Seeing Han Jiang's corpse, several wives and concubines of the Han family began to cry again. Wu Xiang pinched the center of her brows and comforted them for a while before making them stop, waiting for Wu Xiang to tell the results of Bo Ruoyou's examination , several women looked at each other in blank dismay, all puzzled, Mrs. Han asked: "Does this mean that this matter cannot depend on others, but on our master?"
Wu Xiang said sternly: "How to judge, I can't decide right now. You should also think about whether Han Jiang has been unwell in the past few days, or whether there are other abnormalities. Besides, you should answer the matter of him going to Lanyue Tower. I know, has he ever mentioned whether Lanyue Tower will use some unscrupulous means, even if you think that Lanyue Tower has, you have to show evidence."
Mrs. Han frowned, as if she was thinking about it, when the younger brother Han Jiang who was standing behind came forward, "Sister-in-law, first take back the body of my brother and let him be buried in peace. I believe the yamen will be the one who will punish you."
This younger brother is reasonable. Mrs. Han glanced at him, she didn't know what to think, she showed a compromise, she first asked the yamen what kind of regulations, and then ordered the servants to come in and remove Han Jiang's body, Bo Ruoyou stood aside with indifferent eyes It fell on Brother Han Jiang.
Brother Han Jiang looked at the age of double ten, his life was quite handsome, and his manners were quite polite, but what caught Bo Ruoyou's attention was his rather dejected look. Although he stood up straight, his eyes were blue and black. His face was yellow, his eyes were dim, and he was short of breath when he spoke, giving him an inexplicable feeling of weakness. Bo Ruoyou looked at him for a moment, then at Han Jiang's body which was being removed, and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows Wrinkled and tighter.
She suspected that the second young master of the Han family was also addicted to wine and sex.
Han Jiang's body was removed, and the members of the Han family followed suit. Bo Ruoyou packed the wooden box and went out with them at the end. Wu Xiang in front walked and said to them: "Isn't it that you often go to the place of fireworks?" What a good thing, your body is broken at a young age, and accidents are easy to happen, if your husband is better, how can this happen?"
Wu Xiang also seemed to see that Han Jiang's younger brother was a bit weird, so she warned: "Especially the younger generation in the family, you must be careful."
Madam Han wiped the corner of her eyes and said: "He is often persuaded, but he is the head of the family, how can he listen to us, but in our family, he is the only one who does not work properly."
Wu Xiang raised her chin towards Han Jiang's younger brother, "The second young master..."
Mrs. Han looked at the back in front of her, "Second brother is going to study for a test of merit, he is a clean-spirited person."
Wu Xiang nodded and didn't say any more, but Bo Ruoyou, who was walking behind, was a little surprised that it was different from what she had guessed.
When everyone walked to the gate of Yizhuang, they saw two servants putting Han Jiang's body into the carriage, but the dead man was so stiff that the two of them were a little tired after carrying it all the way. , so he stepped forward to help, he tried his best to lift the person up, but for some reason, he seemed to be unable to use the strength, and it didn't help. In the end, it was Wu Xiang who went up to help.
Brother Han Jiang backed away, gasping for breath twice. Bo Ruoyou saw that his hand hanging by his side was shaking all the time, and he seemed to be afraid of being discovered, so he quickly hid his hand in his sleeve, Mrs. Han is still talking to Wu Xiang here, but he has a look of anxiety and panic on his face, and his eyes are looking around, showing a sense of panic and uneasiness.
He didn't care about anything else, so he walked towards his carriage. When he climbed onto the carriage, his legs and feet were weak, and he stumbled a few times before he crawled in. She couldn't see him anymore, but something strange about him made her suspicious.
However, he was not a suspect, and she had no reason to interrogate him, only doubting whether he was ill.
Mrs. Han quickly agreed with Wu Xiang on the time to go to the Yamen again. A group of people got into the carriage, and the driver whipped his whip, ready to leave. Bo Ruoyou and Wu Xiang stood by the road, and the carriages came They passed by, and when Brother Han Jiang's carriage passed by them, a familiar smell wafted out of the carriage.
Bo Ruoyou's heart moved, and she subconsciously said, "Wait a minute!"
The coachman reined in the horse, and the carriage stopped a few steps away from Bo Ruoyou. Wu Xiang was still a little puzzled, but Bo Ruoyou had already stepped forward. She didn't open her mouth to ask questions, but leaned over and lifted the curtain open.
