Changsun and Zhou Mi returned to Bailiang to make steel. After discussion, the two decided to temporarily lock Chen Tianye in the blacksmith shop and leave it to Changsun's care.
Wu Dakui was still busy in front of the weapon refining furnace. The spiritual weapon given by Yun Xuezhi and the modification of the dragon chariot meant that he had no time to rest at all in the past two days. When Zhangsun and his party returned to Wu Dakui, he didn't even have the energy to look up.
After Changsun settled Chen Tian properly, he took out the hosta and looked at it.
Zhou Mi did not leave. He had too many questions that he wanted to ask his eldest grandson, but at this time he didn't know where to start.
Changsun looked at it for a while, then put away the hosta. He looked up and saw Zhou Mi hadn't left yet, and was a little surprised.
"Master Zhou, will you stay at the humble residence tonight?"
Zhou Mi shook his head, hesitated to speak, and finally asked.
"Did you... make any important discoveries today?"
The reason why Zhou Mi was hesitant was because he was the headmaster of Dali Temple. Dali Temple did not do much in the Tang Huaian case, especially after Yun Xuezhi took over the case.
Today Zhou Mi paid attention to Changsun's actions all the way, and he always had a feeling that this person was not a simple person.
The most important thing is that he saw a kind of concentration in his eldest grandson, which was the same as when he first entered Dali Temple.
However, after so many years of ups and downs in officialdom, the energy he had back then seems to be being worn away by time.
Changsun was a little hesitant, not because he didn't trust Zhou Mi, but because his guess needed to be confirmed at the crime scene tomorrow. He didn't want his guess to mislead Zhou Mi yet.
But Changsun's hesitation made Zhou Mi mistakenly think that Changsun didn't want to be honest.
This is normal. Although the current Dali Temple is on the opposite side of Yun Xuezhi and Changsun, it is definitely not a trustworthy partner.
Zhou Mi hurriedly said that he was rude and prepared to leave.
"Master Zhou, wait a minute. We have indeed gained something today, but this is still at the stage of conjecture. After we go to the crime scene together tomorrow to confirm, we will discuss it in detail with Master Zhou."
Zhou Mi nodded, and the two said goodbye after agreeing on a time.
The next day, the eldest grandson and others came to Yun Xuezhi and took Chen Tian with them to Prince Huai's Mansion.
Zhou Mi was already waiting in front of the mansion, and everyone entered the mansion after being informed.
Chen Tian was like a frightened baby bird at this time. A little thief like him had never even been to the chamberlain area, let alone entered the palace at this time!
Chen Tian was a little timid, but when he saw Changsun walking in front of him calmly, he knew that he was really in trouble this time. At the same time, he thought in his mind that he would fully cooperate with Changsun no matter what he asked of him.
Everyone came to the crime scene again, and Changsun first checked again in front of Tang Huaian's self-portrait.
Then he handed the hosta to Zhou Mi, and regardless of Zhou Mi's shocked eyes, he walked directly to the incense burner, opened it and smelled it, his eyes lit up.
"It's indeed dipterocarp!"
Yesterday, when he was looking at Tang Huaian's portrait, he smelled a faint fragrance, but because the fragrance was too weak, Changsun did not think of dipterocarp.
It wasn't until Chen Tian mentioned Wulanhua and Dipterocarps last night that he remembered this clue that he had ignored.
After confirming that the last thing burned in the incense burner was dipterocarp, the eldest grandson began to look for traces of Wulan flowers in the study.
This is what Changsun guessed was the real cause of Tang Huaian's death!
The first time Changsun saw the crime scene, he felt that Yun Xuezhi and Dali Temple had fallen into a misunderstanding: because Tang Huaian was a magician and a martial artist, it was logical to think that the murderer was also a martial artist.
This kind of thinking is normal in Jiuzhou Continent. After all, this is a world where warriors are respected. Ordinary people are as fragile as ants in front of warriors, but they are not much different. How can we talk about assassinating warriors?
However, the grandson who traveled through time did not have this stereotyped thinking, which made him pay more attention to the clues.
So when Changsun saw the blood on the desk, he concluded that Tang Huaian was dead before his throat was cut!
