The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family-Chapter 631 Severe Torture to Extract a Confession (1)_1

"Sir Mo, have you been well?" Mo Heng gazed coldly at the man in the crimson official robe, who, despite being middle-aged, was still handsome and dignified, and greeted him.

Since the start of the interrogation, Pei Qin had been squinting his eyes, assessing the Minister of Justice who was questioning them, Mo Dun. There were slight resemblances to Mo Heng, but he lacked Mo Heng’s fine beauty, presenting instead a different kind of gentle and steady handsomeness, mature and charismatic with the settling of years. There was no hint that he could be someone who would brutally poison his own son.

Mo Dun’s expression changed. Years had passed, and his impression of his son was still fixed at the moment when he lay in a pool of blood, his eyes darkened with rage and hatred, staring deathly, questioning why. When they met again, his son’s eyes had miraculously healed, and now he was his prisoner. His gaze shifted to Pei Qin, a very ordinary and common woman, his wife.

The deputy examiner beside them coughed lightly, a reminder, "Sir! The trial can commence."

Mo Dun pulled his gaze back and nodded, "The main culprit Pei Qin, speak the truth about the poisoning in the Palace with soy sauce!" frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

Pei Qin cleared her throat, "Sir! Would you believe me if I said that I am unjustly accused?"

Mo Dun furrowed his brow, "The tribute soy sauce was found to contain a slow-acting poison, affecting everyone from the Emperor and the Empress Dowager down to the Palace Maids and the eunuchs. Where does your claim of injustice come from?"

"I am truly wronged, Sir! Oh... no, I mean, commoner, the commoner is really wronged! Suddenly dragged here and accused of poisoning the Palace, oh, the injustice!" Pei Qin cried out with a look of grievance.

Watching her feign innocence, Mo Heng reminded her, "Peasant woman."

Pei Qin glared at him sideways and continued protesting, "Even with ten times the courage, I wouldn’t dare to poison the soy sauce! If I poisoned the Emperor, killed the noble consorts of the Palace, my entire family would have our heads chopped off! It’s a grave injustice, a huge injustice!"

With the crack of the clapper-board, Mo Dun sternly demanded, "Silence!"

Gah!

Pei Qin looked at him, "Sir! I am truly wronged!"

"Pei Qin! Confess your reasons for poisoning," Mo Dun asked coldly.

"Alright! Since you, Sir, do not believe that I am wronged, then maybe I shall just confess?" Pei Qin laughed softly, "Firstly, poisoning the soy sauce delivered to the Palace must have a reason. That reason is that I felt discontent, resentful towards the Imperial Court, harboring a grudge against the Emperor! My sweet potatoes earned the reward, yet it was given to someone else. Finally, when my reward came, it was just a Pai Building, which one can neither eat nor drink. Yet I heard that Ms. Liangsan, for cultivating double-cropped rice, was awarded the title of County Magistrate. The Court is really unfair! The Emperor is truly biased! The rage and resentment in my heart! I wished nothing more than to kill this incompetent Emperor!

"How audacious, Pei Qin! How dare you insult the current Emperor!?" The deputy examiner bellowed angrily.

Pei Qin looked at him curiously, "Isn’t this what you wanted to interrogate, having me confess truthfully? Isn’t that what I am doing?"

Mo Dun gestured with his hand for Pei Qin to continue.

Pei Qin went on, "I hated the Emperor to the point of wishing him dead! And so, I thought of a way to get revenge. No matter how exalted the Emperor is, he still has to eat. Therefore, I put poison in the soy sauce sent into the Palace, oh, a colorless and odorless poison, otherwise during the scrupulous inspections, it would be detected. And so, everyone in the Palace, from the Emperor and the Empress Dowager down to the Palace Maids and eunuchs, who ate the soy sauce I provided were all poisoned. Had it not been for Consort Yu eating more and falling ill quickly, it would have taken a year or two before everyone who ate my soy sauce would end up dead!

The Official Registrar beside them took notes of everything Pei Qin said. However, the way she confessed her crimes seemed a bit off.