Chapter 103: Reasoning about the Third Poisoning Case
"Second uncle," Yin Chuan focused his gaze on Gu Yan again, "Although you and the second young lady are husband and wife, your marriage with the Lu family is nothing more than a transaction. You would never think about your wife who is not in harmony with you when your life is in danger. You also know that you are not that kind of person, right?
"And Master Jin," Yin Chuan glanced at Jin Gui again, "You weren't poisoned at the time, but your private act made the Lu family despise you, so you were even less likely to pay attention to Lu Shuiqing's situation. But if it was Lu Shuixian, perhaps your attitude would be different, right?
"As for you..." Yin Chuan's gaze finally returned to Lu Enting. "Originally, this was your method. You calculated that others would only care about themselves in a life-or-death situation, so you took advantage of the situation and deliberately let them out first. You stayed behind, seemingly unintentionally blocking Lu Shuiqing's path. Before leaving, you used the mechanism in your hand to remove the door handle, creating this 'reverse secret room'."
Yin Chuan's relentless analysis made everyone in the Lu family present feel extremely embarrassed, as every word he said hit a sore spot. Although they wanted to stand up and refute him, they knew in their hearts that his words were well-reasoned and how could they have the face to argue?
"Okay, even if what you said makes sense, did I also do it to Third Miss Lu Shuiling?" Lu Enting was already at a loss for words, and in the end he could only ask questions that were of no help to him.
"Of course, the way Lü Shuiling was murdered was a stroke of genius," Yin Chuan answered confidently. "I'm sure you all remember who suggested making iced sour plum soup to cool everyone down yesterday? Master Lü Enting, it was you. You knew in advance that the master's dinner wouldn't include any fancy dishes, only fruit refreshments and the like. So, this was the perfect opportunity for you to poison Lü Shuiling with iced sour plum soup."
"So, you have figured out how he managed to poison Lu Shuiling so accurately right under everyone's noses?" Du Yunzhang asked.
"The 'Poisoning Lecture Notes' I compiled earlier mentioned a method: synthesizing poisons. This is what Doctor Bao called the 'Eighteen Counteractions and Nineteen Fears'. The murderer exploited this and let Lü Shuiling be poisoned by the flame snake, causing her to die."
Du Yunzhang was very puzzled. "Synthetic poison? I don't understand. The venom of the fire snake is already extremely toxic. Why is there a need to synthesize the poison? Besides, Lu Shuiling didn't ingest anything that could synthesize poison before, right? What you said is very confusing."
"Is it inexplicable?" Yin Chuan thought for a moment, "Well, let me give you a very simple example. For example, when brewing a pot of tea, the ratio of one part of high-grade fine powder to five parts of hot water can produce a tea with just the right flavor. But if I use some method to remove most of the water before brewing the high-grade fine powder, would you think the taste would be off?"
Du Yunzhang squinted his eyes, seemingly still struggling to figure it out. "Wait a minute, let me think... one part high-grade pulverized coal... five parts hot water... taken away before brewing... No, what do you mean?"
"What I mean is, the sour plum soup poured into everyone's cup is filled with fire snake venom..." This sentence suddenly came from outside the door, startling everyone. When the door opened, it was Baohan who walked in.
"They're all venomous?" Du Yunzhang was shocked. "Old Bao, don't scare me. Why are all the others fine?"
"I haven't finished yet! Because black plums can detoxify." Baohan replied.
"Where have you been, Old Bao?" Du Yunzhang leaned close to Bao Han's ear and asked.
"I examined the body again and basically verified Brother Yin's judgment." Baohan said in a low voice.
Yin Chuan continued his reasoning, "And it just so happens that every black plum that Master Lu Enting prepares has the exact right amount of fire snake venom, and the ice that seals it is enough to neutralize the two into a non-toxic substance."
"But why was Lu Shuiling the only one to die from the poison? How did she do that?"
"Because Lu Shuiling did something that no one else did."
"What's up?"
Baohan took over the conversation, "I just examined the Third Miss's body again and found that there was a lot of fat not only in her mouth, but also in her stomach. She must have consumed a lot of greasy food before."
"Yes. Everyone knows that black plums are good at removing greasy food. So, the black plums, which are originally good at removing toxins, will mainly be used to remove grease in Lu Shuiling's stomach. As a result, the flame snake's venom will get out of control, and she will naturally die from the poison."
Du Yunzhang suddenly understood. "Oh, so that's what you mean! Although this method makes some sense, how can Lu Enting guarantee that Lu Shuiling will have a feast?"
"The Lu family has been plagued by murders and funerals lately. Even someone who doesn't care about them wouldn't be able to bring themselves to indulge in such extravagant meals, right? But why would Lu Shuiling feel this way? I think I'd better let someone with inside knowledge explain it, Master Jingui?"
Jin Gui hesitated and stepped aside. "Mr. Liu is right. Um... I did deliver lunch to the Third Young Lady yesterday. My master asked me to go to Hongyun Restaurant, the largest restaurant in Linqing, and order a few hearty dishes, including braised pork ribs, braised pork slices, and braised pig intestines... specially for the Third Young Lady and her husband. But I saw that Third Brother-in-Law Yu Jintang barely touched a single bite. Only the Third Young Lady had an exceptional appetite, eating at least half of each dish."
Yin Chuan chuckled, "Lu Enting, you really have an extremely accurate grasp of the mood of the Lu family. You calculated that the third uncle would definitely not be as heartless as Lu Shuiling. No wonder. The eldest and second daughters were also born to the first mistress Yan, and they had no sisterly feelings with the third daughter. Their deaths did not have a deep impact on Lu Shuiling. In addition, since Lu Shuixian's accident, she has been eating vegetarian food for two consecutive days, so she is naturally quite interested in these oily meat dishes. But how could she have imagined that this was your farewell meal to push her to the underworld!"
The room was completely silent, as everyone seemed to be waiting for Lu Enting's rebuttal. Lu Enting was silent for a moment before he raised his head again. "Good fellow, Mr. Liu, you've pinned all three murders on me. Regardless of whether your analysis makes sense, I just want to ask you one question: why would I kill them? They're all members of our Lu family. Even if they're not my direct relatives, they all have the surname Lu. How could I have the heart to kill them? Big Brother, am I right?"
He turned the conversation to Lü Changhua. However, the patriarch, who had been silent the entire time, didn't seem to be responding at all. Instead, he remained silent. Or perhaps, he was waiting for something to happen.
"Are you asking about the motive? Of course I do. If I couldn't find the motive, I wouldn't have gathered all the Lu family members here in such a high-profile manner." Yin Chuan said confidently.
"Then...then tell me." It can be heard that Lu Enting's tone is beginning to lack confidence.
"There is only one motive—Feng Nineteen!"
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