Chapter 282 The Beneficiaries
No one knows when the woman recovered from the devastating blow of losing her entire family. Even the two constables who were watching her gradually relaxed their vigilance as time went by.
It wasn't until the woman suddenly appeared at the largest and most expensive restaurant in the area and successfully used a packet of poison she had somehow obtained to incapacitate the Prince of Nanyang, who was supposedly the mastermind behind the deaths of her family, that the constables reluctantly took her back to the prison.
However, before the officials could interrogate her, she died of poisoning in her cell, leaving the officials with only her body.
"The current situation is that she has confessed to murdering the Prince of Nanyang, but no one knows where she got the poison, how she got into that restaurant, or how she managed to accurately poison the Prince of Nanyang's wine cup."
"As for the former Princess Nanyang, the news from the Prince's Mansion is that she suffered from rheumatism due to the shock and anger caused by her son's murder. However, this is just the news released by the Princess Nanyang. Whether it is true or false, no one else can investigate."
Hearing Jiang Yuan say this, Xie Wanniang couldn't help but sigh slightly.
That's how it is these days. Not only are the methods of investigation and evidence collection far behind those of modern society, but it's also easy for crime scenes to be deliberately destroyed.
Even though everyone knew that the deaths of the two families, including the Tong family, were definitely intentional murders, the authorities were still powerless to take action against the suspects because of a lack of evidence.
The same applies to the poisoning of the Prince of Nanyang and the sudden onset of rheumatism in the old princess. As long as there is no concrete evidence to prove that there is a mastermind behind these two incidents, the mastermind who absolutely exists can still rest easy.
Aside from those who died, the most unfortunate ones now are the local government officials. They failed to get to the bottom of two major cases in a row, and the imperial court will surely hold them accountable for dereliction of duty.
On the contrary, the biggest winner of this series of changes is the Princess Consort of Nanyang, a shrewd woman who had been biding her time before the fall of the Prince of Nanyang and the old Princess Consort. At this time, she has naturally taken over all the manpower and wealth of the Prince's mansion.
Xie Wanniang didn't care about the life or death of the Prince of Nanyang and his mother, but the fact that the Princess Consort of Nanyang had control of the entire Prince of Nanyang's mansion was definitely not something to be happy about for her.
She frowned slightly. "It seems I need to increase my precautions."
Jiang Yuan patted her shoulder and said, "There are only those who steal for a thousand days, not those who guard against thieves for a thousand days. Instead of just guarding against them, we might as well lure them out of their hole."
If the Princess of Nanyang is caught red-handed again, it won't just be a matter of being imprisoned for a period of time.
After he said that, Xie Wanniang also felt that it was indeed necessary for them to take the initiative.
She hesitated for a moment, then said, "How about I provide the authorities with some basic knowledge related to investigation?"
Jiang Yuan raised an eyebrow in surprise, "You know about this?"
Xie Wanniang spoke nonsense with an air of composure, "I am a doctor, and coroners who perform autopsies are half my colleagues. Moreover, I read a lot of miscellaneous books when I was a child, some of which contained content related to case investigation."
Although such books are extremely niche, and many exist only in the form of private notes, Xie Wanniang came from the Xie family, and Jiang Yuan did not doubt that she was making it up when she said she had read such books.
Without hesitation, Xie Wanniang left her husband and daughter aside and began to write by lamplight, recalling the past as she wrote.
She only knew the basics, and much of the content was no longer applicable in this era. After picking and choosing for several days, the final product was just a thin booklet.
She handed the booklet to Chang Yao through Jiang Yuan.
Chang Yao was in charge of military affairs, and he wasn't good at internal affairs, but his common sense in investigating cases was just as useful to him.
Just like the previous first aid and trauma manuals, he and his parents each received a copy, and then another copy was sent to the capital for His Majesty the Emperor to review and decide.
Putting aside the fact that the Chang family had gained new insights into Xie Wanniang's extensive knowledge, just considering that His Majesty the Emperor, sitting high on his throne, was presented with such a thing by Xie Wanniang at this critical juncture when both the Prince of Nanyang and the old Princess Consort had fallen ill, it was hard not to make His Majesty think the worst.
He whispered to the Empress in private, "Do you think this girl still cherishes that blood bond with her family?"
The Empress disagreed, saying, "If that's really the case, shouldn't she first try to cure the Prince of Nanyang and the old Princess?"
She had heard Lady Hou mention that this girl's greatest expertise was actually in medicine.
If, as the emperor said, she truly harbored a blood bond with the Prince of Nanyang and the old princess, then her first reaction should not have been to write a pamphlet related to the investigation, but rather to rush to the Prince of Nanyang's residence to detoxify the Prince of Nanyang and treat the old princess as soon as possible.
Whether she could save the mother and child or not, she at least had to show that she was eager and worried to save them.
The emperor thought about it and realized it was true. He gave a wry smile and said, "It seems I misunderstood."
The Empress smiled without saying a word. She knew that the Emperor was only prejudiced against Xie Wanniang because of her various actions, and that he might choose to let bygones be bygones for the sake of the Prince of Nanyang and the old Princess Consort, whose lives were hanging by a thread.
But it's clear that Xie Wanniang isn't the kind of pushover who would repay evil with kindness; she actually has strong likes and dislikes and isn't easily swayed.
The emperor didn't care at all, or more accurately, he admired Xie Wanniang, who was clear about her likes and dislikes, more than the soft-hearted Xie Wanniang.
Of course, even so, it doesn't mean that the two families and the Prince of Nanyang and the old Princess will be involved in some mysterious incident.
He handed the booklet written by Xie Wanniang to the Crown Prince, saying, "Have someone print it as soon as possible. Not to mention that every official should have a copy, at least all departments in the capital and local government offices at all levels should be able to get at least one copy."
Just then, the printing workshop he had the Crown Prince set up in secret had already printed enough cheap books for them to distribute in all counties, prefectures and counties at the same time.
Now he asked them to print another copy of this booklet, so that when they sent the other books to various places, this booklet could also hitch a ride on their deliveries and be sent to the local government offices at all levels.
This move would not only save him some printing and transportation costs, but also allow officials, gentry, and nobles from all over the country to see clearly who the owner of that bookstore was, so that they would be more clear-headed and not cause any trouble or offend the emperor's dignity when the bookstore was widely distributing its products.
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