Chapter 344: Accusation

Chapter 344: The Accusation

"Miss Murong, how do you intend to take responsibility for your words?"

Ji Yuntang already had a vague suspicion in her mind.

The person who framed her must be among these examinees.

And with Murong Yue stepping forward at this moment, she was undoubtedly the most likely suspect.

But did she really have the audacity to have someone swap her exam paper?

Murong Yue's heart lurched under Ji Yuntang's cold gaze, but she quickly composed herself.

"On what grounds should I be responsible for your cheating? It's not like I, this young lady, told you to cheat."

Ji Yuntang smiled faintly. "Everyone must take responsibility for their words. You've baselessly suspected me—I can't just stay silent about that, can I?"

She then looked at Cheng Rushan and said, "Headmaster Cheng, to prove my innocence, let me write a poem for everyone on the spot. Right and wrong will be clear at a glance."

Cheng Rushan immediately had someone bring her paper and brush.

Ji Yuntang picked up the brush and wrote: "You are the true beauty of this world, untouched by the dust of worldly strife."

"Seeing you is like ascending to the clouds—rarely does one find such a sight in this world."

This poem is from Luo Xi's "Roasting People."

Her brushwork was round, vigorous, and flowing with beauty, yet retained a robust, profound quality. The entire piece was as smooth as flowing clouds and water—carefree and uninhibited, just like her personality.

Cheng Rushan's mouth twitched wildly as he read Ji Yuntang's poem. This acrostic poem of hers was quite clever.

On the surface it praised, but in reality it was roasting them.

And even though you were being roasted, you couldn't find a single flaw to point out.

He placed the two essays side by side for comparison, and the difference in handwriting was instantly visible!

Unlike Ji Yuntang's neat and graceful script, the essay falsely accusing her of plagiarism had characters that were crooked and uneven, all over the place.

Some characters were so illegible that even the examiner couldn't recognize them.

Cheng Rushan declared his judgment: "This is indeed not Princess Ye's handwriting style. No matter how brilliant a scholar someone is, the difference between handwriting styles couldn't be this drastic. This essay was clearly written by someone else."

Murong Yue was shocked into silence upon hearing this, and her face instantly turned grim.

This handwriting style had been given to her by Ji Qingqing, claiming it was a prescription written by Ji Yuntang's own hand, and telling her to find someone skilled at imitating handwriting to copy it.

Was she really fooled by Ji Qingqing?

A sudden, inexplicable irritation welled up in Murong Yue's heart. She felt Ji Qingqing wasn't trying to get revenge on Ji Yuntang, but was going after her instead.

It was common knowledge that she liked Ji Zihang, but no one had anticipated that Ji Zihang would be implicated in a case.

He had already been eliminated, with no chance of making it to the next round.

Ji Qingqing was jealous that Murong Yue had done better on the exam than Ji Zihang, and she surely wanted to drag Murong Yue down with her to suffer alongside Ji Zihang.

He committed the crime, she made false accusations—both were targeting Ji Yuntang.

If this were ever exposed, Murong Yue felt she would probably be finished too!

At the very least, her end wouldn't be any better than Ji Zihang's.

She racked her brain for a way to respond, then turned and saw the guard in the flying-fish uniform who had collected the exam papers being escorted up in chains.

The one escorting him under arrest was Prince Chen, Luo Sinian.

Luo Sinian kicked the guard in the knee, and the man's legs buckled, sending him crashing to the ground.

A fierce glint flashed in his eyes as he said coldly, "My men just caught this guard acting furtively at the entrance, as if trying to flee, so they apprehended him."

"Upon questioning, it turned out he was the guard who collected Third Imperial Sister-in-Law's exam paper."

The next moment, Luo Sinian drew the sword from his waist and held it to the guard's neck.

"Speak—did you swap Princess Ye's exam paper?"

The icy blade brushed against his skin, and the guard, scared out of his wits, immediately confessed everything.

"Spare my life, Prince Chen! This has nothing to do with your humble subordinate! It was Third Miss Murong who instigated me to do this!"

Ji Yuntang's eyes turned icy cold, then quickly returned to normal. She asked, "Third Miss Murong ordered you? Are you certain?"

The guard nodded wildly. "Certain! Your subordinate wouldn't dare lie!"

"I owed a large sum at a gambling den outside. Third Miss Murong came to me and said she could help me pay off my debt in full—as long as I did what she told me, she'd give me a hefty sum. In the heat of the moment, I agreed!"

"Earlier this morning, she gave me an exam paper with Princess Ye's name written on it and told me to find a chance to swap the two papers, then dispose of Princess Ye's original!"

"But I was afraid there was something fishy about it, and also worried that Third Miss Murong might renege and not pay me, so I didn't hurry to destroy Princess Ye's paper. It's still in your subordinate's possession right now."

Upon hearing this, Murong Yue nearly fainted from rage.

This traitor!

He had promised to keep his lips sealed and even gave her a written pledge—and then in the next moment, he sold her out!

Feeling the pressure of the circumstances, Murong Yue immediately knelt on the ground and said in a tearful tone, "Please judge wisely, Prince Chen! Your subject has never met this man. He's talking nonsense and falsely accusing me!"

Luo Sinian narrowed his eyes slightly and said in a deep, grave voice, "Whether he's talking nonsense or not, we'll know once he produces the exam paper!"

He sheathed his sword, and the guard immediately pulled an exam paper from inside his robe, handing it over with both hands.

"This is the real exam paper of Princess Ye."

Mei Zhuyu was the first to grab it. After reading it, he cried out, "Excellent, excellent! This essay is well-organized with clever sentence structure—it's wonderfully written!"

"I, this hall master, said it from the start—with Princess Ye's caliber, how could she possibly plagiarize someone else's work?"

"To put it without exaggeration, the fu essay on prefectures and counties she wrote is far above the level of the model essay provided by the Hanlin Academy!"

Murong Yue also saw Ji Yuntang's essay, but her focus wasn't on the content—it was on the handwriting.

With this comparison, she realized that the handwriting she had commissioned to be copied was miles apart from Ji Yuntang's actual script!

One looked like a dog's scratching, while the other was neat and powerful.

She realized once again that she might have been tricked by Ji Qingqing!

Mu Rongyue was so furious she could've killed Ji Qingqing!

But what she didn't know was that Ji Qingqing hadn't lied to her—the prescription she provided was indeed written by Ji Yuntang.

Everyone knew that the more prestigious a physician was in the martial world, the sloppier and wilder their handwriting was.

To save time, they'd dash off multiple strokes in one quick motion.

Whether others could read it didn't matter, as long as the pharmacy apprentice could.

So the copied answer sheet was in that same messy style.

However, so much time had passed that even Ji Yuntang had forgotten all about it.

Before the competition, she'd spent three days practicing calligraphy at Prince Ye's residence, with Luo Junhe personally guiding her, so it was only natural that her handwriting had changed.

Ji Qingqing's scheme backfired—she figured that by having someone copy Ji Yuntang's handwriting, everything would be foolproof, but she never expected Ji Yuntang to deviate from the usual pattern, ultimately harming Mu Rongyue instead.

Mu Rongyue was now scared out of her wits!

All because she'd just heard Prince Chen say this.

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