Chapter 463 Testimony and Evidence
"I--?"
Song Yu was startled, and Ma Xu next to him also looked at him with a horrified expression.
But at this moment, he seemed to realize that too much talk leads to mistakes, so he didn't say anything immediately. Instead, he quickly recalled what he had said, but he couldn't remember what he had said at all.
He then said coldly, "I don't recall giving any 'testimony'."
Shang Ruyi said, "It seems that Lord Song has done too many things and said too many things, and has forgotten them all. But it doesn't matter, fortunately I have remembered them."
"..."
"What did you say last night when the tung oil was released from those twenty-odd water trucks?"
"..."
"You say—no wonder you've been unable to find tung oil."
Song Yu's expression immediately changed.
Just as he was about to say something, Shang Ruyi smiled and said, "Lord Song, you mustn't deny it so easily. After all, there were quite a few people standing next to you at the time, and they all heard what you said."
Song Yu thought for a moment, then immediately sneered, "What's there to deny?"
"..."
"So what if we can't find tung oil?"
"..."
"Who knew you would use so much tung oil for those kinds of things? Is it a crime to not be able to find tung oil?"
Shang Ruyi said, "It's not a sin to not be able to find tung oil."
"..."
"But using tung oil for arson is a sin!"
Song Yu frowned, about to say something, when Shang Ruyi coldly said, "A few days ago, when the General had just fallen ill, I discussed with Lord Jiu that although we should defend the city, the General's military order included the words 'dig deep ditches.' Obviously, he didn't just want us to defend Fufeng to the death."
"..."
"Therefore, Lord Dai and I devised today's plan, and for this plan, we collected all the tung oil in the city."
"good,"
Dai Junliang nodded and continued, "However, this plan is risky and must be kept secret. In order to prevent others from knowing, we prepare the oil needed in the government office until the end of the month in advance, so that no one will know that we have collected tung oil from the city."
“In other words,” Shang Ruyi continued, “normally, you don’t need to ‘find’ tung oil unless you have other uses.”
At this point, she looked coldly at Song Yu and Ma Xu: "So, I would like to ask you two a question."
"..."
"What do you need tung oil for?"
Song Yu's eyes grew increasingly panicked.
At this moment, Ma Xu suddenly turned pale and said with a stiff neck, "Madam General, is it any of your business how many tung oil candles we use?"
"..."
"We, we can burn things for fun, but as long as you don't have evidence, you can't accuse us!"
Upon hearing his words, almost everyone present frowned.
This person was clearly being pressured and didn't know what to do, so he started to give up and said such things, and his rationality was on the verge of collapse.
Shang Ruyi sneered and said, "It's fine to burn it for fun."
"..."
"But if the fire spreads to my husband's side, it would be considered murdering a high-ranking official, which is—rebellion!"
Ma Xu's face suddenly turned deathly pale.
Song Yu, standing to the side, gritted his teeth and glared at him, seemingly annoyed by his thoughtless words. After a moment's thought, he immediately sneered, "General's wife, please don't spread alarmist rumors. Saying things like 'plotting to harm a court official' or 'rebellion' is simply a fabricated charge!"
"..."
"I'll just ask you this: since you've collected all the tung oil, and since what I just said was that we can't find the tung oil, then even if someone really did set the fire, what does it have to do with us?"
Upon hearing this, Ma Xu, who was somewhat confused, immediately brightened up.
He quickly replied, "That's right!"
Shang Ruyi glanced at them, but was not alarmed. She simply nodded and said, "Lord Song, you are indeed still clear-headed."
"That--"
"However, as I just mentioned, after we collected all the tung oil in the city, we also provided enough tung oil for the people in the government offices to last until the end of the month. In other words, as long as you use it normally, you should still have enough tung oil in your rooms to last until the end of the month."
No sooner had she finished speaking than footsteps sounded outside the door.
Everyone turned around and saw two of Mu Xian's personal guards walking over. The two whispered a few words to him, and after listening, Mu Xian immediately said to everyone in the hall, "Madam, esteemed gentlemen, I just had them search the rooms of Lord Song and Lord Ma, and there is not a single drop of tung oil left in their rooms."
Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions became even more serious, and they all looked at Ma and Song.
Song Yu's face stiffened, and he immediately roared, "You, how dare you—"
As he spoke, he was about to rush forward to attack, but before the other guards could step forward, Dai Junliang and Yin Changyue spoke up, "Lord Song, please calm down."
"Please explain clearly, sir, what you and General Ma used the tung oil in your room for?"
...
Both of them were speechless.
Ma Xu's eyes, which had been somewhat lively, froze completely at this moment, as if he would never move again, only trembling incessantly, sweat pouring down his face.
