Yao Changqing ordered curtains to be drawn, concealing the entire autopsy process. Li Weiyang wasn’t afraid the Jiang family would cause trouble—with Yao Changqing watching, the Jiang family wouldn’t be able to act.
Among all the professions in the Dali dynasty, coroners also belonged to the thirty-six trades, called the “coroner’s trade,” examining both corpses and injuries. Skilled coroners could apply ingenious techniques to verify even decomposed remains, and could even determine what poison was used based on the color of dried bones. Simply put, being a coroner was a technical job, a meticulous job—not something just anyone could do. Therefore, in the Dali dynasty, control over this profession was extremely strict. If a coroner was found to have falsified evidence, it was a crime warranting execution of nine generations.
The coroner’s examination process took a full shichen. Everyone waited with extremely anxious expressions. Li Changle kept her handkerchief gripped tightly the entire time, head lowered without saying a word, clearly terrified. Yet Jiang Xu and the others maintained quite composed expressions.
Finally, the coroner emerged. He reported to Yao Changqing, “My lord, this subordinate has examined carefully. The Duke’s wife died seven days ago at noon.”
This was something everyone had witnessed—nothing strange about it. At the time, the Crown Prince had presented a painting, the Duke’s wife had sprayed blood all over his face, and died on the spot.
The coroner continued, “Those who die from poison typically have open mouths and eyes, purple or bluish-black faces, purple-black lips, all fingers and toenails darkened, and blood flowing from mouth, eyes, ears and nose. After careful examination, this subordinate found the Duke’s wife was indeed poisoned to death with a potent toxin. However—”
Yao Changqing quickly asked, “However what?”
The coroner’s face showed a very puzzled expression: “However, there’s something very strange.”
The Crown Prince hastily asked, “What exactly is strange?”
“This subordinate discovered that the poison in the Duke’s wife’s body and the poison on the candied dates are not the same type at all.”
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was shocked. A trace of cold mockery appeared on Li Weiyang’s face as she said, “Oh? What’s the difference between these two poisons?”
Jiang Xu’s face filled with fury as he rebuked, “Complete nonsense! How could they be different!”
The coroner glanced at the furious Master Jiang, his face showing an uneasy expression. Yao Changqing said coldly, “Master Jiang, openly obstructing an investigation—that’s not very appropriate, is it?!”
Jiang Xu was startled, then realized that Yao Changqing, who had maintained a fair attitude all along, now held extreme disgust toward the Jiang family. Thinking of those corpses in his room, he suddenly understood. Then he closed his mouth and said with a dark expression, “Mother clearly died from the poison in the candied dates. I really don’t understand why you would say—”
The coroner looked at his stern superior Yao Changqing, gritted his teeth, and said, “Distinguished lords, please look.”
As he spoke, he used a blade to slice a thin piece from the poisoned candied date being held as evidence, spread the slice flat on paper, then took a sheep-hair brush and had a maid bring a cup of boiling water. He dipped the brush in the boiling water, then dripped water onto the slice. After soaking briefly, the coroner took out a sheet of snow-white rice paper from his chest, covered the slice, and pressed firmly with his palm. Then he had someone light a candle, took the paper thin as cicada wings and dried it over the flame, brought it to the window to examine carefully, rubbed it lightly with his index finger for a while, then turned and handed the white paper to Yao Changqing, saying, “My lord, please look.”
Yao Changqing said flatly, “Appears reddish—could it be cinnabar?”
The coroner nodded, “Indeed so. This poison detection method has been used in our medical profession for hundreds of years—there can be no mistake! The mark on this paper appears red, its exterior showing fine granular form. Only an expert’s sensitive hand can feel it through touch.”
Jiang Lan showed a puzzled expression: “Cinnabar? Is it poisonous?”
The coroner answered, “Generally speaking, cinnabar can calm the spirit and clear the heart. It’s most suitable for restlessness and insomnia caused by excessive heart fire. It’s often combined with coptis and lotus seed hearts to enhance its calming effect. Physicians frequently use it in their prescriptions. However, if taken in excess, it becomes a very severe poison that greatly harms the body, so dosage is strictly controlled during use.”
