39. Frame-up
It was already evening when we came out of Prince Jing's Mansion.
Xibing stood inside the palace gate and waved goodbye to him, while Chen Ji stood on Anxi Street with a heavy heart.
He walked in the afterglow and smelled the aroma of cooking from every household along the street, and then he felt relieved.
The dark cloud poked its head out from the eaves and jumped into his arms: "Who hit Bai Prajna? I didn't hit it!"
Chen Ji smiled and patted its head: "No one beat it, it was just a reason for Concubine Yun to summon me to the palace."
He muttered to himself, "At the time, Concubine Yun said that Concubine Jing's lead-barium glass cup was a gift from her family, so I didn't think much of it. But now, considering Concubine Jing's relationship with the Liu family, maybe someone did it on purpose... Has she cursed the Liu family recently?"
"Yes, she cursed her brother Liu Mingxian. She cursed him really badly."
"That's right." Chen Ji sighed. "I was only concerned with logical reasoning at the time, but didn't think deeply about human nature. It turns out that human nature can't be judged by common sense. But I didn't anger Old Master Liu to death, I didn't give the cup, and I didn't kill Liu Shiyu. Why did she target me instead of taking revenge on the Liu family and the Secret Service...hiss, Liu Shiyu was also killed by the Liu family to silence him. There must be a ruthless person in this Liu family!"
Chen Ji gasped. He reviewed all the clues and suddenly realized that the Liu family was extremely cruel and ruthless, even disregarding family ties with their own people. "Could the old man Liu in the coffin have been killed on the spot as well?!"
Wuyun stood in awe: "Very fierce!"
Is this kind of cruelty useful? Of course it is. If it weren't so cruel, Yunyang and Jiaotu wouldn't be thrown into prison. Instead, the Liu family would be guilty of deceiving the emperor.
Back at the clinic, Old Man Yao was behind the counter, looking at the account books and fiddling with an abacus. He looked like an old man who was calculating but couldn't figure it out...
Chen Ji laughed and said jokingly, "Master, why don't you just toss a coin and settle the account?"
Old Man Yao glared at him and said, "Stop talking nonsense. I think you're just itching for trouble. Fortune telling can only tell the direction, not the exact amount."
"Where are the senior brothers?" Chen Ji asked curiously.
"I went to the backyard to cook." Old Man Yao glanced at him and said, "Didn't you go to diagnose the cat? Didn't you prescribe some medicine for it?"
"No……"
Old Man Yao sneered, "You think you're being cautious. Even if it's not injured or sick, you should prescribe some cheap trauma medicine and send it to the palace. You have to put on a good show, otherwise you'll be discovered sooner or later."
Chen Ji was stunned for a moment. "Thank you for the reminder, Master. Experience is always more valuable. I'll send some Cnidium monnieri there tomorrow."
He walked to the backyard. In the kitchen, only Liu Quxing was washing rice and cooking porridge. She Dengke was nowhere to be seen.
Just as Chen Ji was about to go to the apprentice dormitory, he saw She Dengke pushing the door open.
She Dengke was frightened when he saw Chen Ji
He jumped: "Hey, didn't you go to the palace?"
Chen Ji said, "The white cat wasn't seriously injured. I came back after taking a look. What was Senior Brother She doing in the room just now?"
"I'll just change my clothes and come help pick the vegetables. If I cook slowly, I'll be scolded by the chef," She Dengke pulled Chen Ji to the kitchen.
However, at this moment, there was the sound of orderly footsteps outside the clinic, and the sound of iron armor scales colliding with each other as the guards walked.
Chen Ji noticed that She Dengke's hand, which was pinching his arm, suddenly clenched, and he could feel the sweat in his palm through his clothes.
Old Man Yao walked to the door and frowned as he said, "Miss Chunhua, General Wang, what are you doing blocking the door of my Taiping Clinic?"
Chen Ji broke free from She Dengke's hand and walked out. Liu Quxing also emerged from the kitchen, carrying a spoon. "What's wrong?"
Outside the Taiping Medical Clinic, Chunhua was dressed very simply today. She was only wearing a light green skirt, without any jewelry on her body, and her hair was only tied up with a wooden hairpin.
Chunhua looked nervous and seemed to be hesitant to speak. Beside her, the palace guards were all holding long spears and wearing heavy iron armor. The leader walked with a fierce look, like a tiger and a hawk.