At this moment, when Song Yu looked at him again, his panicked eyes seemed to have grasped at a straw.
He suddenly sneered and said, "It's fallen."
"What?!"
Dai Junliang was stunned, staring at him with wide eyes, as if he couldn't believe his ears.
Song Yu sneered, "I said, that tung oil was accidentally spilled."
"..."
"What, Madam General, gentlemen, are you going to hold it against us for accidentally spilling tung oil?"
Dai Junliang clenched his teeth tightly, and even the usually good-tempered Yin Changyue couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh through his nose.
While everyone was furious at his shameless and unreasonable behavior, Shang Ruyi looked at him calmly, her eyes even more relaxed.
After all, if someone starts cheating, it means they don't have many cards left to play.
So, Shang Ruyi smiled faintly and said, "Indeed, I can't take that to heart."
"..."
"Since you say it's going to fall over, then let it fall over."
Dai Junliang, who was standing to the side, was taken aback and looked at her: "Madam?"
Shang Ruyi gently shook her head at him.
Song Yu probably realized that his actions had been very dangerous, and at this point, he could only end the "farce" as soon as possible. So he said, "So, General's wife, do you still have your so-called testimony? If not, then we will not continue."
Shang Ruyi shook her head: "The testimony is no longer available."
"..."
"However, you two should remember that I just said that to reach a conclusion on a matter, in addition to testimony, there is also evidence and witnesses."
"..."
"Don't you two want to see the remaining two items?"
At this moment, Song Yu had no desire to look at the remaining two items. After all, he had already said so much, and he knew that he had little room to maneuver here. If he said anything more and made a mistake, it would give others a handle to use against him, and the matter would be difficult to resolve.
However, they had just hurriedly returned to the government office with only two guards by their side. Moreover, these two were novices and knew nothing, and they were still standing aside at this time. On the contrary, Shang Ruyi's men had already surrounded the hall so tightly that they had no chance to leave.
Song Yu gritted his teeth and could only turn back to look at Shang Ruyi again.
He said coldly, "I don't know where the General's wife can find any evidence, or any witnesses. Didn't Lord Yin just say that you haven't found anything?"
Shang Ruyi smiled faintly.
He said, "But as I just said, if there really was nothing, I would have taken revenge myself long ago."
"..."
"Since you're still alive and standing here—"
She spoke with a smile, yet the chilling ruthlessness in her voice sent shivers down the spines of those around her. Yin Changyue stared at her for a moment, seemingly recognizing the general's wife before him for the first time.
He thought for a moment, then stepped forward and said, "If you have any evidence or witnesses, please bring them up."
"..."
"As the military supervisor, if there is any instance in the army of plotting to harm an official of the imperial court during a battle between two armies, I will not let it go lightly!"
"good,"
Shang Ruyi nodded, then looked at him and said, "Lord Yin, do you still remember that day outside the fire, my maid said that someone had added a kind of 'uncaria rhynchophylla' to the medicine we used for burning that day. The arsonist wanted to knock us unconscious first, and then set fire to the house outside, so that he could kill us."
“I remember,” Yin Changyue said. “But didn’t we send people to look for them later, only to find that all the medicinal herbs had been burned?”
"yes."
"That--"
"The people who tampered with the medicinal herbs did burn the other herbs used for fumigation, along with the boxes we used to store the herbs, in order to avoid leaving any evidence. However, they forgot one thing."
"Forgot what?"
"That's the paper tube that was half burned that day, but we put it out."
"Half burned?"
“That’s right. We smelled something was wrong when the paper tube we were using for burning was only half burned, so we put it out immediately. But the people who were clearing away the evidence obviously didn’t expect that, so they only burned the box and forgot about the half paper tube we dropped on the ground.”
Upon hearing this, Song Yu and Ma Xu exchanged a glance, their faces turning deathly pale.
Shang Ruyi had already raised her head: "Nie Chong, go and call me immediately—"
Before she could finish speaking, she heard Wo Xue's voice coming from outside the gate, softly saying, "Young Madam, this servant has brought the evidence."
Shang Ruyi looked up and saw Wo Xue walking in from outside.
She held a handkerchief in her hands, and on the handkerchief was the cotton paper tube that Shang Ruyi had asked her to retrieve from the ruins of the fire under the cover of night after discovering that all the evidence had been destroyed. It was half-burned and then trampled out by them.
But as soon as she saw her, Shang Ruyi frowned.
She said softly, "Why did you come all by yourself?"
Wo Xue raised her head and said softly, "Young Madam, it was the Eldest Young Master who sent me here."
"……What?"
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