Chapter 64 I am indeed highly suspected
The elephant slave knelt down in panic, unable to speak clearly: "It was my negligence... I didn't realize the divine elephant had an injury!"
Cui Jing reported: "The wound on the sacred elephant's neck was hidden, and the needle pierced the skin, so there is no obvious blood on the surface."
The medical officer stepped forward immediately, holding the steel needle that was taken out of the body of the divine elephant on the cotton towel in his hand.
The hard and sharp steel needle was five inches long and was stained with blood, but it was black in color.
"Your Majesty, the surface of this needle is poisoned. Due to the huge size of the divine elephant, this amount of poison is not fatal, but it is the root cause of the divine elephant's madness." said the medical officer.
It was unusually quiet all around.
Beneath the silence, there was a look of surprise in everyone's eyes.
Ming Luo's expression changed several times: "Your Majesty, according to this, someone secretly poisoned the sacred elephant and deliberately destroyed the blessing ceremony."
Looking at the steel needle, the Holy Book Emperor's eyes were extremely cold.
Deliberately destroying the blessing ceremony was aimed at her, the emperor.
"Your Majesty, the person behind this matter has ulterior motives, and we must find out as soon as possible!" Yao Yi said solemnly.
Upon hearing this, Pei couldn't help but let out a sneer.
Was he so eager to investigate this matter for the public or for his own benefit... He knew it better than anyone else! He just couldn't bear to see that little bastard almost get into trouble, and he was anxious to vent his anger on that little bastard...
Her husband really loves his daughter very much!
“Is it still necessary to check?” Pei stepped forward, her steps and demeanor full of the arrogance of a woman from an aristocratic family. She raised her hand and saluted the Holy Ce Emperor, saying, “Your Majesty, my family once raised elephants, so I am familiar with the habits of elephants. I dare to add my humble opinion——”
The Holy Ce Emperor looked at her and said, "Madam Pei, please feel free to speak."
Pei lowered her eyes and said calmly, "The divine elephant didn't have too many violent reactions before, but it just suddenly became strange during the ceremony. It may have recognized the person who hurt it, so it took revenge."
Yao Yi looked at her and frowned barely perceptibly.
There was a lot of discussion all around, and everyone's eyes, including the Emperor of the Holy Ceremonial, were once again focused on the girl.
"Mrs. Pei, are you saying that I am the one who injured the elephant?" Chang Suining asked calmly.
Just after getting rid of the ominous rumors, she was now accused of "revenge by the divine elephant" - it must be said that the other party was well prepared in using the divine elephant to hurt people this time, and would not let her escape easily anyway.
Hearing the girl's straightforward question, Pei looked straight ahead and said, "I never said that. I just stated what I know and what I guessed, to remind my husband to handle the case."
These words were only said to outsiders, and Yao Yi would not believe a word of it - and Pei Shi obviously did not care whether he believed it or not.
In other words, she stood up at this time just to torture him.
"Of course, we can't just rely on guesswork when handling a case. We still need evidence." Pei raised her chin slightly and turned to look at Yao Yi: "But the matter of finding evidence should naturally be handed over to Commander Cui and my master."
When he met those eyes, Yao Yi couldn't help but have strange guesses in his heart.
But as Pei said, all speculations must be based on evidence.
He looked at Mrs. Pei and said, "Please rest assured, Madam. I will live up to your majesty's trust and get to the bottom of this matter."
In order to find out who secretly injured the elephant, we have to first check who has come into contact with the elephant since yesterday. According to the medical officer, judging from the wound, the needle had been in the elephant's body for at least one night.
The elephant slave inevitably mentioned the elephant watching in the temple yesterday: "...many young men and women came at that time..."
Seeing that he wanted to look at her but didn't dare, and not wanting to trouble others, Chang Suining took the initiative to say, "I was here yesterday, too."
Only then did the elephant slave nod: "Yes... I remember."
After all, this lady is so beautiful that it is hard to ignore her at first sight.
"And I have been close to this bull elephant." Chang Suining added, "It cried out at that time. Now that I think about it, it really seems to have suffered a sudden attack. The divine elephant must have been injured at that time - I am indeed highly suspected."
The elephant slave nodded again, even looking at the frank girl in disbelief - it felt like she was just about to confess! Chang Suining didn't care - when handling a case, the priority was naturally to speed up the process.
Meeting those honest eyes, Yao Yi and Cui Jing were silent for a moment.
Chang Suining continued, "Perhaps because of this, the divine elephant remembered me and mistakenly believed that it was injured by me at that time. When it saw me today, it wanted to take revenge."
Elephants are smart, but you can't expect them to be too smart.
