Moreover, although Yun Ni was usually a bit overbearing, she was straightforward and had no guile. How could she possibly collude with the theater troupe and instigate the Eighth Princess to deal with Yun Xi?
At this moment, the old lady seemed to suddenly think of something. Her cloudy eyes shot towards Jiang Shi beside her with icy coldness. Jiang Shi's face was equally pale and stiff.
Taking a deep breath, the old lady's fingers trembled as she pointed at Jiang Shi and said,
"It's you! It was you, wasn't it?!"
"First, you bribed the theater troupe. Then you arranged for Cui'er to drug someone. You even deliberately deceived me. Knowing that it would be hard to clean up the mess in the end, in order to get rid of the evidence, you even dragged Yun Ni out to be the scapegoat!"
The old lady gritted her teeth as she spoke. In the end, she almost completely believed her own speculation. The look in her eyes as she stared at Jiang Shi was like looking at a venomous snake. It was full of disdain and hatred!
"Servants!"
Suddenly, the old lady shouted. Pointing at Jiang Shi angrily, she said,
"She is the one who started all this! Tie her up immediately and send her to the Metropolitan Police Office!"
Now that the young master of the Li family had been seriously injured, and considering how much the Empress Dowager doted on the Eighth Princess, this matter would surely not end easily! If this matter dragged on, it could be a disaster for the entire Prime Minister's Mansion!
As the culprit of the whole thing, Jiang Shi definitely could not stay in the Prime Minister's Mansion any longer!
The servants in Yun Xi's courtyard didn't move at all, but the maids and women brought by the old lady immediately stepped forward upon hearing the order and seized Jiang Shi.
"Old madam, what are you talking about? I simply don't understand! Yun Ni is my own flesh and blood. How could I possibly frame her?!"
Jiang Shi struggled in panic. She never expected that the Metropolitan Police Office would act so quickly. In less than a day, they had investigated the whole matter.
Although she had made sufficient preparations to cover her tracks and was confident that no one would find out about her, she never expected that Yun Ni would become her fatal flaw!
"Moreover, a kind and innocent child like Yun Ni would never know how to buy that kind of incense. Someone must have deliberately framed her!"
"And Cui'er is also a big suspect! Could it be that she had a grudge against Yun Xi and had evil intentions? It's not impossible! Old madam, you can't just hastily convict me and let outsiders laugh at our Prime Minister's Mansion!"
Jiang Shi defended herself desperately, afraid that the old lady would sacrifice her regardless of her guilt in order to protect herself.
So in a hurry, she pulled out Cui'er, the most central figure in this incident, to take the blame, hoping that the old lady would give up the idea of sending her to the authorities.
After hearing Jiang Shi's words, the old lady did show hesitation. She couldn't help but look at Nanny Zhang beside her and said,
"Come to think of it, Xiao Cui has been missing since this morning. Nanny Zhang, do you know where she has gone? Does she have any family relatives in the capital?
If they could shift all the blame onto an insignificant maid, it would be the best thing for their Prime Minister's Mansion.
As for Jiang Shi, the old lady could deal with her privately. It would be better than making it public.
Seeing the old lady's thoughts, Yun Xi couldn't help but sneer.
"An insignificant maid would actually buy off a theater troupe to write a script and instigate the Eighth Princess to deal with her own young lady just to take revenge? Moreover, she could even predict the future and be sure that her plan would succeed. She bought the medicine in advance to frame her own young lady?!"
"If this is really the case, then everyone involved must be a fool! Moreover, she would not only need enough money to bribe the theater troupe but also enough courage to play tricks on the royal family!"
Such an absurd statement would not only not be believed by the shrewd Empress Dowager but also anyone on the street would think it was nonsense!
Yun Xi's sarcasm made the old lady's face turn red. She felt a bit embarrassed. Nanny Zhang then said,
"Reporting to the old madam, Cui'er has no father or mother. She only has a half-paralyzed grandmother at home. If we can't find her in the mansion, we can go there and take a look."
Just as Nanny Zhang was speaking, there was suddenly a rush of footsteps outside the door. The gatekeeper woman stumbled in from outside with a panicked face. Ignoring the pain on her body, she quickly got up and reported,
"Miss, something bad has happened! A woman committed suicide by slitting her throat at our courtyard gate!"
"What did you say?!"
Yun Xi was suddenly stunned. Her black eyes stared sharply at the woman who reported the news. The image of Cui'er flashed through her mind.
She subconsciously looked at Jiang Shi. Not surprisingly, she saw a faint smile on the corner of the latter's lips that had not yet been completely hidden. Immediately understanding what was going on, she quickly walked towards the courtyard gate.
Before long, the courtyard gate was full of onlookers. Even the Metropolitan Police Office had received the news and dispatched constables, who quickly rushed to the scene.
"Ah! It's Cui'er!"
Jiang Shi suddenly stepped forward and exclaimed. The old lady couldn't help but frown deeply. Since it was already very dark and there were only two dim lanterns at the courtyard gate, it was impossible to clearly distinguish the woman's face.
"Nanny Zhang, go over and take a look."
Looking at the woman lying in a pool of blood, Nanny Zhang felt a chill down her spine. She nodded and then walked over. Then she came back with her head down and reported,
"Old madam, it is indeed Cui'er."
Nanny Zhang's voice trembled. She sighed in her heart: This was a living life! She was fine this morning, but now...
The right and wrong in this big mansion were really not something that ordinary people like them could get involved in!
Nanny Zhang couldn't help but look at Yun Xi. She saw her standing there silently, her eyes fixed tightly on the corpse on the ground. She didn't know what she was thinking.
"She has a note in her hand!"
One of the constables suddenly said. The constable captain quickly unfolded it. By the dim light, he quickly scanned it and concluded in a deep voice,
"She committed suicide out of fear of punishment!"
Then the constable captain walked up to Yun Xi, handed the note to her, and said with a complicated expression but great respect,
"Princess, the person mentioned in this note should be you."
Yun Xi's expression was calm and indifferent. Her fingernails dug hard into the note. Without unfolding it, she casually threw it on the ground. The constable captain was surprised and couldn't help but ask,
"Princess, don't you want to know what this maid wanted to say to you?"
In response to the same question from everyone, there was not the slightest ripple on Yun Xi's face. She said bluntly,
"This wasn't written by her because she couldn't read or write."
She remembered that once when she was reading in the courtyard, Cui'er looked at her with envy and said that she wished she could read.
So, what was there for her to look at in a forged note? It would only fulfill someone's evil scheme and leave a more tragic mark on the dead.
The scene was once dead silent. Jiang Shi's face changed slightly. Thinking that she had unexpectedly overlooked this point in her haste, she quickly bent down and picked up the note from the ground and said,
"Although she couldn't read or write, it doesn't mean that she couldn't ask someone else to write for her?"
"Since she died because of you, if you don't read this suicide note, wouldn't her life have been sacrificed in vain?"
Jiang Shi's words were full of venom. She casually glossed over the fact that Cui'er couldn't write and justifiably shifted the blame for Cui'er's death onto Yun Xi, making her the target of public criticism!