"Tell me, where did you pick up the white cat?"
Leng Ruo Li’s gaze swept over Xiao Lian’s apricot eyes, shooting out dazzling cold light.
"This servant found the white cat in the imperial garden. As this servant passed by the imperial garden, the white cat was running wild among the flowers and grass, so this servant picked it up."
The palace maid Xiao Lian replied somewhat guiltily.
"You are lying again. The dew in the imperial garden this morning was extremely heavy. If the white cat had appeared in the imperial garden, its fur would definitely have been stained with dew."
What palace maid Xiao Lian said was full of loopholes; she couldn't even lie properly.
"You killed the white cat, didn't you?"
"No, this servant did not kill the white cat."
Xiao Lian quickly shook her head.
"Then why was the white cat poisoned?"
"This servant doesn't know either."
Leng Ruo Li looked at Xiao Lian’s expression, which didn’t seem like she was lying.
"Then who is the real culprit?"
This made Leng Ruo Li fall into thought.
"Xiao Lian, did you encounter anyone else in this imperial garden?"
"No... no, besides seeing you, this servant truly did not see anyone."
Xiao Lian quickly denied it, as if protecting someone.
Then, Leng Ruo Li saw the Empress and asked, "Your Majesty, who usually takes care of your white cat?"
"It is taken care of by the Róng máma beside me, Xiao Anzi, and two senior palace maids."
The Empress glanced at Leng Ruo Li and said coldly that if the Emperor were not here, she would not bother with Leng Ruo Li.
"Then who was taking care of it last night?"
"You’ll have to ask Róng máma about that."
Immediately, Róng máma, standing behind the Empress, stepped forward and said, "Eldest Miss Leng, Cai Yue was on duty last night taking care of the white cat."
"Which one is Cai Yue?"
"Eldest Miss Leng, Cai Yue did not accompany Your Majesty out just now because she lost the white cat this morning and was punished to kneel by the Empress."
"But now I need to ask her a few questions. May this humble subject ask Your Majesty to have His Highness Prince Leng bring her here?"
Everyone looked at the Empress. After a long while, the Empress did not answer Leng Ruo Li.
The Emperor, sitting beside them, suddenly spoke.
"Han'er, you personally go and bring that palace maid Cai Yue from the Empress's palace."
"Yes! Your son obeys your command!"
Jun Mo Han, with Yin Chen and two imperial guards, strode towards the Empress's Fengwu Palace.
"Xiao Lian, can you tell me now? Why was the white cat in your hands? Was someone holding it and giving it to you?"
After speaking, Xiao Lian lowered her head and suddenly looked up at her. This Eldest Miss Leng was too amazing; she could even guess this.
"Don't look at me like that. What I said is based on facts. Everyone can come and look at the fresh large footprints beside the flower bed."
"These large footprints are much bigger than Xiao Lian's."
These footprints were discovered by Leng Ruo Li when she was searching the crime scene earlier.
Everyone quickly gathered around, looking at the muddy footprints, all whispering.
Soon, Jun Mo Han ran back in a hurry to report to the Emperor.
"Father Emperor, palace maid Cai Yue has died from poisoning."
"What? She's dead!"
Everyone present exclaimed in shock.
"Your son has also brought her body here."
Leng Ruo Li walked up to Cai Yue’s corpse, lifted the white cloth, and glanced at the body. Cai Yue’s body was already pale, and the black blood at the corner of her mouth had dried. This was indeed a symptom of poisoning. Leng Ruo Li took out a silver needle, dipped it in some of the blood at the corner of Cai Yue’s mouth, and threw it into the system space for toxin analysis.
Then, Leng Ruo Li took off her embroidered shoes and placed them on the footprints she had found earlier, comparing them. She discovered that Cai Yue’s embroidered shoes perfectly matched these footprints. Therefore, the first person Xiao Lian saw in the imperial garden this morning must have been Cai Yue, and the white cat was likely also thrown to Xiao Lian by Cai Yue.
At this moment, seeing Cai Yue’s corpse, Xiao Lian felt extremely distressed.
"Xiao Lian, you saw Cai Yue in the imperial garden this morning, right? And the white cat you found was also thrown to you by Cai Yue."
Hearing this, Xiao Lian knew her lie had been exposed, and her legs immediately went weak.
"Miss Leng, this servant did lie just now. This morning, this servant was planning to go to the Taiyi Hospital to fetch medicine for Consort Ning. As I passed by the imperial garden, I heard crying and curiously went to take a look. I saw Cai Yue sitting on the steps of the corridor, holding a white cat in her arms, and she was crying very sadly. Because Cai Yue was my good friend before entering the palace, seeing her wronged, this servant felt pity and asked her why she was crying. She said… she said…"
As she spoke, Xiao Lian glanced at the Empress beside the Emperor, and her words became hesitant.
Leng Ruo Li saw through her concerns at a glance and immediately gave her a shot of reassurance.
"Xiao Lian, speak boldly, don't be afraid. The Emperor will not cover up for anyone."
Then, Xiao Lian nodded, raised her head, and spoke boldly.
"She said that Your Majesty often beat her with a board because of this white cat, and she really wanted to kill Your Majesty's white cat inexplicably. What Cai Yue said at that time startled me greatly. Everyone in the entire imperial palace knows that Your Majesty doted on cats as much as her own life. If Cai Yue killed Your Majesty's white cat, Your Majesty would definitely kill her. I advised her to endure it a little longer, and in a few years, she could be released from the palace."
"Then, after hearing my words, Cai Yue smiled at me, directly threw the white cat in her arms into mine, and happily went to dance by the flower bed. Afterwards, she said she needed to relieve herself and asked me to watch the white cat for her, but after she left, she never returned to take back the white cat in my arms. After half an incense stick’s time, I was getting anxious because I also had to go to the Taiyi Hospital to get medicine for Consort Ning. There were no other palace staff passing by the imperial garden at this early hour, and I happened to see Miss Leng passing by, so I just made up an excuse, threw the white cat to you, and I went to the Taiyi Hospital to get medicine."
Xiao Lian recounted the entire incident in great detail. Leng Ruo Li stared closely into her eyes. Her gaze was clear and did not seem like a lie.
"Then do you know? When you took this white cat, Cai Yue had already used an embroidered needle stained with Mandora poison to stab the white cat's neck, having already poisoned the white cat. She happened to see you coming and thus transferred the danger to you."
"That's impossible. Cai Yue and I are such good friends; she wouldn't harm me."
Xiao Lian did not believe her good friend Cai Yue would frame her.
"If you don't believe it, you can look at the poison Cai Yue ingested. She died from the same poison she used to kill the white cat."
Leng Ruo Li said calmly. After the analysis results from her system space laboratory came out, she knew that the poison Cai Yue ingested was the same as the poison the white cat had been poisoned with.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, Cai Yue is the murderer of the white cat. As for why she killed the white cat and then poisoned herself to death, it is inconvenient for this humble subject to investigate further."
As soon as she finished speaking, the Emperor nodded approvingly at Leng Ruo Li. This little girl acted with great discretion and knew when to stop, which was good.
"Good, young lady Leng, you have done well."
"Empress, since it was not young lady Leng who killed your white cat, this matter ends here. Do not mention it again. Let this palace maid go, and you can arrange for the deceased to be buried properly."
"Yes, this concubine understands!"
Immediately, the Empress shot a fierce glare at Leng Ruo Li with her foxy eyes, then flicked her sleeves and departed.
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