On the ninth day of September, An Ying dressed up early in the morning and followed Mrs. Shen to the Yuan Wai Lang's house. Mrs. Shen was wearing a smoky blue round-neck shirt and a dark green long skirt. The skirt was tied with a set of white jade sash. She was holding a fan made of flowers, birds and gold. She was graceful and graceful. She was sitting with a group of official ladies who had their eyes high above their heads. At the same time, the grace is not lost at all. All the ladies were very interested in the little girl brought by Mrs. Shen, so they all came to inquire about it. Mrs. Shen always simply answered that she was the daughter of an old friend of the family, and said nothing else. An Ying followed Mrs. Shen obediently without answering a word.
The banquet was held next to the forest pavilion in Yuan Wai Lang's house. After sitting down for a while, Yuan Wai Lang's wife came out not long after. Mrs. Yuanwailang is Mrs. Shen's biological sister, but An Ying looks nothing like her. During the dinner, Mrs. Shen sat with Mrs. Yuan Wailang, and the two chatted intimately. After a while, Mrs. Shen waved An Ying over.
"This is the girl from the An family I told you. She is smart. This girl from the An family is the only one running around about the tea cakes. The last time she came to my place, she sorted things out clearly. I see how we are doing this. There is really no suitable manpower that can be arranged. I think Xiaoying's identity is suitable."
Mrs. Yuan Wai Lang nodded, took An Ying's hand, and said with a smile: "Miss An, don't panic, follow me to meet a few people later." Mrs. Yuan Wai Lang called to the woman in green who was sitting at the table and said: "Axia, while you are at the table later, I will take the two of them to Tingtao Pavilion."
The woman nodded, turned around slightly, saluted Mrs. Shen, and said, "I've met my aunt." Then she walked down from the table and started chatting with the ladies.
Mrs. Yuanwailang took Mrs. Shen and An Ying out from behind the waterside pavilion, and soon arrived in front of a small courtyard. There were towering ancient trees and rich green shade. There was a small building looming deep in the shade of the trees, which looked like an ancient temple. An Ying thought to himself, this foreigner's mansion looks ordinary from the outside, but he didn't expect that there is such a scenery inside. It looks like a family that has been here for hundreds of years.
After walking into the small building, An Ying discovered that it was a library. There were more than ten rows of bookshelves on the first floor, neatly stacked with various books. The three of them entered the adjacent room, where three men were chatting, and turned around when they heard the sound.
Mrs. Yuanwailang Fu Shen said: "Husband, this is Miss Anjia."
The middle-aged man in a green shirt next to him said with a smile: "This is Miss An. Mr. Su is looking for someone who knows tea cakes to ask. Miss An is just right."
An Ying was startled and immediately bent down to salute. Mrs. Yuanwailang said with a smile: "Let me introduce you. This is Mr. Su, and this is Mr. Guo. I just happened to come over today to meet the people from the tea shop. Although Miss An is young, she has been a director for several years, and now Miss An is taking care of the affairs of An's shop."
Dai Chang, the foreign minister, nodded and said: "Because the tea shops in the whole capital are watching us closely now. If we randomly ask the tea shops, we are afraid of arousing suspicion. Especially when I heard that Miss An was in the government prison, I also asked a lot of questions carefully. The situation in the tea shop.”
An Ying saluted and said, "If you, sir, have anything to ask, I will tell you the truth."
After a few people took their seats, Mr. Guo asked: "Miss An, why don't you tell me what you know first? I heard from Dai Yuanwailang that you have been running around on your own during this period. Originally, the government spread rumors that it was a mistake, but now Huzhou Tea Shop and Mindi Tea Shop all still thought so, and they all changed back to the original style. But Miss An figured out the ropes so quickly."
An Ying saw that Dr. Guo and Dr. Dai Yuanwai were about the same age, both around forty. Dai Yuanwai had a white face and long beard and was well-dressed, while Mr. Guo had a dark face and a beard, a bit murderous, and his clothes were ordinary. The cloth robe and even the cloth shoes on the feet were already stained, but no ordinary gentleman would be so careless.
When An Ying heard what Guo Langzhong asked, he sorted things out and spoke slowly.
"Every year, Huzhou tribute tea harvest starts around May 20th, and usually lasts for five or six days. We tea farmers focus on tribute tea first, and after making the best tea leaves into tribute tea, I just started making what I sell in the shop. The weather this year was warm, so we picked tea leaves three days earlier than in previous years. The day of picking was the second day of May. Our shop is small and we don’t have many people. The tribute tea is all made by my father. On the 5th. On the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, my father and his old servants sent tea cakes to the Huzhou tea farm. The transfer envoy, the magistrate and my father handed over the batch of tea cakes. As usual, the transfer envoy randomly selected a cake. , eat it on the spot to judge the quality. The evaluation words are all recorded in the file. My father remembers that it is fragrant and flavorful, and it is rated as top grade, and there is no case of poisoning. "
An Ying paused for a moment and said: "I was a little confused at first. There was something wrong with Tea Cake. Actually, it's easy to find out the source. Why did the government first let go of rumors that the tea cake was shoddy and then imprisoned Tea Cake?" I have been working for several bosses for so long. I didn’t understand until I heard Master Shen say that all the tea cakes in the capital had been found to be poisonous. But I still thought it was strange. If all the tea cakes sent to the palace were poisonous, it must be Why are the people from the tea shop still being imprisoned if they do it from behind?"