Li Weiyang smiled slightly, “So you’re saying the poisoner put cinnabar in the candied dates the old lady ate?”
The coroner said, “Reporting to the Princess, in fact, the poison in the candied dates was indeed cinnabar, but—” He paused, then said, “But the poison that killed the Duke’s wife was not cinnabar.”
A half-smiling expression appeared on Li Weiyang’s face, while Li Changle’s forehead broke out in beads of sweat. She felt that with the sweat, her whole body itched even more. She desperately wanted to reach up and tear the false skin from her face, but she couldn’t—no matter what, she had to endure!
Yao Changqing examined the faint red color on the white paper carefully and asked, “How can you tell?”
The coroner smiled, “The Duke’s wife’s bones are blackened. The poison clearly contains arsenic. This subordinate once encountered a case—my lord should remember it too. When the painter Master Zhou’s dog suddenly died, Master Zhou thought a maid had poisoned it because he was too fond of the dog and actually beat the maid to death. The maid’s family then brought the case to the magistrate.”
Yao Changqing nodded, “Yes, I do remember.”
Zhou Ke was one of the dynasty’s most famous painters, best known for painting red-crowned cranes. Even the emperor loved his work. When this incident occurred, it immediately caused a great stir. At the coroner’s mention, everyone nodded, “Yes, that happened!”
The coroner said, “At the time, this subordinate felt the dog wasn’t poisoned by the maid, so I specifically borrowed the dog’s corpse for dissection. I found some cinnabar residue in its stomach, proving it died from accidentally ingesting excessive cinnabar. But at the time, its bones hadn’t blackened at all. In some past cases where people were poisoned to death with arsenic, because no one claimed the bodies, this subordinate also dissected them one by one and discovered their bones were actually blackened.” In fact, dissection wasn’t even necessary—once a corpse decomposed, the bones inside would be exposed, making it obvious whether they were blackened.
“This subordinate has been a coroner for fifty years and found that all who died from arsenic poisoning had bones appearing black or showing signs of blackening. The Duke’s wife is the same. If my lord doesn’t believe it, you may examine her again! But the poison in the candied dates is cinnabar. Though overdosing on cinnabar can also cause death, the bones absolutely won’t blacken. On this point, this subordinate dares stake his life that the Duke’s wife absolutely was not poisoned by the candied dates, but was given arsenic or poison containing arsenic!”
“But I clearly saw grandmother eat the candied dates?!” Li Changle immediately retorted.
The coroner shook his head, “Most of those candied dates went into the rat’s belly. The Duke’s wife only touched a bit—how could she be poisoned to death by such a small amount of cinnabar?”
What was going on? The Duke’s wife wasn’t poisoned to death by the cinnabar in the candied dates at all? Then the earlier claim that Li Weiyang poisoned the old lady to death was completely fabricated?! Everyone’s expressions became quite interesting.
Li Weiyang said lightly, “From when I entered that room, I was there only a quarter-shichen, spoke four or five sentences with grandmother, and aside from touching those candied dates, I didn’t touch anything else. Now can you prove my innocence?”
Jiang Xu’s face alternated between white and green, finally settling into a strained composure: “Naturally. We won’t wrong the innocent.”
But Li Weiyang sneered and said, “Then the person who entered the room before me is most likely to have poisoned grandmother, isn’t that right?”
As soon as these words were spoken, they were earth-shattering. The mourning hall immediately erupted, and everyone’s eyes suddenly fell upon the other Jiang family members.
The Jiang family members in mourning clothes all froze, while the more emotional maids clamored, “Impossible! Are you saying one of us harmed the old lady?!” “How could that be! The old lady was always kind—we’d wish for her longevity, not enough time for that!”
Li Changle was especially vehement. She said furiously, “Third Sister, what do you mean by this? Spouting nonsense in the mourning hall! I think you have sinister intentions and want to destroy the Jiang family!”
“Silence!” Jiang Hua rebuked in a low voice, “Why are you shrieking?” Li Changle was frightened into silence. Only then did he glance at her warningly before turning to Li Weiyang: “You mean the killer is someone from my Jiang family? But as they said, grandmother was the head of the household. She was everyone’s support. How could we possibly harm her?”
