Su He's pupils contracted sharply, "Four...four days ago?"
"How could that be? I only took a short nap."
Su Ruanruan looked at Su He with a complicated expression for a while, then looked at Bai Bai blankly, "My lord, what's wrong with her...?"
Bai Bai waved his hand at her, "You can leave now."
Su Ruanruan quickly thanked them, got up from the ground, and disappeared back into the crowd.
She always felt that a gaze was fixed on her, as if trying to see through her.
Su Ruanruan glanced at the crowd, only to find Huo Yan looking at her with a half-smile.
Su Ruanruan rolled her eyes and turned her gaze back to the audience below.
"Su He, what else do you have to say?"
"My lord, I don't know what happened. I just took a nap, and when I woke up I found... I found him in my bed..."
Zeng Yuan couldn't see Su He, but he could hear her voice. Forgetting all about maintaining his composure, he angrily shouted, "Su He, you accepted the jade pendant I bought, and you invited me to your house. There's no denying it. What are you pretending for? Are you seeing a ghost?"
"You have wronged me so badly, I cannot forgive you."
Su He: "What jade pendant? I didn't see it, much less take it."
Bai Bai beckoned, and the constable presented the jade pendant. Bai Bai took the item in his hand. "Su He, do you recognize it?"
Su He took a closer look and recognized the jade pendant. She glanced guiltily at Su Ruanruan in the crowd and said, "This is it. I have seen this jade pendant before, but I did not have enough money to buy it."
Bai Bai said, "You didn't buy it yourself, but plenty of people bought it for you. The shopkeeper and his assistants at the jade shop saw with their own eyes that Zeng Yuan gave the jade pendant to the person wearing the veiled hat, and that person was you."
"With my own eyes? No, no, you must be mistaken. The person wearing the veil could be someone else, why must it be me? I did go to the jade shop, but I only went to inquire about the prices."
Bai Bai said, “If you’re still trying to deny it now, then I will summon the relevant witnesses to court. The facts are irrefutable, so let’s see how you can still deny it.”
Soon, the jade shop owner and his assistant, along with Aunt Li and the blacksmith from the same courtyard as Su He, were all brought over.
Bai Bai pointed at the jade shop owner and asked, "How can you be so sure that the woman wearing the veil is Su He kneeling below?"
The shopkeeper glanced at Su He and said, "She came to ask about this jade pendant a few days ago. At that time, a little beggar suddenly appeared in the shop. When we chased him out, the little beggar used his stick to knock off her veil."
"Both I and my shop assistant saw her face. Later, she came again, begging me to sell her the jade pendant with the butterfly and green leaves at a lower price. I'm just a small business owner, barely making any money, and seeing that she wasn't wealthy, I tried to kick her out. But then I ran into Young Master Zeng, a regular customer of the shop. He bought the jade pendant and even gave it to the girl himself."
"This young lady even said she wanted to invite Young Master Zeng to her home for a chat. This was the first time I saw her in full. The second time, although her face wasn't visible through the veil, her voice was clear and distinct, and I couldn't be mistaken."
"Oh, by the way, the second time this girl came to the shop, she also ran into Officer Huo. If you don't believe me, sir, you can ask him."
The waiter nodded vigorously in agreement.
Bai Bai glanced at him and asked, "Huo Yan, have you seen Su He at the jade shop?"
Huo Yan glanced at Su Ruanruan indifferently and said slowly, "I saw a girl wearing a veil at the jade shop, but when I asked her to take it off, she refused. I'm not sure if it was this girl."
Bai Bai, "..."
"Are you hard of hearing? I can't tell the difference just by hearing the voice without seeing the face?"
"Forget it, it doesn't matter whether you have the testimony or not. There have been many people on the street who have seen Su He wearing a veil and selling steamed buns in the past few days, and they can all confirm that this person is Su He."
Bai Bai slammed the gavel again, "Li Shi and the blacksmith below, have you seen Su He these past few days?"
"Yes, sir. I have met her... of course I have. She leaves early and returns late every day, but she sets up her stall earlier than usual."
"Then do you know why she sets up her stall earlier?"
"Your Excellency, I asked her, and she said she wants to save up enough money to buy something."
Bai Bai asked again, "Do you know what it is?"
"This humble woman does not know."
Su He was shocked. "Auntie, how can you accuse me so easily? I didn't do anything. Why is everything different when I woke up after just taking a nap?"
“We live in the same courtyard, how can you talk nonsense like an outsider and wrong me?”
"I didn't wrong you, so say something!" Aunt Li nudged the blacksmith beside her.
The blacksmith looked at Su He several times. "You... what's wrong with you? You don't remember anything from the past few days?"
"The meat that Li and I ate last night was a gift from you. How could you forget?"
“You really don’t remember? This young master came to your room carrying a food box, and gave us the things you bought that you didn’t need.”
Su He had a splitting headache. She... she couldn't remember anything.
Is the person they're talking about really her?
Bai Bai, "Coroner".
The coroner stepped forward and said, "Sir, the food and wine have been examined. We found nothing in the wine, but we did find an aphrodisiac in the braised beef."
Su Ruanruan, "..."
Good heavens! She thought Zeng Yuan would put something in the drinks, but it turned out to be food!
I'm so glad I didn't eat that piece of braised beef last night, otherwise I would have really gotten myself into big trouble.
Fortunately, the poison doctor was skilled, and the medicine was fast-acting and potent, so much so that even the coroner couldn't detect it.
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