【Your Excellency Dong instructed the porridge stand's steward, guards, servants, and maids to recall any unfamiliar faces that appeared on the day of the incident. He also asked the deceased's family members to recall if any unfamiliar faces had approached, spoken with, or been close to the deceased, instructing the painter to create portraits based on their descriptions.】
【Hmm? Why draw unfamiliar faces? Couldn't it be someone familiar who committed the crime?】
【Oh, the Grand Tutor's Mansion has been distributing porridge for quite some time. Those who came to receive it were mostly local people struggling to make ends meet or beggars. Basically, everyone who could come did, and there weren't that many people in total. You could easily find three people who know each other. If they were completely unfamiliar faces, they either came from other places or had ulterior motives. Their suspicion is greater than those familiar faces.】
【Let me see. There aren't many unfamiliar faces… From the recollections of these people, there are a total of seven. The servant guarding the third porridge barrel recalled five people, all of whom had the opportunity to get close to the barrel. Hmm… Comparing them to the portraits, there are three matches.】
【Your Excellency Dong believes the suspect is among these three. He sent people with the portraits to search house by house. Two have been checked and ruled out, leaving only one unaccounted for. Tsk! The attendant disguised himself before going, and the portrait is vastly different from his actual appearance. How could it possibly be found through the portrait?】
Chu Liuzheng frowned and continued to scroll down.
【To poison someone, how stupid would you have to be to do it using your real identity? You would definitely use an alias, it's not like there aren't any… hey? A copper coin-sized scar on the inner side of the right wrist. Wow, the person who can become a steward has sharp eyes, observing such details.】
【That scar is not a disguise. If you look for someone based on scars, you might actually find the person… No, there are so many people in Jingdu, how long would it take to find them? By then, the attendant would have left Jingdu with the Crown Prince of Li.】
Chu Liuzheng felt a little anxious, unconsciously biting her lip, trying to scroll down further, only to find that she had reached the bottom.
【No way, only this much after several days? What's the result?】
Relentlessly, she searched the system, and found a live stream post.
Her eyes lit up, and she quickly clicked to watch.
【Yamen runners visited pharmacies in the city. Two pharmacies sold strychnine, among which Jimin Pharmacy in West City had a record of strychnine sales the night before the poisoned porridge incident. Because strychnine is highly toxic, the shopkeeper specifically remembered the person's appearance and repeatedly warned against accidental ingestion.】
【The yamen runners found out that the buyer was Chen Dong, who lived in South of the City and ran a wood carving shop… Wow, a twist of fate! This Chen Dong is the attendant's contact. Finally, a clue!】
Seeing a glimmer of hope, Chu Liuzheng hurriedly scrolled down.
【After receiving the news, Your Excellency Dong personally led people to the wood carving workshop… Damn! It's gone again!】
Chu Liuzheng stared at the system waiting for it to refresh, her gaze sweeping across the five characters ‘Chen's Wood Carving Workshop’, inexplicably feeling familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere.
Where?
*
Meanwhile, a yamen runner knocked on the tightly closed door of Chen's Wood Carving Workshop.
A man's voice came from inside: "Who is it?"
The yamen runner said: "Buying wood carvings."
The man said: "Sold out, go buy from another shop."
The yamen runner turned to Dong Yi, who nodded. He continued to knock 'bang bang bang', attracting the attention of nearby shopkeepers who poked their heads out to look.
Seeing that it was a constable, they quickly retracted their heads, afraid of getting into trouble.
"Open the door! Open the door!" The yamen runner's voice was loud, his shout could be heard by everyone on the street.
"Sold out! Sold out! Why are you still knocking? Can't you understand?" The man in the wood carving workshop was annoyed and angrily opened the door, ready to scold the person who disturbed his peace, but when he saw the yamen runner in official uniform, his legs went weak, and he almost knelt down.
His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed his curses along with his saliva, putting on a fawning smile: "Your humble servant has eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai. I didn't know Your Excellency was here. Please come in, please come in."
He stepped aside to let them in, eagerly inviting them inside.
The yamen runner stood still and asked: "Are you called Chen Dong?"
The man nodded: "Yes, your humble servant is Chen Dong."
"Good, it's Chen Dong." The yamen runner stepped aside, revealing Dong Yi behind him, "My master has something to ask you."
Upon seeing Dong Yi, Chen Dong immediately bowed: "Commoner pays respects to Your Excellency. I didn't know Your Excellency had arrived, and I failed to welcome you properly, I…"
Before he could finish, Dong Yi said: "Get up, let's talk inside."
Hearing this, Chen Dong quickly got up, nervously ushering them inside.
As Dong Yi passed by him, his sharp eyes inconspicuously swept over him, finally stopping at his arm, and asked: "You have a wound on your arm?"
Chen Dong was quite surprised, subconsciously covering his right arm, replying: "Reporting to Your Excellency, a few days ago, while carving wood, I was accidentally hit by a falling piece of wood. There's a blood clot, and it hurts when I use force. I can't carve, so even though the things in the shop are sold out, I can't replenish them."
He enthusiastically recommended: "If Your Excellency wants to buy wood carvings, there's a Lu's Wood Carving Workshop two blocks further down the road. Their prices are fair and their products are good. Why don't you go there and have a look?"
Dong Yi looked at his calloused hands: "They say that people in the same line of work are rivals, but you're quite generous."
Chen Dong raised his left hand to scratch his head, chuckling: "Your humble servant and the shopkeeper of Lu's Wood Carving Workshop are martial brothers, taught by the same master. We specialize in different areas and don't compete with each other."
Dong Yi nodded, sitting down on the chair carried by the yamen runner, looking around. He found that, as Chen Dong said, all the wood carvings in the shop were sold out. The entire shop was empty, as if they were about to run away.
He had a plan in mind and gestured for Chen Dong to sit as well.
Chen Dong politely declined twice before sitting down fearfully, looking at Dong Yi: "What does Your Excellency want to ask me? Your humble servant will answer truthfully."
"Don't be nervous." Dong Yi smiled at him, pointing to his right hand, "Let this official have a look at your injury first."
Chen Dong blinked in confusion, rolled up his sleeve to show Dong Yi,
revealing a thick layer of gauze wrapped around his right arm. He had smelled the medicinal scent from it earlier.
With a glance from Dong Yi, a yamen runner immediately stepped forward to remove Chen Dong's gauze, revealing the wound underneath.
Chen Dong didn't understand, but he also actively lifted his arm for Dong Yi to see.
Dong Yi looked closely. Crushed herbs were applied to the wound, some of which had gotten onto the gauze, making the wound barely visible.
Based on his years of experience in investigating cases, the wound was about five or six days old. The subcutaneous hematoma had mostly dispersed, and it seemed almost healed.
"Your Excellency?" Chen Dong called out cautiously, seemingly not understanding why Dong Yi was looking at his wound.
But Dong Yi didn't answer him, ordering someone to bring the shopkeeper of Jimin Pharmacy to identify him.
In a short while, the shopkeeper was brought in by the yamen runner, looking closely at Chen Dong.
Chen Dong was made uneasy by his gaze, his eyes darting around, his hands nervously clasped together.
"He was the one who bought medicine that day." The shopkeeper withdrew his gaze, taking the gauze from the yamen runner, carefully examining the crushed herbs.
After a while, he said to Dong Yi: "Your Excellency, there are indeed crushed strychnine in the gauze. Although strychnine is highly toxic, it can promote blood circulation, relieve pain, and reduce swelling. As long as the dosage is properly controlled, it can be used for injuries from falls or blows."
Upon hearing this, Dong Yi frowned slightly. Perhaps he had gotten the wrong person?
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