Chapter 69 Mercury
"Then let me tell my aunt what happened based on the situation at the scene." Qian Deng was merciless, and even her tone was not fierce. After all, the whole process had been through her mind countless times, and there were no longer any doubts or obstacles.
"Before the kitchen fire that day, we discovered Yang Huaijiang had 'secretly placed silver flower trees' in the storeroom, so I gave the nine golden flowers he had changed color with mercury to my aunt, asking you to return them to Yang Huaijiang. When you went to look for him with the food box, Shi Jingning and his sister-in-law, who were playing hide-and-seek in the backyard, ran into you. They realized that Yang Huaijiang was going to the kitchen to make drugs to kill me. When my aunt saw what Yang Huaijiang had brought, she was shocked and ran away from him, but he said, 'Have you forgotten your dead ex-husband?'
"Aunt, your ex-husband was a goldsmith, and goldsmiths often use mercury—this is one of the evidences that confirms that Yang Huaijiang used mercury to transform the golden flower. Liquid mercury is inconvenient to carry and difficult to manipulate. He must have mixed it with tin to form a paste and applied it to the inside of a piece of cloth or oil paper so that he could carry it with him.
"But your aunt naturally knew that carrying mercury with you would definitely cause poisoning if fumigated, so you immediately fled. However, you were also worried, so you probably went to the kitchen to check, and naturally you would have witnessed the conflict between Yang Huaijiang and Shi Jingning in the kitchen.
"Later, when we checked the scene, we found the deceased lying facedown on the ground with rabbit meat in his hands. I guess that after the two met in the kitchen, Shi Jingning knew that Yang Huaijiang wanted to drug me in the food, so he must have told him that I liked to eat rabbit just in case. By the time Yang Huaijiang caught the rabbit from the pen and brought it back to cook, Shi Jingning's disfiguring drug had already boiled and was poured on Yang Huaijiang. The two men fought in the kitchen. Even though Shi Jingning initially only wanted to burn Yang Huaijiang's face and disqualify him from the candidacy, there were knives in the kitchen after all, and Yang Huaijiang was a man with a crazy personality. The two eventually turned into a knife fight. Shi Jingning was used to using knives, and it is very likely that he accidentally killed Yang Huaijiang or seriously injured him.
"That afternoon, the gardener, Old Wei, testified that he saw someone running out of the kitchen with their hands covering their faces. A moment later, the kitchen erupted in flames. This has always puzzled me, but if my aunt had been involved, it would explain it. After Shi Jingning murdered someone and fled, there was another person in the kitchen who helped him dispose of the body, buying time to clear his name.
"After Shi Jingning murdered someone, he faced a desperate situation. He still had four younger siblings living in my backyard. Whether he surrendered or fled, they would be left with nowhere to go. And then, Auntie, you appeared. You pointed out a way for him to survive: swap their identities. Let 'Shi Jingning' die in the kitchen fire, while Yang Huaijiang would be burned and disfigured. He would then naturally withdraw from the race to be my husband, return to Guozhou, and live on as Yang Huaijiang.
"This way, my aunt will have a docile and obedient son to inherit the family business; Shi Jingning will have hope of survival; and the Shi brothers and sisters will no longer have a murderous brother, but they will definitely be cared for by the Changhua Palace. It won't be difficult for the Yang family to secretly provide financial support in the future. Isn't this killing three birds with one stone? Everyone is happy."
She said it so calmly, but the thrilling scene in the kitchen that day seemed to be playing out right before everyone's eyes.
Madam Dingxiang's face was ashen, and her body trembled uncontrollably. But Qiandeng's words were so powerful that she couldn't find any loopholes to refute them. She could only deny them in vain: "It's all just imaginary fabrications! I raised Huaijiang for nearly twenty years. He's just like my own son. How could I have someone impersonate him?"
The queen lowered her eyes to look at the tea in her hand that had turned cold, and found that she was so engrossed in listening that she forgot to drink a sip.
The Queen Mother had just come to her senses and asked Qian Deng, "So, why didn't Jing Ning leave the palace as soon as possible, and instead caused further trouble in your house?"
"Because, after the incident, I immediately determined that Yang Huaijiang was a serious suspect, so I tried my best to prevent my aunt and the others from leaving. To find an excuse to leave the house, my aunt first created a bloody handprint with Shi Jingning, and then pretended to see Shi Jingning's ghost. But in the end, she found out that I didn't believe in ghosts and gods, so she had to start another fire, allowing Shi Jingning to escape and die. Only then was she able to escape."
