Chapter 3: The Seedlings in the Medicinal Field Are Poisoned "What's going on? My son has recovered from his illness...
The villagers gathered around the Wang family's ancestral home, making accusations one after another.
Xie Yushu, Li, and Grandmother Xie blocked the sickly Pei Yixue behind them, and they were almost unable to control the chaotic scene before them.
Pei Yixue likes quietness. When there are too many people around and it is noisy, he can't help but feel irritated.
Before he came to Daohua Village, the villagers could not even get enough food to eat, but he opened up this way to make money, and now every household has no problem eating meat and drinking wine every day.
Since the villagers were dissatisfied, he just did as they wished.
The villagers had been pressing him with words for so long that they probably thought he was going to compromise, so he gradually died down as soon as he opened his mouth.
When everyone was completely quiet, he smiled and said to them, "You all know my health. It's hard for me to walk a few steps. I really can't go up the mountain to dig for medicine."
After saying that, he started coughing again, holding his chest.
The villagers couldn't help but feel proud and looked down upon him.
"Master, do you know this? If we hadn't gotten up early and worked late to dig herbs, Master would not even be able to afford the money to recuperate in this shabby courtyard."
"In the end, the boss embezzled most of the money from selling the medicine. Can he still live with it?"
Pei Yixue glanced at those people in the crowd who were pointing at him and cursing him, and he also wanted them to check their consciences. Comparing their lives half a month ago and now, which one would they prefer?
His eyes were tinged with sadness, and he looked up and said, "You all think I am being too much, and you are right. From now on, you can go dig herbs and sell them. You can get as much as you can sell.
I have not been in good health recently, and I am afraid I don’t have the energy to prepare the drug for the animals, so it will be difficult for me to lead you up the mountain.”
In order to fit the occasion, he deliberately coughed a few times. Xie Yushu then came over to help him calm down, with a worried look on his face.
He took advantage of the situation to release the strength from his body, leaning against the man to stand, and the smile on his face became more genuine.
His health had improved a lot compared to half a month ago, but Xie Yushu made him feel the joy of being a "sickly person".
Hearing his words, many villagers' faces turned black. Some of them had gleams in their eyes and tried to get him to hand over the recipe for the animal drug.
Pei Yixue felt amused. These people were calculating. Why would he give away his prescription?
He refused on the grounds that it was a secret recipe passed down from his ancestors, and the villagers began to use moral blackmail on him.
Pei Yixue pretended not to understand what they meant and refused with a smile no matter what the villagers said.
He also informed them that he was not feeling well and that he would suspend his herb digging activities.
The villagers were disappointed and left angrily.
But they were sure that without them digging herbs, Pei Yixue would not be able to make money and would definitely come to them, and then they would be able to get the money easily.
Two days later, the villagers were expecting Pei Yixue to come to them with a smug look on his face, but unexpectedly they learned that Pei Yixue had gone to the next village.
Seeing the villagers next door smiling as they received their wages every day, many villagers could no longer sit still and began to complain about those who instigated them to go on strike.
After a few days, people found Pei Yixue one after another. They wanted to follow him up the mountain, but they had to be cautious and bite someone first.
"The boss is the same. Why didn't you tell the villagers when you got better? We are all waiting to go to work. The whole family is waiting for wages and food. Fellow villagers, could it be that the boss still has a grudge against us for some reason?"
Li was not to be outdone by this sarcastic tone. She picked up some herbs while saying, "Why? My son has recovered from his illness, but I have to knock on every door to inform you? How dare you? What business does he have with our family if he has no money to eat?
"We agreed at the time that we could go up the mountain and dig as much as we could. But we had to make sure that wolves, tigers and leopards didn't take it away!"
Li threw the defective herbs she had picked out to the villagers in the direction of the courtyard gate, and the villagers all moved back.
"This, this... Aunt Li, you can't say that." The villager standing in front shook off the dead leaves of herbs on his body. "If we hadn't helped you go up the mountain to dig herbs, how could you have the money to live such a happy life now? If Mr. Pei didn't have money to buy medicine and clothes, he would have died long ago. Aren't you going to destroy the bridge now?"
"Bah!" Li couldn't help but spit at the man, and put her hands on her hips, acting like a street shrew: "Will my young master die without you? Why don't you tell me that without my young master, you might not even be able to eat two steamed buns at home now!
You are "helping" to dig herbs? Since the first day, my master has never failed to pay the wages on time? Without this wage, you still expect to eat rice and meat every day? Where do you get the face?"
This time Pei Yixue did not stop Li from attacking. When dealing with unreasonable scoundrels, sometimes calmly reasoning with them doesn't work and will only make them feel that they are easy to bully.
No matter what he said, the villagers didn't care. He wanted to see how the villagers could save their faces.
