Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 159 Let's sort it out

"You treat everyone the same. You think I should be the same as the officials you've met?" Jia Chuan asked jokingly.

Cailian panicked. She had indeed thought that the matter would be settled during the day. Which of these officials didn't want to get promoted and make money? With merit, one could have both official career and wealth. But how could such a murder case be solved so easily?

"You, is it because I'm older than you?"

Jia Chuan waved his hand and said, "I have a phobia of stupidity, which means I can't talk to stupid people. Like now, I really don't want to talk to you, but I know you are the one who was schemed against, and it may be related to the case, so I'm keeping you here. Otherwise, you would already be in the dungeon of the government office right now."

Cailian asked anxiously, "I only asked you to marry me, why did you put me in jail?"

“You’re good with poison. If I say you have a murder on your hands, then you have one!” Jia Chuan’s eyes suddenly turned fierce.

Cailian was so frightened that she took a step back, but she was already by the wall, and that small step back meant she was standing right next to the wall.

"Who would dare marry a woman like you? If you're unhappy, you'll poison your in-laws; if you're furious, you'll drink poison. I just don't understand how the person who gave you this advice could have come up with such a plan. Agreeing to your request is just a delaying tactic. Even if they don't marry you afterward, what can you do?"

After hearing this, Cailian's terrified eyes suddenly turned resolute. She stared straight at Jia Chuan and said, word by word, "It was all my own idea. No one gave me any advice. Besides, I only know about poisons, but I don't know how to poison!"

Jia Chuan looked at Cai Lian with a probing gaze, and after a moment smiled and said, "You are not the herb-gathering girl, nor do you know Yu Yan."

After saying that, Jia Chuan turned and left the room, then turned back at the door and said, "Investigating cases isn't what you think. Even if I don't know what kind of poison they were given, I can still find out the truth. You don't have much time left. I'm always quick at investigating cases. If you say anything that helps my investigation, I will naturally protect you, but that's all. If you don't say anything... what will happen to you the moment I leave Kaifeng?"

After saying that, Jia Chuan walked straight to the main room.

Old Zheng had been standing to the side for a while, having packed up his toolbox, and now it was finally his turn to say a few words.

“Girl, I don’t know why you would use this method… He’s not buying it. Believe me, whether you talk or not, he can still find out the truth. Haven’t you noticed that he’s been ignoring you the whole time? This trick of yours won’t work.”

"How can we investigate if we don't know the cause of death?" Cailian asked, puzzled.

"Who said we don't know the cause of death? We know, they were poisoned, we just don't know what kind of poison it was. It's not like we're trying to save them. Knowing what kind of poison it was would make it easier to find an antidote. They're already dead..."

"Knowing what kind of poison it is is the best way to find the murderer. If you don't know where to find the murderer, then you're still puzzled." Cailian was still confused.

Old Zheng smiled and said, "It's like a butcher killing someone. You don't need to know exactly how the butcher kills; you just need to know that he is a butcher."

Cailian understood and stood there blankly.

Old Zheng shook his head and said, "You should go back and think about it carefully."

……

Old Zheng walked into the main hall, where Chen Mo, Gao Yuntian, and Lu Baihu were also present. In the courtyard, Dong Yuanyuan was practicing "Dahuang" because she had eaten a bit too much for dinner, accompanied by Shunzi, Gao Yunduo, and... Han Guang.

Old Zheng came into the house and exclaimed, "The weather is so warm now, it doesn't feel that cold outside at this hour."

Jia Chuan said, "Come on, let's sort this out."

Gao Yuntian asked, "Are you really planning to stay here tonight?"

Jia Chuan said, "I really hope Zhou Cheng can come to my dream tonight and tell me why I willingly drank the poison."

Gao Yuntian nervously looked around.

Chen Mo frowned and asked, "How do you know he drank it willingly? Poisoning, of course, is done quietly..."

"Do you think that putting poison in food will kill you with just one bite?"

"One bite is a bit of an exaggeration, but a few more bites should be enough, right?" Gao Yuntian asked.

Jia Chuan thought for a moment and said, "If I say this, who is Zhou Cheng? In Kaifeng, besides the King of Zhou, who else is he afraid of? He doesn't go home late at night; he stays at the herb-gathering bureau working overtime. In the middle of the night, someone brings him porridge, noodles, or all kinds of delicacies, and he tells the servants to go to sleep first, saying that he will clean up after himself?"

Chen Mo, Gao Yuntian, and Commander Lu were all taken aback. The three of them looked at each other, and Gao Yuntian asked, "Is it possible that it was placed in the water?"

"Putting aside the fact that there were no broken teacups or intact cups or bowls in the room, I still firmly believe that there couldn't be any colorless and odorless poison at this time. Moreover, Zhou Cheng is in this line of work, so he knows more about medicine than you or me. Putting aside everything else, there was still a bitter almond smell after he died. No matter what he ate or drank, it was impossible for it to be completely tasteless. How could he have accidentally ingested it?"