The carriage was dark and cramped, only brother Han Jiang was sitting, and seeing his appearance in the carriage, Bo Ruoyou froze on the spot in shock.
He was curled up on the couch, trembling all over, holding a purse in his hand, as if in a daze, he tried to sniff the contents of the purse, Bo Ruoyou didn't know what was in it, But startled by the obsessed and painful look on his face, she couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong with you?"
The movement of opening the curtain failed to wake him up, and when Bo Ruoyou opened his mouth, he turned his eyes obsessively. His eyes looked at Bo Ruoyou mistyly, and it took him a long time to react. His expression changed slightly, and he gritted his teeth. He braced himself up, but went to scold the coachman, "What are you doing stopping? Why don't you go back home?!"
The coachman was afraid, and didn't care too much, raised the whip, and the carriage started to move slowly. Bo Ruoyou couldn't help it, so he took a step back to avoid it, and wanted to ask questions, but felt that there was no reason.
Wu Xiang came up from behind, "What's the matter? Is there something wrong with him?"
Bo Ruoyou shook her head, "He's so strange, just now I felt something wrong with his expression, just now when I opened the curtain, I found that he was sniffing a purse vigorously, as if..."
For a moment, Bo Ruoyou couldn't find the right words to describe him, "It seems to be suffering from some kind of illness, and the purse is a life-saving medicine, but I smell a very faint smell, which seems to be the same as the one I saw in Lanyue Tower. Meixiang is somewhat similar."
Wu Xiang frowned, "Just now I asked this younger brother if he also learned from his elder brother, but Mrs. Han said no, and I thought his appearance was the result of studying hard. Could it be that Mrs. Han is telling lies?"
At this point, Wu Xiang suddenly said: "Why do you think he looks a little like Xiao Hu?"
Bo Ruoyou's heart twitched, "That's true, Wu Butou should go to see Hu Yuzuo sooner?"
Wu Xiang responded, but with a sad face, it's not a good habit to seek flowers and ask Liu, but he and Hu Changqing are not relatives, if this is the case, I don't know if I can persuade them.
Bo Ruoyou left Yizhuang to return home, seeing that Huo Weilou hadn't sent anyone for the past two days, she felt that the beauty smile might still not be found, she had dinner, and then went into the study again, and those few books she Before I finished reading it, I searched again. These pharmacopoeias were all ancient books, and what they said were all about the pharmacology of medicinal materials. It seemed quite boring. Bo Ruoyou felt a little sleepy after reading it for a while, but she never let up. After reading like this for more than half an hour, Bo Ruoyou's hand that turned the pages of the book suddenly stopped.
She saw a record related to Beauty's Smile, she read it carefully twice, and hurriedly came to find Cheng Yunzhi with a book in her hand, Cheng Yunzhi was about to rest, when she saw her coming, she put on a dress and sat under the west window.
Bo Ruoyou pointed to what was written in the book and showed him, "Look, father-in-law, here it is said that Beauty's Smile is also called Misanghua, Furong Yingsu, and Broken Heart Grass, so my daughter remembered reading it last night. As mentioned in the travel notes, it is said that there are many rice sac flowers in the southwest, 'the flowers are bright red, clustered with thousands of leaves, the flowers are very huge and dense, and the beauty is not diminished' ①, it turns out that it is a beautiful woman's smile!"
After she finished speaking, she asked Cheng Yunzhi to look down, "Father, look here, this sentence is what the doctors of the former dynasty said, 'Today people use millet husks to stop work when they are exhausted and cough; when dampness and heat are released, use it to stop astringency. Although its ability to stop diseases is urgent, killing people is like a sword, so it should be strictly avoided②', although this substance can be used as medicine and has good medicinal effects, it has many hidden dangers and must be used with caution."
Cheng Yunzhi's expression was serious, "This thing is rare and rare, but it is rarely used." He said and looked at Bo Ruoyou, "You should investigate this for the sake of the case, right? Effectiveness doesn’t matter much.”
Bo Ruoyou nodded, "That's true. If this flower is in the capital, it's more likely to be used for ornamental purposes than for medicinal purposes."
