poisoning
"Aren't you afraid that I have other motives?" Liu Zai Xi asked.
Qiu Wuji's reaction made Liu Zaixi want to hit him with a hammer.
"So Xi'er's target is me."
He looked very arrogant and Liu Zai Xi wanted to hit him.
Liu Zai Xi was just raising his hand as if to hit Qiu Wu Ji, but Qiu Wu Ji immediately grabbed Liu Zai Xi's hand and gave it a gentle kiss.
"No matter who you are or where you come from, just be with me."
Qiu Wuji stared at Liu Zaixi with his burning eyes, and Liu Zaixi felt as if her heart was burned.
"But what if I'm not from this world?"
Seeing the confusion in Qiu Wuji's eyes, Liu Zaixi explained from beginning to end who she was, where she came from, and why she was here.
Liu Zaixi thought that as Qiu Wuji was an ancient person, he would think of himself as a monster, but he didn't. He just asked a question.
"Will you go back then?"
Liu Zai Xi had originally prepared to answer all kinds of questions from Qiu Wu Ji, but this was completely unexpected.
After a moment of silence, Liu Zaixi looked at the nervous Qiu Wuji and chuckled.
"Won't."
It turns out that there are people who really don’t care about anything, as long as you are there, that’s enough.
*
On the night before the opening, Guo Hua and his friends were finishing soaking rice noodles and getting ready to leave.
Soon, the store was empty.
In the dead of night, in the alley, a skinny man, like a slender ghost, was groping forward quietly.
We took a detour to the back door of La So Yam. The man looked exhausted and climbed over the wall with difficulty.
The backyard had been empty ever since Liu Zaixi and his family moved into the palace. They had originally thought of inviting Pan Ji, who was carrying Xiao Jia and Xiao Yi, to live there, but were rejected. They jokingly said, "If the prince and princess quarrel in the future, they'll have a place to go back to."
He arrived at the kitchen without any obstruction. A large vat of rice noodles was soaked in water. The man took out a packet of medicine powder from his arms, opened it, stood there for a long time, and finally sprinkled it in with determination, then returned the same way.
*
Qiu Wuji wanted Liu Zaixi to rest for a few more days, but Liu Zaixi had his own principles and insisted on opening the business.
Like an arrow shot from a bow, time shattered into pieces on the opening day.
The store has never introduced spicy staple foods, but it has attracted a large number of customers on top of its existing regular customers.
There were so many compliments that Liu Zaixi was tired of hearing them. She had always been very confident.
Everything was quiet at first, but suddenly, there was a sound of plates breaking.
"ah--"
Hearing someone scream, Liu Zaixi thought to himself that something was wrong and immediately got up to check.
The man was foaming at the mouth, his eyes rolled up, and he fell to the ground and couldn't get up.
"Go get the doctor!"
Then, one after another, they began to fall down, all in the same state. Those who were about to eat dropped their chopsticks in fear: "Rice, there's poison in the rice!"
In an instant, everyone was in chaos. Liu Zaixi stood quietly, frowning. It was obvious that someone had poisoned him on purpose.
"Don't move, leave what you've eaten, the doctor will be here soon!"
Liu Zai Xi looked gloomy from head to toe, which really frightened many people for a moment.
Everyone in the kitchen ran out. Xiao Zhu looked worried, Liu Mubai looked murderous, and the three cooks were still confused. Xiao Yi hid behind Xiao Jia. The two of them had seen dead people, so they didn't react much.
Liu Zai Xi asked Liu Mubai to block the door and not let anyone out. Both physical evidence and witnesses had to be present. More and more people gathered around. Liu Zai Xi rubbed his brows and asked Xiao Zhu and the others to check on everyone.
Soon, several doctors came, including those from the palace, and began to examine each patient. The more they examined, the darker the doctor's face became.
The palace doctor whispered in Liu Zaixi's ear, "Princess, the poison in the food is weed poison. It's dangerous and extremely toxic. If you don't detoxify it in time, you'll die within an hour. But some of the people just now ingested too much of the toxin, and there's no way to save them."
Liu Zai Xi clenched his palms tightly, and at this moment, a hand clenched his palms, and then his palms loosened. Liu Zai Xi looked up and saw Qiu Wuji.
Qiu Wuji tapped Liu Zaixi's palm, signaling him not to be nervous. His eyes seemed to say, I'm here, don't be afraid.
Liu Zai Xi took a deep breath and shook the hand back.
Qiu Wuji: "Hurry up and detoxify them. Isolate those who are beyond help and verify their identities one by one."
"yes."
Han Yi quickly arrived with his men and evacuated the crowd outside. Those who were not seriously poisoned were detoxified, and after understanding the situation, some who truly knew nothing and were irrelevant were released. Three people died in total. If this had happened on a battlefield, the casualties wouldn't have been significant, but this was a restaurant, and any stomachache would be a fatal blow to the business.
Liu Zaixi and Qiu Wuji stood in front of the dead man. Qiu Wuji asked, "What do you think?"
Liu Zai Xi was naturally annoyed and regretful. It would have been great if she had checked the store before opening it, and if she had sent someone to guard it at night. Knowing that so many eyes were watching her, hoping that she would fall, she should have thought that someone would poison her or cause trouble. But there was no time to reflect. The most important thing right now was to give an explanation to the families of those who died.
