Chapter 24 Bringing Up Old Accusations "Was it you?" "It really wasn't me!..."
Xue Rongyue raised her eyes and gestured to the servant waiting outside the door: "In the past, I clearly brought a peacock into the palace, and it was inspected by the Imperial Guards at the palace gate according to palace rules. Why was it changed to a raccoon cat when the palace servants registered it?"
“After much trouble, I finally found out who the palace servant in charge of registration was that day, but unfortunately…” Xue Rongyue’s voice was icy, “Before I could even ask her, I learned that she was already dead, on the night the incident happened.”
"Not only him, but the imperial chef who made the soup also died suddenly that night."
Slowly turning the jade thumb ring, Qin Jin's brows furrowed slightly, his eyes gleaming coldly beneath his thick eyelashes.
If what Xue Rongyue said is true, then it is clear that both of them were murdered to silence them.
Jingnu brought up the witness: "This man is Liu Damiao, the son of the deceased imperial chef."
Kneeling tremblingly, Liu Damiao held up the household register and carefully replied, "That night, news suddenly came from the palace that my father had suddenly fallen ill while on duty and died suddenly, and his body could not even be returned home for burial. But my father was in his prime, always healthy, and had never suffered from any serious illness before. How could he have died suddenly from an illness?"
"At that time, the family was still wealthy. My mother took out all the family's wealth and finally bribed the palace servants so that she could see my father's body one last time." Liu Damiao's expression was sorrowful, and his voice was choked with sobs. "My mother said that my father's face was bluish-purple and contorted, and black blood was oozing from his mouth and nose. He was obviously poisoned!"
"My mother also inquired with the palace servants, wanting to find out the truth, but the palace servants remained silent."
A neatly dressed old woman walked in with her head bowed: "When I worked in the Imperial Kitchen, I saw Chef Liu's body with my own eyes. His face was indeed bluish-purple and bleeding from his seven orifices. It didn't look like he died suddenly from an illness."
In order to investigate this matter, Xue Rongyue distributed countless amounts of gold and silver in just three days.
This old woman was a palace maid who had just been released this spring. She was unwilling to get involved in palace affairs anymore, but she only agreed after Xue Rongyue promised to pay off her good-for-nothing grandson's gambling debts and buy a three-courtyard house on Zhuque Avenue.
After the two witnesses left, Xue Rongyue handed Qin Jin the booklet recording the burning of the imperial chefs' and palace servants' bodies, proving that their statements were true. It was thanks to Princess Yu'an's help that these old records could have been retrieved; otherwise, it wouldn't have been easy.
Xue Rongyue raised her eyebrows triumphantly: "Young Master Qin, I don't have such great abilities as to kill two people in the palace and then cover it up silently."
"Besides, I personally served you that bowl of soup. Wouldn't it be redundant and contradictory to kill you afterwards to cover it up?"
There aren't many people who can stir up trouble in the palace.
After quickly flipping through two pages of the booklet, Qin Jin's lips twitched into a mocking smile.
Xue Rongyue had been busy for three days, and naturally she wouldn't stop there. She slightly raised her head, and Jingnu instantly understood, and another witness walked in.
The man was dressed in an indigo palace robe with a palace badge at his waist. Qin Jin recognized him as a palace servant from the Imperial Palace Attendants Department.
Jingnu offered a cup of hot tea, but the eunuch Wang declined, saying, "I was allowed to leave the palace tonight by order of the Princess, but I dare not linger."
Immediately, Eunuch Wang presented Qin Jin with a palace register: "Six years ago, on the fourteenth day of the last month, Lady Xue entered the palace. The palace servants around the Empress reported to the Inner Palace that Lady Xue had found a peacock to amuse the Empress. The Inner Palace was ordered to prepare all the necessary items for raising the peacock and send them over. These should also be recorded in the palace register according to the palace rules."
The records in the palace registers are clear and detailed, and the palace seals affixed during the reporting process cannot be faked.
All these witnesses and physical evidence further demonstrate Xue Rongyue's innocence.
The person who slaughtered Yu Pan was not Xue Rongyue after all.
Even though he had already expected it, Qin Jin still felt a sense of relief the moment he received the answer, and his knuckles clenched uncontrollably.
