Chapter 70 Past and Present
When everyone heard this, their eyes involuntarily fell on Lady Dingxiang's hands.
Lady Dingxiang subconsciously retracted her hand, trying to cover the bracelet on her hand, but seeing that everyone was staring at her, even the Queen and the Crown Prince were watching, she could only keep her hand there stiffly, not daring to put it away.
On her wrist, on the crimson gold twisted plum branches, golden plum blossoms were in full bloom, each in a different posture, very beautiful.
But, they are indeed all golden plum blossoms, there is no so-called white plum blossoms.
"A gold bracelet will turn white when it comes into contact with mercury. Lu Wulin would never say such a thing for no reason. He must have seen a golden plum blossom turn white on my aunt's hand before, which is why he said that." Qiandeng looked at the bracelet her mother had given her, examining its unique and beautiful shape. "Gold is extremely hard, and the thing that can turn gold white is probably mercury. Unfortunately, my aunt's previous husband was a goldsmith. When my aunt returned to her parents' home to help my mother with her wedding, she gave you this gold bracelet. During those days, your ex-husband's family died in an accident. The whole family died of poisoning, but you, my aunt, escaped because you were at her parents' home."
After hearing this, everyone looked at each other and felt a chill in their hearts.
Cui Fufeng lowered his eyes, took out one of the files and handed it to her.
Qian Deng displayed it before everyone and said, "After discovering Yang Huaijiang's method of stealing the imperially bestowed golden flower, I naturally recalled Lü Wulin's strange words, 'White plum blossoms look better on a gold bracelet.' At that time, my aunt's expression became extremely grim, clearly having felt a pang of weakness, so much so that she even stopped trying to provoke me.
"It seems the bracelet on my aunt's hand has also changed color. After she married into the Yang family, she probably never had the opportunity to come into contact with mercury again, but her ex-husband was a goldsmith, so there must have been mercury in their home. And Yang Huaijiang even said to you when you were avoiding mercury, 'Have you forgotten your dead ex-husband?'
So I asked the Dali Temple to rush to Guozhou to investigate the case. They discovered that there were four people in your aunt's ex-husband's family: your parents-in-law, your husband, and your brother-in-law. According to the Guozhou government archives at the time, after you left your husband's home to help your parents, your entire family was poisoned, suffering from fever, chills, diarrhea, and coma for several days. When you learned the news and rushed home, your husband was already dead, your parents-in-law had died of blood in their urine, and your brother-in-law had gone insane and drowned.
"The autopsy concluded, with no signs of anyone entering the house, that the cause was accidental ingestion of poison. After all, it was spring, and it's possible that poisonous weeds or mushrooms were mixed in with the wild vegetables he picked. But in reality, the fever, chills, vomiting, diarrhea, even hematuria and madness, were all caused by mercury poisoning! That's what turned the plum blossoms on your bracelet white.
"Let me speculate on the situation. You returned to your natal family to help your cousin prepare for her wedding. She gave you a red-gold plum blossom bracelet, and you envied her for marrying into a wealthy family and becoming the wife of a prince. And just then, you met Yang Haiping, the fourth son of the Hongnong Yang family from Guozhou, who came to congratulate you. His wife had died young, and he was looking for a capable successor. You, the eldest sister-in-law of the Changhua prince, would have been a good candidate, but unfortunately, you were already married. How could you marry him?
"But Aunt, you made an immediate decision that night and secretly returned to your husband's family. The family you married into is in another village, not far from your parents'. My mother saved my father on her way back from visiting you alone. A few hours would be enough for the round trip. You sneaked away at night and returned before dawn without alerting anyone. And since you were the daughter-in-law of the family, you naturally wouldn't leave any signs of outsiders entering.
"You wanted to divorce your ex-husband, hoping to gain freedom and find a better husband. But he knew your cousin had married into the royal family, so how could he let her go? You went all out, desperate for a brighter future. You stole the goldsmith's mercury and spilled it in the dark corner of your ex-husband's bedroom."
