Chapter 062 Jin丨Exclusive release by Jiang Wenxue
Zhui Ming had internal injuries since he was in his mother's womb. His parents didn't find out until he was two or three years old. Later, he was sent to Wen Yuehong, the "Three Jars Prince", for treatment. He suppressed the internal injuries with wine.
Due to the effect of the medicine, Zhui Ming had no power in his upper body, so he could only practice leg skills, and trained his two legs into weapons that could be "long or short, hard or soft".
His Qinggong was also very good, faster than a horse, and he quickly retrieved the moon cakes and everything that Shu Guifei had touched.
When Shu Guifei just died of poison, the imperial physician in the palace had already experienced her daily diet and found nothing wrong. Zhuge Zhengwo was not proficient in medicine, and the same was true for Wuqing, Tieshou and Lengxue. Even if they brought the mooncake back, they still had no idea.
Zhui Ming brought a dog and fed it the mooncake. The dog ate it in two bites and jumped to him, wanting another one.
Zhui Ming: "The mooncake is fine... What went wrong? What kind of poison could be so hidden?"
Wu Qing: "Maybe it's not the mooncake. The poison could be in Concubine Shu's rouge and powder, or in the ink used by the emperor when painting. I guess the poison would only become toxic after the two meet. It wouldn't be a problem if it only touches one of them."
Zhui Ming: "If these things are put together again, will they still be poisonous?"
Wu Qing: "The maids and eunuchs around Concubine Shu are all safe and sound, and the emperor is not poisoned. Either Concubine Shu has only touched the poison, or the amount is limited and not enough to kill two people."
While Zhui Ming and Wu Qing were analyzing the case, Pei Rui was standing at the bottom of the stairs, holding a knife, and his mind was wandering.
Suddenly, something came over and hugged his leg.
Pei Rui was stunned for a moment, then he slowly squatted down, reached out and touched it, and touched the soft fur.
"Woof woof!"
Pei Rui touched the dog's head, and the dog happily circled around him a few times, licking his palm with its tongue.
Xue Chen: [The dog is not afraid of cotton wool.]
System: [Maybe it is stupid and has no brains. It was quite happy when eating moon cakes. If it was poisonous, the dog would be dead now.]
Xue Chen: [Are you jealous?]
System: [No! I'm not a dog!]
Pei Rui put down the knife and stroked the dog.
The dog is very large, with hard meat on its body and a muscular body. It should be very strong, but it is very obedient in front of Pei Rui.
Xue Chen: [I don't know what color the dog's hair is, and whether it looks good. There is a chance that I can also raise one... No, if my brother gets sick in the future, the dog will also bark, and it will definitely be very noisy at night. 】
Wuqing and Zhui Ming thought for a long time, but they could not come to a conclusion.
Zhui Ming came back to his senses and saw the boy playing with the dog nearby, and his tense heartstrings relaxed a little: "Xiaomian, let's go, this dog is borrowed from the prison, and we have to return it later."
Pei Rui thought for a moment: "There is no dog in the Shenhou Mansion?"
Zhui Ming has been with him for a long time and knows him well: "Do you want it?"
Pei Rui nodded.
Zhui Ming: "I'll ask someone to keep an eye out for which dog has given birth and take one to raise. It's not possible now. I don't have enough energy to take care of it."
Wuqing looked at Pei Rui, then at Zhui Ming, as if he was puzzled by their way of getting along.
Zhui Ming: "Xiao Mian looks cold, but in fact, she is just a child of ten years old, not much older than the four sword boys beside my senior brother."
Pei Rui tilted his head: "I have met the four sword boys, they are very short."
Zhui Ming: "How do you know they are short?"
Pei Rui stretched out his hand to measure: "When they talk, their voices are probably at this position. Too short, they are all children, I am four years older than them."
When he said this, his face was still cold.
Wu Qing: "How old are you?"
Pei Rui: "I am already sixteen years old."
Wu Qing: "Not much older than the four of them."
Zhui Ming has always known that my senior brother is suspicious of Xiao Mian.
Not only my senior brother, but also my uncle.
