General Su referred to Su Ziluo!
Lord Huang and Minister Zhu were extremely astonished. The latter asked the young servant again: “What did you just say? Say it again!”
The young servant raised his head slightly. Though his gaze held some fear, he still said firmly: “It was General Su who told me to deliver this pot of wine to Old General Wen, saying that Old General Wen loved osmanthus wine, which is why he specially brought it. He also instructed me that if Old General Wen refused to accept it, I should pour the wine out! So I delivered it, but Old General Wen said he didn’t like drinking it and told me to take it away. Unexpectedly, when I came out, I ran into Miss Huazheng. She smelled it and said she wanted to drink it. I thought it would be such a waste to pour out such good wine, so I brought it into Miss Huazheng’s warm pavilion. I truly never imagined… that the wine was poisoned.”
“Preposterous!” A rebuking voice came from the second floor. The Marquis of Kangding came down, striding quickly to the young servant. He swung his wide sleeve forcefully, his expression solemn. “How could General Su harm someone? Using such despicable methods? I say you’re speaking complete nonsense—clearly you have a guilty conscience and want to pin this crime on General Su.”
“My lord, I’m innocent!”
“Whether this wine was really brought by General Su is still unknown—it’s just your one-sided story.”
“I’m not lying—it really was General Su who told me to deliver it to Old General Wen!”
“Do you have any evidence to prove it?” The Marquis of Kangding’s tone was quite severe.
He simply couldn’t believe Su Ziluo would poison someone. In the Marquis of Kangding’s heart, Su Ziluo had always been an upright gentleman and a scholarly man of great learning, always honorable and willing to take responsibility for his actions! At such a young age, he had already commanded troops on the battlefield and recovered cities. How many people in Yanjing City held him in high esteem and admiration? The Marquis of Kangding also hoped his disappointing son could receive some instruction from him and become a useful talent in the future.
How could such a person possibly poison someone?
The young servant was about to speak—
Old General Wen and Grand Tutor Yi came down at this moment. The former’s expression was cold and stern as he spoke, emphasizing each word: “It seems the one who should have died today… was this general.”
He snorted coldly, his tone full of sarcasm.
The Marquis of Kangding immediately responded: “Old General Wen, the matter hasn’t been investigated yet. Perhaps this young servant is lying!”
“Is the Marquis trying to exonerate General Su?”
“I’m merely speaking from a position of reason.”
“I’m afraid you have personal interests at heart.”
“Many court officials are present today. Even though Old General Wen is highly respected, please choose your words carefully.” Though the Marquis of Kangding’s tone was one of reminder, it carried a hint of warning.
In truth, the relationship between the two men wasn’t completely irreconcilable. It was just that the Marquis of Kangding had been close friends with the late Old General Su. But during the battle between Qujiang and Dalin years ago, if not for the Wen family, Old General Su wouldn’t have died on the battlefield. From then on, the once-friendly Wen and Su families went their separate ways, and the Marquis of Kangding viewed the Wen family as enemies.
It was just that on the surface they remained polite!
Though Old General Wen’s influence was deeply rooted in the court, the Marquis of Kangding was still a marquis after all. He couldn’t afford to make the relationship too tense on the surface and had to give him some face. He raised his head to glance at Su Ziluo’s warm pavilion on the second floor, his expression darkening, and said coldly: “Since the Marquis keeps saying he speaks from reason, why not invite General Su to step out from his pavilion and see whether that poisoned wine was brought by him or not?”
Everyone’s gaze fell upon that tightly closed carved wooden door.
Yet there was no movement whatsoever.
Lord Huang furrowed his brow slightly, turned his head and softly ordered the elite guards: “Go invite General Su to come out.”
“Yes.”
Two elite guards quickly went up. When they reached the door, they hesitated somewhat, looking at each other with mutual trepidation in their hearts. Just as they were about to raise their hands to knock, the door opened under everyone’s watchful eyes.
Qi’er stood in the doorway, her eyes containing what seemed like a block of ice, coldly glancing at the two elite guards at the door before turning to push Su Ziluo, who sat in a wheelchair, out of the pavilion.
Su Ziluo wore simple, elegant, light-colored clothing with a dark-colored blanket covering his legs. His gentle, jade-like face was strikingly handsome, and between his brows was an air of wisdom. Especially those eyes—deep and dark as ink—if one stared at them too long, it seemed one could sink deeply into them.
Qi’er pushed him to the railing. His gaze looked down from above, sweeping lightly over everyone before finally settling on Old General Wen. His thin lips parted slightly: “That pot of wine was indeed delivered to Old General Wen by my order through the young wine steward in the building.”
Eh!
The building erupted in commotion.
The Marquis of Kangding grew anxious and looked up, saying: “General Su, you must think carefully—this is a matter of life and death.”
Su Ziluo’s expression was calm, as if discussing something completely unrelated to himself: “Everyone knows Old General Wen loves drinking osmanthus wine from Nanping Winery the most. It’s just that in recent years, the osmanthus hasn’t grown well and the wine quality has somewhat declined. A while ago, an old friend sent me a bottle of osmanthus wine that Nanping Winery had stored years ago, so I thought to present it to Old General Wen for tasting. If Old General Wen didn’t want it, naturally I couldn’t very well take it back, so I instructed the young wine steward to pour it out.”
“What about the poison in it?”
“When that pot of wine was sent over, I personally tasted a bit of it. If it was truly poisoned, I’m afraid the first to die should have been me.” Su Ziluo’s tone was calm and unhurried.
The Marquis of Kangding believed him without doubt. He turned to glare at the young servant kneeling on the ground: “Since General Su didn’t poison the wine, then the one who poisoned it must be you. Speak—what are your intentions?”
The young servant was so frightened his face turned pale, his eyes nearly rolling back: “My lords, please see clearly—I have no grievances with Old General Wen or that young lady. Why would I poison them? I’m innocent!”
His wailing grew louder.
Old General Wen’s eyes darkened. He looked up at Su Ziluo’s unfathomable eyes. Even though Su Ziluo had his explanations, Old General Wen knew in his heart there must be something fishy about this.
After all, his two sons had been repeatedly ambushed by black-clothed assassins all the way from Nansai to Yanjing. That they survived to return was already fortunate. He also knew those black-clothed men were sent by the Su family, but lacking evidence, he could only endure it! He never expected that this time they would try to kill him.
How could he endure this?
He secretly clenched his fists, veins bulging on the back of his hands, and spoke to Lord Huang in an authoritative tone: “Lord Huang, General Su says this matter wasn’t his doing, and this young servant doesn’t seem to be lying either. So it appears that whoever wanted to kill this general must be someone else! But since there’s been a murder and the source of the poison in the wine pot is unknown, in order to quickly find the murderer and resolve this matter, Lord Huang must treat everyone equally without favoritism or fraud. You must investigate clearly. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to personally report this to His Majesty and conduct the investigation myself! I want to see exactly who harbored such malicious intent!”
Lord Huang wasn’t foolish—he understood his meaning and said: “Rest assured, Old General Wen, I will certainly handle this impartially.”
“That would be best!”
Lord Huang took a deep breath and immediately ordered: “Someone, immediately interrogate everyone in Saixian Tower. At the first sign of anything suspicious, immediately detain them in the Court of Judicial Review’s prison.” As he spoke, he looked at Su Ziluo. “General Su, I’m afraid the Court of Judicial Review’s prison will need you to make a trip as well!”