Li debated with the scholars and left the villagers speechless. Compared with various jobs in the city, digging herbs in the mountains was an easy and well-paid job.
The villagers naturally knew they were in the wrong, but they just didn't want to admit it. Now that they couldn't get anything good out of it, they started crying, blaming others and acting pitiful.
In less than a quarter of an hour, the villagers were severely slapped in the face by what they had said earlier.
Pei Yixue stopped picking herbs and said with a smile, "I didn't ask everyone to go up the mountain because I was inconsiderate. I thought everyone came to me two days ago to break up with me, but I realized I was wrong.
But the people who went to the valley to collect herbs are already full." He seemed a little embarrassed, "If everyone wants to come back to work, I'm afraid they will have to be assigned to other tasks."
No matter how many herbs there are in the valley, they will all be dug up one day. Making money from this is not a long-term solution.
Pei Yixue took a fancy to the wasteland in the village and wanted to buy it to grow medicinal herbs. While making money, he was also preparing to open a pharmacy in the future.
His pharmacy is bound to become the leader of Daqing State, and his name will be known to everyone.
But before that, he needs to earn a certain amount of financial and material resources.
Pei Yixue leased twenty acres of good farmland for five years at an annual rent of five taels of silver per acre.
Clearing wasteland and growing medicinal herbs is not as easy as simply picking them, but this is the only choice the villagers have now, and it is better than working in the city.
He hired a lot of villagers, and after five or six days, the tilling and sowing were completed, and the planting process was basically on track.
Within half a month, the herbs grew lush and green.
In the early morning, the big red peony that had just been moved to the ancestral yard was in full bloom. Crystal dewdrops were faintly scattered, shining in the sun, making the red peony even more charming.
Pei Yixue plucked one and began to tear off the petals. From the bright red petals scattered all over the ground under his feet, it was not difficult to tell that this peony was not the first victim, nor would it be the last.
Xie Yushu ignored him these days, and even pretending to be sick didn't work.
Suddenly, hurried footsteps were heard outside the yard. He immediately shook off the gloom on his face, raised a sunny smile, and turned around.
It’s a pity that the person at the gate of the courtyard was not Xie Yushu, but Li.
"My lord, this is bad!" Li was anxious. "I don't know what happened to the seedlings. They all wilted overnight."
Pei Yixue was slightly stunned, then she followed Li to the medicine field while comforting her who was about to cry.
The seedlings that were full of vitality yesterday now looked listless as if they were short of water.
But the problem is that the villagers just watered the plants yesterday, so there is absolutely no possibility of water shortage.
When you dig up the dried soil surface, you will find that the underlying soil is still moist, which is enough to prove that there is sufficient water.
Pei Yixue picked up some soil with his fingertips and sniffed it.
In addition to the smell of soil, there is also a subtle plant scent.
It is very faint and difficult for ordinary people to distinguish, but for him, this concentration is enough to capture it.
The few people who were in charge of patrolling last night were sweating anxiously, fearing that the problem with the seedlings was due to their own mistakes during the night patrol.
Pei Yixue said, "It's poison."
The plant smell in the soil comes from cinquefoil and knapweed, two natural herbicides.
Someone sneaked into the medicinal field and poisoned it, and the villagers on patrol have an unshirkable responsibility.
They were horrified, "Boss, we were diligent in our inspection last night, and no one came to the medicinal field."
"If no one comes, then it's you! It's impossible for Mr. Du to fly in by himself." A villager said sarcastically. The patrol job is much easier than other jobs, so it is inevitable to be envied.
But there is something wrong with what he said. It is indeed impossible for the poison to reach the medicinal field by itself.
Pei Yixue took out a handkerchief to wipe the dirt off his fingertips and quietly glanced at the villagers.
Some people were arguing until their faces were red, some people couldn't hide their gloating on their faces, and more people were in a state of indifference.
He stopped the patrolling villagers who were eager to refute, "Of course I believe in everyone, and I will not wrongly accuse any of the villagers, but poisoning is a bad thing. I am afraid that the murderer will no longer consider the feelings of neighbors."
It is unlikely that the murderer could spread the poison secretly, cover 20 acres of land overnight, and then erase his footprints.
But it is much easier if you borrow someone else's hands.
Pei Yixue brought his men to the reservoir, and the smell of Wufeng grass confirmed his guess.
The murderer mixed the grass juice into the water reservoir in advance, and let the toxin enter the medicinal field through the hands of the villagers who were irrigating the medicinal seedlings yesterday.
The toxins in the cloverleaf grass can only remain in the air for two days at most, but the toxins in the water still exist at this time.
It can be inferred that the murderer poisoned the night before.
The villagers who were patrolling last night were relieved that they were cleared of suspicion, but the villagers who were patrolling the night before yesterday began to protest their innocence.
Pei Yixue has no evidence and no time to judge the case for them now.