Indeed, with the Duke’s wife dead, all the younger family members had to observe mourning. The Jiang family would gain no benefit whatsoever. This was completely different from ordinary families fighting over inheritance and hoping the old lady would die early. The longer the Duke’s wife lived, the more stable the Jiang family’s position.
“Third Young Master is correct.” Li Weiyang said lightly. “But there were only so many people in the room at the time. Exactly who went in and out, what they did there, how long they stayed—all this can be investigated! I remember at the time, four maids stood by the old lady, plus Elder Sister and Mother. I was the last to enter and stayed the shortest time. Aside from that plate of candied dates, I didn’t touch anything. So aside from me, everyone else is a suspect.”
Obviously, those who had entered were suspects. And since the Duke’s wife’s room wasn’t somewhere people could casually enter, everything Li Weiyang said could be verified.
Everyone’s gazes inevitably converged on Li Changle and Jiang Yuelan’s faces. Jiang Yuelan said angrily and indignantly, “Weiyang, how can you suspect your own mother!”
Li Weiyang smiled, looking at Jiang Yuelan whose facial expression had completely changed, and said lightly, “Mother, I’m not suspecting you at all.”
Jiang Yuelan was shocked, then automatically looked at Li Changle. Since Li Weiyang said she wasn’t suspecting herself, that meant the person she was accusing was—
Li Changle said resolutely, “If I harmed grandmother, let me be cut to pieces by a thousand knives, descend to the eighteenth level of hell after death, and never be reincarnated.” As she spoke, she actually wiped away tears, making people feel pity for her. Seeing her tearful appearance, the Crown Prince immediately forgot her ugly appearance with a head of pus last time and quickly said, “Miss Li is after all the Duke’s wife’s own granddaughter. How could she do such a thing? It’s clearly impossible!”
The Duke’s wife could be said to be Li Changle’s protector. How could she possibly kill her own maternal grandmother just to frame Li Weiyang?! Hearing this, everyone nodded.
Li Weiyang didn’t even look at the Crown Prince and said, “Elder Sister, it’s not me, it’s not Mother, and it’s not you—could the murderer be the Duke’s wife herself?!”
Li Changle’s body was almost trembling. She cried out loudly, “Who would harm themselves! What utter nonsense! Li Weiyang, you just want to frame me. You’re my own sister—why target me at every turn? Don’t forget who persuaded our parents to bring you back from the countryside! You’re ungrateful!”
Li Weiyang sneered, “Why is Elder Sister bringing up these old grievances now? If it’s not to divert attention, then you want to deny everything.”
“Crown Prince, this matter is suspicious. We can’t just rely on Li Weiyang’s one-sided account! Since we’re saying mother died from arsenic poisoning, we must find physical evidence!” Jiang Xu hastily said.
Li Weiyang said lightly, “Uncle, are you going to say next that seven days have passed since the incident, so much evidence is already gone, so there’s no way to find the real murderer?”
Jiang Xu exploded in fury, “Li Weiyang, do you have a way to find the murderer?!”
Li Weiyang surveyed everyone’s varied expressions and smiled, “Just as Uncle said, seven days have passed since the incident. The arsenic on the murderer has probably long been destroyed. Finding out exactly who poisoned her is truly difficult. I have no solution!” Though she said she had no solution, she looked at Yao Changqing and said, “However, I heard that Magistrate Yao has a divine dog at home that can identify the scent of poison and accurately distinguish the identity of someone who once hid poison—even if they’ve discarded the poison, changed clothes, or even bathed, they can’t completely eliminate the scent. Isn’t that right?”
Yao Changqing looked at Li Weiyang’s calm expression and confident tone, a trace of inexplicable emotion in his eyes. He did indeed have a wolfdog—the special breed resulting from a domesticated female dog accidentally getting out and mating with a male wolf. It looked different from ordinary dogs, and seeing its unusual appearance, Yao Changqing had kept it. After following him on cases for a long time, he gradually discovered this dog had extraordinary abilities, often able to track down real murderers through scent. Yao Changqing had indeed used it to find many true culprits. But once suspects changed clothes or bathed, their original scent would change—how could this dog have such divine powers to still distinguish them?! However, seeing Li Weiyang’s certainty now, he thought trying this method wouldn’t hurt and immediately said, “Fine, bring that dog!”
