Turning her head, she saw Quan Feitong looking at her with a half-smile.

She unceremoniously pushed him away. Everyone was somewhat surprised to see Quan Feitong, their expressions becoming wary. Leng Xue stood close to Su Zhen’s side, while Huo Chang’an smiled and asked: “Prime Minister Quan, I heard you went to play chess with Sixth Young Master and the others. How did you end up here?”

“Damn, don’t mention those two. They played for half the day without determining a winner – isn’t that clearly not letting this prime minister have fun? Am I stupid to not leave?”

Quan Feitong’s tone was quite helpless. He then put on an “I was just passing by” expression and departed leisurely with his people.

Everyone naturally knew he couldn’t have come just to make a cameo appearance, but with the angry crowd pressing around them in chaos, they naturally couldn’t worry about him now. Since they had come to investigate, and this was a main street, they hadn’t brought soldiers. Wu Yan was knocked down by someone. Su Zhen wanted to reach out to help her, but after glancing at Huo Chang’an and thinking for a moment, she pretended not to see. Huo Chang’an was tightly protecting Lian Yue, his peripheral vision sweeping past as if he also hadn’t seen.

With her husband’s support, Lian Yue smiled radiantly. Huo Chang’an’s gaze swept over everyone with natural authority. People were intimidated by him and gradually quieted down. Seizing the opportunity, Lian Yue said: “We came to investigate precisely to prove Young Master Cheng’s innocence. Pokeweed is indeed much cheaper than ginseng, but did we say the Cheng family sold fake medicine? From beginning to end, these have been Young Master Cheng’s self-involved, wishful thinking. The death row prisoners appealed, requesting case reversal. We handle this impartially. If Young Master Cheng is upright, he need not fear shadows. If Guan He-shi truly made false accusations first and killed later, she will naturally face legal sanctions.

“And you fellow townspeople,” Lian Yue looked at the people on both sides inside and outside the door, “if we follow Young Master Cheng’s words, should any of our neighbors someday be wrongly accused and appeal, we would refuse to hear it based on the principle of already decided cases. No matter if you die violently or unjustly, isn’t this the logic?”

This statement immediately silenced the surrounding people. Cheng Qizhu looked at the woman before him, his expression slightly changing.

Wu Yan pulled at the corners of her mouth and silently got up.

“Alright,” Shuangcheng followed up, “Young Master Cheng, let’s continue back to the case details. The townspeople watching here is perfect. If anyone says we’re handling things unreasonably, we’ll leave immediately.”

Lian Xin glared fiercely at Cheng Qizhu: “You won’t be shortchanged, but don’t let it be that you’re in the wrong.”

Someone spoke up: “Young Master Cheng, just let these officials investigate once more. Once it’s clarified, it will make that old troublemaker who came to extort money for killing die convinced.”

Onlookers are always like this – when someone takes the lead, others follow. Suddenly, there were quite a few people urging for investigation. Cheng Qizhu’s eyes darkened as he said: “Since all the neighbors say so, then I’ll repeat it once more. Before the incident, Guan He-shi’s daughter-in-law felt unwell after childbirth, so she hired a village doctor to examine her. The doctor diagnosed qi deficiency and blood weakness, so he prescribed blood-activating and circulation-promoting medicine. One liang of prepared rehmannia, one liang of angelica, one liang of astragalus, one liang of aged ginseng, goji berries, eucommia, polygonum multiflorum… two to three qian each time, enough for three or four doses. But she thought ginseng was expensive and only bought two qian. Even if this ginseng were truly pokeweed, spread over several uses, each time would only be half a qian’s worth – not enough to kill anyone.”

The chief manager who had been speaking with everyone earlier, his eyes gleaming, sighed and said: “Ginseng is tonifying. After taking it, one’s vital energy becomes abundant for a time – no drowsiness or fatigue. Sometimes this isn’t beneficial for patients’ rest and recovery. Though half a qian is little, it can still be used adequately. I told Guan He-shi this that day. By this logic, nothing should have happened. When the incident occurred later, needless to say, she must have thought the amount was insufficient and bought fake ginseng to mix in.”

Wu Yan covered her scratched arm and said softly: “According to court records, Guan He-shi’s daughter-in-law’s qi deficiency was quite severe. Taking more ginseng to consolidate qi wasn’t wrong. If she loved her daughter-in-law dearly and used up the full two qian amount at once, if it were ginseng there would naturally be no problem. But if it were pokeweed… I’ve checked relevant medical texts – it would probably be somewhat dangerous.”

Cheng Qizhu’s voice grew heavy: “Miss, I think I’ve explained clearly enough. We sold ginseng, not pokeweed. Pokeweed is just a hypothetical.”

Wu Yan also smiled: “Young Master, please don’t be agitated. I was also just hypothesizing. After all, there is this possibility.”

