Jiang Yuanchao’s gaze instantly turned cold: “Jiang Wu, don’t drag unrelated people into this!”

“Unrelated?” Jiang Wu laughed. “Thirteenth Brother, at this moment, you’re still wholeheartedly protecting that young lady. Your deep affection for her is truly touching!”

“I don’t want to hear your nonsense. If you want to investigate the foster father’s cause of death, it’s simple – just call a coroner to examine the body!” Jiang Yuanchao stepped forward, and seeing Jiang Wu blocking his path, shouted: “Move aside!”

Jiang Wu remained motionless: “Call a coroner? Thirteenth Brother, your foster father was glorious his entire life, and you want those lowly creatures to defile his remains? Several brothers all saw the foster father’s appearance – he died bleeding from all seven orifices. The imperial physician has already diagnosed him. Foster father died of poisoning without doubt!”

“So, Fifth Brother is certain I poisoned the foster father to death?”

“Of course, Thirteenth Brother isn’t the only one involved.”

Jiang Yuanchao frowned: “What do you mean by that?”

Jiang Wu clapped his hands: “Bring her over.”

Seeing Qiao Zhao being brought over by the Jinlin Guards, Jiang Yuanchao couldn’t help but freeze.

Qiao Zhao looked at him deeply, then averted her gaze.

Seeing this, Jiang Wu couldn’t help but smile: “You two walked hand in hand on Lantern Festival night, so pretending not to know each other now is pointless. Thirteenth Brother, having the courage to act but not to admit it isn’t your style.”

These words immediately caused a commotion among the Jinlin Guards.

One was the Grand Commander’s future son-in-law, the other was Marquis Guanjun’s fiancée – what was the situation with them walking hand in hand?

If what the Fifth Master said was true, then the Thirteenth Master might be the true culprit who killed the Grand Commander and the young miss. After all, stealing Marquis Guanjun’s woman was too incredible – of course, they’d need to silence people who knew about it.

Hearing these words, Qiao Zhao felt blood rushing to her face.

She had been wondering why the Jinlin Guards were so discourteous to her. It turned out they believed she was improper, and that Marquis Guanjun could no longer protect this fiancée of his.

Perhaps in Lord Jiang Wu’s mind, Marquis Guanjun should even thank him for timely exposing her “affair” with Jiang Yuanchao.

Qiao Zhao couldn’t help but look coldly at Jiang Yuanchao.

She must have owed him something in her previous life to have such bad luck whenever she encountered him.

Jiang Yuanchao felt burning shame under Qiao Zhao’s glance and said coldly: “Jiang Wu, I said don’t drag unrelated people into this!”

Jiang Wu sneered: “Unrelated? We still need to hear Thirteenth Brother explain how you conspired with this Miss Li to poison the foster father!”

“Conspired to poison foster father?” Jiang Yuanchao found this accusation utterly absurd.

“Isn’t that so?” Jiang Wu clapped his hands again, and soon a maid was brought over.

Those who frequently entered and left the Jiang residence all recognized this maid – she was one who served Jiang Tang’s daily needs.

Jiang Tang remained faithful to his deceased wife, and after her death, he dismissed the young and beautiful maids from the residence, keeping only some honest and reliable ones.

This maid was one of them. Though called a maid, she was actually over thirty years old, with plain looks, named Hong Ying.

“Hong Ying, you’ve served the Grand Commander for over ten years. How did he treat you?” Jiang Wu asked.

Facing so many people, Hong Ying fearfully kept her head down and honestly replied: “The Grand Commander treated this servant very well. During festivals and the New Year, he would reward this servant with double monthly wages.”

Speaking of this, Hong Ying couldn’t help but wipe away tears.

Outsiders all thought the Grand Commander was frightening, but actually, he was the easiest master to serve. He always handled very private matters personally – she only needed to make beds, fold blankets, and clean rooms. Most of the time was quite leisurely.

“The Grand Commander treated you well, so you wouldn’t want him to die with unrest, would you?”

Hong Ying trembled all over, her face immediately turning pale.

Jiang Wu’s voice softened: “You don’t need to be afraid. Just answer truthfully whatever I ask.”

Hong Ying slowly nodded.

“Who prepared the Grand Commander’s three daily meals?”

“The Grand Commander’s three daily meals were the same as the young miss’s, all prepared by the small kitchen,” Hong Ying quickly replied.

The position of Jinlin Guards Commander wasn’t easy to hold. Jiang Tang had many enemies and was especially cautious about food. Someone would specifically taste-test before meals – everyone present knew this.

Jiang Wu nodded and continued asking: “Besides the three daily meals, did the Grand Commander eat anything else?”

“This—” Hong Ying hesitated.

“Speak!” Jiang Wu shouted sternly.

Hong Ying quickly glanced at Qiao Zhao, then lowered her head: “The Grand Commander would also take medicine.”

Hearing Hong Ying say this, everyone was somewhat surprised.

They didn’t know the Grand Commander took medicine – he had never mentioned feeling unwell anywhere.

“What medicine did the Grand Commander take?” Jiang Wu asked again.

Hong Ying shook her head: “This servant doesn’t know what medicine the Grand Commander took, but every evening this servant would prepare warm water for the Grand Commander to take his medicine.”

“Foster father taking medicine – what does this have to do with others?” Jiang Yuanchao’s slender eyes narrowed.

Hong Ying fearfully glanced at Jiang Yuanchao, then gathered courage to say: “The medicine pills the Grand Commander took were prepared by Miss Li!”

Jiang Yuanchao suddenly looked at Qiao Zhao, his expression changing.

So that was it!

He had always wondered why her foster father treated her differently, couldn’t understand what connection they had – it turned out their connection was here!

Everyone looked at Qiao Zhao, their eyes showing shock, anger, and various other emotions.

Qiao Zhao still stood quietly, seemingly unconcerned by everyone’s scrutinizing gazes.

Jiang Wu sighed deeply: “All the brothers understand now, don’t they? Jiang Shisan had an unspeakable relationship with Miss Li, and this relationship ultimately couldn’t be hidden from his foster sister. Foster sister naturally couldn’t tolerate it. Perhaps they argued, or perhaps the foster sister decided to tell the foster father. Seeing their affair about to be exposed, people can do anything when desperate. Thirteenth Brother, am I right?”

Jiang Yuanchao sneered but remained silent.

“Unfortunately, in your haste, you killed your foster sister, leaving too many flaws. When you learned that your foster father suspected you and had concrete evidence, to save your life, you harbored murderous intent toward your foster father. But the foster father was highly skilled in martial arts, and the Commander’s residence was heavily guarded. Knowing this well, you understood that force was impossible – only poisoning was the safest method.”

Jiang Wu’s gaze fell on Qiao Zhao: “At this time, you discovered that Heaven was on your side. Foster father had been taking medicine prepared by Third Miss Li all along. So you only needed to tamper with the medicine to easily poison the foster father, since only the medicine the foster father took daily didn’t require special poison testing.”

At this point, Jiang Wu clapped his hands again, and soon an imperial physician was brought over.

“After discovering this, I immediately had the imperial physician examine the pills prepared by Third Miss Li. Sure enough, there were several pills containing deadly poison mixed in, completely indistinguishable from the outside.”

At Jiang Wu’s instruction, the imperial physician opened a small box containing the pills. Inside lay more than ten pills that looked identical.

“This official scraped powder from each of these pills for testing. These few contain deadly poison.”

“Now, what do you have to say?” Jiang Wu stepped forward and asked.