“The news of your arrest had already spread to everyone. Haven’t you made my Ji family lose enough honor? You should know that if that girl, Luan’er, didn’t confess to her crime, you would still be rotting in that prison cell!”
‘Oh really? Then, should I give my gratitude to your whole family?! Ji Yuanzhi, ah! Ji Yuanzhi! For you to have this kind of good grandmother must have truly been the blessing you cultivated for three whole lifetimes. For you, she could invert black and white. How powerful that is! If you can keep that life of yours, you must repay her properly!’
Ji Yunshu coldly sneered. She raised the paper in her hand. “This fingerprint and the incomplete fingerprint found on Luan’er are exactly the same, even that blank mark in the middle of the finger. This mark indicated that there was a scab on the thumb which caused the fingerprint to look incomplete. Moreover, that finger was soaked in tangerine water which made the fingerprint remain on the paper up to 12 hours.” After she spoke up to this point, she took out Luan’er’s confession note, but the fingerprint can no longer be seen.
Thus, with more certainty than ever, she turned to Ji Yuanzhi who was still kneeling on the floor. “Twelve hours have already passed. Therefore, the incomplete fingerprint in question could no longer be seen, but the smell of tangerine water still lingers. According to my calculation, Luan’er’s time of death was around yesterday night at the hour of the rat1, you were at her side at that time and were washing your hands with the tangerine water in my room before giving this paper to Luan’er, so she could write down that fake confession and forced her to hang herself!”
The evidence of his crimes were revealed one by one.
“I… I didn’t…” Ji Yuanzhi’s expression was evasive and like before he continued to deny his crimes.
At this moment, Jing Rong threw Ji Yuanzhi’s hand and let it go. Ji Yuanzhi’s hand heavily hit the corner of the table.
Bam! The pain made him teary.
Ji Yunshu continued to hound him with her eyes as she interrogated him. “Why did you force Luan’er to die? Why? This is a human life! How can you be so cruel, treating her death as if it was nothing?”
“I…”
“You saw her hang herself and die in front of you. Doing such a thing, aren’t you afraid to be plagued by nightmares at night?”
Ji Yuanzhi’s pupils suddenly dilated from horror. The corner of his mouth twitched, then trembled. “I didn’t want to force her to die. I only… I was confused! I was confused at that time. I only want to maintain our family’s reputation, so I did it, but I really didn’t want her to die!”
‘He confessed! Such a good confession!’ Ji Yunshu refrained herself from crying. Her heart was wrecked with pain. It was unbearably painful!
“这不是真的。”纪老夫人扑到了纪元职的身边，哭诉起来：“元职，你怎么会做出这种事情来啊！”
“It’s not true!” Old Madame Ji threw herself next to Ji Yuanzhi and lamented, “Yuanzhi, how can you do such a thing?!”
Ji Muqing was stunned. She even forgot about the painful slap she received. She spoke in shock, “Third Brother, you…”
“I didn’t mean it! I did that because I was confused at that time. I really didn’t mean to kill her.” Ji Yuanzhi continued with his litany.
Jing Rong coldly watched everything. He couldn’t tolerate it anymore. “Come down.” At his call, suddenly six imperial bodyguards jumped down from the roof and stood outside the reception hall with their hands clasped. “Did you hear everything earlier?”
“Yes, your Highness. We have heard.”
“Good. Bring Ji Yuanzhi to the yamen. Let Lord Liu investigates the case.”
“Yes, your Highness.”
The guards came in and dragged Ji Yuanzhi outside.
“Father! Grandmother! Save me!” Ji Yuanzhi shouted. His voice was trembling from fright.
“Yuanzhi!” Old Madame Ji reached out her hand in an attempt to grab him back, but all she grabbed on was the empty air.
Finally, Ji Shuhan recovered from his shock and immediately kneeled down. He begged Jing Rong. “I beseech your Highness! Have mercy! He is still young and committed an error in a moment of confusion. Your Highness is magnanimous, spare him!”
“A moment of confusion? Spare him?” Jing Rong repeated Ji Shuhan’s words with a severe expression. “Human life is priceless. You actually sum it into ‘a moment of confusion’?”
‘Preposterous!’
1.Hour of the rat = between 11pm and 1am