Chapter 214: The Surface Truth
Poor Zhao was on the verge of collapse, and was completely confused about human nature.
The Duke of the Protectorate stroked his beard and asked in a deep voice, "Now that we have the witnesses and the stolen goods, Lord Feng should quickly take them all into custody."
Lord Feng responded and looked in the direction of Zhou Lingling. Seeing that Zhou Lingling had no objection, he prepared to make the arrangements.
"etc."
Wen Wan said indifferently, "Why are you so anxious? We haven't even investigated this matter clearly yet, and you're already arresting our old lady. Are you taking advantage of the fact that our general isn't at home? Are you bullying us women?"
The Duke of Protectorate sneered, "We have witnesses and evidence, isn't that a complete investigation?"
Wen Wan raised her eyebrows without comment and slowly walked up to Zhou Lingling.
"Your Highness, they keep saying that this poison was found in my general's mansion. So, where is the poison?"
The Duke of Protectorate was stunned, not understanding what she meant.
Zhou Lingling was an honest child. She pointed to the brocade bag on the table and said, "Isn't it right here?"
Wen Wan chuckled and held up the brocade bag high under everyone's surprised gaze.
"You said this is poisonous?"
Everyone was puzzled.
She opened the brocade bag and spread the white powder inside in front of everyone, then said loudly: "But what if I say it is not?"
As soon as she finished speaking, before anyone could react, she opened the sachet and poured the powder inside into her mouth.
"What are you doing?"
"You're crazy!"
"Don't destroy the evidence!"
"That's extremely poisonous!"
The voices rang out in unison, and everyone present was frightened by her sudden action.
She licked her lips gently but evilly, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, and laughed so hard that her body shook.
"Why are you so nervous? This brocade bag contains nothing but the dense cream I bought from the Hu merchant a few days ago."
She pretended to sigh and looked at Chunniang in confusion.
"I ate too much dense frost and got cavities in my teeth. The old lady scolded me and even had all my dense frost taken away. I secretly hid a little bit of it, but I also felt that the safest place is also the most dangerous place, so I hid the dense frost in the old lady's shrine."
She winked at the old lady in a playful manner.
"Madam, the dense frost was right under your nose, and you didn't notice it. Am I very smart?"
The old lady originally thought that the general's mansion would not be able to escape the disaster today, but she did not expect that there would be a sudden turn of events. The concubine whom she looked down upon would actually do such a thing in the desperate situation.
Even if she disliked Wen Wan in the past, at this moment, in the old lady's eyes, Wen Wan looked the most pleasing.
"Smart!" The old lady almost broke her voice with excitement. "You are the smartest one."
Wen Wan played with the brocade bag in her hand and squatted in front of Chun Niang, her eyes filled with a hint of regret.
"Chun Niang, you are my only little sister in the general's mansion, did you know that?"
At this point, Chunniang no longer pretended to be afraid.
From the moment her lie was exposed, she had no chance of survival.
When a dying man is about to die, his words are often kind. She smiled bitterly, moved her lips, and wanted to say something, but in the end she just lowered her eyes and said nothing.
He didn't even bother to give an explanation.
Wenwan's eyes unconsciously turned red for a moment.
When she looked up again, her eyes were firm, "Agui, bring out the roster of the General's Mansion."
Everyone was confused, and they saw Agui handing a booklet that he had prepared long ago to Wen Wan.
Wen Wan flipped open the booklet and read, "Chun Niang, originally named Hu Xiaoyu, was from Linqiu City and was brought into the palace by Zhang Xuan, the former Minister of Works."
Halfway through reading, she looked up and smiled at the Duke of Protectorate, "Oh, by the way, Your Excellency, Zhang Xuan should be familiar to you. If Zhang Xuan hadn't been imprisoned for corruption three months ago, you and Zhang Xuan would have become in-laws by now."
It was unknown which of Wen Wan's words had struck the most sore spot for the Duke of the Guard. The Duke of the Guard was suddenly startled, his expression almost failing him.
His expression stiffened as he forced himself to calm down. "What do you mean? Zhang Xuan is the former Minister of Works. We both served in the imperial court. What's so strange about our previous interactions? As for the rumors of our children being in-laws, that's just random speculation from people without the slightest knowledge. Our two families are just casual acquaintances."
Wen Wan was not surprised at his denial.
People in officialdom tend to seek benefits and avoid harm.
When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. The old friends who used to be close brothers have become just casual acquaintances now that something has happened.
Wen Wan curled her lips sarcastically, "Duke, your words are quite outrageous. Wasn't your deceased daughter pregnant with the Zhang family's child?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the whole audience was in an uproar.
The Duke of Huguo flew into a rage, pointed at Wen Wan's nose and cursed, "Bitch! You've spoken nonsense and tarnished the innocence of my dead daughter. If I don't kill you with my sword today, you're unworthy of being a father!"
The Duke of Protectorate was furious. He snatched the long sword from the waist of the guard beside him and raised the sword to chop Wen Wan.
Zhou Lingling quickly yelled, "How dare you!"
The palace guards following Zhou Lingling immediately stepped forward and stopped the Duke of Protectorate.
Wen Wan sighed softly, "Duke, you know very well whether I'm talking nonsense or not. Since I dare to speak this matter out loud, I must have evidence."
Agui's face was full of pride, and he quickly took out several testimonies from his arms.
Wen Wan took it and handed the testimony to Zhou Lingling.
Zhou Lingling quickly finished reading it and handed it to Lord Feng, the Minister of the Dali Temple.
After reading it, Lord Feng could not hide his shock. When he looked at Wen Wan again, his eyes were full of admiration.
"Did you check all this?"
Wen Wan responded lightly, "Here are three testimonies. One is from the steward of the Protectorate, proving that the Protectorate's daughter, Wang Yiling, is three months pregnant."
"One is a testimony from Zhang Xuan's personal attendant, proving that Chunniang was purchased by the Duke of the Protectorate and given to Zhang Xuan as a gift. Then, through Zhang Xuan's hand, she was delivered to the General's Mansion."
"There's also a testimony from a butcher who had been in and out of the Duke's mansion on the day the Duke's daughter was murdered. It proves that the knife that killed Wang Yiling was stolen from his trunk by a servant in the Duke's mansion. The servant thought she had done it without anyone noticing, but she didn't know the butcher had seen it. He didn't dare to tell anyone, as he still had work to do at the Duke's mansion."
She continued in a deep voice, "We found out that Zhang Xuan's only son, Zhang He, and Wang Yiling were childhood sweethearts. They had a deep affection for each other since they were young. After Zhang Xuan got into trouble, Zhang He once looked for Wang Yiling."
"My guess is that Zhang He hoped the Duke of Protectorate would lend a hand to the Zhang family, but the Duke refused. So the couple decided to make it a done deal, becoming a family first and then forcing the Duke of Protectorate to help."
Wen Wan sighed, "What a shame! Miss Guogong never imagined that compared to power, a daughter is nothing. The Duke, for the sake of the reputation of the Duke's Mansion and to draw a clear line between himself and Zhang Xuan, was so cruel as to even kill his own daughter."
His words were powerful and the truth he revealed made everyone drop their jaws.
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