Ji Yunshu took in all the changes in First Madam’s gaze, simply smiling slightly.
She asked her, “I wonder if First Madam knows what cats like most?”
“Is this related to the case?”
“Of course it’s related.” Her voice was forceful and clear. “First Madam loves cats so much, there’s no reason you wouldn’t know that once a cat smells catnip, it becomes extremely excited, or even frenzied, right? Well… this catnip is actually what you commonly call jing jie.”
First Madam sneered coldly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Fine, then I’ll carefully explain to you exactly what happened that night.” She paced a few steps, then in a gentle yet extremely certain tone, slowly recounted, “On the night of Master Zhang’s birthday banquet, Miss Zhanmo from the City South Theater actually served up two cups of tea. Both cups contained Silver Frost poison, because the girl intended to poison not only Master Zhang, but you as well. But coincidentally, you deliberately had the cat knock over the cup of tea in front of you, spilling the tea on Master Zhang. Therefore, he had no choice but to return to his room to change into the clothes you had already prepared for him—a set of clothes that had been fumigated with the scent of jing jie. As soon as he changed into them, a cat with tea poison applied to its claws slipped in. Because of the jing jie scent, the cat desperately tried to pounce on Master Zhang. As a result, it scratched him, and the poison entered his body. By the time he returned to the banquet, the poison took effect and he died. Of course, that performer did indeed kill someone, but what caused Master Zhang’s death was the tea poison on the cat’s claws.”
The story had been told!
Everyone was astonished.
The person who killed him was First Madam?
Third Madam, who had been keeping her head lowered, raised it after hearing Ji Yunshu’s words, pointing directly at First Madam and demanding, “You killed the master?”
Such hatred!
First Madam disdainfully ignored her, took a deep breath, and sneered coldly.
She said contemptuously, “Master Ji, you’d better produce evidence. Without evidence, who would believe you? Everything is just your one-sided story. Moreover, my husband and I lived under the same roof for decades—how could I poison him? What is your ulterior motive in slandering me like this?”
Ji Yunshu was in no hurry, only saying, “Fine, then let’s first talk about the jing jie. When I finished examining Master Zhang’s corpse and came out, two cats outside the door kept trying to rush inside, even trying to pounce on me. And later, when I saw you, First Madam, the cat in your arms also tried to pounce on me. The reason is very simple—because I had examined Master Zhang’s corpse, naturally my body also carried the scent of jing jie. Now, let’s talk about that cat.”
She paused.
“After I examined Master Zhang’s corpse, I didn’t find any wounds on his body, so at the time, I didn’t dare rush to conclusions. Therefore, before leaving the Zhang Manor, I went to the mourning hall again and examined him carefully once more. I discovered that Master Zhang actually had a scratch mark on his head. I verified that the scratch was made by a cat, and on that scratch, there was indeed tea poison. So I dare to assert that the clothes Master Zhang changed into had been fumigated with the scent of jing jie, and someone applied tea poison to a cat’s claws and threw it into Master Zhang’s room. That’s how the scene of broken porcelain in the room came to be.”
Word by word, without the slightest hesitation!
First Madam’s complexion became very dark. She raised her eyebrows, “Even if everything you just said is correct, the cat is mine, yes, but I’m not the one who applied poison to the cat’s claws. Besides, there are so many people in this world who understand cats, and I’m not the only one who knows to fumigate clothes with jing jie to excite cats. Everything you’ve said only proves how my husband died, but doesn’t prove it was me.”
“Yes, First Madam is a very clever person. This is also why I didn’t expose you directly yesterday. Fortunately, guilty people reveal their true form at night.”
“What do you mean?”
“From beginning to end, First Madam indeed never acted with her own hands, because the person who helped you fumigate Master Zhang’s clothes with jing jie was someone else.”
Just as Ji Yunshu finished this sentence, sounds came from outside the door.
Looking toward the sound!
They saw Shi Zijin holding a package wrapped in black cloth in one hand while escorting Steward Zhang inside with the other.
Steward Zhang hunched his body. As he entered, he stumbled several steps and immediately fell to his knees on the ground. He didn’t dare raise his head to look at Liu Zhiliang sitting on the high seat, but cast a pleading glance toward First Madam.
His voice trembling, he said, “Madam, you must help me! I can’t die! I have elderly parents above and young children below. If I die, my whole family will have no way to live. You must help me!”
His voice carried a trace of sobbing!
First Madam’s eyes filled with terror. Her arms loosened, and the pure white cat in her hands fell to the ground.
The cat darted around a few times, then ran outside!
Meanwhile, Shi Zijin casually tossed the package in her hands onto the ground.
Revealing a dead cat covered in dirt.
She said, “Master Ji, Steward Zhang was just about to bury this little beast when I caught him red-handed. I kept watch all night—it wasn’t for nothing.”
Ji Yunshu nodded, and Shi Zijin obediently retreated to the side.
Steward Zhang on the ground was still crying and begging First Madam, “Madam, you told me to do this! You must save me! I can’t die!”
First Madam kicked him away with one foot, saying with eyes full of panic, “What nonsense are you spouting? What did I make you do?”
Steward Zhang knelt sitting on the ground!
Ji Yunshu walked before First Madam and said, “At this moment, you still refuse to admit it?”
“You’re framing me.”
Struggling at death’s door!
“Now both witness and evidence are present—why persist in sophistry?” Ji Yunshu walked before Steward Zhang and said, “At the time, I was actually wondering who let the cat into Master Zhang’s room? And who took the cat away afterward? Moreover, after taking the cat away, they didn’t even clean up the broken porcelain in Master Zhang’s room? They even left behind some cat fur. I thought that person must have been very busy at the time, or rather, he couldn’t leave the banquet for too long. By the time Master Zhang finished changing and returned to the banquet, he also had to be present at the scene. So who was that person? Besides you, Steward Zhang, I really couldn’t think of anyone else. As soon as something happened to Master Zhang, naturally as the steward, you had no time to return to the room to clean up. Of course, you also had no time to deal with that cat whose claws had been coated with tea poison. So I had Zijin go to the manor to wait and watch, to see if anyone would come out at night to bury that cat that had also been poisoned with tea poison, or destroy the evidence. As a result, I caught you, you old wolf.”
Steward Zhang had nothing to say!
Ji Yunshu continued speaking to First Madam, “First Madam loves cats so much—there’s no reason you wouldn’t notice one of your cats going missing, or even fail to mention it. From this, one can imagine that you conspired with Steward Zhang, and also deliberately knocked over the tea, making everything follow the scheme you had laid out step by step.”