Chapter 154: The person can escape, but the house cannot
"However, if you just want to treat bruises and swelling, you can buy processed strychnine."
The shopkeeper's words made Dong Yi's eyes light up slightly. He looked at him and asked, "What's the difference between the two?"
The shopkeeper said, "Raw strychnine is highly toxic. After being processed, its toxicity is reduced, but its medicinal properties remain the same. Most of the city's pharmacies only sell processed strychnine."
Dong Yi was puzzled: "Then why does Jimin Pharmacy sell raw strychnine?"
The shopkeeper replied, "My Lord, the owner collected those raw strychnine seeds to prepare for processing, and never intended to sell them. After all, even a small amount of raw strychnine seeds can be fatal. If someone accidentally ingests them, no one can bear the responsibility."
Dong Yi nodded, that was indeed the truth.
The laws of this dynasty also have clear regulations, such as strychnine, which is highly toxic, and cannot be sold to ordinary people without authorization.
"That day, this young man, Chen, came with Doctor Zheng from the Renxin Clinic. They said they were out of strychnine and wanted to buy some raw strychnine to treat this young man's injuries," the shopkeeper explained. "According to the law, as long as there's a doctor willing to guarantee it, we can sell it. And since we happened to have some in our shop, I sold some."
So when he heard that strychnine was put into the porridge provided by the Grand Tutor's Mansion, he was panicked for several days, worried that the medicine in his own shop had caused the trouble.
After all, he had just sold raw strychnine, and right after that several people died from the strychnine poisoning. How could it be such a coincidence?
He was always worried, recalling the conversation between him and Chen Dong that day and Chen Dong's appearance over and over again. When the officials came to his door, he told them everything, for fear that his shop would be implicated.
Dong Yi looked at Chen Dong and asked, "Since processed and raw strychnine have the same medicinal effects, and processed strychnine is available in all pharmacies, why do you only buy raw strychnine?"
Chen Dong scratched his head. "This is a folk remedy I heard from a traveling doctor. It's about producing strychnine. I injured my hand and can't do wood carving anymore. Seeing that I've lost my income, I'm worried, so I decided to try this folk remedy."
Seeing Dong Yi frown, he quickly added, "I recited the folk remedy to Doctor Zheng, and he thought it was feasible. So I asked him to accompany me to the pharmacy to buy some strychnine. After asking around a lot, I finally found Jimin Pharmacy."
He smiled and shook his arm: "Thanks to this folk remedy, my injury is almost healed."
There seems to be nothing wrong with this statement.
Dong Yi was just about to send someone to the Renxin Clinic to ask Doctor Zheng for help when he suddenly heard a shout from outside. He raised his voice and asked, "What's the matter?"
The yamen runner guarding the gate came in, carrying a little girl in a red jacket. He replied, "Sir, this little girl is spying outside, and I'm trying to get her out."
Dong Yi looked closely and saw that the girl was only about ten years old, with a slender figure. Her red coat made her face look fair and rosy. Her big black eyes were clear and bright, and she was very lively. She looked like a lovable child.
Thinking of his daughter, he couldn't help but smile and asked in a softer voice, "What are you looking at outside?"
"I heard that a high-ranking official was coming, so I was curious." Chu Yuxin nervously grabbed the corner of her clothes, her face tense. "I'm not a bad person, don't catch me."
Dong Yi teased her: "How do you prove that you are not a bad person?"
Chu Yuxin pointed to the next door and said, "My family runs a grocery store right next to it. People can run away, but the house can't. I can't run away either. I'm not a bad person."
Dong Yi laughed: "Little girl, the monk can escape but the temple cannot. Don't make the wrong statement next time."
Chu Yuxin nodded her head and asked, "Can I go home?"
Dong Yi nodded and just as he had the yamen runners escort Chu Yuxin out, he glanced at Chen Dong and called him back, "Wait."
Chu Yuxin's little body trembled, and when she turned around, her eyes were already tearful and she pursed her lips, as if she was about to cry at the next moment.
