Chapter 60 Lotus Lantern

At this point, he looked up at Meng Lanxi and pointed at the file, saying, "Inside Jintang's room, there was originally a tall white porcelain lamp from the Xing kiln, but when we went to check, we found an ordinary flat lamp from the Yue kiln. And in the room where Meng Lanxi lived, there was originally a tall white porcelain lamp with a lotus pattern, but the pattern on it suddenly disappeared, and it was replaced by a plain tall white porcelain lamp from the Xing kiln."

Everyone was puzzled when they heard this, wondering what his intention was in bringing this up.

Only Meng Lanxi's expression turned pale as she heard these details.

"All the lamps and cups were set up on the night of the crime. Inside Jintang, there was originally a Xing kiln white porcelain tall lamp and a pair of celadon cups carved with a qilin. But strangely, the qilin cups broke outside Ji Langjun's window, the Xing kiln tall lamp appeared in Meng Langjun's room, and the lamp in Jintang became the most ordinary celadon lamp in the manor."

Qian Deng said this and asked Meng Lanxi, "So, Mr. Meng, do you know how the lamp in the Jintang room ended up in your room?"

Meng Lanxi forced herself to remain calm and shook her head, "How would I know? Aren't those lights... just randomly placed by the villagers?"

"Yes, you thought the rooms were just randomly filled with things, and you couldn't remember which one was in which. But you didn't know that these things were seized from soldiers and bandits. Therefore, when the manor borrowed them, they recorded everything and registered it for return. Therefore, the evidence of your crime is clearly recorded and cannot be denied."

Qiandeng took the booklet and pointed at the words "Tall-legged white porcelain lamp with lotus pattern" on it, saying word by word, "Mr. Meng, I remember that night when you angrily went to find Jin Tang, you held the oil lamp in one hand and Bai Bai's corpse in the other, kicking the door to call Jin Tang out, right?"

"Oh, that's right. Now that the county lady mentioned it, I remember it!" Xue Xiyang immediately agreed. "I was a little puzzled at the time. Although there was only a lantern hanging far away in the corridor, the short corridor only had four or five rooms. Why would they have to go out of their way to argue with a lantern?"

"Because he poisoned that lamp, that's how he was able to kill Jin Tang in the sealed room."

Xue Xiyang glanced at Meng Lanxi with a gloating look and asked, "Could it be that Meng Lanxi is proficient in poisoning, so he put the poison in the oil lamp and burned it to produce poisonous smoke, thereby killing people?"

Ji Linyou shook his head in denial, "That's impossible. The coroner said Jintang died from Aconitum, and you have to drink that stuff to be poisoned. Besides, an oil lamp can't hold much, how could it produce poisonous smoke that fills the whole house and kills people?"

"No, that's not how he poisoned me." Qian Deng took the coroner's autopsy file and turned to the part where Jin Tang's body was examined. He pointed to the details recorded at the time and said, "What clued me in was that after Jin Tang died, there was a trace of cigarette ash on his finger.

"To welcome the guests that day, Zhuangzi washed all the cups and plates repeatedly and then boiled them in boiling water to ensure their purity. Even after Jin Tang's death, his hands still appeared to be holding something, and ash marks appeared on the tip of his index finger and the second joint of his middle finger. This means that he was holding the cup containing the poison, and the outer edge of the cup showed traces of smoke."

Screeching Eagle blurted out, "They're being lazy! The cups aren't clean!"

"Even if it's not clean, how can the ash not be boiled off in boiling water?" Xue Xiyang rolled his eyes at him and said, "Put away your pitiful little brain and listen carefully to what the county lady says!"

Qiandeng looked at Meng Lanxi and saw fear finally appear on his pale face.

She was furious, and her voice became heavier. "We've recovered the Kirin Cup that Jintang used that day. While there are traces of dirt on it from where it was broken, there's absolutely no trace of the soot from his hands. So, where did the cup with the soot stains that he held before his death come from?"

"Meng Lanxi brought the tall lamp into the Jintang room..." Cui Fufeng slowly uttered half a sentence.

"That's right. What inspired me then was the plum vase that was placed in my room. The plum vase is a wine vessel. Cui Shaoqing and Xue Lecheng certainly knew this. Meng Langjun, as a student at the Imperial College, naturally had seen it too. But Captain Ji was from the military, and Prince Mingjiu was a foreigner, so they might not have known."

Mingjiu scratched his fluffy curly hair and said, "What do you mean by 'tasteless'? I've never heard of it."

