Yao Yuanxiao said: "Master Hua is saying that this poison was not administered by 'Qingfengyuan'?"
Hua Bushi said: "Judging from the appearance of this wick cake, the cinnabar-red mark on it was added later, and the 'Rooster Powder' was placed in this mark, so this cake came from 'Qingfeng'."
It is more likely that Yuan' will be poisoned after buying it."
Yao Yuanxiao turned his eyes and looked at Hai Hongzhu, saying: "Do you remember who brought the cakes yesterday afternoon?"
Hai Hongzhu said: "It was a servant from the city lord's palace who brought the cakes. How can I recognize him? Maybe Xiaohong does."
The little maid Xiaohong had already left in the carriage with Sima Rulan. Yao Yuanxiao could not find her for a while, and said in a hateful voice: "Yao must investigate this matter to the end, and the person who poisoned her must be killed."
If you find it, you have to cut it into pieces with a thousand cuts!"
Hua Bushi suddenly turned to Hai Hongzhu and asked, "Hongzhu, when did you know that Miss Lan'er was sick?"
Hai Hongzhu said: "I came to the City Lord's Mansion early in the morning. At that time, sister Lan'er had just gotten up, but her face was very bad. She also said that her stomach hurt. I was about to ask Xiaohong to ask for a doctor, so I ran back to Weitian Tower.
I’m going to find you!”
Hua Bushi said: "As soon as you saw Miss Lan'er was sick, you ran back to find me. Didn't you waste time in the process?"
Hai Hongzhu said: "Of course not. The diagnosis is extremely urgent, how can we delay it?"
Hua Bushi looked at Yao Yuanxiao again and asked, "How did Elder Yao know that the eldest lady was ill?"
Yao Yuanxiao said: "I came to the city lord's mansion early this morning because I had something to do. When I entered the door, I happened to meet the servant Xiaohong sent to invite the doctor. Only then did I learn about this, so I hurried to the lady's boudoir in the back garden.
Come."
Hua Bushi nodded and said: "So, it only took half an hour at most for the eldest lady to go to see a doctor when she got sick. But how did Xiong Tiannan learn about it so quickly? Not only did he come from Xiongjiazhuang, but he also brought a carriage with him, and
Isn't it strange that I have made an appointment with Dr. Hu for consultation?"
Hearing what Hua Bushi said, Yao Yuanxiao also frowned. The City Lord's Mansion and the Veitian Tower are only two streets apart, so they are very close. It doesn't take much time to go back and forth from Hai Hongzhu, and Yao Yuanxiao came here by chance.
Only then did the City Lord's Mansion learn of this matter.
However, Xiongjiazhuang is located in the west of the city, some distance away from the city lord's palace. Even if you ride a fast horse to go there, it will take more than a quarter of an hour. As soon as Hua Bushi arrived, Xiong Tiannan had already arrived, and as soon as he arrived, he said he was going to pick him up.
The young lady was so well prepared when she went to "Tongji Hall" for diagnosis. Even if the news of Sima Rulan's illness came out and someone rode a fast horse to Xiongjiazhuang to report the news, Xiong Tiannan should not have arrived so quickly.
It can be inferred from this that Xiong Tiannan already knew that the eldest lady of the city lord would be sick, so he could have made this arrangement for me in advance. And the only people in this world who can predict the unknown, apart from the gods, are the people who poisoned Sima Rulan!
Although Hua Bushi had never expressed his doubts about Xiong Tiannan, Yao Yuanxiao was also a scheming person, so how could he not hear what the young master meant. Hai Hongzhu, on the other hand, had always been simple-minded and just stared at him at this time.
With his big eyes, he didn't understand what Hua Bushi was talking about.
Yao Yuanxiao said: "If Xiong Tiannan ordered others to poison him, he must have wanted to harm the eldest lady of the city lord. Now that the eldest lady has been taken away by him, what should we do?"
He knew that Hua Bushi's inference was reasonable, but if this matter was true and Xiong Tiannan did such a thing, then his father Xiong Bailing was also likely to be involved. Xiong Bailing is the deputy head of the "Wanjin Hall", and in the sect
His status is second only to Sima Zhufeng. If the Xiong family betrays him, it will be a shocking thing for "Wanjintang" and "Okura City", and the consequences will be extremely serious.
Although Yao Yuanxiao is an elder in the inner hall, at this time, he is inevitably flustered and does not know how to deal with it.
The expression on Hua Bushi's face remained calm, and he said: "Regardless of who poisoned her, I think we should rush to Tongji Hall first. No matter what, we can't let Miss Lan'er have another accident."
Yao Yuanxiao suddenly came back to his senses and said: "That's right! Let's go to Tongji Hall to find the eldest lady, and then investigate and deal with the poisoning!"
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ "Tongji Hall" is located in the East City, seven or eight streets away from the City Lord's Mansion, so it doesn't count.
too far.
Yao Yuanxiao beat his horse like flying to clear the way in front, while Hua Bushi, Hai Hongzhu and Zhu Hong followed closely behind them. Behind them, there were more than 20 gang members from the City Lord's Mansion. There were many pedestrians on the street.
Seeing this group of people galloping past on the road, everyone dodged and gave way.
It only took a moment for the group to pass through many streets and see the gold-lettered signboard of the drug store in front of them from a distance.
The two-horse carriage that had picked up Sima Rulan in front of the small building of the city lord's palace was parked outside the door of the medicine shop, but the driver had disappeared. Yao Yuanxiao stepped forward immediately, and when he reached the carriage, he reined up the horse and stretched his head towards the carriage.
Looking inside, I saw that the carriage was empty and there was no one around.
Hua Bushi and others also rushed to the door at this time, and each got off their horses.
From Yao Yuanxiao's expression, Hua Bushi guessed that Sima Rulan was definitely not in the carriage, and immediately said: "Let's go to the drug store to look for someone. Miss Lan'er might still be inside."
Yao Yuanxiao said: "Okay."
Hua Bushi usually guesses everything correctly, but this time, the young master did not guess correctly.
"Tongjitang" is the largest medicine shop in Okura City. In addition to the outer facade, there are five courtyards and thirty rooms in the back. Everyone quickly searched every room in all the courtyards. Not only did they not find Sima Rulan, but
Even Xiong Tiannan and several of his "book boys" were not found.
Hu Wanchun, a fat old man with gray beard and hair, had been captured and brought to Yao Yuanxiao.
The Divine Doctor Hu looked at the City Lord's Mansion gang members who were searching everywhere as soon as they entered. He felt uneasy in his heart, and his face was even more panicked. He said in a trembling voice: "We, 'Tongjitang', are doing a legitimate pharmacy business. You guys
...What are you going to do?”
Yao Yuanxiao said: "Let me ask you, where is the eldest lady of the city lord now?"
Doctor Hu said: "Are you talking about Miss Lan'er? Isn't she in the city lord's palace? How can I know where she is?"
Yao Yuanxiao's eyes widened and he said: "She is ill and came to you for diagnosis just now. How could you not know where she is!"
Doctor Hu said: "She came to me for diagnosis. What does this mean? I have been in the back hall of the medicine shop since I got up in the morning. No one has come to me for diagnosis at all."
Yao Yuanxiao's eyes turned cold, and he swung out the cane in his hand and hit the counter beside him. There was only a "click" sound, and the thick marble tabletop of the counter was broken into two pieces!
He stretched out his hand and grabbed the skirt of Doctor Hu's chest, and shouted: "The carriage carrying the eldest lady is parked outside the door of Tongji Hall, and you dare to deny it! Could it be that your skin is itchy and you want to have a taste of iron and iron?"
The taste of the rod!”
Yao Yuanxiao was skinny and looked like an ape, but Doctor Hu was a big fat man. There was a big difference in their body shapes. However, Yao Yuanxiao lifted up Doctor Hu, who was almost twice as fat as himself.
In his hands, it was as easy as holding a chicken. The strength of the fingers of the inner hall elder of "Wanjin Hall" was indeed not small.
Doctor Hu was so frightened that he was trembling all over and almost peed his pants. He begged: "Elder Yao, please forgive me. I have been in the back hall today and have never seen Miss Lan'er. Anyone in the medicine shop can help me."
I testify..."
When Yao Yuanxiao heard this, he became even more furious and shouted: "It seems that if I don't beat you, you won't tell the truth. Well, this will show you how powerful you are!"
As he spoke, he raised the iron staff in his hand and was about to greet Dr. Hu. Just then, Yao Yuanxiao smashed down the staff with his hand, breaking the stone slab on the table. If the staff were to hit someone on the body, the bones and tendons would be broken.
It’s hard to give up, and I don’t know if Dr. Hu’s medical skills are good enough to set his bones and heal his injuries.
Hua Bushi stepped forward to stop him and said, "Elder Yao, don't do anything. Although the carriage is parked outside the door, Xiong Tiannan and Miss Lan'er may not have entered the drug store. We'd better check with the drug store clerk in detail."
Yao Yuanxiao had no intention of hurting anyone, but he couldn't find Sima Rulan for a while. He was worried that something might happen to the eldest lady, and the anxiety in his heart was uncontrollable, so he wanted to hit someone with his stick. At this time, after listening to what Hua Bushi said,
He lowered his steel staff and shouted to Doctor Hu: "I'll spare you for now. If I find out you are lying, I will definitely take your life!"
Doctor Hu escaped the disaster and hurriedly bowed and said: "I don't dare... What I said is indeed the truth. I am determined not to lie..."
There were more than a dozen clerks in the drug store, but the result of the inquiry was that Xiong Tiannan and Sima Rulan had indeed never entered the "Tongji Hall".
Most people didn't know when the carriage arrived outside, but two waiters standing by the gate saw it. According to these two waiters, they saw the two-wheeled carriage stop outside the door.
I thought they were customers who were coming to the drug store, but I didn't expect to see only four big men getting out of the car with two women and heading to the alley next to them.
When asked about the appearance of the people who got off the carriage, the waiter said that he couldn't see their faces through the gate. He only saw two women, one wearing a plain dress and the other wearing a light red short coat. It was Sima Rulan.
They were dressed like the maid Xiaohong. One of the four big men was wearing a long shirt, and the others were wearing white shorts. They were Xiong Tiannan and his "book boys".
After that, the pharmacy clerk heard the sound of carriages and horses coming from the alley over there. It was obvious that the visitor had transferred to another carriage and left from the back alley. What did the changed carriage look like?
, but neither of the two clerks saw it, so they couldn't tell.
Yao Yuanxiao, Hua Bushi and others immediately left the drug store gate and rushed to the alley the two clerks had mentioned. However, they saw that this was a rather narrow passage with five or six feet high walls on both sides.
There is no door on the stone wall, and the bluestone pavement on the ground cannot even leave the marks of the wheels.