Under the command of Xu Zhen, Yaochang Village gradually stabilized.
In order to make up for his mistakes, Baozheng Li Youcai led his people to patrol everywhere and worked conscientiously.
Originally, Xu Zhen wanted to register Meng Shaojun's property first in case anyone would be concerned about it. But then I thought, the whole village was already under his control, so it would be better to launch an investigation immediately.
So, he arranged for Li Youcai's people to guard the house together with the local villagers, and sealed off all Meng Shaojun's homes.
After that, he asked three Li Zheng to accompany him, and explained in detail the whole story of the mass poisoning case while visiting the scene.
Unexpectedly, the scene of the incident is still preserved to this day.
It was a rather spacious and elegant house, located in the best location in the north of the village. It was a high-gate courtyard with an antique feel.
It's a pity that so many things have changed in three years. Since the accident, this place has been classified as a forbidden area, all the gates have been nailed with wooden boards, and the walls have become increasingly dilapidated.
Dead branches of ivy fell on the wall, and the cold corners were covered with moss. Not only did it look desolate, but there was also a chill from the inside out.
The three Li Zhengming people opened a small door in the backyard and then led Xu Zhen and Qin Yin into the house.
The owner here is Meng Qinghui, who was once the richest man in Yaochang Village. It is said that he is easy-going, always adheres to the principle of harmony and wealth, and has never had any conflicts with others.
Therefore, to this day, people still can't figure out who holds such grudge against him?
"Well, this is it," one of the old men, who also had a paralyzed face, spoke with difficulty about the horrific experience of that year, "Three years ago, in this compound, Meng Qinghui held a wedding banquet for his son Meng Zhichao.
"Almost everyone in the village came to celebrate, and the scene was so lively..."
Looking at the square-like super compound in front of him, Xu Zhen seemed to be able to see the grand occasion of that year.
"More than fifty tables are full," at this time, another person continued to preach, "We have a wedding banquet custom here, that is, the first glass of wine must be served to all the guests by the groom himself.
"At that time, everyone at the drinking table who could drink raised their glasses in response. But after drinking the wine, the whole courtyard immediately started to wail... Sigh..."
Sanli was shaking his head and sighing, the painful memories were like a nightmare.
"That wine... is very toxic!" Lao Lizheng, who was paralyzed, said, "After drinking it, I felt that my entire internal organs were rotten, I felt nauseated and vomited, my whole body twitched, and then I kept coughing up blood...
"The older people with weaker constitutions died on the spot; some of the stronger ones did not make it through later; and some like me only managed to save their lives after being raised for more than ten days!"
As the old man talked, Xu Zhen seemed to be able to see the chaotic scene after drinking the poisoned wine.
Many people convulsed in pain, some died on the spot, others whined, cups and plates fell from the dining table and shattered to pieces, and people who had not drank panicked...
Cyanide…
Listening to their descriptions, Xu Zhen became more and more certain that the poison should be some kind of cyanide.
Someone put it into a wine jar. Although it has been diluted, the poison is still strong.
If more poison had been administered, there wouldn't even be any survivors.
Although the production process of cyanide is very complicated and difficult to complete in ancient times, it can still be extracted from plants based on the nature of the extraction.
It's just that the extracted toxicity is not concentrated enough.
The three of them were talking about the situation that year. Someone spoke at the small door. Looking back, it turned out that Meng Zhichao and his wife had also been invited into the yard.
Meng Zhichao was Meng Qinghui's only son, and he was the groom that year.
After toasting the guests, he almost died from taking poison. Although he saved his life, he was still like this today, unable to even speak a complete sentence.
Meng Zhichao and his wife were called here by Xu Zhen. If you want to understand the situation back then, you naturally need to ask these two important parties.
As soon as he entered the familiar courtyard of the past, Meng Zhichao suddenly became extremely nervous. The disaster in the past was a horrific scene that he could never forget in his life.
Meng Zhichao's daughter-in-law, Yu Niang, was a little better. She immediately sent a blessing to Xu Zhen as a courtesy.
"When the accident happened..." Xu Zhen asked his first question, "When was it?"
"At noon," Zhengli replied, "the custom in our village is to worship in the morning, have a banquet at noon, and have a bridal chamber in the evening."
"Where is Meng Qinghui?" Xu Zhen asked again, "Has he been drinking?"
"Drink it," Yu Niang replied, "my father-in-law was poisoned and died on the spot."
"Actually," a certain Li Zheng said, "Meng Qinghui didn't have to drink the first glass of wine offered by the groom, but he was happy that day, so he accompanied him. Alas..."
"You said before," Xu Zhen asked, "Li Zheng back then was also..."
"Yes," someone replied, "Lao Li's name was Meng Chengfu. He drank a full glass at that time..."
Xu Zhen already knew that according to the genealogy, the older generation in Yaochang Village had the word "Cheng", followed by the word "Qing", and then the word "Zhi".
Now these three Li Zheng are all from the "Cheng" generation.
"Your family..." Xu Zhen asked Yu Niang, "Is there anyone else?"
"Zhichao is an only child," Yuniang replied. "My mother died early, and there are almost no people in my family. There are some uncles, but since the accident in our family, they have stopped contacting each other."
"Okay," Xu Zhen signaled to the sound of the piano, "record all the close relatives of Meng Qinghui's family. The more detailed the better."
"Yes." Qinyin promised.
The little girl had never done such work before and was still very nervous. She quickly found a stone platform and spread out pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and asked the girl to dictate and record.
"So..." At this time, Xu Zhen asked Li Zheng again, "How was the investigation carried out back then? Is it true that nothing was found?"
"Yes," a certain person pointed to the backyard, "the wine jar has always been placed in the wine cellar in the backyard. To be honest, the wedding was so popular at that time, anyone could go to the wine cellar to poison."
"At that time," another added, "several suspects were found, but in the end they were all eliminated. For example, Meng Shaojun, whose husband was poisoned to death on the spot."
"Then... who are the other suspects?" Xu Zhen asked again.
"Meng Qingxi," Gailizheng introduced without hesitation, "This Meng Qingxi family is in the business of selling goods. They are relatively wealthy, but they are far behind Meng Qinghui's family."
"Then why did he become a suspect?" Xu Zhen asked.
"Oh, it's like this," another Li Zheng explained, "Yu Niang was originally betrothed to Meng Qingxi's son Meng Zhixiao, but later she was cut off by Meng Qinghui's family. However, Meng Qinghui's family is the richest man in the village, and Yu Niang After my mother-in-law finds out, anyone who is not stupid will know how to choose!"
"Then why were the suspects eliminated later?"
"Meng Qingxi happened to be sick that day and was not poisoned, so we were the first to suspect him. However..." Li Zheng clapped his hands and said, "His son Meng Zhixiao attended the wedding banquet and was poisoned and became facially paralyzed, so it can be ruled out."
oh……
Xu Zhen frowned, thoughtful, because when Li was telling the story, he noticed that Yu Niang, who was taking notes, suddenly raised her head and showed a nervous look.
"Actually, the most critical thing in this case is the poison itself!" At this time, Li Zheng was talking to himself, "No one has ever seen such a powerful poison and doesn't know what it is, so how can we investigate it?"
…
(End of chapter)