The Crown Prince was somewhat puzzled and asked, "So, Yang Huaijiang died in the kitchen fire, and Shi Jingning died in the storeroom fire. Although the bodies were tampered with, they are definitely there. Then why do you, Lingling, say that the person who died in the fire had only one candidate for your fiancé?"
Qian Deng said, "Because the fire in the warehouse behind didn't kill Shi Jingning, but someone else."
The prince was stunned: "Could it be that someone else in your house died?"
"No, the deceased was not from the Changhua Palace. He was Yang Huaijiang's long-time attendant, Lady Dingxiang's nephew, Lü Wulin."
Originally, they thought that this case only concerned the two candidates for the throne in the palace, but now a nephew of Lady Dingxiang suddenly appeared, and everyone couldn't help but feel that it was even more complicated and confusing.
"The County Lady is truly unrelated to her relatives. How can it be so strange to you that we, your relatives, just died without a trace of reason?" Lady Dingxiang forced a sneer on her sullen face as she watched her every word expose her involvement in the murder. "When the warehouse caught fire, I had already sent Wu Lin back to Guozhou to handle matters. How could the body in the fire be his?"
"I'm afraid Lü Wulin hasn't returned to Guozhou," Cui Fufeng said. "We've thoroughly checked the city gates and the checkpoints and post stations along the roads. From that day until now, there's been no trace of Lü Wulin entering or leaving. This means he hasn't left Chang'an at all, let alone returned to Guozhou."
Lady Dingxiang's next words were suddenly stuck in her throat and she dared not speak again.
Qian Deng ignored her and continued, "After all, Lü Wulin knows too much. It would be a real hassle for him to stay in this world. First of all, he has always been with Yang Huaijiang. Although he is nominally a relative, he is actually a long-term attendant who takes care of everything. Even though Shi Jingning's face and voice were disfigured, he had his aunt to cover it up for him, but how could he possibly hide it from Lü Wulin, who had been with him for so many years?
"Secondly, he went to the charity cemetery to view the body. And his purpose was very clear, he only moved the feet of the body. After all, the charred corpse cannot be recognized, and only the unique toes of the Yang family can reveal the truth. He is Yang Huaijiang's long-time attendant, and he must have quickly realized that the disfigured man you brought back to Gutengzhai was not the young master he had always served personally; and the dead person was Yang Huaijiang, whose toes were longer than others. Lu Wulin is a greedy man who has always planned to make money from you and make a fortune. After discovering the truth, he was overjoyed. He must have secretly broken off the feet of the corpse and brought them back, using the toes as evidence to blackmail and pressure you.
"Third, when he came to help clean up the ashes in the kitchen, as you instructed, the cook saw him hiding something glittering with gold. Although I didn't see what it was, I can imagine that Yang Huaijiang went to the kitchen with a food box containing the 'Nine Trees of Silver Flowers' that I had returned to him. Then the kitchen caught fire. When Shi Jingning's face and voice were disfigured and he changed Yang Huaijiang's clothes, he must have had to deal with the food box he brought. As for the jewelry inside, Shi Jingning believed it was drugged, and as you know, it was coated with mercury. Therefore, neither of you dared to take it and would have discarded it in the kitchen. And since the jewelry had been restored to its original state after the fire, someone had to collect it. Since you had already been exposed by Lu Wulin, you simply asked him to come and help clean up the ruins and retrieve the Nine Trees of Silver Flowers. Presumably, Princess Gao—" Qiandeng paused noticeably at this point, raised the corner of his lip towards the grim-faced Princess Gao, and continued, "It was at this time that the palace's female official approached him and retrieved the jewelry entrusted to Yang Huaijiang."
Princess Gao snorted coldly, but the female official had committed suicide out of fear of punishment, and Lu Wulin had disappeared. They no longer had any evidence to dig out the details.
"More importantly, the way Yang Huaijiang stole this jewelry set allowed Lu Wulin to glimpse a secret—a secret that forced you, Auntie, to get rid of him." Qian Deng looked at Madam Dingxiang and said slowly, "That day, when Auntie showed me the bracelet on your hand, he told me that the white plum blossoms looked better on this red gold bracelet."
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