"Someone, the shopkeeper of the medicine shop!" Xie Muen did not raise doubts about the arsenic, but opened his mouth to report another important witness in the case of Wang Butcher's violent death, the shopkeeper of the pharmacy who sold the arsenic to Liu Qing.

"The villain Zhang Wu knocked to see Lord Qincha and my lords." After a while, a tall and thin middle-aged man bowed down behind the servant and walked into the lobby, kneeling in front of the hall to kowtow to Xie Muen and the others.

"Zhang Wu, this official asked you, have you ever sold arsenic to the people in the lobby?" Xie Muen glanced at Zhang Wu and asked quietly.

"My lord, the villain once sold Liu Juren three taels of arsenic, and Liu Juren said that he was going home to medicine mice." Zhang Wu didn't think about it, pointed to Liu Qing who was kneeling beside him and said, "Liu Juren reported a fake name at the time, but the villain saw him when he was paraded in the street, so he remembered him." ”

Liu Qing heard that the corners of his mouth showed a helpless smile, after more than two years of court trial, he has become numb to lies, from the initial anger to now face it calmly.

"How do you remember that you sold Liu Qing half a catty of arsenic?" Xie Muen groaned for a moment when he heard this, and asked quietly.

"My lord, there is only a dozen days between Liu Juren's purchase of arsenic and the poisoning of Butcher Wang, so the villain remembers it more clearly."

Zhang Wu has been to court more than a dozen times, so he already knows Xie Muen's question, so he replied quietly, "Moreover, the villain's pharmacy is usually cold, so he remembers important customers like Liu Juren more clearly, plus arsenic is a special drug, and the villain can't sell a pound in a year, so he is deeply impressed by Liu Juren's purchase of arsenic." ”

Xie Muen glanced at Zhang Wu when he heard this, and did not say anything, but summoned several other groups of witnesses, all of whom could prove that Butcher Wang died of poisoning, which was very unfavorable to Liu Qing.

"Liu Qing, this official asks you, do you have any witnesses to prove that you have nothing to do with the case of Wang Qi's violent death?" After those witnesses finished testifying, Xie Muen looked at Liu Qing expressionlessly.

"Lord Yu, when Wang Qi died, the students were in Fucheng to participate in the gathering of the same imperial examination, and they were not in Lin'an County at all, how could they instruct the Liu family?" Liu Qing smiled bitterly when he heard this, and said with a lonely expression, "If it is really as stated in the complaint, it was the student and the Liu family who planned to poison Wang Qi in advance, then who has ever seen the student and the Liu family meet each other?" ”

"If the two of you avoid a tryst with everyone in private, who knows?" Xie Muen couldn't help but sneer when he heard this, and said to Liu Qing with a stern expression, "Instead of complaining, it's better to think about how to get away with it now." ”

"My lord, the student knows that this time there will be no escape, so the student has decided to plead guilty, and I hope the case will be settled." Liu Qing's face showed a sad look, and he kowtowed to Xie Muen and said.

Now all the evidence points to Liu Qing's participation in the murder of the Wang butcher, and even Xie Muen can't help him clear his grievances, so Liu Qing is already disheartened and no longer wants to get rid of the crime.

Then, Liu Qing turned around and faced the outside of the hall, and said to a middle-aged woman in her forties standing at the front of the crowd, "Eldest sister, my younger brother's unfilial piety has made the family humiliated, and everyone in the family will be tired of you in the future, and my younger brother has already accepted his fate, so the eldest sister should stop running for her younger brother, otherwise it will only make my younger brother's heart more uneasy." ”

As he spoke, Liu Qing knocked his head to the middle-aged woman three times, and blood immediately oozed from his forehead due to excessive force.

"God, just open your eyes and save my brother, he was wronged." This middle-aged woman is Liu Qing's eldest sister Liu Sujuan, who suddenly sat on the ground with her legs limp when she heard this, and couldn't help but look up to the sky and howl sadly, and then howled and cried.

Seeing Liu Sujuan crying heartbreakingly, many women outside the hall were affected by her affection, and couldn't help but shed tears, everyone is a villager, and naturally knows that Liu Sujuan has suffered enough for Liu Qingdong in the past two years.

"Liu Juren hasn't even killed an ant on weekdays, how can he kill someone."

"I don't believe that someone as upright as Liu Juren would murder Butcher Wang, someone must have secretly framed him."

"I heard that Zhang Gu secretly framed Liu Juren, it was originally just the Liu family who poisoned the Wang butcher, and Zhang Gu deliberately implicated Liu Juren in order to take revenge."

"Be quiet, let Zhang Gu's people hear you, and you'll be in trouble."

"What are you afraid of, Zhang Gu is finished this time, we don't have to be afraid of him in the future."

……

The crowd outside the hall then roared into a commotion, and people whispered about Liu Qing, because Liu Qing had a very good reputation on weekdays, so everyone did not believe that he would participate in the poisoning of the king butcher, but put the blame on Liu's body.

"Silence!" Xie Muen frowned when he saw this, patted the startled wood again, and shouted loudly at the errand officer standing outside the door, "If anyone makes any more noise, they will immediately blast out of the county office." ”

Hearing this, the outside of the hall immediately fell silent, and even Liu Sujuan covered her mouth with her hands and cried, no one wanted to be kicked out before the end of the trial.

"It's finally over." Bai Dezhang was secretly relieved after witnessing the scene in front of him, it was obvious that Xie Muen couldn't come up with anything, since even Liu Qing confessed in despair, then this case can finally come to a "satisfying" end.

Zhao Fu and other high-ranking officials on the ground in Zhejiang also appeared relaxed, and after Xie Muen announced the verdict, they could completely get rid of this case, and the Criminal Department would not send the case back for retrial.

