Poison Genius Consort

or a married woman! My Han family didn’t take a cent for your consultation fees or medicine, but you repaid our kindness with enmity.
Was your heart eaten by dogs?”

Madam Chen abruptly raised her head and denied it all in a rush.
“It wasn’t me! It wasn’t me! I didn’t do it! I didn’t do anything! I don’t know anything!”

Finally, Han Yunxi’s good temper evaporated.
Her face was cold as she advanced step by step towards Madam Chen.
Madam Chen was kneeling while Han Yunxi stood, making her seem high and lofty.
Add that to the fact that she was brimming with rage, and her powerful aura was enough to nearly send Madam Chen fainting away.
She didn’t even look at Han Yunxi as she crawled on the ground and started to sob.
“It wasn’t me, it really wasn’t me! I didn’t do anything!”

“If it wasn’t you, then who was it?” Han Yunxi asked coldly.
She’d suspected Madam Chen before, but she didn’t believe the woman had the guts to frame the Han family.
Moreover, it was truly fishy that Doctor Li’s prescription would have a mistake.
Whether it was Madam Chen or Doctor Li hiding a backer behind them, the truth was still hiding away! Or rather, the actual culprit of the whole thing had yet to be revealed! Han Yunxi only knew it was that person in the palace, but she needed proof!

Hearing Han Yunxi’s words, Madam Chen was even more frightened.
Her whole body shivered as she plastered her face to the ground.
It seemed like she’d rather find a fissure in the ground to burrow into and escape.

“It wasn’t me, I don’t know a thing! I don’t know…”

“I don’t know, neither do I want the money! I don’t want reparations from you…just let me off!”

… …

Actually, Han Yunxi knew there was a problem as soon as she saw the prescription from yesterday.
She’d endured until today, so she had no notions of letting anyone off! Those who dared to strike against the Han family like this had really stirred up her temper!

Slowly, she knelt down and dragged Madam Chen up, staring straight into her eyes.
“If you didn’t do it, then who did? Who wanted to give you money? Don’t think that anyone will protect you just because you keep quiet!”

Madam Chen was scared stiff.
Ignoring everything else, she struggled free from Han Yunxi’s grasp and backed far, far away.
Only then did she realize that she had raised a hand against Qin Wangfei. Her face turned green as she furiously shook her head in terror.
“Esteemed wangfei, please forgive me! This commoner doesn’t know, this commoner doesn’t know anything…I don’t know…”

Han Yunxi narrowed her eyes as she stepped closer, a horrific killer intent emanating from her being.
How could someone threaten a person in a court of law? Yet no one present dared to make a sound, afraid to incur her wrath.
Esteemed wangfei had lost her temper!

Han Yunxi slowly drew closer to Madam Chen, but before she could speak this time, Madam Chen beat her to it.
“I’ll talk! I’ll talk, so don’t come over here.
I’ll talk!”

Only then did Han Yunxi still her steps as Madam Chen immediately opened her mouth.
“It was Lady Li, Doctor Li’s wife who did it! That night I’d just finish feeding my mother-in-law her medicine when Lady Li came knocking on our door.
She’d boiled some of her own medicine for my mother-in-law to drink, saying that it’d treat the disease at its roots.
But who knew that right after my mother-in-law finished, she… I was scared to death, ready to call the authorities just then, but…but…” By this point, Madam Chen had started equivocating, afraid to continue.

“Just speak, say it!” Han Yunxi raged.

Madam Chen trembled all over before bracing herself to continue.
“But she gave me 500 taels of silver and told me not to say a thing.
The next morning I was to go to Shuntian Prefecture and plead my case.
She said she’d arranged everything already, so that in the future I’d not only gain compensation from the Han family, but get another 500 taels from her side…I…I, I was possessed in the heat of the moment and turned muddleheaded! Esteemed wangfei, I didn’t kill my mother-in-law, it was Lady Li! She did it! Just let me go! I’m begging you, esteemed wangfei…spare me!” As Madam Chen spoke, she kept kowtowing, her head banging against the ground.

But Han Yunxi didn’t have a shred of sympathy for a money-grubbing person like her.
Lady Li had given the poison, but why? Doctor Li had worked for the Han family for so many years in harmony.
The Han family had never treated them shabbily.
Why would Doctor Li make an error in his prescription, why would Lady Li add on to it afterwards with a knife of her own making?

Now that they had a suspect, the only thing left was to worry about whether Lady Li would speak up.
The truth was getting closer and closer!

“Official Ouyang, shouldn’t you send someone to the Li family straightaway?” Han Yunxi asked.

Official Ouyang finally recovered his wits.
Though he knew the current events had progressed far from the empress dowager’s expectations, he couldn’t practice favoritism as a member of the justice courts.
He could only send someone to arrest Lady Li immediately.
But it wasn’t long before the messenger returned with not Lady Li, but news of a corpse.

“Reporting to esteemed wangfei, Official Ouyang.
Lady Li hung herself in front of Doctor Li’s memorial tablet! When your subordinate rushed over, they’d just taken her body down.”

“What?!” Han Yunxi smote the table and rose to her feet in anger.
“Dead?!”

“The body was just sent to the mortuary,” the errand boy replied honestly.

Han Yunxi’s face was ghastly pale.
She couldn’t believe it.
Lady Li was her last link!

“Coroner Xia, examine the body!” Han Yunxi said furiously, taking long strides to the mortuary.
Coroner Xia hastened to follow.
At the sight of body, even Han Yunxi could tell at a glance that she really had hung herself to die.
Her hands clenched into fists.
She never expected the accomplices of the crime would die so quickly.
Really, she’d been too careless.
She should’ve sent some people over much earlier to keep watch on Lady Li!

Most likely, Doctor Li and Lady Li had both been threatened.
Doctor Li was too kindhearted to put enough poison in the medicine, so Lady Li had personally gone to make a trip.
Now that both husband and wife were dead, the clues had been broken.
She was just missing the last step, how abominable!

When she returned to court, Madam Chen had already kowtowed and banged her head into unconsciousness.
Han Yunxi didn’t even spare her a glance but glared at Official Ouyang, obviously in a bad mood.
Official Ouyang felt uncomfortable all over from her stare, but steeled himself to speak.
“Esteemed wangfei, this case…for the Li family’s side, should we…”

“Is it the justice courts overseeing this case, or this wangfei? Why are you asking me? Continue!” Han Yunxi was fierce and ferocious, her face dark as she sat on one side.

Continue…

How to continue? Official Ouyang was set to face a tragedy…