Chapter 718 - 720: Still Not Evil Enough
Bai Ruozhu’s heart jumped. Why did Jiang Yichun come at this time? He wouldn’t say anything rashly, would he?
And she was affected by that Soul-Captivating Powder; it was okay if Jiang Yichun didn’t come. Now that he was here, she didn’t know how to face him, let alone act accordingly.
Jiang Yichun stormed in like a gust of wind, glaring at Sun Chengchao, asking, "What did the Prime Minister do to my wife?"
Sun Chengchao snorted coldly, "I just asked a few questions; since when can the Prime Minister not interrogate people?"
Jiang Yichun ignored him and said, "Have you finished questioning? Can we go now? Didn’t your people say it would only take two hours?"
Sun Chengchao was choked. Finally, he spoke disgruntledly, "Fine, leave before I feel compelled to beat you up!"
As Jiang Yichun was about to exit, holding Bai Ruozhu and turning to leave, he caught sight of Wu Yunfeng. Without uttering a word, his eyes flickered with disappointment.
"Yichun, what are you..." Wu Yunfeng opened his mouth, but the latter half of his sentence didn’t come out. He simply watched as Jiang Yichun quickly departed with Bai Ruozhu in his arms.
Bai Ruozhu’s heart was pounding, she remained silent the whole time, fearing she might say something wrong.
Once they left the Wu Residence, Jiang Yichun looked at her with concern and asked, "Are you okay?"
Fearing that they were being watched, Bai Ruozhu couldn’t respond, instead she gestured with her eyes, Jiang Yichun was quick to react and unlocked her acupoints. He helped her onto the horse and then galloped away.
Once they returned to the Bai Family and went into the house, Bai Ruozhu exhaled a sigh of relief and complained, "You said last time that if the Prime Minister could obtain a potion for coercion, interrogating prisoners would be much easier, but the Prime Minister indeed has that potion!"
"What? They fed it to you?" Jiang Yichun’s eyes widened in shock as he grabbed Bai Ruozhu’s wrist to feel her pulse.
"Called the Soul-Captivating Powder, after taking it, I would unintentionally speak my true thoughts. I was terrified at the time, but luckily Furball woke up in time and bit me. That’s how I returned to my senses." Bai Ruozhu found it improper to use the word "sober", as she was always conscious, just not in control of herself.
As Jiang Yichun listened, his face turned pale. Only after hearing the last part did he sigh in relief, and commented earnestly, "Elder Shougu really gave you a big gift; otherwise, we would never have been able to leave there today."
"I mentioned earlier that I had sent someone to capture Wu Wanqing, but didn’t manage to catch her. Luckily, I woke up in time." Bai Ruozhu briefly recounted the situation to Jiang Yichun, which left him covered in cold sweat.
After discussing for a while, they decided to use the enemy’s strategy against them, so as to put Wu Yunfeng and Sun Chengchao off their guard.
As soon as they finished their discussion, Jianqi arrived to report, "The Mayor has started investigating Qiao Qiyu’s case. According to my investigations, the woman who was defiled by Qiao Qiyu, behaved indiscreetly in her neighbourhood, and moreover..." Jianqi paused, "She’s already almost three months pregnant. She’s planning to shift the responsibility onto Qiao Qiyu. She even sought a doctor for medicine to delay childbirth."
"It’s obvious that Qiao Qiyu was targeted. Do we know how that woman ended up in his bed?" Bai Ruozhu had a contemptuous look on her face.
"That day, Qiao Qiyu lost at the casino and didn’t dare to go home. He was persuaded by his classmate, Kuai Wenlin, to borrow money at high interest rates. Depressed, he went drinking and became intoxicated, eventually staying in the guest room upstairs. Li Meinang, who claimed she was fetching liquor for her father, was then allegedly accosted by Qiao Qiyu who brought her upstairs. However, from various signs, she seemed to have gone up herself. There was even a waiter who saw and can act as a witness." Jianqi spoke a mouthful, seemingly uncomfortable, and wrinkling his brow.
"Who is Li Meinang involved with? And whose child is she carrying?" Bai Ruozhu asked.
"She seems to have multiple partners, but she is most frequently seen with Kuai Wenlin, the classmate who led Qiao Qiyu to gamble. The child may also be his." Jianqi replied.
Jiang Yichun, on the side, shook his head, "What a mess, the Qiao Family really has bad luck."
Bai Ruozhu shrugged and said, "So do you think I have it easy? I’ve got my hands full managing the shop, let alone worrying about other people’s family matters. However, since this matter partially arose because the Hao Family was trying to frame me, I have no choice but to see it to the end."
Having finished speaking, she gave Jianqi some instructions before he promptly left to execute them.
Jiang Yichun gave her a thumbs up saying, "I can’t believe you thought of that."
"Evil people need to be grinded by more evil; am I wicked enough?" Bai Ruozhu grinned maliciously.
"Just poisonous, not evil enough, you can be more wicked. Whatever it is, your husband, me, would not dislike." He chuckled after speaking.
...
The Government Office was hearing the Qiao Family’s case in the Main Hall. Qiao Qiyu’s classmate, Kuai Wenlin, and the woman Li Meinang were summoned. They clearly didn’t anticipate that Qiao Qiyu would expose the matter to the government. When they were brought to the hall, they seemed incredibly nervous.
Kuai Minglang interrogated Kuai Wenlin who insisted it was Qiao Qiyu who invited him to the casino. He claimed that he was continually trying to keep Qiao Qiyu in check, but Qiao Qiyu was in such a frenzy after losing money that he wouldn’t listen to advice.
Li Meinang, on the other hand, kept crying, clinging to her story of being dragged upstairs by Qiao Qiyu when she went to buy alcohol.
Fortunately, there was a waiter who could testify; he was promptly brought out.
"That day, I noticed this woman sneaking upstairs. I followed discreetly, concerned that she might be a thief, and I didn’t want to be blamed by the shopkeeper. But when I saw her get into Master Qiao’s bed, I assumed they were lovers so I didn’t disturb them." The waiter said, retracting his head.
Enraged, Qiao Qiyu stomped his foot and said, "When I woke up, this woman, looking dishevelled, was on my bed, crying and accusing me of dragging her upstairs and... violating her. There were blood stains on the bed, and I thought I had done something wrong. How can a woman be so shameless?" He glared at Li Meinang, "What have I done to deserve this? Why are you framing me?"
Li Meinang covered her face and kept crying out that she’d been wronged, "Honorable sir, they must have bribed this waiter. I was indeed dragged upstairs by him. Please speak up for me!"
An official whispered into Kuai Minglang’s ear. Kuai Minglang’s face went grim, and he shouted at Li Meinang, "Li Meinang, it has come to my knowledge that you are nearly three months pregnant. Of your own volition or not...this isn’t framing Qiao Qiyu? The blood stains suggest you had it all planned. Speak! Who put you up to this?"
Li Meinang’s face turned pale instantly, and her lips started to tremble.