Qin Yuanshan said that the reason he had arranged all this was that he had learned that a special imperial examination was about to be held. He planned to take this opportunity to save the sisters of the Qin family, and then make Qin Hao owe him a favor. In this way, Qin Hao would run errands for him, allowing him to pass this imperial examination and smoothly enter the court as an official to bring glory to his family.
Cang Xuan gently tapped his black jade fan on the armrest and said, "Oh, I see."
Then he added, "But since it was to make Lord Qin owe you a favor, why didn't you show up earlier to save Miss Qin in time? Instead, you only showed up after she had an accident. This reason doesn't hold water."
Hearing this, Qin Hao suddenly looked up at Qin Yuanshan, his eyes blazing with intimidating anger. Before anyone could react, Qin Hao had stepped forward and kicked Qin Yuanshan, shouting angrily:
"Tell me! What on earth was your purpose in designing all this?!"
No one had expected Qin Hao to take action. Seeing this, Lady Qin's face instantly turned ugly. And Qin Wanshan let out a startled cry: "Father!"
Qin Hao grabbed Qin Yuanshan by the collar and demanded, "Since you designed all this, why did you only show up after Rong'er had an accident? Speak up!"
Qin Yuanshan was choking under his grip and gasped intermittently, "I... didn't... expect... her to have an accident."
Seeing that Qin Yuanshan was about to pass out from being choked by Qin Hao, the yamen runners quickly stepped forward to separate them. Lord Yuan tried to calm Qin Hao down, saying, "Lord Qin, calm down. The case is still under trial. If you kill the suspect, we won't be able to find out the truth."
When Qin Hao was separated by the yamen runners, his eyes were bloodshot. He was like an enraged wild beast and had long since lost his initial calm.
"If you hadn't designed all this, Wanyong wouldn't have had an accident and fallen down the hillside while trying to escape. I'm going to kill you to avenge her!"
At this time, Su Yuanyuan spoke up. "Uncle Qin, I don't think Sister Wanyong died from rolling down the hillside."
Hearing this, Qin Hao immediately looked at her and subconsciously took a step forward. "What did you say?"
Noticing that both Su Qing and Cang Xuan were looking at him, Qin Hao calmed down a bit. He took a deep breath and said respectfully, "Your Highness, why do you say so?"
Su Yuanyuan said, "Sister Wanyong had been staying at Prince Qing's Mansion for some time. She had been taking the medicine sent by Lady Qin every day. With good food, good sleep, her health had almost recovered. She was even able to go up the mountain with us to pay respects to the Buddha today. How could she have died just from a fall?"
Qin Wanshan instinctively retorted, "That's impossible. Since she took the medicine, she could never get better. And when I saw her today, she could hardly walk and needed someone to support her. She was coughing all the time! She must have died from the fall!"
Su Yuanyuan looked surprised and asked, "What did you just say? Why are you so sure that she couldn't get better after taking the medicine?"
Both Qin Wanshan and Lady Qin were startled. Qin Wanshan reacted quickly and quickly added, "Sister has been taking that prescription for several years. She also had good food and sleep in the Qin Mansion, but there was still no improvement. How could she have recovered after just a dozen days in Prince Qing's Mansion?"
The on - looking commoners outside began to whisper to each other.
"Yes, what Miss Qin said makes sense. Everyone in the city knows that the eldest daughter of the Qin family is in poor health. She has to stop and catch her breath after walking a few steps. Even after seeing all the doctors in the city, there has been no improvement. How could she have recovered in just a few days?"
"Maybe this Princess didn't take good care of her and is just shifting the blame."
"The eldest daughter of the Qin family is so weak, yet the Princess still took her up the mountain to pray. I think this Princess Fubao has ulterior motives."
Hearing the discussions of the commoners, Lady Qin let out a sob and cried, "It's not the Princess's fault. Wanyong's illness was congenital. Over the years, we've seen all the doctors and tried all the medicines, but we couldn't cure her. Maybe this was just her fate."
"As long as she was happy for a moment during her stay in Prince Qing's Mansion, I, as her mother, am satisfied."
