Records of the Cattle and Horses of Chang'an

Cui Bianxu nodded, then shook his head: "We found him, but he's already dead. He committed suicide by taking poison."

This was also where he had some doubts. Since Zhao had taken the drug herself, she would surely have left behind an antidote. If she wanted to commit suicide, wouldn't it have been faster to just take the poison? But her maid had died, and Li Zhong didn't have the antidote. What had gone wrong?

During the interrogation, they naturally asked Li Zhong about the drug. He said that he had never seen that kind of drug before. If the Dali Temple had not asked him, he would have thought it was just an ordinary drug.

Cui Bianxu and Guo Huai both questioned his statement: "Don't you find it strange that a woman from the inner courtyard of a mansion carries drugs with her?"

"She bought the drug specially. She used it often when she was still at home." After Li Zhong finished speaking, he suspected that Cui Bianxu and the other two were deceiving him.

Back then, Zhao had accompanied her parents to the capital in search of relatives and happened to run into Li Xingquan. Li Xingquan, who had been widowed for three years, fell in love with her at first sight. "I was there that day, and Die Niang clearly fell in love with me at first sight. She had been eyeing me the entire time. And I was ready to get married, but that old man insisted that Die Niang was eyeing him. He shamelessly persuaded someone to pay money to negotiate a marriage with her money-hungry parents."

Li Zhong felt as if it was yesterday when he first met Zhao. His expression was filled with a hint of nostalgia and happiness. "Die Niang and I were the same age, and we fell in love at first sight. If that old man hadn't shamelessly forced Die Niang to marry him, why would we have bothered so much?"

Cui Bianxu scratched his ear and said, "If that's the case, why didn't you tell Li Xingquan?"

He just couldn't believe that Li Xingquan would compete with his own son for a young lady.

"Say? How can I say it? He's always been fond of young ladies. When my mother was alive, he didn't dare to be too extravagant. Since my mother passed away, he has no one to control him. He goes to Pingkangfang almost every day to have fun. How can his salary support such spending? Isn't it the money my mother left behind?"

Most of the money his mother left behind was spent, and the rest was kept by him. Li Xingquan was looking for opportunities to take the money away all day long. If he dared to ask for it, then none of his mother's things would be left.

"So you raped your mother?" Guo Huai's words were so harsh that due to his age, he was even more outrageous than Cui Bianxu.

That one sentence made Li Zhong's blood boil: "You bastard! What did you say?!"

Official Guo Huai remained calm, raising his whip, which was imbued with a sharp iron blade, and lashing Li Zhong across the left shoulder and right side of his abdomen. "Go on, about the drug."

The iron plates on this kind of hook are specially customized and built into the whip, leaving a small sharp part exposed. Most of the officials in the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice are civil servants, who are not as strong as military officers. This kind of whip can tear the prisoner's flesh in the most labor-saving way.

"Ah! Ahhhhhhhh!" Li Zhong screamed in pain. There was no intact skin or flesh on his body. The wounds on his body exposed the skinless flesh to the air, and blood kept flowing out.

Seeing that he was just yelling, Guo Huai raised his hand impatiently to whip him again. Li Zhong saw this out of the corner of his eye, and the pain in his body stimulated his mouth faster than his brain: "Die Niang doesn't want to marry him, so she has to drug him every night!"

At first, Zhao only used sleeping pills to knock Li Xingquan unconscious and then kicked him to the ground. When it was almost dawn, she and Hongyu carried him back to the bed. Later, Zhao and Li Zhong flirted with each other and started to have an affair. Zhao used sleeping pills to knock her old baby unconscious every day, and then dressed up to meet Li Zhong in secret.

Li Zhong would sometimes go to his father's room and do some unspeakable things with Zhao next to his unconscious father, seeking excitement and a sense of revenge.

Because of her rich nightlife, Zhao looked charming yet a little lazy every morning. Li Xingquan thought that he had been too active at night and had exhausted her.

In short, this pair is worthy of being called the male and female evil spirits of Yanfufang.

Thanks to Cui Bianxu's contribution, Li Zhong learned from Li Xinglian that His Majesty had ordered the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple to handle the case together. Only then did he feel that the matter might get out of hand. After discussing with Zhao who had been hiding, Zhao came up with another "clever plan" - she took drugs, pretended to be kidnapped by criminals and thrown into the street.

"Then Li Zhong has to wait until October?" Shouldn't this kind of bastard die immediately?

Cui Bianxu shook his head. "No, the Dali Temple's verdict is death by hanging. It's treated as an unforgivable crime and will be carried out immediately after the review."

He just said that it would not take more than half a month at most, which is still a conservative estimate. No one would think of making His Majesty unhappy about this matter.

"What about Li Xingquan?" Although it was a bit excessive for this cuckolded old man to marry a young lady at his age, it was a matter of mutual consent. According to the current view of marriage, he did not do anything wrong.

What could he do? At this point, he could only consider himself unlucky.

"This matter has nothing to do with him. Your Majesty is wise and magnanimous and has not held him accountable."

After all, Li Xingquan still has a brother who is Shangshu Zuocheng alive.

Li Xingquan was the victim in this matter, but no matter what, he had lost face. Not to mention continuing to work, he had to cover his face tightly even when going out. Sometimes, the sympathetic gazes were also unbearable.

What's more, after Li Xingquan knew about this, he fell ill and was bedridden. The Li family had to invite a doctor to see him every day.

Cui Bianxu felt a little sympathetic towards him. He only had one son, and he was about to be listed in the book of life and death. The loving couple was all a fake. His wife and son were having an affair. Anyone else would have died of anger. It was amazing that he was still strong enough not to die or resign. It was really remarkable.

The task that Li Xueyan asked her to do was not officially scheduled until the case was completely concluded.

Zhao died from the Jiuchongxiao drug she took with her own hands, and Li Zhong's hanging was carried out very quickly. All three people involved in the case died.

Cui Bianxu always felt that something was wrong. Zhao died after taking her own drug. Something was wrong. The maid committed suicide by taking poison. Something was wrong. Li Xingquan still took sick leave and refused to resign. He was very strong.

The only person who could be said to have died normally was Li Zhong, who was hanged. However, the night before his execution, when Cui Bianxu ordered someone to inform him of Zhao's death, he suddenly went crazy and screamed, "No, no, how could Die Niang die? How could her family let her die?"

Cui Bianxu set the date very casually. He casually mentioned it when he came for dinner a day in advance, and brought Zhao Xingcheng over the next night.

Fortunately, Yanxia had rested for three days and then Li Xueyan sent her to follow her every day at such an urgent time. As soon as she got the news, Yanxia ran out of Lexian Building with her skirt lifted up, rode the donkey specially allocated to her by Li Xueyan, and rushed back to report the news at lightning speed.