The person who went to the imperial dining room to get the meal was a young eunuch. After he came back from the meal, he would give it to the maids of Meirenju. They would test the poison and make sure that the food was ok, and then someone would send the message to the master to come and have a meal. During this period, The courtyard door is always open and anyone can come in.
"From the time when the meal was taken in the imperial dining room to when Beauty Wang ate, there were five people who came into contact with the food. Afterwards, the door to the side courtyard was left open. If someone wanted to take advantage of Beauty Wang's arrival, it would be very possible for someone to poison her. of."
This matter seems simple, but when it comes to investigation, it involves many people and is cumbersome.
It was getting late now. In order to reduce the time spent on this matter, Zhang Jing decided to interrogate the servants of Meirenju together.
Dongmei sent someone to invite the servants. Tao Yaoyao sat aside and waited. He entered the palace in the afternoon. He hadn't even eaten dinner yet. During this period, his whole body was still very nervous. After this leisure time, his whole body became nervous again. Hungry and thirsty.
Before the servants arrived, she asked Dongmei to bring tea and snacks.
"Master Zhang, do you want some?" Tao Yaoyao invited Master Zhang to sit down and chat, but Master Zhang refused directly, "I have already had dinner, girl, just do as you like."
"Then I'm welcome." Tao Yaoyao drank a cup of tea first, and then took some cakes to eat. Seeing that there was no trace of nervousness or worry on Mr. Zhang's face, he asked, "Sir, are you confident about this matter?"
"It's not about being confident, it's just years of experience in handling cases." Mr. Zhang said with a smile.
Although Tao Yaoyao didn't know how sure he was, she could see that he didn't look worried, and she also breathed a sigh of relief.
"Master, my subordinates found out that Miss Tao was left at the Beauty Residence. His Majesty asked her to investigate the case of Wang Meiren's poisoning with Master Zhang. He said that the murderer must be found before dawn tomorrow, otherwise, His Majesty will take Master Zhang's body. life."
Xie Lan played with the teacup and looked up at the bright moon in the sky.
This is something he can do.
Ever since that woman entered the palace ten years ago, he had only room for her in his eyes. If she died now, he would not be surprised at all if he wanted everyone in the world to bury her with her.
But how could Tao Yaoyao be involved in this matter?
"My subordinates have investigated and found out that Concubine Xian came up with the idea to have Miss Tao come back to treat Wang Meiren."
is her.
That makes sense.
This virtuous concubine had just failed in her plan, but she had stirred up new troubles. No matter it was Tao Yaoyao or Wang Meiren, they didn't have a fuel-efficient lamp. It seemed that there was a lot of excitement in the harem before dawn.
"Master, Miss Tao has told you before that you need a good rest due to your illness. It's getting late now, so you should go back and rest."
Chang Geng urged him.
"Don't be in a hurry." Xie Lan said nonchalantly, "I heard that Mr. Zhang Jing has only been in the Ministry of Justice for a year, but he has solved countless major and important cases. He is the most powerful person in the Ministry of Justice at the moment."
"That's true." Otherwise, how could he, a fifth-grade official, have caught His Majesty's attention.
"However, this man has a very upright character. After he got his name, several princes wanted to win over him, but he did not accept anyone's win over him, and he offended many people for this."
"His current situation in the Ministry of Justice is actually not good."
Too rigid and easy to break.
How could the big dye vat in the court accommodate such a person?
At this time, the guard came over and reported, "Concubine Xian's people have also learned about this matter, and are now preventing Mr. Zhang and Miss Tao from investigating the matter."
"Isn't she just asking for it?" Chang Geng was surprised. He thought Concubine Xian was a smart person, but now that Master Zhang and the others haven't found any clues, she has begun to mess up her own situation. Isn't this just giving someone excuses? ?
"Master, do we want to..."
Xie Lan thought of something and smiled, "It seems that Mr. Zhang is not as flexible as the world has seen. There's no need for that. There will be a good show soon."
At this time, all the servants of Meirenju came to the gate of the side courtyard. After the steward came to report, Zhang Jing and Tao Yaoyao went to the gate together.
The night wind in early winter was already cold, and it became even more chilly in the second half of the night. As soon as Tao Yaoyao went out, the cold wind caused her to tighten her clothes.
After Zhang Jing saw this, he subconsciously moved towards her and blocked half of the cold wind with his body.
When Tao Yaoyao saw this, a touch of warmth flashed through his heart.
"Thanks."
Zhang Jing said nothing and turned to look at everyone, "Those who have had dinner today, step forward."
The news of Wang Meiren's poisoning has long been spread throughout the harem, and the people in Meirenju naturally also know about it. Although the steward didn't tell them why they came here just now, they probably guessed what it was, so now Zhang Jing is like this Suggestions were made, and they responded cooperatively.
However, after coming forward in the past few days, Zhang Jing said, "You must think clearly. I will only give you one chance. If you have been exposed to the dinner but did not come forward, then I will determine that he is The poisoner."
After Zhang Jing finished speaking, everyone looked at me and me with puzzled expressions.
Dongmei didn't understand Mr. Zhang's intention and thought he didn't know those people, so she said so, "Sir Zhang, these are the only people who come into contact with meals every day. Now they have all stepped forward." .”