A buzzing sound filled his ears, and his breath caught in his throat. After a brief moment of blankness, a torrent of complex emotions, indescribable and inexplicable, surged into his heart and overwhelmed him.
His gaze toward Xue Rongyue was bittersweet; the girl from his memory seemed to be drawing near once again.
In the dimly lit Buddhist hall, the girl tilted her head, her bright almond-shaped eyes fixed on him, her tone unusually gentle, devoid of any barbs: "I specially ordered the imperial kitchen to make your favorite ginger and duck flower soup with pancakes, please have some."
Her eyes revealed undisguised sincerity and concern.
The girl did not distance herself from him because of his disheveled state, nor did she take advantage of his misfortune to deliver a fatal blow.
She really cared about him back then.
And he...
Completely wrong.
His thin lips had lost their color, Qin Jin's eyebrows were lowered, and his handsome face was slightly pale.
Jingnu placed a thick bag of silver coins into the palm of the eunuch Wang, and personally escorted the eunuch Wang out.
Xue Rongyue stood with her back to Qin Jin, her pupils reflecting the pattering rain: "Qin Jin, when we were young, we lived in the palace. We used to bicker and quarrel, and it was a huge fight. You often scolded me for not matching my words with my actions. Later, my elder brother also often criticized me, and you would agree with him. Do you remember?"
Qin Jin's Adam's apple bobbed clearly as he suddenly recalled—
"Ajin, don't be fooled by what Xiaoyue says; she's always saying one thing and meaning another."
Xue Rongyue took out a gold lock necklace: "This is the longevity lock that I asked a craftsman to make for Yu Pan back then. It was only after I left the palace that the craftsman finished making it and delivered it to my residence. If I had killed Yu Pan, why would I have bothered with this? It's just a pity that the craftsman resigned and returned to his hometown two years ago, so he can't testify for me."
The gold lock necklace in her hand was small, clearly not the size a person could wear. A lifelike claw mark was carved on the longevity lock. Although the necklace was small, the workmanship was very exquisite.
Xue Rongyue lowered her head, the delicate hairpin at her temple falling to her ear, her slender white fingertips slowly tracing the claw marks on the gold lock, her eyelashes trembling slightly.
“Back then, I went to the Marquis of Ding’an’s residence to find you, intending to give you the jade plate, but I was turned away. I kept this gold lock necklace and never had the chance to do so again.”
Qin Jin's breath hitched for a moment when his gaze fell on Xue Rongyue's low-hanging hair.
[Congratulations, host! Your favorability towards target [Qin Jin] has increased by 5.]
[Congratulations, host! Your favorability towards target [Qin Jin] has increased by 2.]
[Congratulations, host! The hatred level of the target [Qin Jin] has decreased by 5.]
[Congratulations, host! The hatred level of the target [Qin Jin] has decreased by 3.]
[Congratulations, host! The hatred level of the target [Qin Jin] has decreased by 2.]
...
With a smirk and a hint of undisguised smugness flashing in her eyes, Xue Rongyue suppressed the urge to laugh out loud and quickly put Yingluo away.
Jingnu casually shifted her gaze to her toes.
This gold lock necklace was indeed specially made by a craftsman six years ago by her mistress, but it wasn't meant as a gift for the jade plate; rather, it was for her mistress's pet dog.
Upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that the paw prints on the gold lock are not cat paws but dog paws.
She had been wondering why her mistress insisted on returning to the mansion in the rain tonight to find this necklace; it turned out it was to break her heart.
Xue Rongyue pressed her advantage, her head bowed low: "My Zhiquan, is he no longer alive either..."
"No."
Upon hearing this, Qin Jin seemed to have just been pulled out of a nightmare, and replied in a hoarse voice, "Zhi Quan is kept by me at my private residence, and he's lively and energetic."
"Really?" Xue Rongyue was overjoyed.
Qin Jin's eyes flickered with emotions that Xue Rongyue couldn't understand: "Really."
Seeing Xue Rongyue's disheveled appearance from her travels, he made up his mind and said in a low voice, "If you're willing, I'll take you to see it tomorrow."
Zhiquan was a gift from her brother for her fifth birthday. She was such a clean person that she would sleep with Zhiquan every day. As she grew older, she would also put Zhiquan's bed next to her bed and eat and sleep with it.
