Chapter 85: The Source of the Poison

Xun Shu asked this question not out of joking, but out of genuine curiosity.

Back in the Sitian Pavilion, she was just a young girl. Taoists were quite casual, not bound by so many rules and regulations. Her senior brothers and masters didn't shy away from her when they mentioned dual cultivation, perhaps because they thought she was too young to understand, or perhaps because they didn't think it was a big deal.

She knew that dual cultivation meant two people stripping naked to sleep together, and she also secretly flipped through her senior brother's collection of storybooks, so she roughly knew some details, but she had no idea why it was like this or how it could be done.

If you don't understand something, ask. That's what her master taught her since she was little. This wasn't a big deal, but why did Li Xuanhe look so strange?

Li Xuanhe had never been so embarrassed in his life.

His face flushed, and his mind uncontrollably recalled the time in the Ningyuan Village Inn, on the rooftop of the Pingyang Marquis's Mansion, and countless nights and mornings... He turned his head slightly and coughed a few times as if to cover up. The sound seemed to float on the water, not to reach the bottom. "If you like that girl, of course you don't need it..."

Xun Shu grew increasingly curious, his eyes unconsciously glancing towards the area below Li Xuanhe's waist. "Can that thing stand up on its own? Can you control it? Can it be used on anyone? If it does, can we immediately practice dual cultivation?"

Li Xuanhe's forehead kept twitching and he had a severe headache for a while.

How should he answer this?

There were not only the two of them in the yard, but also Ah Shui who looked embarrassed sitting nearby, and a few people from the Dali Temple in the corner. But the person in front of him kept blinking his eyes, looking confused and persistent, as if he would not give up until he got the answer.

And what was she looking at? Even though her robe covered her, she couldn't see anything. Li Xuanhe still turned sideways, avoiding her sight, and said through gritted teeth, "Of course not. This matter can only be done to the one you love. If you can perform Zhou Gong etiquette when you see a young lady, what difference is there between you and that rude barbarian and the beast in the mountains?"

Xun Shu seemed to understand, nodding and shaking his head, puzzled, "Since you said this can only be done with the one you love, then why do the gentlemen go to the brothels? Are they really just going there to watch the ladies play the piano and dance? Or are they so philanthropic that they'll be interested in any young lady?"

Li Xuanhe rubbed his forehead, becoming increasingly unable to hold on, and said vaguely: "I guess so..."

"Have you ever been there?"

"Of course not!" Li Xuanhe's face flushed red, and he gritted his teeth. "Xun Shu, don't ask any more questions. These have nothing to do with this case! When we get married in the future, I will answer your questions."

Li Xuanhe rarely called her "Xun Shu", so Xun Shu was stunned for a moment before nodding obediently. Ah Shui, who was standing beside her, couldn't help but burst out laughing. Xun Shu looked at her curiously: "What are you laughing at?"

After all, she was an ordinary, unmarried girl, so Ah Shui's expression was somewhat shy. She scratched her head and said shyly, "Miss, Lord Li is a good husband, but not everyone in this world is like Lord Li. There is a young man named Tang at the north entrance of Ningyuan Village. He loves to visit prostitutes and spends most of the year in brothels. And he doesn't just choose one girl, but a different one every time he goes. People like him, as soon as they see a beautiful girl, they want to sleep with them, but this is probably not what you think of as love. In my opinion, the prince and Lord Li are not the same type of people. Instead, he is similar to the young master of the Tang family. Otherwise, how could he have married so many beautiful concubines?"

Ah Shui's words combined with Xun Shu's guess made her feel as if she had grasped a corner of the truth. Her half-closed eyes widened at this moment, sparkling: "If that's the case, Qin Huixin doesn't actually need to use that medicine! I've seen Qin Huixin before. She's very beautiful and dignified. Even in her miserable state yesterday, she was still pitiful. Since the Prince of Pingyang is not a chaste man, why can't he see Qin Huixin's beauty and then hit it off, practicing together and accomplishing a good thing?

"Besides, Lord Qin just said that he didn't expect the Crown Prince to make Qin Huixin his legal wife. It was the Crown Prince who insisted. Does this mean that the Crown Prince actually has feelings for Qin Huixin?"

Seeing that Xun Shu no longer said those words that made people feel hot all over, Li Xuanhe silently breathed a sigh of relief and turned his thoughts back to the case.

"If that's the case, then the bottle of medicine in Qin Huixin's hand hasn't been used yet. It's still effective, and the dosage is enough to kill a person." Li Xuanhe narrowed his eyes and tapped his fingers on the table. "But these are just our speculations, we have no evidence. If it were any other time, it would be fine, but now my brother has just passed away, and my sister-in-law lost her husband and son in one day. Everyone in the mansion saw it, and her grief doesn't seem fake. If we search their courtyard now and spread the news to others, it would be too inhumane and would definitely lead to criticism. We need more direct evidence before ordering a search."

"That's true. If the medicine bottle was thrown away somewhere after use and wasn't found in the courtyard after a search, wouldn't it be considered unreasonable for you to make a fuss? You might even implicate the Princess, who might say you can't tolerate the Prince's family." Xun Shu propped his arm on the table, supporting his cheek, muttering with narrowed eyes, "By the way, didn't the Qin family's second daughter, Qin Lanxin, say she saw a servant that night? If we gather everyone in the Marquis' Mansion together and ask her to identify them one by one, would she be able to recognize them?"