Since he was already dead, why bother cutting his throat?
Changsun's first thought was that the murderer wanted to cover up the real cause of Tang Huaian's death and mislead the investigators.
Of course, this was just Changsun's reasoning when he saw the scene yesterday. Without evidence, these were just Changsun's assumptions. That's why Changsun didn't rush to tell Zhou Mi last night.
Now Dipterocarpa has discovered that if Wulanhua can be found, the progress of the case will be greatly reversed.
"No, there should be..."
The eldest grandson looked through the bonsai in the study and found no trace of Ulania.
"Could it be that it was planted in the room before and was finally destroyed by the murderer?"
The eldest grandson once again looked at the bonsai in the study. This time he even opened up the flowers and plants in the bonsai to observe the soil.
However, Zhangsun was disappointed again. There were no traces of human damage to the flower soil in all the bonsais.
In this way, Changsun's suspicion that the murderer pulled out the black orchid flower was also overturned.
Everyone looked at Changsun's strange behavior and muttering to himself, and they didn't quite understand what Changsun was doing.
"Wangcai, what did you find?" Yun Xuezhi asked.
Only then did Changsun tell everyone his conjectures and findings.
Everyone was shocked after hearing this.
Zhou Mi was the first to come to his senses and ran to the incense burner to confirm.
Chen Tian didn't expect that his unintentional words yesterday would be involved in a murder case, so he still hasn't come to his senses yet.
"Master Zhou, has anyone been to the crime scene after the incident... I mean, could it be that the murderer came and moved the Wulanhua again? Or did he cover up the traces of the Wulanhua's existence?" Changsun asked .
Zhou Mi said with certainty: "Apart from Dali Temple, we are the only ones who have been to the crime scene. There are patrols and guards around the study room day and night. There is absolutely no chance that the murderer will return to the crime scene..."
Only then did Chen Tian come to his senses and asked, "Sir... do you suspect that black orchids were once planted in this study?"
The eldest grandson nodded.
"Impossible, the root system of the Wulan flower is very developed. Even though this flower is small, the root system often penetrates very deep, otherwise they cannot survive." Chen Tian said firmly.
"In other words, Wulan flowers are not suitable for growing in flower pots?"
"To be more precise, they cannot survive in flower pots, so the orchid flowers in the yard were planted in the flower beds."
The eldest grandson suddenly realized. ..
"And there is another very important point..."
Chen Tian regained his composure after talking about what he was good at.
"If there is just one orchid flower, or even a few, the floral fragrance produced will not be enough to incapacitate a warrior. This is why there are so many orchid flowers planted in that yard, otherwise there will be no effect at all..."
As soon as Chen Tian said this, Changsun frowned even more tightly.
If it is as Chen Tian said, then Changsun's conjecture is impossible to establish.
Who would plant orchids in a large area in their study? Even if it is planted in the mansion, it is unlikely.
The reason why Tang Huaide dared to plant black orchids in his private courtyard was because that courtyard was located in Shunfeng District.
Most of the people living in Shunfeng District are civilians, and no family there can afford dipterocarp.
But the waiter area is different. Dipterocarps is a favorite of dignitaries, and it is not a rare thing.
Therefore, if Wulan flowers were planted in a large area in the waiter area, they would have been exposed long ago.
"Am I wrong?"
Just when Changsun fell into self-doubt, Chen Tian suddenly muttered something.
"Only such a wealthy and noble family can grow black orchid flowers like this. How could I be willing to use them like this..."
It was Chen Tian's unintentional comment, but it instantly woke up his grandson.
Changsun turned around, grabbed Chen Tian, and stared at him with burning eyes.
"Then how do you use it?!"
"I... we usually grind the Wulan flowers into powder and burn them into smoke, but the best effect is actually eating the Wulan flowers..."
Before Chen Tian finished speaking, Changsun had already rushed to the desk.
The eldest grandson is turning to
He carefully picked up a withered petal from the edge of his teacup.
Chen Tian came up to look at it, then smelled it, and said firmly: "Yes, it's the Wulan flower."
The other three looked at each other and saw the shock in each other's eyes.