Dong Yi realized that he had frightened the little girl, so he hurriedly said, "I won't arrest you. I'll ask you another question."
Hearing that they would not arrest her, Chu Yuxin sniffed, held back her tears, and even bowed like she did in the play: "Excuse me, sir."
Dong Yi pointed at Chen Dong and said, "You two are neighbors, are you familiar with each other?"
Chu Yuxin looked at Chen Dong, shook her head, and then nodded.
Dong Yi confused her: "Do you know him well or not?"
Chu Yuxin said: "Brother Dong is my brother's friend, not my friend. I am not familiar with him."
Hearing this, Chen Dong looked at her with a mixture of laughter and tears: "Since we're not familiar with each other, I won't ask your brother to bring you snacks next time."
Chu Yuxin's little face suddenly wrinkled into a ball. She wanted to eat the snacks, but she didn't want to make friends. Her elder sister said that the friends her elder brother made were not very reliable.
Listening to the conversation between the two, Dong Yi sent someone to the grocery store next door to invite Chu Shangming, who was studying at home, over.
Chu Shangming walked into the woodcarving workshop confused. He saluted Dong Yi first, then looked up to see Chu Yuxin and Chen Dong staring at each other. He couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Xin'er, why are you here if you're not looking after the shop?"
Chu Yuxin pouted and didn't answer. She ran to his side and grabbed her big brother's clothes with her little hands. She said to Dong Yi, "Sir, my big brother is also a good man. Please don't arrest him."
Dong Yi wondered if the words "arrest anyone I see" were written all over his face. This little girl was actually quite protective of her big brother.
He cleared his throat and asked Chu Shangming, "Were you in the shop five days ago?"
Chu Shangming looked up at the sky and recalled that the academy was on vacation and the weather was cold, so he had been studying at home and helping to run the store. He was indeed there the whole time, so he nodded.
Seeing this, Dong Yi continued to ask: "Have you seen any strangers entering or leaving the woodcarving workshop?"
Chu Shangming thought for a moment and asked, "What kind of stranger?"
Dong Yi ordered the bailiff to show him the suspect's portrait.
Chu Shangming looked at the pictures one by one and shook his head: "These people are not in the portraits."
Hearing this, Dong Yi looked at him and asked, "What did the person you saw look like?"
Chu Shangming turned around to look for pen and ink, but he couldn't find any after looking around, so he had to run back to the grocery store to get them.
He learned painting from a teacher at a private school in the village. He wasn't very good at it, but he could draw a simple portrait.
"It looks roughly like this." After Chu Shangming finished drawing, he pinched the two corners of the drawing paper and lifted it up to show everyone.
There are four faces on the drawing paper, three men and one woman. The drawings are crude, but the basic features are all there and can be recognized.
Dong Yi ordered the yamen runners to put the portraits of the suspects drawn by the painters nearby for them to look at together.
Chu Yuxin tilted her head and stared at her eldest brother's painting for a long time. Suddenly, she said "Oh" and pointed at the man's face on the far right of the drawing paper: "He came at night. I've seen him before."
Dong Yi immediately looked at her: "What do you remember?"
"Hmm..." Chu Yuxin frowned as she recalled, "He was very tall, holding a long sword with a big ruby on the handle. It was very beautiful."
Dong Yi thought that without this gem, the little girl might have forgotten it long ago.
"He walks very fast and is very rude. He didn't even apologize when he bumped into me." Chu Yuxin pouted and rubbed her head angrily, as if the place where she was hit was still painful.
As she rubbed it, she suddenly remembered: "Oh, there's a scar on his wrist!"
"Really?" Dong Yi's eyes flashed, and he asked repeatedly, "Which hand? What kind of scar?"
"Left...right..." Chu Yuxin muttered and stretched out her arms to gesture, which made everyone anxious. How could she not tell the left from the right?
Seeing that his little sister was confused, Chu Shangming reminded her, "The hand you eat with is your right hand."
Upon hearing this, Chu Yuxin immediately confirmed it and raised her right hand high: "This one!"
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