There’s another type of poison?

Muruo said, “After ingesting this poison, one would die within half an incense stick’s time, but this poison is very difficult to detect. Even the imperial physicians in the palace might not necessarily discover this type of poison, but coincidentally…” Muruo paused, with a proud expression, and said, “I’ve encountered this poison once before. It’s called Tea Poison.”

Tea Poison?

Everyone was astonished!

Liu Zhiliang was puzzled and stepped forward, saying, “How could there be such a poison? The coroner examined it before and said that in that cup of tea, there was only Silver Frost, and in Old Master Zhang’s body there was also only Silver Frost, no Tea Poison.”

Muruo coldly replied, “That was an incompetent coroner.”

“…”

“Where is that cup of tea?”

Liu Zhiliang immediately had someone bring over the poisoned cup of tea.

Muruo took out a small bottle, poured out a bit of powder, and sprinkled it into the tea.

But the entire cup of tea showed no change whatsoever.

Then, he stated with certainty, “In this cup of tea, there is indeed only Silver Frost, no Tea Poison, but in the deceased’s body, Tea Poison definitely exists, and moreover, after ingesting Silver Frost, the toxic effects generally only manifest after five hours, but Tea Poison only needs half an incense stick’s time. That means the deceased’s true cause of death was that the Tea Poison took effect first.”

“That’s strange then. The cup of tea the murderer presented only had Silver Frost in it!” Liu Zhiliang didn’t understand.

Muruo had said everything he needed to say. He took out a handkerchief to wipe his hands, and said to Ji Yunshu, “I’ve clarified everything I could help you understand. I can’t help with what comes next.” As he spoke, he handed Ji Yunshu the small bottle from earlier, saying, “When Tea Poison encounters the powder in here, it will turn red. You know what to do, so I’ll be leaving first.”

Without another word, he really did leave!

Presumably because his alcohol craving had struck.

But he left a room full of confused people. Two types of poison?

Clearly there was only one type in the teacup, so why were there two types in the deceased’s body?

After Muruo left, Ji Yunshu placed the small bottle to one side, then carefully began examining the deceased’s corpse.

The others watched as she touched and felt all over the deceased’s bare upper body, turning it this way and that.

Jingrong’s face turned green!

A woman touching and feeling all over a man’s body—what was that supposed to be?

He couldn’t quite call it jealousy!

He just felt uncomfortable all over.

Ji Yunshu didn’t see anything on the deceased’s upper body, so she proceeded to pull down the deceased’s trousers right there.

All the maidservants on site turned their backs!

Liu Zhiliang quickly stepped forward, “Sir, what are you…”

She didn’t even lift her head, continuing her examination.

Jingrong’s complexion had already turned extremely livid.

Ji Yunshu examined the deceased’s thighs, checking all the way down to his feet.

But on his body, there were no wounds or marks whatsoever.

So she asked the Liu family for a pair of gloves, a small knife, and some needle and thread.

Picking up the knife, she aimed it at the deceased’s throat. Just as she was about to cut, the Third Madam suddenly rushed forward.

Shouting, “What are you doing?”

“Cutting open his throat.”

“Absolutely not!” The Third Madam was very agitated. “My master’s corpse must remain intact.”

“Third Madam, according to the coroner’s previous autopsy results, the deceased died from Silver Frost poisoning, but in his body, there is also another type of poison called Tea Poison. I simply want to verify whether the Tea Poison was also poured down his throat.”

“Regardless of whether it was or not, the murderer has already been found. It’s that actor, she’s the one who killed him. I cannot let you cut open my master’s body.”

As she spoke, she tried to step forward to stop her, but was blocked by a minor constable from the yamen.

Liu Zhiliang stepped forward and said, “Third Madam, what’s most important right now is to investigate clearly how exactly Old Master Zhang died. The matter is suspicious—we can’t just determine that actor as the murderer like this, can we?”

The Third Madam hesitated!

At this moment, a voice came from the doorway, “Mother, let her perform the autopsy.”

A male voice!

A man walked in, supporting the Third Madam, saying, “Mother, now that Father is dead, what’s most important is to obtain justice for Father and find the real murderer.”

The Third Madam only had this one son.

His name was Zhang Yimo, and he had a very refined appearance. He also seemed to be a reasonable person.

The Third Madam’s eyes filled with tears, but she finally nodded.

He said to Ji Yunshu, “Sir, I trouble you. You must find the cause of my father’s death.”

Ji Yunshu nodded slightly.

The small knife in her hand had already slowly cut down.

The sharp blade penetrated deep into the flesh, with only a small amount of blood seeping out, somewhat viscous even.

And that blood was black.

The small knife gradually went deeper, finally revealing a section of the deceased’s throat bone, which was also black.

She unscrewed the small bottle Muruo had given her and poured the powder inside onto the throat bone.

There was no reaction at all—it didn’t turn red.

She reached a conclusion: “The only poison that entered through the deceased’s throat was Silver Frost. The Tea Poison was not poured down the throat.”

Zhang Yimo asked, “Then how did that poison get into my father’s body?”

Ji Yunshu temporarily had no answer and shook her head.

Then she took the needle and thread and stitched up the cut throat stitch by stitch.

It was like embroidering.

After the last stitch was completed, she used a clean handkerchief to wipe the throat clean. The traces of the original incision, if one didn’t look carefully, couldn’t be seen clearly at all.

Everyone was very surprised.

In their hearts, they began to wonder just who this person was.

Meanwhile, Ji Yunshu unhurriedly dressed the deceased in the clothes that had been removed, piece by piece.

As she was putting on the outer robe, she was surprised to discover some fragments in the wide sleeves.

Those tiny things were caught on the silver thread of the clothing.

She pinched them in her palm to look, and discovered they seemed to be shattered porcelain fragments.

She then asked the Zhang family members, “Did your master get into a fight with anyone?”

The Zhang family members shook their heads. “Last night was Master’s birthday celebration—how could he possibly get into a fight?”

“Then where did the porcelain fragments on his clothes come from?”

“The clothes?” The Zhang family’s steward suddenly stepped forward and said, “These clothes are a set that Master went to his room to change into during last night’s birthday banquet.”

Ji Yunshu was puzzled. “Why would he go change clothes in the middle?”

“Because a cat knocked over the First Madam’s teacup, and the tea splashed onto Master’s clothes, so he went to change into another set.”

“Was this before the theater troupe sang, or after? Or rather, was it before or after that actor served the tea?”

“After the tea was served. The theater troupe had just begun performing when the tea spilled. Master went to change his clothes and came back to find the performance already halfway through. He had just sat down when he collapsed.”

Question and answer!

Every word Steward Zhang spoke was the truth.

Ji Yunshu pondered for a moment. “Then, could you take me to see your master’s room?”

Steward Zhang looked at Zhang Yimo, who directly said, “Uncle Zhang, take the sir over.”

“Yes.”

Steward Zhang then led Ji Yunshu and the people from the yamen to go over.

Just as they went out, they heard a cat’s meow!

Two cats in the courtyard were very excitedly pouncing about, wanting to enter the room. Seeing Ji Yunshu come out, they wanted to pounce toward her too.

Steward Zhang blocked them, also saying, “What’s wrong with these cats today? Usually they’re most afraid of Master, but now that Master is dead, they’re desperately trying to pounce inside. They even want to pounce on you, Mister Ji.”

Ji Yunshu said nothing, only staring at those two cats, looking at their bright eyes, finding them extremely strange.