14. The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind (Revised)
The four knelt silently, and the others around them were also completely still. Time passed slowly in the heavy atmosphere. Chunxiang turned around and saw Liu Hanruo's tired expression. To encourage Liu Hanruo, she magically produced a document in her hand. It was a detailed list of the inflow and outflow of abortifacient drugs such as safflower and musk from various pharmacies in the capital over the past week.
Upon seeing this, Liu Hanruo suddenly had a flash of inspiration and realized that this was how the drug was administered. Now, all that was missing was some evidence.
Liu Hanruo reviewed the records, memorized them, and roughly estimated the time and distance. She found that only Baicaotang and Baicaoji pharmacies were likely involved. Carefully examining the quantities and dates of entry and exit, Liu Hanruo suddenly had a bold guess. She first asked Xiao Lü to invite the pharmacy clerks on duty at these two pharmacies that day. Then, she compiled the sales times of safflower and musk from the two shops and asked Chunxiang to inquire in the backyard of the Prince's Mansion if anyone had seen Xia Yu, Chunhe, Liujin, Cuizhu, Qiushuang, and Shuihan, the six maids, entering and leaving the Prince's Mansion at 5 PM the day before yesterday or 9 AM the day before yesterday. The first person to come forward to testify would be rewarded with ten taels of silver, and each subsequent person would be rewarded with five taels of silver, first come, first served. However, each person who testified must provide detailed information about when, where, and who they saw leaving. If it was found that they were lying for money, they would be expelled from the Prince's Mansion and severely punished.
If you ask Liu Hanruo why she even investigated Chunhe and Qiushuang, although on the surface these two people are unrelated to this matter, her intuition tells her that they must be connected to this matter, but what exactly they are still to be verified.
Tempted by money, the servants in the backyard began to frantically recall their memories. Soon, more than a dozen people stepped forward. Chunxiang took notes on each of them as needed, had them put their fingerprints on the paper, and then returned to Yunluo Garden.
Liu Hanruo sat on the right-hand chair, flipping through the notes with one hand and slowly tapping the chair to a rhythm with the other. Looking at the four kneeling people, she murmured:
"Bai Cao Tang, Bai Cao Ji".
Upon hearing the names of the two pharmacies, two of the four kneeling people were no longer so calm. One was Xia Yu, who was already somewhat uneasy. When Liu Hanruo casually mentioned the names of the pharmacies, her heart skipped a beat, and she trembled all over. Cui Zhu was slightly better; the fear in her eyes flashed by, and she immediately pretended to be calm again.
Having observed everyone's reactions, Liu Hanruo felt the time was right and calmly asked again:
"You should understand that life is only given to each person once. Is it worth losing the lives of an entire family for something insignificant?"
"I advise you not to take any chances. I have detailed proof of your entry and exit from the mansion. Xiao Cui has also gone to Baicaotang and Baicaoji to summon the pharmacy clerks on duty that day. Once they meet, everything will be clear. In order to avoid further bloodshed, I can give you a chance. As long as you step forward now, I will guarantee the safety of your families."
In the oppressive environment, Xia Yu's mental defenses crumbled, and in order not to implicate her family, she took the blame for all the crimes.
"Your Highness, it was this servant who put the safflower in the soup. It has nothing to do with Consort Dong. Please, Your Highness, have mercy and spare my family!"
Seeing Xia Yu admit it, Cui Zhu suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling relaxed and beaming with joy. However, she was immediately plunged into despair by Liu Hanruo's next words.
"Cuizhu, do you really think you can escape this calamity just because Xia Yu confessed? If I'm not mistaken, Xia Yu wasn't the only one who poisoned the soup; you were too. I suspect that you both knew about Consort Liu's preferences beforehand, including her habit of drinking soup before meals. That's why you both poisoned the soup after the young woman tasted it."
Liu Hanruo's words made Cuizhu turn pale instantly, and she collapsed to the ground, but she still put on a desperate struggle.
"Your Highness is joking. With so many people present, how could I possibly have poisoned her?"
"How did you manage to put the medicine in? It's all thanks to Chunhyang. I didn't expect it either. It's the same theory as the magic trick Chunhyang just performed. People trust their eyes too much. They intuitively feel that no one would be so foolish as to put medicine in the soup under the watchful eyes of so many people. Therefore, no one will pay special attention to anyone's actions. You two must have cleverly used this psychology to put the medicine in the soup one after the other without anyone noticing."
With things having come to this point, there was no point in making excuses. Cuizhu could only lower her head and confess her crimes, explaining that everything was instigated by Concubine Liu. Everyone thought the matter was over, but just then, Liu Hanruo's calm voice suddenly rang out again.
"I still have some doubts about this matter. Now I just need to wait for the right person to arrive, and I believe all the questions will be answered."
The oppressive atmosphere made everyone present groan. Time passed quietly as everyone waited anxiously. When they saw Xiao Cui running in the distance, it was like seeing a long-awaited ray of dawn, and everyone was filled with hope.
"Your Highness, I have brought the two people you asked me to find. They are waiting outside the door."
"Yes, let them in. I have some questions to ask."
A moment later, two young and thin pharmacy clerks walked in. The clerk from Herborist was wearing a blue robe, and the clerk from Baicaotang was wearing a white robe. The two clerks bowed and waited to be asked questions.
"Are you from Herborist Pharmacy?" Liu Hanruo asked the young shop assistant in the blue robe.
"Yes, Your Highness, I am a shop assistant at Herborist. My surname is Deng. You can call me Xiao Dengzi." The shop assistant, who had been called out, seized the opportunity to curry favor.
"Were you on duty the day before yesterday? Do you remember how many safflowers you sold? And who bought them?"
"Your Highness, that day at dusk, I sold one jin of safflower. I remember that two girls in white with veils came to buy it, and each bought half a jin."
"Little Deng, I have reviewed the accounts. In principle, safflower is not commonly used, and most pharmacies would never buy a pound at a time. Why did you suddenly buy a pound half a month ago? What's even stranger is that just the day before yesterday, you sold exactly the previous stock. Can you tell me why? Did you have a premonition and foresee this?"
"Your Highness, I am but an ordinary person, how could I have foreseen this? To be honest, about half a month ago, two veiled women came one after the other and each ordered half a catty of safflower, saying that their maids were pregnant and needed to have an abortion. They were to come back to pick it up about half a month later. That's when I discussed it with the shopkeeper and ordered a catty of safflower in advance. According to the date, half a month later was exactly the day before yesterday, so I didn't ask any more questions and just handed the safflower to the two girls."
"Then if you were asked to recognize a person's figure or voice, you might be able to tell them apart."
"Your Highness, it should be possible."
Liu Hanruo pointed at Xia Yu and Cuizhu and asked:
"Is it them?"
"Your Highness, only one looks like it, and the other doesn't look like it at all!" Little Dengzi said, pointing to the green bamboo after looking at it.
"Then take a look at the people here. If anyone thinks it looks like someone else, just point it out. It's no problem."
Xiao Dengzi looked at it several times, then suddenly pointed at Chunhe and said:
“Your Highness, it is her. Her figure is very similar. To be sure, we need to hear her voice. I wonder if we could ask her to say: ‘Half a pound of safflower, to be picked up in half a month.’”
Liu Hanruo nodded, indicating that Chunhe should do as Xiao Dengzi said. Chunhe clenched her hands tightly, but had no choice but to repeat it in a different tone as instructed.
“Your Highness, it’s her, it’s her! She’s the one who came to order the safflower half a month ago, along with the girl from earlier.” Little Dengzi said immediately upon hearing the voice.
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