Changsun's guess was right.
So who is the murderer?
Yun Xuezhi and Zhou Mi were both smart people, and they thought of it in just a moment. They both looked at the painting opposite the desk and the hosta in the eldest grandson's hand.
"The hosta was found from Tang Huaide's other courtyard?" Yun Xuezhi asked.
Zhou Mi nodded. He had already sent someone to verify that the owner of that courtyard was none other than Tang Huaide.
"Then Tang Huaide is very likely... He is the eldest son of Prince Huai's Palace and the heir to the title. However, after Tang Huaian gained power, he became the biggest threat to his succession to the title..." Yun Xuezhi then reasoned.
Zhou Mi nodded in agreement.
"The motive for the murder is established. Tang Huaide is currently the most suspected, but we still need evidence."
"What evidence?"
"Autopsy!"
After Changsun finished speaking, the three of them fell silent in unison, and the case seemed to have returned to its starting point.
But this time is different. The determination to win can be seen in the eyes of Zhou Mi and Yun Xuezhi.
"Let's not be busy for now. We must have enough reasons to persuade King Huai and Dali Temple to allow the autopsy. Recklessly going to the two forces to discuss the autopsy will only make us fall into the quagmire of the two sides. What we lack most now is time. and energy.”
Zhou Mi and Yun Xuezhi nodded after hearing this.
Changsun thought secretly in his heart, and estimated that the "reason" sufficient to persuade the two forces would appear in one more day.
"Then what should we do next?" Yun Xuezhi asked.
Zhou Mi and Yun Xuezhi looked at the eldest grandson at the same time. Neither of them realized that the eldest grandson had become their backbone.
"Call those servants up again for a trial."
Since he was already in Prince Huai's Mansion, the eldest grandson simply went to the North Study Room to interrogate the servants who had witnessed it.
However, the process of Changsun's interrogation made Zhou Mi feel a little different.
The first is the interrogation subject.
During the interrogation, both Zhou Mi and Zhou chose to interrogate the first witness first, that is, the maid named Ling Yue.
However, Changsun put Lingyue at the end of the interrogation.
The second is the content of the interrogation.
Most of the previous interrogations between Zhou Mi and the two revolved around the time when Tang Huaian was found dead.
Changsun's interrogation was mostly spent chatting with his subordinates about Tang Huaian's daily life. The miscellaneous chatter even included some gossips and rumors about Prince Huai's Mansion.
This made the two people listening a little confused.
It’s time to interrogate Lingyue.
The eldest grandson looked at Lingyue, who had a beautiful face and a slim figure in front of him. Just by looking at her appearance and figure, one would have thought she was the eldest daughter of someone else's family.
What's even more commendable is that the tense look with her head bowed and her hands crossed makes people unconsciously want to pity her.
"Miss Lingyue, I have a few questions for you. Don't be nervous and just answer them truthfully." Changsun said softly.
Lingyue didn't dare to look up at her eldest grandson, and replied timidly: "My lord, just ask, I don't dare to hide it..."
"You are the maid of Prince Tang Huaide. Why did you appear in the North Study Room at 0:00 on September 11th?"
"My lord, you misunderstood. I am not the prince's maid. I usually serve my master in the North Study Room. Before, the north study was used by the master... The prince often comes here, so I have also served the prince..."
The eldest grandson suddenly understood and took over the words and said: "Later, King Huai gave the North Study Room to the young prince Tang Huai'an... so you were in the North Study Room that day?"
Lingyue nodded, still not daring to look up at her eldest grandson.
"In other words, you were the one who waited on the young prince in the North Study Room on the night of the accident?"
Lingyue hesitated for a moment imperceptibly, then nodded and admitted.
"Did anyone else enter the North Study Room that night?"
"My servant did not stay here all night..."
"Have any of the servants in the palace come to the North Study to serve you?"
"As far as I know...no."
"In other words, you served Tang Huaian's meals and tea that night?"
After Lingyue's obvious hesitation this time, she nodded.
Just when Lingyue thought that the eldest grandson was going to ask more questions, the eldest grandson said softly: "That's the end of the interrogation for today. Thank you for your help, girl."