Li Changle’s whole body was trembling, but she still forced herself to remain calm. It’ll be fine! It’ll be fine! She had already been searched, and those people found nothing. Nothing would happen! Among the crowd, Li Changle’s personal maid Tanxiang lowered her head at this moment, as if seeing no one, but her ears were perked up high, listening to the commotion in the great hall. She was the only one who knew the truth, but she had to remain silent to protect her young mistress.
Li Weiyang watched her coldly but remained silent, lowering her eyes to hide the cold smile at her lips.
Before long, someone led in a wolfdog half the height of a person, imposing and majestic, appearing in the great hall. Everyone felt somewhat alarmed. Jiang Xu frowned, “Magistrate Yao, there are many distinguished guests here. If this dog injures someone, what will you do?”
Yao Changqing said with great confidence, “It won’t. This dog has been with me for eight years and has never harmed any innocent person!”
Seeing such confidence from Yao Changqing, Jiang Xu couldn’t speak. He turned and stared coldly at the dog.
Unfortunately, dogs couldn’t understand Master Jiang’s angry look. It only sniffed some fine blackened powder the coroner had scraped from the bones. Then suddenly it stood up with a “whoosh,” eyes gleaming fiercely, barking loudly in Li Changle’s direction. The barking grew more vicious, finally becoming almost frenzied. Everyone was stunned. Soon the person holding the leash really couldn’t control the crazily barking dog and accidentally let go. That half-person-high ferocious wolfdog suddenly opened its bloody maw and lunged at Li Changle!
Li Changle screamed, “Save me! Quickly save me!” But it happened too suddenly. People only had time to scatter—no one could save her. The wolfdog flew at her like lightning and bit off her false hairpiece in one go. Li Changle’s voice had already turned into a wail. Jiang Hai, standing closest, was the first to react and was about to help, but his wife Lady Han was so frightened by this terrifying scene that her face paled and she swayed unsteadily. He quickly supported her while shouting loudly, “Why aren’t you pulling that dog away?!”
Immediately servants approached with wooden clubs to attack the dog, but seeing the clubs, the wolfdog showed no fear—instead became even more ferocious, barking madly as it bit Li Changle’s arm. She screamed and rolled to the side. The wolfdog pounced again. In her panic, she had nowhere to escape and could only scream. The wolfdog howled “aoao,” pressed its front paws on her head, and took a bite at her forehead, tearing off a piece of her facial skin alive. Blood immediately gushed out. The dog trainer also rushed up, forcefully grabbed the leash to pull the dog back, but the wolfdog was half a person tall—how could it be easily restrained?
Li Weiyang watched from afar, her eyes showing infinite mockery.
Yao Changqing was shocked—he had never seen his dog so crazed before.
Li Changle turned sideways tightly hugging her head. The wolfdog opened its bloody mouth again and bit her shoulder, tearing viciously. She screamed unceasingly, constantly trying to grab the Crown Prince’s foot nearby. The Crown Prince was frightened enough—disregarding decorum, he kicked her away, afraid of being implicated and bitten too. Li Changle’s entire body kept rolling on the ground.
Seeing the situation was bad, Jiang Hua immediately drew his longsword to kill the dog. Yao Changqing shouted loudly, “Don’t touch my dog!” Jiang Hua ignored him and raised his sword to kill it. Yao Changqing, cherishing his dog, went up and grabbed Jiang Hua’s arm. Jiang Hua said sternly, “This vicious dog is attacking people! Let go!” But Yao Changqing simply shouted, “Who dares touch it!”
Just then, the dog trainer finally managed to restrain the wolfdog. Jiang Hai cried out, “Saved!”
Only then did everyone see the scene before them clearly, all gasping in shock!
