Hearing Qiao Zhao’s words, Jiang Eleven raised his hand to touch his nose.

Earlier, Miss Li had said that if he brought her fiancé over, she would tell him the truth about their adoptive father’s death. He had brought her fiancé, and she had indeed revealed the true cause of their adoptive father’s death.

Now, was she going to fish her father out as well?

He had a feeling she would get her way.

“Very well. As long as you can help us find the real murderer who killed our adoptive father, I agree to release your father.” After thinking this through, Jiang Eleven spoke calmly.

Qiao Zhao looked toward Jiang Yuanchao.

Jiang Yuanchao smiled gently: “I also agree.”

Seeing both of them say this, Jiang Wu naturally didn’t object.

“I’d like to ask the imperial physician—what poison do you think killed the Grand Commander?”

Hearing Qiao Zhao ask this, the imperial physician looked troubled.

The Grand Commander’s cause of death was truly difficult to discuss.

Judging solely by the poisoning symptoms, it resembled crane crest red. Even with some discrepancies, he believed it was more likely that the cinnabar poison in Jiang Tang’s body had combined with crane crest red to produce changes.

But the words “cinnabar poison” absolutely couldn’t be mentioned—that would greatly offend His Majesty’s taboos.

“In this humble official’s opinion, crane crest red has the highest probability. However, there are many types of toxins in the world, and there are some poisons with symptoms similar to crane crest red that this humble official may not have considered.”

Qiao Zhao smiled sweetly: “You’re quite right. It is indeed a poison with symptoms similar to crane crest red.”

The imperial physician was stunned.

What had he said?

Shao Mingyuan couldn’t help but be amused.

Zhaozhao seemed to be getting better and better at setting traps for people.

“The bowl I asked for earlier to hold clear water.” Qiao Zhao unceremoniously made her request to Jiang Eleven.

This time, Jiang Eleven didn’t even hesitate, immediately ordering someone to fetch the bowl from the mourning hall.

Soon, a Jinlin Guard came carrying the bowl, his strange expression making everyone curious.

“Put it here,” Jiang Eleven said.

The guard set down the bowl and couldn’t help but glance at it again as he stepped aside.

Everyone immediately looked over and saw that the water in the bowl had returned to clarity, with dozens of blood-thread-like objects standing distinctly upright in the clear water.

“How can this be? I clearly remember that when Miss Li first dropped the blood-stained silver needle, the clear water in the bowl immediately became dark and murky. How is it like this now?” Jiang Qi, one of the Thirteen Guardians, voiced everyone’s confusion.

Everyone looked toward Qiao Zhao simultaneously, expecting her to solve the mystery.

Qiao Zhao smiled at the imperial physician: “Seeing this scene in the bowl, does it remind you of anything?”

The imperial physician frowned tightly, staring at the clear water in the bowl as his mind raced.

This scene seemed vaguely familiar. He must have seen a description of it in some medical text.

Such a phenomenon was extremely rare, so the medical text must have been obscure. Where exactly had he seen it?

Poisoning symptoms similar to crane crest red, blood threads standing distinct after being mixed in clear water and left to settle for a certain time—

At a certain moment while the imperial physician was racking his brains, a flash of inspiration struck his mind like lightning splitting through chaos, and he suddenly remembered something.

The imperial physician looked sharply at Qiao Zhao: “The Grand Commander’s fingernails—”

Qiao Zhao nodded slightly: “Your thinking is correct. I discovered the same blood threads in the Grand Commander’s fingernails.”

“It’s blood lotus seeds, isn’t it?” The imperial physician’s voice grew excited.

Qiao Zhao nodded: “Exactly, blood lotus seeds!”

The imperial physician couldn’t help but smile: “It seems this humble official’s mind is still sharp. I said I had seen this phenomenon recorded in a book. ‘In Jianan grows a strange lotus, similar in form to water lilies, with seeds red as blood, poison fierce as crane crest red, toxic blood meeting water creates red threads…'”

The imperial physician couldn’t hide his pride as he began showing off his learning, but everyone’s expressions changed drastically.

