Liang He is more certain about his men’s abilities. Since they were ordered to monitor Hong’ye, there should be no problems.
However, like a punch in the face, they let an unarmed woman escape from their surveillance. Liang He feels it’s a little inconceivable.
Seeing his master frown in silence, the man in black who served outside the carriage adds,”We searched the room and found nothing except a garment with herb decoction and blood stains.”
Hearing this, Liang He recalls the clean and spotless clothes on Bai Yiyi when he checked the corpse. From this the conclusion can just been drawn as expected.
Yan Ling looks at Liang He with her brows furrowed slightly. The expressions on her face are somewhat complicated. No one could tell what she is thinking about.
After a long while, Liang He asks the two kneeling men, “Where’s that garment? Have you found the things I asked you to search for?”
“At the roots of the tree in the courtyard, we dug out a package from the soil. There are some herb dregs, a broken bowl and a small bottle.” says one subordinate with his head lowered.
Liang He and Yan Ling now know who the murderer is, but they just let her run away under their noses, which makes them feel frustrated.
“Take these things to the front hall and ask the doctor to check it.” says Liang He to his subordinates in a low voice, without a trace of cheerfulness or anger.
After they go out, Liang He sighs slightly and pounds his fist at the stone table in the yard angrily.
Yan Ling takes hold of Liang He’s hand and says gently, “Don’t smash it. If you break it, you’ll have to pay for it. Who knows what this is made from?”
Hearing this, Liang He is stunned for a moment, and then he also chuckles. Suddenly, as if he thinks of something, a hearty smile spreads on his face.
“What are you thinking of? So funny?” Seeing the frowning person suddenly burst into a smile, Yan Ling asks curiously.
Liang He holds Yan Ling’s hand in his own and says in a gentle voice,”It reminds me of the jade pendant case we investigated together. It was sneaked away right under our noses, too.”
Hearing this, Yan Ling also laughs. “So, these two cases are really somewhat similar. Look, these two cases were all because of me, and you were also involved because of me.”
Hearing Yan Ling says this, Liang He thinks she feels guilty because of the stimulation of the former failure so he wants to persuade her not to think too much about it.
However, Yan Ling seems to have seen through what Liang He is thinking about. Before he opens his mouth, she covers it with her hand and gestures him not to speak for the time being before she finishes.
Seeing Liang He nods, Yan Ling releases her hand and continues. “Even though the last case is tortuous, we have accomplished our task successfully. So will we do this time. You don’t have to worry about it for the time being. It will be OK.”
After hearing these words, Liang He understands what Yan Ling wants to express. He smiles and sweeps the gloomy atmosphere away.
“Don’t worry. I’m fine. I just feel that my men are becoming more and more useless.”
Yan Ling says with a smile now, “Hong’ye must have had a plan to escape early. Since she can escape under your men’s noses, then there must be something like a tunnel hidden in her room. In fact, we cannot blame them. It wouldn’t have happened if we had discovered it earlier.”
Liang He feels amused at Yan Ling’s words. “I have seen people plead for others, but most of them would do that in front of others. How could it do you any good if you plead for them behind their backs?”
Yan Ling doesn’t care about it and says with a smile, “They are your subordinates. You will deal with them yourself. I don’t need to say anything more. I just say a few words at this moment.”
Hearing this, Liang He understands what Yan Ling was thinking about. She intentionally avoided being heard by those two men because she was afraid that she might break his rules. How could Liang He not like such a woman who considers for him anytime?
Liang He reaches out and holds Yan Ling in his arms. He says gently, “You know, I won’t mind.”
Yan Ling smiles and leans against Liang He. She raises her head to look at him in the eyes and says, “Of course I know, but I don’t want to impose any influence on you with this.”
Liang He is touched in his heart. But when he speaks again, he says a little teasingly, “What to be afraid of? I’m their master, and you’ll be their master’s wife one day anyway.”
Hearing this, Yan Ling flushes and punches Liang He lightly. She says shyly, “What nonsense!?”
Liang He knows where to stop at this moment. He puts his head on Yan Ling’s shoulder and says nothing more.
When Liang He and Yan Ling go out after a while, Mu Qingqiu has almost finished checking all the things brought back.
Indeed, as Liang He expected before, the clothes found in Hong’ye’s room were worn by Bai Yiyi before her death. The residual herbal liquid and blood stains on it both contain toad venom.
The same with the herbal dregs and the bowl. And the little bottle was used to keep toad venom.
Then it is worth mentioning that Mu Qingqiu says that the small bottle is rather expensive, which cannot be afforded or used by common people at all. It is not supposed to belong to a maid.
“How do you know that this bottle is expensive? Aren’t you a doctor? Have you ever been a craftsman before?” Liang He’s mood has turned so well due to Yan Ling’s comfort that he already has the mood to squabble with Mu Qingqiu.
Fortunately, his two subordinates have been ordered to return to Hong’ye’s room again to continue to look for more clues. Otherwise, they might think their master has been enraged by them to the extreme when they saw their master behave like this.
Mu Qingqiu understands that the Crown Prince is deliberately making trouble for him. He immediately glares at him and says, “Just like the ebony table you broke last time, my staff here are all treasures. They are all valuable things. Of course I can tell the value of this small thing . ”
In other words, Mu Qingqiu is saying that he has always liked collecting all kinds of treasures. Things like the little bottle are not worth mentioning for him. It’s normal for him to recognize the material of it.
Hearing this, Liang He remembers that Mu Qingqiu asked him to pay for a ebony table of good quality at their first meeting, immediately his face does not look that pleasant any more.
However, intentionally or not, Mu Qingqiu is now standing in front of that ebony table, gently tapping at the edge of it, making some light sounds.