Li Changle had become a bloody person. A palm-sized piece of skin was missing from her forehead. Her shoulder and neck were still bleeding continuously. Her arm had countless tooth marks the size of peanuts. Her whole body had multiple claw marks. But this wasn’t why everyone stared at her. The real reason was that they actually saw Li Changle’s face had somehow been torn by the dog. Rather than saying torn, cracks had appeared, and pieces of what looked like human skin were falling off. The scene was simply unbelievable—like watching a beautiful human skin gradually shatter, and her true face revealed underneath had skin completely ulcerated and purple, constantly oozing pus, looking incomparably disgusting. This was simply the most disgusting and terrifying scene in the world.
Countless ladies and misses disregarded decorum and desperately ran outside. Lady Han, who was standing not far away, screamed and fainted. Jiang Hai quickly supported her while staring dumbfounded at Li Changle himself.
The entire great hall had descended into chaos. Even the Crown Prince and the Jiang family members showed expressions of disbelief. A girl beautiful as a celestial being actually had human skin constantly falling from her face. This clearly meant she had wrapped a false face over hers, and her real face was completely ulcerated, that yellow pus making people nearly vomit.
Seeing everyone’s terrified expressions, Li Changle no longer cared about the severe pain from the dog bites. She only desperately covered her face with her sleeves, screaming, “Get out! All of you get out! Don’t look at me! All of you, don’t look at me!” For a stunning beauty, nothing was more terrifying than becoming ugly in front of everyone. And she wasn’t just ugly—in front of everyone, she had become more terrifying than the ugliest woman in the world, a hideous ghost! Becoming synonymous with the most disgusting, rotting person…
But Li Weiyang walked up to her at this moment and said coldly, “This is why that wolfdog lunged at her!”
Though everyone had been frightened by this scene, they still couldn’t control themselves from looking where she pointed. They saw that in the mass of black false hair, a phoenix hairpin had actually broken, with several streams of white liquid flowing from within. The Crown Prince said, “This… what is this?!”
The coroner quickly stepped forward, gently took a bit with a needle tip, and while suppressing his nausea to smell it, said, “It’s arsenic—”
Li Weiyang sighed and said, “As expected. No wonder we were all carefully searched yet still couldn’t find any poisoning implements. So you hid the poison in your hairpin, which everyone overlooked!”
Li Changle suddenly raised her head and said fiercely, “No! This is impossible—” She suddenly stopped. She had indeed given the old lady arsenic hidden in her phoenix hairpin. Originally when she pretended to feel dizzy and wanted to leave the great hall, it was to dispose of the hairpin. But Li Weiyang specifically wouldn’t let her leave, and later she had to accept the search. Fortunately, the hairpin crafted by the skilled artisan she’d hired at great expense was extremely ingenious—hollow inside with the arsenic hidden very cleverly, so they couldn’t detect it! Afraid of complications arising, she had always wanted to quietly dispose of it, but someone kept watching her room. Afraid that carelessly discarding the hairpin would actually cause trouble, she simply kept it in her hair. Aside from her personal maid, no one knew about this! Why?! She turned her head and said with a ferocious expression, “Tanxiang, you betrayed me! You cheap maid, you betrayed me!”
Tanxiang stood there, completely unaware of what had happened, and said miserably, “This servant… this servant didn’t do anything!” She truly didn’t know what had happened. How would she dare betray her own mistress?!
Li Changle glared at her viciously, then heard Li Weiyang say, “Will you still not confess your crime?” Li Changle immediately scrambled up from the ground, reached out to scratch Li Weiyang’s face. Zhao Yue suddenly kicked her, sending her tumbling to the ground!
Li Xiaoran said furiously, “Weiyang, how can you allow your maid to attack people!”
Li Weiyang glanced at him and smiled coldly, saying sternly, “Father, look carefully. This is not your daughter Li Changle. Could my elder sister possibly have this ghostly appearance? She’s clearly wearing Elder Sister’s face—a demon impersonating Elder Sister!”
Hearing this, everyone looked at Li Changle in terror, almost unable to speak! Even Jiang Xu’s face showed an expression of disbelief. Indeed, how could Li Changle have such an ugly appearance?! Absolutely impossible! They had no idea about Li Changle’s facial injury. The only people who knew were Lady Li, Li Xiaoran, Jiang Yuelan and just a few others. At this moment, they were all stunned by Li Weiyang’s severe words, almost believing the woman before them wasn’t Li Changle!
