Their sudden appearance scared Wei Yi who hid behind Jing Rong.
The people who jumped off the beam clasped their hands toward Jing Rong in greeting. “Your Highness.”
Jing Rong spoke in a grave voice. “Do your work.”
“Yes, your Highness!”
They hurriedly dashed next to the two coffins and carried away Lord Wei’s and Madame Wei’s corpses agilely.
Oh my gosh! This was body snatching!
Right in front of Wei Yi’s eyes, they jumped up to the roof while carrying away the two bodies. This was no longer considered body snatching, but brazen corpse robbery!
After he saw the bodies being carried away, Wei Yi anxiously ran up a few steps, but Jing Rong pulled him back. “Wei Yi, you have to stay here to keep guard. You must not let anyone enter. Wait here until I come back with your parents’ bodies. Do you understand?”
“Big brother, I don’t want to leave mom and dad. Can’t I go with you?” Wei Yi spoke while trying to stifle his sobs.
“Wei Yi, you have to stay here.”
Wei Yi’s eyes reddened, but he still obediently nodded.
Jing Rong signaled at Lang Po. “You stay here with him just in case something unexpected happens.”
“Yes, your Highness.”
Soon after, Jing Rong left the same way as the other men.
Following Jing Rong’s arrangements, Ji Yunshu didn’t stay in the prison cell for long. She changed into a jailer uniform, and quietly left to the memorial hall with the help of some people.
Jing Rong’s subordinates hastily rushed to the memorial hall while carrying the bodies of the Wei couple. As soon as they arrived, they put down the bodies.
Soon after, Jing Rong rushed into the room.
Ji Yunshu grabbed him. “Were you able to bring them?”
“Fortunately, your little Wei Yi helped!”
“What?”
“There’s no time. Hurry and do the autopsy.”
He took Ji Yunshu’s hand and led her into the room.
He was right. There was no time to lose. It wasn’t the time to think about trivial things. Although if she were to learn that Jing Rong stole the corpses, she would probably be torn between laughter and tears.
As soon as Ji Yunshu saw the already blackening corpses lying on the freezing plank, her heart couldn’t bear such a sight and her eyes quickly reddened. She took in a deep breath to calm her mind. She put on gloves and went in front of Madame Wei’s body. Her hands gripped her chest as spoke while trying to choke her sobs. “Aunt Wei. If your spirit is still amongst us, you must tell me in any way who killed you.”
Jing Rong, who stood by her side, kept his silence.
Ji Yunshu touched Madame Wei’s throat and pressed on it a few times. “As expected, she was poisoned!” As soon as the words were uttered, she picked up a dagger and sliced open Madame Wei’s throat.
Ji Yunshu spoke while doing the incision. “The pitohui poison is a poisonous substance found on the pitohui’s feathers. The feathers are coated with a substance that would not claim anyone’s life when in a dry state. However, when it comes in contact with water, and someone ingests the contaminated water, the potency of the poison is enough to kill a human!”
Jing Rong’s subordinates stood at the entrance motionlessly and unperturbed. Only their ears were listening with attention.
Jing Rong asked her, “Then, what do you want to verify by cutting an opening in her throat?”
Ji Yunshu increased the strength in her hand. She frowned and replied, “I just want to validate if they were poisoned after drinking the tea or before drinking it.”
“This can be verified?”
“By examining their throats… I’ll see who the murderer is.” Her words sounded rather strange.
The dagger gradually penetrated the throat, freeing a dark coagulated blood that had a texture similar to slime and was extremely sticky.
Finally, it cut through, penetrating into the throat inch by inch until the incision was wide enough to reveal to the light the blackened throat.
Fu Bo timely entered the room with a pot of heated vinegar. “Yunshu, do you want to use this tonight?”
Ji Yunshu pulled out the dagger and put it next to her before nodding at Fu Bo. “Of course.”
As soon as she spoke, she took a piece of cloth and imbibed it with the heated vinegar mixture before wiping of the skin around the incision on Madame Wei’s throat.
Then, she wiped off the inside from the old blood, and gradually, the hyoid bone became increasingly visible. Moreover, the bone revealed itself to be white in color.
Jing Rong moved closer for a better look. His brows creased at the sight. “How come it’s like that?” Asking the question like a student in the learning process.
As for Ji Yunshu, her expression became solemn. She slowly spat out two words. “As expected!”
‘What do you mean by as expected?’
“Usually, when pitohui poison is mixed with tea or water and ingested, the hyoid bone would remain black even after being wiped by vinegar. In the case the hyoid bone turns white, there’s only one possibility: the pitohui poison was drunk with alcohol. It’s only in such case that the black hyoid bone would return to white after being wiped with vinegar.”
Jing Rong appeared to understand. He softly spoke, “That means that they were already poisoned before drinking that cup of tea.”
“Yes.” Ji Yunshu nodded in affirmation.
“Then why was there poison in the tea?”
“The poison itself is very potent. If it entered the mouth, there would be some of it on the lips which explained why some of it could be found in the tea Uncle Wei and Aunt Wei drank.” She pondered for a moment. “Yesterday night, there was a banquet at the Wei Mansion. Uncle Wei and Aunt Wei both drank wine. So, they should have been poisoned at that time.”
Jing Rong’s brows loosened. “Then, this case has nothing to do with you.”
‘Nothing to do?’ She shook her head with a wry smile. “Could it be that your Highness forgot that people at the mansion found the incriminating pitohui’s feathers in my courtyard? They have already considered me the murderer, so they don’t care at what time Uncle Wei and Aunt Wei got poisoned.” As she pointed out the problem, she picked up a needle near her and started to sew back Madame Wei’s throat.
Jing Rong lowered his eyes and looked at her. “Regardless, I absolutely will not let anything happen to you.”
Hearing his words, her hands slightly stopped while her expression faltered a bit. “Many thanks, your Highness.”
“I don’t need your thanks.” He closed the distance between them and continued. “I’ll do it because I believe in you.”
His words wrecked havoc in Ji Yunshu’s heart, but on the surface, only her sewing accelerated and in an instant, Madame Wei’s throat was completely closed. After that, she took the cloth that was stained with blood and threw it away before diverting the subject. “I’ll trouble your Highness again. Please return the bodies to the Wei mansion.”
The truth was Ji Yunshu didn’t want to reply to his confession.
Jing Rong nodded. He knew that the time wasn’t right to speak of love. However, sometimes, he could not stop himself from acting in such a way. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. Right away, the men waiting outside came in.
“You can return the corpses.”
“Yes, your Highness.”
Once again, they carried the bodies and speedily left the memorial hall.
Ji Yunshu didn’t forget to add. “In fact, your Highness only needed to bring one of the corpses.”
‘I didn’t bring it. I stole it.’ How would he know she only needed one corpse? In short, as long as he could snatch it, he didn’t want to waste time. Jing Rong laughed, “Alright, next time, I’ll just bring one.”
‘Would there be a next time?’
“I need to go back to the Wei mansion. Wei Yi is still waiting for me.”
“Your Highness.” Worry could be seen on her face as she looked at Jing Rong. “Wei Yi is a victim. He already lost his parents. I don’t wish for this case to hurt him further.”
Jing Rong showed that he understood her meaning. “Rest assured. I give you my words that he won’t be involved in all of this. I’ll make sure he will properly complete his parents funeral properly.” Jing Rong had no other choice but to ensure her as he clearly understood her mind as if her heart was completely laid out for him to see.