Chapter 321 Becoming the Target
On one side was a frail teenager who was tearful and almost suffocated with fear. On the other side was the n.o.ble princess who showed no care and seemed to be listening to a story.
Everyone was filled with confusion.
He Tian looked at Lin Mengya, but he still suppressed the urge to question her. After all, she was not his little apprentice whom he could question as he wanted.
At least, he could not question her until he had hard evidence.
The four imperial physicians quickly exchanged glances. Finally, it was Su Tong, who was the most respected, who opened his mouth.
“Xiaofeng’s words are not enough to be believed. Doctor He, why don’t you go and get your outstanding student? If we confront him in front of everyone, we’ll not wrong anyone.”
This proposal made everyone nod their heads and said yes. After all, with Lin Mengya’s ident.i.ty, it was impossible to easily convict her just because of Xiaofeng’s words.
Lin Mengya watched quietly, but she was becoming lost in thought.
The reason why Xiaofeng could be so emboldened and fearless might be that the one behind him had already arranged everything. They were just waiting for her to make a mistake and then they would put her in deep trouble.
Therefore, she had to be more careful. Now, it was better for her to see what they would do next. She could only react by playing it by ear.
“That’s right. Go to find Liu Yi. If we find him, we’ll know the truth.”
He Tian must have believed him a little. So when looking at Lin Mengya, there was a clear look of doubt in his eyes.
Su Tong immediately sent someone out to look for Liu Yi. But Lin Mengya knew clearly in her heart that since they could be so calm, Liu Yi had to either be dead or imprisoned.
Xiaofeng just knelt on the ground and sobbed, looking very pitiful. Lin Mengya looked at him coldly, watching how far the drama was about to be performed.
Imperial physicians were unable to enter the imperial harem. Soon, some apprentices who went out to look came back to report. But they all glared fiercely at Lin Mengya. Baisu stared back offensively.
“Minister, we’ve already found Senior Brother Liu Yi, but… but…”
Someone immediately reported back to the minister. But he faltered as if he was in a pickle.
“Just say it!”
Su Tong immediately gave him a stern look. The man with his head down gritted his teeth and looked up at Lin Mengya, with his eyes full of anger.
“Senior Brother Liu Yi is dead! His body is just outside the small yard!”
The words startled everyone. Only Lin Mengya was still calm. This drama had entered its climax.
Liu Yi was dead, so she became the number one suspect in everyone’s eyes.
Xiaofeng immediately wept loudly and mournfully, and several people brought the body in. Liu Yi was a young man in his 20s, with a refined appearance. But now he was pale and peaceful, with his eyes closed.
Liu Yi must have been very popular among these young apprentices. So as soon as his body came in, many apprentices covered their faces and wept.
“Liu Yi! Liu Yi! My student, how did… how did this happen to you! Princess Yu! Return my student to me! Return my student to me!”
The pain and grief of losing his student made He Tian temporarily lose his mind. Like an enraged male lion, he looked at Lin Mengya with hatred in his eyes and shouted at her.
His action made the apprentices in the yard treat her as their common enemy. Lin Mengya suddenly became their common target.
“Avenge Liu Yi! Severely punish the murderer!”
A shout erupted from among the crowd, and then everyone shouted at Lin Mengya.
Lin Mengya, who did not refute at all from beginning to end, just glanced at them. Her red lips slightly opened, and her voice was still so soft and gentle that she even did not raise her tone.
“Even if I really did this thing, who among you guys has the right to punish me? Just with the one-sided statement, you want to slander me as the murderer. Could this be a drama made by you, the people of the Imperial Hospital together? So let me see what you‘re going to do to slander me and make me a scapegoat.”
Like a basin of cold water poured on them, Lin Mengya’s cold voice instantly made Su Tong and He Tian, the two senior guys, come to their senses.
She was right. Because of her status as Princess Yu, no one would dare to easily punish her even if she killed all of them. They all spent so many years in the official circle, so they naturally knew the complications of it.
“So what? Even if you are the princess, you cannot rely on your ident.i.ty to kill people as you wish. Severely punish the murderer! Avenge Senior Brother Liu Yi!”
Nothing could blind a man as much as hatred.
Some people boasted that they were out for justice, but they did not know that they were the ones being used.
“If you want to know if I killed this person, go and check his body carefully and find out his cause death. But there is one thing you should know, I wouldn’t kill Liu Yi, especially at such a time. My ident.i.ty as Princess Yu could make lots of people do things for me. If I really want to cover up my crime, I have a hundred ways to make this body disappear without a trace.”
Lin Mengya did not excuse herself in a patient and earnest voice. Instead, she was so domineering, even showing a little disdain, which made everyone not dare to make moves.
