Chapter 914: Case Trial (2)
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Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The hooligan did not understand this mess and did not take it seriously.
However, after her husband’s death, Madam Zhang took these words to heart.
The state government office showed relevant witness evidence and confirmed that they had gone to Madam Zhangs village to collect evidence but had not found any medicinal dregs. Then, they found the doctor who had “asked for directions” and confirmed that there was indeed ox bezoar in the medicinal dregs. Coupled with Liu Dagen’s autopsy results, it was confirmed that Liu
Dagen had died from taking ox bezoar.
Madam Zhangs confession was true.
However, the Bai couple insisted, “Although the People’s Relief Hall sells inferior medicinal herbs, we’re not crazy enough to joke about human lives. Ox bezoar is a precious medicinal herb, and the stock of medicinal herbs in the People’s Relief Hall is limited. The doctor who chose the medicinal herbs is an old doctor with more than 30 years of experience. He hasn’t made a mistake for many years, so it’s impossible for him to make such a mistake. All of this was set up by someone.”
These words were not very convincing, but they did make sense.
The state government office summoned more than ten long-term workers, including the doctor, from the People’s Relief Hall for interrogation. The confessions of more than ten people were similar to those of the Bai couple.
They were all doctors who were very experienced and rarely made mistakes.
Both sides had their own opinions. Although the Bai Residence was suspected of selling inferior medicinal herbs, they lacked strong physical evidence to prove that People’s Relief Hall had “chosen the wrong medicine.”
After the confessions of both sides in the hall were reviewed and recorded in the criminal room, it was found that they were basically the same after comparing the confessions from the previous interrogations. There were no mistakes or differences. They were read out in public.
Both sides signed the testimony in the hall.
Ye Xiaoci made a statement. “Both sides have their own opinions. From the looks of it, the People’s Relief Hall picked the wrong medicine, or there was was a safety hazard in the quality of the ox bezoar because of the sale of inferior medicinal herbs, causing Liu Dagen’s death.”
This deduction caused an intense reaction from the commoners.
Why were the commoners so sure that Liu Dagen was killed by the Bai couple?
Wasn’t it because the People’s Relief Hall sold inferior medicinal herbs and couldn’t guarantee the quality of the medicinal herbs?
Ye Xiaoci said, “We’ve already interrogated all the relevant people. Next, the government office investigated this case for a few days. After obtaining evidence, they obtained the relevant material evidence.”
As soon as he finished speaking, seven physicians, including Uncle Sun, and two military doctors from the You Army were invited into the hall.
A bailiff brought a box with a seal that represented important evidence from the government office to the hall.
Ye Xiaoci said, “This is the ox bezoar obtained from the People’s Relief Hall. It was confirmed by the government office that this ox bezoar is from the same batch as the ox bezoar from the People’s Relief Hall when Madam Zhang was collecting the medicine earlier.”
The state government office also took out the ox bezoar purchase list from the People’s Relief Hall, the number of goods, records of when they issued ox bezoar, the ox bezoar prescriptions in the People’s Relief Hall, and so on.
All of this showed that the ox bezoars were indeed from the batch available when Liu Dagen was getting the medicine.
Next, Ye Xiaoci said, “All of you are famous physicians in Xiangping City who save the dead and heal the injured. I’ll have to trouble all of you to check carefully if there’s any ox bezoar in the People’s Relief Hall that will cause the patient’s death because of the quality.”
The few physicians were quite famous, and most of the commoners were not
unfamiliar with them. Only by publicly testing the ox bezoar in the court could the commoners be more convinced.
The few physicians took out a small amount of ox bezoar and tested it on the spot.
About 15 minutes later, everyone present, including Yu Youyao, could tell that a few of the physicians had strange expressions. The atmosphere in the hall was extremely tense.
Seeing this, the commoners at the entrance of the government office had different opinions.
“There must be something wrong with the ox bezoar of the People’s Relief
Hall…
“Liu Dagen was killed by the Bai family…”
“We have to punish the murderer severely and avenge Liu Dagen…”
Someone shouted, “That’s right. A life for a life. It’s only right. We can’t let the murderer off and punish the Bai family severely…”
The Bai couple’s hearts skipped a beat, and they immediately fell to the ground. They looked at Yu Youyao, who was sitting in the hall and drinking tea without saying a word.
This scene was seen by the sharp-eyed commoners. They shouted even louder, “Punish the murderer severely, punish the Bai family severely…” A stone caused a thousand ripples. The commoners present also shouted.
“Punish the Bai family severely!’
“Punish the Bai family severely!’
“Punish the Bai family severely!’
Ye Xiaoci was not in a hurry to stop them. It was not until the commoners had vented for a while that he slammed the wooden stick and shouted, “Silence!” The scene fell silent again.
Ye Xiaoci took the initiative to ask, “Please tell everyone the results of your tests in public. What you’re saying is all evidence in court. Every word and sentence will be recorded in the hall as a confession to determine whether there was wrongful treatment. Please be careful.”
Uncle Sun first explained the results of the examination. He first introduced the effects, characteristics, and production of ox bezoar. He let the commoners present know what ox bezoar was, what its effects were, what illnesses it could treat, what taboos it had, and so on. He also mentioned that ox bezoar was rare and there were many imitations on the market.
After that, he said something shocking. “The ox bezoar sold by the People’s Relief Hall is fake. It’s camel bezoar produced in the Western Region. As it’s similar to ox bezoar, it’s extremely easy to obtain and can be mixed up. An imitation can pa.s.s as the real thing. Sometimes, there are people who can’t distinguish them. Furthermore, it doesn’t have medicinal properties.” As soon as these words were spoken, there was silence.
This undoubtedly confirmed that the People’s Relief Hall did sell inferior medicinal herbs, but at the same time, the ox bezoar they sold did not have any medicinal properties. It also cleared the suspicion of the Bai Residence being involved in Liu Dagen’s death.
If camel bezoar did not have any medicinal properties, then why did Liu Dagen die from taking it?
The commoners instinctively did not believe it.
However, following that, the six physicians gave the same conclusion as Uncle
Sun.
The Bai couple dodged the bullet and collapsed to the ground, looking at Princess Shaoyi in disbelief. They were once again shocked by Princess Shaoyi’s shrewdness.
They all remembered that on the day Madam Zhang complained, the government office had summoned Madam Zhang to interrogate her overnight. When Princess Shaoyi found out that the People’s Relief Hall was selling low-grade medicinal herbs, she immediately asked Uncle Sun to test the medicinal herbs.
For a moment, they almost thought that in order to help the Bai Residence escape punishment, Princess Shaoyi had replaced the ox bezoar in the
People’s Relief Hall in advance.
However, this was clearly impossible. Before Madam Zhang was summoned to the government office, the prefecture’s government office had first retrieved the case file from the Xiangping County Office. When Madam Zhang went to the county office to voice her grievances, she saw the case file and found out that it involved the People’s Relief Hall. At that time, troops were sent to cordon off the People’s Relief Hall.
Uncle Sun’s every move was done under the nose of the government office.
What if all of this was really just a coincidence?
In that case, Princess Shaoyi had long known that the ox bezoar was fake. All her subsequent actions were to confuse the Han Clan and further trap them until they were beyond redemption.
The six physicians gave their conclusions in court. The criminal room recorded the contents of the testimony and read it out in public.
The six physicians signed the testimony in the hall..