Xin Zizhao recognized the eunuch in front of him. Wasn't he the little eunuch beside the tutor?
"Prince Wu... Um..." The little eunuch was finally able to find the person he was looking for. His face was beaming with excitement. Just as he was about to say something important, Xin Zizhao reached out and covered his mouth. Xin Zizhao didn't want this guy to say anything unnecessary in front of Wei Shuxuan.
"Alright, whatever it is, let's go over there and talk," Xin Zizhao didn't want the tutor to look for him in a grand manner, and he definitely didn't want his father, the emperor, to find out about his skipping class.
The little eunuch nodded in fear. Then Xin Zizhao let go of his hand. Facing Xin Zizhao's sudden action, Wei Shuxuan found it very strange. Xin Zizhao's character shouldn't be like this!
"I won't go to the remaining places. I have something to go back and deal with."
Xin Zizhao glanced at Wei Shuxuan indifferently, then left with the little eunuch.
"Ge Zian, do you think where is Xin Zizhao going?" Wei Shuxuan watched Xin Zizhao's fading figure and asked the man standing beside her.
"Probably... he's in trouble."
Ge Zian replied with a smile. Wei Shuxuan thought for a while, and a possibility emerged in her mind. Could it be that Xin Zizhao skipped class? But why did he skip class? To help her investigate the case?
Finally, they were far away from Wei Shuxuan and Ge Zian. Only then did Xin Zizhao start to ask the little eunuch. His voice was cold. "Did the tutor send you here to find me?"
"Yes, Your Highness Prince Wu. There was a small quiz this morning. The tutor didn't allow his students to skip this quiz."
Where did this sudden quiz come from? Xin Zizhao thought gloomily.
With Xin Zizhao gone, Wei Shuxuan felt that her opportunity had come. She could find a good time to be alone with Ge Zian and confess some things to him. But the most important thing now was to go to Sishui Tower first.
Sishui Tower was where the maids who took care of Emperor Jinzheng's daily life lived. It was located behind Qianyu Palace, and there was a back door there to get in.
As soon as Wei Shuxuan and Ge Zian appeared at the back door of Sishui Tower, they saw a maid rushing inside. Wei Shuxuan quickly called out to her. "Sister maid, please wait a moment!"
The maid stopped when she heard someone calling her. She saw two exceptionally good - looking men walking towards her. She recognized one of them. He was the son of General Long'an, Ge Zian, who was also a general now. As for the other one... she didn't know him very well. She just regarded him as Ge Zian's attendant for the time being.
"This servant greets General Ge."
"Be excused," Ge Zian glanced at Wei Shuxuan. Seeing that her expression was normal, he then turned to look at the maid with her head down. "I have something I want to ask you."
"Please ask, General."
"Do you know that a maid named Cui'er died in your tower a few days ago?"
"Yes, I do."
"Could you describe the scene at that time?"
"Yes. On the day Cui'er died, this servant and a few other sisters were also there. We had just come back from the imperial kitchen. When we opened the door, we saw Cui'er lying motionless on the table. We thought she was too tired and had fallen asleep. After all, she had just come back from the night shift that day. One of our sisters walked over to wake her up. Who would have thought that as soon as she pushed her, Cui'er fell to the ground. Her whole face was purple, and there was black saliva flowing from the corner of her mouth. It was really terrifying."
Ge Zian looked at Wei Shuxuan again. Wei Shuxuan nodded at him. Then Ge Zian asked the maid, "We would like to go inside and take a look at the room where Cui'er died. I wonder if it's convenient?"
After all, this was a place where women lived, and they were men. It was always a bit inconvenient.
"It's okay. No one has dared to live in that room since then. They say it's because the ghost of the daughter of the Wei family is still lingering. She came into the palace to take the lives of the palace people as revenge. So after Cui'er died, we didn't dare to live there anymore..." The maid still had a lingering fear when she talked about this.
It was still this rumor. Where did this rumor come from? Who wanted to slander the people of the Wei family?
When they came to that room, the layout inside was exactly the same as when Cui'er died. No one dared to touch the things inside for fear of being haunted by the ghost.
Wei Shuxuan walked in and took a look. There was a teapot on the table. She lifted the lid of the teapot. There was still water in it. She took out a silver needle from her waist. She got this from Xin Zizhao. It could be used to test if there was poison.
When the silver needle was put into the teapot and taken out a moment later, they saw that the end of it had turned black. This pot of tea was indeed poisoned. The murderer should have taken advantage of Cui'er's tiredness after the night shift and put poison in the tea. Cui'er didn't pay much attention and just drank the tea, so she died of poisoning.
"Excuse me, do you always keep this pot of tea here?" Wei Shuxuan turned to ask the maid.
"... Yes. Usually, our sisters take turns to go outside to boil the water and then bring it in. But the day before Cui'er died, one of our sisters broke the teapot. We had to wait for the Inner Palace Office to issue a new teapot to us before we could use it. But on the day after Cui'er died, we saw the teapot on the table. We thought it was Cui'er who had brought it back from the Inner Palace Office."
"Why did you think so?"
"That day, all the sisters in our room were called to the imperial kitchen to help."
"Except for Cui'er?"
"Yes, except for Cui'er."
Obviously, when there was no one in the room, the murderer found an opportunity to sneak into their room and replace the teapot. Cui'er was unaware and unknowingly drank the poisoned tea, which led to her death.
The layout of the room was very ordinary and there was nothing special. Except for that pot of poisoned tea, there were no other useful clues. Wei Shuxuan asked Ge Zian to take the pot of tea away, and then they left Sishui Tower.
It was noon now. Wei Shuxuan felt a bit hungry. She thought about going back to Fenghe Hall to eat something and then going to the remaining crime scenes in the afternoon.
"Mr. Wei, shall we go back to Fenghe Hall to eat something first?"
"I was just thinking the same thing."
When they got back to Fenghe Hall, Xin Zizhao hadn't returned yet. Wei Shuxuan told Chief Li to prepare lunch. In the main hall, only Wei Shuxuan and Ge Zian were left.
"Zian, I have something to tell you later."
"What is it?"
"You'll know later."
Seeing Wei Shuxuan being so mysterious and serious, Ge Zian smiled. "What could make your expression so serious?"
"Anyway, it's very important business. You must listen to me."