Chapter 21
When she heard this question, Fuliu revealed a slightly cunning smile, almost mischievous.
“Yulang has always looked down on ordinary women like us. He thought making us bear his children was a mistake, so he kept giving us medicine. But did he ever think that we would willingly give him a child?”
“There was a sister named Lvzhu, formerly the top courtesan of Cuiyun House. He tricked her out and, after a few years, tried to sell her back. But Lvzhu had a strong temperament—she hanged herself. Before she died, though, she gave him a big gift! Cuiyun House’s sterilization medicine was famous throughout the world. As for Yulang, he will never have his own child in this life!”
“Does Yulang himself know about this?”
“Perhaps he does, perhaps he doesn’t. In any case, he would never admit that he was outwitted by women he had always looked down upon.”
Jiuyue pondered Yulang for a moment. Given his cold nature, why had he intervened to plead for the Top Scorer at the previous banquet? Maybe he recognized the boy and knew he was his only son, which is why he stepped in to help.
But now, it was too late. Yulang was dead—and by his own misdeeds.
At this moment, even Doctor Li and the others, who had come as witnesses, couldn’t help showing sympathy. They were old enough to know whether Yulang was a good man or not. But the law could not overlook a crime…
Even so, Doctor Li and Elder Mu wanted to plead for them. They were girls from good families, and killing Yulang had been to save even younger children—they were still good people.
Hearing the continuous pleas from those around her, Jiuyue felt a headache coming on.
“No, we never said they were the ones who killed Yulang, did we? At most, they were accomplices.”
“Ah?”
Everyone was stunned.
Glancing at Chunyu Shuang, she saw that he understood immediately.
“Yulang did not die because of those medicines. While you prepared most of the herbs, some crucial ones were not successfully found, correct?”
“Yes…”
Jinhua looked a little dazed but instinctively felt this might be a way out.
“Some of them were too precious to be found in the mountains…”
“The direct cause of Yulang’s death was the pill he took just before dying. Although it contained many tonic herbs, it had even more cinnabar. Excessive cinnabar can be fatal. At that time, he was already weakened from a wound, but he foolishly took the pill, which caused his death. The medicines you gave him usually only made his liver qi stagnant and his emotions irritable. Xie Enliang can testify to this.”
Xie Mingchen nodded. As a doctor, he had his principles. Even though he sympathized with the girls, he would not lie about such a matter.
Jiuyue quietly yawned. Taking a pill forged with heavy metals, he really seemed impatient to die. Especially cinnabar—it can cause arrhythmia if taken in excess. Maybe his previous diagnosis of palpitations was due to this.
Having multiple parties confirm this, Fuliu and the others exchanged glances, unable to hide their delight. But Chunyu Shuang’s next words made them nervous.
“However, you did have the intention to harm Yulang, which is a crime. It now depends on the authorities and Yulang’s family whether they will pursue it. You will still face some punishment. You should prepare yourselves mentally.”
The nine—or rather, ten—girls were already prepared. They all bowed deeply to Jiuyue and the others.
In the gentle spring breeze, their soft skirts traced a slight arc in the air as they bowed, like flowers blooming in the fields.
“We thank you all—”
Even in the depths of hell, they still had hearts for goodness, helping the weak—something ordinary people could not do.
Human nature’s good and evil rarely shows, unless in desperation, when it becomes fully visible.
Jiuyue had great admiration for these girls who continually struggled against their fate.
“No need to thank me. We’ll talk after everything settles,” Jiuyue said.
With that, Ying Jiuyue went ahead, followed by Chunyu Shuang and the others, directly heading to the shop that sold the pills. It was a small Taoist temple called Qingyun Guan, on a vacant plot ten miles from the southern outskirts. It looked dull and unremarkable, yet the deadly pills had flowed out from here.
As soon as Jiuyue caught sight of the temple, black smoke was already rising from inside.
Wei Yuan’s face darkened. His subordinates were stationed there!
A figure appeared at the temple gate, and Jiuyue watched as he kicked open the tightly closed door, his eyes wide. This man was incredibly strong!
When the group arrived, Wei Yuan was dragging two dust-covered, unfortunate souls out, one in each hand.
Xie Mingchen immediately checked them. Seeing that they were still alive, he relaxed and inserted silver needles into their acupoints twice, reviving them.
“…Sir…”
One of them coughed constantly, his face full of shame. He realized immediately that something had gone terribly wrong—he was supposed to guard the temple but didn’t even know how he had fainted. He had certainly failed in his duty!
Jiuyue offered a fair remark:
“As long as they are alive, it’s fine.”
Wei Yuan, who had looked annoyed, said nothing further. It wasn’t that he was cold by nature; as a superior, he had to show an attitude when his subordinates made a mistake.
However, the trail was now gone. When he entered, all the pill jars had been thrown into the fire, and everyone inside had fled. The temple, built of wood, was now engulfed in flames and could not be extinguished.
This had been a task arranged by his foster father, which had gone smoothly until the final step went wrong!
While everyone lamented, another more seriously injured imperial guard finally spoke, pulling out a partially burnt safety talisman from his chest.
“S-sir! When I fainted, I grabbed a talisman from the ground. I don’t know if it’s useful?”
Xie Mingchen immediately examined it and found it identical to the pills Yulang had taken, quickly nodding.
Jiuyue breathed a sigh of relief.
“Of course it’s useful!”
At least these two would not be blamed. Better sesame than no watermelon.
After securing the item, the group faced a new problem. The emperor had given them ten days to solve the case, right? How much time had passed? Only a little over a day.
Thinking of those who might sneakily act later, Jiuyue felt a headache coming on.
Amitabha, so tragic.
