Chapter 62: Case within a case
The officer held a packet of oil-wrapped paper in his hand and presented it to Jiang Ning, "Sir Jiang, this is the medicine packet we found in the dressing drawer in Xiao Renyu's courtyard."
Jiang Ning took the medicine bag and handed it to Luo Xifeng, "Please, Doctor Luo, take a look at what this is?"
Luo Xifeng took the medicine bag and opened it. He dipped the tip of the silver needle into the tea and stirred it into the powder. The needle tip instantly turned blue-black.
He put the powder to his nose and sniffed it, then raised his head and said, "This is the ingredient for 'Crow's Cry', the very thing that poisoned Qian Min."
Xiao Renyu's pupils shrank suddenly, and his nails, stained with red nails, dug into his clothes tightly. The blood color on his face dissipated like the tide, and his previous smug look was gone. He muttered, "Impossible, this is absolutely impossible."
His eyes rolled.
"You framed me." She suddenly leaped up and rushed towards Chu Yangyang, but was pinned to the ground by the yamen runners. Her carefully painted eyebrows twisted and ferocious. "Did you leave this medicine bag in my yard? You vicious woman, you really can't change your vicious nature in this life."
Xiao Renyu remembered that she had clearly burned all the related items, so it was impossible for there to be new medicine bags.
The medicine bag that suddenly appeared must have been Chu Yangyang's attempt to frame her.
Chu Yangyang secretly raised her eyebrows at her, as if to provoke her.
The corners of Xiao Renyu's eyes burned with a poisonous cold light, his lips were pressed into a straight line carved by a knife, and his whole face was like a frozen volcano. "Bitch! Do you think you can rest easy if you kill me? Sooner or later, Luo Xifeng will..."
"Miss Xiao, be careful with your words."
Before Xiao Renyu could finish his words, Chu Yangyang interrupted him.
She slowly squatted down to look at her at eye level, her voice as soft as falling petals, "I originally always wanted to be your sister sincerely, but unfortunately, you always distrusted me and repeatedly framed me."
Chu Yangyang lowered her voice so only the two of them could hear, and said, "Then I can only return the favor in their own way. I'm just trying to protect myself."
Xiao Renyu gnashed her teeth until they made a clattering sound. Then she sneered sarcastically, "Chu Yangyang, you will not have a good death. You can believe what I say."
Chu Yangyang smiled, "I believe it, of course I believe it, but I'm no longer Chu Yangyang."
Xiao Renyu's eyes flickered with doubt, but before he could think about it, he heard Jiang Ning say, "We have witnesses and evidence. Come, take Xiao Renyu to the Dali Temple jail."
The officers and soldiers immediately rushed out. Xiao Renyu was so frightened that he grabbed Luo Xifeng's sleeve and hid behind him in fear, "Brother Xifeng, please save me, I am innocent."
Luo Xifeng pulled out his sleeves without leaving any trace. "Lord Jiang is the most fair and strict official in my Great Yue. You can rest assured that he will not wrongly accuse anyone, and of course, he will not let any evildoer go."
When talking about "bad guys", Xiao Renyu clearly saw a hint of disgust in Luo Xifeng's eyes.
Xiao Renyu's heart sank. Why after her rebirth, she knew that Chu Yangyang was a bad person, but she always let her escape perfectly?
And always falls into her trap.
She just added fuel to the fire, not only letting Luo Xifeng know that his wife was keeping two lovers in the mansion, but also letting him see Yangyang's true vicious face.
She clearly did nothing wrong, so why did Luo Xifeng despise her?
Jiang Ning immediately ordered, "Come here, take Xiao Renyu away."
The officers and soldiers stepped out of line upon hearing the order, and two of them tried to reach out and hold Xiao Renyu's arms.
"Wait, I can walk by myself." Xiao Renyu suddenly became calm. She glanced at the maid in the corner, and she immediately lowered her head and retreated into the shadows.
She stood between the two officers and soldiers and suddenly chuckled, "My princess, you think you've won? Do you dare to let Lord Jiang see Linghua's disemboweled appearance?"
Chu Yangyang glanced at her indifferently, as if looking at a clown jumping around on the stage.
However, Luo Xifeng saw a bright light flashing in the depths of Chu Yangyang's pupils, like an arrow drawn from a bow ready to be shot in the dark night.
"Since someone wants to bring this matter to light, I will take this opportunity to clear my name. This will save me from being blamed for others."
As Chu Yangyang spoke, she slowly walked to the maid who had complained about Linghua.
Chu Yangyang's gilded embroidered shoes stopped in front of the maid, and the light and shadow from the eaves flickered on her smiling eyes. "If I remember correctly, you should be the maid in the backyard washing clothes, Juhong?"
