The daughter of the Marquis is too delicate, the abstinent prince pinches her waist and loves her

Chapter 137 How long must I pretend to be asleep?

The hall was filled with the sounds of weeping. When Sheng Yunqing walked up to Ye Jinfeng, he saw Bai Muling looking up at him, tears streaming down her face: "Father! Sheng Yunqing poisoned a witness, his heart is despicable!"

"Don't talk nonsense! When have I ever killed anyone?" Sheng Yunqing frowned and glared at Bai Muling.

Bai Muling gave a cold, sarcastic laugh and said, "Now that the evidence and witnesses are all there, what excuses do you have?"

Ye Jinfeng sat on the dragon throne, his hand supporting his forehead, his voice slightly tired, and said, "The coroner has just determined that Ruyu was indeed poisoned by the 'Magpie Branch' three days ago. A few days ago, Ruyu caught a cold and went to your Sanshengtang to get medicine. The records in your clinic are here."

"The 'Treading Magpie Branch' is extremely expensive and dangerous. Anyone who needs it as a medicinal ingredient must report to me and obtain my consent. In the past year, no one in my clinic has used the 'Treading Magpie Branch'."

She stepped forward, looked at the records on the table, turned to the annotations in red ink, and said, "The ink on these three days is uneven, clearly indicating that they were forged in stages!"

"Your Majesty, the 'Magpie Branch' from Sansheng Hall weighs only one pound and is stored in a wooden box. It has long been covered in ash and has not shown any signs of being opened recently. If Your Majesty does not believe me, you may send someone to investigate."

"In addition, the Crow's Cry requires three doses of red peony as a catalyst. Last month, the red peony from Sansheng Hall had already gone moldy, and I have already instructed the herbalists to destroy it. The accounts for the destruction have also been recorded."

Ye Jinfeng gave her a deep look, then waved helplessly to the people behind him.

Sheng Yunqing narrowed her eyes slightly, then suddenly walked towards Ruyu's body, which was covered with a white sheet. She reached out and lifted the sheet, revealing Ruyu's face, which was gradually turning black and gloomy. She raised her eyebrows slightly and said, "Before that, Your Majesty, may I examine it?"

Before Ye Jinfeng could even agree, she picked up a silver needle from the coroner's table beside her and plunged it into Ruyu's throat.

The needle tip emitted a cold, bluish-purple light, causing everyone to gasp in shock.

She noticed the color of the needle tip, her red lips curving slightly, before she rose and reported, "The blood on the 'Magpie Branch' turns green, but this poison is indigo blue; it's clearly a modified version of 'Crow's Cry'!"

She dipped the poisoned silver needle into a wine cup on the table beside her. The wine immediately froze into ice crystals. Her expression turned cold as she said, "This poison needs to be preserved with the Northern Desert Ice, but my clinic has no such substance!"

“Sheng Yunqing, you are clearly making excuses. The imperial physician and coroner have already diagnosed the 'Treading Magpie Branch'. Everything you said is just your side of the story. Furthermore…” Bai Muling rolled her eyes and sneered, “How do you know about the special medicinal properties of the Northern Desert? You, a person from the Zhu Luo Kingdom, know so much about the Northern Desert?”

When Sheng Yunqing glanced at her, her eyes were particularly indifferent. She snorted disdainfully and said, "Yunqing's master has superb medical skills. Yunqing has learned how to make medicine from all over the world since she was a child." She then glanced at the coroner and the imperial physician who had stepped aside and said, "If any of you are not convinced, you may as well check more medical books. What Yunqing said is absolutely true."

Before the imperial physician could retort, Sheng Yunqing had already grasped Ruyu's wrist pulse: "The poison of the 'Magpie Branch' should cause symptoms of frost forming in the seven orifices, but this corpse..." Her fingertips brushed behind Ruyu's ear and said, "still retains the fragrance of datura."

