Chapter 171: Falsification ‘Eh? Lies?’ The trace of gloom in his expression vanished. “What are you saying?” He ferociously bellowed while exercising more strength on his grip, squeezing Ji Yunshu’s wrist painfully.
Yet, Ji Yunshu did not struggle. She did not even flinch from fear in front of Gan Chuliang’s bloody eyes. She simply asked again, “Did you really kill them?” Ji Yunshu’s eyes, full of wisdom, were extremely keen, as though they could look through people’s heart, thus the mind of the opposite party was clearly displayed for her.
Gan Chuliang’s hand released her hand gradually. “I already told you everything. There is already evidence that supports my confession. I am the murderer, so you should kill me by tearing me limb by limb as a punishment.”
It’s true that all evidence pointed at him. Previously, Ji Yunshu highly suspected him of being the murderer, but why did she say that he was lying at this time?
Ji Yunshu took a step back and said, “Rest assured, you will not be sentenced to death if you didn’t kill anyone.” With nothing more to say, she immediately turned her back to him and left.
However, she could hear Gan Chuliang’s bellow coming from behind her. “I am the murderer! Kill me! Hurry and kill me…” However, what accompanied his cries of rage were the sounds of the wooden barrier being hit.
Ji Yunshu made a stop at the jailers’ break room. Without a word, she quickly took the ink and brush on the table, and wrote something on a paper with it. After the ink dried, she folded the paper and gave it to the capital governor. She also gave him a quick explanation. “Governor, please immediately send someone to the palace. If Prince Rong is able to stop Prince Yi as planned, there’s no need to give him this letter. In the case he fails to stop Prince Yi, give this letter to him and let them meet the emperor together.”
“This…”
“This is an emergency. Don’t waste time or it will be too late.” Seeing the urgency on her face, the governor no longer asked questions. He took the entrusted letter and immediately ordered someone to deliver it as instructed by Ji Yunshu.
Only after that did the governor turn to Ji Yunshu to inquire, as he was still unable to comprehend this whole situation. “Teacher Ji, what is going? What did you write in the letter that needed to be urgently delivered to his Highness, Prince Rong?”
Ji Yunshu glanced in the direction of Gan Chuliang’s prison cell. Her expression faintly sank. Then, she looked back at the capital governor. “Did you notice Gan Chuliang’s Adam’s apple?”
“Adam’s apple?” The governor became pensive. “Is there anything wrong with it?”
“His Adam’s apple is clearly different from normal men. For normal men, the protuberance is at a higher angle. It could be lower also, but usually, the protuberance would be bigger. Whereas, Gan Chuliang’s Adam apple barely protrudes, almost to the point of being flat, just like the throat of a woman.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that…”
…………………
Jing Rong, followed by Lang Po, had spurred his horse and finally reached the southern gate of the palace just in time. Jing Yi had just come down from his carriage and was about to enter the palace. With two big strides, Jing Rong was able to obstruct the other’s path.
Noticing Jing Rong’s hurried appearance, Jing Yi smiled and pretended to be puzzled. “What are you doing?”
“You want to report the finding for the missing girls case?”
“Yes.”
“Why are you doing this?” questioned Jing Rong.
Jing Yi did not hide anything and stated truthfully, “Why? Jing Rong, I discovered things pertaining to the case, so obviously I will make a report to imperial father.”
‘Damn shameless guy!’
“You should be very clear about the stakes of the case.”
“Of course I know. However, we all perfectly understand that Jing Hua is currently the crown prince and Imperial Father is not young anymore. How long do we have to wait? Besides, as a prince, our identity is all the more a sensitive matter. The missing girls case is nothing but your stepping stone to investigate the Lin Capital case. Even so, in the end, you still won’t get the crown prince’s position!”
“Is that the reason why you kept obstructing me three, four times?”
“This is what we called, a rabbit doesn’t have one entrance to its burrow.” Jing Yi’s tone implied a deeper meaning to his words.
