled by Chang Tai, I don’t know what kind of drug was bought exactly. Xiao Fengxing told me it was potent and wouldn’t heal easily, it required…”

“No.” Mrs. Lin said, “If that were the case, the Fu family would surely seek doctors or even the Imperial Physician for Fu Mingzhu. But the Fu family never invited an Imperial Physician.”

“Although the Fu family kept Fu Mingzhu’s matter well hidden, your revelations in court left them with no way to hide.” Mrs. Lin said, “For the sake of Fu Mingzhu’s reputation, the Fu family has already spread the news that Fu Mingzhu has recovered today.”

“Although the Fu family might lie, the fact they never sought the Imperial Physician shows that the drug on Fu Mingzhu indeed wasn’t difficult to cure.” Mrs. Lin said.

“Indeed.” Lin Qingqing nodded, “From the fact Xiao Fengxing showed up in person, trying to take Fu Mingzhu as a concubine, I knew he still wanted Fu Mingzhu to bear him children, hence he wouldn’t possibly give her a harmful drug.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep