Miss Truth

"This matter is full of doubts, and yet not one can prove it was the work of the Ah family." Ran Yan said.

Everyone looked at her in surprise, but they soon realized that this daughter-in-law of low birth must be eager to please the Ah family and thus had spoken up. Therefore, no one took her words to heart for the moment.

Ran Yan understood what they were thinking but kept her composure, speaking in an even tone, "Firstly, from morning until now, the Ah family has been in everyone’s sight, busy with arranging the funeral of the grandmother and didn’t have any spare time to plan this; secondly, what would be the motive for the Ah family to do such a thing? The grandmother made it clear—the object was to be delivered to the Ah family by Ling Xiang, and then the Ah family was to present it to the aunt in the palace. Even if there was a need to tamper with the contents, the item would eventually end up in the Ah family’s hands anyway, they could have done it quietly. Why choose murder and robbery? Thirdly, one might consider that certain things need not be done by the Ah family personally, but this murder was clearly premeditated. The grandmother’s death was unexpected; how could the Ah family possibly have committed this crime in such a short time? And how could they use their own maid, Maid Tuo, with such impunity after the murder?"

Ran Yan listed the doubts one by one, and while everyone else could think of these points as well, no one had questioned the motive because the judgement on the Du Guxi hadn’t yet been set, and how could they treat the formidable Duchess as a suspect and interrogate her? Duke Song would never agree to it.

However, as Ran Yan laid out the arguments so clearly, everyone couldn’t help but glance toward Xiao Song, obviously suspecting that he had coached her.

There were more pieces of evidence on the corpse, but Ran Yan knew she could not discuss these matters in front of everyone. So she merely said, "The murderer’s clumsy methods of framing someone raise the question: do they think the Ah family is not clever enough, or do they doubt the wisdom of the elders here? I truly cannot understand. Besides, Doctor Liu has said there are many doubts about Ling Xiang’s body, and the seniors here may question him."

The expressions of the crowd varied, and Xiao Jing also found himself cornered. Ran Yan’s words were eloquent, making it seem that if he arrested Du Guxi, he would be a fool—yet with the suspicion still there, he couldn’t simply ignore it.

The room fell quiet for a moment before Xiao Song suddenly said, "Our Xiao residence hasn’t been very peaceful recently. It seems we must strengthen the mansion’s security."