The most important thing right now is to find the murderer. The Wufengcao poison in the murderer's hand will lose its effectiveness by tonight, and it will be difficult to find the person then.
Pei Yixue filled a basin with water mixed with extract of ground cactus and asked all the villagers to line up and soak their hands in it to clear themselves of suspicion.
No one wants to be the object of suspicion easily.
Listening to the villagers whispering and obviously dissatisfied, Pei Yixue said: "I'm sorry for this matter, I will give you two more days of pay as compensation."
Washing your hands can earn you two extra days’ pay, and many villagers smile at this bargain.
The villagers looked at the basin curiously, "How is the boss going to eliminate suspicion?"
Pei Yixue kept it a secret and just said with a smile: "Everyone will know the truth after we find the murderer."
Not long after, the villagers discovered that some people had white hands, while others had black substances appear on their hands after touching the extract of the ground clove.
The toxin in the herb can combine with a unique alkali in the herb to produce a black substance.
Those whose hands turned black were the villagers who participated in watering yesterday. They had all touched the water from the reservoir, and thus had touched the toxins in the sedge.
But this still cannot confirm who the murderer is.
At this time, there was a commotion at the back of the team, and five villagers were holding their stomachs and crying out.
They squeezed their buttocks together, behaved in a particularly anxious manner, and walked away in a hurry, as if they were about to poop in their pants/crotch at the next moment.
When they met Pei Yixue's gaze, several of them couldn't help but avoid it.
Pei Yixue called over several trusted villagers to stop the five.
“Hey, hey, hey, what do you mean?!” The five villagers were so angry that they started pushing the people who were blocking them. “Can’t we even relieve ourselves?”
In just one sentence, the diting water was served to the people.
"You can just put your hands in now. It only takes a blink of an eye." Pei Yixue said, "After all, it is a little suspicious that you are leaving now. I have to trouble you to cooperate, otherwise it will be hard to say what will happen later."
Even after things got to this point, these villagers still talked about this and that and were unwilling to put their hands in, which also aroused the emotions of other villagers.
They said Pei Yixue didn't treat them as human beings and suspected all of them without any evidence.
Fortunately, Pei Yixue had already calmed people's hearts with two days' compensation before the incident started.
Although the villagers felt somewhat uncomfortable when they heard these words, they were not too disgusted with the matter.
Instead, they feel that everyone is willing except them, and they are probably guilty.
Under the pressure of everyone's words, and probably holding on to a lucky mentality, these villagers cursed and then soaked their hands in the basin.
Once they took out their hands, Pei Yixue could almost conclude that they were the murderers.
The smile on his face disappeared, "Everyone, come with me to see the official."
"Why?!" The five villagers no longer felt any pain in their stomachs and were full of energy. "So many people's hands turned black, why did you only identify us as the murderer?"
The nominated villagers immediately frowned. One of them noticed something and immediately retorted: “Don’t be so aggressive and bite others. Open your eyes and see that your hands are much darker than ours!”
Pei Yixue smiled and praised generously, "Aunt Zhang is really smart.
The black stains on their hands were caused by the sap of both the wufeng grass and the ground ding. The black stains on their hands could only mean that they had touched much more wufeng grass than the villagers who had participated in the irrigation yesterday.
The extra concentration was probably acquired during the process of obtaining the Wufeng grass juice for poisoning."
The villagers said, "Can't we just pick them for fun? You are in charge of everything, and you want to control us to pick grass?"
Pei Yixue thought to himself, very good, physical evidence alone is indeed not enough.
He turned the conversation to the villagers who were patrolling the night before, "Everyone was really patrolling seriously the night before last. Didn't you see any suspicious people running near the medicinal field?"
Without waiting for the patrolling villagers to reply, he continued, "If this is true, several villagers may be suspected of being accomplices and need to go to the government office with us."
His voice was gentle, but it carried an unquestionable aura.
The villagers who were on patrol the night before saw that things were not going well and did not want to be classified as poisoners, so they admitted that they were negligent on duty that night.
They slowly told the whole story.
They pointed out that one of the murderers came to them to roll the dice, which caused them to fail to go on patrol.
With both witnesses and evidence in hand, Pei Yixue decided to bring the murderer to justice.
These people's excuses were futile. Seeing that he was serious, they began to act pitifully and beg for mercy.
They cried bitterly, but at the same time they used the friendship between neighbors and the elderly and children in the family to win people's hearts.
They cried sincerely and banged their heads loudly, but the occasional viciousness in their eyes still did not escape Pei Yixue's eyes.
The villagers completely sided with the murderer, saying that there was no need for a village to make such a fuss, and there was no need to report it to the police.
Pei Yixue has a lot of money, and if the seedlings are gone, he can plant more, but these people are going to be thrown into jail, and several families will be sad.
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