No one spoke to him. Some of them restrained him, pressed him to kiss the cold floor, and pried his palm open.
“What are you doing? What do you want to do? Release me!”
“GYAAAAH!” A blood-curdling scream resounded as his palm was cut open by the knife. His blood poured into the bowl. The pain he felt caused him to continue shouting as his complexion became ashen. It was only until the bowl was half-full did the men release him. They threw a small pot of ointment and bandages to him before leaving. The men didn’t speak from start to finish and did everything with extreme efficiency.
Ji Yuanzhi crawled to a sitting position and looked at his palm that was slashed for no reason at all. He simply felt helpless and powerless. He had no other choice but to smear the ointment on his wound while gritting his teeth.
That half bowl of blood only took less than half the time to burn a joss stick before being delivered to Jing Rong. Once he received it, he sent it to Ji Yunshu which made her get caught in between laughter and tears.
“I didn’t tell you to take that much blood.”
“The more, the better!” Jing Rong replied in a frivolous tone.
‘The more, the better? Oi, oi, oi! This is blood, not water!’ Ji Yunshu rolled her eyes at him then no longer pay attention to him.
She poured a bit of camphor juice and vinegar in the bowl of blood and then dropped the little pieces of dark red chopstick into it. After a short time, she fished out that chopstick piece. The dark red color on it had faded into a brighter red, completely blending with the color of the blood within the bowl.
‘Hmm… The truth is quite self-evident now.’
“Ji Yuanzhi is the owner of those poisonous chopsticks. The blood on it belongs to him. Do you remember about the scab on his thumb? It must have been caused by him scraping his thumb on it.” When she came to that conclusion, the truth scared her even more.
As curious as ever, Jing Rong threw a question at her, “Why would he want to kill the Wei couple? But he didn’t even come near their tablewares. How did the chopsticks end up getting switched?”
“Ah right! How did he replace the chopsticks? And what was his motive for murder?”
The truth was quite dubious and also very shocking.
………………………
Ji Yunshu returned to the mourning hall.
By the time she returned, Wei Yi had finished his meal and put down his chopsticks. He was sitting with a straight posture while waiting for her.
She walked up to him and sat next to him.
“Shu’er, why did you leave for so long?”
“Didn’t I come back?”
He repeatedly nodded, then crooked his head as if he was thinking about something. Then, he took out from his pocket a tassel and handed it to Ji Yunshu. “Shu’er, this is big brother Yuanzhi’s tassel. Can you help me give it back to him?”
She glanced at it. It was indeed something Ji Yuanzhi would own. “Why do you have this with you?”
“The other night, I wasn’t careful and bumped into him, which caused him to bump into the two sisters who were holding a tray. After that, he scolded me before leaving, but that thing fell on the ground.” He spoke earnestly, yet he didn’t notice why he was justifying himself.
When Ji Yunshu heard his words, her expression completely turned dark. She felt as if inside of her a machine was pounding and crushing all of her organs! She avoided looking at Wei Yi as tears threatened to spill out, and her throat felt like it was caught in a vise. She forced a smile. “Sure, I’ll help you give it back to him.”
“Thank you Shu’er!” Wei Yi got up and lifted the hem of his mourning clothes as he kneeled in front of the coffins once again. He bowed and knocked his head several times on the floor. His mouth only uttered words reminiscing his parents.
Ji Yunshu wasn’t in the mood for listening. She stood up and stayed behind him with her head lowered. All her attention was focused on her hands. She tightly clenched the tassel as if she was strangling someone’s neck. In the end, she couldn’t hold back her tears. ‘Wei Yi, I’m sorry! I’m really, really sorry! Damn it! It should have been me!’