Jiang Yuelan couldn’t help thinking of how Li Changle’s face was ruined then strangely restored. She could almost confirm Li Changle was wearing a false mask, and the woman with a completely ruined face before them—who else could it be but Li Changle? But she didn’t dare publicly contradict Li Weiyang because she had a guilty conscience!
Li Weiyang said with conviction, “My elder sister is beautiful as a celestial being and kind-hearted. How could she murder grandmother? And she has no reason to do so! Unless the woman wearing human skin before us isn’t my elder sister at all!”
Jiang Xu exploded in fury, “If she’s not Changle, who is she?!”
Li Weiyang said expressionlessly, “Who knows! My elder sister stayed at the Jiang residence for four or five days some time ago. After returning, she became like a different person—even her usual preferences changed. I haven’t yet asked Uncle where you’ve hidden my elder sister, and who this demon is!”
Li Changle could hardly believe her ears and said loudly, “Li Weiyang, you bitch! I am Li Changle! If I’m not the Li family’s first miss, who else could I be?!”
Li Weiyang looked down at her condescendingly, a brilliant cold light flashing through her eyes: “My elder sister is devastatingly beautiful, unmatched in beauty. You claim to be her—why don’t you look in a mirror! I suspected you when your false hair fell off in front of the great hall. Now it’s proven you’re a fake!”
Li Changle was nearly mad with hatred. She lunged at Jiang Hua. Though Jiang Hua had seen countless corpses on the battlefield, even he was shocked by her appearance covered in filthy blood and stepped back half a pace, leaning against a pillar. However, Li Changle snatched the longsword from his hand and suddenly thrust it fiercely at Li Weiyang. She had completely lost her reason now, unable to care about much. Before she could get close to Li Weiyang, a mass of black something fell from above. Caught off guard, she was immediately covered. Before she could react, she felt her body tighten as she was completely bound, then fell straight to the ground.
Yao Changqing commanded sternly from behind, “Bind her!” Capital Magistrate guards removed the special net used for capturing people and mercilessly bound Li Changle with iron chains. Shackled with iron chains like a wild beast, Li Changle shouted madly, “Li Weiyang, may you die a horrible death! May you die a horrible death!”
Yao Changqing covered his mouth and nose: “This smell is truly too disgusting.”
After the false mask was torn off, the stench became even more indescribable. Originally everyone thought the Li family first miss’s perfume scent could kill people, but now they knew what disgusting really meant.
Li Weiyang reminded him coolly, “My lord, since you’ve caught the murderer, don’t let her continue biting people madly.”
Yao Changqing was staring at that hideously faced monster when he heard this and came to his senses. He hesitated: “Gag her mouth! Prevent her from speaking blasphemy again!” As soon as the guard approached Li Changle, he felt nauseous enough to vomit. He could only close his eyes and stuff the cloth strip into Li Changle’s mouth. Li Changle turned her head and bit down viciously on his hand. The guard cried out in pain and quickly retreated. Yao Changqing said angrily, “Useless thing! Quickly hold her down?!”
Jiang Xu hastily said, “Don’t be hasty! Just because arsenic was found, how can you determine she did it?!”
Li Weiyang laughed, “Besides us few people in that room, was there anyone else? If not her, did you poison grandmother yourselves? Moreover, if she were innocent, why hide arsenic in her hairpin—was she planning to mix it in tea as sugar water?! Simply the most ridiculous thing ever! She first used some method to poison grandmother, then tricked me into the room. Still using the identity of the Li family’s first miss, she placed the poisoned candied dates in my hand to deliberately frame me, then successfully escaped!”
Jiang Hua sneered, “If she did it all, why not use the same poison?!”
Li Weiyang looked at the coroner, who slowly said, “Third Young Master doesn’t understand. Arsenic on candied dates, even in liquid form, would definitely leave a layer of white frost, very easy to discover. The murderer figured no one would examine the corpse, so used different poisons to avoid people noticing anything wrong with the candied dates.”
