Proofread by Peter Gong
Wu Zhong hadn’t thought about being poisoned before, because he thought that Mrs. Ma was just a housewife, and no one would target her. But recently, so many things were like a fog that couldn’t be judged based on common sense.
“Is the housekeeper’s wife trustworthy?” After thinking, Wu Zhong thought that it should be asked clearly. A lot of things had happened in the Ma Family recently. They always needed to find a clue to clear all the plots.
“Of course, Mammy Li is very loyal to my mother and my mother also treats her well.” Ma Tian’en said without hesitation.
“Tian’en, I think Mrs. Ma’s illness is unusual. Why don’t you ask Mammy Li? There is a saying that the illness comes from the heart. You said that when Mrs. Ma gets ill, she often hears the crying of the baby. I know that when people are in extreme fear, they will have hallucinations and see what they are most reluctant to face. Would there have been something you didn’t know? ” Wu Zhong reminded her indirectly that there might be some hidden things in big families. Especially in the Ma Family where only Mrs. Ma gave birth to three daughters and a son, and Aunt Zhao had one son but died, which was really strange. But Mrs. Ma was Ma Tian’en’s mother, so it was hard for him to say too much.
“What should I ask? Why is my mother sick? She’s not a doctor, and if she knows how to make my mother better, she would have said earlier, sir. I don’t know what to ask her. Please let me know. ” Her teacher was good at everything, but he liked to speak in roundabout way. It was better to say something directly since they were so familiar with each other.
Wu Zhong hesitated for a moment, trying to put it mildly. “Well, Tian’en, have you ever thought that the reason why Mrs. Ma couldn’t sleep at night and always hears the crying of the child is that she has been deeply impressed by any baby before?”
Ma Tian’en jumped out of her chair and went to Wu Zhong, then she lowered his voice and said, “Is it that my mother killed aunt Zhao’s son?”
Wu Zhong urged her to calm down. “You can’t guess this at random. You have to find some old people in the mansion to ask about it. And even if Mrs. Ma did something, there’s no reason for her to suddenly get sick now, so I suspect that she may be poisoned rather than getting ill. ”
“Ah! Being poisoned?” Hearing his words, Ma Tian’en thought of Jia Shengping.
“Sir, will it be Jia Shengping who poisoned my mother? I’ll kill him! ” While saying, she was going to go to question Jia Shengping again.
“Don’t be impulsive. I don’t think so, because he didn’t come for a few days and your mother was in the inner house. He shouldn’t have the chance to poison. And Mrs. Ma’s condition is always repeated, so I suspect that if she is poisoned, the person may be in the house and hasn’t left yet.” After Wu Zhong finished, he himself felt a little frightened. If there was such a person in the mansion, it was too dangerous.
Mrs. Ma had never offended anyone. Although she had a bad temper at ordinary times, she had not really killed or maimed any servant. Even Aunt Zhao, who disliked her the most, was punished just by kneeling.
“However, if Aunt Zhao’s son was really killed by her mother, it would be reasonable for Aunt Zhao to revenge. But my mother doesn’t like her all the time. She would even throw away the cakes she gave her. How can she get the chance to poison?” But Ma Tian’en didn’t believe that his mother would hurt a baby.
“But even if it was committed by my mother, Mammy Li would not tell me.” Ma Tianen sighed and said, “if I ask Mammy Li, my mother will be very sad if she knows it and if it is a misunderstanding.”
“It’s my fault. Don’t worry, we can think of other ways. At present, the health of Mrs. Ma is the most important thing. I think we can investigate it backwards. We don’t need to think about the cause of her illness. If someone poisons us, we can think about where poisoning is set so that only Mrs. Ma will be poisoned rather than others. If we find the source of the poison, we may be able to deduce who does it.” Wu Zhong’s words brightened Ma Tian’en’s eyes. Yes, if they could find the source of the poison, they could follow the clue to find the person who did it. If they could not find it, maybe it was just that Mr. Wu thought too much and there was no loss.
