Chapter 60 Argument and Calculation
Everything seemed to be at a stalemate, and no one took the initiative to speak. It was clearly an elegant room, but it seemed as if there was a monster with its bloody mouth open.
Vifiya did not move, but waited quietly. She believed that Vaholian would not let her down. There would never be a second time to ruin such a great opportunity for a competitor.
After an unknown amount of time, the Marquise's personal maid suddenly knelt down, her face filled with sorrow and tears streaming down her face. She pleaded, "My Lord Marquis, please find the murderer and make him pay for what he has done. Madam... Madam, you cannot suffer this in vain."
The Marquis stared at the maid for a moment. He knew this maid. She had always been with the Marquise since she was still the daughter of the Duke of Hehfu. She also reminded him that if he did not handle this matter properly, the Duke of Hehfu himself would come to punish him, which would be troublesome.
He was a man who spent the entire year fighting monsters on the battlefield, a veritable frontier noble.
His eyes fell on the pharmacist again, but he didn't say anything.
Being stared at by the Marquis like this, the pharmacist felt cold sweat on his back. He knew he had to reveal valuable information. He kept complaining in his heart, how could such a thing happen when he was the only one in the office!
He just happened to see the high-paying job at the Marquis of Casely's Mansion and came to try his luck. Unexpectedly, the pharmacists who were better than him either didn't come or found higher-paying jobs, so he got the chance.
He pursed his lips, Gehuoding... Gehuoding...
A fragment of memory surfaced in his mind, his eyes lit up, and he asked eagerly: "My Lord Marquis, can I see this record sheet?"
At the Marquis's instruction, he hurriedly picked up the record sheet and checked it repeatedly. Soon, he stopped and breathed a sigh of relief.
He handed the record sheet to the Marquis and said, "Your Excellency, Gehuo Ding is indeed a slow-acting poison, but there are exceptions. There are very few books that record that Gehuo Ding will instantly become poisonous when it encounters Jiang Muju."
The maid raised her head suddenly, her breathing quickened: "It's Shutangbing, the lady's favorite dessert."
She explained dejectedly, "In order to make the Shutangbing more sweet, the residents of the Duchy of Haihefu add ginger and chrysanthemum to ordinary Shutangbing. This habit has not changed even after Madam came to Cyronil."
Vaholian's face was serious: "Are you sure?"
The pharmacist nodded without hesitation. "Yes, the book is still on my desk. It's called 'A Guide to Rare Plants.'"
The Marquis's eyes fell on one of the servants, who understood and immediately stood up and left.
Stellan's heart sank. All the information was going in a direction that was not favorable to him. Who knew that he just wanted to pretend in advance and go through the motions as usual. When he saw that the Marquise wanted to drink water, he handed it to her, and this happened.
No one knew better than he that he was innocent; he had done nothing to murder the Marquise.
How could it be such a coincidence that it happened when he met the Marquise, when he took the initiative to offer her water, and when the chronic poison would immediately take effect when it came into contact with another plant.
He cannot be charged with matricide, absolutely not!
If it were someone else, the Caseley family might have found a scapegoat and suppressed the matter for the sake of face, but the victim was the Marquise.
She is the only princess in the empire who does not have to change her surname after marrying into her husband's family, and can still use the surname Haihefu.
If he were to be questioned by the Heihef family, he had no doubt that they would chop off his neck. They only cared about people who had the same surname as them.
How could he break this situation? Who had done this? Who was deliberately framing him?
He has been operating in the shadows all this time, like a peripheral person who never steps foot in the river, and now who is pulling him down.
He glanced expressionlessly at Vifiya, who had remained silent since arriving here. Logically, she was the most likely candidate. After all, he and her had a falling out recently. But it was precisely because of the falling out that it seemed that she had no motivation to do this. She had nothing to gain from being there. They just disliked each other.
But she would definitely not miss this opportunity to take advantage of someone's misfortune. However, he wondered suspiciously why she hadn't said anything until now?
He lowered his head. Where was Vaholian? He couldn't help but remember the same coincidental scene in Lachigo, which led to his being reprimanded by the Marquis.
Now he was certain that someone was targeting him specifically, and a line of thought connected in his mind.
Yes, what was Valholian most afraid of? He had fallen out with Vifia in Lachigo, and their conversation could not be hidden from Valholian's eyes and ears, and the Marquis had always attached great importance to her value.
The focus is on the position of the heir.
If it was Vahorian, he would have deliberately let him clash with Ruguien, and when he learned in advance that the Marquise was seriously ill, he would have had time to set a trap for him.
Vaholian has motives, reasons, and benefits to gain; he can get what he wants.
Thinking this through, Stellan's anger surged to the top of his head. He could only say, this is really worthy of him? One move would be enough to destroy him.
Vifia quietly kept her eyes on the door. It was almost time for him to come back. Sure enough, the servant appeared. The pharmacist took a few steps forward, took the book, turned over the yellowed pages, accurately found the location of the leucophylla, and handed it to the Marquis.
The introduction to the herb is brief but detailed.
The Marquis gently placed the book on the table. His face was expressionless, and his eyes were cold, fixed on Stellan.
All the evidence points to him.
Stellan wanted to say something to defend himself, but Vifiya, who had been silent and had a very low sense of presence, suddenly asked curiously: "Why did Stellan do this?"