It was already late, since it had nothing to do with the case, Bo Ruoyou stopped talking, and only asked Cheng Yunzhi to rest earlier, and she also took the book back to the room and went to sleep. Early the next morning, Bo Ruoyou drove to the Go to Wu Zhaohou's mansion.
Arriving at Marquis Wuzhao's mansion, Huo Weilou was not in the mansion. Eunuch Fu welcomed her in and said, "The flower is still not found, but something was found in the prison. Lord Hou went to the prison last night, and it has not been found yet." return."
Bo Ruoyou listened worriedly, "I came here precisely for this purpose. I forgot to tell Lord Hou about something that day. I will tell my father-in-law right now, and my father-in-law can tell Lord Hou as well."
She told Eunuch Fu what she saw in the downtown area that day, and Eunuch Fu was a little surprised, "This means that the Wei family may have raised a beautiful woman?"
Bo Ruoyou shook her head, "Not sure, it's just a possibility."
Eunuch Fu nodded understandingly, "Okay, I will tell Lord Hou."
Since Huo Weilou was not there, Bo Ruoyou didn't stay here for a while, she left after sitting for a while, and went straight to the yamen to meet her. Not long after she entered the yamen, she saw Wu Xiang arrive with a serious face. Seeing Bo Ruoyou, he was very sad Some surprises, "I was still hesitating whether I should ask someone to invite you, but I didn't expect you to have arrived. If that's the case, just follow me."
Bo Ruoyou looked straight, "Is there another murder case?"
Wu Xiang waved his hand, looked outside, saw no one around, and said: "It's not a case, it's Xiao Hu. I went to the yamen this morning and went to his house when I saw that there was nothing wrong. I found out that he was really sick, but it was a very strange disease, I was anxious, but he didn't want to ask a doctor, I thought you are good at medicine, maybe I could invite you to have a look?"
"Strange disease? What are the symptoms?" Bo Ruoyou asked.
Wu Xiang smiled wryly, "I can't tell, you will find out after going with me."
Bo Ruoyou agreed, and followed Wu Xiang to find Hu Changqing.
Hu Changqing didn't have a lot of salary for his family. He lived in a private house in the southeast of the city. There was only one entrance to the yard. Although it was simple, it was quite neat and elegant. When they arrived at the door, they found that the door was unlocked. Wu Xiang Pushing open the door and entering: "Xiao Hu, I'll bring Xiao Bo to see you. If you don't cure this disease, you will be gone!"
The room was dark and dark, Wu Xiang led Bo Ruoyou straight into the inner room, and Bo Ruoyou was startled as soon as he walked in.
I haven't seen him for three days, Hu Changqing's hair is messed up, his beard is unshaven, he seems to be a different person, but the most terrifying thing is that he fell to the ground, but one of his hands was tied tightly to the bedpost by a cloth belt, and I don't know how long he was tied , at this moment, his wrist was stretched out with large bruises, and even high redness swelled up, while the other man was limp on the ground, with saliva dripping from the corners of his lips, and he was trembling non-stop.
Hearing the noise, he raised his eyes with difficulty, and recognized Bo Ruoyou, with a bit of humiliation on his face.
"You go, I don't need... I don't need you to see..."
His voice was hoarse, his lips were chapped, and he huddled into a ball, as if trying to restrain himself, Bo Ruoyou asked in shock, "Who tied him up?"
Hu Changqing had a knot in his hand, and he had struggled hard, which made the injury on his wrist obvious.
Wu Xiang heard the words but said: "He tied it up himself, and it's been two days."
Bo Ruoyou was even more surprised, "Tie yourself?"
Wu Xiang let out a "huh" and squatted down again, "Little Hu, we didn't come to see your jokes, what's wrong with you, why are you like this?"
Hu Changqing bit his lips and didn't speak, but he looked mad and bewildered as if he had been cursed. His eye sockets were sunken, his eyes were slack, and his face was pale. Looking at him like this, Bo Ruoyou felt that he was going crazy. It seems like, but she knows that Hu Changqing is not like a lamb, and he deliberately tied himself up, which seems to be some kind of self-help method.
"Wu Butou, don't ask, you can go, I'm fine..."
As Hu Changqing said, some uncontrollable tears overflowed from the corners of his eyes, and Wu Xiang was even more annoyed, "Little Hu, you are also a man, what happened to you? What can't you say? Look at your ugly face, If I don't care about you, no one will know if you die here."
