Chapter 498: Forced to Do It
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Gu Qingluan breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the situation. She spoke, “1 admit that there was an issue with some of the porridge, but the problem doesn’t lie in the Jun family purchasing subpar ingredients at a low cost. I, Gu Qingluan, have no shortage of money! All of this is the result of someone meddling in secret! Magistrate, the suspect has already been apprehended by the guards. Perhaps we should interrogate the culprit before making further judgments.”
Everyone followed her gaze and saw two guards escorting a person over.
The Magistrate of Shuntian nodded immediately. “Very well!”
Soon, the suspect was brought before Gu Qingluan and the Magistrate of Shuntian.
Gu Qingluan said, “Upon learning of the food incident earlier, I immediately ordered the Jun Residence to be sealed off and instructed a search for suspicious individuals.”
After explaining this to everyone, she turned to the two guards and said, “Tell us about this person’s identity.”
One of the guards replied, “Mistress, everyone in the Jun Residence has been personally trained by Steward Su and is loyal and trustworthy. They would never tamper with the ingredients or be bribed. This person is not a servant of the Jun Residence; he’s a deliveryman for a grain merchant, not one of ours. Earlier, we noticed him acting suspiciously outside the estate and detained him. After questioning him, he admitted to mixing some moldy rice into the rice delivered to the estate.”
Hearing the guard’s words, there was an uproar in the crowd.
It was really this guy who had done it!
But why would he commit such an unethical act?
Did he know how many people he might harm?
Many people glared at him and even hurled insults.
However, some people remained skeptical of the guard’s words.
For example, the young man who had lost his sister, his face filled with suspicion. “Who knows if this is just a scapegoat that the Jun family is pushing out? Do they think they can fool us with just anyone?”
Gu Qingluan knew that she couldn’t convince the crowd with this alone, so she had the deliveryman lift his head.
The deliveryman nodded repeatedly, shrinking his shoulders and bowing, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes.
The guard sneered and pinched the man’s chin, forcing him to look up.
“All, isn’t this a worker from Dafeng Grain Store?”
Someone in the crowd recognized his identity.
Dafeng Grain Store was the largest grain store in Tianjing City, and countless people had dealings with it, so this deliveryman was not a stranger to them.
“It seems that this man is not a scapegoat pushed out by the Jun family. The brother of the deceased made a wrong guess.”
The young man didn’t know the deliveryman from Dafeng Grain Store, but hearing what people around him were saying, he realized that his earlier assumption had been overturned, and his face darkened slightly.
Gu Qingluan raised an eyebrow and asked, “Speak up. Why did you add moldy rice to our food? Whom did you want to harm? Me or someone else? Do you realize that poisoning someone carries the death penalty?”
The deliveryman turned pale at the mention of the death penalty and pleaded in fear, “Please spare me, Guardian Princess! 1 didn’t do it on purpose! 1 was forced, and I had no intention of harming anyone!”
“Who forced you?” Gu Qingluan pointed straight at the core of the issue.
Fear flickered in the deliveryman’s eyes. “I… 1 can’t say…”
“If you can’t speak up, then it’s your own decision,” Gu Qingluan turned to the Magistrate of Shuntian and said, “He has already admitted to adding moldy rice to the rice. Please, sir, have him detained in the dungeon and follow the proper procedures. Poisoning so many people, causing the death of an innocent life, and falsely implicating my Jun family, he should face multiple charges, and perhaps even the extermination of his entire family, shouldn’t he?”
The Prefect of Shuntian was about to argue, but before he could speak, Gu Qingluan’s voice echoed in his mind..