klisemfg Who was the poisoner in Chapter 311?
Who was the poisoner in Chapter 311?
"Get up, I believe in you." Wang Xi helped the maid up.
"Thank you, Madam." The maid was deeply moved.
"Little sister?" Wang Yang called out.
“Brother, Xiao Ci is a maid I brought from home. She has been with me for almost twenty years. If she wanted to harm me, she would have done so long ago,” Wang Xi explained.
“But…” Wang Yang wanted to say something more, but he stopped talking when he saw Wang Xi’s gaze.
"Xiao Ci, right? Have you been serving Madam Zhang personally?" Xiao Siyue asked. She was getting very impatient. She wondered how Zhang Xian was investigating the case. Shouldn't he have started by investigating what Madam Zhang ate or used? How long was he going to investigate the entire household?
"Yes, I have been by your side the whole time, and I have hardly ever left."
"Well, then think carefully about what your wife ate or used during the Si hour (9-11 AM)?" According to the time calculation, the time when Madam Zhang was poisoned was around the beginning of the Si hour.
"At the hour of Si (9-11 AM), I had already eaten breakfast, but I didn't eat anything else." The lady usually got up at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), ate breakfast in the morning, and would write for a while around the hour of Si.
"I remember now, when Madam was practicing calligraphy today, the kitchen said they had made some new rock sugar lotus seed soup and brought it over for Madam to try. Madam thought it looked good and ate a small bowl." Xiao Ci suddenly remembered.
Seeing that it was clearly his place to investigate the case, yet the little maid Xiao Siyue was dominating the proceedings in his own residence, Zhang Xian immediately asked, "Is there any lotus seed soup left?"
"That's all, there's only a small bowl left, and Madam has already finished it all." Xiao Ci shook her head.
"Get the kitchen staff over here." The people standing behind were terrified; they never expected the investigation would trace back to them.
"This is the man who served the lotus seed soup to the lady," Xiao Ci said excitedly, pointing to a slightly overweight middle-aged man.
"My lord, I did not poison Madam. I would never dare to poison Madam, even if I had the guts. Please investigate, my lord."
"Hmph, I think it was you. If you weren't going to poison her, why would you suddenly make lotus seed soup for Madam?"
"It was Xiao Shui, the maidservant of the lady, who said this morning that the old kitchen staff said that the lady had been feeling hot these past few days. I thought that the weather had been a bit hot these days, and it was also the season for eating lotus seeds, so I made a bowl of lotus seed soup for the lady to cool down." He originally wanted to curry favor with the lady, but he never expected to get involved in the case of poisoning the lady. He regretted it very much.
"Xiao Shui?" Wang Xi was quite familiar with this maid; she was her second-class maid and very perceptive. She was planning to promote her to first-class maid after some time.
"Xiao Shui, I don't know when I got a sore throat. And why did you say that in the kitchen?"
"Madam, I only mentioned it casually when I went to the kitchen because the weather has been so hot lately. I never expected that the cook would be so audacious as to poison you." Xiao Shui was convinced that the cook was the one who poisoned you.
"Madam, I really didn't poison you!" The middle-aged man was on the verge of fainting.
Xiao Shui, on the other hand, remained calm, appearing as if she had nothing to hide.
"Hmm, you say you didn't poison it, but when you were making the lotus seed soup, did anyone else participate or leave in the middle?" Xiao Siyue thought it was unlikely that the cook would poison it; who would be so stupid as to poison the food they made?
But isn't this little water a bit too calm?
"No, I was watching the lotus seed soup the whole time, I never left, and as soon as it was done, I took it to the madam's courtyard, I never left." The man thought carefully for a while, trying to find a clue, but he still couldn't find one, and a look of despair appeared on his face.
This is strange. Could it be that the poison wasn't put in the lotus seed soup? Xiao Siyue wondered.
"Did you encounter anything on your way to deliver the lotus seed soup? Did you personally deliver the lotus seed soup to Madam?"
"No, I, a cook, am not allowed to enter the lady's room. The lotus seed soup was given to Xiao Ci."
"Madam, I didn't put any medicine in it. I served the lotus seed soup to you after receiving it." Xiao Ci didn't expect that the suspicion would fall on her again in the end.
The cook glanced at Xiao Shui kneeling beside him and suddenly remembered, "I remember now, I remember now. When I arrived at Madam's courtyard, I met Xiao Shui. She stopped me and asked me to help her move the flowerpot. I was thinking of taking the lotus seed soup to Madam first and then helping Xiao Shui, but Xiao Shui said it wouldn't take much time and it would only be for a moment. I thought it was fine and I helped her."
"So you gave the lotus seed soup to Xiaoshui?"
"Yes, Xiao Shui said it was inconvenient for me to carry the lotus seed soup, so she carried it for me first, and I gave it to her. It was her, she took the opportunity to put the medicine in the bowl." The cook pointed at Xiao Shui and said loudly.
"You're talking nonsense. I've never even seen you. Are you trying to pin the blame on me?" Xiao Shui immediately retorted.
"You...it was clearly you. You were the one who reminded me to make lotus seed soup. It was you who wanted to harm Madam."
“Madam, he’s talking nonsense. I’ve never seen him in the yard. Besides, the flowerpots are perfectly fine right there by the garden. Why would I ask him to move them? Wouldn’t that be pointless?”
"You...you, the flowerpot was in the yard, you asked me to move it to the side of the garden, and you're denying it."
With the two sticking to their own stories, the crowd was unsure who to believe.
"Master and Madam." At this moment, a young maid suddenly stepped forward.
"Xiao Tao? What's wrong?" Madam Zhang asked, puzzled.
Xiao Tao was the youngest maid in her own courtyard, and everyone usually took good care of her, not letting her do too much work, which she allowed.
"Madam, this servant...this servant has seen Xiaoshui and the cook in the courtyard," Xiaotao said timidly, glancing at the two of them.
"You've seen it? Xiao Tao, tell me in detail." Madam Zhang looked at Xiao Shui. If Xiao Tao really had seen it, then it meant that Xiao Shui was lying, and the person who poisoned her would be clear.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Shui's expression changed, and her gaze towards Xiao Tao was full of warning.
"Xiao Tao, don't be afraid. I'll stand up for you. No one will dare to hurt you. Just speak your mind." Madam Zhang glared at Xiao Shui. This Xiao Shui was incredibly bold, daring to threaten her maid in front of so many people.
“Madam, I was playing in the west corner of the courtyard today when I overheard Xiao Shui and the cook talking. It was the same thing the cook just said, but I didn’t see Xiao Shui poison anything.” She was afraid that Xiao Shui would see that she hadn’t been working, so she hid and happened to overhear their conversation.
"Xiao Shui, what else do you have to say? You're really bold, daring to drug the Madam!" Zhang Xian shouted angrily.