The person who burst in was none other than Pan Anping's son, Pan Xintian.
"Mother!" Pan Xintian rushed straight up to Han Xinran. His eye sockets were a bit red. He knelt down and said, "Steward Wang said that Father was poisoned to death. Is it true?"
Han Xinran was crying. She reached out and placed her hand on her son's hand. She didn't say a word but shed tears silently. At this moment, silence spoke louder than words. Even without an answer from Han Xinran, Pan Xintian understood what his mother meant.
"Father!" Having got the confirmation from Han Xinran, Pan Xintian burst into tears.
Judging from the reactions of this mother - son pair, Wei Shuxuan didn't think they were acting. However, concrete evidence was needed to prove this. Intuition didn't count for much.
"Cough, cough, cough..." Wei Shuxuan gave a soft cough to remind Han Xinran and Pan Xintian that there was someone else here. "I know you two are very sad now, but isn't it more urgent to find out the murderer who killed Mr. Pan? Only in this way can we console Mr. Pan's soul in heaven."
Pan Xintian glanced at his mother, wiped away his tears, and said, "I'm really sorry for being so disgraceful in front of you. You're absolutely right. We should first find out the person who killed my father."
Wei Shuxuan thought Pan Xintian was quite sensible and considerate for his young age. She immediately developed a bit of a favorable impression of him. She smiled and said, "Then please sit down first."
After carefully interrogating them, Wei Shuxuan didn't think Han Xinran was the kind of woman who would have an affair. Han Xinran came from a scholarly family. Her every gesture and word exuded an air of elegance and poise. Moreover, she seemed quite traditional and would always follow her husband's family's wishes. She would never do something as immoral as having an affair.
If Han Xinran didn't have an affair, then why did Pan Anping write such things in his will? Was someone misleading him or was it just a red herring?
After the interrogation, Wei Shuxuan returned to her room and began to look through the notes she had taken in the front hall. There wasn't the slightest clue in them.
While Wei Shuxuan was sitting there staring blankly at her notebook, there came a few soft knocks on the door.
".....Wait a minute. I'll open the door!" Wei Shuxuan quickly closed her notebook.
As soon as she opened the door, she saw Xin Zizhao standing outside. She looked at him in surprise and asked, "Xin Zizhao, why are you here?"
"I came to see if you've found any clues."
Xin Zizhao walked past Wei Shuxuan and entered her room. Wei Shuxuan poked her head out and looked around. Seeing that there was no one around, she closed the door.
As soon as the door was closed, Wei Shuxuan turned around and saw Xin Zizhao looking through her notebook. She sat down beside him and said, "Do you have any ideas after reading this? I'm completely at a loss. I don't think it's very likely that Han Xinran poisoned her husband because he knew about her affair."
"Why do you say so?" Xin Zizhao looked up at Wei Shuxuan.
"How should I put it? The grief she showed when she learned of her husband's death was hard to fake. Moreover, considering her family background, I don't think she would do something that violated the three obediences and four virtues."
"Indeed..." Xin Zizhao echoed. Coincidentally, he thought the same way.
He put down the notebook in his hand and said, "Since there are no clues from Han Xinran, how about we give up the investigation here and change our direction?"
Wei Shuxuan suddenly turned her head and met Xin Zizhao's cold gaze. She gave a sly smile and said, "I think your method is quite good."
"Oh? Do you have an idea?" Xin Zizhao raised his eyebrows.
"Sure. I'm going to start with the poison. Do you know what kind of poison was put in the wine?" Wei Shuxuan looked at Xin Zizhao seriously.
"No. I didn't check that pot of wine."
"It's not that difficult. Wait for me a moment."
With that, Wei Shuxuan left the room. Xin Zizhao only caught a glimpse of her back from the corner of his eye. Then the door slammed shut.
While Wei Shuxuan was away, Xin Zizhao took a look around the room she was staying in. When his eyes swept across the bed, a touch of green caught his eye. His ears couldn't help but turn a faint pink. He helplessly rubbed his forehead. Couldn't this person just tidy up her things properly?
No, it wasn't right for him to come into her room like this either. He had seen Wei Shuxuan come back after taking the statements. He had just acted on impulse and knocked on the door.
Just as Xin Zizhao had adjusted his slightly flustered state of mind, Wei Shuxuan came back. In addition to a pot of wine, she was also carrying a plate of delicate pastries. She warmly invited Xin Zizhao to have some.
"Come on, have some."
Xin Zizhao glanced at the wine pot in front of him. If he remembered correctly, this should be the pot of wine that Pan Anping had drunk before his death.
"You didn't bring that pot of wine back, did you?"
"Yes. I brought it back for you to investigate. Didn't you say you wanted to take a look?" Wei Shuxuan didn't realize anything inappropriate about what she had done.
Well, since it was already done, it would be a waste not to investigate.
He picked up the lid of the wine pot, poured out some wine, and gently smelled it. He frowned. If he wasn't wrong, it should be that.
Xin Zizhao got up and went back to his room to get a small medicine bottle. He poured out the liquid in the small medicine bottle and mixed it with the wine. A special change occurred.
The clear and colorless wine actually turned black!
"Sure enough, it's gelsemium."
"What's that?" Wei Shuxuan knew nothing about Chinese herbal medicine. Xin Zizhao had also only seen the toxicity of gelsemium for the first time. He didn't expect it to be so powerful.
"It's a highly poisonous herb. The whole plant is poisonous, especially the roots. However, because this herb has the effects of relieving pain and reducing inflammation, it can also be bought in pharmacies."
Wei Shuxuan nodded and said, "I know what to do."
After learning that the poison was gelsemium, Wei Shuxuan started to investigate the people who had been to the pharmacies recently. She visited every pharmacy in Quan'an Town. She asked the people in the pharmacies if anyone from the Pan Mansion had come to buy medicine recently. The answer was yes. However, when she checked the records of their medicine purchases, she found that they had only bought some tonics. Even Pan Anping himself had bought medicine from the pharmacy.
The clue stopped here. Many people from the Pan Mansion had been to the pharmacies to buy medicine. It was very difficult to screen them out. The scope was too large and the investigation was very difficult. So she gave up the investigation of the source of the poison.
Wei Shuxuan slightly curled her lips. It didn't matter. She still had another direction to investigate...