Chapter 593: Verification

Xiao Yin's words fell, and the surrounding onlookers' low murmurs rose at once.

Bai Xiaosheng furrowed his brows slightly, inhaled, and said, "Prince Rui, this time you have truly erred beyond reason; I must give the people a reckoning."

Xiao Yin sneered, "Fine! I, the Prince, will give the people a reckoning!"

Xiao Yin raised his hand and waved it down; Ling Feng walked over, stood before Chen Zhuo's corpse, and tore off the white cloth covering it.

A gasp rose from the surroundings, and several women and children standing nearby retreated in fright.

It turned out that Chen Zhuo's abdomen and throat had been cut open with a medium-sized wound, and from those openings, countless white worms slowly crawled out.

The worms were as fine as white threads, each about an inch long; their sheer density emerging from a single corpse was simply terrifying.

Bai Xiaosheng, upon seeing the scene, sprang to his feet and blurted, "Flower gu?"

Gu Jiu Ling turned her face and stared deeply at Bai Xiaosheng; indeed, he is the anti‑hero of the Bai Xiao Sect in the jianghu!

Being able to identify such a rare gu poison shows great knowledge.

Xiao Yin's brows twitched slightly, and he sneered coldly, "No wonder it's the Crown Prince; you can name such a rare thing at a glance."

Bai Xiaosheng twitched the corner of his eye, then chuckled, "This vile object is notoriously infamous, thoroughly wicked; I have heard of it before."

"Ha!" Xiao Yin scoffed.

He shifted his gaze to the pale‑faced Lin Jingyuan standing not far away and said slowly, "Young Master Lin probably knows this gu poison as well, right?"

Lin Jingyuan's lips trembled, and he remained silent, his expression oddly uncanny.

His body seemed stiffened a few degrees, standing there motionless.

The students behind him from the Imperial Academy shouted angrily.

"Xiao Yin! You shameless, despicable scoundrel!"

"How could you disgrace the late master's corpse? Such a heart deserves execution!"

"What exactly did you do to the master?"

Gu Jiu Ling felt a surge of frustration; these bastards can't do anything else, but they excel at slandering.

She stepped forward, sneering coldly, "If you question what my Prince did to Mr. Chen, shouldn't you first ask what you did to Mr. Chen yourself?"

"What did Mr. Chen eat and use in life, who attended him? You ought to inquire properly!"

The Imperial Academy students sneered loudly, "Your Rui Wang Fu people trample lives and commit every evil; what right do you have to point fingers at us?"

Gu Jiu Ling coldly stared at the idiots before her, "You merely conjecture, based on your own assumptions, what my Prince did to your Mr. Chen. Yet you ask how Mr. Chen was killed alive, and instead of finding the true culprit you smear others."

"Moreover, you claim our Rui Wang Fu people are incorrigibly evil—on what evidence? Is it enough that you babble nonsense?"

The leading Imperial Academy students, pointing at Chen Zhuo's corpse, coldly faced Gu Jiu Ling, "What more evidence do you need? Isn't Mr. Chen's death itself evidence? Wasn't his death by stone caused by your Prince Rui?"

"Now we don't know where the worms were obtained and placed in Mr. Chen's body; this matter is truly a scandal of the world!"

"You are the real scandalous thing!" Gu Jiu Ling could no longer hold back, shouting the insult.

She then turned to the Imperial Academy students, coldly saying, "Your lack of culture is frightening; never having seen the world, you waste your lives studying, traveling the rivers and lands—truly you should better understand local customs…"

"Even if you haven't heard of it, you wouldn't be so ignorant; it's laughable."

"The Crown Prince knows this flower gu, implanting insect eggs into Mr. Chen's body, where they multiply instantly and never cease; that is the true cause of Mr. Chen's death."

"Pure nonsense; how could Mr. Chen be afflicted by gu?"

"Yes, indeed!"

Gu Jiu Ling coldly looked at the silent Lin Jingyuan before her and said slowly, "Since you all have raised this question, perhaps we should ask Young Master Lin."

"Young Master Lin also carries this gu poison, doesn't he?"

As soon as Gu Jiu Ling finished speaking, the crowd erupted; everyone turned toward the two figures in the center, truly noticing that Lin Jingyuan's expression was off, the atmosphere turning dreadfully gloomy.

Lin Jingyuan, after a long pause, inhaled and said, "I don't know why the Princess of Yue says this; it's sheer alarmism. If I truly were infected with such a terrifying toxin, how could I possibly still be standing here?"

Gu Jiu Ling now looked at Lin Jing with a somewhat complex expression, laughed softly, "Young Master Ming must feel guilty, having isolated his own teacher; naturally you wish to follow the teacher."

"What nonsense are you spouting? That's my teacher; why would I torment my teacher and the Princess? Could it be that your Rui Wang Fu harbors some secret?"

Gu Jiu Ling crossed her arms, watching Lin Jingyuan's demeanor, and felt a bit steadier.

"What secrets the Princess of Yue's Yue Wangfu holds is irrelevant; I'm curious—since Mr. Cheng is a woman, why does reality turn to loneliness?"

"I don't know what you're talking about; I haven't been poisoned by any gu. Princess Rui must be mad."

A flash of hatred crossed Lin Jingyuan's eyes.

Seeing Lin Jingyuan like this, Gu Jiu Ling felt even more at ease.

She slowly produced a bundle, which contained several paper packets.

Gu Jiu Ling opened a paper packet before everyone, releasing a peculiar fragrance with hints of pine resin.

Gu Jiu Ling, still holding the packet, walked slowly toward Lin Jingyuan, "In that case, I shall be unreserved."

"If I accidentally smear this powder onto you, the worm gu inside you will be highly agitated and surely seep out of your body; we can see here on the spot whether it's real."

Lin Jingyuan's forehead instantly beaded with fine sweat; he wasn't fearing death, but wanted to witness Southern Qi's new political climate before dying, not being controlled by the martial families.

Throughout Southern Qi's history, generals have held positions slightly higher than Wang Chengsheng; they finally encountered the Crown Prince. Though the Crown Prince sometimes acts unreliably, at least he strictly implements their proposed reforms to curb court corruption. The results were orderly, yet unexpectedly the former Crown Prince was harmed by Xiao Yin.

Now Lin Jingyuan says that not hating Xiao Yin is false.

It seems someone walked toward the crowd with a paper packet, and the person oddly kept a far distance from the suspected area.

It appears someone finally halted, raised a hand, and thrust the tomb in their hand toward you, urging me to come over; you, in panic, let out a first roar, as if wanting to kill the supplicant outright.