TWWDS - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Inside the study.

Xu Zhongzhi personally poured tea for Deputy Magistrate Han and Chao Qingxiu, then sat to one side and quietly listened in.

Han Sihe was still deep in thought. "...You mean A-Shan was not the one who poisoned Miss Xu, and that the false A-Su was?"

Chao Qingxiu nodded.

Xu Zhongzhi could not help asking, "When did you discover the truth, Miss Chao?"

He had always called Chao Qingxiu Doctor Chao. Only after she once again declared that she was not a doctor did he use another form of address in Han Sihe's presence.

Chao Qingxiu smiled. "Because I have always known that A-Shan was not the one who administered the poison."

"If A-Shan had meant to act, her only opportunity would have been between accepting the tray and Miss Xu drinking the medicine. That would have made it very difficult not to attract attention."

"She could hide the poison in her sleeve and quietly pour it in when no one was looking."

Chao Qingxiu shook her head. "Deputy Magistrate, you do not know that the Xu family's maids bind their cuffs with cords. Hiding poison inside one would be far too awkward."

Han Sihe had in fact already been convinced by Chao Qingxiu's reasoning, but because it was her duty, she still had to examine it in detail. "What if it was smeared on her hands or hidden beneath her nails?"

"After Miss Xu finished drinking the medicine, A-Shan peeled a piece of candy for her. Miss Xu did not want it, so A-Shan disposed of it herself. If there had been poison powder on her hands, there would have been no reason for her to put the candy into her own mouth." She then added, "Besides, I heard that A-Shan accompanied Miss Xu to the academy as well."

"That is correct."

"Previously, I heard Master Xu mention matters at home while we were on the street. He said Miss Xu had insisted on taking the academy examination over several days. When she returned home, she fell ill and took to her bed."

Xu Zhongzhi explained, "At the time, I thought my elder sister had studied too hard, which had aggravated her headache."

"I had thought much the same at first. Only after taking her pulse did I realize that Miss Xu had been poisoned and was gravely ill. That changed the circumstances. She did not fall ill at the academy because the medicine there had not been tampered with. She collapsed after returning home because the medicine at home had been tampered with. A-Shan had also been brought to the academy to accompany her in her studies. If she were the true culprit, your elder sister would already have collapsed there. How could she possibly have held on until the examination ended?"

After all, a victim's usual grades would hardly count toward a poisoner's performance review. No killer would be kind enough to wait until the exams were over before striking.

Xu Zhongzhi suddenly understood.

"So that is it." He paused, then said, "But although I now understand that A-Shan was not the culprit, I still cannot understand why she voluntarily took the blame when I was the one who identified her as the culprit at the time."

Xu Zhongzhi looked at Chao Qingxiu, who said,

"Either she was in cahoots with someone, or she was covering for someone."

"Because Miss Xu remained well at the academy, we may set aside for now the possibility that A-Shan was in cahoots with someone. Since she did not administer the poison, and Miss Xu's pulse only revealed the problem after she drank the medicine, the poison had already been placed before A-Shan accepted the tray. Yet Young Master Xu was not poisoned, so the poison was most likely smeared on the rim of the bowl."

"Why couldn't it have been smeared on the inside of the bowl?"

"The medicine had only just been boiled, and it was too hot, so it had been deliberately left to cool for a while. During that time, condensation would inevitably have formed on the inside of the bowl. If the poison had been smeared there, it could easily have mixed with the droplets and run down into the medicine. Then the medicine in the spoon would have been poisoned as well."

When Xu Zhongzhi had tasted the medicine for his sister, he had used a spoon, whereas Miss Xu had lifted the bowl and drained it in one go. That difference in the way they had taken the medicine determined whether or not they were poisoned.

"I went to the kitchen and saw that the two maids responsible for boiling the medicine at the time were A-Su, who was knocking elm seeds down by the doorway, and A-Qing, who was eating dried jujubes in the room. Before A-Shan, the two of them had handled the medicine bowl more than anyone else."

Han Sihe was just about to ask why Chao Qingxiu did not suspect A-Qing when an idea suddenly struck her. "A-Qing was probably holding the dried jujubes with her bare hands, and she touched the edge of the medicine bowl too, didn't she?"