Qiu Wuji made arrangements for those who had been detoxified. After registering their information, he let them go back and would pay compensation to them one by one. The families of the deceased also rushed to the scene, and there was a lot of crying.
"Wanlang, Wanlang, why did you leave like this?"
“Wuwuwu——”
Liu Zai Xi and Qiu Wu Ji stood side by side, ready to accept the abuse.
The heartbroken family members stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, Princess! I don't believe it! I don't believe you did this! My son Wanlang loves the food at your house and often praises her. I don't believe she could do such a thing. Please give me an answer, Your Highness, Princess! Bring the person who poisoned me to justice!"
There was no abuse, they all believed that Liu Zaixi could give them justice. This trust was not easy to build.
Liu Zaixi sniffed, his eyes reddening. "Money can't replace people, but I still hope you can accept it. It's like taking care of you for the deceased. If you need help in the future, you can come to the palace. As for the murderer, we will arrest him as soon as possible and leave it to you to deal with."
After comforting the family members and assisting with the burial arrangements, Liu Zai Xi attended everyone's funeral and apologized one by one. Although he knew that apologies were useless, he might have just wanted to feel at ease.
After the funeral, Liu Zaixi stopped everything in the store. If the murderer could not be found, no one would dare to come even if the store could be opened.
Qiu Wuji asked: "Have you any thoughts?"
Liu Zaixi propped up his head and said, "Or maybe it's the people who caused trouble that day, but they probably don't have the courage to kill people, so..."
"You know, it's nothing more than Concubine Hui and the people from the Liu Mansion."
"What a shame, there was no surveillance in ancient times, so we can't find any evidence. Moreover, Concubine Hui certainly wouldn't have poisoned herself. She would have found a scapegoat. Even if we find the murderer, Concubine Hui might still be unharmed."
Qiu Wuji nodded: "Then where do I start the investigation?"
"Liu Mansion."
Liu Zai Xi asked Han Yi to investigate the whereabouts of everyone in the Liu Mansion in recent days. Concubine Hui found the Liu Mansion, and the Liu Mansion then found other people to poison. The murderer was easy to infer. The routines of the ancient people were nothing more than the same few. Liu Zai Xi was tired of reading novels.
Within three days, Hanyi arrived with the news.
"Your Highness, Princess, the whereabouts of the people in the Liu Mansion are normal, but the maids are not. The personal maid of the second young lady of the Liu Mansion often goes to the slums, and she goes there only to find a scapegoat."
Han Yi waved his hand and a person was brought up.
The man had a dull look in his eyes and was extremely thin. His cheeks were sunken because he was too thin, and it felt like his bones would fall apart if the wind blew even slightly.
Some of the maids beside were frightened when they saw this man's appearance.
When Liu Zai Xi saw the man, he frowned unconsciously. This was not good. Even if he caught this kind of person, he would not be able to get anything out of him because he had no hope of survival at all. He just looked as if it didn't matter whether he was alive or dead.
Qiu Wuji approached Liu Zaixi and said, "Don't worry. It's impossible for such a person to work for the Liu Mansion without any reason. Either he has been given too many benefits, or someone in the Liu Mansion has something on him."
Liu Zaixi nodded, asked Hanyi to untie the man, and looked at him carefully.
He doesn't look very old, and seems even younger than Xiaozhu. At this age, he is probably in the third year of junior high school or the first year of high school.
Liu Zaixi squatted in front of him and asked, "Are you hungry?"
An unknown emotion flashed across the boy's empty eyes, but he still nodded honestly.
Liu Zaixi helped him up and took his hand as they walked towards the kitchen. Everyone present was confused by Liu Zaixi's actions. Was he being overwhelmed with sympathy at this moment? Then he might be the murderer.
Asking the young man to sit down in the kitchen, Liu Zaixi rolled up his sleeves and began to prepare simple dishes.
After a while, four dishes and a soup were ready and neatly placed in front of the young man. The young man did not rush to pick up his chopsticks. When Liu Zaixi said "eat", he stuffed two steamed buns into his arms and began to gobble them up. He was so hungry that he didn't even use chopsticks.
The food on the table was eaten up, and Liu Zaixi smiled and said, "Thank you for liking my food."
The young man had been lowering his head, but now he dared to raise his head and take a cautious look.
“Who is the steamed bun in your arms for?”
The boy subconsciously uttered two words: "Sister."
Liu Zai Xi was relieved that there was finally a breakthrough.
Liu Zaixi then placed both of her hands over the boy's and said word by word, "So, if your sister knew that her brother was a murderer, would she still want him?"
Liu Zai Xi could feel the boy's body tremble, he was afraid.
The boy began to tremble. His thin body shook like a branch swaying in the wind, so fragile that it broke in mid-air.
"I'm not, I'm not..." The young man muttered to himself in a low voice, and Liu Zaixi moved closer to hear clearly.
"No, you are."
"No!"
The young man suddenly stood up, pushed Liu Zaixi to the ground, and ran out in one go.
But it was no use, he was soon caught.
Qiu Wuji helped Liu Zaixi, who had fallen to the ground, and felt a little distressed.
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