Chapter 1309 Speculation?
“Chen Xuan, what should we do?”
Su Yunxi’s delicate face tightened, her expression nervous as she asked through gritted teeth.
She was at a loss, her hopes pinned entirely on Chen Xuan.
“Don’t worry, we’ll return safely,” Chen Xuan said with a faint smile. He continued, “Emperor Su, you said that allowing the Su family of the capital to return to the capital was the greatest grace, and that the Vermillion Bird lineage was treated very well in the capital, with the capital’s Su family showing great favor to us.”
“Did you say that?”
“Yes, I did.” Emperor Su frowned, unsure why Chen Xuan was asking this.
“Then let me ask you, was it you who poisoned Su Yunxi?!” Chen Xuan asked, his brow furrowed.
“What nonsense are you talking about?” Emperor Su’s expression changed, but he quickly regained his composure. “If you slander me without basis, do you believe I won’t have you cut into a thousand pieces?”
The others also started pointing and chattering, thinking Chen Xuan was spouting nonsense. How could Emperor Su do such a thing? The members of the Vermillion Bird lineage looked shocked, unable to believe Chen Xuan would say such a thing.
Chen Xuan smiled, “I have proof!”
“Proof? What proof do you have?”
Chen Xuan chuckled, “Perhaps everyone here doesn’t know, but I am also a doctor and have some research in medicine. The moment Su Yunxi was poisoned, I knew the poison she ingested was the Hehuan San!”
“Hehuan San only takes effect thirty minutes after being administered.”
“What exactly are you trying to say? Are you trying to show off your medical skills?”
“Patriarch, please don’t rush, let me explain slowly.” Chen Xuan was not offended and continued, “I once asked Su Chenglong. When he saw Su Yunxi entering the private room of Ge Xiaoshan, the young master of the Ge family, and then came to call us, and after we entered the private room, only ten minutes had passed. Yet, Su Yunxi’s Hehuan San had already taken effect.”
“Therefore, Su Yunxi was not poisoned after entering the private room, but before entering it.”
Someone who was unwilling to accept this probed about the interval, asking if Su Yunxi was indeed poisoned by Hehuan San. Chen Xuan stated that if they didn’t believe him, they could have blood drawn for examination. The Su family members were then speechless, as even though Su Yunxi had woken up, there were still residual traces in her body, which would be detectable through a blood test.
Su Yunxi’s eyes widened in astonishment. Until now, she believed she had been poisoned after entering the private room. But when was she poisoned? And who administered the poison?
“But even if you prove that Su Yunxi was not poisoned in the private room, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the Ge family didn’t poison Su Yunxi outside?” Emperor Su remained very calm.
“You are correct. My previous words cannot clear the Ge family of the capital from suspicion, but…” Here, Chen Xuan took out a square piece of white paper and said, “But I discovered this paper on Su Chenglong. This paper has residual traces of Hehuan San!”
Swish, swish, swish! All eyes turned to Su Chenglong, whose face turned ashen. He never expected that the thing he least wanted to happen had indeed occurred. In fact, Chen Xuan had suspected Su Chenglong was involved from the moment he left the Vermillion Bird lineage. Since Su Chenglong harbored ill intentions towards the Vermillion Bird lineage, why would he introduce Su Yunxi to important figures? Thus, Chen Xuan asked that question to Su Chenglong, aiming to ascertain whether Su Yunxi was poisoned before or after entering the private room. As for the white paper wrapping the medicine, Chen Xuan had pilfered it from Su Chenglong. Fortunately, the fellow hadn’t discarded the evidence.
Upon seeing the paper, even Emperor Su’s face turned extremely grim! The surroundings became chaotic. The Su family members of the capital exchanged glances, with some casting their gazes towards Emperor Su. Su Chenglong lacked the audacity to commit such an act of assassination by proxy and frame-up; therefore, there must be a mastermind behind this, and it was likely Emperor Su!
Chen Xuan smiled, “As for why, what I say next is speculation and may not be entirely true. Just listen.”
“Let me start from the beginning. In truth, our Su family’s Patriarch Emperor Su looks down upon our Vermillion Bird lineage. However, the Su family of the capital faced a crisis and had only two options to resolve it.”
“The first option was to use the Vermillion Bird lineage’s new lithography machine industry to strengthen the Su family’s power in the capital. The second option was to form a partnership with Xuan Yun Group.”
“Since a partnership with Xuan Yun Group could not be established, they chose our Vermillion Bird lineage. However, they didn’t expect that later the Su family of the capital would reach a cooperation with Xuan Yun Group, allowing the Su family of the capital to temporarily resolve their crisis.”
“However, Emperor Su coveted the Vermillion Bird lineage’s lithography machine industry and wanted to enhance the Su family’s strength in the capital. But our Vermillion Bird lineage was newly arrived and did not feel at ease, repeatedly delaying this matter, which greatly dissatisfied Emperor Su.”
“Therefore, our Patriarch Emperor Su orchestrated this elaborate scheme, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone. It could both slander the Ge family and strike down a rival, and also force my Yunxi to hand over the Vermillion Bird lineage’s new lithography machine industry.”
“However, what exceeded Emperor Su’s plan was the appearance of me, Chen Xuan. I crippled the young master of the Ge family, and this incident spiraled out of control.”
Chen Xuan paused here. Hearing these words, everyone exchanged glances, contemplating Chen Xuan’s speech and then began to murmur and point. Many people started analyzing Chen Xuan’s words and felt they made a lot of sense. However, deep down, they were unwilling to believe that their patriarch was such a despicable person. Many cursed Chen Xuan as base and shameless, throwing mud at him.
“Everyone, please don’t get so agitated. I am merely speculating. If you are so agitated, does it mean you are guilty?” This remark managed to somewhat calm the surrounding people, preventing them from becoming even more incensed.
“Patriarch, can we leave now?” Chen Xuan looked at Emperor Su and smiled faintly. His words were ambiguous, giving Emperor Su some leeway, but also containing a veiled threat. If Emperor Su dared to prevent their departure, Chen Xuan could reveal the entire matter, utterly disgracing Emperor Su and making him the shame of the Su family!
Emperor Su’s face turned ashen upon hearing this. However, he knew he could no longer stop Chen Xuan and the others. Earlier, he could openly detain the members of the Vermillion Bird lineage because Chen Xuan had caused immense trouble, providing a legitimate reason. But now, the nature of the situation had changed. It was Emperor Su who poisoned the Su family members and framed the Ge family of the capital in an attempt to deal with them. People of the capital valued their reputation, and the prestigious Su family of the capital valued it even more. With such a scandal, how could he still have the face to seize the Vermillion Bird lineage’s assets, and even more so, no reason to detain the Vermillion Bird lineage. He was extremely unwilling, but he said nothing further.
“Yunxi, let’s go.” Chen Xuan knew Emperor Su was prepared to let them go and turned to Su Yunxi and the others.