Cui Jing looked at her: "Madam Chang means that someone secretly attacked the elephant when you approached it, deliberately misleading it——"
"That's right, animals' reactions don't lie, but humans can create illusions to deceive them." Chang Suining: "I think if someone is skilled in martial arts, he should be able to insert the steel needle into the body of the divine elephant without getting too close, right, General Cui?"
Facing her eyes that did not contain much inquiry, Cui Jing still nodded in agreement with her words: "Yes."
He is a military general, and if you want to convince everyone at this critical juncture, he needs to give the nod.
The young man's cooperation at this time was extremely dazzling to Ming Luo who was on the altar, and the unspeakable uneasiness in his heart gradually expanded.
"Although it sounds innocent, after all, these are just Madam Chang's guesses. As the saying goes, empty words are not enough, so how can people believe them?" Pei asked in a deep voice.
"I can testify for Sister Chang!"
Yao Xia's voice suddenly sounded.
The girl seemed to have mustered up her courage, and with the belief that "but Sister Chang really needs me", she stepped forward, stood beside Chang Suining, and faced the saint: "Your Majesty, when we were observing the elephants yesterday, I never left the side of Madam Chang from beginning to end. Even if Madam Chang went to observe the elephants, it was at my invitation. I can prove that Madam Chang is definitely not someone who would hurt elephants!"
She finished speaking in one breath, her hands shaking with nervousness.
But for the sake of Sister Chang, she had to stand up no matter how scared she was!
She is sincere to Sister Chang!
Yao Xia looked at Chang Suining beside him with burning eyes, trying to give her encouragement and confidence.
Chang Suining nodded slightly at her.
It's totally unnecessary...but thank you anyway.
Yao Yi looked at his niece and said objectively: "Axia's words can certainly serve as supporting evidence, but they cannot be decisive testimony."
In the absence of conclusive evidence, we need to look for it.
At this time, Cui Jing said: "Maybe we can go to the place where elephants are raised in the temple to check it out."
Yao Yi nodded, and was about to ask Cui Jing to go and look for clues, but a voice sounded before him: "Your Majesty, I have found a suspicious person!"
It was a very loud voice.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound.
Chang Suining also turned around to look.
The person who came was none other than Master Wu Jue, who was wearing a cassock and was supposed to preside over the sacrificial ceremonies in the Tiannu Pagoda.
Chang Sui'an also came with them.
The young man was tall, wearing a neat indigo robe with narrow sleeves and a round collar. His strong face had several scratches and bruises, and it was obvious that he had just had a close combat with someone.
There were two other monks with him, escorting a sturdy man dressed like an ordinary servant.
Master Wu Jue first spotted Chang Suining. He had obviously heard about what happened on the way here. He walked over quickly with an expression of great sympathy: "Oh, this poor kid is pitiful... Amitabha, may the Buddha bless him! Are you scared? He must be scared! I'll recite a meditation mantra for you when I get back later!"
If one thing goes wrong, one might have to chant for the salvation of the soul!
Chang Suining: “…”
As a high monk, you should not be too approachable.
Wu Jue sighed heavily, and said to the Emperor of Shengce: "Your Majesty, you have to make a decision for this poor kid!"
As he spoke, he pointed to the rough servant being held by the monk and said, "Look, the evidence is all here!"
The Holy Ce Emperor was already used to his appearance, so he just said, "First, tell me the whole story in detail."
Wu Jue said immediately: "Your Majesty, this man was sneaking around and was trying to sneak into the temple where the young lady of the Chang family lived. Fortunately, he was discovered in time by the young master of the Chang family who happened to pass by. He wanted to expel him, but unexpectedly found that this man actually had martial arts skills. It took the combined efforts of several people to capture him!"
The rude servant turned his head away with a sullen face - bah, what a "chance passing by" and "accidental discovery"! That was not an ordinary Zen temple at all, it was clearly a trap of heaven and earth and the gates of hell!
Not only the young master of the Chang family was staring at him in the dark, but even the monks who looked ordinary were very skilled. They threw away their brooms and chanted "Amitabha" and started punching him! It hurt so much! "This man's whereabouts are strange, and we found this thing on him, which is very suspicious!" Chang Sui'an presented a porcelain bottle.
The Emperor of the Holy Ceremonies frowned slightly and motioned for the medical officer to come forward and check.
After the medical officer examined it, he looked slightly shocked and said, "Your Majesty, the poison in this porcelain bottle is the same as the poison that injured the divine elephant!"
Yao Xia covered her mouth and exclaimed, "I understand, I understand completely! This man carried poison and tried to sneak into the Zen temple where Sister Chang was when no one was around for the ceremony. It was clearly an attempt to frame her! He must have been the one who attacked the sacred elephant!"