The maid timidly raised her eyes and glanced at Chu Yangyang secretly, then immediately lowered her head, "Yes, it is your servant."
Chu Yangyang asked, "May I ask, what is your relationship with Linghua?"
Juhong replied tremblingly, "This servant... This servant is Linghua's cousin."
"Cousin?" Chu Yangyang's voice suddenly rose, startling the maid and causing her neck to shrink. "Then I guess you two grew up together, otherwise you wouldn't be so close to her and want to seek justice for her."
Juhong followed her words and replied, "Yes, Linghua's parents passed away early, and she often came to my house to play since she was little. Linghua and I are like sisters."
Chu Yangyang raised her eyebrows and said, "Linghua is from Linzhang County. She keeps saying 'my mother said' with a heavy accent."
She suddenly shouted in a thick Linzhang dialect, "How did you learn the Linzhou accent?"
Juhong's hands were instantly tangled together, cold sweat oozed from behind her ears, and she lowered her head and dared not speak.
"Or, you just can't understand the Linzhang dialect I speak?" Chu Yangyang took another step closer.
Juhong swallowed hard, her body shaking like a sieve. "This servant... this servant's mother is from Linzhou, and my father is Linghua's uncle. My mother and I usually speak Linzhou dialect, and I'm not very familiar with Linzhang dialect, so I don't understand what you are saying."
"Oh, really? Well, I have a question I'm curious about." Chu Yangyang bent down and lifted Juhong's drooping chin. "Linzhang is surrounded by mountains, and in spring, wild apricots grow all over the mountains. Tell me, are wild apricot kernels pointed or round?"
Juhong almost made her hands red with sweat, and her eyes were darting around.
"Answer quickly!" Jiang Ning suddenly shouted.
Chrysanthemum was so frightened that she instantly collapsed to the ground.
"It's round..."
As soon as Juhong finished speaking, Chu Yangyang's expression suddenly turned cold. "You really refuse to repent and are telling lies with your eyes wide open. The wild apricot kernels, a specialty of Linzhang, have three ridges. The Linzhang children's song goes, 'The pointed kernels prick my hand, my sister won't return home from picking apricots.'"
She paused, then grasped Juhong's chin with her fingertips. "Or maybe, you're not Linghua's cousin at all, and you're just trying to frame me for some purpose."
"Tell me, who sent you here?" Jiang Ning asked fiercely.
Juhong clenched her fists and immediately took two steps on her knees towards Xiao Renyu, but was held back by the soldiers.
Juhong kowtowed to Xiao Renyu repeatedly, "Master, please forgive me, I really can't tell a lie."
Xiao Renyu's eyes flashed with sarcasm, "I don't even know you, how could I be your new master?"
Juhong shed tears, "Master, wasn't this all arranged by you?"
Xiao Renyu immediately looked at Luo Xifeng, and met a pair of cold eyes. Her spine suddenly bent and her face was full of disappointment.
She stared at Luo Xifeng, "Brother Xifeng, are you going to let Chu Yangyang wrongly accuse me like this? Don't you know who I am?"
Luo Xifeng glanced at her indifferently, remaining silent, without much emotion in his eyes.
"I didn't expect that her usual soft voice, gentleness, and kindness were all fake." Chu Xinyao anxiously pointed her finger at the tip of Xiao Renyu's nose, "We in the Prime Minister's Mansion cannot tolerate vicious women. Lord Jiang, please lock her up immediately."
Jin covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief, as if Xiao Renyu was carrying the plague. "Miss Xiao always likes to sneak into the pharmacy. She was originally thinking of these dirty tricks. Now she wants to frame my Prime Minister's Mansion. The master really let a wolf in sheep's clothing into the mansion."
Chu Shiying angrily slammed his palm on the table, "You heartless thing! Yangyang is the daughter of our Prime Minister's family, and you actually framed her again and again like this. How can I, as your uncle, agree to this? Lord Jiang, it's time for you to make a decision."
Just as Jiang Ning was about to speak, Chu Yangyang stepped forward and said, "Please be patient. I, the victim, am not even angry. Why are you getting so excited?"
She glanced at the crowd with disdain. "Could it be that some people just want to let this go and use Sister Renyu as a scapegoat so they can get away with it?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was in an uproar again.
Chu Shikuang was puzzled and said, "Yangyang, you've completely confused me. Didn't you just prove that Miss Xiao was the mastermind behind using Lan Yu to frame you? Why are you now calling her a scapegoat?"
Chu Shiying said seriously, "Yangyang, human life is a matter of life and death, it's not a joke. How can you keep messing around like this?"
Only Luo Xifeng said calmly, "The princess is talking about two things now..."
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