What on earth was he up to?
Xiao Rencheng had long and narrow phoenix eyes. His thin lips curved into a smile, and there was a hint of arrogance in his every gesture. "Lady, I'm conducting a search in accordance with the law. Please cooperate."
The shopkeeper and the young apprentice in the pharmacy had already shrunk under the counter at the sight of such an imposing figure. Only their two heads timidly peeked out.
Xiao Rencheng glanced at them and said, "Lend me a room. I need to conduct a search."
The shopkeeper pointed to the room behind them. Without giving Lan Jinqin a chance to object, Xiao Rencheng grabbed her fair and slender wrist and unceremoniously pushed her into the room.
Lan Jinqin had just steadied herself when the door was slammed shut behind her.
"You!"
Lan Jinqin whirled around in a rage and glared at Xiao Rencheng. "Lord Xiao, it's improper for a single man and a single woman to be alone in a room. I'm the family member of your colleague. How could you do this?!"
Xiao Rencheng didn't answer her. Instead, he just held out his hand. "Give me your prescription."
Lan Jinqin said irritably, "What prescription? I only bought one herb. Why would I need a prescription... Hey! What are you doing?"
Before she could finish her words, Xiao Rencheng had grabbed her sleeve.
In the struggle, the carp powder and the prescription in her sleeve pocket fell into Xiao Rencheng's hands.
Lan Jinqin was fuming with anger and glared at him fiercely.
How could this man be so rude!
Xiao Rencheng let go of her hand and sat back down in front of the table. He unfolded the prescription and scanned it coldly. Suddenly, anger gathered between his eyebrows.
"Lady Wen!"
He slapped the prescription on the table with one palm. His voice was low and suppressed. "What do you need so much carp powder for?"
Lan Jinqin was startled by the loud noise on the table. Then her anger flared up, and she retorted without hesitation, "It's my freedom to buy carp powder! It's not a poison. Even if I buy it to eat as a meal, what business is it of yours, Lord Xiao?"
Not a poison?
A cold laugh escaped from between Xiao Rencheng's teeth. He waved the prescription in his hand. When he smiled, his pupils were devoid of warmth.
"Carp powder is cold in nature. Excessive consumption can render a woman infertile..."
Lan Jinqin's face changed slightly. She said coldly, "So what? What does it have to do with your investigation into the poison?"
"I haven't finished yet." Xiao Rencheng rubbed the prescription in his hand. If one looked closely, they could see that his fingertips were slightly trembling. "Carp powder, coltsfoot flower, vitex fruit, cochinchina momordica seed, stiff silkworm..."
He recited more than twenty herbs in one breath. Then he looked at Lan Jinqin and said gravely, "I'm not very talented, but having worked in the Censorate for a long time, I've come across some strange things and always remembered them..."
"Individually, the herbs in the lady's prescription are all ordinary ones, but when combined, they form a slow - acting poison!"
"People who take this prescription for a long time will not only be childless for life but also suffer from the depletion of their bodies due to the accumulated toxins over time."
The color gradually faded from Lan Jinqin's face. She stubbornly met Xiao Rencheng's gaze.
Xiao Rencheng looked into her clear and charming eyes. His heart ached. "Lady, who are you trying to poison?"
At this moment, his heart felt like a hurricane was raging on the sea, making it almost impossible for him to sit up straight.
Even if Lan Jinqin didn't say anything, he could guess.
Wen Zilong and Lan Jinqin were rumored to be deeply in love as a couple, but they had no children for many years...
Either Lan Jinqin or Wen Zilong was taking this medicine.
But why?
Xiao Rencheng's hand tightened little by little. He felt that his long - held beliefs had been completely overturned.
Wasn't Lan Jinqin treated well in the Wen family?
Wasn't Wen Zilong good to her?
What kind of hatred could turn a once kind - hearted woman who was willing to help strangers into someone who wanted to poison her own husband today?
After a brief moment of panic, Lan Jinqin regained her composure.
She slowly said, "Lord Xiao, I don't understand what you're talking about. This prescription is a fertility - promoting secret recipe I got from a wandering doctor. I don't know why it has become a poison prescription in your mouth. I'm not well - versed in medicine. Maybe I've been deceived. I'll find someone to re - examine this prescription. If it really is a poison prescription, then I should thank you for the reminder."
