“Good!” Du Ruhui walked to his side and said slowly: “I ask you, does Brother Zheng’s death have anything to do with you?!”

Cui Ji’s pupils contracted slightly. Before he could speak, Cui Yongzhong’s voice was already cold and stern: “Please watch your words, Young Master Du!”

Du Ruhui ignored him and only stared at Cui Ji: “Answer me!”

Meeting his gaze, Cui Ji shook his head: “Brother Zheng and I were like brothers. How could I harm him? I don’t understand why Brother Du would have such thoughts, merely because of a petty thief’s words?”

“Wu A’Li and Zhao Laojiu were the two ruffians we encountered at Qingxu Wine House after Brother Zheng passed away. You taught them a lesson at the time, then told us that you wanted to marry the princess to prove she didn’t have the jinxed fate of bringing death to her husband as rumored. We all thought you were deeply in love with the princess then, but now thinking back, I’m afraid all of this was deliberately arranged by you.”

Cui Yongzhong stepped forward: “If Young Master Du continues to speak such nonsense to slander my young master, please leave immediately.”

Cui Ji said: “It’s fine, let him continue.”

“You bribed Wu and Zhao to deliberately say those words at the wine house, so you could naturally propose to marry the princess and make me voluntarily become your advocate. Afterwards, you gave them both a sum of money, but I suspect they weren’t satisfied with just that. After knowing you were a young master of the Cui family, they became greedy and treated you as a money tree, extorting you time and again. Their insatiable greed made you murderous, but you were also afraid that if these two died suddenly, it would arouse suspicion, so you came up with a plan to kill with a borrowed knife.”

“First, you had Cui Yongzhong bribe Bai San to steal Wu and Zhao’s money pouches at the gambling house, while simultaneously arranging a scene where the house cheated. Under these circumstances, both sides would inevitably clash, and your planted people quietly killed those two during this conflict, framing the gambling house.”

After a moment of silence, Cui Ji clapped and laughed: “That’s a wonderful story, but it’s just a story. I never had anyone do these things.”

“Since I came here, I couldn’t be speaking without evidence. Besides Bai San, there’s another piece of evidence you don’t know about.” Amid Cui Ji’s slightly changed expression, he said: “Having finished with Wu A’Li and the others, let’s talk about Brother Zheng. Since Brother Zheng’s incident, I’ve been unable to understand why, out of all the paths he could have taken, he specifically went to Jinshui River.”

Cui Ji said dismissively: “What’s strange about a drunk person wandering randomly?”

“But the wine house owner said that when Brother Zheng left, his consciousness was still very clear. Although Langjun wine has a delayed effect, it shouldn’t have made him so severely drunk. So these past days, I’ve been searching around Jinshui River and finally found someone who saw Brother Zheng that night. He said he saw Brother Zheng carrying a large bundle walking by the river, so I inquired everywhere about that bundle but never got any news. Only today did I realize that what he saw wasn’t a bundle at all, but someone supporting Brother Zheng as he walked. Because it was very dark, he always thought it was a bundle.” Du Ruhui’s eye twitched as he said: “The person who was with Brother Zheng and ultimately pushed him into Jinshui River, causing him to drown, was you, Cui Ji. The purpose, naturally, was to replace Brother Zheng and become the current dynasty’s prince consort.”

Cui Ji stared at him for a moment, then suddenly smiled: “Enough, Brother Du, stop joking. It’s not funny at all.”

“I’m not joking with you. Do you remember the day His Majesty issued the decree, when Brother Pei and I came to congratulate you? That day, I saw moss on the sole of your shoe that was identical to the moss on the pebbles where Brother Du fell into the water.”

Cui Ji said dismissively: “I had been to that place, so having some moss on my shoes is nothing strange.”

“It’s not strange, but the problem is that what you wore that day wasn’t the pair you wore to Jinshui River.” Hearing this, Cui Ji’s consistently calm expression finally changed. “So that day you asked me if I had ever gone to pay respects to Brother Zheng?”

“Correct. If you had gone, getting moss on your shoes wouldn’t be surprising, but you specifically hadn’t.” After a pause, he said coldly: “Your thoughts run so deep, you played us all for fools!”

Cui Ji brushed off his sea-blue brocade robe and said indifferently: “It’s just some moss. You can step on it anywhere. It doesn’t prove I went to Jinshui River. Rather, Brother Du, I opened my heart to you completely, yet received your heavy suspicions in return. It truly makes me sad.”

Du Ruhui said disappointedly: “Even now, you still won’t admit it?”

Cui Ji shook his head: “How can Brother Du ask me to admit to things I never did?” After a pause, he said: “Since Brother Du has such great suspicions about me, tomorrow I won’t trouble Brother Du. I’ll find someone else. I still have matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave first.”

Watching Cui Ji’s departing figure, Du Ruhui said in a deep voice: “Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell His Majesty and Her Majesty the Empress about these things?”

Cui Ji stopped and turned around, that face still wearing the same gentle smile as always. “Brother Du, do you think His Majesty and Her Majesty the Empress would believe the words of a petty thief, or believe the words of me, the heir of the Cui family?”

Du Ruhui said coldly: “What about the Zheng family and the princess? Won’t they believe it either?”

Cui Ji’s smile faltered, then he smiled even more brilliantly. “Even if they believe your absurd lies, it would be useless. The news that the princess is about to marry me, Cui Ji, is already known throughout Luoyang and even the entire Great Sui Dynasty. Do you think His Majesty would cancel this marriage because of them? He won’t. Moreover, once cancelled, the princess’s reputation as a husband-killer would be completely confirmed. By then, even though she’s the emperor’s daughter, she’d probably have difficulty marrying. Since Brother Du is the princess’s good friend, you should consider the princess’s wellbeing and not ruin her happiness.”

Du Ruhui said hatefully: “The princess marrying you would truly ruin her happiness!”

Cui Ji smiled: “How could that be? I’ll treat the princess as well as I treat myself, as long as she is… the princess!”

Du Ruhui gritted his teeth: “Cui Ji, as long as I’m here, don’t think you can have your way!” With that, he strode away. After he had gone far, Cui Yongzhong said softly: “Young Master, should this subordinate…”

Cui Ji raised his hand: “He has no evidence. He can’t cause any real trouble.”

Cui Yongzhong said worriedly: “But he just said that besides Bai Laosan, he has other evidence in hand. This subordinate is worried it might be disadvantageous to Young Master.”

Cui Ji smiled ambiguously: “Do you really believe his words?”

Cui Yongzhong was startled, then said: “You mean he has no evidence in hand?”

“From the beginning, he was just bluffing. If he really had evidence, he wouldn’t have said so much to me. However…” Cui Ji’s eyes turned cold as he said icily: “I truly didn’t expect he would investigate to this extent. This Du Ruhui is really not simple.”

Cui Yongzhong said coldly: “Keeping this person alive is probably a disaster.”

“I know, but now is not the time to move against him. Everything can wait until after I marry the princess tomorrow. Before then, don’t do anything, lest we be too clever for our own good.”