After Lady Qin said this, the looks of the people towards Su Yuanyuan became more condemning. It was because she had insisted on keeping Qin Wanyong that this accident had happened.
At this time, Cang Xuan spoke up. "Since both sides have their own opinions, how about we conduct an autopsy?"
Then he looked at Qin Hao. "Lord Qin, what do you think?"
Qin Hao clenched his fists. His gaze fell on the body covered with a white cloth again, and then he said, "Autopsy."
His agreement to the autopsy showed that he didn't believe the cause of Qin Wanyong's death. For some reason, Lady Qin felt a sense of unease. She blurted out, "My lord, Rong'er is already dead. Let her die with dignity and be buried properly."
Qin Hao remained silent, but his cold and solemn face had already shown his attitude.
Qin Wanshan tightly held Lady Qin's hand and gave her a worried look. Lady Qin glared at her. She couldn't help but feel annoyed. This girl was really impatient. She had almost said the wrong thing and been caught by them. Otherwise, how could they be led around by the nose now?
Since Qin Hao agreed to the autopsy, the prefect beckoned the yamen runners to come forward. They carried the body covered with a white cloth into the inner hall.
During the time waiting for the coroner's examination, the courtroom was extremely quiet. Even Lady Qin and Qin Wanshan didn't dare to breathe loudly. Qin Yuanshan was also so nervous that his forehead was covered with sweat. As for those bandits, they felt that the matter had nothing to do with them. They huddled together, closed their eyes and dozed off. Some even snored on the spot.
Seeing this, the prefect frowned and coughed twice. The yamen runners stepped forward and kicked the snoring bandit awake.
The next moment, the yamen runners carried the body and reappeared in the courtroom. A middle - aged man in a gray cloth robe followed behind. He was the coroner from the prefectural yamen who had conducted the autopsy on Qin Wanyong.
Qin Hao stepped forward and urgently asked, "How is it?"
The coroner bowed to Qin Hao and then turned to the prefect. "My lord, the examination is clear. The cause of the deceased's death was not a fall, but poisoning."
The coroner's words were like a thunderbolt striking Qin Hao's heart.
Poisoning?
How could this be possible?!
Before Lady Qin and Qin Wanshan could react, Su Yuanyuan jumped up like an angry cat and clarified:
"I'd like to make it clear in advance that during Sister Wanyong's stay in Prince Qing's Mansion, all the medicine she took was sent by Lady Qin. It was even handed to her personally by the maid beside Sister Wanyong. No one in my mansion has ever touched a bit of it! Her poisoning has nothing to do with me!"
Zhang Yingxue also said, "I can also testify that we ate and slept together in Prince Qing's Mansion. Yuanbao, I, and Zhuo Shu, none of us showed any signs of poisoning."
Zhuo Shu said, "We left the Prince's Mansion today. Until we finished burning incense and praying in Fuxing Temple, Wanyong was still alive and well. The commoners passing by outside Prince Qing's Mansion and the monks in Fuxing Temple can all testify for us."
Zhang Yingxue then continued, "When we were being chased by the bandits and running for our lives, the person closest to Wanyong was Qin Wanshan. Only she had the opportunity to poison her."
Hearing that the finger was pointed at her, Qin Wanshan quickly shook off Lady Qin's hand and defended herself. "I didn't poison her. You're slandering me! She died because her illness was beyond cure and she fell to her death!"
"But the coroner said that Wanyong died of poisoning."
Su Yuanyuan spoke very quickly and reacted very quickly. "Moreover, you were so certain just now that Sister Wanyong wouldn't get better after taking the medicine. Doesn't this mean that you knew there was poison in the medicine?"
"I—" Qin Wanshan tried to defend herself, but suddenly realized that somehow she had been trapped by Su Yuanyuan.
If she denied that the medicine Qin Wanyong took was poisoned, it would mean that she was suspected of poisoning Qin Wanyong; if she denied that she had poisoned Qin Wanyong, then her words just now, being so certain that Qin Wanyong wouldn't get better after taking the medicine, would be the biggest flaw—she knew there was something wrong with the medicine Qin Wanyong took!