Chapter 212 Beauty's Schemes (15) - Arsenic Poison

After the Dowager Consort saw Ning Shu off with a smile, her face darkened.

She instructed Zhao Mama: "No matter who she chooses to help, make sure to give them careful instructions and keep a close eye on her."

Granny Zhao: "Your Highness, please rest assured, the Prince has also made thorough preparations."

As soon as Zhao Mama left the Dowager Consort's courtyard, she saw Ning Shu waiting outside.

Ning Shu stepped forward: "Granny Zhao, I'd like to ask you something."

Granny Zhao left with Ning Shu without making a sound, and they found a small pavilion.

Ning Shu pulled Zhao Mama down to sit: "Mama, I want to ask, are the Third Miss Gao and the Fourth Miss Gao not the same mother?"

Granny Zhao was surprised that Ning Shu asked about the Gao family, and even brought up the fourth young lady of the Gao family, just like before.

She answered truthfully, "Of course, otherwise there would be no distinction between legitimate daughters and illegitimate daughters."

Ning Shu: "So that means if the date involves family members, only Miss Gao's mother can be invited, and Miss Gao's mother won't be coming, right?"

Granny Zhao thought that Miss Ruyi was really a fool. Did she even need to ask that question?

Why invite the father's concubine to the wedding of the legitimate daughter? Isn't that a slap in the face to the mistress? She really is an uncultured maid.

Ning Shu was unaware of such matters; lacking common sense in this area, she naturally wanted to find out.

Granny Zhao patiently explained the affairs of the inner quarters to Ning Shu, and Ning Shu finally gained a general understanding.

When she heard Granny Zhao mention that the mistress had the right to arrange marriages for her illegitimate daughters, her eyes lit up.

He asked urgently, "Isn't the marriage of a concubine's daughter decided by her biological mother and father?"

Granny Zhao was already used to her stupid questions: "Concubines have no right to make decisions; everything is decided by the master and mistress."

Ning Shu understood. If the engagement was to be dissolved, it should be done by the mistress, not the concubine.

Therefore, her target should be Gao Rong's mother, not Gao Zhi's.

Oh dear, she'd been doing the graffiti in the wrong direction all along. Luckily, she stumbled upon this incident by chance, otherwise she'd still be completely confused.

She humbly asked Granny Zhao, "Granny, what are some situations in which a man and a woman cannot marry?"

She heard that people in ancient times believed a lot about whether the horoscopes were compatible, and if they weren't, parents wouldn't allow the couple to get married.

When Zhao Mama heard Ning Shu ask this, she thought Ning Shu must be out of her mind to ask such a question.

However, she held back and patiently explained: "People with the same surname should not marry, relatives should not marry, people of different social classes should not marry, officials and commoners should not marry, people who have committed adultery or runaways should not marry, and people who marry outside of the proper time should not marry."

After explaining this, he further explained the context of each word to Ning Shu, who then summarized it as follows:

The prohibition against marriage between people with the same surname or from members of the same clan is to prevent issues related to blood relations and ethics.

The prohibition of marriage between the common people and officials was a product of the hierarchical concept of social status.

"Escape from marriage due to illicit relationship" means that marriage is not permitted between individuals with an improper relationship.

The custom of not marrying during the mourning period refers to the requirement of observing a three-year mourning period after the death of one's parents, during which marriage is prohibited.

That's roughly the situation, which is different from Ning Shu's expectations.

The fact that there's no issue of incompatible birth charts in it means that the metaphysics of graffiti can't solve the problem, right?

She needs to think of a solution. Because of the Empress Dowager's request, Ning Shu stayed at the Prince's residence today to prepare for the date between the Prince and his future wife.

When Prince Rui heard that Ning Shu had accepted the task assigned by the Dowager Consort, he said nothing. After Zhao Mama left, he summoned his advisor to discuss his plan.

At noon, Xia Ju returned with the message that Tuya had given her, and Ning Shu was very grateful.

She spent a day coming up with a plan and reported it to the Dowager Princess the next day.

The Dowager was very satisfied and instructed the other capable maids and stewards in the mansion to finalize the details of the appointment.

Ning Shu hurriedly left the Prince's Mansion and headed to the inn where Tuya was staying. The two of them then went to Dali Temple together.

This time, Ning Shu insisted that the gatekeeper inform Cui Zeyu and request that the graffiti be brought into Dali Temple. Cui Zeyu allowed it to pass because the graffiti had been brought as evidence the day before.

Before taking Tuya inside, Ning Shu told him to observe carefully and see if there were any clues to help him pass the level. Tuya said he had made a note of it.

When Cui Zeyu saw Ning Shu arrive, she asked someone to offer her a seat. After Ning Shu sat down, she got straight to the point:

"Sir, did you have someone investigate the powder in the two bowls that the graffiti delivered yesterday? What is it?"

Cui Zeyu didn't expect her to be in such a hurry, and didn't hide it from her: "It's arsenic."

Arsenic, poison!

Ning Shu realized he had overlooked a question: "Sir, what kind of poison killed the Wu family? Was it arsenic as well?"

Cui Zeyu nodded.

Ning Shu suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "Then you can check which of the suspects recently bought arsenic."

We need to investigate not only those in the capital, but also those in nearby cities.

This can narrow down the search area, or even lead to the capture of the murderer.

Ning Shu's words are all based on the assumption that Yin Xinyue is innocent.

Cui Zeyu couldn't understand how the girl in front of him could be so sure that Yin Xinyue was innocent.

The truth is that Ning Shu didn't care at all whether Yin Xinyue was innocent or not. To put it bluntly, even if the other party was the murderer, she still had to rescue her, otherwise how could she complete the mission?

Cui Zeyu looked at Ning Shu's excited face and felt a strange sense of unease.

He felt that the girl in front of him didn't seem to have grown up in the Great Wei Dynasty.

“Miss Ruyi, have you forgotten that ordinary people can buy arsenic from pharmacies to kill rats? This alone is not enough to convict someone.” [1]

Ning Shu was shocked: "What? You use arsenic to kill rats?"

This is so high-end!

Arsenic, also known as crane's crest red, is a substance that only appears in movies and TV shows, used by villains to kill people or by emperors to execute people. Here, it is actually used to poison rats.

She didn't know whether arsenic was too cheap or rats had a high status.

When Cui Zeyu saw her shocked expression, his heart sank as well.

This phenomenon is not limited to the capital city; it is the same for people in other places as well.

The person in front of me seemed completely unaware of this matter. Even if she were a noble lady from a high-ranking family, let alone a maid, she would still have this much common sense.

He became increasingly suspicious of the woman's origins. It was true that she could freely enter and leave the Prince Rui's mansion, but everything about her did not resemble that of a maid, much less someone who had lived there since childhood.

Cui Zeyu said calmly, "Yes, Miss Ruyi seems unaware of this?"

This is something ordinary people would use; perhaps even the Prince's mansion sent you to buy it.

Ning Shu froze, realizing that she seemed to have violated the common sense here, and quickly tried to make amends:

"The main reason is that I entered the Prince's Mansion at a very young age, and the Dowager Consort took good care of me, so she never made me do this kind of work."

She believed that this reason was plausible, though somewhat forced.

Cui Zeyu, unsure whether he believed her or not, didn't continue the conversation but instead said:

"According to this brother's description, the places where you found the powder were almost all places where ordinary people used arsenic to get rid of rats."

Therefore, this arsenic should be unrelated to the case, but it cannot be ruled out that the murderer directly used these poisons.