Zhong Li gave Lin Xiuxiu a "what else" look.
Lin Xiuxiu remained silent, swallowing hard.
Zhong Li knew she wanted to argue but also knew that any excuse would sound weak.
"Madam Hu was a woman with very little self-control, otherwise she wouldn't have lost her own life. As for you...
Actually, I have a question for you." Seeing that Lin Xiuxiu remained silent for a long time, she walked to a cabinet in the inner hall, took out two items, placed them on the table, and changed the subject:
"You were able to wrap arsenic trioxide in this sugar pill and insert it into Madam Hu's lower body. This method of drugging is something I've never seen before in Nan Yue. How did you know about it?"
Lin Xiuxiu looked at the two small pills rolling on the table, and the arsenic trioxide found in her and Huang San's room beside the pills. She said, "Lord Zhong is a clever person; you should be able to guess."
Zhong Li's lips tightened. These two small pills reminded her of something edible.
"After my mother and I left the southern suburbs of Jincheng, we came to Liaocheng. Before my mother went to serve Madam Hu, my mother and I lived in a dilapidated house outside Liaocheng, making a living by selling candied hawthorns.
For a while, I was unwell and always had to take medicine, but the decoction was bitter. My mother found a way to make medicinal pills by coating them with maltose..." Lin Xiuxiu said, her eyes slightly moist, "My mother died after I met Madam Hu.
That year, it snowed heavily. My mother took the last commission she had tricked Gu Qian out of and prepared to run away with me. Unexpectedly, a carriage was speeding through the snow and didn't notice her, and she was gone just like that."
Lin Xiuxiu bit her lip, holding back tears, not wanting others to see her embarrassment.
"Then... Madam Hu's internal..."
"Arsenic trioxide doesn't taste good either. Wrapping it in sugar, I thought she might not be in so much pain..."
As soon as Zhong Li asked the question, Lin Xiuxiu interrupted her and said it.
"Lin Xiuxiu, do you know that Madam Hu's death has brought up the matter of Gu Qian? What you and your mother did is also punishable by the Ministry of Justice according to Nan Yue's laws," Zhong Li asked.
Lin Xiuxiu nodded and said, "Since I realized my abnormality, I've never liked interacting with people, always afraid of being looked down upon, despised, or cursed.
Only Madam Hu never laughed at me; she said I was capable and encouraged me. Now that she's gone, there's no point in me living."
Zhong Li said nothing more and turned to look at Magistrate Liu.
Magistrate Liu waved his hand, and several constables walked in, escorting Lin Xiuxiu towards the prison.
"Lord Zhong." After Lin Xiuxiu left, Magistrate Liu walked over to Zhong Li and said, "According to Nan Yue's laws, Lin Xiuxiu will be beheaded in three days."
"Mm, handle it normally," Zhong Li replied.
"It's just that..."
"Just what?" Zhong Li looked at the man opposite her, who seemed hesitant to speak.
Magistrate Liu stammered, "Does such a person truly exist, and she wasn't discovered when she was a child?"
Zhong Li thought for a moment and said, "Yes, she was with Madam Hu for so many years and never had any children. I suspect she doesn't have a 'Dragon Source,' so there's no 'Primal Yang' in the secretions from her prostate gland.
As for why she wasn't discovered, in the forensic books I've read, there is indeed such a case: a woman's protrusion was caused by the stimulation of abnormal tissue on the right posterior wall of the golden light. I think Lin Xiuxiu is also like that."
"Oh!" Magistrate Liu looked enlightened and turned to leave the inner hall.
At this moment, only Zhong Li and Lu Wuxie remained in the hall.
Lu Wuxie walked over and sat beside Zhong Li, looking at the twilight scenery outside the window. He said, "Li'er, do you really want to dissect Lin Xiuxiu?"
Zhong Li was taken aback by his direct question and slowly replied, "Yes, any coroner obsessed with the human body would be deeply interested in someone like her.
However... her life has already suffered too much helplessness, humiliation, and low self-esteem. Why should I torment her body further?
Never mind, let it be."
Lu Wuxie smiled faintly, gazing at the woman whose cheeks were beautifully lit by the sunset, remaining silent for a long time.
Meanwhile, in the Jincheng Palace.
"Failed? You're sure you heard correctly? They said failed?" Shen Nong looked at the handsome man opposite her, her eyes wide with shock.
"Nong'er, don't you believe the intelligence your people sent back?" Eunuch Yun said, his face also terribly grim.
Shen Nong froze, then slumped heavily onto the chair behind her, her hairpin swaying erratically with her movement.
"I can't understand how they escaped."
Eunuch Yun said, "Lu Wuxie is very clever. He took paths we never anticipated. Moreover, from Jinzhou to Jincheng, there are three official roads, not to mention mountain paths and side roads. No matter how many people we have, we can't predict them all, so..."
"Damn it!" Shen Nong clenched her fingers tightly around the teacup on the table. "So where are they now?"
"An Ding County!" Eunuch Yun replied.
"An Ding County, then we..." Shen Nong stopped midway through her sentence, realizing that Lord Zhang of An Ding County had already been removed, and the current official was Lord Liu, who was not her man.
"Liu Quan is Lu Wuxie's man."
"How is that possible!" Shen Nong, furious, threw the teacup to the ground. "The entire Ministry of Personnel is in our hands. How did he get this Liu Quan into An Ding County?"
Eunuch Yun said, "There are always those who slip through the net, aren't there?"
"Then... what do we do now? What do we do? Prime Minister Yun, what do we do?" Shen Nong was completely panicked. She stood up, grabbed Eunuch Yun's robes, and asked anxiously.
Eunuch Yun pulled Shen Nong into his arms and said, "Nong'er, rest assured. I'm willing to sacrifice this much for you and our two children. This matter can only succeed, not fail!
Leave it to me. As for what you need to do, we must hurry."
As he spoke, he took out a small vial from his embrace and placed it in Shen Nong's hand.
"This..." Shen Nong's fingers trembled slightly, almost dropping the vial. "Prime Minister Yun, I've never done this. I'm afraid..."
"Nong'er, we've come this far, there's no turning back. We absolutely cannot hesitate," Eunuch Yun said.
Shen Nong closed her eyes as if adjusting her emotions.
When she opened them again, her eyes were filled with ruthlessness.
"Alright, I'll find a way. We must ensure Hong'er ascends the throne."
Late at night, on the official road from An Ding County to Jincheng.
Zhong Li slept soundly, covered with a small blanket.
Lu Wuxie stirred the charcoal basin in the carriage, and after feeling the carriage was warmer, he put down his tongs and began reading a military treatise.
A short while later, the sky began to lighten, and faint rays of light shone through the gaps in the curtains.
Lu Wuxie lifted the curtain and looked outside.
A carrier pigeon landed on the window.
Lu Wuxie took it, retrieved the secret message from the pigeon's leg, and after the pigeon flew away, he read it by candlelight.
Soon, his expression darkened, and his hand holding the letter began to sweat.
"What's coming will eventually come."