“Hmph, maybe it’s because you were caught in the act, so you did it in a hurry!”
There were different opinions from the crowd. Lin Mengya ignored these unreasonable people and walked over to the dead body.
“What else do you want to do to Senior Brother Liu Yi!”
Someone came out to stop her. But after Lin Mengya threw sharp eyes at him, he became less confident and more reasonable.
“Why are you so nervous? With so many people present, do you think I could destroy the evidence? Or are you here to stop me because you’re afraid I’ll find some clues?”
Anyway, it was not the first time that she had done a postmortem. On this occasion and with so many imperial physicians present, she was not afraid that someone would deny the fact.
After hearing Lin Mengya’s words, the man felt like he was being choked. So he just widened his eyes, but did not know how to contradict her.
Lin Mengya walked straight around him and began to scrutinize Liu Yi’s dead body.
Everyone gradually gathered around her. But fortunately, she had Baisu, who controlled the situation, and no one dared to make trouble.
On the surface, Liu Yi seemed to have no wounds. Through his clothes, she also pinched his stiff limbs, which were firm and showed no signs of breakage.
Lin Mengya raised Liu Yi’s hands again. His fingers were separated, and he did not make fists. On his hand, there was no blood, just a slight scent of medicinal herbs.
Liu Yi was He Tian’s beloved student, so he naturally stayed with medicinal herbs every day. There was nothing unusual about that.
His chest and abdomen were still slightly soft. The time of death should be last night.
Lin Mengya smiled silently in her heart. But the murderer certainly did not expect that the 10th prince would suddenly fall ill yesterday and that she would stay by his side.
It was not just the people around her who saw it. The people in Concubine Xian’s palace and those servants who came and went all clearly saw it.
But fortunately, she did not let the imperial physicians into the palace last night. So now, no one here should know.
She already had evidence to exonerate herself. Nevertheless, it would be a pity if she said it now.
She suddenly wanted to tease them. So Lin Mengya deliberately showed a severe expression on her face.
“In terms of the stiffness of his body, he did die last night. But I can’t find any wounds, and he doesn’t look like he was poisoned. To be fair, I would like to ask Doctor Su and Doctor He to come and have a look together.”
Lin Mengya seemed to want to avoid arousing other’s suspicion. Therefore, Su Tong and He Tian had to take the responsibility.
They nodded their heads and exchanged looks. And then they also began to examine Liu Yi’s body like Lin Mengya. Moreover, these two people were quietly agreeable to Lin Mengya’s words.
Just when everyone fell silent, unexpectedly, blood slowly flowed from Liu Yi’s head. And dark-red blood suddenly came out of his seven apertures and five sense organs, which were originally closed.
“It’s… it’s because Senior Brother Liu Yi’s ghost hasn’t gone far! That’s why he shed tears of blood! Teacher, the murderer must be severely punished!”
Xiaofeng pointed at Liu Yi’s dead body in horror and raged, so Lin Mengya turned to look. Sure enough, it was just like he said. The corpse, which had been clean, now became b.l.o.o.d.y and terrifying.
“Teacher, teacher, Senior Brother Liu Yi’s ghost might be still out there at this moment. He… he must have heard what Princess Yu said, that’s why he feels so wronged!”
The exaggeration of Xiaofeng immediately enraged the people who had just calmed down.
“Oh? Really? I’ll have a look.”
But Xiaofeng ran over like crazy, stretched out his arms, and stood in front of her. He looked at her with hatred, as if he was desperate to peel off her flesh and eat her up.
“Don’t desecrate Senior Brother Liu Yi’s body anymore! We all saw it clearly just now, if you didn’t touch Senior Brother Liu Yi’s body, he would not be shedding tears of blood!”
What he had said incited lots of apprentices.
Lin Mengya’s face fell, she did not want to waste time on him anymore. And then she exchanged glances with Baisu. In an instant, Baisu put everyone down to the ground.
“You…”
These people did not expect that Lin Mengya would dare to hurt them without advance warning. They were indeed men, but compared with the highly skilled Baisu, they were just trash next to a real fighter.
“If you’re not afraid of death, just come over here.”
With a cold expression on her face, Baisu stepped forward in front of Lin Mengya. At that time, no one dared to come forward.
Lin Mengya sneered silently. Look, this was what these people said about justice. When facing the absolute power, they still chose to be cowards.
As Lin Mengya crouched beside the body’s head, she just thought of a possibility.
Her teacher had a book devoted to medical skills that were less popular. In this book, it was said that there had been such cases in the former dynasty in which the dead shed tears of blood after death. It was about a merry widow whose husband had been dead for a long time. After her sudden death, in order to get the chast.i.ty archway of the imperial court, her clan eventually shaped her into a model of women’s virtues.