The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 1455: Chapter 1431: Not Deceiving

Four people immediately leaped out and charged straight at the thief.

The opposing side seemed to realize running was futile, so they didn’t bother and instead held up the gemstone and smashed it forcefully onto the ground, seemingly trying to destroy it.

The four who leaped over split into two attacking the thief and two reaching for the gemstone.

One person kicked, another reached out to catch it, then jumped back away from the battlefield, leaving the remaining three to engage with the thief.

The opponent reacted by biting down on the poison pouch in his mouth, committing suicide. The colonel, seeing this, hurriedly tried to pry his mouth open, but it was too late. He convulsed twice, then slumped over dead.

The colonel frowned, looked up, and shook his head at Yin Li.

Yin Li glanced down at the gemstone in his hand and raised an eyebrow at Tang He, “Is this real?”

Tang He took a deep breath and replied, “My lord, you didn’t inform me that you would use the gemstone as bait.”

Yin Li smiled and said, “But in the end, Little Master Tang still figured it out, didn’t he?”

He turned his head to glance at the Ministry of Justice’s compound walls and smiled, “It’s a pity, if there were more guards in the Ministry of Justice, I wouldn’t have been needed tonight.”

Lord Tang pretended not to hear and pointed inside, “My lord, there are two more inside; judging by the sounds, they seem to be caught up.”

Yin Li thought for a moment and said, “We are from the capital prefecture; it’s not proper for us to enter the Ministry of Justice to capture thieves, is it?”

Lord Tang was exhausted, “Don’t worry, my lord, I will personally apologize to Minister Feng tomorrow.”

This was exactly what Yin Li was waiting for. With a wave of his hand, the men behind him drew their swords and charged into the Ministry of Justice’s compound like wolves and tigers.

In a moment, the battle inside was over, and Yin Li entered with Tang He. Given the previous lesson, the two assassins inside didn’t even have a chance to commit suicide before they were subdued, their mouths forcibly held open, leaving them helpless.

Yin Li straightforwardly said, “Carry them back, and have someone remove the poison from their mouths.”

Lord Tang didn’t stop him, but the Ministry of Justice officials, who were also working overtime and were disturbed by this farce, couldn’t help but stop Yin Li, “Lord Yin, these people came to steal from our Ministry of Justice; let us handle the interrogation.”

Yin Li replied, “What they intended to steal were the evidences of a case our capital prefecture is responsible for, so naturally, we will conduct the interrogation.”

After saying this, he waved his hand, and the people from the capital prefecture directly carried the captives away. When they tried to stop them, Lord Tang reached out to grasp their extended hands, saying meaningfully, “Lord Fang, this case involves the Eastern Palace. The thief entered the Ministry of Justice as if it were unguarded, clearly indicating an insider. Would you like to join the capital prefecture in co-investigating this case?”

Lord Fang and his companions immediately stepped back in fright.

This afternoon, Tang He was preoccupied with contemplating the gemstone and was unaware that the Eastern Palace poisoning case had become well-known across the Six Ministries. Being associated with the Eastern Palace case was certainly disadvantageous.

Seeing this, Lord Tang nodded to Yin Li, disregarding the damage to the Ministry of Justice’s compound caused by the commotion, and left with Yin Li.

The two moved their base of operations to the capital prefecture, where the two assassins were taken away for questioning. Yin Li placed the gemstone on the table, frowned, and asked, “Is the poison removed?”

“Lord Yin, your sources are incredibly well-informed. In just one afternoon, not only did you learn that the gemstone had been retrieved and detoxified, but you also spread the news to everyone who should and shouldn’t know it.”

Yin Li smiled and said, “There is only one opportunity. When the Crown Prince handed the gemstone to Zhou Man to take out of the palace, it was placed in a box. The gift list only mentioned the gemstone. The Eastern Palace frequently rewards Zhou Man with items, so no one pays special attention to what the Eastern Palace gifts each time.”

“Besides, after that day, the Crown Prince moved from the main study back to his main courtyard. The main study was sealed, and with the Crown Prince not speaking about the poisoning incident, even Eunuch Wu by his side didn’t know about it, let alone outsiders.”

Yin Li looked at the gemstone on the table and said, “If this gemstone truly poisons as the Crown Prince and Zhou Man said, causing imperceptible weakness and death revealed only through touch without any signs in the pulse, then the opposing side must be very proud of this design. If they knew about the leak, their first thought would be to either retrieve the gemstone or destroy it on the spot, right?”

The Crown Prince dispatched people to investigate the gemstone’s origins. Several of his closest confidants knew about his poisoning, but not even Eunuch Wu knew, which shows how well he kept it a secret.

Tang He went into the palace to verify the gemstone’s authenticity, while Yin Li, soon after, sent people across the capital with a portrait of the gemstone given by the Crown Prince, visiting the Six Ministries’ big shots and discussing the new poisoning case.

So by late afternoon, more than half of the capital’s official circles knew the Crown Prince had been poisoned recently, and the poison was a gemstone that could cause poisoning just by touching.

Yin Li’s goal was to catch them off guard and force them to make mistakes in their panic.

Otherwise, what was the point of guarding the evidence tightly?

He and Tang He had been investigating the Crown Prince’s drunken incident for such a long time, yet they only had vague leads.

Only if the opponent acted again could they gather more evidence.

The more hastily they acted, the greater the likelihood of errors, providing more clues for them.

What Yin Li thought of, Tang He naturally thought of too.

As Tang He left his room, intending to go home, he felt something was amiss.

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Yesterday, he mentioned to Yin Li that the item was with Zhou Man and that he would retrieve it today, yet he hadn’t seen Yin Li once all day.

Lord Yin didn’t even come to take a look at the crucial evidence that caused the Crown Prince’s poisoning.

Yin Li sat opposite Tang He and smiled, “Now let’s see how adamant they are in refusing to talk.”

Unlike Tang He, who often appeared stern but was more about intimidation, Yin Li’s methods were solid and untiring. Although he didn’t like blood, he could endure it better than Tang He.

Tang He had witnessed Yin Li’s men using torture.

He uneasily took a sip of tea.

Yin Li, unconcerned, laughed and said, “Lord Tang, you may leave for now. The gem remains here. Even if they have soft mouths, they should hold out through tonight.”

Tang He didn’t linger and promptly rose to bid farewell and return home.

The commotion on this end might not settle down all night, but in Changqing Alley, Manbao, Bai Shan, and others, unaware of the chaos, were gathered under the lamplight, observing the peonies they had brought back on a flatbed cart.

This was what Bai Shan had made a special effort to show Manbao after school this afternoon. Well, he hadn’t exactly seen anything, just gone to an empty alley. Bai Shan took care of renting the flatbed cart and workers, and when he returned, Manbao already had nine pots of thriving peonies before her.

Each bloom was exquisite.

So they had the laborer push the cart back to Changqing Alley.

Zhou Lijun, coming back from her work at the restaurant, immediately patted her chest and offered to help Manbao sell them.

Manbao declined, “These are for cutting branches to adorn hairpins, not for sale.”

Zhou Lijun was surprised, “Why? Isn’t selling them pot by pot more profitable than branch by branch?”

Manbao didn’t reply, but Bai Erlang chuckled and said, “You know her flowers, right? They can only be grown for one year, and what sprouts the next year is unpredictable. She’s just being fair.”