Chapter 310: Please Behold The Genuine Article
“I not only demand the provision of the poisonous substance, but also all other physical evidence, especially that Glazed Ware Lamp that caused the accident.”
Prefect Fang’s irrefutable evidence.
“Magistrate Ma, no need to waste words with him. Produce the evidence! Make him convinced and admit guilt right here in court!”
“Exactly, otherwise, even if he admits guilt, it won’t convince us. If word gets out, won’t they say Prefect Fang forced a confession?”
Suddenly someone in the crowd shouted!
Li Xi’er looked up, and A Jin this young man, she didn’t know when he had arrived.
“That’s right! We’re not convinced!” Chen Jinhui also chimed in loudly from the side!
“Not convinced!” The second-in-command had also come?
Prefect Fang glanced over, how did this brat come to join the fun too? It seemed this matter had indeed blown up big, even Marquis Zhenbei’s Mansion knew about it.
Speaking of which, Marquis Xie still held one of the keys to his promotion. Thinking back, for A Jin’s grandmother’s birthday, he had presented the multicolored Jade Ruyi. Could these two be acquaintances?
Regardless of the relationship between these two, that God of War Prince who was rumored far and wide hadn’t shown up!
“Magistrate Ma, what are you standing there for? Bring the evidence forward!”
Magistrate Ma immediately snapped back, “Yes, my lord!”
Magistrate Ma brought up that Glazed Ware Lamp, along with the substance extracted by the coroner. It was slightly pale white, silvery white, with some bloodstains. Some people couldn’t help but vomit.
Li Xi’er looked and nodded, a trace of understanding in her eyes…
Meanwhile, Madam Yao, seeing these things, was already sobbing uncontrollably! “Husband, you said this morning you wanted to drink soup from that Glazed Ware Lamp. How could you just go like that?”
And he had been gutted open. Unable to accept it, she glared at Li Xi’er with hatred. “My lord, you must seek justice for my husband, bring that black-hearted merchant to justice! My husband can’t die in vain!”
People nearby softly comforted her, and she managed to hold back from crying out loudly.
“My lord, this substance, I can tell at a glance it’s not made from the raw materials used in my family’s Glazed Ware Lamps, so it certainly couldn’t have caused the poisoning from my family’s products?”
“Oh? You didn’t even look closely and you’re saying it’s not a substance contained in your family’s products?”
“Naturally, who could know better than me what secret recipe is added to my products? My lord, I have another request. May I take a look at this Glazed Ware Lamp?”
Magistrate Ma showed a stance of refusal: “You say it’s not, and it’s not? Your lordship, this evidence cannot be shown to him. What if he deliberately damages or destroys it?”
“Who are you, jabbering on? Prefect Fang is passing judgment, and you keep interjecting self-righteously, affecting the case. What, are you planning to replace our Prefect Fang?”
A Jin was bluntly advising from below again!
“Exactly, you don’t even know your own weight, do you measure up?”
“Pah!”
“Cough!”
Prefect Fang’s face was full of black lines. Though he knew this magistrate had no such intention, he had indeed been too talkative today, inciting public anger!
“Exactly, the government officials are so frustrating. If this were in our Burial Blade Gang, for such insubordination, I’d beat him half to death!” Chen Jinhui continued to chime in!
Prefect Fang gave Chen Jinhui a blank look and politely said toward A Jin:
“Heh, young man, my magistrate is just too protective of the evidence, hence so cautious. Please, everyone, remain quiet and listen!”
He extremely disapproved of such behaviors like beating to death as punishment, but how had this matter gotten entangled with gangsters!
It was all Assistant Magistrate Ma’s fault. He turned to Assistant Magistrate Ma and said: “Assistant Magistrate Ma, you go wait to the side first. When this official calls you, then come out!”
“Yes!” Assistant Magistrate Ma’s ears were red with anger.
“Inspector Liu, take it for him to examine.”
“Yes!”
Inspector Liu brought the Glazed Ware Lamp up to Li Xi’er’s side. Li Xi’er picked it up, examined it carefully in her hand, weighed it, sniffed it under her nose, and pondered deeply…
“This thing both comes from our Heng Can Glazed Ware and doesn’t…”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a counterfeit defective product!”
There was a burst of chatter below.
“Meaning it’s made imitating my defective product!”
“My lord, I request that employees from my Heng Can Glazed Ware Company bring out a genuine Heng Can Glazed Ware product, and everyone will see how fake his counterfeit is.”
Prefect Fang paused. This thing was fake. Not mentioning whether it was really poisonous, its appearance was indeed quite beautiful.
“Ling Ling!”
Ren Lingling had already, under Li Xi’er’s arrangement and escorted by Bu Wei, quietly arrived at the yamen.
She walked gracefully out from the crowd, dressed very exquisitely and charmingly, her voice crisp: “My lord, please look!”
Ling Ling uncovered the Glazed Ware Lamp she was holding. Those people thought this woman was just like those demanding explanation, here to confront that Li Xi’er!
Everyone, please look.
“This is the genuine Glazed Ware Lamp. Normally, I’m not willing to show it to people like this, but today for the sake of solving the case, I have no choice! To say his counterfeit imitates quite truly, after all, it even copied the flawed spot I considered. Look at the spot with the little bee in the middle; isn’t the petal next to it smudged where it intersects with the branch? Therefore, I consider it a defective product!”
Once the genuine article appeared, it nearly blinded their eyes. This color, this quality—clearly high-end, grand, and upscale—eliciting repeated exclamations of amazement!
They couldn’t afford to buy it, but at least they got a good look. Even Prefect Fang couldn’t help marveling at its exquisite craftsmanship.
That counterfeit immediately seemed shoddy and low-end.
Looking again at the spot she pointed out, it was indeed the same.
“You could completely take out a good one now to claim your previous one was a fake and escape punishment!” Suddenly, the old woman who had been comforting Madam Yao couldn’t help but add a comment!
“Madam, alas, your Master Yao truly died unjustly. With money and power, they fool people like this. Looks like the master will die in vain!”
“This lady, you’re not wrong, but do I have any reason to do such a thing, no?” Li Xi’er shot her a sharp gaze, startling her into a shiver.
“What do you mean no reason? You people, for silver, will stop at nothing. When something happens, you find ways to get out of it. Where is justice?”
“Heh, my genuine product is worth a thousand gold each. Why would I do such thankless hard work?”
These words made everyone nod in agreement. Those holding Glazed Ware Lamps demanding explanation felt a bit uneasy; their things were obviously fakes!
“However, who are you?”
“What?” The granny was stunned.
“Could you explain why you’re sowing discord like this…” Li Xi’er looked faintly at her, the corners of her mouth slightly curving up.
Who was she? She was Wang Zhangsong’s aunt, specially sent by Wang Zhangsong to scout and stir things up. If successful, she would get thirty taels of silver!
“I’m her neighbor. Madam Yao is very generous to us. I can’t bear to see her suffer grievance.”
“Hmph! Your identity, I naturally know. My lord, trouble you to have someone detain her first, alright?”
Prefect Fang was a bit puzzled. What did this old woman have to do with it?
“My lord, this counterfeit has crude and shoddy craftsmanship, the glaze fragile and unable to withstand a blow. Even our Heng Can Glazed Ware defective products are countless times better than it. Of course, I would absolutely never let defective products flow into the market to affect our reputation. This thing is a counterfeit made by a traitorous employee of my Glazed Ware Company conspiring with them, stealing it when it was meant to be destroyed!”
“My lord, I also know what that poisonous substance is now! I just wonder if the coroner has figured it out?”