Xiao Mian was brought here by the King of Taiping. He has a very strong aura. Although he is young and has not fully grown up, he has sharp eyes and a serious expression. He looks very sophisticated and it is difficult for people to let down their guard.
Zhui Ming was also like this at the beginning, until he took Pei Rui to Weiluo Town and spent a few days on the road together, and then he found that this child was particularly clumsy in some aspects.
It seems that everyone, when they see him for the first time, feels jealousy rather than sympathy.
They all subconsciously ignore that Xiao Mian is a blind boy who needs care from others.
Only Zhui Ming saw that Pei Rui was not a peerless swordsman, nor was he the adopted son of the King of Taiping. He was just Xiao Mian, Xiao Tou's younger brother, and also his younger brother.
Zhui Ming certainly hopes that Xiao Mian can get along well with his uncle and brothers.
Now Wuqing seemed to have changed his opinion of him, and Zhui Ming was happier than anyone else.
He took the dog's leash and put it in Pei Rui's hand: "Since you like dogs, then you can take it back. Do you know where the cell is?"
Pei Rui nodded.
Zhui Ming: "Go ahead."
Pei Rui took the dog and left.
Wuqing looked at his back: "He looks quite fierce with the dog on his leash."
Zhui Ming: "Xiao Mian was separated from his family when he was young, he is blind and homeless. He must have suffered a lot of grievances to become his current character. But there is nothing wrong with him. At least no one dares to bully him." Wuqing
thought of his fourth apprentice brother Leng Xue who was raised by a she-wolf, and understood Pei Rui a little more: "That's true. Now all the clues are broken, and it seems that we can't continue to pursue him. "
Zhui Ming sighed: "Although my uncle didn't say it clearly, it seems that he has handed the case over to me to investigate. I naturally can't just give up... I plan to start with Shu Guifei's palace maids to see if I can find any clues."
Wu Qing: "The method of committing the crime is concealed. The person who poisoned the person must be very careful and cautious. I'm afraid that I won't find any useful clues."
Zhui Ming: "I understand what you mean, but I can't just give up without doing anything."
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As a noble concubine, Shu Dongren had many palace servants serving her. There were 40 to 50 palace maids alone, and other eunuchs, with a total of nearly 100 people serving in front of and behind the palace.
There were a total of 12 palace maids and 8 eunuchs serving her.
The palace maids Yin'er and Meng'er were Shu Dongren's confidants, and the others were responsible for serving tea, sweeping the floor, making the bed, washing clothes, running errands, etc. Almost everyone had the opportunity to come into contact with Shu Dongren.
Zhui Ming called them all over, lined them up in four rows, and stood in the small courtyard in front of the palace.
Zhui Ming: "Who served her in the past three days?"
No one answered him.
Yin'er bowed and said, "Third Master, we are all people who serve the Empress. Naturally, I and Meng'er have spent the longest time in front of her." Zhui Ming
said, "Who is responsible for the meals of the imperial concubine?"
Yin'er pointed to two palace maids and a eunuch and said, "When the meals are ready in the kitchen, they will deliver them to the Empress. Gan Rong will take over and deliver them to the Empress. Then Jin'er and Tong'er will set the plates. The four of us will serve the Empress together."
Zhui Ming looked at the other two palace maids and said, "Are there any signs that the meals have been touched by anyone?"
Jin'er seemed to want to say something, but was a little afraid. She looked around and did not dare to speak.
Zhui Ming: "You say! Don't worry about it. He wouldn't dare to commit the crime in public. If the murderer can be caught soon, the truth of the imperial concubine's case will be revealed, and you can be safe."
Jin'er: "Yesterday, yesterday, the queen wanted to eat sweet-scented osmanthus cake, so she ordered the kitchen to make it. When it was sent over, one piece of the cake seemed to have been touched. It seemed to be shorter when it was taken out of the food box. The queen even joked that maybe the cook in the kitchen stole it and cut a piece for himself."
Zhui Ming: "Go and call the people from the kitchen over."
A eunuch standing in the crowd had a strange look on his face. When he heard Zhui Ming's order, he suddenly made a move and grabbed the neck of the palace maid next to him.