Upon hearing this, the imperial physician leaned forward, ran his hand behind her ear, and sniffed lightly. He paused, then exclaimed, "Indeed..."

He looked at Sheng Yunqing, a sudden pang of shame rising in his eyes. Despite years of medical practice, his skills were still lacking, yet he had dared to make such a judgment, almost wronging this bright young girl...

Sheng Yunqing gave him a faint smile, indicating that he was not blaming him.

At that moment, Pei Xuan, who had been sent by Ye Jinchen to investigate, returned to report and presented a medicine box.

Ye Jinchen said to Ye Jinfeng, "My subordinates found fragments of Xuanbing in Linglong Room. This item is only sold in the Northern Desert." The box was filled with cold mist, and the ice patterns matched the toxins in Ruyu's body.

A moment later, the servants sent to the Sansheng Hall brought up the dusty wooden box. The dust on it did not look like it had been touched. The quantity and time of the destruction of the red peony recorded in the accounts were also those recorded by Chen Mo last month.

Ye Jinfeng let out a soft breath, his deep voice hoarse: "So, Ruyu's death was a mistake on my part." "Your Majesty is wise." Sheng Yunqing bit her lip and glanced at Bai Muling, saying, "We should bring the murderer to justice as soon as possible."

Ye Jinfeng glanced casually at Bai Muling, who seemed a little guilty, and snorted coldly, "This matter has not been investigated thoroughly yet, so it's best not to rush into a conclusion and wrong someone."

“Brother, you…” Ye Jinchen gritted his teeth, almost unable to contain his temper and rushed in front of him.

"Enough!" came the Empress Dowager's heavy, angry voice from afar.

Upon seeing the Empress Dowager approaching quickly, everyone knelt down to pay their respects.

The Empress Dowager tossed the "Umbrella of Ten Thousand People" onto Ye Jinfeng's desk and said, "The people's will is clear. How long will the Emperor pretend to be asleep?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she waved her hand again, and the old nanny led a group of people to the palace gate, where they were stopped by the guards from entering the hall.

"Miss Sheng, you've been wronged!" The shout came like a tidal wave.

The people knelt outside the hall, and the old woman in the front row held up a medicine bag and shouted in a hoarse voice, "Half a year ago, during the plague, it was Miss Sheng who saved my whole family day and night!"

The Empress Dowager slammed her phoenix cane into the ground with a thunderous sound.

She slammed a thick book onto the desk with a bang and said, "This is the list of 7,600 people treated by Yun Qing. Does the Emperor want to interrogate them one by one?!"

Bai Muling's eyes darkened; she hadn't expected Sheng Yunqing to be so beloved by the people...

Her brows furrowed slightly. If the Empress Dowager intervened, Sheng Yunqing would likely escape by sheer luck once again.

After thinking it over, she tightened her five fingers hidden in her sleeve, her nails digging into her flesh.

Sheng Yunqing, you can't be this lucky...

Ye Jinfeng raised his hand to rub his temples, looking like he had a headache, and said, "Mother, it's late, why are you so angry..."

"Hmph." The Empress Dowager snorted coldly, sat down on the phoenix chair to the side, and said, "If this matter is not resolved as soon as possible, I will not leave."

Sheng Yunqing looked up at the Empress Dowager, her eyes revealing a warm affection. The Empress Dowager truly doted on her.

"Mother, even if Sheng Yunqing didn't kill Ruyu, she had an affair with Liu Chuan and was involved in the Huo Huan Sha matter..."

Ye Jinchen frowned and said, "Didn't my brother just find out? The matter of Huo Huansha was framed by the eldest son of the Bai family."

Sheng Yunqing smiled slightly, took out the map from her bosom, and lit the candle on the table to reveal the map of the northern desert.

She pointed to the newly added rift valley on the map and said, "This rift valley was formed by blasting the mountain a year ago, but it completely overlaps on this map in the Fire-Washed Silk. There's something strange about this."