"That's not right." Mr. Zhang shook his head, "There is still a poisoner who has not come forward."
After Tao Yaoyao lowered her head and considered Master Zhang's intentions, she immediately stepped forward to cooperate, "Those who have been exposed to meals should know that there is an osmanthus soup for tonight's dinner. Beauty Wang likes osmanthus, but she doesn't like the taste of the meal. It is strong, so every time the imperial dining room makes this dish, it will use a special spice to reduce the fragrance of osmanthus.
It’s just that this spice is a bit special. Although it can quickly reduce the fragrance of osmanthus, its unique taste will remain on the outside of the plate, and the taste will also be left on the hands of people who have come into contact with this meal.
Just now, I asked someone to go to the imperial kitchen to ask the chef for the bees that can distinguish this scent. "
Tao Yaoyao took out a bamboo tube and waved it in front of everyone, and then continued, "I will give that man another chance. If he comes forward now, I will personally plead with His Majesty to spare your life. But if you If you insist on seeking death, I can only help you."
After Tao Yaoyao finished speaking, the courtyard suddenly fell into a death-like silence. At first, everyone would still look at you and me, and I would look at you carefully. Later, they probably just looked at the sky and looked down on the people around them.
"Have you thought about it?" Zhang Jing's deep voice seemed particularly abrupt in the dark night, as if he suddenly woke up the person who was deep in thought.
However, silence awaited him.
Seeing this, Zhang Jing turned to look at Tao Yaoyao. After receiving his look, Tao Yaoyao slowly raised his hand and began to open the bamboo tube in front of everyone.
She raised her hand very slowly, and deliberately delayed when she went to open the bamboo tube. Although she lowered her head, she clearly felt that everyone's eyes were on her at this moment.
In fact, no one knew that she was also nervous. Just when she was about to open the bamboo tube, a maid in the crowd suddenly cried and knelt on the ground.
"This slave really didn't mean it."
Zhang Jing and Tao Yaoyao breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.
Then the two people stepped forward and came to the middle of the crowd.
After Dongmei came over to see who that person was, her face suddenly darkened, "Qiu Ju, how could it be you? The one I trust the most is you."
Qiu Ju cried so sadly, "This slave has no choice but to do it. Dongmei, I am sorry for the master. I will do whatever I want to do if I want to beat or kill you. But that person promised me that the master will be fine, so I agreed to help."
"You are confused. How can someone who harms others tell you the truth?"
Dongmei and Qiuju entered the palace together, and life in the palace was boring and dangerous. Fortunately, Beauty Wang treated them well, so they could live more comfortably in the palace.
They had sworn to be loyal to the empress for the rest of their lives, but she didn't expect Qiu Ju to harm her master.
"Why are you doing this? Master treats us well and gives us a lot of money every month." Thinking of something, Dongmei knelt down and said with hatred, "Are you in good terms with Liu Li again?" Up?"
"Who is Liu Li?" Tao Yaoyao asked.
Dongmei said angrily, "Liu Li is the eunuch of Feiyun Palace and is from the same hometown as us. Qiu Ju had a good relationship with him before, but then Liu Li became obsessed with gambling, so I persuaded them to break off."
"But I didn't expect that they were only broken on the surface, but secretly..."
"I'm sorry Dongmei, I don't want to lie to you, but I really like him, and he owes a lot of money. If he doesn't pay back, he will die."
"So you betrayed your master for him?" Dongmei became even more angry when she heard this, "Have you forgotten who saved you when you almost died? Where was Liu Li at that time? Should you tell me that you should be grateful as a person? mine."
The more Dongmei talked, the angrier she became, "I can't help you this time. You can explain it to the master yourself."
Qiu Ju's heart was filled with despair, she lowered her head and stopped talking.
Zhang Jing squatted down and asked in a deep voice, "Did Zhang Li give you the poison?"
Qiu Ju didn't say anything. Dongmei sent someone to find Zhang Li first. Qiu Ju immediately panicked when she saw this, "Sister Dongmei, I'm begging you, please don't look for him. I was the one who poisoned you. I'm willing to pay compensation." Give your life to the master."
As she stood up and was about to hit the tree, Tao Yaoyao grabbed her.
Dongmei saw that she didn't know how to repent at this time and cursed, "Who are you? Even your ten lives are not worth one of my master's lives.
Also, this was Zhang Li’s idea, why didn’t he have to pay the price? "
During the dispute between the two, Zhang Li was brought over. Zhang Zhang guessed what was going on on the way here, so as soon as he came in, he put all the blame on Qiu Ju.
"It was all the poison she forced me to buy. She said that Beauty Wang was not good to her and she wanted to teach her a lesson. Sir, please make the decision for me."
Qiu Ju looked at Zhang Li in disbelief, and Dongmei cursed, "Do you believe what I said now?"
Tao Yaoyao stood aside and didn't say a word from beginning to end.
What to say?
You can't wake up a person who is pretending to be asleep, nor can you wake up a person who is in love.
This girl Qiu Ju was completely controlled by Zhang Li. She didn't believe a word others said, and even now, she felt that Zhang Li had his own reasons for doing this.
"Is there no one in this world that you miss?"