Commander Lu said, "That means the medicine is slow-acting. He only became poisoned after using it elsewhere and returning here..."

Jia Chuan waved his hand, wanting to say that to control the onset of poison so precisely, let alone in this era, even with the most advanced technology, it would still require scientific verification, and that scientific verification would require countless mice to die...

Jia Chuan was stunned when he thought of this.

Seeing this, Commander Lu asked Chen Mo in a low voice, "Am I right?"

Chen Mo said, "He thought of something. What you just said is unlikely. Today, the Embroidered Uniform Guards have asked everyone they could in the Herb Gathering Bureau. They didn't see Zhou Cheng leave this courtyard last night, and he ate dinner normally. There is really no one else who could poison him here except himself."

Jia Chuan came to his senses, looked up at Chen Mo and said, "But the jewelry is gone, and there were no cups or bowls left at the scene."

Gao Yuntian hurriedly said, "The more you talk about it, the more it sounds like that servant... But he's dead too. He must have seen the real culprit's face and was silenced."

At this moment, Shunzi pushed the door open and came in, saying, "The person who went to the Zhou family to investigate the person with the same name as me has returned."

Jia Chuan hurriedly said, "Quickly, call them in."

Two Imperial Guards entered the room, each carrying only a small bundle. One of them said, "The place where that person lived was very clean. Apart from these two sets of robes to change into, there wasn't even an extra pair of shoes, nor any paper or books, and we couldn't find a single coin."

Jia Chuan nodded, said "Thank you for your hard work," and dismissed the two men. Seeing the door close, Gao Yuntian immediately declared with certainty, "This fake Shunzi must be an accomplice!"

"Oh? Why?" Jia Chuan asked with a smile.

"Which servant doesn't hoard some money? He has some status in the household, and the room is so clean. He's here to be a servant, not to become a monk!"

Commander Lu asked, "Since he was an accomplice, why was he also killed? Just take him away. They were able to leave safely after killing Zhou Cheng last night. Even if there were any disputes, they could just kill him outside."

Gao Yuntian nodded and said, "That's true."

Jia Chuan remained silent.

Chen Mo said:
“If the fake Shunzi was involved, then it makes sense. It wasn’t that Zhou Cheng drank it willingly; it was the fake Shunzi who handed it to him. He wasn’t on guard. After the poisoning, the fake Shunzi would naturally clean up the mess. As for why the fake Shunzi was killed… Tomorrow I will order people to search everywhere. After we arrived today, the herb-gathering bureau will only allow entry and no exit. Unless it was taken out of the herb-gathering bureau last night, we should be able to find that headdress. Finding where the headdress is hidden will also find the accomplice. At least we can confirm whether Zhou Cheng’s death is related to the fake Shunzi.”

“No one in the herb-gathering bureau noticed anything unusual about Zhou Cheng or this courtyard last night, which means that everyone who came and went from this courtyard was normal. Tomorrow, ask the people who usually come into contact with this courtyard who would be considered normal,” Jia Chuan said.

"Didn't you ask Zhao Dewen?" Gao Yuntian asked.

"He never tells the truth."

Gao Yuntian glared and said, "Then why don't you arrest him and send him to the government office?"

Jia Chuan snorted and said, "I can't trust the people in the government office." He thought for a moment and then said, "Nothing should happen tonight, but the Embroidered Uniform Guards should be on guard for the next few days."

Chen Mo immediately straightened up and asked, "If they find out anything, do you think someone will come to silence you?"

Jia Chuan did not answer the question, but said, "After dawn tomorrow, search this courtyard inside and out. Whoever poisoned Zhou Cheng should have found a container to dissolve the poison and put it directly into their mouth..."

A thought flashed through Jia Chuan's mind, and he muttered, "It still needs to be taken with water, but it won't break."

Jia Chuan coughed lightly and said, "Let's find the head of the family first tomorrow. I've always wondered how Zhu Youxuan could have hallucinogenic powder. I asked Prince Zhou, and he said Zhou Cheng might know about it, but Zhou Cheng is dead. I originally thought this case must be related to Zhu Youxuan, but now it seems that it's not something a Prince of Runan could have done..."

"The fact that he has the drug to confuse Old Zheng is enough to kill him," Gao Yuntian said in a deep voice.

Old Zheng sighed.

Jia Chuan looked at Commander Lu and asked, "Did you find anything in the Zhou family study and the Zou family pharmacy today?"

Lu Baihu hurriedly said:
"There were quite a few books in the study, mostly related to medicine. There were also some gold and silver jewelry in a few drawers. I asked the servants of the Zhou family, and they said that no one was allowed to enter the study on ordinary days. Zhou Cheng left a doorman, a man who was not very bright but was very strong. It took several of my men to subdue him before I could enter the study."

