Yan Mingkun said, "Lord Han, the maid Chunxing indeed needs to present evidence proving that the owner of Hong Fen Jia Ren instructed her to poison. Without evidence, it only means she is speaking without basis."
Lord Han nodded, looked at Chunxing, and sternly ordered, "Chunxing, you claim Bai Sheng instructed you to poison. Do you have proof? At what time, at what place, and how did she instruct you? Speak the truth!"
Chunxing's lips trembled with fear, her whole body shaking like a withered leaf in a cold wind.
"Speak quickly!" Lord Han slammed the gavel, the sound like a sudden clap of thunder. If this maid hadn't blurted out that one extra sentence, he would have closed the case long ago!
"Speak quickly!" Everyone stared at Chunxing.
Chunxing, with wide, terrified eyes, scanned everyone present, as if each person was glaring at her menacingly, shouting at her to "speak quickly."
Chunxing shrieked, suddenly covering her ears and shaking her head frantically. hysterically, she cried, "No, it wasn't Boss Bai, the ones who instructed me were my young lady, Zhou Yanran, and Miss Dong!"
Another bombshell exploded in the courtroom.
Zhou Yanran and Dong Xuerou's faces instantly turned pale.
Zhou Yanran's eyes flashed with ferocity as she lunged forward and kicked Chunxing, "You wretched maid! How dare you falsely accuse! How dare you blabber!"
"Stop! Protect the witness!" Lord Han roared. Two bailiffs immediately stepped forward and pulled Zhou Yanran away.
The Empress slowly tightened her grip on her handkerchief, a deep disappointment flashing in her eyes.
These two wretched girls were truly incapable of anything good, only capable of ruining things. They had chosen such a weak and cowardly person to take the fall, and with just a scare, she had confessed everything.
However, it was best for them not to implicate her, or she would never forgive them!
Lord Yan immediately seized the opportunity, staring at Chunxing and shouting angrily, "What exactly happened? Maid Chunxing, confess honestly!"
Chunxing slumped to the ground, crying, "Your Lordships, you must uphold justice for this servant. This servant does not want to die, woo woo... My young lady, Zhou Yanran, and Miss Dong went to visit Hong Fen Jia Ren. My young lady discovered that there were prostitutes inside the establishment.
My young lady detests prostitutes the most and asked Boss Bai to prohibit them from entering the shop to buy anything. Boss Bai did not agree, so my young lady harbored resentment and, along with Miss Dong, decided to retaliate against Boss Bai.
But they didn't want to get themselves into trouble, so they decided to use a knife to kill, to use the princess. Thus, they asked this servant to buy rouge. They secretly added poison to the rouge and asked me to deliver it to the princess. That poison was only available in Miss Dong's family and was extremely rare. Miss Dong said that only then would it not be detected.
Yesterday, fearing exposure, they instructed this servant to falsely accuse Boss Bai. Everything I've said is true. I implore your Lordships to investigate thoroughly."
The courtroom was silent, so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
No one expected that these two young ladies from esteemed families were the masterminds behind it all.
It's over, it's over, Lord Han cried out frantically in his heart. Now he had truly offended the Zhou and Dong families.
Dong Xuerou said angrily, "Chunxing, you speak without any basis. First, you say it was Boss Bai, then you say it was me and Miss Zhou. Your Lordships, her words are completely untrustworthy!"
"Trustworthy or not, we'll see the evidence!" Bai Sheng said with a cold smile. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
She stepped forward and said respectfully, "Lord Han, the two imperial physicians just confirmed that there was poison in the rouge, but they did not identify what kind of poison it was. This humble one earnestly requests your Lordship to have the imperial physicians identify the specific poison in the rouge.
The poisons that can destroy skin in our Great Xia Kingdom are few and far between. As long as the poison is identified, its source can be found."
Lord Han wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. "Two imperial physicians, please ascertain what poison this is!"
The two imperial physicians stepped forward, took out various bottles and jars, and began to examine them. However, after a long time, they could not identify the poison.
Bai Sheng respectfully requested, "Lord Han, this humble one has some knowledge of medicine. May I step forward to examine the piece of pigskin that was corroded?"
"Granted," Lord Han nodded.
Bai Sheng picked up the pigskin, examined it pretendingly, and said to the two imperial physicians, "Greetings to both imperial physicians. this humble one believes this poison does not originate from our Great Xia Kingdom. It resembles a disfiguring flower from Meizhou."
The old imperial physician with a white beard slapped his forehead and exclaimed joyfully, "Oh, I know! This poison does not exist in our Great Xia Kingdom. It only exists in the United States and Mexico of Meizhou. It's called... it's called 'Bad Woman Flower,' yes, it's 'Bad Woman Flower'! I heard it from my master!"
Another imperial physician exclaimed, "This poison is extremely rare. Our Imperial Hospital does not have it."
Dong Xuerou's face turned as pale as snow.
Bai Sheng immediately said, "Prime Minister Dong's third son, Miss Dong's third uncle, is a great merchant who frequently travels to Meizhou and purchases a type of spice from the local aborigines.
It is rumored that Miss Dong's third uncle returned from the United States of Meizhou just last month."
Thanks to Xiao Yun and his street gangs, who had been keeping an eye on the Dong and Zhou families for the past few days, Bai Sheng learned that the Dong family had a merchant son who frequently traveled to Meizhou.
Upon hearing Bai Sheng's words, who among those present did not understand? Everyone knew that the third son of Prime Minister Dong was a great merchant and often frequented foreign tribes.
"You venomous woman, how dare you slander me! This poison has nothing to do with this young lady!" Dong Xuerou could no longer maintain her gentle and intellectual facade. At this moment, her face was terrifyingly contorted.
Consort Mei said, "Even our Great Xia's Imperial Hospital does not have this poison. It seems only the Dong family possesses it."
Bai Sheng nodded with a smile, "To prove that this medicine originates from the Dong family, I have witnesses."
"Bring forth the witnesses!" Lord Han's heart trembled again and again. Prime Minister Dong, I am sorry, it is not that this subordinate does not give you face, but rather your son has failed in educating his daughter.
Bai Sheng said loudly to the women wearing veils, "Sister Liqing, please bring the person forward."
Liqing removed her veil and led three or four women wearing veils out.
After walking to the front of the presiding judge, all four women removed their veils. When the crowd saw their faces, they couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow, yuck, oh my heavens!"
The faces of the four young women were all uneven and pitted, like stomped-on honeycomb, with clear traces of corrosion by poison.
The leading woman said, "Your Lordship, the four of us were all sold by the Dong family to brothels as concubines and maids without faces. Our faces were all poisoned by Dong Xuerou and her mother. These are our indentures, please review them, Your Lordship."
The leading woman placed several pieces of paper before Lord Han.
Lord Han looked at them, and the sellers on the indentures were indeed members of the Dong family.
Bai Sheng then said, "Please ask the two imperial physicians to verify if the scars on these women's faces are the same as the Fifth Princess's."
The imperial physicians stepped forward, examined them carefully, and then nodded to Lord Han, Lord Wei, and Lord Yan.
The four disfigured women looked at Dong Xuerou. The leader cursed, "Truly, evil is repaid by evil! Humph!"
Seeing all this, Zhou Yanran immediately knelt before Lord Han and pleaded with a trembling voice, "Your Lordship, this was all Dong Xuerou's idea. I did want to retaliate against the owner of Hong Fen Jia Ren, but I never intended to harm the Fifth Princess. This was Dong Xuerou's decision."