Chapter 657: Who stole her things? (2/2)

Here was both physical and eyewitness evidence. If the proof had been provided from a neutral third party, then according to Cloud Realm’s laws, Han Yunxi was guilty. But unfortunately, all of the evidence came from Duanmu Yao’s side and thus remained highly suspect. Han Yunxi was too lazy to debate with them on the plausibility of submitted evidence. With Duanmu Yaos’ unreasonable, tediously, piss-poor personality, they’re never hear the end of it. She and Long Feiye had long discussed a way to kill two stratagems with one shot.

As long as they could prove the evidence–her acupuncture needle–was only there to frame her, then there was no need to prod at the true cause of Empress Xue’s death. In that case, Duanmu Yao would naturally move to suspect whoever gave her the needle to form her case instead. Once she was distracted by the new developments, this matter would have nothing more to do with them at all.

“Which coroner did you find to inspect the body?” Han Yunxi asked next.

“The Peaceful Pavilion’s Lin Xu!”1 Duanmu Yao declared loudly.

The Peaceful Pavilion was a for-profit institution that inspected corpses for both the royal court and the common people in Tianning. Lin Xin was its star coroner with a well-known reputation!

“I don’t believe him!” Han Yunxi said coldly. “Unless you find someone to inspect the corpse again and prove that Empress Xue really did die from poison–from that needle, no less–this wangfei won’t accept the accusation!”

Chu Qingge had done her work for Duanmu Yao’s sake and purposely bribed Lin Xu to tell Duanmu Yao the results of his autopsy. Duanmu Yao had no reason to mistrust Chu Qingge.

“Might as well! This princess wants to you admit it utterly!” Duanmu Yao was full of confidence.

“Then find the foremost coroner in Western Zhou’s imperial court of justice, Cao Tong2–Great Coroner Cao!” Han Yunxi said slowly word by word so everyone in the crowd could hear her clearly.

Everyone was scared to death by her declaration. They began to wonder if Duanmu Yao really was here to smear Han Yunxi after all. There was no way the very justice courts of Western Zhou would stand on Han Yunxi’s side. They would only seek the truth. Moreover, Great Coroner Cao was Cloud Realm Continent’s foremost coroner with first-rate autopsy skills. His words would be irrefutable! The fact that Han Yunxi dared to invite him at all meant that she had no guilty conscience.

Duanmu Yao laughed out loud. “Han Yunxi, don’t play pretend! You know that Cao Tong’s been retired for years! It’ll be impossible to invite him here!”

“And if I can?” Han Yunxi challenged.

“What a joke!” Duanmu Yao still refused to believe it. Cao Tong had broken many cases for the Western Zhou imperial court, but he’d been in private retirement for many years. Her imperial father had once sent the crown prince to invite him over but still failed to call him from the mountains. What powers did Han Yunxi have to invite him?

“Great Coroner Cao’s already on his way here. He’ll arrive within two days. Duanmu Yao, if you’re still a filial daughter who wants to know the cause of your mother’s death, hurry up and bring her body here,” Han Yunxi said seriously.

Duanmu Yao grew stunned when she realized Han Yunxi wasn’t kidding around. A frightening thought rose up in her mind: suppose that Han Yunxi isn’t the culprit? What if I’ve been used by Chu Qingge? What if the Chu Clan are the true murderers?

She quickly recovered her senses, refusing to accept her suspicions. She was already convinced that Han Yunxi was the killer and just trying to scare her instead! Viciously she cried, “Fine! Two days later, I’ll make you eat your words and return a life for a life!”

—

Two days later, Cao Tong really showed up at the side courtyard in Yaoshui!

Han Yunxi was able to invite him in the first place because of Medical City’s Third Elder Shen’s secret help. As an Elder of Medical City, he couldn’t publicly support Han Yunxi, so Cao Tong’s appearance would hide the details of their friendship. Moreover, the coroner was an old official of Western Zhou and had vowed to discover the truth of Empress Xue’s death!

“Princess, don’t worry. This one will definitely make sure esteemed empress can rest in peace!” Cao Tong said sincerely, still referring to Duanmu Yao as the princess.

Duanmu Yao’s steadfast heart wavered at his words. She nodded and said, “My imperial mother’s body is resting in the courtyard at the end of the alley. Let’s go.”

The crowd followed Cao Tong, while Long Feiye and Gu Qi Sha accompanied Han Yunxi. Gu Qi Sha muttered, “Did you guys bribe Cao Tong to your side?”

Han Yunxi muttered back, “It’s already good enough that we managed to invite him here! Bribing a guy like him is impossible!”

“Then aren’t you afraid that he’ll expose the truth?” Gu Qi Sha said in alarm. After all, Han Yunxi may not have killed Empress Xue, but Long Feiye’s men certainly did!

The title of World’s Greatest Coroner wasn’t just for show!

Where did Long Feiye and Han Yunxi get the confidence? What kind of drugs were they on?

1. Lin Xu (林旭) – Lin is a surname that means “forest,” Xu is “brilliance of the rising sun.”

2. Cao Tong (曹同) – Cao is a surname take means “people of the same kind,” Tong means “be the same as,” “same/alike similar,” “together/in common.”