He turned to look at Bo Ruoyou, "Can you tell what disease he has?"
Bo Ruoyou frowned and shook her head. Seeing that Hu Changqing was unwilling to tell the truth, she had no choice but to look at the room. The room was very poorly furnished, but there were bookcases and desks on the west side, as well as the Four Treasures of the Study, which showed that Hu Changqing practiced calligraphy and ink on weekdays. At this time, Bo Ruoyou keenly noticed that something was missing on the desk.
She walked over to have a look, and found that the inkstone and pen holder were missing, and there was no paperweight, and when she turned her eyes to look at other places, she felt a strange feeling in the simplicity, there were a few grids on the bookshelf that were empty , but the gray marks left on it indicated that there were originally porcelain ornaments here, but she looked around, and there was not a single more expensive object in the whole room.
"Have you sold much of your household possessions lately?"
It is naturally impossible for Hu Changqing to answer, but at this moment, Bo Ruoyou's eyes fell on the ground next to the desk, where there were debris left by unburned paper, Bo Ruoyou walked over suspiciously, just picked it up From then on, she smelled a strange smell. There was a circle of corners left on the paper, which seemed to be rolled up and then burned. She sniffed it at the tip of her nose, her face trembling slightly.
It was actually the same smell as the Meixiang that she saw in the brothel, but compared to what she saw in the brocade box the night before, the smell on the scraps of paper was more intense and pungent. At this time, she found it again on the inch-long scrap of paper. A smear of charred black ash.
She raised her hand and picked it up, feeling a sense of uneasiness in her heart.
"Is your illness related to this thing?"
She showed the scrap of paper to Hu Changqing, and when Hu Changqing saw that the scrap of paper was stained with black dust, not only did he not feel disgusted, but he showed eagerness in his eyes, as if the thing on the scrap of paper was such a precious and precious thing.
Seeing what Bo Ruoyou still didn't understand, she said sternly: "What is this thing? You are poisoned by this thing now, right?"
"No, no, it's not poison, it's not poisonous, it's a elixir for us mortals to enjoy bliss..."
As if recalling that wonderful taste, there was a flash of intoxication on his face, but it was this memory that made him more painful, he shrank even tighter, tears flowed for a while, and he trembled even more. Seeing Wu Xiang squatted beside him, and he even grabbed Wu Xiang's robe involuntarily, moaning in pain.
This appearance frightened the two of them, Wu Xiang quickly helped him up, "What's wrong with you? But it hurts?"
"No, it's not... I want... I want to..."
He seemed to have the last sliver of sanity, and he didn't say what he wanted, but the pain was extreme, he suddenly pushed Wu Xiang away, turned around and bumped his head against the edge of the bed, Wu Xiang couldn't stop him, and he settled down with two bangs , Hu Changqing didn't know what kind of strength he used, but he hit himself with blood flowing, and he was paralyzed.
"Hu Changqing!" Wu Xiang shouted anxiously.
Hu Changqing didn't seem to feel any pain at all, blood flowed down and covered his eyes, but he relaxed his eyebrows, as if the pain on his forehead relieved his original pain, he trembled twice, then his head tilted and passed out .
Wu Xiang was stunned. What kind of torture made him tie himself up for two days, and then hit him so hard that he bled profusely
"Xiao Bo, what... what's going on?"
Bo Ruoyou's solemn face, although she still doesn't know what's going on, she feels that Hu Changqing is not sick, but poisoned, "He just said he wants it, it should be this thing, I smell it, it's a bit like a hug The fragrance in the moon tower, he probably got a more pure fragrance, then rolled it with paper and lit it, and indulged in it—”
Up to this point, Bo Ruoyou felt something was wrong. Fragrances were mostly used for aphrodisiacs, and Hu Changqing didn't have a wife, so he lit them at home, could it be just for self-blasphemy? However, although Hu Changqing's clothes were a little messy, he didn't show his chest and belly, and it wasn't as she guessed, but if it wasn't for aphrodisiac, then what made Hu Changqing so addicted
"He tied himself up, just because he didn't want to use this thing anymore. I see that many things in his house are missing. This thing must be of great value. If it's not just a simple fragrance, then this thing..."
Bo Ruoyou thought for a while, and a bright light flashed in his mind, "This thing can cause hallucinations!"