Knowing that the dog urinated everywhere and loved to roll in the mud, she was annoyed, but she would only lose her temper slightly, coldly clean it up, and never ask anyone else to do it for her.
Unfortunately, it was later taken away by Qin Jin.
Xue Rongyue felt resentful upon recalling it: "I thought that after Prince Qin took Zhiquan away, he would definitely take his anger out on it."
Qin Jin explained in a low voice, "I didn't mean to take it away. I really saw it on the street and intended to send it back to the Xue residence, but when I heard that General Xue had sent his servants to drive it away, I took it away instead."
Xue Rongyue's anger flared: "How did Father know that I kept Zhiquan in the manor? Apart from my brother, only you and I knew about this. You must have deliberately leaked it!"
Qin Jin rubbed his temples: "It wasn't me, I never informed General Xue..."
Seeing that he stubbornly refused to admit it, Xue Rongyue's anger flared up even more, and she began to bring up old grievances: "If Prince Qin does not intend to admit to this matter, then should he also deny deliberately damaging my beloved longbow back then?"
Qin Jin was slightly taken aback: "When did I damage your longbow? I don't remember."
really!
Xue Rongyue sneered: "Your Highness Qin, are you trying to fob me off with 'I don't remember'? Surely you still remember splashing blood on me by Luochuan Lake last winter!"
Qin Jin was even more puzzled: "When did I... wasn't it you who led me to Luochuan Lake to push me into the water?"
Xue Rongyue angrily retorted, "You're turning the tables! You even had birds defecate on my hair, deliberately trying to embarrass me at the poetry gathering!"
Qin Jin couldn't help but get angry: "When did I ever ride a bird... Did you laugh at yourself for saying that?! Besides, it was clearly you who gave me the Spring Red—"
Qin Jin paused abruptly, realizing he had spoken out of turn, and a flush of anger rose to the tips of his ears.
"What nonsense is this? What is Spring Red? Wait a minute..." Xue Rongyue asked incredulously, "Why are you blushing?"
Qin Jin's face flushed even more, and he roared angrily, "Stop pretending—"
Xue Rongyue angrily retorted, "I wasn't pretending!"
As soon as the words were spoken, the two belatedly realized something was amiss, and even the servant who had been watching the show at the door couldn't help but walk in with a solemn expression.
After a moment of silence, Xue Rongyue spoke first, tentatively: "That winter, they took off my carriage wheels, trying to kill me by throwing me off..."
"It wasn't me!" Qin Jin said firmly, then paused for a moment, his voice filled with suspicion. "You're the one who stole my jade pendant and framed me?"
"It wasn't me," Xue Rongyue gritted her teeth. "I never succeeded in stealing!"
Qin Jin frowned, and asked hesitantly, "...So, was it you who put laxatives in my pastries?"
"..."
"…………"
Her indignation vanished instantly, her eyes darting around stiffly. Xue Rongyue looked up at the sky and said, "...I did it."
With his arms crossed, Qin Jin sneered.
Xue Rongyue coughed lightly: "So, was it you who bought my favorite dress, cut it up, and sent it over as a show of defiance?"
"How could I have done such a thing—"
The denial abruptly stopped. Qin Jin hesitated for a moment, then looked down at the ground sheepishly: "...It seems to be me."
Xue Rongyue's face fell.
Qin Jin changed the subject: "Were you the one who stole the king's chicken feathers?"
“...It’s me.” Xue Rongyue turned her face away.
The spring rain has stopped, and the moonlight has frozen.
The two remained silent.
Jingnu sneered—
I was just saying, are you two really such pure and innocent people?
A note from the author:
----------------------
There were definitely grudges stemming from misunderstandings, but it couldn't all have been misunderstandings. There were also many incidents caused by the two of them fighting. I won't dig up the details in this chapter. [doge]
but……
Later, when Qin discovered the dog paw on the gold lock, he calmly asked: "Let's have a heart-to-heart talk. Have you ever lied to me before?"
Xiaoyue's gaze darted around: No...
Qin smiled: Very well, keep lying to me, your crime is compounded, you won't be sleeping tonight [angry].
Next chapter preview: The young couple is going out together! [Lop-eared rabbit head][Lop-eared rabbit head][Lop-eared rabbit head]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
