Returning to the main hall in the backyard, Hu Maoxi saw that Chu Nanzhi looked a little lonely, and roughly guessed that her interrogation would be fruitless.
The two sat in silence in the main hall for a long time. Hu Maoxi kept drinking tea with a sullen face, feeling a little anxious in his heart.
Now that he has let go, he can no longer break his promise; but if she continues to be entangled, the case will not be handed over to the higher authorities, so it is better to just hang on like this.
Just at this moment, Sun Xiancheng led Erbao Lin Ruixi and Wei Nianyi in slowly.
Seeing Chu Nanzhi's frown, Erbao hurriedly ran over to comfort him:
"Auntie, can't the bad guys be caught?"
Chu Nanzhi looked at such a well-behaved Erbao, and couldn't help but reach out and brush her delicate cheeks, pretending to be innocent and said with a smile: "The bad guy is hiding."
Erbao was unwilling to be reconciled and said seriously: "Then why don't we go to the bad guy's house to look for him? The bad guy must have hidden at home after doing bad things."
"Home?"
Children tend to run home when they get into trouble, which suddenly gave Chu Nanzhi some new associations.
She asked Hu Maoxi: "Your Excellency, County Magistrate, how did the mistress of the Shen family react after the incident?"
"I must say that Mrs. Han is indeed a kind-hearted person."
Speaking of the mistress of the Shen family, Hu Maoxi sighed and shook his head:
"Mr. Han was grieving over the death of her husband, and at the same time she was complaining about the concubine in her family. She didn't believe that it was Shen Yang who had murdered Shen Jianghe, and even sent someone to send dozens of taels of silver to ask me to take care of him.
Investigate this case thoroughly and bring justice to Shen Yang."
"It's more of a sisterly bond."
Chu Nanzhi hugged Erbao and sighed softly, but the behavior of the mistress of the Shen family made her feel a little weird.
Since you are sincerely asking for help, and it involves human lives, yet such a large family only gives a few dozen taels of silver to the magistrate of a county. If you meet someone who cares about you, you will be dissatisfied.
But Hu Maoxi obviously didn't realize this, and replied with some regret: "Who says it's not the case? The evidence in this case is conclusive, and I didn't even dare to take any of the money that was wasted on me."
Chu Nanzhi didn't dare to answer.
He had already prepared to close the case, so naturally he would not accept the money.
After thinking for a while, she looked at Hu Maoxi again and asked tentatively: "Have you asked specifically about the Shen family's affairs?"
Hu Maoxi raised his eyebrows and took a deep breath:
"Two days ago, the Japanese officials also asked Sun County Prime Minister to go and find out more about the Shen family. The Shen family only has two rooms. The second room is prosperous, but there is some resentment towards the first room. In the early years, Mrs. Han suffered from having no children.
Originally, he wanted to adopt a young son from his second wife, but Shen Jianghe refused to agree. Later, after Shen Yang gave birth to an heir, he adopted the concubine into the Han family. From then on, the first wife never mentioned the adoption again.
"
"Well, I heard Mrs. Shen Yang mention it just now. The Dafang couple loves their concubine very much, and Shen Yunqing is also a man of success. He not only respects his mistress, but is also very filial to his wife. The family is really harmonious."
Chu Nanzhi replied obediently.
But judging from her many years of experience as a police officer, this matter always has a strange smell.
Thinking of the key evidence mentioned by the chief clerk, she whispered to Hu Maoxi: "I heard that the remaining tea leaves that the head of the Shen family drank that day were brought back to the county government."
Hu Maoxi immediately heard what she meant, and he waved to Sun County Prime Minister carelessly: "Sun Wucai, go get the half bag of tea and show it to Mrs. Chu."
After that, he walked around the hall with casual eyes, nodded and said with a smile:
"To say that this honeysuckle is rare in our Luyan Port is not a precious thing, but it only flourishes in the Nanhua Mountain area of Tong'an Village. It is rare, if not rare, in other areas. Even Nanhua Mountain has been included in the Royal Taoist Temple many years ago. If
If it’s not an important holiday, it would be difficult for ordinary people to go up there.”
