Chapter 46: True Evidence
Physician Yi couldn’t bear to see the small squirrels dying, so as soon as they were finished identifying the poison, he took them and started giving them treatment.
Ye Lingyu commented triumphantly. "Look, am I not right? That physician isn’t a paid personnel."
She patted her second brother’s shoulder. "Second Brother, next time, we should bet on this."
Betting against her blockhead second brother? If he had any money, she might easily get rich. After all, it was an easy way to get him to transfer all his wealth to her.
Can he even defeat her brain? She thought narcissistically.
Alas, he was completely destitute right now.
"Shh," Ye Lanxi covered her mouth with his wide palm in annoyance. He was really entirely focused on the ongoing live drama in front of him.
Ye Lingyue snorted, but she was also curious about Lin Su’s next reaction. The evidence was there. How could he counterattack against this?
The two siblings focused on the drama again.
Lin Su turned to Commander Leng, frowning. "Commander Leng, I really haven’t done all of that... if there are traces of poison in my hands, should I get poisoned too? I ate with my hands during breakfast."
He had gobbled down the roasted quail given by the second branch’s youngest daughter.
Yan Luo sneered. "Lin Su, you are good at playing with words! They obviously rubbed the food on your clothes before."
"Moreover, you must have washed your hands after you committed such a wicked deed. Do you think everyone is stupid here?!" He scolded further.
Lin Su’s frown went deeper.
"Just admit that you are the one who has done it! Are you even a man at all?" Yan Luo gloated.
He thought that his victory was already in the bag, so he acted even more arrogantly. Once Yan Luo was regarded as guilty, wouldn’t that be like killing two birds with one stone? He would be free of investigation and Lin Su’s reputation was ruined.
At this moment, he felt extremely proud for striking first before Commander Leng conducted the investigation.
"I want to request something." Lin Su suddenly turned to Commander Leng.
"I knew you’d admit–" Yan Luo’s words were abruptly stopped, his eyes widened.
The Ye siblings commented at the same time. "Idiot."
"Commander Leng, someone stumbled over me on the way here. Now that I recalled it, I did feel some itchy sensation all over after that. It makes sense that some poisonous powder has been splattered over me."
Lin Su spoke calmly, each word clear and powerful. Such a tranquil demeanor was in contrast to Yan Luo’s repeatedly mocking words, which made the latter seem childish.
His words made Yan Luo fall silent, frowning deeply.
Before he could say anything to refute Lin Su’s words, the latter already spoke again. "I’d like to request for a thorough investigation on this case, Commander Leng! I will cooperate fully with the investigation."
He didn’t stop just there. "Just this morning, I also smelled the same scent on my steamed bun. I accidentally dropped it, and the insects eating them died not long after. I became suspicious and didn’t eat it."
"But... I also already saved the steamed bun."
Commander Leng nodded. Amidst Yan Luo’s increasingly pale face, he spoke. "Let’s conduct a thorough investigation."
At this moment, the calm Lin Su suddenly pointed to Yan Luo.
"Commander Leng, I’d like to suggest a thorough search on Captain Yan first. He is surely innocent in this case since the ones involved are his men..." Lin Su trailed off.
He looked straight to Yan Luo in the eye. "Captain Yan, you surely wouldn’t refuse, right?"
Yan Luo gritted his teeth and stared at Lin Su with a pair of venomous eyes. However, the evidence was already gone, discarded away, so he was confident they wouldn’t find anything on him.
"Go ahead. You won’t find anything on me." He snorted. "On the other hand, you should prepare yourself, Lin Su."
Lin Su answered, "I am prepared."
In order to be fair, Commander Leng told his men to search Yan Luo’s body and belongings.
Yan Luo crossed his arms on his chest; he couldn’t wait until the search was over. They would move to Lin Su next and he surely wouldn’t be able to escape from it.
He already imagined all sorts of scenarios where Lin Su’s career as an imperial guard got ruined because of this case. This stain definitely would ensure he wouldn’t be able to rise again.
However...
"Commander, we found a strange bottle here." An imperial guard reported to Commander Leng, jogging to him.
Yan Luo’s pupils constricted. "That’s impossible!"
Commander Leng stared at him with his sharp eyes. "Seeing Captain Yan’s reaction, I think we can already conclude what it is, right?"
At this moment, Lin Su also brought over the uneaten steamed bun to Commander Leng. The latter began to compare both, and even called Physician Yi to help identify both substances.
Physician Yi broke into cold sweat, and after Commander Leng told him he didn’t need to be afraid—he would ensure his safety—he began to speak more honestly.
"The powder inside the bottle, steamed bun, and Mr. Lin’s clothes are all the same."
With that, Yan Luo’s fate was sealed.
Commander Leng didn’t hesitate to order for more corporeal punishment. "Seventy strokes of military cane for Captain Yan."
Tomorrow morning, he would definitely not be able to get up and needed longer to heal compared to last time.
A lot of people witnessed his punishment, including the imperial guards under him who had come to take a look. Their feelings were quite complicated.
Yan Luo’s men had gotten better the next day, and the frequency of ’the call of nature’ wasn’t as high as the previous day, and thus, the exile party departed again.
A week had passed. Yan Luo had been behaving and didn’t make trouble.
However... their journey wouldn’t be that smooth, still.
When Ye Lingyue sneaked out at night again, she found the eldest son from the first branch and his wife discussing something shocking.