Chapter 658: This wangfei is nothing but magnanimous (2/2)

Duanmu Yao was caught off guard, but Cao Tong grew incensed. “Esteemed wangfei, if you’re going to admit your guilt, why invite this old man to inspect the corpse in the first place?”

“What happens now that you can’t check the body? The needle’s mine and there’s a wound in the foot. If I won’t admit to the crime, who will?” Han Yunxi shrugged her shoulders helplessly.

“Esteemed wangfei, this old man just said that although the body is poisoned, and there’s material evidence on hand, it doesn’t necessarily mean that esteemed empress died from poisoning. It’s impossible to find any other cause of death too, so we can’t draw any conclusions. Do you understand?” Cao Tong was growing anxious. He’d already explained himself twice, but why did neither of these two women listen? Once was Western Zhou’s princess and Celestial Mountain’s disciple, while the other was Qin Wangfei. Neither of them were supposed to be idiots!

Seeing Han Yunxi remain silent, Cao Tong added, “Esteemed wangfei, do you understand?”

Third Elder Shen had helped him many times in the past before asking him for this favor, but he hadn’t been able to accomplish anything! Moreover, he’d done autopsies for half his life already without ever pinning down the wrong culprit. He’d broken his own seclusion to leave the mountains this time, so he couldn’t afford to ruin his integrity in his later years! Just because he couldn’t pin down a conclusion, they shouldn’t pin the blame as they willed! This was a postmortem, not some question of ‘maybe this, maybe that.’

“I understand. Unfortunately, someone still doesn’t. Aye, some people are just stupid, I suppose,” Han Yunxi smiled.

She didn’t name any names, but Duanmu Yao immediately claimed the insult with a snort. “Who said I didn’t understand?! Great Coroner Cao, if there’s no other proof, then we can simply name her as the culprit! Don’t you understand logic like that?”

Cao Tong pursed his lips. He could tell that Qin Wangfei was no fool, but he wasn’t so sure about Princess Duan anymore.

“I don’t understand,” he said with a shake of his head.

Duanmu Yao grew serious. “Why can’t you understand something so simple? If the true murderer isn’t Han Yunxi, then why would the acupuncture needle been found in my imperial mother’s foot? Could it be that someone was framing her? After my imperial mother died, someone stuck a needle in her foot instead?”

Long Feiye was the first to break out into silent laughter at her words–not because of Duanmu Yao herself, but because of Han Yunxi. Han Yunxi had been waiting for Duanmu Yao to say these exact lines. Gu Qi Sha and Mu Linger were secretly guffawing as well. Cao Tong was the only person who actually laughed out loud.

“Princess Duan, you’re absolutely correct! Suppose this needled was added in afterwards? Drawing a hasty conclusion today would only send the true murderer into stitches.”

Duanmu Yao stood stunned, frightened by the words she’d just blurted out. If Cao Tong or Han Yunxi had been the ones to suggest the idea, she’d reject it instantly. But after all that arguing, she was the one who said it first, which merited reconsideration. Thinking back to Cao Tong’s repeated statements and Han Yunxi’s reactions, she felt her heart wavering once again. “Chu Qingge…” she muttered to herself.

“Princess Duan, you can’t leave esteemed empress to rest without peace!” Cao Tong declared.

“It’s only an acupuncture needle. This wangfei can admit to it, even though I don’t accept it!” Han Yunxi said coldly.

Duanmu Yao looked at her before finally relenting a step. “Then what do you want to do? We can’t perform the postmortem anymore.”

“Princess Duan, this old man does have an idea. However…” Cao Tong trailed off with difficulty.

“Say it!” Duanmu Yao said earnestly.

“This old man remembers that there was a miracle drug called the Rising Dead…”

Duanmu Yao was moved by his words. “The Rising Dead?”

“You’re going off into flights of fancy. The Rising Dead is a miracle drug in defiance of the natural order. It can temporarily revive a corpse to its state right before death, but once the time is up, the body will melt into blood and water. In other words…you’d lose the remains of the dead completely!” It was Mu Linger who spoke next. She knew much of the miracle drugs of the world.

“It’s no wonder that you’re Medicine City’s genius. Excuse me for my lack of manners in acknowledging you!” Cao Tong smiled as he bowed with his hands clasped.

“I dare not accept such praise,” Mu Linger said modestly, before turning to Duanmu Yao. “It’s difficult to obtain such a drug, nor could we find it in such a short time.”

“As this one understands it, the drug comes from Medicine City’s Medicine Hut..” Cao Tong looked towards Han Yunxi. “I don’t know if esteemed wangfei…”

Han Yunxi cut him off easily. “What’s there to fear? As long as the Medicine Hut has it, this wangfei will definitely get if from my master!”

Cao Tong gave a start before losing himself in confusion. He wasn’t asking whether she dared to ask, but whether she had the capability to get His Excellency Pill King to give up the Rising Dead. What was she so excited about?

Han Yunxi’s excitement was obvious in Duanmu Yao’s eyes. She didn’t want to entertain the thought that Han Yunxi was innocent, but the woman’s reactions moved her heart again and again.

Did I really denounce Han Yunxi on false charges?

Did Chu Qingge really trick me?

The two questions spun round and round in her head until she grew restless.

“Princess Duan, then…shall we use that drug?” Cao Tong asked.