After hearing about Nanhua Mountain, some scattered memories immediately appeared in Chu Nanzhi's mind.
In recent generations, the kings of the Dahe Empire advocated the art of immortality, so Taoism was very prosperous.
The Taoist temple on the top of Nanhua Mountain was originally an inconspicuous small temple, but because Emperor Daxing and the three current eldest princesses all practiced here, it became so famous that the entire mountain was included in the Taoist temple more than ten years ago.
In the middle, it became a royal palace.
It is said that the remains of the immortal Emperor Daxing are still preserved in the Taoist temple.
As for why the late emperor and the three eldest princesses came here to practice cultivation, it is not clear for a low-level commoner like the original owner.
Hu Maoxi looked at Chu Nanzhi who was deep in thought, and then said:
"Mrs. Chu, there is no need to have any doubts about this scented tea. I have already inquired about the origin of this tea. Those tea leaves were picked by Shen Yang and Han at Nanhua Mountain last month and were brought back from Shen Yang's courtyard.
I also sent people to test the tea and found that it is not toxic, and the Han family also has this tea. The whole family has drunk it many times, and there has never been any poisoning incident."
Chu Nanzhi was filled with doubts when she heard this: "If that's the case, where did the poison that the head of the Shen family got come from?"
"this"
One sentence directly stopped Hu Maoxi: "It's really strange."
The two fell into silence one after another.
Erbao Lin Ruixi and Wei Nianyi looked on at a loss, their heads were spinning.
Erbao's round little eyes turned around on a few people. When he was bored, he suddenly looked at Chu Nanzhi, pouted and said suspiciously:
"Auntie, do you think the tea leaves were unclean, so the head of the Shen family fell ill and died after drinking it?"
Before Chu Nan Zhilai had time to pay attention to the little guy, she saw Sun Xian Cheng taking the half bag of honeysuckle.
She hurriedly opened the bag and took a closer look. Golden dried flower petals immediately appeared in front of her eyes.
Chu Nanzhi took some out and spread them out in her hands. She looked at them carefully and found nothing strange.
Just as she was about to put the petals in her hand back into her pocket, she suddenly remembered what Erbao said just now.
Ignoring the questioning looks from Hu Maoxi and Sun Xiancheng, she poured half of the tea bag onto the desk.
Searching attentively among the scattered dried petals, I saw only long and narrow flower grains that were full and full of luster.
Suddenly, her icy eyes flashed, and she found a few flower grains among the dried petals that were different from other petals.
There is nothing unusual about the flowers at first glance, but if you look carefully, you can find some clues.
The petals found are slightly shorter, shaped like a funnel, and the bracts are slightly wider than the petals of the honeysuckle. The difference cannot be noticed without detailed inspection.
Holding those petals tightly, Chu Nan Zhi Mei Feng looked at Hu Maoxi with a twinkling look: "Sir, would you be willing to find two mice for the civilian woman?"
Hu Maoxi stared blankly at the tea leaves in her hand, not knowing what she wanted. He quietly waved to Sun Xian Cheng: "Go and catch a few from the prison. The fatter the better."
Sun Xiancheng left in response.
Chu Nanzhi chose a large bunch of normal honeysuckle and a few funnel-shaped petals on the table and handed them to Hu Maoxi, asking him to send someone to make two cups of tea separately.
Then I took a silver needle and tested the poison.
The two silver needles were still silvery-white after being soaked in tea, and no toxicity was detected.
Not long after, Sun Xian Cheng came in with two jailers, each holding a rat weighing one pound in their hands.
The government officials forced two cups of cold tea into the mouths of the two mice, and a group of people began to open their eyes and watch, waiting for the final result.
Not long after, the mouse who drank the tea brewed with three or five funnel-shaped petals began to twitch all over, foamed at the mouth, and gradually died.
The other mouse that drank normal honeysuckle tea remained safe and sound.
"this"
Everyone in the hall was immediately stunned, and Sun Xian Cheng trembled and almost fell to the ground.