“My parents eat together, so if there is poison in the food, my father should also be poisoned. If it’s not in the food, it might be put on the clothes. Shall we have my mother’s clothes checked by a doctor? ”
“Who is in charge of your mother’s clothes?”
“Chunlan is the elder sister of Yanzi. Her mother is in charge of the kitchen. Her father is in charge of the purchase of some articles. However, they are also very trusted by my parents, otherwise they will not let Yanzi take care of me. ”
This was true, but everything could not be taken lightly. Wu Zhong thought it was better to find a trusted doctor first to check these important places, such as the kitchen and bedroom, and then make a judgment without disturbing the people in the family. As for the people, they would let them alone, not alerting them.
Ma Tian’en acted fast. Although her grandpa Li Qing was injured and the leader of the guild was appointed by someone else, he still had a high position in Jianghu. He helped to find two experts in using poison, who were much more powerful than the ordinary doctors in checking poison.
The two pretended to be servants. They first checked Mrs. Ma’s room and found nothing. Then they went to the kitchen and found no poison. Then, Ma Tian’en checked the rooms of several servants who had more contact with Mrs. Ma when they were called together to talk about things, and they found nothing.
Did Mr. Wu really think too much about it?
“No, we still have a place to check.” Wu Zhong suddenly thought of a place that Mrs. Ma often went to, but almost no one else went there.
“Where?”
“Little Buddha Hall. Yes, my mother went to the Little Buddha Hall to burn incense almost every day after my father’s accident. How did I forget it?” Ma Tian’en thought of this, and immediately took two poison experts to the Little Buddha Hall. Wu Zhong also followed them.
The Little Buddha Hall of the Ma Family was in a remote courtyard behind the garden. They pushed open the door of the Buddha Hall, and there came a fragrance of sandalwood.
There stood a gilded Avalokitesvara in the Buddha Hall, and clear water and tea were on the table. The sandalwood in the censer was still burning, but the Buddha lamp wasn’t on. It was likely that Mrs. Ma couldn’t come, so the servant girl was lazy.
The two experts first went to check the water, tea, and then the censer, and found no problem. Because the Buddha Hall was small, they quickly checked all the things, and then told Ma Tian’en that they didn’t find any poisonous things.
“Well, let’s seduce the snake out of the hole.” Wu Zhong thought about it for a
while and said suddenly.
“Ah, how to do?” At the beginning, “you said don’t alert them, and now change it. Fickle thoughts.”
“Are there any people in the mansion who love rumors and gossip?”
“Yes, they are the most annoying ones.”
“Annoying people can be used successfully sometimes. Since we can’t find the evidence now, we have to let the evidence come to us. Don’t you invite two experts to check the poison? You manage to let the news spread, but don’t say it on your own initiative. Instead, you have to let those who like gossip overhear it, so they will feel very proud of knowing what others don’t know, and then they will spread everywhere. Then the spread of the news is heard by the person who has poisoned your mother. What do you think he will do?” Wu Zhong looked at Ma Tian’en with warmth and encouragement in his eyes.
“Afraid?”
“Yes, and he or she will try to destroy the evidence. Although we can’t find it, as long as Mrs. Ma is really poisoned, there must be something that can make her poisoned. As long as we spread the news that we will investigate it thoroughly, that suspect will surely find a way to destroy evidence. In this period of time, as long as we watch closely, we will find out something.” It is reasonable for a thief to have a guilty conscience.
“Sir, you are so cunning. Then let’s just wait. However, we can’t send people to keep an eye on each place of Ma’s Mansion because it’s so big. ” Ma Tian’en thought about it, really worried.
“There is no need to watch all the time. Surely those who do it will not do it in the daytime, but in the evening. Just keep a watch on a few places such as the pond, the gates and the garden. Because these places are often used to destroy evidence. “