Chen Ji asked with a smile: "Miss Chunhua, what are you doing?"
Chunhua then said to the head guard of the palace, "General Wang, a while ago, my wife lost the South Sea pearl that the prince gave her. We first checked with the maids at our Wanxing Garden, but couldn't find the pearl. Then we thought about it and realized that only this apprentice from the medical clinic named Chen Ji had been in and out of Wanxing Garden and had rummaged through my wife's things!"
Chen Ji frowned, Concubine Jing!
After Concubine Jing lost her son and nephew, her revenge came quickly and urgently, not even overnight!
General Wang looked at Chen Ji coldly: "Do you have anything to say that might prove your innocence?"
Chen Ji was silent for a moment, then said calmly, "Someone accused me of stealing something. It's hard to prove my innocence in such a situation."
On Anxi Street, the shop owners and clerks were all peeking out the doors. They were about to close their shops, but they didn't expect to encounter a big surprise.
Someone whispered, "Did Doctor Chen from the Taiping Clinic steal something from the palace?"
"It's said that these are South Sea pearls that Prince Jing gave to the princess. I've heard of them. Each pearl is as big as a longan, and one can be sold for hundreds of taels of silver!"
…
…
Chen Ji listened to the discussions around him without changing his expression.
General Wang stared at him for a long time, and finally said gloomily: "Control this apprentice and go in to search!"
After saying that, two guards held up Chen Ji's arms, one on the left and one on the right. The guards' arms were like iron rings, tightly wrapping Chen Ji's arms so that he could not move and it was painful.
Chunhua followed the guards into the clinic: "General Wang, I
Look for it too. I've seen that pearl before, so it's easy to identify."
Chen Ji watched her enter the clinic, open the medicine cabinet drawers one by one, and mess up the herbs.
Old Man Yao looked at him coldly and said, "General Wang, if there really was a thief in my Taiping Clinic, I will resign and return home, and never set foot in Luocheng again. But if there was no thief in my Taiping Clinic, what will you say?"
General Wang bowed to him from a distance and said, "Doctor Yao, I am also following orders. Miss Chunhua brought Concubine Jing's badge, and I must follow your orders to apprehend the thief. Besides, people's hearts are hidden, so how do you know if your apprentice is a thief?"
Old Man Yao suddenly snorted angrily: "I'm sure he's not!"
Chen Ji looked at Old Man Yao in surprise, but he didn't expect that the other party would come out to speak for him at this time.
As she spoke, Chunhua had already entered the backyard. She first searched the kitchen and then went into the apprentice dormitory.
But she was seen rummaging on the bed for a while, and finally set her eyes on the apprentices' wardrobes.
Chen Ji understood that the other party was just pretending to search other places before, and this place was her real target.
Chunhua knew Zhenzhu was here from the beginning!
Chen Ji looked towards She Dengke, only to see that the other's tall and strong figure was nervous, his hands twisted together, and there was no trace of blood on his lips.
When She Dengke saw Chen Ji looking at him, he hurriedly turned his eyes away and didn't dare to look at him.
This was a premeditated frame-up by She Dengke and Chunhua!
Chen Ji frowned, but She Dengke had clearly never left the clinic, and Jinri Chunhua had never been to the clinic either. How did they convey the information to Zhenzhu?
Chen Ji looked around. The backyard of the clinic was only separated from the palace by a wall. If people talked on the other side of the wall, they could be heard in the backyard.
The wall is not high, so it is not difficult to throw a pearl over.
Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Senior Brother She, do you like Chunhua?"
She Dengke was stunned for a moment and subconsciously took a step back: "Ah? What did you say? I don't understand what you are talking about."
Chen Ji shook his head: "It's okay..."
Liu Quxing looked at Chen Ji and asked worriedly, "You didn't really steal anything, did you?"
Chen Ji denied it: "No, I will never do such petty theft in my life."
When Liu Quxing heard him say this, he believed it, but Liu Quxing clearly felt that Chunhua was confident and very sure.
He looked at his master again: "Master, please say something quickly."
Old man Yao remained silent. If they really wanted to find evidence, no one could help Chen Ji.
At this time, the guards came out of Old Man Yao's main house and shook their heads at General Wang.
Everyone looked at Chunhua in the apprentice dormitory. Chunhua was rummaging through the wardrobe like crazy. Finally, she stood in front of the wardrobe motionless, with her back to everyone, her body trembling and crying out loud.
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