Chapter 718: I Have a Friend
Translator: Pika
Zu An’s expression changed as he realized he had actually forgotten that detail! They hadn’t found their clothes anywhere back then. The ones who were scheming against them had definitely hidden them, and then placed them at the scene of the crime afterwards.
“What, you have nothing else to say?” Murong Tong sneered when he saw Zu An’s change in expression.
Zu An sighed and asked, “Isn’t this easy enough? Couldn’t someone just steal my clothes and throw them into the scene of the crime? My residence in the capital isn’t a secret, and there aren’t really any defenses. Any expert can go in and steal a set of clothes. What’s so hard about that?”
Murong Tong frowned. “Stealing your clothes is easy, but the crown princess is in the eastern palace. Her clothes aren’t so easily stolen!”
Zu An replied, “Then you should ask the crown princess about that. How the hell would I know how they were stolen?”
Murong Tong roared angrily, “That damn tongue of yours! It seems we won’t get anywhere without torture!”
Zu An said gloomily, “Sir Murong seems to want me to be involved with the crown princess this badly. I wonder what kind of ulterior motives you have.”
“Don’t try to slander me.” Murong Tong was already starting to get used to Zu An’s sharp words. “I’m merely doing this for the sake of the case.”
“Since it’s for the case, then isn’t this simple enough?” Zu An said, “You can all seek out the experienced wet nurses to examine the crown princess’ body, and see if she was violated by a man. Won’t you find what you’re looking for then?”
Everyone in the room fell silent and exchanged a few looks. Then Murong Tong said, “You sound quite confident. Is it because you already knew the crown princess is a virgin that you’re making us investigate this?”
Zu An feigned shock. “What? The crown princess was actually a virgin? How long has she been married to the crown prince already?” He was even starting to admire his own acting skills. He obviously wouldn’t admit that he had learned that detail from the jailers.
Murong Tong harrumphed. “Why would you be so confident unless you knew the truth? Did the crown princess tell you that when you met with her in private?”
Zhen Xueyi frowned unhappily and warned, “Brother Murong, please watch your words.”
Only now did Zu An reply, “I don’t know anything about the crown princess’ circumstances. However, whether or not she’s been violated isn’t something only virginity will prove. You can check if she fits snugly.”
“Fits snugly?” The interrogators’ eyes went blank. However, they had lived for a long time, and they had spent their fair share of time in the brothels. Their hairs were graying now and they were truly experienced veterans in that field so they immediately realized what he was saying. Their expressions were a bit strange when they looked at Zu An. This fellow really was something! He could use such a phrase in this way.
Zu An was confused by their reactions, but he still continued, “You can also check if the crown princess’ personal clothing has any traces of male fluids. You can also check the smell. Once you look into all of this, then you can easily discern that both the crown princess and I are innocent.”
Jiang Boyang coughed. “The palace has already examined all of this. The crown princess is indeed pure and unharmed. However…”
Murong Tong continued, “There is one other thing. You were seen by the palace’s personnel when you two carried out illicit activities, and that was why you stopped. There’s no way to prove that the two of you really are innocent.”
Zu An shrugged. “If you say it like that, then there’s nothing I can do.” At the same time, he sighed in praise internally. Murong Tong and Jiang Boyang were expert investigators, as expected. They were already extremely close to the truth of what had happened between him and the crown princess.
Zhen Xueyi spoke up. “What do the two of you think?”
Jiang Boyang said seriously. “Judging from the various clues, I believe Zu An was most likely framed.”
Zu An felt warm inside. As expected of the gorgeous principal’s dad! He knows how to treasure his future son-in-law after all.
Murong Tong harrumphed. “But we can’t eliminate the possibility that he and the crown princess have something going on between them.”
Zu An thought to himself, I won’t agree to your granddaughter’s wedding to Youzhao. Let’s see what you’ll do then!
Zhen Xueyi said, “Since both sides have reason to support their claim and we lack proof, then we can only seek out that person.”
“Indeed. Once he interferes, we’ll immediately know the truth.” Jiang Boyang nodded in agreement.
Murong Tong said a bit hesitantly, “But he usually doesn’t get involved in this type of thing. He might not agree!”
Zhen Xueyi chuckled coldly. “This matter has involved the crown princess, and it will affect our empire itself. He has to agree even if he doesn’t want to.”
Zu An was completely confused. “Who are you all talking about?”
“The Royal Academy’s Libationer, Chen Si,” Murong Tong said with a cold laugh. “Libationer Chen is proficient in divination. He can distinguish the hearts of people. No one can tell lies before him.” A libationer was equivalent to a headmaster, but their authority was far greater.
Zu An was shocked and thought, There’s someone this OP in this world? Doesn’t this mean that Chen Si is basically a hundred percent accurate lie detector? That’s such a pain in the ass!
Murong Tong smirked. “Your heart is beating pretty quickly. Are you nervous?”
Zu An shivered. These fellows were all powerful experts, so they were able to pick up on these things. However, he reacted quickly and said with a smile, “It’s not fear, but rather excitement. I can finally express my innocence! Can you bring Sir Libationer here sooner so I can get out of here earlier?”
Murong Tong was starting to lose confidence when he saw the excitement in Zu An’s expression. Could it be that this guy really had a clear conscience?
…
Their party quickly left to report the matter to the emperor. At the same time, they had to invite Libationer Chen here.
Zu An was brought back into his prison cell. Everything inside had already been cleaned out, and Guo Zhi had even arranged for a jailer to stand guard outside for fear that someone else would try anything. Zhuxie Chixin came over when he received the news as well. He sent a group of Embroidered Envoys to oversee the place just in case something was wrong with the jailers. With both sides keeping each other in check, not even a single fly would be able to get in.
Zu An sank deep into thought when he saw the Embroidered Envoys. It looks like the one who wanted me dead isn’t the emperor. Who was it then? Also, what do I do about that freaking lie detector?
It wasn’t that he was scared of Libationer Chen, because he had the ridiculous Keyboard Come skill. That was enough to help him make it through this ordeal, but the side effects were a bit too strong.
But even though he could pass the test, what about the crown princess’ side? What if this Libationer Chen went over to test the crown princess too? Wouldn’t they both be seen through?
He began to panic when he thought of that possibility. Unfortunately, he was locked up and couldn’t do anything.
Suddenly, he thought of something. He realized that he hadn’t pulled his lottery in a while. Since he had nothing better to do, then he’d just take care of that. He calculated his points, and found that he had 358,655 Rage points in total. After he had arrived at the capital, the people he dealt with had had higher cultivations, and all of them had offered more Rage points.
He gave the surrounding jailers a look. They weren’t paying any attention to him, so he began pulling the lottery.
Thank you for playing… Thank you for playing… Thank you for playing…
Suddenly, the keyboard stopped on the P key.
Congratulations for winning a new skill: “I Have a Friend!”