The frozen air began to flow, and all eyes were focused on her, but she remained calm, as if she was really just curious.
At this moment, they suddenly realized that they had been dwelling on too many details and neglected the most important question: what was Stellan's reason for murdering the Marquise?
Vifiya and Vaholian glanced at each other deeply, ignoring him, as if it was not her who had just spoken.
Stellan narrowed his eyes slightly. At this moment, he was thinking about what Vifiya was trying to do. Was she really so kind as to speak for him?
But it is undeniable that if she can be proven, all his charges can be overturned.
"After confirming that the water was fine, only my mother and Stellan touched the glass of water." Vaholian's eyes were inquiring. "You can't say that my mother poured it on herself, right?"
This reason was so absurd that even the Marquis was unwilling to believe it.
Stellan laughed mockingly: "But brother, why would I do this? I have no reason to murder my mother."
Vaholian glared at him and said slowly, "Really?"
"If it were me, why would I choose to poison now, and why would I do it myself?" Stellan sneered. "As long as the food is sufficient, wouldn't it be safer to find someone to do it for me?"
Yes, finding a scapegoat and then operating it properly to get rid of oneself is the most common trick used by the nobles.
The Marquis took in the entire argument between the two brothers, and then glanced calmly at Vifiya, who had changed the direction of the matter and lowered her presence again.
The Marquise's condition is not optimistic. He must prepare for the worst. For the sake of the Caseley family, he must make a decision.
"Actually..." A kneeling maid mustered up the courage to speak in a low voice. She tentatively raised her eyes, but saw that everyone's eyes were focused on her. She couldn't help but flinch. She pursed her lips, moved the corners of her mouth, and lowered her head even lower. "Master Stellan, I went to see the lady before going to Alsayin College."
A flash of vigilance flashed in Stellan's dark red eyes. "It's a family tradition to say goodbye to mother before leaving the Marquis's Mansion. My sister has also gone to see mother. Is there any problem?"
The maid clutched her dress tightly in front of her and said in a voice as soft as a mosquito: "It's different."
She thought for a moment, then spoke carefully: "You and your wife had a quarrel."
"Just a disagreement," Stellan said quickly.
She glanced at the Marquis fearfully, and after receiving his confirmation, she said, "Although I couldn't hear clearly from outside, you mentioned..." She hesitated, "something about the heir."
As soon as he finished speaking, the whole room fell into silence.
The heir had already been decided, and the intention of the second son of the family and his mother to discuss the topic of heir was self-evident.
"You..." Stellan's voice was a little high.
"Can you guarantee that you are telling the truth?" The Marquis suddenly interrupted him and stared at the maid. "Did anyone else hear it?"
His eyes circled around the servants who were also kneeling, including the Marchioness's personal maid.
The older servant took a deep breath and took a half step forward to kneel. "I heard it, sir."
The other kneeling servant also took half a step to his knees and lowered his head to show his agreement.
The maid's eyes were filled with sadness. She sighed and said, "It is true."
Vaholian asked somewhat displeasedly, "Then why didn't you say so earlier?"
The personal maid hesitated to speak, closing her eyes and turning away reluctantly: "Madam said it's not necessary."
The room fell silent again.
The truth is about to come out.
He was tricked! Stellan clenched his hands, his fingertips digging into the flesh of his palms, causing waves of pain.
He couldn't refute what the maids said because he had really quarreled with the Marquise. That day was a rare instance of him losing his composure. His daily perfunctory behavior had somehow ended up with the heir, and he didn't know how he ended up quarreling with the Marquise over a few words.
Could it be the Marquise herself? No! She wouldn't.
Stellan quickly overturned her thoughts. How could it be possible? She never stood by any child. She didn't care about them.
How could he possibly poison himself for one of his children?
Absurd...
Vifiya lowered her eyes and didn't look at anyone in the room.
Because Stellan wanted to get the position of Vaholian heir, he had an argument with the Marquise and held a grudge against her. After returning to Cyronil, he tried to give her a chronic poison, but he did not expect that the collision of the two plant ingredients would cause instant poisoning, causing his plan to be exposed.
There are obvious doubts in the truth, such as how he successfully drugged the victim in public, and where the poison came from. These will make the so-called truth untenable.
But this is not important. Just a little bit of information is enough to convict Stellan of matricide.
It takes a little bit of pushing to make him become the victim.
Someone has to pay the price for this and put an end to it.
"Father, I..." Stellan's eyes were anxious, he knew he had to say something.
"Knock knock." A soft knock on the door interrupted what he was about to say.
The butler, who was over fifty years old, held a letter in his hand and bowed slightly: "I'm sorry to interrupt you at this time, Your Excellency."
He handed over the letter: "But I think this is necessary."
The sword and shield emblem gleaming brightly on the envelope told everyone where the letter came from—the Dukedom of Heihef.
Stellan's heart trembled, and a bad premonition filled his heart.
As the butler left, the Marquis finished reading the letter.
"That's right." The Marquis no longer hesitated.
Naang, who had been waiting at the door, pushed it open. The Marquis cast a heavy gaze on Stellan: "Lock Stellan in the dungeon. No one is allowed to see him without my permission!"
Naang took a few steps forward and held Stellan. His face changed drastically: "Father!"
"Your Excellency!" At the same time, a doctor, his hands covered in blood, ran over breathlessly: "Madam's hematemesis is under control."
His face was heavy: "But time is running out."
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