Jiang Hua immediately pressed, “Then how did she administer the poison?!”
The coroner pondered briefly: “I found a rather large needle mark on the Duke’s wife’s left shoulder blade, faintly showing a blue-black color. If I’m not mistaken, it should be from a tubular object piercing the Duke’s wife’s body—no, more likely needle-shaped, harder to detect. And it definitely wasn’t ordinary arsenic but must have gone through many refining processes to be dissolved into poison liquid…”
The coroner’s guess was almost correct. Li Changle’s phoenix hairpin had a small mechanism—with just a slight twist, it could become a needle point. The poison liquid from inside the hollow phoenix hairpin could be injected into a person’s body. The victim would only feel a sharp pain and wouldn’t notice at all…
At this moment, a maid cried out, “Yes! When changing clothes, First Miss insisted the old lady’s shoulder was too large and absolutely had to alter the garment right there. This servant heard the old lady cry out in pain and thought she’d accidentally been pricked by a needle…”
With this statement, everyone believed the coroner’s words. Jiang Xu suddenly remembered what Jiang Hua had said in the study and immediately understood everything!
Li Changle shouted loudly, “I didn’t! I didn’t! I really didn’t! Uncle, you must believe me—I never did this!”
Jiang Hua stared at Li Weiyang: “These seven days, she had countless opportunities to destroy the evidence. Why keep it on her person?”
Li Weiyang smiled slightly, “The Jiang residence has many people with loose tongues. If she discarded or buried something, it would easily be discovered. Once word reached Magistrate Yao’s ears, he’d definitely suspect her. Since keeping it anywhere felt unsafe, naturally keeping it on herself in the least noticeable place was best. After all, she’d already been searched once—absolutely no one would suspect her again. Isn’t this very simple logic?”
Jiang Hua sneered, “Isn’t this explanation too far-fetched?”
Yao Changqing slowly said, “No, this explanation is not only not far-fetched but very reasonable. These seven days, I’ve had officers watch the several suspects daily. Their every move has been reported to me. Even the face-washing water or rouge paste discarded by their maids—I’ve had it all examined in detail, afraid the murderer would use the opportunity to destroy evidence. Now it seems she was very clever, hiding the evidence in her hairpin all along. Who could discover it?” Actually his men weren’t that good either—otherwise they wouldn’t have been completely unaware of Jiang Hua’s assassins—but he wouldn’t admit that.
Jiang Hua didn’t answer Yao Changqing. He discovered that Li Weiyang had already calculated everything, even anticipating that Yao Changqing would have people watch Li Changle. He had truly, far too much underestimated this woman! People say to walk one step and see three steps ahead, but she had already seen ten steps ahead!
“Let me go! Uncle! Father! Mother! Save me! I’m innocent!” Li Changle shouted while trying to struggle free from the iron chains, wanting to grab Jiang Xu’s leg. But seeing that terrifying face, Jiang Xu instinctively stepped back. The Jiang family members who had always stood behind Li Changle supporting her now all stared at her with fearful, terrified eyes. Li Changle couldn’t believe it—why had things turned out this way? She desperately crawled to Li Xiaoran’s feet, but Li Xiaoran wouldn’t even look at her. Officers immediately dragged her back, wrapping the iron chains tight. She wailed unceasingly, like a wild beast making painful cursing sounds.
Li Weiyang looked coolly at this beauty she had always hated, her heart feeling incomparably satisfied. Her beauty was her weapon. With just a bat of her eyes, countless men would fall at her feet. Speaking softly, others would think her gentle and kind. Conversely, no matter what she herself did, she was vicious-minded, selfish and cunning. If so, she would let everyone see what kind of heart lay beneath that beautiful skin. She looked at the assembled Jiang family members and said word by word, “Any other questions?”
Jiang Xu’s expression changed several times. He seemed about to speak when he suddenly heard Jiang Hua clench his fists with a crackling sound: “Heaven is blind! We were completely unaware, didn’t discover at all that this demon was impersonating Changle, causing grandmother to be harmed. She truly deserves ten thousand deaths!”
