Chapter 1299 - 975: The Witness Is Completely Gone!

Shang Ruyi immediately turned around to look, and Tushere, who had been kneeling behind her, hurried forward and took out a small porcelain bottle from his sleeve.

Yu Wenquan said, "This is—"

Shang Ruyi said, "Father Emperor, this is a potion made from some Stone Moss that the child found at the corner of Chengqian Hall."

"This, what use is it?"

"This can reveal bamboo vinegar."

"Oh?"

Shang Ruyi said, "To be clearer, Father Emperor can have someone bring some bamboo vinegar here; I’ll demonstrate it to Father Emperor, and you will understand how I will reveal the bamboo vinegar on this garment."

Yu Wenquan immediately said, "Liu Yu, go fetch some."

Liu Yu hurried away and returned shortly with half a cup of bamboo vinegar, placing it in front of Yu Wenquan. The bamboo vinegar was pale yellow and translucent, slightly rippling in the cup.

Yu Wenquan said, "How will you do this?"

Shang Ruyi opened the lid of the porcelain bottle and poured out two drops of the purple-blue potion, letting them gently drip into the cup.

Everyone kneeling in the hall craned their necks, but unfortunately, could see nothing; only Yu Wenquan and those behind him, Zhang Yuping and Tao Wanxin, lowered their heads and watched as the potion dripped into the cup, stirring the bamboo vinegar into a small ripple.

Then—

Tao Wanxin’s eyes widened in surprise: "Oh dear, the bamboo vinegar turned red!"

Han Yuhui, who had been standing next to them and had stiff neck, stepped forward quickly to see, indeed, the pale yellow bamboo vinegar swayed slightly and slowly turned pink with the dripping Stone Moss potion.

Shang Ruyi said, "The potion I’ve extracted is limited, so I can only apply this much, hence the color is not deep. If more were used, the bamboo vinegar in this cup would have turned completely red."

As she spoke, she looked at the piece of fabric: "However, this small bottle is enough to turn the bamboo vinegar on that piece of fabric red!"

At this point, Han Yuhui’s face had turned somewhat pale.

Shang Ruyi glanced at her indifferently, then said, "If you would, concubine—"

Tao Wanxin immediately placed the piece of fabric onto the table and carefully spread it out. Shang Ruyi nodded at her and then poured most of the liquid from the porcelain bottle onto the fabric.

Everyone held their breath for a moment.

At this time, Shang Ruyi remained calm; she didn’t even look at the color change on the fabric but instead lifted her head, her gaze cold and steady, staring at Han Yuhui, who was sweating profusely. At this moment, though Shang Ruyi’s gaze was like a knife, Han Yuhui couldn’t sense it, as her entire focus was on the fabric.

Then, her eyes suddenly widened.

There was the sound of gasps, some sighed in relief, and others gave low cries of joy.

"It turned red!"

At this moment, Shang Ruyi ignored who was shouting and calmly lowered her head. The fabric spread on the table indeed had several areas now vividly red, conspicuously contrasting the gray-green.

Shang Ruyi placed the cork back into the porcelain bottle and then looked at Yu Wenquan.

Tao Wanxin also looked at Yu Wenquan, saying, "Emperor, this—"

Shang Ruyi said, "Father Emperor, not only has this piece of fabric been stained with bamboo vinegar, but quite a lot of it as well. If it really was Sun Xianyue who visited me at Qianqiu Palace at night and left it behind, it would at most only carry some scent."

"..."

"But for this piece of fabric to have absorbed so much bamboo vinegar, it could only have been left at one instance."

"..."

"It was at noon that day, when someone was steaming bamboo vinegar to dispel termites. Someone seized the opportunity as I left and when Qianqiu Palace was empty, left the piece torn from Sun Xianyue’s clothing to frame me for having an affair with him."

"..."

"And that letter was also forged."

Tao Wanxin immediately said, "Who wants to frame Princess Qin?"

Shang Ruyi glanced at her, her gaze somewhat flickering.

By this time, she had already proved her innocence and should naturally point out the culprit framing her. The problem was, she hadn’t thought clearly about how to link everything to Han Yuhui, because Chu Ruoyan had alerted her to Yuan Qian’s murder, so she hurried to Liangyi Hall. At present, all the evidence was material, and she was under house arrest in Chengqian Hall, unable to find any witnesses.

But luckily, they now have a witness!

So Shang Ruyi changed her tone and said, "All of this was indeed set up to frame me, but the purpose of framing me wasn’t truly aimed at me."

Yu Wenquan furrowed his brow: "Are you saying—"

Shang Ruyi said, "The person behind all this ultimately targeted Yuan Qian. They wanted to use my house arrest in Chengqian Hall, away from Yuan Qian, to eliminate this child!"

Yu Wenquan’s eyes gradually reddened.

Shang Ruyi turned and said, "Wo Xue, bring the person in!"

As soon as she spoke, a commotion erupted outside, and Wo Xue’s voice shouted: "You, what’s wrong? You—"

Everyone was shocked and turned to look outside, only to see the little eunuch Wo Xue had been holding slump to the ground, a crimson stain at the corner of his mouth. Wo Xue was shocked, frantically pulling him up and looking in his mouth, instantly stunned.

Shang Ruyi hurriedly asked, "What happened?"

Wo Xue walked to the hall entrance, both regretful and angry, and said apologetically, "Princess, this person, he bit his tongue to commit suicide..."

Shang Ruyi was thunderstruck, her whole body stiff; Chu Ruoyan beside her was even more incredulous and hurriedly ran out to check, instantly turning pale with fright. Panqing rushed to shield her, while Zhang Yuping and Tao Wanxin glanced outside and were also terrified.

Only Han Yuhui had a fleeting expression of relief on her pale face.

Damn...

Shang Ruyi’s mind was in turmoil.

Just now, she was focused on explaining the reason and consequence, using this accuser against Yuan Qian to compensate for the void of evidence in the case of her alleged affair with Sun Xianyue, yet she forgot one thing—plotting against the Imperial Grandson is a capital crime, even decimation of one’s family, even if there’s a mastermind, this act by the little eunuch meant he wasn’t going to live!

Moreover, he might die horribly!

So this little eunuch, overwhelmed by terror and panic, chose to end his life right then.

Thus, the witness was lost!

Even if Han Yuhui had fiercely accused her and had written her intent all over her face, without a witness to prove she was behind it all, it would be—

As Shang Ruyi felt both angry and helpless, unable to do anything, the sound of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside, followed by a familiar voice echoing in the hall: "Emperor!"

It was Eunuch Yu’s voice!