Chapter 1520: Beaten Into a Pig-Head
Chapter 1520: Chapter 1520: Beaten Into a Pig-Head
If they don’t conduct a body search, the Yang Family won’t cease their suspicions towards them.
The Housekeeper Yang is eager to do so, willingly staying here despite the foul smell, to get to the bottom of this Yellow Stone Poison issue.
"Alright, I’ll go invite Lord Magistrate in." Squad Leader Wan said, leaving the prison guard to watch them as he went out to meet Magistrate Jin.
Magistrate Jin’s face frowned deeply at Squad Leader Wan’s words: "Searching them outside is fine, no need to search inside the cell."
He really didn’t want to enter the prison cell again, the stench was unbearable!
Squad Leader Wan said, "Sire, the Yang Family is known to stir trouble even when they’re wrong. If we change the location, and fail to find any poison, they’ll come up with a new excuse."
Magistrate Jin furrowed his brow tightly, knowing the words made sense, but he truly didn’t want to go in, fearing he might vomit bile.
"Sire, Elder Yang has arrived." Constable Feng returned, but he was the only one present: "Elder Yang has gone to find Assistant Judge Lao and said he’d be here shortly."
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Jin’s expression turned grim and he angrily replied, "Order them to hurry over, we need to jointly investigate the poisoning of the Gao brothers thoroughly."
The Yang Family sure doesn’t show respect towards this magistrate.
And as for Lao, don’t think you can become the magistrate of Beicang Prefecture so soon! I’m still alive here!
"Yes." Constable Feng was utterly busy, almost running his legs off today, yet was quick on his feet, disappearing in a blink from the prison entrance.
Steward Hu advised Magistrate Jin, "Calm down, sire. As arrogant as the Yang Family and Assistant Judge Lao are now, they’ll be even more humiliated later. That Doctor Dai dared to strip off all clothes for our search, clearly being wronged. Doctor Dai is allied with those soldiers whose tempers are all terse, Company Commander Niu is already close to hitting someone, the Yang Family definitely won’t fare well today."
Hearing this, Magistrate Jin felt more at ease, but upon waiting longer, he became angry again: "Where are they? Why haven’t they arrived yet?"
It had been 30 minutes already. Were Elder Yang and the Lao drinking and having a feast somewhere? How could it take so long for them to arrive?
Niu Dabao couldn’t wait any longer, he rushed forward and shouted at Magistrate Jin: "Lord Magistrate, what are you dawdling for? Doctor Dai is stripped to bare, and you’re hesitating to come in and lead the search? Do you wish him to freeze to death?!"
Xie Cheng chased after, pulling Niu Dabao back: "Uncle Niu, do not be rude, this is Lord Magistrate, his official rank is higher than ours, we must show respect."
"What does a higher rank matter? If we continue waiting, Doctor Dai will freeze to death!" Niu Dabao continued to shout: "Lord Magistrate, hurry up and get inside, why are you still standing there? Need me, Old Niu, to carry you in?!"
Magistrate Jin was already displeased and now got scolded by Niu Dabao, making his face turn dark as coal.
Steward Hu quickly spoke: "Company Commander Niu, it isn’t that Lord Magistrate won’t go inside, it’s Elder Yang with Assistant Judge Lao that hasn’t arrived yet."
It was explained how Elder Yang went to meet Assistant Judge Lao first upon arriving at the government office.
Niu Dabao heard this explanation in anger, rolling up his sleeves to curse: "Damn it, from the Old Master down to the servant of the Yang Mansion, they all deserve a beating! Wait for me, when they arrive, I’ll knock them to toothless!"
Sure enough, when Elder Yang and the others arrived, Niu Dabao pointed at Elder Yang asking: "Is that short, fat melon Elder Yang of the Yang Family?"
Constable Feng immediately nodded: "Yes, that’s Elder Yang."
"Ah, you fat brat, just a low merchant yet showing such pomp, today I’ll break your facade!" Niu Dabao rushed over, even before finishing his words, his fist landing on Elder Yang’s face.