Truly a daughter of the Lan family!
Calm in the face of danger.
Lan Jinqin watched as Xiao Rencheng's Adam's apple rolled twice and his eyelashes fluttered for a long time. She secretly broke out in a cold sweat.
She didn't know what this left - censor - in - chief of the Censorate was up to.
She only knew that in these two encounters with this grand censor, his eyes either burned with a raging fire or hid a tempestuous sea.
All his intense emotions were suppressed in the depths of his eyes and couldn't be released.
It made her feel both dangerous and frightened.
Her intuition told her that the farther away from this man, the better.
After the intense upheaval in his heart, Xiao Rencheng's expression finally gradually calmed down.
According to his usual practice of handling cases in the Censorate, if a suspect refuted, he would have already thrown out the evidence and silenced the person.
But this person happened to be Lan Jinqin.
Hearing Lan Jinqin's calm refutation, instead of feeling angry, he felt a hint of relief.
Fortunately, Miss Lan was so rational.
With her intelligence, Wen Zilong probably wouldn't notice that he was being harmed by his wife.
Xiao Rencheng took a deep breath, looked at Lan Jinqin, and a smile of apology spread across his lips. "The lady is absolutely right. According to what you said, you may really have been deceived by the wandering doctor... You should be more careful in the future, lady."
Lan Jinqin was stunned. It was her turn to be dumbfounded.
The left - censor - in - chief Xiao Rencheng was rumored to be extremely difficult to deal with, shrewd and cautious, and methodical and well - evidenced when handling cases.
No one who had ever been targeted by him had ever escaped his grasp.
But seeing him today... it seemed that the rumor was false.
She had managed to persuade him with just a few words.
He was not at all rigorous...
However, the most important thing was that Xiao Rencheng didn't pursue this matter. Lan Jinqin didn't have time to think about other things. She quickly nodded and said,
"I understand. I'll be more careful in the future."
She thought she had managed to get away with it, but Xiao Rencheng put away her prescription and carp powder. "To prevent you from accidentally consuming this, I'll confiscate these."
Lan Jinqin immediately flared up. "Hey, this is my medicine! Why should you take it?"
"Even if you're the grand censor, you have no right to confiscate the private property of the common people for no reason!"
This carp powder was expensive and rare. She had saved up her silver for a long time to buy a packet.
Xiao Rencheng gave a soft laugh and watched the woman's lively appearance when she was angry.
She really had a unique charm.
"The lady is right... I have no right to confiscate the private property of the common people for no reason. But this carp powder combined with this prescription is suspected of being used for poisoning. As the left - censor - in - chief, it's reasonable for me to confiscate the suspected evidence."
Lan Jinqin watched as he swaggered away with the carp powder she had spent half a year's savings on.
The grievances of living in the Wen family and the anxiety about the exile of dozens of people in the Lan family suddenly welled up in her heart.
And now there was a man interfering and breaking the plan she had painstakingly made.
Suddenly, her nose felt sour, and her eyes gradually turned red.
Xiao Rencheng had just put away the things when he looked up and saw two pools of tears welling up in the woman's eyes in front of him.
His back immediately stiffened. The coldness from before vanished in an instant, and a look of panic flashed across his eyes.
"Lady..."
Xiao Rencheng tried to suppress the panic in his heart and called out softly, "I'm just doing my duty..."
Of course, he also wanted to remind her not to hurt herself, let alone sacrifice her own life to get revenge on that scoundrel.
Before he could finish his words, Lan Jinqin lowered her head. Tears uncontrollably slid from the corners of her eyes and fell to the ground.
Her teardrops were as white as pearls, making it hard for Xiao Rencheng to breathe. Without thinking, he blurted out,
"Lady, how about I pay for this..."
It seemed that she liked silver now?
Maybe giving her money would make her happy.
Lan Jinqin looked up. There were a few heavy teardrops hanging on her long eyelashes. As she blinked a few times, they slowly fell down.
This hazy scene further stimulated Xiao Rencheng's mind. He sincerely suggested,
"Lady, how much are the carp powder and the prescription?"
Lan Jinqin named an exorbitant price. "Five thousand taels of silver."