"So, during the days you were away, your ex-husband stayed alone indoors, the mercury fumes lingering in the room. It's colorless and odorless, so naturally, it's undetectable. And because it was winter, and the poisoning caused chills, he simply closed the doors and windows and lit the charcoal stove, which only exacerbated the poison. Soon, he developed diarrhea and convulsions, and was beyond help. Your parents-in-law cared for him in the house, and their illness took a few days longer than his, but they too died soon after. Your brother-in-law was less likely to be in the room, so he didn't die, but he too became mentally ill and lost his life at a young age.
"When the whole family falls ill, they will naturally inform you. You can use excuses to delay for a few days. When you return, the mercury will have almost evaporated. Open the windows for ventilation, and all traces will disappear. Everyone will just say that the whole family accidentally ingested poison, and only you escaped. It's really pitiful. It's a pity that your calm approach left only one flaw - your nephew Lu Wulin, who was only ten years old at the time, was following you around and noticed something. That is, the gold bracelet my mother had just given you. When you returned home to secretly sprinkle mercury, in your haste and panic, you accidentally touched the mercury droplets, which happened to fall on the plum blossoms, turning the golden plum blossoms into white ones.
"Twenty years ago, when Lu Wulin was still young, this impression remained in his mind, but he neither understood nor cared. It wasn't until twenty years later, when he learned how Yang Huaijiang had stolen that set of jewelry and was shocked to discover that gold jewelry contaminated by mercury would change color, that he dug out his memory of the white plum blossoms on your bracelet and the harm done to your ex-husband's family by mercury, that he understood everything.
"He grew up with Yang Huaijiang. After realizing that the disfigured victim wasn't Yang Huaijiang, he went to the cemetery to confirm the deceased's identity. So, he deliberately mentioned 'Bai Mei' to threaten you and to warn me, indicating that the restored gold jewelry was in his hands. But because I mistakenly thought the gold he had obtained was the cook's ring, the price I offered him was naturally far different from what he had in mind. And since he has evidence of you murdering your husband and losing your son, he will definitely demand a huge profit.
"So, with Shi Jingning under our watch and unable to escape, and you still wanting to get rid of Lu Wulin, you changed your plan and used Lu Wulin to help Shi Jingning escape. That day, you played tricks, claiming you saw Shi Jingning's ghost enter Gutengzhai, causing the entire bed to burn—but in reality, you were the one who started the fire. You murdered Lu Wulin, lied about sending him back to Guozhou, and burned his body on the bed in Gutengzhai."
"Oh, nonsense!" Lady Dingxiang screamed, furious. "Gutengzhai is in the backyard of your palace, with only a small door for entry and exit. During the day, there are many people watching, and at night, the door is locked. If I killed my nephew, such a big living person, how could I hide the body? In this freezing weather, can I dig the ground to hide the body? Besides, you were there watching me move out of Gutengzhai that day!"
"Yes, I didn't expect my aunt to be so bold as to carry the body out in front of all of us." Qian Deng ignored her anger and continued to tell the story. "I've told you before, that day in Gu Tengzhai, my aunt pretended to be haunted and burned a bed. A bed and a quilt alone wouldn't be enough to completely burn Lu Wulin's body, but as long as the flesh is charred and there's no bleeding, it will be enough. You and Shi Jingning will cut the burned body into pieces. Although his hands and face are injured, he has practiced knife skills in the kitchen for more than ten years, so cutting a body according to the joints is not a difficult task.
"Then, you wrapped the body parts and packed them into boxes and cages, locking them up so no one could see them. Then, you set fire to the room, creating a burning smell and ashes everywhere. You also destroyed the scene and covered up all the traces. Even though I brought people to help with the moving and to check on the situation, even the servants who were carrying the bodies didn't realize what was hidden in the boxes and cages they were carrying, nor did they know what the faint smell of burning was."
The ladies present had never even seen pigs and sheep being slaughtered, so how could they have heard of such a scene? They were all terrified.
The empress dowager even covered her chest, pushed away the incense burner in front of her, and opened her mouth to vomit.
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