Chapter 499: Playing Tricks Behind the Scenes

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Upon hearing Gu Qingluan’s instructions, the Magistrate of Shuntian nodded in agreement, saying, “Indeed, especially since he offended the Guardian Princess. Your Highness, you are personally appointed by the Emperor, equivalent to royal blood. Anyone who dares to harm you deserves the harshest punishment, even the extermination of their entire family!”

“No, please!” the carter exclaimed, and a strong smell of urine filled the air.

People looked at him, shocked to find that he had lost control.

Some individuals couldn’t help but step back, their eyes filled with disdain and disgust.

Gu Qingluan spoke indifferently, “If you have no mastermind behind you, then everything you did is your responsibility, and you will bear all the consequences.”

“Confess for a lighter sentence, resist for a harsher one. If you have a reason, speak up now. Perhaps it can reduce your punishment!” Tang Shijun, who had been silent all along, stepped forward and said.

Tang Shijun had also participated in the distribution of the porridge and medical treatment. She was the one who had contacted the grain merchant, and she had dealt with this carter before.

Normally, he appeared to be an honest person, and Tang Shijun hadn’t thought he would tamper with the food. As a result, when inspecting the delivered rice, she hadn’t been meticulous enough.

If she were to be more careful, today’s tragedy might have been avoided.

The carter was relatively familiar with her, and seeing her was like seeing a lifeline. He hurriedly pleaded, “Miss Tang, please help me plead for mercy. My family members are all innocent!”

“Help you? Who will help me? Who will help the Jun Family? This is the first time I’ve tried to do a good deed, and you’ve ruined it! How dare you ask me for help?” Tang Shijun snorted coldly.

She was splashed with hot porridge by the enraged commoners earlier. If she hadn’t dodged in time, not only would her clothes have been stained, but she might also have been scalded.

What was even worse was that she, along with the Jun Family and Gu Qingluan, was now bearing a bad reputation.

She gave him a chance to confess and cooperate, but he didn’t seize it. Instead, he asked her for help in interceding for him. Where did he find the audacity for such a request?

The carter’s face was filled with embarrassment, disappointment, and increasing fear.

He was willing to accept his own death, but his family…

Gu Qingluan noticed his deep concern for his family, coupled with his hesitation earlier. She couldn’t help but have a suspicion.

“Is someone using your family to blackmail you?”

The carter was in shock.

It seemed she had guessed correctly!

Gu Qingluan spoke calmly, “If you confess and cooperate with us to catch the real culprit, not only can your sentence be reduced, but 1 will also help you rescue your family.”

The carter’s eyes darted nervously in all directions.

Perhaps not seeing anyone he didn’t want to encounter, he breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his eyelids, denying, “There is no real culprit. It’s just that 1 had a personal dispute with the owner of Da Feng Grain Shop. He withheld my wages and insulted me. 1 was angry, so 1 tampered with your food, thinking that if you found out, you would hold him accountable, and I would have taken revenge.”

“You should think carefully. 1 promise to do my utmost to save your family if you cooperate. But what do you think the person blackmailing you will do after this matter is resolved?”

Gu Qingluan seemingly ignored the carter’s cunning defense, and she asked him with a smile that was hard to decipher.

The carter involuntarily glanced at her, and upon seeing her smile, he couldn’t help but feel apprehensive.

Following that, Gu Qingluan raised the corner of her lips, and a cold smile appeared between her crimson lips as she slowly uttered those words, “He will kill your family to silence them!”

“No, it’s impossible!”

Upon hearing this, the carter immediately panicked.

Gu Qingluan said leisurely, “Think about it for yourself. Am 1 making baseless threats, or does my speculation seem reasonable?”

The carter was terrified by her words, but in the depths of his heart, he still held onto a glimmer of hope, hoping that Gu Qingluan was just trying to scare him.

Gu Qingluan then administered another strong dose, “Make your decision quickly. If you delay any longer, the chances of your family’s survival will diminish. If you don’t believe in superstitions, you can bear the responsibility alone. But I must say, I find it unjust for you to bear all the blame and end up unable to save your own family in the end.”

The carter’s family was his weakness, or else he wouldn’t have dared to tamper with the rice meant for the Jun Family.

With a thud, he knelt before Gu Qingluan and pleaded, “Guardian Princess, I’m sorry. 1 didn’t mean to harm you! You’re right, someone is using my family’s lives to blackmail me. If 1 don’t do as she says, she will kill my family. I have elderly parents and young children, a family of five, all in her hands. Please, I beg you to save my parents, wife, and children! They are all hardworking ordinary people who have never done anything wrong. They have no knowledge of tampering with the food. Please, save them!”

A murmur of shock swept through the crowd.

“Someone is really scheming behind the scenes!”

“That person must have an enormous grudge against the Jun Family to resort to such cruelty, sacrificing so many lives!”

“This carter deserves to die too. Are his own family the only ones who matter? Is it justifiable to harm so many innocent people just to save his own family?”

The carter was berated by the crowd, his complexion as pale as paper. He stared intently at Gu Qingluan, waiting for her answer, paying no attention to how others were discussing him.

“Who is the person blackmailing you?” Gu Qingluan asked..

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