A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 184 The Truth Revealed to the World (62)

"Sister-in-law?"

Upon hearing this address, Xia Yu suddenly laughed again, but with a hint of pity in her eyes. "Young Master Liu, speaking of which, you are also a pitiful wretch who has been schemed against. Even the love you are so proud of is a play tailor-made for you by your father and brothers. But you are also a selfish person, only caring about indulging in your own desires and mutual affection, but never considering the feelings of my young lady!"

“I… it was indeed wrong of me to run away from the marriage, but that marriage was arranged by my father, not of my own volition. I can’t force myself to stay together, can I?” Liu Xiao argued.

Xia Yu suddenly raised her voice, her anger reaching its peak, "You ruined my young lady's entire life, and you think a simple 'I'm sorry' will make it all right? Liu Xiao, if you had apologized to her while she was still alive, she wouldn't have retaliated against you!"

Liu Xiao was utterly astonished. "Revenge? My sister-in-law, uh, no, Li Yunyao is taking revenge on me?"

Looking at Liu Pei, who was still holding her and waiting for an answer, Xia Yu took a deep breath and said, "Miss and I depended on each other in the Liu family, and were as close as sisters. Miss would share anything good she got with me, and food was no exception. So that night, it wasn't just Miss who drank the aphrodisiac tea, but me too. Knowing that we couldn't escape our fate, we decided to go all out and trick the Liu family, so as to fulfill Miss's revenge for her unrequited love for Liu Xiao!"

"So, the young lady and I exchanged clothes. I pretended to be the young lady to deal with Liu Pei, while the young lady sneaked into Liu Xiao's room. Coincidentally, Liu Xiao was drunk, and the second madam, Huang Yiyi, was copying scriptures in the Buddhist hall, which gave the young lady the opportunity to succeed. Afterwards, the young lady took advantage of Liu Xiao's deep sleep to secretly leave, and then switched identities with me and lay down next to Liu Pei."

Liu Pei and Liu Xiao were struck dumb!
The two of them were stiff with fear, feeling as if life were a play, and that the one playing the game was also a pawn on someone else's chessboard!
Mu Qingcheng felt a chill run down her spine. No wonder Xia Yu's eyes held such a complex and unfathomable expression when she first met Liu Pei. It turned out that the person who had shared a night with Liu Pei was Xia Yu!
She slowly shifted her gaze to the stillborn fetus and murmured, "So, Li Yunyao's revenge on Liu Xiao was to get pregnant with Liu Xiao's child, then trick Liu Xiao into participating in her plan, and finally kill Liu Xiao's child in front of him?"

Xia Yu nodded, a smug look appearing in her eyes. "Yes! But not all. How can the harm he caused Miss be easily erased?"

Everyone gasped!
Liu Xiao's face was as pale as paper. Overwhelmed with grief and regret, a metallic taste rose in his throat. He desperately tried to hold it in, refusing to open his mouth and spit it out, until his eyes were brimming with tears.

"What else did Li Yunyao do?" Mu Qingcheng immediately pressed, warning her, "Xia Yu, tell the truth, don't hide anything or lie!"

Xia Yu said, "Every word I said in court today is true, and I dare not lie about a single word!"

"Okay, go on!"

"Liu Xiao, haven't you always been puzzled as to why your wife, Huang Yiyi, always disappears in the middle of the night and is found lying unconscious outside the gate at dawn? She wasn't possessed by an evil spirit; she was thrown out by me and Miss! Originally, Miss didn't want to deal with her, but she insisted on coming up to Miss and showing off her affection in front of her, as if she was afraid Miss would steal you away. Whenever you spoke a few words to Miss, she would become jealous and bring out the tricks of fighting for men in brothels to disgust our Miss! So, Miss taught her a lesson a few times."

"What methods did Li Yunyao use? How were you two able to sneak into Liu Xiao's room in the middle of the night and steal Huang Yiyi without being discovered by Liu Xiao?"

Liu Xiao couldn't figure it out either. With his martial arts skills and reaction speed, it was impossible for him not to have noticed it at all! Xia Yu's tone became more relaxed, "Influenced by my master, Miss has also studied medical books and knows which flowers and herbs can be combined to have a hallucinogenic effect. So, as long as the plan is proper, it won't be difficult to succeed."

“I see.” Liu Xiao forced a stiff smile, neither crying nor laughing. “So the origin of all this tragedy is not only my father, but I am also involved.”

Xia Yu shook her head. "There is a difference. Liu Changqing committed murder, but my young lady's revenge does not include killing. She just wanted to vent her anger; she did not want anyone's life."

At this moment, Song Shuyu, who had been observing for a long time, slowly spoke up: "Li Yunyao still has revenge against Liu Xiao, right?"

"Your Excellency is wise and discerning. Miss's revenge is indeed more than this." Xia Yu kowtowed and then confessed, "After Miss became pregnant, Madam Liu knew that the child was Liu Xiao's, but she remained silent when Liu Changqing accused Miss of having a wicked child. At that time, Miss did not want to kill the child. She even considered giving birth to the child. However, Madam Liu refused to help and said that Liu Pei, being a bastard, was not worthy of having offspring, and the child could not be registered under Liu Xiao's name. Therefore, she had to either have an abortion or obey Liu Changqing and be buried alive with Liu Pei with the child."

"Unexpectedly, Huang Yiyi overheard Miss's conversation with Madam Liu. She insulted Miss, saying that Liu Xiao's child could only be born to her! Miss was so provoked that she had to retaliate. So, Miss added Paris polyphylla and Tripterygium wilfordii to Liu Xiao's tonic. He drank it every day, and over time, his fertility was damaged. Not to mention Huang Yiyi couldn't get pregnant, no woman could bear children for Liu Xiao!"

Madam Liu, who had remained silent until now, finally broke down and screamed, "How dare you harm my son, you vile woman!"

Song Shuyu sighed inwardly. The mystery that the court physician had solved when he examined Liu Xiao's pulse at the Mu residence that day had finally been solved.

"Hahaha..." Xia Yu laughed heartily, her tone full of mockery, "Madam Liu, are you no longer mute? If you had shown even a little bit of kindness to Miss back then, she would have shown mercy! Unfortunately, you didn't. From beginning to end, you were like a bystander, coldly watching your husband, son, and daughter-in-law fight amongst themselves. You even hid behind the scenes and fueled the flames!"

Madam Liu, with a repulsive face and resembling a madwoman, said, "I truly underestimated Li Yunyao. If I had known she would harm Xiao'er, I shouldn't have kept her alive!"

Xia Yu said, "Madam Liu, instead of worrying about Liu Xiao having no descendants, you should worry more about yourself! Do you think that my young lady will let you off the hook after taking revenge on Liu Xiao and Huang Yiyi? She said that since you like to be mute, you might as well shut up completely and never speak again!"

"What does this mean?" Upon hearing this, a thought flashed through Mu Qingcheng's mind. "Did Li Yunyao bribe the royal physician to secretly poison Madam Liu?"

Xia Yu was taken aback. "The royal physician? No, Miss has never had any contact with the royal physician."

(End of this chapter)