Chapter 174 It turns out that Madam and Lord Lu are married.
Soon the young palace maid was tied back to the rack, and the sounds of whips lashing her flesh and screams of agony immediately rang out.
Jiang Zhi didn't feel much pity for her.
If she hadn't been wary back then, that little palace maid might have framed her with evidence, and she would be the one being tortured on the rack right now.
"Has Lord Lu found out the origin of that poison?" she asked Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan suppressed the bitterness churning in his heart, ignoring her probing gaze, and shook his head. "No, I've privately inquired with every doctor in the capital who has a name, and no one can tell me the origin of this poison. I guess it came from beyond the Great Wall."
Jiang Zhi immediately thought of Doctor Xue.
When I was receiving treatment from him, I heard his apprentice mention that Doctor Xue had traveled all over the country in his youth, visiting not only the capital but also many places beyond the Great Wall.
Is he involved in this matter?
Jiang Zhi told Lu Yuan about her suspicions.
Lu Yuan's eyes turned slightly cold.
I had sent someone to ask Doctor Xue about poison, but Doctor Xue said he had never seen it before, so I didn't take it to heart.
But what if he actually knows but pretends not to, or gives false information to deliberately confuse the public?
Lu Yuan immediately summoned Yu Jun and instructed him to send someone to secretly keep an eye on Doctor Xue and report back immediately if anything unusual happened.
"Does Lord Lu know where this palace maid lived before she entered the palace?" Jiang Zhi asked again.
"A secluded, deserted alley in the Beilifang neighborhood," Lu Yuan asked without hesitation, then asked her, "Would you like to go there and take a look?"
Jiang Zhi nodded, "Yes, there might be some unexpected gains."
"Okay, I'll take you there."
Beilifang remains as bustling as ever.
The palace maid's residence had already been thoroughly searched by the Imperial Guards after the incident, but no useful evidence was found.
Upon opening the door, a musty, decaying smell wafted out.
This is a small, deserted mud house that has been abandoned for a long time. Even the doors and windows are dilapidated, and the inside is completely exposed.
A table with a missing corner, some crooked and different kinds of stools, a small earthen stove that had collapsed, and inside there was a bed that was simply built by placing stones on wooden planks.
Forget about evidence, not even a mouse would bother with that.
Just as Lu Yuan was about to step inside, a fawning, booming voice came from behind him, "Lord Lu? It really is you!"
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming to Beilifang? I would have sent someone to welcome you!"
Jiang Zhi was not surprised to see who had arrived.
It's Li Yuanhu.
When she first came to Beilifang, she paid his men to beat up Yan Wenkang.
Li Yuanhu was also taken aback when he saw Jiang Zhi, then suddenly slapped his forehead and recognized her, "You're the girl who came last time, aren't you?"
Although she wore a veil last time, her figure couldn't be concealed. Furthermore, because she was Lu Yuan's lover, she left a deep impression on Li Yuanhu.
Jiang Zhi gave a stiff "hmm".
Only then did Li Yuanhu notice that she was wearing a married woman's hairstyle today.
His surprise was evident on his face, and he immediately cupped his hands in congratulations, "So Madam and Lord Lu are married! Congratulations! I wish Madam and Lord Lu a long and happy life together and many children! I knew then that Madam's wishes would come true."
Li Yuanhu never expected that she would actually be able to climb up to Lu Yuan and marry him.
Today, I only came over to try and get closer to Lu Yuan after my younger brother told me that he saw Lu Yuan bringing a woman in at the entrance of Beilifang.
Unexpectedly, Lu Yuan secretly got married without revealing a word, hiding his relationship so well.
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow and looked at Jiang Zhi, as if asking her what was going on.
Jiang Zhi hadn't expected Li Yuanhu to misunderstand.
But if I were to explain now, he would surely ask all sorts of irrelevant questions, and I would end up revealing that I was impersonating Lu Yuan's lover, which would be embarrassing.
Instead of denying it, she changed the subject, "Brother Li, do you know who used to live in this house?"
Seeing that Lu Yuan did not stop him, Li Yuanhu smiled and said, "Madam, you've come to the right place. There's nothing in Beilifang that I, Li Yuanhu, don't know."
"This used to be where a grandmother and her granddaughter lived. Everyone called the old woman Grandma Sun. She passed away a long time ago. The young woman was named Xianglian. Not long after Grandma Sun died, the little girl named Xianglian disappeared. I heard that she went to work as a maid in a wealthy family."
Jiang Zhi then asked, "How were Granny Sun and Xianglian doing when they lived here before?"
"Poor thing, she has no clothes to wear and nothing to eat in the dead of winter. This dilapidated house can't keep out the wind and rain. I often see that little girl with chilblains all over her hands and feet, and she is bullied by others."
"Being bullied?"
"Yes, it was done by a bunch of thugs from the neighborhood. But it's the law of the jungle, and this isn't a big deal in Beilifang. When Granny Sun died, those thugs even tried to take the girl away, but luckily a benefactor happened to pass by and saved her. After helping Granny Sun bury her, she left with the benefactor."
The benefactor Li Yuanhu mentioned should be Xiao Yunheng.
That's why Xianglian was so devoted to Xiao Yunheng, willing to endure all kinds of torture in the imperial prison rather than betray him.
“Yu Jun has investigated all of these past events, and even questioned the thugs who bullied Xianglian. Their accounts are exactly the same as Li Yuanhu’s,” Lu Yuan confirmed to her in a low voice.
"Do you know why those thugs bully them?" Jiang Zhi asked, frowning.
Lu Yuan sneered, "They just think they can bully those two lonely grandmothers and granddaughters because they have no one to help them."
Jiang Zhi shook her head. "I have a feeling that things aren't that simple."
She had met Xiao Yunheng so many times, and given his personality, everything he did was purposeful.
She couldn't believe he would be so kind as to have someone save a nobody girl in the Beilifang neighborhood.
She looked up at Lu Yuan and said, "I would appreciate it if you would take these thugs back to the department and interrogate them properly. You might get some unexpected results."
Although Lu Yuan didn't have much hope, he still nodded.
"Lord Lu?" Li Yuanhu noticed something was wrong. "You're all married, why don't you call him 'husband' or 'spouse'?"
He always felt there was a strange atmosphere between the two of them.
There was neither the intimacy of newlyweds nor the awkwardness of strangers.
In between, it seems like they are still mutually attracted and exchanging glances.
Lu Yuan's mood darkened at the mere mention of marriage. He glanced at him coldly and asked, "What else do you want?"
His features were as cold and hard as frost and snow, and when he swept his gaze over Li Yuanhu, it was as if the air itself had frozen into ice.
Li Yuanhu was puzzled by the look in his eyes, but he still smiled ingratiatingly and said, "I just came to see if there's anything I can help you with, Lord Lu."
"It's alright, you can go down now, we'll look around here ourselves." Lu Yuan's voice was completely flat.
Li Yuanhu suddenly realized what was going on.
Lord Lu finds him an eyesore, disturbing his time with his wife.
He immediately apologized and took his leave.
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