Chapter 301 Mystery
Prefect Bai stroked his chin, remaining silent. This matter could not be decided by listening to only one side of the story. Although he also believed that Lin Yuesha had no motive to poison him, subjective assumptions were the most taboo thing in a murder case.
"Pah! You're all in cahoots!"
Doctor Qin spat at the young page and cursed, "That damned girl must have bribed you to get her off the hook!"
Qin Langzhong was a physician at Jishetang. His son had mentioned that because of this relationship, the students at Changqing Academy, including their teachers, treated him with great respect. After all, these scholars were weak and frail, and every winter they would catch a slight cold, relying entirely on his prescriptions for treatment.
Those people were so polite to my son, yet they poisoned him with arsenic. They were so vicious, trying to kill him. No one else would do that.
After much thought, Qin Langzhong couldn't think of anyone else besides Lin Yuesha, with whom he had a grudge.
"Waaah, why are you being so fierce!"
The pageboy was still young and was so frightened by Doctor Qin that he backed away repeatedly, his face changing drastically. He wiped away his tears with his sleeve and thought to himself, "Doctor Qin, as a father, is so clueless. He thinks that Green-Eyed Man is doing so well at the academy. It's really laughable."
Although Green Bean Eyes was very knowledgeable, he was arrogant and domineering, and often bullied the poor scholars in the academy.
It's not impossible that someone poisoned him to death.
Scholars are proud and principled, and they cannot stand being insulted.
"My lord, the murderer is this wretched girl. She had a grudge against me, so she was malicious and killed my son!"
Qin Langzhong knelt on the ground with a thud, weeping bitterly, and begged Lord Bai to execute Lin Yuesha. He said that she was so young and yet had such a vicious mind; keeping her alive would only bring great harm.
Prefect Bai rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on, and thought to himself that Doctor Qin was a difficult person to deal with.
This person has a small reputation at Jishetang, and he's also unreasonable. Unless there's solid evidence proving that Lin Yuesha is unrelated to this case, that little girl will definitely be entangled with this scoundrel.
If Doctor Qin were to spread rumors, the young girl's reputation would be ruined. If the people, unaware of the truth, learned that she was involved in a murder case and was not innocent, they would keep their distance, and any business they wanted to do would fall through.
"Dr. Qin, you're convinced that I have a grudge against you, so you killed Green...Young Master Qin, isn't that right?"
Lin Yuesha stood aside, arms crossed, sneering. Although this man had experienced the pain of losing his son, she felt no sympathy and quietly watched Qin Langzhong's performance.
According to her analysis, given her stepbrother's kind nature, it was impossible for him to have been poisoned. Therefore, the murderer might have acted on impulse, and his target was the beady-eyed man.
However, because it was she who delivered the food, Lin Yuesha was unfortunately implicated and became a suspect.
"that is."
Qin Langzhong gritted his teeth, clutching his chest with his hand. He felt a burning sensation in his throat, and when he opened his mouth, he immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.
"You little brat, you'll pay for murder with your life! I'll fight you to the death!"
Qin Langzhong's steps faltered, and he used all his strength to steady himself. He reached out and went straight for Lin Yuesha. His son was someone he had carefully raised for many years, and now he had died in vain. He, an old man, had to bury his black-haired son. He couldn't bear to live anymore!
"Dr. Qin, a brain is a good thing, it's a pity you don't have one."
Holding Qin Langzhong back, Lin Yuesha frowned, pulled her stepbrother behind the officials for cover, and once she was sure it was safe, she continued, "I have a grudge against you and wanted to kill your son, so I went to Changqing Academy..."
She brought food to my stepbrother, knew everything about the academy, and precisely calculated that since my stepbrother wasn't there, the food would grow legs and even reach your son's mouth to poison him. How clever of me!
Qin Langzhong paused, speechless at Lin Yuesha's question. His face flushed red as he forced himself to say, "That was a conspiracy between you and your sister, yes, a conspiracy!"
“My stepbrother and I conspired to send food to Young Master Bai to murder your son and make him take the blame.”
Lin Yuesha continued following Qin Langzhong's train of thought, but Qin Langzhong dared not speak. He was heartbroken and wished the murderer would die immediately, but he absolutely could not involve Young Master Bai in this matter. The son of the prefect was not someone a commoner could afford to offend.
"this……"
After calming down a bit, Qin Langzhong realized that something didn't quite make sense.
"That's right. I saw the young pageboy peeking around with the food box in his hand. After asking what it was, I learned that it belonged to Tingyun, so I asked the pageboy to leave it with me temporarily."
Bai Dingfeng calmed down for a while before speaking. His face was pale, and he was still a little scared.
The food Lin Yuesha brought in was poisoned, and he had no idea why. Who was the poisoner?
Xiao Qi, does he still have beady eyes?
If it's Xiao Qi, then this case should be the simplest. But if the target is him or Green Eyes, then there will be unexpected complications.
His classmates only knew that Green Bean Eyes loved spicy food, but they didn't know that he did too, and that he was extremely fond of food.
Bai Dingfeng had no self-control when it came to food. He glanced at the young page and felt a pang of sympathy. If the food box were in his possession, he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't secretly indulge in it.
Although Bai Dingfeng, as the son of a prefect, considered himself well-mannered, the food prepared by Lin Yuesha was exceptionally delicious, and it remained to be seen whether he could resist the temptation.
"Yes... Young Master Bai was called away by the master before he could touch the food box."
The young page was terrified. He sniffed and automatically moved away from Doctor Qin, adding, "I put the food box in Young Master Bai's study. Seeing that no one was around, and the food smelled so good, I got greedy and stole a few pieces."
When Prefect Bai understood the reason, his expression changed. No one knows a son better than his father, and he thought the same thing as Bai Dingfeng.
So, the murderer may not have been targeting Young Master Qin; Young Master Qin was likely just a scapegoat.
If the killer's target was Bai Dingfeng, then it must have been someone who knew his son extremely well.
However, Xiao Qi was not there, so the food box was sent directly to Bai Dingfeng, which was Bai Dingfeng's initiative. All of this was quite a coincidence.
If the murderer could be incredibly shrewd and predict everything...
The more Prefect Bai thought about it, the more complicated it became. He unconsciously started to speculate about conspiracy theories, broke out in a cold sweat, and became even more eager to find the truth of the case.
"My lord, the case unfolded as follows: Lin delivered food to Changqing Academy, but her stepbrother was not there and had locked the door. Young Master Bai took the food, and then Young Master Qin entered Young Master Bai's study, ate the food, and died of poisoning."
The clerk took out paper and pen and began to analyze the case. Every clue was crucial, and no detail could be overlooked.
"Today is not a rest day at the academy, so why is Scholar Xiao not here?"
Prefect Bai astutely noticed this detail and questioned Xiao Qi about it.
Lin Yuesha was a little nervous. Her stepbrother was too soft-hearted, and she was afraid that Xiao Qi would say something wrong and arouse Bai Zhifu's suspicion again.
"Your Excellency, today is the annual book fair. I am poor and wanted to go out to find some good books, so I lied to the teacher that I had something to do at home..."
Xiao Qi darkened his eyes. Fine, since he was lying to his little sister like this, he might as well use the same excuse.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
