Chapter 719 - 721: Getting framed badly
Seeing her condition, Kuai Minglang knew what was going on and immediately called for the doctor for an examination. After taking Li Meinang’s pulse, the doctor confirmed that she was pregnant, and it was already three months.
Qiao Qiyu stared at Li Meinang with fury and said, "You shameless woman! You even spilled blood on the bed and claimed it as your menstrual period. Do you even know shame?"
Li Meinang covered her face and started crying.
Kuai Minglang banged the courthouse woodblock and asked, "Li Meinang, confess why you wanted to frame Qiao Qiyu, and who is the father of the baby in your womb? Did your illicit lover order you to frame Qiao Qiyu?"
Li Meinang covertly peeked through the gap in her fingers. She glanced at Kuai Wen, but didn’t say anything, she just kept crying.
In the end, Kuai Minglang lost his patience. However, as she was pregnant, he could not physically punish her. So he could only send an officer to search Li’s house, hoping to find some useful material evidence.
It didn’t take long for the officer to return with some items for Kuai Minglang.
The largest of them was a scroll. Kuai Minglang unrolled it to reveal a landscape painting with a poem on the side. The words "Hao Zongze" were written under the poem, with a personal stamp on it. There was also a jade pendant, the kind that men wear around their waist, and it had the character "Hao" carved on it. The remaining items were some hairpins and jewellery, but their features weren’t as obvious as the first two.
"Is it Hao Zongze, the assistant magistrate?" Kuai Minglang murmured.
In Danliang Country, the position of assistant magistrate, also known as the "Chief of the city’s affairs", was a deputy to the city’s magistrate. In the military, there was also a similar position responsible for matters related to grain transportation and water conservancy. The position was not high-ranking, only of the eighth rank, but it did have a supervisory role and could report directly to the emperor about the affairs of the city’s magistrate.
"Li Meinang, have you had dealings with Assistant Magistrate Hao Zongze behind the scenes? Is the child in your womb his?" Kuai Minglang raised the jade pendant in his hand and asked loudly.
Li Meinang stared blankly at Kuai Minglang, "What... what assistant magistrate? I don’t know what you’re talking about."
"You don’t need to play dumb. The material evidence is already here, how can you still hide the truth? Someone, go find Assistant Magistrate Hao Zongze to question him!" Kuai Minglang instructed.
Master Qiao heard the name Hao Zongze and shouted, "It was the Hao family! The Hao family ruined me!" He quickly looked at Kuai Minglang and said, "Please, sir, take charge of this. Previously I leased my shop to Bai Ruozhu, the owner of Hua Xiangrong. The Hao family also leased their shop to Bai Ruozhu, but I just got the news today that the Hao family abruptly violated the agreement and chased out Hua Xiangrong to reclaim their shop and do the business themselves. They even attempted to buy my shop when my family had a pressing need for money. It was when my son went to confront Li Meinang, that the wife of the Hao family was present."
He quickly described how Lady Hao had helped Qiao Qiyu and how Qiao Qiyu was grateful to her and tried to persuade his family to sell the shop to the Hao family.
"This woman is having an affair with Lord Hao and is setting up my son. This must be a plot of the Hao family to force me to sell the shop to them!" Master Qiao’s hands were shaking with anger. If it weren’t for Qiao Qiyu helping him to calm his nerves, he might have choked.
Kuai Minglang processed what Qiao Baosheng had said and finally understood the situation. Bai Ruozhu’s weaving pavilion was doing so well that the Hao family coveted it and wanted to reclaim their shop. But Bai Ruozhu had also rented another shop next to theirs. So the Hao family plotted against the Qiao family to buy their shop and then get rid of Hua Xiangrong completely.
"People die for wealth, birds die for food! Officer Li will take a good look at this issue today!" Kuai Minglang said angrily.
Over at the Hao family, when an officer arrived with a summons for Lord Hao, Lady Hao quickly found out what had happened, and was so angry she nearly blacked out. That Bai Ruozhu was so ruthless, she wanted to ruin both the Hao family’s reputation and her husband. Hao Zongze was also quite angry. When he left, he glared angrily at Lady Hao, a clear sign of his disappointment in her for not handling such a small matter.
Bai Ruozhu was sitting in the yard, soaking up the sun with Dengdeng, and eating crunchy green dates when Jianqi reported the situation to her. Each bite she took was accompanied with a crisp "crack" sound, making Dengdeng chuckle in her arms.
"My lady, Hao Zongze has been summoned to the court. Master Qiao is also accusing him of plotting against the Qiao family. However, Li Meinang keeps insisting that it’s not Hao Zongze." Jianqi said.
"That’s okay, no one believes her, and whether it is or isn’t Hao Zongze, isn’t it Officer Li who has the final say?" Bai Ruozhu said with a smile.
Jianqi looked at the thin scar on Bai Ruozhu’s neck and bowed his head, "It was my inadequacy that I was not able to protect my lady, please punish me."
"There were only six of them on the scene, while there were twenty or so people from the Administrative office, and they caught us off guard. It’s not surprising that they failed. Anyway, tell me where Lady Hao went later." Bai Ruozhu swiftly changed the subject.
"She went to the Meng Residence to meet Lady Meng. However, we can’t enter the City Lord’s Residence, so we’re not sure what they talked about." Jianqi said.
Bai Ruozhu’s eyes narrowed slightly as she got up with Dengdeng in her arms, "Have someone continue to watch the court, I’m going to the Meng Residence."
"Yes."
Bai Ruozhu brought Dengdeng to You Ranju. After she greeted Lady Meng, she expressed her intentions directly.
"Lady Meng, I am not here to make a complaint or to trouble Lady Meng. Under the current circumstances, I think I should remind the City Lord’s wife to avoid unnecessary attention." Bai Ruozhu concluded.
Lady Meng’s expression became serious, "I have heard of this Hao Xianxian. I didn’t expect her to poison the wife of the county magistrate. Hao Zongze was promoted by the grace of the former Emperor and has always been loyal to the former Emperor. The Emperor appointed him to be the chief of city affairs here. I didn’t expect that he would now side with Prince Duan."
Bai Ruozhu chuckled coldly, "Loyalty to the former Emperor doesn’t mean loyalty to the former Emperor’s son."
"If the Hao family’s affairs are investigated, even if they are innocent, they will lose a layer of skin. If the Lady asks for help during this time, she will be burdening the Meng family." Lady Meng sighed, "Ruozhu, you did the right thing by reminding me, and I will have to deal with her now."
Bai Ruozhu was initially reluctant to get involved in the affairs of these grand manors, but since Lady Meng treated her so well, she couldn’t help but give a few remarks.
...
Over at the court, because Master Qiao had mentioned Lady Hao, she was also summoned by the officers.
"Lady Hao, why did you provoke Li Meinang to frame Qiao Qiyu? Confess it all now!" Kuai Minglang banged the courthouse woodblock and said.
"Your Excellency, I didn’t even know Li Meinang before. How could I have provoked her to harm others?" Lady Hao tried hard to remain calm.
Kuai Minglang picked up a gold hairpin that was found in Li Meinang’s house and said sternly, "You still dare to lie! This hairpin has a tag. We have already sent someone to the jewelry store to inquire. This hairpin was the one you ordered two months ago. If you don’t know Li Meinang, why is your hairpin in her hand? Did you use this to bribe her to harm others?"