"The people at the manor didn't know about it either. So after seizing it, they naturally assumed it was a vase based on its shape and placed it in my room to display flowers. Sister Ying, who was in charge of arranging the furniture that day, had described to me the tall, white porcelain lotus lamp in Mr. Meng's room. It was a slender, white porcelain lamp with a gold-painted lotus pattern. So, naturally, the people at the manor assumed this gorgeous and exquisite porcelain piece must be a lotus lantern."

As she spoke, she nodded slightly to Cui Fufeng.

Cui Fufeng took a small scroll and unfolded it, saying, "Please look, everyone. This is the image I drew based on everyone's memories and descriptions of the lamp."

Everyone's eyes fell on the picture. Mingjiu was still a little puzzled, but Xue Xiyang saw it at a glance: "This is not a lantern, it should be a lotus-patterned goblet!"

"Yes, the cups of wealthy families are often intricately crafted and luxurious. Those who have never seen them might mistake these ornate objects for decorative lamps." At this point, Qiandeng turned his gaze to Meng Lanxi, whose body and expression were as stiff as ever, and asked slowly, "Although Mr. Meng was ostracized by his clan and has to rely on his mother for support, Mrs. Meng also lived in a large family. Later, you studied at the Imperial College. Naturally, your horizons are broader than those of the women on the farm. I believe you recognized at a glance that it was a cup and not an oil lamp when you moved in, right?"

Meng Lanxi moved her lips slightly, wanting to explain something, but in the end she didn't say anything.

"When you noticed something was wrong with the lamp, you, already looking for an opportunity, quickly devised a plan to kill Jin Tang. Remembering that Jin Tang had kicked Bai Bai that day, and his dislike for him was well known, you crushed Bai Bai to death. Using that as an excuse, you took the oil lamp and headed straight for Jin Tang's house.

"In the dim night, with you so angry and riotous, who would notice the oil lamp in your hand? Even less likely would they realize that it was actually empty. You had already poured out the oil, cleaned it, and after removing the fumes, it was now stained with poison. The tiny bit of light was actually just the oil-soaked wick hanging from the edge of the cup—hence the tiny ash stain on the outer edge of the cup, leaving a trace of evidence."

Meng Lanxi finally spoke, a little hoarsely, but trying to defend herself: "But County Master, if I do this, the oil in the wick will burn out quickly, and you will notice it, right?"

"Yes, so you had to provoke Jin Tang to argue with you as soon as possible, and then take advantage of the chaos to overturn the table. That way, even if the lamp went out, no one would think the oil had run out, and no one would notice." Qian Deng flipped through the file, pointing to the Xing kiln white porcelain tall lamp recorded there. "Once your goal was achieved, you grabbed the oil lamp and left with the rabbit's body. But what you took away was not the lotus goblet you brought with you, but the white porcelain tall lamp that was originally placed in Jin Tang's room. This is why the lamp in Jin Tang's room ended up in your room."

Jintang came from a wealthy family, so naturally he would not be like the ignorant servants in the manor who mistook the lotus goblet for an oil lamp.

After being injured and bleeding, people become extremely thirsty. That night, Jin Tang woke up thirsty and, under the dim light of the room, naturally took the white porcelain lotus goblet placed on the table and drank the tea from it, also drinking the highly poisonous aconite inside, and died in the closed room.

The room was silent, and everyone's eyes were on Meng Lanxi. Their expressions varied, but all contained surprise and astonishment.

Meng Lanxi's face was pale, and her body was shaky, but she was still mumbling, trying to defend herself: "County Lady, you checked before and found that the poison was put in the teapot. I didn't touch the teapot..."

Ji Linyou was the most puzzled by this matter: "Yes, speaking of which, Meng Lanxi hasn't entered that room since Jin Tang was murdered. When did he poison the pot? When did he take away the cup Jin Tang used before his death? And when did he throw the broken pieces of the original cup outside my window to frame me?"

"Because Meng Lanxi had an assistant, and because I trusted him so much, he participated in the entire investigation process and communicated everything with him honestly. Therefore, he was able to erase all unfavorable evidence for Meng Lanxi during the investigation and point the finger at the person he wanted to frame—"

As he spoke this, the sound of quick footsteps was heard outside.

Qiandeng sighed softly.

Even if she used the strategy of luring the tiger away from the mountain, how could such an alert and sharp person be delayed by her for too long?

He appeared at the door.

The penetrating sunlight shone into the room from behind his tall and majestic body. His imposing presence made the room seem even more cramped, with a suffocating aura and a chilling and intimidating air.

Ling Tianshui, he is here.