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Chapter 279 Deer Blood Wine

"During your visit to your parents' home, Jia Jun hasn't sent you any letters?" Zhu Yu asked.

“No,” said Madam Jia, somewhat puzzled by the question. “When I went back to visit my family in the past for even longer periods, he never sent me a letter.”

My husband isn't the type to enjoy writing or composing poetry. If he really has something he absolutely needs to tell me, he'd rather send someone on horseback to deliver the message than write me a letter.

"Then let me ask you again, was your return home yesterday a pre-arranged date, or was it a last-minute decision?" Zhu Yu asked again.

Madam Jia didn't know what she wanted to ask, but she dared not not answer: "I was originally going to come back in a few days, but I was worried about the children at home, so I came back a few days earlier."

"Where did you meet Chief Secretary Zuo?" Zhu Yu asked, then added, "Speaking of which, since Chief Secretary Zuo has never been a guest of honor in your household and you don't usually have any contact with him, how did you recognize him as Chief Secretary Zuo?"

Madam Jia thought for a moment: "In the front yard, near the gate, I had only taken a few steps when I saw someone hurrying out. He was a complete stranger, and I didn't recognize him at all."

However, at that time, one of our servants was following behind him. Seeing that both Zuo Changshi and I were a bit confused, he introduced me to him as Jia Jun's wife.

Then the Left Chief Secretary said that he had been waiting in the study for a long time but his husband had not come, so he was leaving.

Of course I couldn't stop him, so I quickly and politely let him leave and went to the study to find my husband...

But unexpectedly... it actually happened...

She choked back tears, her body trembling, and then she cried again, tears seeping from the slits of her swollen eyes, making her look even more miserable.

"So you went to the study and saw the dead Jia Jun immediately after Zuo Changshi left the main gate?" Zhu Yu remained unmoved and continued to question him, "There was no delay in between, right?"

She estimated that the Jia family's house wasn't very big; if you went in through the front door and went straight to the study, you could get there in no time.

If Lady Jia had indeed discovered Jia Jun's death immediately, and then sent people to chase after him, she might have even managed to intercept Wen Qiming, who had just left the house.

Lady Jia thought about it carefully and shook her head: "I didn't go to the study right away."

After the Left Chief Secretary left, I originally wanted to go to the back to see my parents-in-law, since I had been away from home for many days. However, the servant who came out with the Left Chief Secretary stopped me and said that he wanted to ask me about the old master's birthday celebration next month and whether the guest list had been finalized. He originally wanted to ask my husband, but he couldn't find him, so he came to ask me instead.

If the invitations were already prepared, he would take them to a scholar with beautiful handwriting, and then he would start preparing to write them.

When he asked me that, I remembered that before I went to visit my family, my husband seemed to have drawn up a guest list and kept it in the study. That's why I changed my mind and planned to go to the study to find that list..."

"Is that servant a servant born into your household? Why would you entrust such an important matter to a servant instead of someone more reliable?"

“He’s not a servant born into the household; he was given to my husband by someone else. He’s quick-witted and more capable than any of the other servants in our household, so my husband likes to use him for many things,” Madam Jia replied. “Who gave him to your family? How long ago?”

“I don’t know. My husband didn’t tell me. But that person has been in our home for two or three years. He has always been very diligent and there have been no problems.”

Zhu Yu asked the servant's name, and Lu Qing, who was standing nearby, got up and whispered a few words to the guard standing by. The guard nodded, turned around, and left.

The Jia family's wife, unaware of what was going on, looked at them with a bewildered expression.

"By the way, does Jia Jun usually drink deer blood wine?" Zhu Yu suddenly asked when her gaze drifted towards Lu Qing.

Before Jia's wife could even look away, she instinctively replied, "Yes, my husband says deer blood wine is good for the body, so he drinks it year after year to maintain his health."

What time does he usually drink?

“He drank it every night with dinner.” Thinking of their past routine, which would never come again, Jia Jun’s wife choked up again. “My husband liked deer blood wine because it was good for his health, but he didn’t like the fishy smell of deer blood wine lingering in his mouth and nose. So he would drink a cup after dinner, which would suppress the fishy smell.”

"It's been many years now, I've never missed a single time, I've consistently drunk it every day, and I've never had any problems!"

Judging from her final reaction, Lady Jia seemed to have misunderstood, thinking that Zhu Yu wanted to attribute Jia Jun's death to the deer blood wine in order to exonerate Zuo Changshi. Her tone was tinged with annoyance.

Zhu Yu pretended not to hear and asked again, "Who else in your family drinks deer blood wine? Where is it usually stored?"

"Besides my husband, no one else in the family drinks deer blood wine."

The deer blood wine my husband drinks is usually kept in the family cellar, stored together with the wines used for other banquets.

Does Jia Jun usually eat with his parents and siblings?

“My husband is usually very busy and comes home very late almost every night. The family can’t wait for him, so the kitchen prepares meals and wine for him separately and delivers them to his room so he can eat in his room.”

After hearing what Jia's wife said, Zhu Yu stood up and waved to the jailer: "It's getting late, hurry up and give her some food."

Madam Jia stared blankly at Zhu Yu, who was about to leave. She was completely bewildered, wondering why this man had locked her up here and why he had asked her so many seemingly random questions. She could only watch them walk away in a daze.

The equally bewildered jailer, under the instructions of Zhu Yu and Lu Qing, led them to the cell outside the Jia brothers' cell. Zhu Yu was still holding a bowl of rice, though he didn't eat much, he would occasionally pick at it with his chopsticks, and chat with the two brothers in a casual manner.

The food wasn't particularly fragrant, but for someone who was starving, the smell was still quite appealing, at least for Jia Jun's wife.

However, Jia Jun's two younger brothers were much more composed than their sister-in-law. No matter how many times Zhu Yu scooped up the food in their bowls, the two of them did not seem to show any hunger. They just cried bitterly about their brother's tragic death and their confusion, begging the Prince of Shuo to do justice for their brother.