This was a task Xiao Jin Yu had never undertaken, making it impossible for him to imagine how much effort and thought she had poured into it.
Ji Dong He remained motionless and silent.
Chu Chu lowered her head to look at the beautiful woman, still fragmented despite her meticulous repairs, and pressed her lips together. "If you don’t want to see her, then forget it…"
She carefully covered the corpse with the white cloth and spoke earnestly to Ji Dong He, "Lady Ji was killed by a sharp, long, and hard object that pierced through her throat. The wound’s imprint slants from right to left, so the person who killed her was likely right-handed."
Ji Dong He still did not move.
Chu Chu continued, "Before her death, Lady Ji was struck with a blunt object. Several bruises are visible on her body. After her death, she was dismembered, cut into pieces, and stored in the butcher’s ice cellar. Some parts were frozen there, while others were sold. Although some have been recovered, others are still missing and may have already been consumed…"
The sound of retching rose and fell again near the threshold, but Ji Dong He remained rigidly kneeling, showing no reaction. Beside him, Steward Wang trembled slightly.
"And… Lady Ji’s head, hands, feet, some bones, and all her internal organs were later excavated from the courtyards of the five butchers. They already admitted this themselves earlier."
Seeing Ji Dong He as if he had heard nothing, Chu Chu bit her lip and turned to look at Xiao Jin Yu.
Xiao Jin Yu gave her a slight nod, then turned a stern gaze to Ji Dong He. "Lord Ji, do you have any thoughts on the cause of Lady Ji’s death?"
Ji Dong He remained motionless, his voice hoarse as he spoke, "I am incompetent…"
"According to Steward Wang and the maids of the Ji residence, Lady Ji had a fierce argument with you the night before she returned to her parents’ home. What was the reason for the dispute?"
"Trivial marital matters…"
"Why did you stop arguing later?"
"We had argued enough…"
"It is said that Lady Ji wept for a long time that night and was still crying when the steward saw her onto the carriage early the next morning. Weren’t you afraid she would complain about you to her family?"
"I’m used to it…"
Xiao Jin Yu’s voice deepened. "Ji Dong He, whether you speak or not makes no difference… The mere fact that you deliberately plotted to harm me, the Prince, is enough to have your entire household executed!"
☆、40 Sweet and Sour Ribs (Twenty)
Chu Chu was startled and quickly looked at Ji Dong He.
Lord Ji… plotted to harm the Prince?!
How could she not have known?
Ji Dong He finally raised his head. His square face was covered with dark stubble, his complexion sallow and pale, his lifeless eyes filled with astonishment.
The astonishment lasted only a moment before turning into a faint, cold smile. He said softly, "Prince An, may I ask how I plotted to harm you?"
Jing Yi’s brush paused abruptly, and the two guards tightened their grips on their sword hilts, their eyes fixed intently on Ji Dong He.
If he dared to speak, they dared to kill.
Xiao Jin Yu’s expression remained unchanged, his voice steady. "When I first arrived in Shangyuan County, I fell slightly ill. Was it you who summoned Gu He Nian, the physician from the Hall of Returning Spring, to treat me?"
Ji Dong He nodded calmly. "Indeed, it was."
"Was it you who threatened Gu He Nian with the lives of his entire family, forcing him to prescribe a medicinal formula meant to kill me?"
Ji Dong He froze. Medicinal formula?That day, he had clearly followed Gu He Nian back to the medical hall to fetch medicine. While listening to Gu He Nian elaborate on the taboos of caring for patients, he heard that Xiao Jin Yu had cadaveric poison deep into his bones and would be in mortal danger if exposed to decaying objects. Seizing the moment when no one was in his room, he secretly placed a funeral garment stripped from a decaying corpse beneath his bedsheet.
What medicinal formula could there possibly be?
Ji Dong He instinctively refuted, "I didn’t..."
Xiao Jin Yu raised his voice, cutting him off, "Whether you did or not is not for you to argue... Someone, summon Gu He Nian, the physician from Hall of Returning Spring."
Jing Yi silently breathed a sigh of relief and buried his head, hurriedly catching up on the notes he had missed moments earlier.
Gu He Nian emerged from the side hall and stood in the center, bowing formally to Xiao Jin Yu. "This humble commoner, Gu He Nian, pays respects to Prince An."
"Physician Gu, please rise... I ask Physician Gu to truthfully recount the events of that day in this court."
"Yes..." Gu He Nian scrambled to his feet, turned, and pointed accusingly at Ji Dong He. "This despicable scoundrel! I had always thought he was a good official! Pah! The moment we stepped out of the Ji residence that day, he had me tied up and forced me to prescribe a medicinal formula that would kill the prince imperceptibly. If I refused, he threatened to falsely accuse me and execute my entire family... With over a dozen members in my household, I had no choice but to betray my conscience and prescribe it. But I secretly kept a copy of the formula... Fortunately, the prince was cautious and did not take the medicine, or this old man would have been killed by this scoundrel!"
Xiao Jin Yu curled a cold smile as he watched Ji Dong He, utterly bewildered by the accusations. "Fortunately, this prince still has those doses of medicine. Should we have Physician Gu produce the recorded formula and verify in court whether it matches the one prescribed that day?"
Only then did Ji Dong He realize what was happening. He stared, speechless, at Xiao Jin Yu and Gu He Nian.
Xiao Jin Yu had fabricated the charges so thoroughly, with both witnesses and evidence in place. Even if he told the truth now, no one would believe him.
"Thank you, Physician Gu."
"Thank you, Your Highness, for exonerating this old man!"
Even after Gu He Nian retreated to the side hall, Chu Chu remained standing stiffly in place, her face deathly pale.
She had almost harmed the prince...
"Ji Dong He..."
Xiao Jin Yu's cold voice snapped Chu Chu back to attention.
"Will you confess, or shall this prince confess for you?"
Before Ji Dong He could open his mouth, Chu Chu shot him a fierce glare.
"Your Highness, watch me—I’ll confess for him!"
Xiao Jin Yu assumed she was about to present some clue from the corpse examination, but before he could utter a single "good," the word stuck in his throat.
He watched as Chu Chu dashed to the side of the hall, picked up a court staff taller than herself, and charged toward Ji Dong He, ready to strike him. The two guards stared in stunned silence, momentarily frozen. Even Xiao Jin Yu was taken aback. Only Jing Yi reacted quickly, darting forward to grab Chu Chu by the back of her collar and lift her into the air.
Chu Chu’s swing went wide, the staff crashing loudly onto the ground. The sound jolted everyone awake. Steward Wang threw himself to his knees, and even the five butchers, who had been retching and disoriented, turned their heads in stunned disbelief.
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