"Then what?" Although Yang Ruxin felt her strength was about to reach its limit, she still kept going. This was a critical moment, and she had to make Xiaojuan tell the truth.
"Then the young lady scolded Xiaosang a couple of times and lay down. I went over to check her, and there was nothing wrong, so I rested outside too. I donât know how long I slept, but I suddenly heard the young lady move around a bit. When I got up to check, I discovered that the young lady had already..." Xiaojuan couldnât help but shiver.
"Who poured the tea? Who made the bed?"
"It should have been me, but that day the young lady was in a bad mood, so she kept..." Xiaojuan glanced at Yang Ruxin and didnât dare to finish her sentence.
"Kept scolding me, right?"
Xiaojuan nodded. "The young lady even asked me to make a little figure to stab with needles..."
Those around them gasped in shock.
"Impossible..." The Lady of Anning County couldnât hold back. "You foul maid, I..."
"The little figure is under the young ladyâs mattress..." Xiaojuan hurriedly crawled on the ground.
"Who made the bed?"
"It was Xiaosang..."
"Lord, quickly send someone to find Xiaosang." Yang Ruxinâs expression changed, and she shouted loudly.
Congxin promptly hurried off with a group of people.
But then Xiaojuan suddenly went rigid, black blood quickly oozed from her mouth, and she collapsed to the ground, dead on the spot.
Yang Ruxin reached out to check Xiaojuanâs pulse and then sighed, "She was given arsenic an hour ago by someone else..." The dose was managed well, allowing her to last this long.
As she stood up, she wobbled slightly.
Gu Qingheng hurriedly stepped forward to catch her in his arms.
"How did you know there was something wrong with her?" Lord Jiang wouldnât miss the opportunity to ask.
"Because Wang Zhengzhengâs body was full of poison, even under her toenails," Yang Ruxin leaned against Gu Qinghengâs chest, closing her eyes briefly. "This didnât make sense. Generally, when someone ingests a lethal poison, it acts instantly and... The person dies, their blood flow slows and stops, making it impossible for the toxin to be distributed to every corner of the body unless... unless it was already in the body before death and circulated with the blood."
"Before death?" Gu Qinghengâs eyes widened, "You mean the body contains something?"
"Master Gu, you are right," Yang Ruxin nodded. "There is something about this long, similar to an embroidery needle, in Wang Zhengzhengâs skull, somewhere in the bone seam. Either itâll need to be extracted through dissection, or brought out with a magnet." How to proceed is up to the officials, and magnets shouldnât be too hard to obtain in this era.
In the end, they tried a magnet, but the item was small and stuck in the bone seam, impossible to extract. With Wang Jingzeâs consent, Hen Bingwen cut open the back of Wang Zhengzhengâs skull and indeed retrieved a blood-stained, hair-thin needle.
"Lord, there is nothing wrong with my medicine pill," Yang Ruxin was barely able to keep her eyes open.
Everyone else understood finally, that even though the murderer hadnât been caught, Yang Ruxinâs suspected involvement had been completely cleared.
By this time, Congxin returned with others, having brought Xiaosang over, but unfortunately, she was already a corpse. When they arrived, Xiaosang had hanged herself in the room.
Under Wang Zhengzhengâs mattress, they also indeed found a small figure pierced with embroidery needles, with "Madam Ruyi" written on its front and "Yang Ruxin" on its back.