Lu Xiaoyun handed the ledger to Old Master Hong, who shook his head after looking at it: "Poison, this is a slow-acting poison that can cause hallucinations."
Zhu Dan asked, "What are the symptoms?"
Old Hong replied, "This poison can cause a person to cough day and night, and they will visibly lose weight. The disease progresses very quickly, within two months at most, and will cause hallucinations, especially seeing the person they long for."
Uncle Qing remembered: "Yes, yes, that's right. Miss Shaoyao and Miss Wenxin were like that. I remember that about half a month before I sent them to the estate, they started to act a little strangely."
"Alas, I never expected that something bad would still happen. Not long after they arrived at the estate, the two of them jumped into the well."
Now, everything makes sense.
At this time, Wei's mother also finished writing.
Seeing that Granny Wei was about to give the written document to the Duke of Zhenguo, Madam Fang rushed over: "Granny Wei, you can't hurt me, you can't hurt me! You raised me, how could you hurt me..."
Tears welled in Wei's eyes as she gripped the paper tightly in her hand.
Wei's mother's son screamed, "Mother, this wicked woman sent people to kill Father, and also killed my wife and your grandson!"
Lu Xiaoyun waved her hand, and two servants immediately came up and restrained Fang Shi from the left and right.
The Duke of Zhenguo took what Wei Mama had written. She didn't know many characters and had only been writing for a short time, so her writing was crooked and messy, but fortunately, it was mostly legible.
The Duke of Zhenguo handed the paper to Lu Xiaoyun and Zhu Dan.
It was written in much the same way as what the witnesses had said earlier, and also included details about how Fang gradually eroded her mother's dowry after her death, and how she treated the original owner of the body.
Every single one of these acts was extremely malicious.
Lu Yucheng clenched his fist, veins bulging on the back of his hand, his eyes bloodshot, and glared angrily at Fang Shi, who was lying on the ground.
"My mother has treated you well, why are you treating her like this!"
Suddenly, Madam Fang burst into a maniacal, shrill laugh that echoed throughout the front hall: "She's been good to me? Ha, if she's been good to me, why won't the Duke take me as a concubine? The old lady has said all the nice things to her, but what has she done?"
"She's clinging to the Duke and won't give in. Even when I knelt at her feet and begged her, she still wouldn't agree! What gives her the right to be so high and mighty? What makes her so disdainful of me!"
“My father died saving the old Duke, and my two elder brothers also died on the battlefield. My mother died of grief, leaving me all alone. Our Fang family has been kind to the Duke’s mansion! Yet Lin actually wants to marry me off to a mere fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Revenue. Ha, what a joke!”
Fang's face grew even more ferocious. She stood up, looked around at the people, wiped away her tears, and said coldly, "Since she won't let me be the Duke's concubine, then I will be his wife! So I killed her. Only by killing her can I become the mistress of this Duke's mansion!"
"Are you crazy?!" Lu Yucheng roared.
The Duke of Zhenguo stood up and said coldly, "Master Gu is a top scholar in the imperial examination, of upright character, and at such a young age he is already a senior official in the Ministry of Revenue. His future is limitless. The husband that Han'er has chosen for you is perfect, yet you still look down on him. It's truly laughable."
Fang laughed loudly, laughing at his own stupidity, his own foolishness, and how it was too late to regret it now.
Yes, she looked down on Gu Weizhi back then, but who could have imagined that in just twenty years, as soon as Ren Yushan fell from power, he would be promoted by the emperor to the position of Left Prime Minister, a first-rank official.
So what if she used such underhanded methods to become the Duke of Zhenguo's legal wife with the help of Old Madam Lu? His heart always belonged only to that woman named Lin Yihan.
Suddenly, a dagger appeared in Fang's hand. She lunged at the Duke of Zhenguo, determined to make the man who had wronged her for life pay the price, even if it meant her own death.
Fang was very fast. Lu Yucheng's pupils shrank suddenly, and he took a step forward.
But Zhu Yu was even faster. He kicked Fang's wrist, and the dagger fell to the ground.
Fang's eyes turned bloodshot, and she let out a scream, ready to fight Zhu Yu.
Lu Xiaoyun suddenly stood up to protect Zhu Yu.
But Zhu Yu didn't need her protection. He kicked her in the chest with his other foot, sending Fang flying and spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Two servants entered and pinned Fang to the ground.
In fact, the Duke of Zhenguo did not need their help. He was a great general, and a woman could not harm him.
However, he was surprised that Fang Shi, who had clearly thought that the two princes had come to ask for her two daughters' hand in marriage, was carrying a dagger at all times.
Madam Lu was already quite angry, and seeing Fang Shi acting like she had gone mad made her tremble with rage.
But when she turned her head, she saw "Lu Xiaoyun" sitting there calmly drinking tea, as if nothing had happened, and she immediately understood everything.
It must have been that brat who got Prince An and the Fifth Prince to help investigate her mother's death.
Ha! You think you're so great just because you did something small on the day of the palace coup and received a few words of praise from the emperor? You think you can act lawlessly now?
Does she not even respect her own grandmother? Doesn't she know the principle of not airing family dirty laundry in public?
Who gave her the audacity to let the two princes know about the affairs of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion!
She suppressed her overwhelming anger; no matter what, this matter must not be exposed outside the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.
Taking a deep breath, she bowed to Lu Xiaoyun and Zhu Dan: "I've made a fool of myself in front of Your Highnesses, but this matter is ultimately an internal affair of my Zhenguo Duke's Mansion. I wonder if Your Highnesses could give this old woman some face and allow my Zhenguo Duke's Mansion to deal with this vile woman ourselves?"
Lu Xiaoyun and Zhu Dan exchanged a glance. It wouldn't be impossible for them to do this in other situations, but this matter involved the death of Lin Shi.
Zhu Yu was very annoyed by the fact that they kept looking at each other.
Zhu Dan smiled faintly and said, "Madam, I'm really sorry, but I'm afraid this is not possible. The late Madam Lin came from a prestigious family, and her untimely death is not just a family matter."
Madam Lu looked displeased. No matter what, she was a first-rank noblewoman and held the dragon-headed cane bestowed by the late emperor. Yet this Fifth Prince showed her no respect whatsoever.
His face immediately darkened: "Fifth Prince, Lin is the daughter-in-law of my Duke Zhenguo's mansion. This is a family matter."
Just as Zhu Yu was about to speak, Lu Xiaoyun shook her head at him. After all, he was now Miss Lu, the old lady's granddaughter. If he spoke out of turn, the old lady would not let Zhu Yu have a good life after they left.
Lu Xiaoyun chuckled lightly: "Don't even mention that the late Madam was murdered without cause, which is no longer a family matter. Even if Wei Mama's husband, his wife, and grandson were not from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, and were also murdered by Fang Shi, it cannot be called a family matter. Besides, this matter has already been filed in the Jingzhao Prefecture government office."
Madam Lu was so angry she nearly fell backward. How could she have forgotten about this? She turned and glared fiercely at Madam Fang.
"Someone, go to the Jingzhao Prefecture and invite Lord Jia over."
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