Wu Xiang was a little puzzled, and Bo Ruoyou said: "He said that this thing can make people reach the state of bliss, and he said something about immortal medicine. I guess this thing can make people fall into hallucinations. People who love power use this thing. I feel that I am above ten thousand people, and those who love wealth, use this thing, they will feel that they are in the pile of gold and silver treasures, and if they love beautiful women, they will feel that the beauty in front of them is more beautiful... "
Wu Xiang now understands that everyone has seven emotions and six desires, usually they are depressed and unwilling because their desires are rarely satisfied, but if there is a thing that can pretend to satisfy the desire in the heart, wouldn't it be necessary to think about using it every day? Even though it was fake, that moment must have been quite pleasant, which confirmed the land of ultimate bliss that Hu Changqing said.
"But this thing will bite back, and it is poisonous!" Wu Xiang looked at Hu Changqing, "Is his injury serious? He was not awake just now. When he wakes up and understands that this thing is poison, he will not So obsessed."
Bo Ruoyou leaned over to look at the wound on Hu Changqing's forehead, and carefully thought about Hu Changqing's appearance just now, only to feel that he recognized them soberly for a while, and then showed dementia and madness on his face. Not long after, she straightened up, with an unprecedentedly serious expression.
"What if he can't control himself even if he is awake?" She looked at Hu Changqing's tied wrists, "The knot is very tight, it must have been tied when he was still awake, but he was still like this just now. appearance."
Wu Xiang knew many poisons, and some strange poisons would indeed cause confusion, but when ordinary people are awake, they can always tell the difference between good and bad, and there is no reason to touch it even if they know it is poison, "It's because he was poisoned too deeply Well, when he wakes up, he will always be able to control himself, and he has never had any bad habits before, and he is not a weak-minded person... "
Bo Ruoyou didn't know whether what Wu Xiang said was true or not, but when she thought of Hu Changqing's obsessive appearance just now, her mind flashed the intoxicated expression of Han Jiang's younger brother sniffing the purse vigorously in the carriage, and the sound coming from the carriage The smell was also similar to the Meixiang from Lanyue Tower, and her heart shuddered, "Catcher, I suddenly remembered that Brother Han Jiang was in the carriage just now, and he seemed to look a bit like Hu Yuzuo, but not as serious as him. "
At this point, she simply said: "What if the poisoned person is not an exception?"
After Bo Ruoyou finished speaking, her heart sank, and she felt an inexplicable chill enveloping her, she made a decisive decision, "Captain, this matter is not trivial, and I don't know what it is right now, but if the people don't You know, the unconscious was poisoned by this poison, and then everyone became crazy, wouldn't it be easy to cause chaos, arrest the head, just go to the Han family?"
Hu Changqing's bloody example was right in front of him, and Wu Xiang's scalp felt numb when he heard it, "Could there be such a poison?"
Bo Ruoyou nodded resolutely, "Yes, all things in the world are known to us, and there are only a few who can name them and know whether they are good or bad, but those who can't name them and can't tell whether they are good or bad are very likely to be very bad." It’s like the plague in Guzhang Village more than ten years ago, and we still don’t know how the disease started.”
At this point, she had an even more terrifying thought, "And this time, Hu Yuzuo spent money to be addicted to this thing. If someone knows that this thing is poisonous but uses it for profit, they will use those deceptive methods. I'm afraid this poison will spread faster than we imagined, and when everyone in the city is under the control of this poison, wouldn't it be as terrifying as a plague?"
Wu Xiang stood up in a jerk, "You say that, I'm afraid I have to report this matter to the adults." He glanced at Hu Changqing, "I'll bandage him first, and then go back to the yamen to ask someone to watch him , and then go to the Han family!"
Hu Changqing only scratched his flesh, but it was not a serious problem. After Bo Ruoyou helped him deal with the wound, the two left and went back to the Yamen. Go back to the yamen first to call someone, and when Bo Ruoyou's carriage stopped at the gate of the yamen, he saw the chariots and horses of Marquis Wuzhao's mansion parked in front of the yamen.
Bo Ruoyou's eyes lit up, it was Huo Weilou who came!
The author has something to say: ① Quoted from "Xu Xiake's Travel Notes".
② Quoted from relevant records of Zhu Zhenheng, a medical scientist in the Yuan Dynasty.