Chapter 63 Linghua's Cause of Death
Jiang Ning stepped forward and said, "Princess, please explain."
Chu Yangyang nodded at Jiang Ning, and the memories of the original owner flooded into her mind.
It was the height of summer last year, and the chirping of cicadas tore through the stagnant heat.
The candle flame was torn into pieces by the strong wind, and Linghua hurried in holding a celadon bowl.
The iced sweet soup rippled on the edge of the bowl, and the crushed ice soaked with jasmine petals made a clinking sound.
Linghua stepped into the room and said, "Princess, the weather is hot, please have some sweet soup to cool down."
Chu Yangyang was fanning herself vigorously with a brocade fan. Seeing the iced sweet soup, her appetite suddenly opened up. "Bring it in quickly."
Perhaps because she was in too much haste, Linghua's embroidered shoes suddenly tripped over the table leg.
Bang!
The porcelain bowl shook violently, and half of the sweet soup spilled onto the ground and sank into the cracks between the blue bricks.
The sweet soup splashed onto the hem of Linghua's skirt, and the coarse linen fabric was instantly corroded into honeycomb-shaped holes.
Linghua knelt on the ground and wiped it in panic.
Chu Yangyang saw the corroded holes on the fabric at a glance. She suddenly stood up, grabbed the maid's wrist, and felt the violent pulse beating under her skin.
"Reika, what did you put in the soup you brought me?"
Linghua quickly put her forehead against the floor tiles and kowtowed, her voice trembling, "This servant... This servant knows nothing."
Chu Yangyang narrowed her eyes, "Really?"
Linghua was trembling all over. "Yes, this is the sweet soup for the princess. There is... nothing in it."
Chu Yangyang squatted down and picked up the half-full bowl of sweet soup on the ground.
She glanced at the panicked Linghua, scooped up the remaining sweet soup with one hand and handed it to her. The copper spoon glowed with a strange glaze in the candlelight.
Chu Yangyang looked at Linghua and said, "Since you said you didn't put anything in the sweet soup, then take a sip to prove your innocence."
Linghua suddenly raised her head and looked at her, her face full of fear, "Your servant... Your servant..."
"Don't dare drink it?" Chu Yangyang said angrily, "Tell me! What did you put in it?"
Linghua was so scared that she kept shaking her head, "No, I didn't..."
"If you don't have it, just drink a sip and prove yourself!" Chu Yangyang stuffed the bowl into her arms, and Linghua had to take it.
"Hah!" Chu Yangyang shouted angrily.
Linghua was startled and without thinking, she took two gulps from the porcelain bowl, her throat making a gurgling sound like drowning.
She threw herself to the side of the table, grabbed the corner and tried to vomit. Her nails scratched bloody grooves on the mahogany. Finally, she curled up into a ball, twitching and died.
"Ah." Miaoyun's frightened cry and the sound of the door hinge turning rang out at the same time.
What Luo Xifeng saw when he entered the room was Chu Yangyang staring at the corpse in a daze.
Linghua's body suddenly twitched violently, and the moment the brocade belt broke, yellow-green liquid soaked through her skirt.
Amid the sizzling sound of melting flesh, Luo Xifeng half-knelt and used a silver needle to pry open the cloth. The intestines entangled in the rotten flesh had turned indigo blue.
The firelight flickered, and in the dim light, the figures of Jiang Ning, Xiao Renyu, Chu Xinyao and others appeared around him.
After Chu Yangyang finished recounting the scene of Linghua's death, everyone present fell silent for a moment.
Luo Xifeng lowered his eyes and stared at his fingertips, the shadow cast by the candlelight on his brow flickering with his thoughts.
He had a preconceived notion and believed that it was Chu Yangyang who brutally killed the maid, because the day before that day, he happened to see Chu Yangyang angrily scolding Linghua and pulling out her hair.
Now, after listening to Chu Yangyang's explanation of the original situation, he was stunned for a moment.
Chu Yangyang looked at the thoughtful crowd quietly and said, "Master Jiang, you can send someone to my bedroom. Next to my desk, near the crack of the third blue brick from the right, you can see signs of corrosion. This can prove that what I said is true."
Jiang Ning nodded at her. He inexplicably believed what Chu Yangyang said, and then asked, "Doctor Luo, since you were at the scene, did you check what kind of poison Linghua had?"
Pulled back to his senses by Jiang Ning, Luo Xifeng replied, "I checked and found out that Linghua was poisoned with Soul Devouring Powder. As the name suggests, this poison can corrode everything."