After saying this, she was shocked herself - she didn't know where her quick wit came from!
Seeing that her uncle and the others were looking at her in disbelief, they must have been completely awakened by her words that were like a bolt from the blue!
Yao Yi: “…”
If his niece hadn't told him, he, the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple, would have been kept in the dark for the rest of his life.
Yao Xia was inexplicably inspired by himself, and questioned the rough servant: "First, you misled the divine elephant to avenge the Chang family sister, and then framed her. Tell me, who instructed you!"
There was a reason why Yao Yi did not stop his niece from speaking.
This kind of firm suspicion would seem too early to come out of his mouth, but it is just right when it comes out of a child's mouth, and it is very helpful in creating an atmosphere.
As expected, as the situation became more and more unexpected, the discussions around became increasingly noisy.
Pei silently clenched her ten fingers under her sleeves and looked at the rough servant intently.
"It was indeed me who injured the divine elephant." The rough servant spoke, pursing his lips for a moment, and then looked at Chang Kuo and his daughter: "The one who ordered me was General Chang. But when he saw that the matter was exposed, he wanted to push me out to cover all the charges."
"What a joke!" Chang Kuo laughed instead of getting angry: "Why would I order you to hurt the divine elephant? What is my purpose that I can use my own daughter's life as bait! With such absurd words, do you really think you can confuse people and get away with it?"
"I am just following orders." The rough servant looked unusually calm. "I just told you what I know. As for why General Chang went to so much trouble to ruin this prayer ceremony, I don't know."
"You said you didn't know, but you have already charged my father with intentionally destroying the prayer ceremony. This involves party disputes. If you get involved, you will be doomed—" Chang Suining looked at him with some admiration: "You are not an ordinary laborer, but it's a pity that you followed the wrong master."
"Why are you and your daughter crying thief and making a scene here?" The rough servant sneered and insisted, "Every word I said is true!"
After he finished speaking, he pursed his lips and just as his jaw moved slightly, he was hit on the cheek by the sudden long sword.
"puff--"
The long sword had not been unsheathed, but the force was so great that the rough servant turned his head and spat out a bloody tooth that had been knocked out, as well as the poison hidden in his mouth that he was about to bite.
Cui Jing put away his sword: "You will not die until you confess the truth."
The rough servant gritted his teeth and spat out another mouthful of blood: "I am telling the truth, I just don't want to be tortured before I die!"
"Take him away and interrogate him strictly." Cui Jing instructed Yuan Xiang: "Also retrieve the list of servants brought by various mansions this time and check them one by one to make sure the identity of this person is confirmed."
"yes!"
At the suggestion of the Emperor of the Holy Ce, Yu Zeng also instructed a subordinate of the Palace Office to accompany Yuan Xiang to investigate the matter.
"Wait, I remember... I have seen this person before!" Suddenly a young man's voice sounded.
Yao Yi looked and saw that it was his nephew Yao Gui who stood up.
Why are the only people who stood up today from his Yao family?
Cui Jing looked at the young man and asked, "Do you recognize this man?"
"I don't recognize him, but I have seen him before!" Yao Gui said, "This person was indeed present when I was observing the phenomena yesterday!"
At that time, he felt that he vaguely saw someone, but he only had a quick glance and could not see clearly. It was not until he stared at this person for a long time that he remembered! He also remembered: "Before that, I saw Aunt Ye next to my aunt at the back door of my house, talking to this person!"
As the young man spoke, he looked at Pei and the maid beside her.
Yao Yi frowned suddenly.
Pei's expression changed, and she said coldly, "Do you know what nonsense you are talking about?"
Why are there only idiots who are causing trouble for her! She and the Yao family might have a conflict of fate! "Nephew... nephew has indeed seen him." Facing those always intimidating eyes, Yao Gui bravely said: "Nephew just wants to ask Aunt Ye if she knows the origin of this person..."
But why did the eldest aunt react so strongly? "I don't recognize this person and have never seen him before." The maidservant next to Pei looked at him and said firmly: "My lord, you must have seen too much."
"It shouldn't be..." Yao Gui's voice became softer, his heart filled with a strange uncertainty.
What he was unsure about was not what he said, but... did he touch something he shouldn't touch?
And the next moment, his seemingly unrealistic guess was confirmed.
"General Cui, don't bother to check. I recognize this person—"
This time, it was the girl's slightly trembling voice that was heard.
Ah, today's 4,000 words are also finished~ I am hesitating about one thing, that is, I haven't washed my hair for a long time... I heard that you can't wash your hair and take a bath after sunburn, so I never dared to try it. Now how can I describe my whole head? It's no longer oily, but a kind of damp state... Let me ask, have you washed your hair? (End of this chapter)
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