Since Jing Rong was not a fool, he quickly understood his brothers hidden meaning. “Jing Yi, I only want to investigate the Lin Capital case and have no other intentions. As long as you agree not to meddle into this case, I can assure you that I absolutely won’t fight over it with you and you won’t need to scheme and guard against me for every single thing.”
“Why should I believe you?” Jing Yi frowned.
“If I wanted to fight over it with you, that jade pendant on that suicide soldier would have been handed over to imperial father on the day I came back to the capital.”
‘Ah!’ Jing Yi’s heart stilled at the thought, then he spoke superfluous words, “Jing Rong, you know that I am not afraid. Using a mere jade pendant as evidence is nothing but a vain attempt.”
“Must you meddle in this case?”
“I don’t want to be enemies with you, but when a man wants to reach higher places, he must destroy the road behind him in order to avoid anyone from climbing to where he is.” Then, he patted Jing Rong’s shoulder while coldly snorting. “Next time, work hard not to let me be a step ahead of you.” As soon as he spat out those words, he passed through the south gate.
Jing Rong stood there with a gloomy expression while watching Jing Yi’s silhouette gradually getting smaller.
Lang Po walked to him and whispered, “Your Highness, if Prince Yi really reports to the Emperor…”
The last words were left unsaid as the sound of a galloping horse was heard. As soon as the sound came near them, it stopped. The man on the horse quickly dismounted and kneeled in front of Jing Rong while presenting a letter to him.
“Your Highness, this is from Teacher Ji.”
‘Ah?’
“Teacher Ji said that if Prince Rong could not stop Prince Yi, your Highness has to meet the emperor with Prince Yi after reading this letter.”
Prince Rong took the letter and opened it. After reading it, he was shaken. He immediately put it away and quickly strode through the gate. Behind him, Lang Po followed while remaining confused.
Inside Fuyang hall.
Jing Yi had already presented the confession document to Qi Zhen emperor and promptly reported his findings.
The emperor was in exultation as he stored away the confession document. “It has been two months that this case has caused unrest amongst the people in the capital. The capital governor ran left and right to investigate, but his investigation was unfruitful. I didn’t expect that this case would be resolved by you. Good! Very Good!”
Jing Yi lowered his head and slightly bowed. The corner of his mouth was stretched into a silent smile.
“We always reward fairly. Since you resolved the case, we cannot omit to bestow you something. Speak, what do you want?”
‘The emperor’s throne! But will he give it to me?’
Jing Yi clasped his hands and spoke, “This Son only wishes for our empire’s safety and the people’s prosperity and nothing more. Besides, this matter is related to the peace and well-being of the commoners. I was only doing what I must. I didn’t do so to be rewarded.”
The emperor was obviously incredibly satisfied with Jing Yi’s reply. He nodded and declared, “No matter what, you accomplished a meritorious deed. We will grant you…”
“Prince Rong has arrived!”
Jing Rong timely entered the hall. He was expressionless as he greeted his father. “Your Son has come to meet imperial father.”
Qi Zhen Emperor inquired, “What is the reason for your presence?”
“Son knows that Prince Yi has entered the palace to report the missing girls case. Since it’s related to the missing girl case, I have to enter the palace. In addition, I have…”
Qi Zhen interrupted him. “We know what you want to say. The agreement we made with Teacher Ji only stands if he resolves the case. We would have agreed to let people unseal the coffins for investigation. However, at present, this case has been resolved by Jing Yi. The agreement is now void.”
On the side, Jing Yi had a smug smile. As for Jing Rong, he maintained a calm face and stepped forward. “Son only wants to say that there’s an error in Prince Yi’s report.”
“An error?”
“The murderer is not Gan Chuliang.”
The emperor frowned, then glanced at the shocked Jing Yi. He turned to Jing Rong and asked, “Why?”
Jing Rong simply stated, “Because Gan Chuliang is a eunuch.”