Yun Xian feigned annoyance at seeing Yun Chuwei, turned around, looked at the crowd of people, and said, "When I returned, my wife was not home; she went to Jing'an Temple to recuperate. I haven't seen her since. How could I possibly poison her?"
"I love my wife so much, I don't even have a concubine, how could I poison my beloved wife? I don't know why Yun Chuwei would fabricate such a thing to slander me. But I am truly innocent!"
Over the years, it wasn't that he didn't want to take a concubine, but his mother had repeatedly told him not to.
He never expected that the fact that he had no concubines would become the basis for his self-justification.
“If she had accused me of some other crime, I might have accepted it, so you would think that their killing of me was understandable. But she accused me of such a heinous crime, I cannot accept it! I cannot let my wife be heartbroken!”
The people believed Yun Xian because his words were reasonable, well-founded, and clearly organized.
Therefore, they all sided with Yun Xian.
"Lord Yun, you're still trying to protect these two ingrates, but they're not worth it!"
"Lord Yun, just pretend you never had these two ungrateful wretches!"
"Yun Chuwei and Yun Zheng must atone with their deaths!"
"He must atone with his death!"
...
As they spoke, the crowd moved closer to Yun Chuwei and Yun Zheng.
At that moment, a loud female voice came from over.
"Who dares to touch my daughter and son?"
Upon hearing this, everyone turned their heads and fell silent when they saw it was He Ning.
Yun Xian was startled when he saw He Ning, but he still managed a smile.
"Ning'er, you're back?"
He used to call He Ning by his full name.
But now, in front of the people, he wants to call the name more affectionately.
He Ning, however, felt disgusted.
She looked at Yun Xian, her eyes filled with pain, disgust, and hatred.
For so many years, she has been devoted to Yun Xian.
She assumed that Yun Xian treated her the same way.
Who would have thought that this person had already been having an affair with her sister?
Her sister's son and daughter were actually Yun Xian's children.
Yun Xian, He An, and Yun Lianhua conspired to poison her, intending to reunite their family legitimately after her death.
She felt like the sky had fallen when she first found out about it.
These past few days, she has been escaping reality, hiding in Jing'an Temple and afraid to go home.
If she hadn't learned today that her son and daughter were besieged by the people and forced to atone with their deaths, she might not have been able to muster the courage to face all of this.
Now that she's back, she must make those who harmed her pay the price.
Yun Xian met He Ning's gaze and sensed the hatred in her eyes, which startled him slightly.
He quickly asked, "Ning'er, what's wrong? Why do you seem like a completely different person?"
He Ning stared coldly at Yun Xian and said, "Yun Xian, you went so far as to poison me to welcome that mistress into your home, and now you ask me why I seem like a different person? Yun Xian, how dare you ask such a question?"
Yun Xian was shocked; he didn't understand why He Ning would say such a thing.
He Ning clearly didn't know he had poisoned her, so why did she speak with such certainty?
“Ning’er, did you believe Yun Chuwei’s nonsense? I didn’t do that! She’s just talking nonsense, Ning’er, please don’t believe Yun Chuwei’s nonsense, okay?” Yun Xian said.
Now that things have come to this, he must first calm He Ning down. Otherwise, things will take a turn for the worst.
The surrounding people were also stunned; now they didn't know who to believe!
He Ning said coldly, "Yun Xian, don't call me that! It disgusts me! Do you think I have no evidence that you poisoned me? Not only do I have evidence, but I've also submitted some of it to the Prefect of Jingzhao! If you don't want people to know, then don't do it in the first place. Now that you've done it, do you still want to hide it? That's just wishful thinking!"
Upon hearing this, Yun Xian realized that He Ning was followed by people from the Jingzhao Prefecture and the Ministry of Justice.
He instinctively felt his hands and feet were cold and his face was deathly pale.
He Ning ignored him and instead said to Xu Sheng, "Lord Xu, my adopted daughter is unaware that their poisoning plan has been exposed, so she hasn't disposed of the bird's nest and the slow-acting poison they used. Please send men to search my adopted daughter's courtyard! They will surely find something!"
Xu Sheng agreed and immediately ordered his men to search the area.
When everyone saw the officials, they knew that He Ning had already reported the matter to the authorities.
They looked at He Ning and asked one after another, "Madam Yun, what exactly is going on?"
Upon hearing this, He Ning raised his voice and asked, "Do you know who Yun Xian's illegitimate daughter is?"
Everyone shook their heads, their eyes filled with curiosity.
Seeing this, Yun Xian tried to step forward to stop He Ning from speaking, but was grabbed by a constable standing nearby.
He Ning ignored him and said directly, "His illegitimate daughter is my adopted daughter, named Yun Lianhua!"
The crowd erupted in uproar.
He Ning continued, "Back then, my mother-in-law, to repay a debt of gratitude, gave my daughter to a Taoist priest to be his apprentice. I couldn't see my daughter and fell ill with grief. At that time, Yun Xian brought back a girl and asked me to adopt her. I thought it was my husband's love for me. But it wasn't; my husband was tricking me into raising his illegitimate daughter! Poor me, I raised that child with great difficulty, not even knowing she was my husband's illegitimate daughter!"
Everyone was stunned, and their gazes toward Yun Xian turned to condemnation.
He Ning continued, "Starting last month, my adopted daughter has been making bird's nest for me every day. I thought she had grown up and knew how to be filial to me. Who would have thought that the bird's nest contained a deadly trap!"
"I had a dream in which I was poisoned and beyond medical help, and I died a miserable death. When I woke up, I was in a daze and went to see Physician Li outside the city. He found that I had indeed been poisoned! And the cause of the poisoning was the bird's nest that my adopted daughter sent me every day!"
After He Ning finished speaking, Xu Sheng had already led his men out.
Behind him were two men holding Yun Lianhua hostage, and another man carrying bird's nest and packets of medicine.
Xu Sheng said, "When we went in to search, we happened to see the second young lady of the Yun family trying to destroy evidence. We arrested her as well!"
Yun Lianhua looked at He Ning, her eyes filled with panic.
She didn't expect that He Ning already knew about her poisoning the bird's nest.
She originally thought that He Ning's change in attitude towards her was because Yun Chuwei had returned.
In retrospect, it wasn't because of Yun Chuwei.
She should have thought of that sooner! Why didn't she think of it sooner?
He Ning nodded slightly and said, "Lord Xu, Physician Li sent his nephew as a witness. It is said that his nephew is a disciple of the divine physician Zhong Que and is skilled in using poison."
After He Ning finished speaking, he turned to the young man standing to the side and said, "Young Master Wang, could you please take a look and see if this is the poison I've been poisoned?"
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