"This official asks you again, and you are telling the truth!" Xie Muen glanced around at the witnesses in the lobby, and said in a deep voice quietly, "Do you know that framing others is to sit back, the case of the butcher Wang is a human life lawsuit, once it is found out that you have lied and framed, then you are waiting to be cut off by your head!" ”

"My lord, I don't dare to deceive you." In the past two years, the witnesses have gone through more than ten court trials, large and small, and they can be regarded as "battle-tested", because they were not frightened by Xie Muen's warning, but assured him one after another.

"Come on, read out their confessions, and if there are no objections, let them sign and draw them!" Xie Muen's eyes couldn't help but show a look of pity when he heard this, and then said in a deep voice to the clerk who was taking notes on the side.

The clerk then took up the confessions of the previous witnesses and read them one by one, and after each one was read, the corresponding witnesses signed and signed on them.

This made the people outside the hall shake their heads secretly, obviously waiting for Xie Muen to get those confessions, they will start to pronounce the verdict, Liu Qing is in a catastrophe this time, and everyone feels sorry for him.

Bai Dezhang's mood became happy, every time a witness signed and drew a confession, he felt a little more relaxed, things have developed to this point very smoothly, and the course of the case is beyond his previous imagination, Xie Muen did not look for any trouble.

Zhao Fu and other senior officials took advantage of the opportunity of those witnesses to sign and draw the detention, slowly and methodically picked up the teacup and tasted the tea, secretly waiting for Xie Muen to announce the verdict that Liu Qing and the Liu family conspired to poison the Wang butcher, and the atmosphere at the scene was very relaxed.

"Wait!" When the witnesses had signed and drawn their confessions one by one, the clerk was about to read the confessions of Liu Qing and Liu, when Xie Muen, who was sitting behind the desk, suddenly shouted to him, and then waved his hand to him, and the clerk retreated in amusement.

Seeing this, the people inside and outside the lobby couldn't help but look at Xie Muen curiously, not knowing what he meant.

Under the suspicious gaze of everyone, Xie Muen first picked up the confessions signed by those witnesses and looked at them, and then made an astonishing move, and actually stood up and walked down the court.

Seeing this, Zhao Fu and the other officials present on both sides of the hall hurriedly got up and looked at Xie Muen curiously, not knowing what he was going to do.

"Lord Wang, the preliminary examination of the lower officials has been completed, please show the prince!" In the puzzled eyes of everyone, Xie Muen came to the entrance of the lobby, bowed to the crowd behind Liu Sujuan, and bowed respectfully.

"Lord Wang?" Hearing this, including Zhao Fu and other officials of the Third Division of Zhejiang, everyone at the scene was taken aback, and they all looked in the direction of Xie Muen's bow.

Under the stunned gaze of the people, a group of tall and strong men parted the crowd behind Liu Sujuan, and walked out surrounded by an elegant and handsome young man.

"Loyalty...... King Chungmu! When he saw the young man, Zhao Fu's face suddenly changed, his eyes were full of shock, and he stammered.

That's right, the young man who was surrounded by strong men was Li Yuntian, he had clearly witnessed the trial outside the hall before, and it was really as he expected, and it was difficult for Xie Muen to find anything out of it.

"This eldest sister, the sky of Daming is blue, if your brother is really innocent, he will definitely get justice." When passing by Liu Sujuan's side, Li Yuntian stopped, smiled and said a word to Liu Sujuan, who was staring at him dumbfounded, and then strode into the court.

"He didn't come from Nanzhili to do business, and he also bought a pair of vases from my family's porcelain shop, how did he become a prince?"

"I remembered that he had bought vegetables at my vegetable stall and asked how this year's harvest was."

"What a young prince, I don't know which palace it is?"

"Could it be that he is the King of Zhongwu?"

"No, he's been in our county for several days, and the King of Zhongwu has a lot of opportunities, how can he be so idle!"

……

As Li Yuntian walked out of the crowd, the people outside the hall instantly became commotion, talking to each other in private.

Liu Sujuan was already stupid at this time, her mind was buzzing blank, she never thought that there was a prince listening to the trial among the people outside the hall, and listening to the meaning of this young prince's words just now, it seemed that he wanted to thoroughly investigate the case of the violent death of the butcher Wang, could it be that Liu Qing was saved now.

"See the prince!" Zhao Fu and the others had already come back to their senses at this time, and hurriedly stepped forward to greet Li Yuntian, bowing down to Li Yuntian, all of them looking nervous, and their hearts were up and down.

In the eyes of Zhao Fu and the others, the last thing they want is that Li Yuntian was shocked by this case, not to mention how noble Li Yuntian's status is, Li Yuntian's prestige in solving the case before alone made them feel jealous.

The reason why Li Yuntian was transferred to the Metropolitan Procuratorate by Emperor Yongle was that in addition to Li Yuntian's meritorious work in clearing the water bandits, it was also related to Li Yuntian's conclusion of several major and mysterious cases.

Although Li Yuntian no longer tried cases lightly after arriving in the capital, the cases he later participated in were all shocking cases of the Ming Dynasty, and the trials were clear and convincing to those involved in the cases, so his reputation for being good at judging cases gradually became famous in the officialdom.

To tell the truth, those officials who committed serious crimes wanted Li Yuntian to try them, Li Yuntian not only acted fairly but also handled things gently, as long as they confessed, they would usually be punished with a reduced crime.

But then again, Zhao Fu and others are afraid that Li Yuntian will come to trial for a case like Butcher Wang, and once the result of Li Yuntian's trial is different from their previous conclusion, the consequences will be troublesome, and there will definitely be many people who will be unlucky.