Seeing this, Qiao Zhao curved her lips and said lightly: “Blood lotus seeds are only highly poisonous when freshly picked, so the murderer must be someone who has been to Jianan and cultivates blood lotus at home. Uh, he would probably tell others he likes growing water lilies.”

As Qiao Zhao said this, her gaze swept over Jiang Wu and Jiang Yuanchao.

Her hometown of Jia Feng was in Jianan Province, and both Jiang Yuanchao and Jiang Wu had been stationed in Jia Feng at different times, so the murderer who poisoned Jiang Tang must be one of these two.

Her responsibility was only to analyze this far. As for who the murderer was, that was none of her business.

The instant Qiao Zhao finished speaking, Jiang Eleven smoothly drew his embroidered spring saber and struck at Jiang Wu.

Jiang Wu’s face had already turned iron-gray, and he struck back without hesitation.

But immediately after, several more embroidered spring sabers pointed at him in unison.

Jiang Qi stared at Jiang Wu with eyes full of anger: “Jiang Wu, when you returned from Jia Feng before New Year, we gathered at your house and inadvertently saw the lotus flowers you were growing in the side room. You even deceived us by saying they were water lilies. So you had already conceived the idea of poisoning our adoptive father, then. Has your conscience been eaten by dogs?”

“Don’t waste words with him. Capture him first!”

Seeing the Jinlin Guards surging toward him, intense hatred flashed in Jiang Wu’s eyes as he suddenly lunged toward Qiao Zhao.

Shao Mingyuan spun and leaped up, kicking Jiang Wu squarely in the chest.

Jiang Wu’s entire body arched backward as he flew into Jiang Eleven, spitting out a mouthful of blood with a “wa” sound.

Shao Mingyuan glanced at Jiang Wu disdainfully: “Don’t get ideas about this marquis’s fiancée. You could have struggled a bit longer otherwise.”

Jiang Wu glared fiercely at Shao Mingyuan and spat bloody saliva on the ground.

Jiang Eleven grabbed Jiang Wu by the collar, his embroidered spring saber across his throat, his voice cold as ice and snow: “Why did you do this?”

Jiang Wu spat: “You don’t deserve to know! You are a good dog raised by Jiang Tang. Too bad in the end Jiang Tang still treated you like a dog. The only one who ever got to be a person was Jiang Thirteen!”

Jiang Yuanchao smiled faintly: “Jiang Wu, even at this point, you still don’t forget to sow discord between us brothers?”

“Am I wrong? We’re all adopted sons, yet you received more guidance from childhood. You didn’t do more than we, but everyone acknowledged that the position of Jinlin Guards Commander was reserved for you. This is too unfair to us!”

Jiang Yuanchao looked deeply at Jiang Wu: “Jiang Wu, don’t you hate our adoptive father because when you were carrying out a mission, you developed inappropriate feelings for an undercover agent, and after our adoptive father had her silenced, you harbored resentment toward him?”

Back then, when Jiang Wu was stationed in Beiding City, he had developed real feelings for the courtesan Yingying, who was also an undercover agent recruited by the Jinlin Guards. This nearly caused the mission to remotely control Su Luofeng under Marquis Guanjun to fail, which was the real reason their adoptive father had sent Jiang Wu to Jia Feng.

“Shut up!” Jiang Wu’s expression changed drastically. “You have no right to mention these things to me! Jiang Shiran deserved to die, Jiang Tang deserved to die, you all deserve to die! The position of Jinlin Guards Commander will be mine!”

Only by standing at the highest point could he get what he truly wanted and protect those he wanted to protect!

Filled with unwillingness, Jiang Wu fought back desperately.

After a chaotic struggle, Jiang Eleven expressionlessly withdrew his long blade as fresh blood gushed from Jiang Wu’s chest.

Jiang Wu didn’t look at Jiang Eleven but stared fixedly at Jiang Yuanchao, looking like a malevolent ghost: “Jiang Thirteen, I curse you to lose your true love for life, and for all your efforts to come to nothing!”

With these words, Jiang Wu breathed his last.