C89

Seeing the palace maid coming out with a dagger, Xiao Jiu'an sneered.

He was a majestic emperor, yet he had framed a woman. He was truly "magnanimous".

Xiao Jiu'an did not reply to the Emperor. Instead, he adjusted his posture so that Ji Yunkai could look at the crowd. "Princess, have you seen this dagger before?"

Forget about the dagger, she did not even touch the teacup. The scenes of the assassination were all played by Grand Concubine Jing herself.

When Ji Yunkai's words fell, the old servant who was kneeling on the ground shouted excitedly, "Prince Yanbei's Wife is lying! Your Majesty… she's lying! It was this dagger that Prince Yanbei's Wife used to injure the Grand Imperial Concubine!"

She had personally injured the Grand Imperial Concubine with that dagger. Right now, she could only survive if she could fulfill the Emperor's orders.

"Whether I'm lying or not isn't something that you can decide with a single sentence." Ji Yunkai had already recovered a bit of energy so she let Xiao Jiu'an put her in a chair to the side.

"She did not say anything, and you did not say anything either. Prince Yanbei's Wife, can you prove your innocence?" The Emperor spoke indifferently, looking like he was a notary.

However, the situation now was very unfavorable for Ji Yunkai.

Unfortunately, if Xiao Jiu'an had not come, the Emperor would not bother giving her a chance.

"Oh, I'll give you a chance. If you can't prove your innocence, I'll hand you over to the Ministry of Justice to handle." His Majesty's words seemed fair, but in reality, it was unfair.

According to the Ministry of Justice's principle of handling cases, at this time, it was not to use evidence to prove Ji Yunkai's innocence, but rather to take out sufficient evidence to prove that the one who harmed was Ji Yunkai, and Ji Yunkai was innocent.

The Emperor would not follow the Ministry of Justice's orders, and Ji Yunkai did not expect the Emperor to follow the rules either.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." After Ji Yunkai thanked the Emperor, she pointed to the old servant kneeling on the ground and asked, "Can I ask her a few questions?"

"Sure." The Emperor did not think that just by asking questions, Ji Yunkai would be able to change anything and spoke in a very generous manner.

Of course, this was not the time for him to be generous. Xiao Jiu'an just sat at the side, although he did not say anything, his presence was not weak at all.

Ji Yunkai pressed down onto her chest and took a deep breath: "How many people have touched that dagger before? Have you wiped it before?"

Hearing that Ji Yunkai wanted to ask her questions, the old servant became extremely nervous, but after hearing her question, she immediately calmed down and calmly replied, "Replying to Prince Yanbei's Wife, other than This Servant, no one else has touched and nor has wiped it." The dagger was still stained with blood. If one were to say that it had been wiped, no one would believe it.

"Very good." Ji Yunkai smiled satisfactorily. She then turned to Xiao Jiu'an and said, "My Prince, can I trouble you to get someone to find me a few pieces of oily paper and a piece of dough?"

"What do you want that for?" Xiao Jiu'an frowned, he did not understand.

The Emperor also looked at Ji Yunkai, frowning.

"To prove my innocence." Nobody could frame her with something she has not touched.

"Are you confident?" Xiao Jiu'an asked.

Ji Yunkai nodded: "90%." Unless the person who did it was smart enough to erase all the fingerprints, but even if it were erased, it would still prove her innocence, wouldn't it?

"Alright." Xiao Jiu'an nodded and turned to look at the Emperor, "Your Majesty?"

"Go, get the thing Prince Yanbei's Wife wants." The Emperor did not know what Ji Yunkai was planning. Although he wanted to stop her, Xiao Jiu'an was sitting there.

The eunuch took out the oily paper and dough and presented them to the Emperor, panting for breath. "Your Majesty."

Without even looking at it, the Emperor ordered the eunuchs to throw the dough to Ji Yunkai. "Prince Yanbei's Wife, see if this is what you want."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Ji Yunkai did not touch it. She merely looked at the eunuch and indicated that he should put it down. Then, she ordered someone to wash her hands. She did not touch the dough throughout the entire process. She picked up a lump of dough, placed it on the oily paper, and then pressed it flat and thin with the oily paper.

"Your Majesty, are there any marks on the paper?" Ji Yunkai asked.

"Nope." He did not know how Ji Yunkai managed to do it, but the dough was extremely smooth and did not have a single mark.

"In that case, I'll start to prove it." Ji Yunkai gestured to the palace maid to bring the dagger in front of her. Holding onto the tip of the blade, she picked up the dagger, and using a piece of oily paper, she covered the handle of the dagger: "Your Majesty, from start to finish, I never touched the handle of the dagger."

"Is that so?" The Emperor smiled noncommittally, and ridicule flashed through his eyes.

Ji Yunkai said she didn't so she was innocent? Naive!

Ji Yunkai knew what the Emperor was thinking, but she did not care, and only said, "I will now prove to the Emperor that I never touched the handle of the dagger at all."

"How are you going to prove it?" The Emperor could not help but sit up straight, feeling uneasy.

Ji Yunkai took off the oily paper on the handle, unwrapped it, and showed it to the Emperor: "Your Majesty, look at this paper again, is there a trace?"

Fingerprints were on the paper, clear as day.

"This is...?" The Emperor could not help to lean forward, his brows creased tightly.

Things seemed to have slipped out of his control.

"These are the fingerprints of the person who held the dagger. That is to say, the prints of the murderer. To find the murderer, you only need to have someone compare fingerprints to it." Ji Yunkai sat in her original position without moving and took out another piece of oily paper. After wiping it flat, she pressed down with the fingerprints on her hands, "Finding the culprit is not my problem, I only need to prove my innocence. The Emperor can order people to compare my fingerprints."

Ji Yunkai brought two pieces of oily paper with fingerprints on them and asked the young eunuch to continue presenting them to the Emperor. Her eyes were calm, neither arrogant nor humble, and there was no arrogance in them after fighting back, and there was also no anger after being wronged. She just sat there, calmly, and looked straight at the Emperor, indifferent.…

However, facing Ji Yunkai's calm eyes, the Emperor felt inexplicably agitated. He felt that he was just a clown and that no matter what he did, he would just be a joke in Ji Yunkai's eyes.

"You... very good!" The Emperor used all his strength to stop himself from losing control, and only then did he restrain his impulse to send Ji Yunkai flying with a kick.

As expected, not marrying Ji Yunkai was the right thing to do. Forget about Ji Yunkai's face, just her personality alone, he would never like her.

He was the Emperor, but Ji Yunkai did not give him any face, and did not even put him in her eyes!