Li Changle had thought the Jiang family would save her. Who knew hearing this, she couldn’t help being terrified and shouted loudly, “Are you insane?! Would you actually believe what that bitch Li Weiyang says?! We grew up together! I remember every single thing about you! If I’m not Li Changle, who am I?! Father, say something! Say something! You used to love me most—how can even you refuse to speak a word for me?!”
This face was already ruined to this state. The beautiful Miss Li was a dead piece on the board. Before everyone’s eyes, Li Changle had already become everyone’s nightmare. Even proving she was Li Changle would only bring shame to the Li family. When others mentioned her, they’d only say the Li family’s first miss didn’t hesitate to poison her own maternal grandmother to frame her sister. The Li family actually raised such a vicious daughter—truly improper family traditions. He raised his head and stared at Li Weiyang, staring at her fixedly. He finally realized Li Weiyang was forcing him to abandon his daughter Li Changle. As long as he denied it, everything would be resolved—
“She’s not Changle at all!” Li Xiaoran said, “Changle has had a red mole behind her ear since childhood—”
“I have it! I have it!” Li Changle wanted to prove it, but Li Xiaoran had already coldly interrupted, “No, you don’t!”
Li Changle’s heart completely sank. She no longer tried to prove her identity and suddenly said fiercely, “Li Weiyang, this was all designed by you! What a vicious heart you have! You’ll descend to the eighteenth level of hell!”
Li Weiyang’s eyes, deep as an ancient well, flashed with a trace of indifferent emotion. The eighteenth level of hell? She had already been there. Now, it was Li Changle’s turn to descend to hell!
Li Minde, who had been silently watching this scene, gently reminded, “Magistrate Yao, His Majesty is still waiting for you to report on the case.”
“Take her away.” Yao Changqing had originally been shocked by this great drama. Only now did he understand. After quietly consulting the Crown Prince and receiving his consent, he waved his hand lightly, ordering people to drag away the still-cursing Li Changle, stopping the farce from continuing. He also said to Jiang Xu, “I’ll leave people to search her room and see if there’s any other evidence.”
After Li Changle was taken away, only then did Jiang Xu breathe a sigh of relief. No matter what, as long as the Jiang family had no problems, that was good! However, just then, he heard Li Xiaoran say ominously, “Since this demon isn’t my daughter, where is my biological daughter?!”
Jiang Xu exploded in fury, “If you want to find your daughter, go home and search! I haven’t even blamed you for harboring the murderer who killed my mother!”
Li Xiaoran sneered, “Harboring the murderer?! This fake Li Changle has been constantly running to the Jiang residence. Since she attended the banquet last time, she’s already been a fake! You helped her deceive us, saying her head just had sores and absolutely had to wear a false hairpiece. You clearly conspired with her to murder the Duke’s wife!”
“Nonsense! Why would I murder my own mother?!” The veins on Jiang Xu’s forehead bulged.
But the coroner said, “Magistrate Yao, there’s another matter that’s very strange—please pardon this subordinate’s offense first, then I dare speak.”
“Speak!” Yao Changqing frowned. Everyone else in the great hall was completely stunned. Today’s drama, one act after another, had completely exceeded their imagination. First the Li family’s first miss was publicly exposed for hiding poison, then her false face was exposed. Now there seemed to be more hidden circumstances. Even plays on stage were never this exciting!
“No, the old lady had actually long suffered from severe heart failure. Even without poisoning, she would have lived at most a few more days.” The coroner stated calmly.
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone froze, then looked at Jiang Xu in unison. What came to mind was: the old lady was about to pass away anyway, so before she died, they used her for one final purpose—using her death to eliminate the Jiang family’s mortal enemy, Princess Anping. This scheme was truly too calculating. More meddlesome people had already begun constructing the entire plot in their minds: the Jiang family first replaced the real Miss Li with a fake Li Changle, then murdered the Duke’s wife who was going to die anyway, pinning her death on Princess Anping—such scheming was truly too terrifying! No one cared now whether it was reasonable. They only felt this ethical drama would definitely become tomorrow’s sensational news throughout the entire capital!