In just one night, the Ma family case shocked the whole city.

Jiang Yuzhu went downstairs to have breakfast in the lobby and listened to the discussion between the shopkeeper and the diners, who analyzed the case in great detail.

"Don't think that Ma Lao Er appears innocent in this matter. Cuilan's son looks like Ma Lao Da, and it was he who reported it to Ma Lao Tou!"

In order to fight for the property, Ma Laoer secretly "took great pains".

"I heard that the Ma family members were all imprisoned, and Xiaobao was taken away!"

When this happened, the Ma family’s relatives felt ashamed and none of them showed up.

Everyone was surprised to see someone taking Xiaobao away.

The shopkeeper stroked his beard and said in a pretentious tone, "How could you forget the key point? The scoundrel saved Cuilan and Xiaobao, and was very kind to them. But she crashed her head into the hall and died, never mentioning the little thief who saved them."

"Yes, and the belongings in the house on North Street. I heard they sold for quite a bit of money."

Cuilan had followed Old Man Ma for many years, so she had to get some money from him, which she probably gave to the little thief to entrust his child to.

Everyone sat together to discuss it, but in the end no one could come to a conclusion.

By noon, the herbal medicine merchant had already collected all the herbs and found a security team to take over.

After checking the quality, Jiang Yuzhu sent someone to deliver a letter to Shen Zhilan, and the group prepared to set off.

Shen Zhilan and her daughter returned to the inn, bringing with them a middle-aged woman with a sad face and a girl of about sixteen or seventeen. The girl kept her head down and her expression could not be seen clearly.

In private, Shen Zhilan held Jiang Yuzhu's hand and sighed, "My mother remembered that she had a distant cousin who married in the north. More than ten years ago, the two of them had correspondence, but later stopped."

"My mother went to the house according to the address in the letter and was told that the original owner had moved away long ago."

In order to find the person, Shen Zhilan paid money to ask someone, and finally found the person.

"My cousin's mother-in-law has put her trust in the wrong person. Her husband has squandered the family fortune on drinking, whoring and gambling. When he runs out of money, he beats his wife and daughter. He's truly a piece of shit!"

Shen Zhilan came to the door and just happened to witness a thrilling scene.

The man was tied up with ropes, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was trying to break free by rolling on the ground.

The rope was embedded in the flesh and was suddenly torn apart. The man picked up the hatchet and was about to kill his wife and daughter like a madman.

"My mother is timid and almost fainted from fright."

Chen Zhilan asked the neighbors for help, but the neighbors were afraid of being hated. In the end, money talks, and Chen Zhilan paid the money to settle the matter.

"My cousin's husband bought a kind of drug powder at a high price. After taking it, he became extremely high and manic, almost wanting to kill someone."

There's really no need to get entangled with this kind of jerk.

Shen Zhilan agreed with her aunt and cousin to send a carriage at night to quietly pick up the person.

Once we get to Jiangnan, with the support of the Shen family, we won’t be afraid of any scum causing trouble.

"Besides, with his skeletal body, he won't live long."

Shen Zhilan's words revealed disgust. When she entered the city at dawn, she learned that a bizarre murder had occurred in the city.

When they returned to the room, Hong Jin entered first and gestured to Hong Li to close the door.

"Madam, as you instructed, I interrogated Boss Ma at night and found out that Cuilan had indeed arranged for the powder to be purchased on the black market."

Black market transactions are shady and it is not easy to find the source.

However, Hong Jin found some clues and followed them to trace the cause to several prodigal sons in the city who had squandered their family fortune.

Among them was Shen Zhilan’s uncle-in-law.

"These people were all controlled by the drug powder, and their vast wealth was drained away bit by bit. Eventually, their families fell into poverty, their wives and children were separated, some died, and some were left disabled."

"The powder has been flowing in from Sucheng in the south of the Yangtze River for some time."

Ordinary people cannot afford this kind of "magic powder", so it is sold to merchants who have money and are looking for excitement.

"What did you say it was?"

Jiang Yuzhu was very surprised. She remembered that her second brother Jiang Huaiqing had brought back a lot of strange medicinal powders when he went to inspect shops in the south.

In addition to the Chunfeng San that Zhao Fendie wanted, there is also Shenxian San.

"My second brother also gave me a pack."

Because of the high price, Jiang Huaiqing was reluctant to use it and left the best ones to Jiang Yuzhu.

Jiang Yuzhu thought it was a love-making powder and was not interested in it. She casually threw it into a box in the inner house of Xie's mansion and kept it at the bottom of the box.

"The gods have caused great harm to people. Most of the families in the city who have inherited their property for generations have fallen into ruin."

The huge family fortune was sold off bit by bit, and in the end not even the mansion was left.

Hongxiu followed the clues and found a family living in a shack in the slums in the north of the city. They had to eat porridge three times a day and were not even as good as ordinary people.

“That’s the crux of the matter.”

Purifying the rice husk flower and making the harmful magic powder is just for the purpose of harming people?

Relying on the black industry behind it, he successfully made a lot of money.

Millions of taels or even more of silver flowed into the pockets of the mastermind behind the scenes. Was he just doing it for the money?

When you have more money, you should have other thoughts and want to get greater benefits.

Only by gaining enough power can you keep the money in your hands.

Jiang Yuzhu boldly speculated that, in addition to human trafficking, the money earned by the gods was enough to support private soldiers and use for rebellion.

So is the person behind the scenes the Xuan family?

"Madam, should we write a letter to inform the master?"

Hong Jin became more and more frightened the more he thought about it, and asked hurriedly.

"Don't alert the enemy yet. Wait until Jiangnan investigates secretly, then you can go there in person."

The mastermind behind the scenes is not simple, and writing a letter is undoubtedly the fastest way to expose it.

Besides, Jiang Yuzhu was not sure whether Xie Zhao knew about it.

"Hongjin, find a way to buy some magic powder, put two white mice in a cage, and take them on the road."

Among the maids, Hong Jin was the most cautious in her work. After Jiang Yuzhu gave Hong Jin instructions, she lay down on the couch and took a nap.

Before the group left, the officials from the yamen delivered a message.

Hongli was so surprised when she heard the new news that she couldn't close her mouth: "Madam, Boss Ma strangled himself with an iron chain in prison."

"Yeah?"

Jiang Yuzhu didn't even blink, not surprised at all. "The prefect was questioning Boss Ma about the source of his drug powder, so he took the opportunity to commit suicide out of fear of punishment, right?"

"Madam, you are so foresighted. I admire you!"

Hongli clasped his fists and said, "I can't understand why Boss Ma committed suicide. He clearly said before that he wanted to see his son Xiaobao one last time."

"Why do you think he committed suicide?"

Jiang Yuzhu had said all she wanted to say, and she wouldn’t say anything more.

Thanks to having replaced Boss Ma with a prisoner in advance, Hong Jin was able to interrogate him alone. If he had been a step later and waited for the other party to take action, he would not have been able to find out the source of the drug powder.

It was already late, and before the city gates were closed, Jiang Yuzhu and his group marched out of the city with a escort team carrying medicinal herbs.

In the shadows of the city gate, two people kept their eyes on the group.

One of them said, "Let's use Boss Ma's son to force him to death. There will be no evidence. Jiang Yuzhu is a fool, so he shouldn't be aware of anything, right?"