Cheng Qizhu’s eyes grew more sinister as he said coldly: “Hypothetical matters can’t be taken as fact. But Miss got one thing right – if truly two qian of pokeweed were used, it would indeed be somewhat dangerous, but wouldn’t be fatal. But that’s not how it was. There are patients who witnessed the incident that day as proof. When she argued with my father, she said her daughter-in-law had taken five qian of our ginseng. We only sold her two qian of ginseng – where would five qian come from? Yet the pokeweed dregs Guan He-shi brought to extort my father were indeed five qian’s worth. This proves that pokeweed didn’t come from our shop at all. But she played dumb, and seeing my father wouldn’t compensate, she became ruthless and scuffled with my father, pushing him against the sharp edge of a cabinet, causing my father’s resentful death. False accusations first, murder second – such heartless cruelty.”

After brief consideration, Shuangcheng asked a penetrating question: “Young Master Cheng, Guan He-shi accidentally killing someone is wrong no matter what. But what if she was driven to it by fake medicine? What if from beginning to end, the ‘ginseng’ Guan He-shi bought at your shop was five qian, and she, loving her daughter-in-law and not understanding medicine properties, used it all at once?”

People heard various doubts and all looked toward Cheng Qizhu.

Veins on Cheng Qizhu’s forehead twitched slightly as he sneered: “Does Miss think the two qian dosage was something Cheng made up?”

He nodded to the chief manager, who hurried to the counter and retrieved a book from a thick stack of ledgers.

Cheng Qizhu took it and flipped to a page: “We record all medicine sales – first for convenient accounting, second so returning customers have references for future purchases. Please look, everyone.”

Everyone focused their attention and indeed saw records of Guan He-shi’s purchases that day, with names and medicines, dosages all very clear, exactly matching what Cheng Qizhu had said.

The ledger pages were slightly yellowed, the ink not fresh.

This made everyone’s hearts sink. If this ledger was forged later, Guan He-shi’s record was in the middle, and the paper was slightly yellow with aged ink – clearly used for some time, not newly made.

Shuangcheng and Miao Yin seemed very knowledgeable about ink and paper, almost simultaneously stepping forward to examine carefully whether this was new or old paper, fresh or aged ink.

Meanwhile, Su Zhen was somewhat absent-minded, her attention falling on the assistants preparing medicines. This was indeed an old shop – despite some incidents, the assistants at the hundred-compartment cabinet were well-trained. Though they occasionally glanced this way, they still methodically selected medicines for customers who had been waiting in the hall.

They indeed had the habit of recording medicines and accounts. Each time an assistant selected an herb, he would record the medicine name and dosage in a ledger on the cabinet.

When she saw one assistant, his hands full of medicine residue trying to turn pages, his fingers sticky and inflexible, having to lick his fingers – the bitter taste of medicine immediately reached his tongue, making his face scrunch up – Su Zhen smiled unkindly. Seeing her so inattentive, everyone felt somewhat angry. Huo Chang’an also frowned slightly. Little Zhou looked even more frustrated, elbowing Su Zhen forcefully and whispering angrily: “Are you even listening seriously? If you let Gu Shuangcheng and them solve the case, you’re dead. His Majesty doesn’t like you, and even that Quan Feitong won’t appreciate you. Let’s see if you can still smile then.”

Su Zhen shrugged, smiling indifferently.

Little Zhou was furious and turned away, ignoring her. Wu Qing patted her shoulder, but she brushed his hand away. Lian Xin looked suspiciously at the two.

Seeing they could investigate no further, and that the several pharmacists brought from other medicine shops had taken samples of all medicines in the store, they took their leave. Wu Yan requested the ledger from earlier. Cheng Qizhu was quite cooperative, not obstructing, only making a meaningful bow: “Please, honored officials, be sure to punish that murderer quickly. On the day of retrial, Cheng will certainly attend court to listen and support you all.”

His gaze contained mocking barbs. The people inside and outside the pharmacy trusted him even more, inevitably echoing in agreement, making everyone alarmed and angry.

Su Zhen said to Leng Xue: “They say masters are among the people – how true. This Philanthropist Liao and Young Master Cheng are each more formidable than the last.”

This remark greatly displeased Lian Yue and others. Murong Xin gave a cold laugh: “I’ll truthfully report today’s events to His Majesty tonight. Perhaps he should consider whether to imprison you again.”

Su Zhen only said: “As you wish.”

When Shuangcheng walked past her, she glanced at her. Su Zhen looked back, but Shuangcheng said nothing and walked away with the others.

The cloak on her shoulders fluttered slightly. Su Zhen suddenly remembered this seemed to be Lian Yu’s cloak.

Reaching a crossroads, everyone stopped. Lian Yue sent several pharmacists back to the inn first to test the medicines. Taking one sample of each medicine from Cheng Qizhu’s shop was to check whether this pharmacy had any tricks. If it truly sold fake goods, it wouldn’t only sell pokeweed.

Though Little Zhou had sworn never to speak to Su Zhen again, seeing this situation, she couldn’t help nudging her again: “Don’t you know some pharmacology? Don’t go investigate the third case with them. The corpse at the lake bottom – all evidence has been washed away. What the hell can they find! Go back to test medicines. Isn’t His Majesty still playing chess at the inn? If you can discover something in these medicines, His Majesty might still see it. Who told you to offend everyone but had to anger the biggest boss in the world!”