Bam, bam, bam, a storm of fists beat Elder Yang, making him scream till the Yang Family’s Protector hurried to rescue him, after which they managed to pull Elder Yang back amidst the chaos.
Elder Yang was beaten into a swine head, losing two front teeth, shedding tears and pointing at Niu Dabao, indistinctly saying: "Sire, I wish to report him for assaulting innocent people!"
Niu Dabao shouted: "Pah, you a low merchant, I a commander, what of beating you? You wish to report me? Does it mean I haven’t hit you enough yet? Come here, I’ll give you a few more punches!"
Magistrate Jin was pleased, stepping in as a mediator: "Alright, everyone calm down, we still have the issue with Yellow Stone Poison to resolve."
Then he glanced at Assistant Judge Lao, smiling insincerely: "Assistant Judge Lao, let’s head inside, Doctor Dai has been waiting stripped for several periods already, if we wait any longer he might freeze."
The words hinted at blaming Assistant Judge Lao for arriving late.
Assistant Judge Lao looked a bit awkward but quickly masked it with a grin, saying: "Sire, please."
Please, my foot! With such a stench inside, you roll inside first!
Magistrate Jin said, "Assistant Judge Lao, please go first."
Assistant Judge Lao smelled a faint stink but dismissed it since the prison always had an unpleasant odor. Observing Magistrate Jin’s somewhat displeased demeanor, he dared not defy him and thus led the way into the cell.
Not long after entering, Assistant Judge Lao hastily dashed out, covering his nose and retching: "Ugh!"
Magistrate Jin laughed, saying: "Assistant Judge Lao, you oversee the criminal matters of our Prefecture, yet can’t withstand the smell of the cells? That won’t do."
Then summoned Constable Feng: "Fetch Assistant Judge Lao in."
"Yes." Constable Feng inwardly chuckled, going to assist Assistant Judge Lao and dragged him back into the cell.
"Ugh, uh!" Assistant Judge Lao threw up every step of the way, enhancing the cell’s odor to be even more pungent, overwhelmingly sour and spicy.
Squad Leader Wan prepared some damp cloth towels, handing them to Magistrate Jin and Steward Hu: "Sire, Steward Hu, you can use the wet towels to cover your mouth and nose, to minimize inhaling the stench."
Magistrate Jin immediately took the wet towels, covering his mouth and nose, clenched his teeth, and compelled himself to enter the cell.
Doctor Dai had already turned blue from the cold but resolutely refused to wear clothes. Seeing Magistrate Jin and the others arriving, his teeth chattering as he said: "Sire, please have the government office officials conduct a search on me to prove my innocence~"
Then he loosened his hair, allowing the officials to search even his hair thoroughly.
"Squad Leader Wan, Squad Leader Chen, you two get to searching," Magistrate Jin instructed, and further told Assistant Judge Lao: "Assistant Judge Lao can join the search too, lest the Yang Family denies it later."
Those words amused Assistant Judge Lao , who quickly laughed: "Sire, joking aside, the Yang Family is but a merchant family, how can they meddle in government office affairs, naturally the search finds what it should find."
Magistrate Jin sneered: "Ha, the Yang Family’s servants meddled quite a lot in government office affairs today."
Assistant Judge Lao kept quiet after, fearing more retorts from Jin, promptly directing Squad Leader Chen: "Hurry up, search it!"
It stinks; the sooner it’s finished, the sooner we can leave.
Squad Leader Chen and Squad Leader Wan began a meticulous search, treating Doctor Dai as a puppet, thoroughly examining every inch, yet found nothing.
Housekeeper Yang intently watched them, fearing they might overlook anything.
The final step involved searching the medicine chest, unwrapping every packet and opening every jar, also inviting Doctor Shen and Senior Doctor Lin from the city to inspect whether any of these medicines were laced with Yellow Stone Poison.
Housekeeper Yang suspected Doctor Dai might have mixed residual Yellow Stone Poison into other medicinal powders to clear the suspicion from himself.