Chapter 720: Chapter 719 Loss_2

The eldest daughter of Uncle Wen Yuan’s Mansion firmly asserted that the medicine packet wasn’t hers.

Then how did this medicine packet end up in her purse?

The eldest daughter of Uncle Wen Yuan’s Mansion stared at the hourglass. Her maid, kneeling on the ground, said, “Earlier, when a koi at the Beauty Pavilion was poisoned and died, a crowd gathered to watch. That’s when my lady’s purse got knocked off, and it was a maid who helped pick it up.”

“Whose mansion does that maid belong to?” the Junior Minister of the Ministry of Justice asked.

“…I don’t know.”

The maid’s voice weakened instantly as she said, “I only remember that she was wearing a turquoise dress.”

At the time, everyone was engrossed in the excitement and no one paid much attention to such details.

It was only after going upstairs that she helped her lady put on the purse again.

Who knew just in that short time, someone tampered with it.

If they can’t find that maid, her lady would be blamed for poisoning the koi, wouldn’t she?

Poisoning the koi could simply be compensated with money.

But killing a person requires paying with one’s life!

Even in death, one shouldn’t die with a murder charge unjustly on their shoulders.

The eldest daughter of Uncle Wen Yuan’s Mansion watched the hourglass reach the hour, feeling no discomfort. Realizing it suddenly, she looked at Su Jin sharply, “You tricked me?!”

Su Jin remained silent, while Xingxing, with hands on her hips and glaring, said, “You poisoned the whole pond of koi at the Beauty Pavilion, and my lady didn’t even raise her voice at you, yet you dare to shout at her!”

“My lady’s word is gold; if she says you’re poisoned, then you’re definitely poisoned, and you just wait, soon you’ll die from the poison.”

“….”

Perhaps only Xingxing truly believed in her words.

Su Jin patted Xingxing’s shoulder and said, “I was just teasing her; she’s not poisoned.”

Xingxing, “….”

The eldest daughter of Uncle Wen Yuan’s Mansion was so furious she wanted to bite Su Jin.

At this moment, Shangguan Feng’er entered with her maid, her face livid, “Princess Consort Zhenbei leisurely teased her, yet she ran to accuse me at Duke Chong’s Mansion!”

“If today’s matter isn’t clarified, I will not let it go!”

Su Jin raised her eyebrows slightly.

The Ministry of Justice hadn’t summoned her, yet she came on her own initiative.

Seems like her intentions aren’t good.

The face of the eldest daughter of Uncle Wen Yuan’s Mansion turned ashen.

She thought of how she rushed out of the Beauty Pavilion to Duke Chong’s Mansion to ask for the antidote, crying and fussing at the gate, and now it was too late to change her story.

She only wanted the antidote, but now it backfired on her.

After this incident, their relationship was definitely beyond repair.

The Beauty Pavilion lost a pond of koi and would surely demand compensation from her.

She couldn’t afford to lose both her reputation and money!

The eldest daughter of Uncle Wen Yuan’s Mansion pointed to Shangguan Feng’er’s maid and said, “It was she who slipped the poison to me!”

The maid’s face turned white, “I… I didn’t!”

Shangguan Feng’er glared at the eldest daughter of Uncle Wen Yuan’s Mansion, “First you falsely accused me, and now you’re accusing my maid!”

“Everyone in the Capital knows that Uncle Wen Yuan and Dongxiang Marquis’s wife are siblings, and you cousins are conspiring against me!”

Su Jin rolled her eyes, “I wasn’t even aware that my mother and Uncle Wen Yuan were siblings, yet the eldest daughter of Duke Chong’s Mansion knew?”

“Who told you and the entire Capital?”

Shangguan Feng’er gritted her teeth.

The Junior Minister of the Ministry of Justice then struck the gavel again.

“At what time and place did the maid instruct you?” the Junior Minister of the Ministry of Justice asked.

The eldest daughter of Uncle Wen Yuan’s Mansion recounted the events in detail.

The incident happened just a few days ago, and she remembered it clearly.

Shangguan Feng’er had been punished by the Empress Dowager, and the eldest daughter of Uncle Wen Yuan’s Mansion went to visit her.

Knowing that Shangguan Feng’er resented Su Jin, the eldest daughter of Uncle Wen Yuan’s Mansion cursed Su Jin several times.

After taking her leave, the maid chased after her, slipped her a packet of poison, and asked her to secretly pour it into the Lotus Pond at the Beauty Pavilion.

After explaining what happened, she swore that every word was true.

The Junior Minister of the Ministry of Justice looked at the maid, who was sweating profusely and trembling, yet kept denying it.

However, her guilty appearance was a confession in itself.

The Junior Minister ordered the government officials to hold her down and gave her twenty strokes of the cane, and the maid confessed.

It was she who secretly gave the poison to the eldest daughter of Uncle Wen Yuan’s Mansion.

Because Princess Consort Zhenbei caused her lady to be scolded by the Empress Dowager, she was indignant and wanted to use the eldest daughter of Uncle Wen Yuan’s Mansion to teach her a lesson.

Because she was Shangguan Feng’er’s personal maid.

The poison she handed over, the eldest daughter of Uncle Wen Yuan’s Mansion assumed was under Shangguan Feng’er’s instruction.

This matter was her own decision, and her mistress Shangguan Feng’er was not aware of it.

Hearing the maid take the blame, Su Jin rolled her eyes.

She knew why Shangguan Feng’er came to the Ministry of Justice, it was to send her maid to clear her name.

The maid’s excessive loyalty led to mistakes, but her mistress’s fault lay only in lax supervision.

The accusation could not be lighter than that.

Su Jin looked at Shangguan Feng’er and said, “Duke Chong’s Mansion’s eldest daughter couldn’t control her maid, causing the eldest daughter of Uncle Wen Yuan’s Mansion to harm my Beauty Pavilion greatly.”

“I’ve roughly estimated the damage, at least thirty thousand taels.”

“How do you plan to split this compensation?”

Shangguan Feng’er’s face turned pale.

The eldest daughter of Uncle Wen Yuan’s Mansion anxiously said, “How could a pond of koi be worth thirty thousand taels?!”

Su Jin looked at her, “I bought that pond of koi for five thousand taels, and after nurturing them for several months, you poisoned them to death. The poisoned water in the Lotus Pond requires half a month of cleaning.”

“For this half-month, my Beauty Pavilion must be closed for renovation, doesn’t this loss fall on you to compensate?”

“Moreover, the damage to my Beauty Pavilion’s reputation, demanding just thirty thousand taels from you is already lenient.”

“If you find the culprit who poisoned and killed the daughter of the Imperial Censor Mansion, she could share a third of the burden.”

The steward of the Beauty Pavilion brought over the account book.

The account book recorded the noble ladies, ladies of great families, and maids who visited the Beauty Pavilion today, with their attire noted, albeit not in great detail, but roughly outlined.

There were six maids wearing turquoise dresses.

The shopkeeper read it aloud, and the maid of the poisoned young lady suddenly exclaimed, “It must be the maid from Chen Hanlin’s Mansion!”

The Junior Minister of the Ministry of Justice looked at her, “Why are you so certain?”

The maid hurriedly said, “My lady is engaged to the young master of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites Mansion, and Miss Chen is his cousin. Ever since the engagement, she’s been mocking my lady, saying she’s unworthy of her cousin!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep