Chapter 394: The Poisoner
Most people in the village are sensible.
Now that their men have been rescued and are no longer in danger of death, they no longer resist and all nod their heads.
“According to what Miss Shen said, could it be that someone deliberately poisoned the Yun family to frame them?”
"If someone really poisoned us on purpose, then we should find the culprit. Otherwise, everyone who attended the banquet last night was from our same village. Who could be so cruel as to attack the entire village? If we don't find this person, how can we live in peace in the future?"
"That's right! We were lucky this time. Miss Shen's medical skills were superb and she saved everyone. If it were the next time, who knows when this person would come out and poison us again. It's hard to guard against!"
"Mrs. Shen, do you have any clues? As long as we can find the murderer who poisoned us, we will cooperate with you without hesitation!"
Mrs. Wu and Mrs. Yang were the first to express their support.
Seeing this, everyone agreed.
Chen Fenghe smiled and said, "Thank you all for your trust. We do have some clues. First of all, the people who were poisoned yesterday were all male guests. The female guests were all safe and sound, but the dishes were identical for both men and women. So we checked the wine the male guests drank, and sure enough, we found arsenic in it."
"Arsenic!"
When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
Arsenic is a well-known poison even in rural areas. Once ingested by mistake, there is basically no hope for recovery!
"Who is so vicious! If I knew about this, I would definitely tear him into pieces!"
"Using arsenic is clearly an attempt to poison us to death! How cruel!"
Chen Fenghe continued, "I've just had my husband check on the poisoned man in the village. He discovered that, of all the people who came to the banquet, except for the half-grown children who hadn't drunk any alcohol, there was only one person who wasn't poisoned and wasn't sent to the Yun family."
"who?!"
"Everyone was poisoned, but he was the only one who wasn't. That person must have poisoned him!"
"This person is Aunt Wang's third son, Wang San."
After hearing this, everyone looked at Madam Wang in surprise.
Madam Wang was stunned for a moment, then her face flushed red, and she said angrily: "Madam Shen, you are slandering me! My son has always been filial, how could he possibly poison the entire village? You must have seen that I was suspicious of your family, so you deliberately said this to pin the blame on my family! You have such evil intentions! Everyone, don't believe her! They have only moved to Shili Village for a few years. Have you forgotten that our Wang family fled here with everyone else? Don't you prefer to believe her instead of me? "
Everyone was a little embarrassed.
Although Madam Wang was a bit mean and stingy, she had indeed fled all the way here, and her friendship was deeper than that between Madam Shen and the Yun family. It was indeed arbitrary to hastily conclude that her son was the murderer of the poison.
Chen Fenghe said coldly, "Auntie Wang, I'm just stating the facts. Your third son wasn't poisoned. Are you saying I'm lying? How come you're saying I'm trying to frame your family and harm them? Who is actually distorting the truth? Do I need to say more?"
Madam Wang was speechless and was about to start a scene when Madam Wu spoke up, "Madam Wang, it's useless for us to say anything now. Since Wang San wasn't poisoned, why don't we call him over and interrogate him face to face? If it really wasn't him, with all of us villagers here, are we really wrongly accusing him?"
"Yeah, just call the person over and ask him, and everything will be clear. Why bother arguing here?"
After hearing what everyone said, Madam Wang had no choice but to say, "Alright! I'll go home now, call that guy over, and confront you face to face! If it wasn't him, I'll see how you can get away with it!"
Two other ladies in the village heard this and stood up, saying, "Let's go with Madam Wang."
Chen Fenghe also sent a nanny from the Yun Mansion to accompany him.
After a while, the two ladies and the nanny who had followed came back and said, "Oh no! It's bad! Wang San isn't home! I'm afraid he really did it and ran away in fear! The five taels of silver that the Wang family hid in the ground have also been dug up and are gone. Madam Wang is at home crying!"
When everyone heard this, they could indeed hear Madam Wang's wailing voice from afar, and they couldn't help but sigh.
Everyone ran away, I'm afraid it was Wang San who poisoned them.
"However, Wang San, whom I have met before, doesn't seem like a vicious person. Why would he suddenly poison the entire village?"
A mocking and cold smile appeared at the corner of Chen Fenghe's lips.
yes……
How could he suddenly do such a cruel thing without any reason or hatred?
"Who says not? However, I heard that Wang San has developed a bad habit of stealing in the past month. I don't know if he learned bad things from someone, or if he's been possessed by an evil spirit."
As he was speaking, someone outside shouted, "The government officials are coming!"
As early as midnight, after discovering the poisoning incident, Xiao Yunshuo sent someone to the government office in Youzhou City to report the case overnight.
Although with Xiao Yunshuo's men, it would be no problem to catch the murderer and punish him.
But a strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake. Moreover, they were hiding in this small village in order to hide their identities. Therefore, it was most appropriate to leave this matter to the government. If they did not handle it themselves, it would only attract attention.
The captain of the police came in and greeted Xiao Yunshuo and Yuan Xu, then arranged for the yamen runners to search everywhere for Wang San's whereabouts.
The Yun Family naturally sent out servants to search the mountain and investigate, and Xiao Yunshuo also specifically instructed them to leave no one alive.
After everything was arranged, Chen Fenghe and Xiao Yunshuo returned to the inner hall to rest.
Yuan Xu knelt down and said, "Your Highness, Your Majesty, I was careless. I only sent people to monitor and keep an eye on the spies from the palace lurking in the village. As for the others, I thought they were all villagers and wouldn't cause any trouble, so I didn't take too much precautions..."
Xiao Yunshuo's face was gloomy. He said, "This matter was indeed your negligence. Once the matter is resolved, you can go and accept the punishment."
"Yes," Yuan Xu agreed, but couldn't help asking, "There's one thing I don't understand. We already know where Wang San is hiding, so why are we pretending to be ignorant and reporting it to the authorities? Why don't we arrest Wang San immediately and interrogate him thoroughly?"
Last night at midnight, Xiao Yunshuo had already found out that Wang San was the only one in the village who had not been poisoned. However, he did not immediately make it known to control Wang San, but simply sent people to monitor him.
Xiao Yunshuo said calmly, "The Yun family is merely a merchant family. If we reveal a flaw when arresting Wang San, wouldn't our identities be exposed to the palace? There's another thing... I'm afraid Wang San isn't the only one responsible. Simply arresting him would only alert the real culprit, allowing him to escape and never reveal his true identity again."
After hearing this, Yuan Xu whispered, "I am stupid!"
He made a mistake and was so focused on making amends that he even forgot such a simple principle!
Shen Fenghe asked in a low voice: "By the way, are you monitoring Shen Shian's family?"
Xiao Yunshuo turned to look at Chen Fenghe: "Do you suspect it's them?"
She was not skeptical, but convinced.
And, it's not to 'them', but to 'her'.
She was certain and certain that this incident... was definitely done by Shen Meixin.
After all, a person who can remain calm when her parents and husband poison her will probably have no psychological burden in poisoning the villagers of Shili Village who are not her relatives or friends.
Xiao Yunshuo nodded and said, "Shen Shi'an and Xiao Yunqi are still at home as usual. Yang Cuicui and Shen Meixin also went into the mountains early in the morning as usual."
At this point, Xiao Yunshuo had already guessed it and whispered, "Do you suspect Yang Cuicui and Shen Meixin were responsible?"
According to the information he has, Wang San is now hiding in the mountains.
Moreover, he stole money from home in the middle of the night last night and fled into the mountains, but he did not continue to escape further at night. Instead, he found a secret place in the mountains and hid there, clearly as if he was waiting for someone.
Naturally, he also suspected Shen Shian and others.
After all, Shen Shi'an, Xiao Yunqi and others had come to the gate of the Yun Mansion and made a scene a few days ago, but returned empty-handed. Therefore, they held a grudge and deliberately hired Wang San to poison Shen Fenghe's wedding banquet in revenge, which made sense.
But Shen Shi'an and Xiao Yunqi were used to being lazy. Since they were settled in this village, they just wandered around all day and did nothing.
Judging from the situation today, it is naturally impossible to go into the mountains to meet Wang San.
Of course, there is also a possibility that Shen Shian and Xiao Yunqi did not show up, and deliberately let Yang Cuicui and Shen Meixin meet with Wang San.
But Xiao Yunshuo quickly rejected this idea. Xiao Yunqi was naturally suspicious and jealous. When he was a prince, he deliberately concealed his true nature and pretended to be so. Now he was basically unrestrained.
Letting Yang Cuicui and Shen Meixin come forward has some elements of seduction through beauty.
Xiao Yunqi probably wouldn't tolerate it.
So, in the end, there is only one possibility.
It was Yang Cuicui and Shen Meixin who took the initiative to do this.
Chen Fenghe nodded and said, "Shen Shi'an and Xiao Yunqi are irresponsible, and they only order Yang Cuicui and Shen Meixin around every day. But for some time now, his family hasn't been too hard-pressed. Not to mention that Yang Cuicui and Shen Meixin are women, and they're used to a life of luxury in the capital. Even men who have lived in the mountains for years might not be able to hunt game as often as they do. The reason they can do this is naturally because they rely on their appearance to deceive the men with evil intentions in the village. This Wang San... I'm afraid he's one of them."
As for why they poisoned their wedding banquet, Xiao Yunshuo did not ask.
Because it is obvious that it is naturally out of jealousy and resentment.
Xiao Yunshuo said, "I'll have someone lead the police chief and officers from the yamen into the mountains. It would be best if we could catch them red-handed when they meet. This would save us a lot of trouble."
At this time, in the mountains.
After walking for a while, Yang Cuicui stopped because of a stomachache, panting heavily, "Mei Xin, you... wait a moment, I really can't walk anymore."
Her health is getting worse day by day. She used to just have a cough, but now she has abdominal pain and general fatigue. It doesn't seem like she has a cold or something like that. When she goes back today, even if she is going to be beaten and scolded, she will ask a doctor to see her.
This disease... is really strange...
Chen Meixin's eyes flashed with impatience, but then she hid it and whispered, "Mother, if we delay, we'll be scolded by Father and Husband again... I think... why don't you wait here? I'll go and finish my business, then come back and reunite with you and go down the mountain together."
After hearing this, Yang Cuicui thought that this was something she was familiar with, so she nodded and said, "Okay. Then you go quickly and come back soon. Mother will wait here."
Chen Meixin quickly arrived at the agreed place.
Wang San was hiding in a cave and had been waiting anxiously. When he saw Chen Meixin appear, he quickly gave the secret code. When Chen Meixin entered the cave, he hugged Chen Meixin in his arms!
"Meixin, why did you come just now? I was so anxious!"
The light in the cave was dim, so Wang San did not notice the disgust in Chen Meixin's eyes.
Of course, at this moment Wang San was like a stray dog and had no time to take care of these things for a while.
Chen Meixin took out a package from the bamboo basket and opened it, saying gently, "Third brother, don't be anxious. Are you hungry? I brought a few meat buns, they're still hot, you can eat a little to fill your stomach first."
Wang San had been running away in fear for half the night, and his stomach was already growling with hunger. He didn't care about anything else and immediately picked up the buns that Chen Meixin had brought and started eating them. While eating, he hurriedly asked:
"Mei Xin, what on earth is going on? Didn't you say that the medicine you gave me was just a laxative? Your purpose was just to make your sister's wedding day a joke and become the laughing stock of the whole village. How could it suddenly turn into poison? My father and my eldest and second brothers also drank a lot of wine. I was afraid that by the time I escaped, they would have already died and not breathed in! Now we don't know whether they are alive or dead. Mei Xin, this...what on earth is going on! Am I...am I a murderer?"
Chen Meixin said softly, "Third brother, how could I possibly lie to you? Those medicines were given to me by my father and my husband. They told me they were laxatives. I guess... I guess they are stronger than ordinary laxatives, which is why they acted like that. Don't worry, when I went into the mountains early this morning, I didn't hear that anyone in the village had died. I guess they were just exhausted from diarrhea, nothing serious..."
As Chen Meixin said this, a hint of regret and resentment flashed across her eyes.
Damn Chen Fenghe, she just has such good luck.
Such a large bag of arsenic would poison a hundred horses to death, not to mention humans!
I don’t know what kind of magic she used, but she managed to save them all!
Originally, her plan was to have Wang Sanjiang put poison in the dishes, and wait for the whole village to eat the poison and die. If dozens of people died at once, it would definitely alarm the government.
By then, Chen Fenghe and Young Master Yun would naturally be arrested by the government.
She then had Wang San testify against Shen Fenghe, claiming that he and Shen Fenghe had long been secretly in love. Who could have imagined that Qin Mengyue, disregarding Shen Fenghe's wishes, had her eye on the Yun family's fortune and forced Shen Fenghe into marriage? Wang San and Shen Fenghe were filled with resentment, and so they devised this wicked scheme to frame Young Master Yun and have him charged with murder.
For such a big case, the government will certainly not allow Shen Fenghe to quibble and will definitely make a decision as soon as possible.
In this way, Chen Fenghe becomes a murderer, and Master Yun should be acquitted.
Once Young Master Yun was released, she would wait for an opportunity to attract his attention. By then, Xiao Yunqi and… the others would have died of the poison, and she could then marry Young Master Yun…
Who would have thought that something would go wrong in the end!
But...it's okay.
She still has a trick up her sleeve... The most important thing now is to remove herself from this matter...
Wang San couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief after hearing what Chen Meixin said, but he was still a little uneasy and said, "Is that so? But... I still feel it's inappropriate. Even if it's just a laxative, I'm afraid the villagers won't let me go easily... Meixin, how about... you run away with me!"
Wang San looked at Chen Meixin. After his fear faded away, his lust took over and his hand dishonestly reached into Chen Meixin's clothes.
"Your man doesn't do his job and beats you every day. If you stay with him, he will be beaten to death sooner or later! I secretly took five taels of silver from home! It's enough for us to go to another prefecture and county to buy a few acres of thin land to live on! We will hide our identities from now on, and I... I swear, I will treat you well for the rest of my life!"
Chen Meixin suppressed her disgust and didn't push him away. Instead, she guided his hand and placed it on her chest. She looked at him lovingly and said, "Third brother, of course I'm willing to go with you. It's just... when I went up the mountain, the Yun family had already reported us to the authorities. Even if we wanted to escape now, I'm afraid we'd be caught soon..."
Wang San suddenly became dispirited upon hearing this and said anxiously, "Did they report it to the authorities? Aren't they just some laxatives? Why did they report it to the authorities? What should I do? Will I be arrested and put in jail?"
Chen Meixin grabbed his hand and said affectionately and firmly, "Third brother, don't worry! Even if... even if you really go to jail, I will wait for you forever! And, I... I have thought of a way to never let you go to jail!"
Wang San immediately asked excitedly, "What's the solution? Tell me now! As long as I don't have to go to jail, I'm willing to do anything!"
Chen Meixin whispered, "Third brother, now that the government has been dispatched, instead of being caught by the soldiers, it would be better for you to go out and let the soldiers catch you. When you see the master, just say that you were ordered to do so..."
Wang San was stunned for a moment: "Under someone's orders? Under whose orders?"
A sinister look flashed across Chen Meixin's eyes as she said, "You only said that you were instructed by my husband and my parents. They promised to give you ten taels of silver after the matter was completed. The reason was that they went to the Yun family before, but the Yun family refused to let them in. Therefore, my father and husband felt humiliated and wanted to give you laxatives to take revenge on the Yun family... and..."
Chen Meixin paused for a moment before continuing, "Also... you and Shen Fenghe have been secretly in love for a long time. Shen Fenghe originally agreed to marry you, but later remarried the Yun family's young master for money. You were also resentful, so you agreed to it immediately, in agreement with my parents and husband. Your purpose was just to make the Yun family's wedding banquet a laughing stock in the village. There was no other malicious intention..."
Now that no one has died at the Yun family's banquet, if Wang San rashly accuses Chen Fenghe of conspiring with him to poison the woman, his accusation will probably not be convincing enough. The government will not make a random judgment on a case where no one has died and convict Chen Fenghe without any explanation.
Therefore, she asked Wang San to change his words and say that it was her parents and Xiao Yunqi who ordered it.
In this way, at least the government can arrest Xiao Yunqi and her parents first.
The best outcome is that they took the blame for her. Whether they died of poisoning in prison or were sentenced to death by beheading, she would be free again and would not have to be bullied or dragged down again!
Of course, Chen Fenghe wouldn't let her have an easy time either.
Although this incident could not kill her, Wang San's confessions could still ruin her reputation.
Whether it's Young Master Yun or the villagers, it may not work at first, but after a long time, rumors will always spread.
By then, Young Master Yun would definitely divorce her, and then... she would have her chance...
Wang San looked at Chen Meixin in a daze, and for some reason he felt a chill on his back: "Meixin...it's okay if you ask me to identify your husband. After all, he always beats and bullies you, and the government should lock him up. But your parents...why do you want me to identify them too?"
If she was so cold-blooded towards her parents, then she was so cold-blooded towards herself...
Chen Meixin immediately sensed what Wang San was thinking. She meekly leaned into Wang San's arms, lowered her head and cried, "I...how could I be willing? But I once secretly told my parents about our affairs, saying that I wanted to find someone among the village chiefs to divorce my husband, and then marry you, Third Brother. But my parents beat and scolded me severely, saying that I was shameless and fickle, and that our Shen family would never allow a woman who divorced her husband. Even if my husband died in the future, I would have to remain a widow for the rest of my life and never remarry! I...I have no choice but to be with Third Brother..."
Wang San was filled with righteous indignation after hearing this. He was furious: "They! How could they do this? Eh? That's not right? Didn't my godmother say..."
Chen Meixin immediately said, "My mother only said that in front of you, to coax you into buying delicious food and money for my family. In fact, she had no intention of marrying me to you... Third brother, I am willing to give myself to you, you... do you still doubt what I say?"
As she spoke, she had already undressed, unzipping the collar of her outer shirt to reveal the red bellyband underneath.
Wang San suddenly felt his blood rushing up, and all the thoughts in his mind were burned away.
"Mei Xin..."
Chen Meixin bit her lip and said, "Third brother, don't worry. Once you identify them and put them in jail, I...I will be free, and I can...ah!"
Before he could finish his words, Wang San rushed over impatiently!
"Third brother, don't! You have to go find the police and surrender yourself first..." Chen Mei said anxiously.
Her original intention was just to seduce him, but she had no intention of actually letting him succeed!
Wang Sanse's heart was in a state of excitement, and he didn't care about these things. He untied his belt and said, "Mei Xin! Let me have my pleasure first! Wait... wait until we are done, even if you let me die immediately, I will be willing to do it!"
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