Chapter 214 - 212: Irrefutable Evidence (First Update)

Chapter 214: Chapter 212: Irrefutable Evidence (First Update)

"That’s right."

Xu Jing nodded slightly and said calmly, "Of course, if one is naturally cautious, they might not risk anything even when confident in subduing the opponent. So after examining the corpse, although I had suspicions, I wasn’t completely certain.

Until I saw a scene that caught my attention..."

Xu Jing spoke, her gaze, slightly cold, fixed directly on the slender and petite figure in the crowd, and said, "Qingyun, earlier when the three of you were being escorted over, Feng Zhao accidentally stepped on your shoe, and you almost fell, right?"

Qingyun was startled, her voice tinged with unease, "Yes... yes, but I managed to support myself with my hand, so I didn’t fall..."

"I remember the spot where you almost fell was paved with yellow bricks, which have a rough and hard surface. When your palm suddenly scraped against the ground like that, it would surely be injured, yet after getting up, you didn’t even look at your hand, just lightly wiped it on your skirt. Why? Normally, if someone feels they’ve been injured, they’d at least take a glance."

Qingyun’s face turned slightly pale and said, "I... I wasn’t injured badly, and being a suspect, I don’t have the energy to care about a small injury on my hand..."

But Xu Jing stared intently at her and suddenly raised her voice, "It’s not that you don’t have the energy to care but that you don’t dare to! Because you are the true culprit who poisoned Duke Liang and killed Steward Liao! From the moment you realized that the people at Duke Mansion didn’t follow your plan and thought Steward Liao was the culprit, your mind was in chaos, wasn’t it? Qingyun!"

Xu Jing’s powerful words left several people present stunned and speechless.

Qingyun? She was the one they considered least likely to be the criminal!

Madam Cen’s face went pale, Zhao Shao Hua’s eyes trembled, and he couldn’t help but say, "This can’t be true! Jing, could you have made a mistake? Each of these maids has been with my aunt for at least ten years. Why would anyone do such a thing?"

Qingyun’s eyes widened, and suddenly, with a thud, she knelt on the ground, desperately kowtowing, "It wasn’t me! It really wasn’t me! I didn’t do anything to betray the Duke Mansion! I... I don’t know why Miss Xu says I’m the criminal. Please, Madam and Vice Minister Xiao, see the truth! I entered Duke Mansion when I was six. In my heart, it is my home; how could I do anything against its interests?"

Her appearance truly was that of an innocent woman wrongfully accused, and the "thud, thud" of her forehead knocking against the ground made everyone present feel a pang of sympathy.

Zhao Jingming couldn’t help but look at Xu Jing and hesitated, "Miss Xu, are you sure Qingyun is the culprit? Even though... the criminal first knocked out Steward Liao before killing him, Steward Liao wouldn’t be easily knocked out by just anyone. Look at the wound on the back of his head; the criminal was clearly strong. How could it be this frail woman..."

"A person’s true nature can be hidden, just as their true skills can,"

Xu Jing’s eyes remained fixed on Qingyun not far away, and she said coldly, "I said the criminal was clearly prepared this time, with a detailed plan for every step. It’s perfectly normal to disguise oneself to realize such a plan.

Qingyun, there’s no need to keep pretending. From what I said earlier, you should know that I already have evidence that you’re the criminal!"

Zhao Jingyi was the calmest among the Zhao Family present. He glanced at Xu Jing and said, "The evidence you mentioned is related to Qingyun not looking at her hand after she fell?"

Saying this, he seemed to have thought of something, suddenly looking at Qingyun, his voice dropping several degrees in temperature, "Right! On the hemp rope weapon found later, there’s a small blood stain. The criminal was clearly injured during the act..."

"That’s right."

Xu Jing looked at Qingyun, whose body had suddenly tensed up, and said, "Even though you hid your skills, the natural strength difference between men and women couldn’t be changed. Knocking out and then strangling Steward Liao might have been a task that took some effort for a man, but for you, it required all your strength.

When you were strangling Steward Liao, you certainly exerted yourself, especially halfway through when he suddenly woke up and started to struggle, making you nervous and panicked; in your failure to control your strength, you scraped your palm on the hemp rope, leaving a blood stain at its end.

I guess the scrapes on your palm from pulling so hard on the hemp rope were more than just that, and that’s why you don’t dare to examine your hand in front of us!

Qingyun, you keep insisting you’re wronged. Do you dare show us your hands?"

Qingyun had maintained her position on the ground since earlier, her body trembling slightly, not responding to Xu Jing for a while.

Madam Cen took a deep breath and sternly said, "Qingyun, will you show your hands yourself, or should I have someone do it for you!"

Qingyun suddenly shivered, then began to laugh softly, her laughter growing louder and louder.

Everyone looked at her in surprise as she suddenly straightened up and extended her hands, showing her palms to everyone! The maroon marks on them were starkly highlighted against her fair skin, with several scrapes visible. Upon close inspection, the deep red marks clearly matched the pattern of the hemp rope!

Seeing the disbelief on everyone’s faces, she suddenly cried and laughed, "Are you satisfied now? Yes, I was the one who poisoned, and I was the one who killed Steward Liao! I don’t regret doing it! I only hate that I couldn’t keep hiding until I wiped out your entire Zhao Family!"

The madness in her eyes was terrifying, and the nearby guards quickly surrounded her, watching her warily.

Madam Cen finally snapped out of it, her hands clenched into fists, her voice squeezed out through her teeth, "Why did you do this? All these years, our Zhao Family treated you well..."

With eyes full of hatred, Qingyun looked at Madam Cen and sneered coldly, "Indeed, you’ve treated the servants well. If I were truly only a servant of the Duke Mansion, maybe I would be grateful. However, I can never forget that my family was destroyed by your Zhao Family! My father and brothers died at Zhao Yunfeng’s hands! My mother hanged herself the day she learned of my father’s death! I watched her die before my eyes. How can I not hate! How can I not hate!

In these ten years, I haven’t stopped thinking about avenging my family for a single moment! Do you know how hard I’ve endured?!"

Zhao Yunfeng was the name of Duke Liang.

Everyone looked at her in disbelief, and Zhao Jingming, snapping back to reality, growled, "How could my father have killed your father and brothers! My father was a noble, patriotic general!"

Remembering how he previously thought this woman was innocent, he was now so frustrated he felt like smashing his own head with a hammer.