Su Qing returned to the palace in defeat, and the more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt.
What method did Su Xiaoning use to make it rain as soon as she said it would?
Could it be... because her good luck has returned?
A terrifying thought flashed through Su Qinghe's mind. He felt a chill run down his spine, sensing that, considering Su Xiaoning's words, this guess was highly likely.
He was unaware that Su Xiaoning possessed modern common sense and could read clouds and predict the weather. The more he thought about it, the more panicked he became, fearing that Su Xiaoning's return and her good fortune might bring him some obstacles.
Su Qinghe couldn't sit still any longer. She hurriedly summoned Qin Yunyun, first checking the koi fish mark on her hand. After confirming that the mark was still there, she breathed a sigh of relief. Then, however, she launched into a tirade, bluntly stating that Qin Yunyun was no match for Su Xiaoning and that Su Xiaoning was about to find out.
Qin Yunyun was too terrified to utter a sound after being scolded. Thinking that the truth of the case might be exposed soon, she hurriedly said, "Your Highness, it seems we can't delay any longer! Since only we know the truth about this matter, we might as well tell the Emperor now that we have found out and suppress Su Xiaoning for the time being!"
“What you said is also a solution.” Su Qinghe frowned slightly, pondered for a while, and felt that the matter at hand should be resolved quickly, so he agreed to Qin Yunyun’s suggestion.
The next day, Su Qinghe went to the palace to pay his respects to the emperor and informed him that Qin Yunyun had uncovered the truth of the case. The emperor was overjoyed and summoned Su Xiaoning and Su Qingcai to the crime scene to hear Qin Yunyun's recounting of the events.
When the news reached the Ninth Prince's residence, Su Qingcai snorted coldly: "She knows to strike first. It seems this case must be related to her."
“I think some things are already obvious.” Su Xiaoning didn’t show any sign of being in a hurry. She thought for a moment, a smile appeared on her face, and she pulled Su Qingcai and the beggar out to head straight for the scene.
"We'll deal with whatever comes our way, let's see what tricks she's up to."
...
In a small village outside the capital.
The emperor himself arrived, bringing with him a group of important ministers. Many of these ministers were on Su Qinghe's side and were currently praising Qin Yunyun to the emperor, which Qin Yunyun overheard, making her even more smug.
After waiting for a while, Su Xiaoning and Su Qingcai appeared at the village entrance, with the beggar slowly following behind.
Seeing Su Xiaoning's carefree demeanor, Qin Yunyun couldn't help but sarcastically remark, "What kind of person are you? So nonchalant in front of the Emperor? I heard you've been traveling and enjoying yourself these past few days, neglecting even the case. You've truly wasted the Emperor's trust in you!"
This was a completely fabricated charge. The ministers present looked at Su Xiaoning differently, and even the emperor frowned.
However, Su Xiaoning didn't care. She glanced at Qin Yunyun with a half-smile and uttered a single word.
"oh."
It was just a single word, yet it was incredibly powerful, leaving Qin Yunyun with a frustrating feeling of punching cotton.
She got annoyed and immediately shouted.
"Who are you trying to impress? Instead of investigating the case properly, you're proud of it! I shouldn't have agreed to the competition in the first place; having you as my opponent was an insult! You..."
That's enough.
Just as Qin Yunyun was getting into her rant, a majestic voice suddenly rang out, bringing her to an abrupt halt. She looked at the emperor who had interrupted her with some fear.
The emperor's brow furrowed even deeper, and he rebuked him, "I sent you here to present the results of the investigation, not to chat aimlessly. Can't you settle any grudges later? Do your jobs first!"
"Your Majesty is right to reprimand me. I misspoke..." Qin Yunyun pursed her lips and apologized humbly. Although she felt wronged, she did not dare to challenge the emperor and obediently led people to find evidence to show him.
Qin Yunyun first led everyone to the well in the village, scraped some white powder off the well wall, and pointed to the powder, saying, "Your Majesty, this is a type of poison that dissolves in water. People who drink it will gradually become weak and eventually fall into a deep sleep. The entire village has been poisoned by this."
Looking at the small clump of white powder, Su Xiaoning remembered the small medicine packet she had found, but she did not reveal it and just watched Qin Yunyun's performance with a calm expression.
Qin Yunyun led everyone to the back mountain, dug out a few plants from the grass, and pointed out the dried bloodstains on the leaves.
"This indicates that the killer's modus operandi was to release blood from their body and then clean up the scene. The blood wasn't transferred using any evil magic, which can eliminate some of the speculations..."
Qin Yunyun recounted her speculations in detail, most of which were based on what Fu Ruo had taught her the previous night.
Just last night, Qin Yunyun learned that Fu Ruo had actually been poisoning the village all along. After the villagers were already deeply poisoned, she was asked to coax Su Qinghe into committing murders in the village. In the end, Fu Ruo herself disposed of the blood corpses.
After learning the truth, Qin Yunyun had a subtle feeling of being used, but she had no choice but to follow her instructions, since Fu Ruo was now her strongest backer.
In fact, Qin Yunyun didn't know the condition of the corpses, but in order to exonerate Fu Ruo, she fabricated evidence and fabricated facts. If Su Xiaoning hadn't investigated with the beggar beforehand, she might have actually believed it.
At this moment, Su Xiaoning simply watched Qin Yunyun's performance quietly, while the beggar also wore a half-smile, and no one knew what he was thinking.
It seemed that Qin Yunyun wanted to explain the murder method first before deducing who the murderer was. At first, her explanations were all very reasonable, but just as she was talking about the location of the bleeding, Su Xiaoning suddenly spoke up.
"There were no marks on the bodies. How did you know they had wounds, and even know where they were?"
"..." Qin Yunyun was speechless for a moment, then suddenly glared at Su Xiaoning.
A sudden, inexplicable tension gripped her, and she demanded, "You say I don't know? Then how do you know whether there are wounds on the body?"
"How could I not know? After all, I was right there watching the autopsy." Su Xiaoning said slowly and methodically. She was terrified when the beggar used a rat to perform the autopsy, and she still felt weak in the knees when she thought about it.
Jiang Fang, standing beside the emperor, nodded and confirmed the matter to the emperor. The emperor nodded, his gaze turning meaningfully to Qin Yunyun.
Qin Yunyun had no idea that there was an autopsy involved, which meant that Su Xiaoning knew many details that even she was unaware of.
She took a step back, shrinking back, but Su Xiaoning pressed closer, demanding, "Didn't you find out the truth? You can't even give an explanation?"
"I...I..."
Qin Yunyun stammered, feeling dizzy. She dared not look into the emperor's probing gaze, yet she could feel eyes on her from all directions, pricking her all over like needles.
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