When it comes to food preferences, Granny Yu, who serves the old lady, said...
“Madam Su, our old lady drinks soup every day, but she doesn’t drink the same soup all the time. I wonder if this is related to the poisoning.”
"Was the same chef who made the soup for the old lady?"
"No, the fish soup was made by Chef Fang, and the chicken soup was made by someone else."
If something didn't pass through the hands of one person, then it's very difficult to determine who it came from.
Su Luo suspected that there was something wrong with the food, which was also Xu Hongkuo's biggest suspicion. He was an honest official all his life, yet he didn't know who wanted to harm his mother.
"Madam Su need not worry about the food. I have already had people conduct extensive spot checks on the kitchen."
Extensive spot checks might not be enough to find the poisoner, so perhaps...
As if remembering something, Su Luo said to Xu Hongkuo, "Lord Xu, do you know if there are any hidden entrances or exits in your residence, such as a dog hole?"
Xu Hongkuo wasn't stupid; he immediately understood what Su Luo meant.
"What Lady Su means is to drive the dogs out of their den."
“That’s right. Don’t let them investigate too thoroughly. Investigate twice. Enclose the areas outside the compound where necessary, and relax the restrictions where appropriate.”
Su Luo's idea was excellent; no wonder Magistrate Jiang spared no effort in praising her.
"Lady Su, you are very capable."
"It's just opportunism."
As expected, when night fell, the men Xu Hongkuo summoned found nothing. However, Xu Hongkuo ordered that if they couldn't find anything today, they should continue the investigation tomorrow, as he believed the poisoner must be in the mansion.
Late at night, in a secluded dog hole in the backyard, a figure was sneaking around trying to escape.
She wasn't very tall; she must be a woman.
The woman's head had just emerged from the dog hole when she was stopped by two large knives.
Meanwhile, candlelight was lit again in the main hall of the courtyard. Old Madam Xu and Xu Hongkuo sat in the main seats, while Su Luo and Du Xiuyuan sat below.
"My lord, I captured this person outside the dog hole. This is what I found on her."
The soldier threw the man to the ground and handed the purse in his hand to Xu Hongkuo.
When they saw the woman's face, the old lady and Xu Hongkuo were incredulous, their expressions freezing.
"It's you, it's actually you."
Ayan got up from the ground, a far cry from her usual well-behaved and sensible self.
She was Xu Hongkuo's maidservant, serving him since childhood. Because she had no children, she couldn't even be considered a concubine.
Xu Hongkuo glanced at Ayan with disgust, opened the purse in his hand, and found something he didn't recognize inside.
"Dr. Du, please take a look at this. Is it related to the poison my mother suffered from?"
Dried herbs may vary in shape, but their aroma doesn't lie.
"This is bloodwort, which is highly poisonous."
What?
Xu Hongkuo turned to look at Ayan. This maid had served him for many years. She was petite and obedient. Who would have thought that she would have something highly poisonous in her hands?
Su Luo took the pouch from Du Xiuyuan's hand and noticed that there wasn't much Bloodwort inside.
"Lord Xu, this Bloodwort is highly poisonous. If you eat it, your blood will stagnate and become unable to flow, which will cause your blood vessels to burst and you will die, which is what people call dying from bleeding from all seven orifices."
However, such a highly poisonous substance could not possibly be given to the old lady all at once. The Bloodwort must have been diluted before entering her body little by little.
The woman intended to watch the old lady die in agony, bit by bit. Her blood congealed, and the amount of poison was very small, so it would be a silent and painless death. Who would have thought that the old lady had been poisoned?
At first, neither she nor Du Xiuyuan realized it was a premeditated murder plot. If it hadn't been discovered, she could have escaped unscathed.
"Ayan, I have treated you well, and the old lady has always taken good care of you. Why did you poison the old lady?"
Ayan gritted her teeth, stared at Xu Hongkuo, then her gaze shifted to the old lady, then to Wei Anjun, and finally to Su Luo and Du Xiuyuan.
He sneered, "You've treated me well, so why don't you take me as a concubine? You even took a prostitute's daughter as a concubine. I've served you since I was a child, why am I not as good as her?"
Although she was tied up, Ayan's eyes were fixed on Wei Anjun.
"shut up."
This is Wei Anjun's pain, and it's also the thing she least wants people to mention.
Her mother was born into a poor family, but her father was the old lady Xu's own brother. She was the only daughter in the family, and her father went through great lengths to persuade the old lady to agree to take her into the family so that she could climb the social ladder to become the prefect, a high-ranking official.
"Ayan, if it weren't for the old lady taking pity on you and letting you serve her and help her with her grooming, who knows what kind of life you would have led. Do you think the old lady doesn't know about the things you've done in the past?"
Granny Yu truly regretted not having thrown that girl into a pig cage back then, so she wouldn't have come back to harm the old lady.
Su Luo didn't know about other people's household affairs, but where could a maidservant possibly poison someone?
Suddenly, Su Luo felt as if she were in a thick fog.
"So that's how it is, sir, madam. If I'm not mistaken, this maid must have poisoned your mouthwash by diluting the water that had been infused with bloodwort."
Adding tea leaves masks the taste of the bloodwort; the toxins remain in the mouth, small in quantity, but accumulate over time, eventually poisoning you.
Thinking about the mouthwash tea she used every day, it was indeed given to her by this girl. For a normal person, who would poison mouthwash tea?
"Hehehe... So what if you guessed right? I only regret not increasing the dosage to poison her to death."
Ah Yan went mad, laughing wildly, her eyes and heart filled with resentment.
Seeing this, Madam Xu was filled with disappointment. She even thought that Wei Anjun had given her the poison, but she never expected that it would be the obedient Ayan.
"Why? Why did you do this?"
Xu Hongkuo raised his hand, almost hitting Ayan's face, but he held back. Although he had no feelings for Ayan, she was, after all, a woman who had served him.
Whether she was a maid or not, she only had one man in her life, and Xu Hongkuo couldn't bear it.
"Why? Because she killed my child, leaving me childless for life. She deserves to die..."
Ah Yan's eyes were bloodshot, and she looked up angrily, clearly in a state of madness.
Xu Hongkuo stopped. Had Ayan ever had a child? Why didn't he know?
Turning to look at the old lady, I saw that she was shaking her head and sighing.
"Mother, what exactly does it mean to have a child?"
The old lady, with a gloomy face, gestured to Granny Yu to send all the servants outside the door far away, for family scandals should not be aired in public.
Seeing this, Su Luo and Du Xiuyuan bid farewell, saying, "Lord Xu, Madam, we'll take our leave now."
The two women came only to treat and save lives, and were not interested in their family's private affairs.
"Madam Su, the truth is still unclear, and I need your assistance in the investigation."
"yes!"
The host gave the order, and the two stayed. It was not surprising to see some women using such methods in the large courtyard.
With her head full of white hair, Madam Xu felt only sorrow and disappointment.
"Ayan, if it weren't for this old woman intervening, would you still want to give birth to that child?"
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