Mr. Guo nodded and said: "This news is true. As for why the people in the tea shop are still imprisoned, this is the order given by Mr. Su, and it is also to stabilize people's hearts. This matter is too big. When it was found that all the tea cakes were poisonous, The Holy Sage was furious, and this method was going to put the entire royal family to death. At that time, the Holy Sage wanted to kill all the people involved in the case, and the ministers in the court also agreed. Mr. Su wrote a letter saying that if he simply kills all the people involved in the case, there will be many people behind the scenes. The person will be at large. The Holy One then agreed to imprison him first, and then make a decision after a thorough investigation."
An Ying's heart tightened, thinking that his father was almost dead and he might not be able to escape the fate. After calming down, he stood up and saluted and said, "Thank you, Mr. Su, for your kindness."
Mr. Su, who had been silent all this time, helped An Ying up and said, "Miss An, you don't have to be like this."
An Ying said softly: "If it was poisoning, and it was on such a large scale, it is unlikely after entering the palace. It is most likely that it happened during the period from the tea farm in Huzhou to before entering the palace. I heard that my father still had According to Mr. Shen's description, this year's transshipment made the master change the packaging of the tea. He used fine silk to make tea bags, then packed them into rattan boxes, wrapped the boxes with oil paper and sent them to the capital. The tea packaging is the best It's possible. So I want to know what kind of poison it is?"
Dai Yuanwailang and others nodded frequently after hearing this, but did not answer. There was silence in the room. After a while, Mr. Su said: "This was originally not allowed to be spread out, but now you have pushed it to this point. Without mentioning the poison, nothing can be pushed forward. The total number of poisonous tea cakes found in the palace is Fifty kilograms, all of them are in the style of Xiaofeng Tuan, and they are all tea cakes produced here in Huzhou. Although there was news in Mindi earlier and some tea farmers were arrested, this was specially arranged by me to muddy the waters. . At that time, the poison was identified as Man Yin by the Department of Prisons and Prisons, and the Department of Prisons and Prisons took action."
Mrs. Shen and Mrs. Yuan Wailang had obviously just heard this. They were both shocked, but An Ying didn't know why.
Mrs. Shen answered the question and asked, "Can you allow me to ask a few questions?"
Mr. Su nodded and said, "Mrs. Shen, there is no need to be polite, just ask."
An Ying saw that Mr. Su was only twenty years old, and he looked extremely young among these officials. He had a tall and straight figure, spoke in an unhurried manner, and was calm beyond his years, yet he had a relaxing affinity.
"As far as I know, Man Yin's poison is extremely strong and there is no antidote. But I heard that Concubine Su has gradually improved. What's the reason for this?" Mrs. Shen asked.
"This is the strange part. All the tea cakes are poisoned, but the amount of poison is very small. Precisely because the tea cakes have low toxicity, Su Fei only developed some symptoms after eating one cake, but it was just Sore throat and cough. At first, the imperial doctor did not think it was poisoning, and prescribed a prescription based on the symptoms of a cold. Later, the illness did not heal, and he actually coughed up blood. The hospital staff realized that there was something wrong, and checked all the things in the queen's daily life. No problem was found. When the Holy One asked us to check, no poison was found at first. Later, Lao Yusi, the most experienced person in the Department of Punishment and Prison, tried and tested all the things that the empress eats and wears before he found out. .”
Mrs. Shen nodded and said: "This medicine is not easy to get, and it takes fifty kilograms to drink, so the amount of each cake is so small."
Mr. Guo stroked his beard and said: "We, the Prison Department, all mean this. It is said that this Man Yin poison is extremely violent as Mrs. Shen just said, but the symptoms of poisoning are exactly the same as those of ordinary colds, except for coughing. Then he will have fever and cough up blood. Such symptoms will last for one or two months and will consume the person to death. The preparation of this poison is extremely complicated, and I heard that it has been lost long ago. If it were not for the good poison of the Prison Secretary, the old master of prison, he would carefully heat the tea cake and disperse it. It smelled faintly of almonds, and then I understood.”
Mrs. Shen said: "If this is the case, as Xiaoru just said, it is most reasonable to put it in the packaging."
Mr. Su shook his head and said: "We checked the tea cake's Liao Ling and Teng Box from the beginning, and there was no poison. That's why Zhao Jianping, the transfer envoy, kept shouting injustice in prison and did not plead guilty." He looked to the side and suddenly fell into silence. An Ying said: "I think Miss An seems to have thought of something?"
An Ying said: "I thought of something, but I didn't really understand it."
Mr. Su smiled and said, "Let's talk about it. We usually talk about the case together, and we often find some breakthrough points during the conversation."
An Ying lowered his head and said: "I've always wondered why all the little phoenix balls were taken. Everyone said it was to please Concubine Su, but no matter how favored Concubine Su was, she couldn't take all the little phoenix balls. If just let Concubine Su is poisoned, why not poison her more severely and use less tea cakes."
Mr. Guo shook his head and said: "Little girl, you don't understand this. The person who committed the crime didn't know which little phoenix balls would be sent to Concubine Su's palace, so he placed all the little phoenix balls. If only a few were placed, Cake, how can we ensure that Su Fei will eat this poisonous tea cake?"
"That's wrong. I always think there are some other reasons?" An Ying shook his head and said, there was always something in his mind, but he couldn't remember it.
There was silence in the room for a while. Seeing this, Mrs. Yuan Wailang said: "It's a bit late today, and the seats in front of us have been dispersed. If we stay any longer, I'm afraid it will be inconvenient."
Mr. Su said to An Ying, "It's okay, just think about it slowly. I'll come back to you in a few days."