Jia Chuan nodded and said, "With someone watching over things, even if the women in the Zhou family know there are good things in the study, they won't dare to go there."

"Zou is the matriarch of the family. Before, she was someone everyone feared in the Zhou family, and even dogs would cower before her. But the Zhou family steward said that Zou has been declining in the past two years. Zhou Cheng has handed over all the household affairs to the accountant. Zou has to tell the accountant what she wants first, and the accountant will report back to Zhou Cheng before deciding whether to grant her request. The steward said that it might be because Zou has never been able to have children and does not allow other women in the inner quarters to have children, which has angered Zhou Cheng. As a result, the Zou family's pharmacy has also suffered from poor business. It is said that as long as Zou makes a fuss, Zhou Cheng will cut off the pharmacy's supply. After this happened a few times, Zou has become much more obedient. However, Zhou Cheng has not taken any money home this year. The accountant said that they have been living off their savings this year."

Jia Chuan said, "Today I saw that the concubine was not very afraid of Zou Shi, but Zhao Dewen said that Zou Shi was fierce. I thought there must be something going on. Tomorrow you go to the government office to see Zou Shi and ask her if she knows Zhao Dewen from the herb collection bureau. Tell her that Zhao Dewen asked you to send her to prison."

Lu Baihu nodded and said, "The Zou family pharmacy is nothing special. They just bet on the wrong thing, and the business is barely surviving. Forget about rare medicinal herbs, even ordinary ones are often out of stock. It was better when the old prince was alive, but after he passed away, they went to him for help, but Zhou Cheng wouldn't even see them. The Zou family couldn't get any money to help the pharmacy either, so they're just barely getting by. The Zou family has a lot of resentment towards Zhou Cheng."

Jia Chuan nodded, stood up and said, "Go back and rest. Tomorrow I need to take a good stroll around the herb-gathering bureau. This place is great, I need to take a good look around. Chen Mo, tomorrow morning, after you've arranged the search for the headdress, go to the Prince's mansion again and have a 'good' talk with the Prince of Runan to see how to find out who gave him the medicine."

Chen Mo nodded.

"Aren't you going to sort it out? Didn't you say you wanted to? What exactly happened with the fake straight?" Gao Yuntian asked.

Jia Chuan stretched and said, "I'm tired, let's talk about it tomorrow."

After getting up, Gao Yuntian didn't forget to tell Old Zheng, "Don't think too much tonight, or you'll just be..."

"I'd forgotten about it if you hadn't mentioned it. You had to remind me. How about you stay here with me tonight?"

Gao Yuntian disappeared like the wind.

……

The next day, Jia Chuan started working as soon as he opened his eyes.

After breakfast, he chatted with the other three deputy envoys, partly to determine how much of what Zhao Dewen said was true, and partly to learn more about the herb-gathering bureau. During this time, the Prince's Mansion and the government office sent people to inquire about the situation. Fortunately, Chen Mo had not yet set off for the Prince's Mansion, so Jia Chuan let him handle it. After the chat, Jia Chuan took Gao Yuntian and began to stroll around the herb-gathering bureau.

Yesterday, Chen Mo had already ordered people to inquire about the situation. Today, Jia Chuan only went to remote courtyards and asked people working in remote areas. Unfortunately, how could people working in remote places know the daily routine of the big leader?
Jia Chuan felt that something was missing. A president should have at least two secretaries and three assistants by his side. Otherwise, it would be disgraceful for the president to remember all the miscellaneous matters besides official business.

Jia Chuan returned to the courtyard, not bothering with lunch, and sat blankly to one side. He was reviewing the statements of the four deputy envoys. All four said that Zhou Cheng had entrusted the affairs of the Herb Gathering Bureau to them separately, and that he would only hear reports once a day or even once every few days. None of the four said that Zhou Cheng could trust anyone else in the Herb Gathering Bureau.

At this moment, Commander Lu returned from the government office. His hurried appearance made Jia Chuan happy, thinking that he had gotten some information out of him!
Sure enough, as soon as Lu Baihu entered the room, he said, "Zou admits to having an affair with Zhao Dewen!"

"Huh?!" Jia Chuan wrinkled his nose in disbelief; this was not the news he wanted to hear.

After lunch, Gao Yuntian was watching Dong Yuanyuan practice "Dahuang" in the courtyard when he saw Lu Baihu rushing into the courtyard and heading straight for the main house. He quickly followed and actually overheard this. He excitedly said, "It was Zhao Dewen who poisoned Zhou Cheng. He wants to replace Zhou Cheng with people both inside and outside the house!"

Jia Chuan ignored Gao Yuntian, gestured for Lu Baihu to sit down, and said, "Tell me more."

"When Zou heard that Zhao Dewen had sent her to prison, she began to talk on and on."

(End of this chapter)