"I'm afraid even if she recognizes me, she won't tell the truth." Li Xuanhe said softly.

Xun Shu thought about it for a moment and understood what he meant.

When Qin Lanxin mentioned the maid who served her tea that day, she might not have known the tea contained medicine, or the maid wasn't a member of Li Xuanhe's family. But now, so much time has passed. Although she's trapped in the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion, her movements within the mansion haven't been restricted. She's been staying inside quietly these past few days, rarely going out, but she must have heard a lot of news and guessed the truth.

She may have known for a long time that this matter was related to her sister.

The two Qin sisters seem to have a good relationship, and Qin Lanxin is very likely to pretend to be stupid and not tell the truth to protect her sister.

What should I do?

Ah Shui had been sitting quietly opposite them, listening to what they were saying, his eyes unconsciously looking at the two people sitting opposite him.

The young boy and the young girl sat together. They were both in their prime years, extremely talented and beautiful, and they were both good-looking. How could anyone look away?

Li Xuanhe, dressed in his official uniform today, stood tall and straight, his face as handsome as a crown, his eyes as bright as stars. His eyes were half-lidded, and he looked rather serious, but a faint smile played at the corners of his lips, softening the solemnity and adding a touch of youthful friendliness. Xun Shu sat relaxed, his skin as white as porcelain, his cheeks lightly pink, his eyelashes drooping, lost in thought. He clearly hadn't lost his childishness, yet he possessed an inexplicable maturity that was out of place.

Perhaps because they stayed together all day, their expressions and actions gradually became similar. If it weren't for their completely different looks, they would look like brother and sister.

Xun Shu noticed Ah Shui's gaze and gave her a puzzled look. Ah Shui cleared her throat, regained her composure, and immediately asked, "Do you think Qin Lanxin got this medicine from her sister?"

Xun Shu tilted his head and thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Lord Qin said today that Qin Lanxin had already asked him for the remaining bottle of medicine, so there was no need to try to get the remaining medicine from Qin Huixin. I think he's right. Besides, the people at the Dali Temple said the medicine in the wine jug was clearly an overdose. If it was Qin Lanxin, who has been in love with Third Brother for a long time, why would she give such a large dose? She wants to marry Third Brother, so how could she possibly kill him? Does she want to be a 'widow'?"

"That's true. But if it's Qin Huixin, she has no grudge against Lord Li, so why would she do this..."

No one answered A Shui's question, and the yard fell silent for a moment.

It's understandable that Qin Huixin wanted to help Qin Lanxin marry into the Pingyang Marquis's mansion, but why did she use so many drugs...

The silence in the courtyard did not last long. Cicadas chirped three times, birds flew by, and footsteps were heard outside the door. A moment later, there was a knock on the back door, accompanied by Yuchang's shouting: "My dear, there is news about the heartbreak grass."

Li Xuanhe nodded slightly, and someone in the courtyard immediately stepped forward to open the door. After entering the courtyard, Yu Chang went straight to the stone table, bowed politely, and then spoke, "News just arrived from the Dali Temple stating that all the city's pharmacies and clinics have been searched. In the past month, five people have purchased Gelsemium elegans. Officials have already visited the homes of four of these individuals and discovered either patients who needed Gelsemium elegans as a medicine, or those who didn't have patients at home but had purchased Gelsemium elegans and kept it untouched."

Ah Shui keenly noticed the question in Yu Chang's words: "Aren't there five people who bought it? Why did you only check four people?"

Yu Changchang: "The last person is quite special. I was originally going to investigate him, but I was afraid of alerting the enemy, so I put him on hold and wait for my husband's decision."

Li Xuanhe raised his eyebrows: "Who is that person?"

"The last person to buy the medicine was a waiter at a restaurant. He said a young woman had asked him to buy it, paying him a full ounce of silver for the errand. The woman was wearing a veil, so the waiter couldn't see her face clearly, but he remembered that when she left, she bought a bowl of the restaurant's famous sweet soup. Coincidentally, the sweet soup she bought was exactly the same as the one Miss Qin Er brought to your room."

Did Qin Lanxin ask someone to buy the heartbreak grass?

All the doubts of the past finally began to connect, and sunlight finally shone through the dark clouds. The people in the courtyard each had their own thoughts. After a moment, Li Xuanhe spoke, his lips curled slightly, his decision already made: "Gather all the servants in the mansion. Remember, all of them. I'll go speak to Mother in person later."

Yu Chang took the order and left. Xun Shu asked in confusion, "But do we need Qin Lanxin to identify the person? If so, why involve the people from the Princess's Courtyard? We've already confirmed that the person is from the Crown Prince's Courtyard."

Seeing that it was Xun Shu asking the question, Li Xuanhe lowered his voice and patiently explained to her, "Right now, we only suspect that the man is from my brother's courtyard, but what if he's not? What if the murderer, in order to confuse the public, has recruited someone from another courtyard to do this? Why not take this opportunity to investigate everyone together, and by the way, see how many evil spirits are hiding in this Pingyang Marquis's mansion. Gathering the servants of the entire courtyard in one place is no small move. I involved my mother because I wanted to use her prestige to suppress the dissatisfaction of the people in the mansion and force my father or grandmother to cooperate."

"In addition, in addition to asking Qin Lanxin to identify the maid that night, we can also use this opportunity to have the kitchen staff identify the person who approached the food box that day. Wouldn't it be more interesting to identify the person in public and then let the person behind the scenes refute it in public?"