Several palace maids screamed in surprise and subconsciously stepped back. Zhui Ming saw the eunuch's appearance clearly. He was a pretty young eunuch. His expression was fierce at this moment. The veins on his hand that was pinching the palace maid's neck were bulging, and he looked particularly fierce.
Zhui Ming used his Qinggong skills and went over at an extremely fast speed. He pressed several acupuncture points on his body. The eunuch's hand loosened its strength, and the palace maid he was holding escaped. She held her neck and coughed violently.
Zhui Ming: "Did you poison me?"
The eunuch sneered and took out a dagger.
Zhui Ming grabbed his wrist and removed the dagger. The eunuch suddenly swallowed and then had difficulty breathing. His face turned extremely pale. He knelt on the ground in pain and struggled violently. Before Zhui Ming could induce vomiting, he gradually lost his voice.
"Call the doctor." Zhui Ming ordered the guards behind him and asked the palace maids: "Do you know him? Who is this man?"
Yin'er said fearfully: "He is Gan Rong... He has been following the queen for four or five years. He used to work for Concubine Wang. Because it was too cold in winter, he got frostbite on his hands. His hands and feet were not very nimble, and he was always bullied. The queen met him by chance and felt sorry for him, so she asked for him."
Meng'er looked incredulous and said angrily: "Gan Rong was saved by the Empress, and he has always been grateful and regarded the Empress as his reborn parent. Who could have thought that all these were fake! He actually dared to plot against the Empress!"
Concubine Wang was originally a female official beside Empress Dowager Xiang. When Zhao Ji was still Prince Duan, every time he came to Cide Palace to pay respects to Empress Dowager Xiang, who was still the Empress, Empress Dowager Xiang would let Wang and Zheng serve him.
When Zhao Ji ascended the throne, Empress Dowager Xiang gave these two women to him. Wang won Zhao Ji's favor and gradually rose to become one of the favored concubines.
She gave birth to five sons and three daughters for the emperor. Among them, the third prince Zhao Kai was particularly favored, even more favored than the crown prince Zhao Huan.
Zhui Ming knew that this matter could not be investigated further.
This was no longer something he could decide.
He said to the guards behind him: "Capture all the people in the palace, and no one is allowed to leave. Search their bodies to see if they have any sharp weapons or poisons."
The guards surrounded the palace people and searched them one by one according to Zhui Ming's instructions.
Zhui Ming did not go to see Zhao Ji immediately, but returned to the Shenhou Mansion as quickly as possible and told Zhuge Zhengwo about this matter.
After listening to what was said, Zhuge Zhengwo said calmly: "You also think it was Concubine Wang who did it?" Zhui Ming
: "Concubine Wang is old and her looks have faded. She cannot compare to Concubine Shu who is young and beautiful. It is normal
for her to be jealous." Zhuge Zhengwo: "She has spies around Concubine Shu. She must know about it. How could she attack Concubine Shu in front of the emperor when the emperor came that day? If something went wrong and the emperor's life was killed, what good would it do her? I think you are too concerned."
Zhui Ming: "Uncle is right."
Zhuge Zhengwo waved his hand: "You are also tired all day. Go back and have a rest. I will go to the palace to meet the emperor... Alas, I hope that no innocent people will be dragged into this."
Zhui Ming watched Zhuge Zhengwo leave and returned to the old building.
He was unhappy, so he took the wine from the altar and went to the rooftop to get some fresh air.
After staying on the rooftop for a long time, it was already completely dark. Zhui Ming finally got rid of his depressed mood and looked into the distance, feeling a little lost.
He glanced out of the corner of his eye and noticed a figure in front of the old building.
The young man in black almost blended into the night. He stood quietly at the door for a long time without moving, as if he was waiting for someone.
Zhui Ming felt warm in his heart, jumped down from the rooftop, and walked quickly towards the young man.
"Xiao Mian."
Pei Rui turned around slowly. He did not cover his eyes. In the dim light, his gray eyes were as deep as a cold pond. They should have been extremely sharp, but because he was blind, he had no focus and did not get to the point. "Where were you just now? I've been waiting for you to come back."
Zhui Ming: "Sorry, I kept you waiting."