Jiang Ning suddenly turned to Chu Yangyang and asked, "Since the princess knew she was poisoned and murdered, why didn't she investigate further?"
Chu Yangyang replied, "I sent people to investigate at the time."
"Miaoyun, present it." She turned to look at Miaoyun who had just returned, only to see that Miaoyun was holding a brocade box in her hand.
"I found this under Linghua's pillow."
Chu Yangyang opened the brocade box and tossed a blood-stained purse onto the table. The golden-thread embroidered lotus was missing half a petal. "Auntie Jin, take a look at the stitching. Doesn't it look similar to your favorite red lotus embroidery?"
Jin was about to retort, but Chu Xinyao stopped her and said, "Princess, please don't say such nonsense. Many embroiderers in the mansion can make such ordinary embroidery. Why do you say it belongs to my aunt?"
"I didn't say that it was Jin who did it. There's no need for you to rush to make excuses and clarify things. It will only make you look guilty." Chu Yangyang retorted bluntly.
For a moment, Chu Xinyao could only shut up in disappointment.
Then, Chu Yangyang put down her purse and took out the account book from the brocade box. She pointed her finger at a certain page and said, "From June to August last year, only my uncle approved the use of sulfur."
The signature "Chu Shiying" on the yellowed paper is so strong that it can be seen through the back of the paper.
Jiang Ning asked, "What does this have to do with sulfur?"
Luo Xifeng explained, "One of the most important ingredients in Soul Devouring Powder is sulfur. Half an ounce of Soul Devouring Powder requires two pounds of sulfur as an ingredient."
Upon hearing this, Chu Shiying slammed his hands on the table again. "You're talking nonsense! I invented sulfur to treat horse plague! I've never met this Linghua before, so I don't know who she is. Besides, Yangyang and I have no grudges against each other, so why would I kill you?"
Chu Yangyang replied, "Speaking of the motive for the crime, Uncle is truly not innocent. I remember your daughter Qingyu and I had an argument, and during the scuffle, she fell into the pool. Unfortunately, it was summer, and she was wearing little, so her clothes were washed away by the water. Her naked body was seen by everyone, and after that, she became a laughing stock in Tiantong City, and no one dared to come to her house to plead for her. I think Uncle also hates me for this."
Chu Shiying was speechless for a moment, and after a moment he said stubbornly, "Then I wouldn't want to kill you either, so stop accusing me!"
"Don't worry, I didn't say it was you." Chu Yangyang replied.
Chu Shiying snorted, "It wasn't me in the first place."
Chu Yangyang put the account book back and picked up a jade pendant from the brocade box.
As soon as she saw the jade pendant, Jin blurted out, "This is Hao'er's jade pendant, why is it with you?"
The mutton-fat jade pendant in Chu Yangyang's hand was engraved with a tiger head. It was the gift his father gave to Chu Shenhao when he came of age.
Chu Yangyang said, "I found this jade pendant in the secret compartment of Linghua's dressing box."
Chu Xinyao's sharp voice rang out, "What nonsense! How did my brother's jade pendant end up in the hands of a maid?"
Chu Yangyang twisted up the black hair wrapped around the jade pendant. "When I found the jade pendant, there were two bound strands of hair folded over it. In Dayue, this practice represents mutual affection. I'm sure you all know this, right?"
Chu Xinyao sneered, "You're getting more and more ridiculous. Brother would never have an affair with a lowly slave! This is simply ridiculous."
"Then how do you explain this letter?" Chu Yangyang unfolded the yellowed letter paper. Beneath the elegant small calligraphy of "Shen Lang Qinqi" was Linghua's usual jasmine flower signature.
Chu Xinyao took the letter and was shocked after reading the contents.
Jin snatched the letter from her hand, muttering, "Ridiculous! Hao'er would never have an affair with a lowly maid."
As she spoke, she pretended to tear up the letter. Luo Xifeng reacted very quickly, stepped forward quickly, and pierced Jin's wrist with a silver needle.
Jin felt her hand go soft, and Luo Xifeng immediately snatched the letter, the evidence.
He handed it to Jiang Ning, "Master Jiang, please take a look at this."
Jiang Ning took the letter and glared at Jin, who shrank back in fear. "This letter is indeed about love between a man and a woman."
Jiang Ning turned to look at Chu Yangyang again, "Princess, in your opinion, which of these three people is the murderer who ordered Linghua to kill you?"
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