Chao Qingxiu nodded. "The Deputy Magistrate's guess is not far off. Nanny Wang said A-Qing had always been like this, and she often shared the snacks in her hands with others. If poison had already been smeared on the rim, her touching it with her hand would have made it easy for both her and those around her to be poisoned. If several people in one household began showing the same symptoms, the problem would be very easy to expose."

After all the other suspects had been ruled out, only A-Su remained.

Thinking it through more carefully, Xu Zhongzhi himself had to be included among the suspects. If he were the culprit, however, he would never have gone to the trouble of having Chao Qingxiu invited to examine his sister.

"Once I had concluded that A-Su was the prime suspect, the question became why A-Shan had chosen to take the blame for the person who had acted."

"There were only two reasons she might be willing to do so, personal gain or affection. But if she had been bought off, then, as Miss Xu's personal maid, she could have poisoned her directly on someone else's behalf. There would have been no need to cover it up afterward."

"But A-Shan did not seem close to anyone except her brother."

Chao Qingxiu smiled and turned the question around. "How do you know it was not for her brother's sake?"

Xu Zhongzhi was surprised. "Could her brother be involved in this as well?"

"Could someone have used her brother to coerce A-Shan?"

"Actually, one thing A-Shan said when she confessed was well put: 'The more people who know of such a thing, the easier it is for a flaw to show.' From the false A-Su's point of view, there was no need to threaten A-Shan at all. If A-Shan thought it over and decided after all that Miss Xu came first, she might reveal the truth. Wouldn't that expose the plan for nothing?"

The more Xu Zhongzhi heard, the more bewildered he became. "Then why did A-Shan help take the blame?"

Chao Qingxiu pondered for a moment. "I have only a few guesses, and they may not match the facts. You two may hear them, but take them with a grain of salt. A-Shan's brother did not tamper with the medicine, but she believed that he was the one who had."

"You mean A-Shan misunderstood her brother?"

"Probably so. And if we follow that assumption further, under what circumstances would A-Shan have believed that her brother had tampered with the medicine?"

"In A-Shan's view, there were only two places where the medicine could be tampered with: on the road as it was being brought here, and in the kitchen. Poisoning it on the road made little sense and would have been easy to notice, so A-Shan must have happened to see her brother enter the kitchen. Perhaps she even caught him slipping secretly into the small courtyard where the medicine was being boiled, behind everyone else's back."

"At the time, she did not know what her brother meant to do. Although she was suspicious, she kept it to herself. When she was told that the medicine had been poisoned, she immediately thought back to what she had seen. After struggling with the choice, she decided to take the blame for her relative."

At this point, Chao Qingxiu turned to the others. "Young Master Xu should remember that when the medicine was being left to cool, A-Su deliberately went outside to knock elm seeds down. In my view, she was trying to create a situation in which only A-Qing and the medicine would be together. If the matter came to light, she would still have a scapegoat. A-Qing was probably willing to go along with it, since with A-Su absent, it would be easier for her to meet the person waiting for her in the room."

Though Chao Qingxiu had not put it plainly, Han Sihe and Xu Zhongzhi both understood what she meant.

A-Shan's brother had indeed slipped secretly into the room where the medicine was being boiled, but his purpose had not been to poison it. He had gone to meet A-Qing.

This was probably another reason Chao Qingxiu did not suspect A-Qing. Poisoning someone in such a simple way did not require two people, especially when it was so difficult for the other person to get in. Working alone made more sense.

"A-Shan's decision to confess also came as a great surprise to the false A-Su. After noticing the misunderstanding, she simply came to silence her. Otherwise, once A-Shan learned that her brother had not been in the residence that day, she might begin to suspect that he had not poisoned the medicine and reveal the truth."

Xu Zhongzhi let out a long breath. "So that is how it was." Looking at Chao Qingxiu, he bowed to her with heartfelt gratitude. "Thanks to you being here, Miss Chao, my whole family has been saved. Otherwise, even though the false A-Su did not succeed this time, she would certainly have tried a second time later."

Han Sihe could not help saying, "Would you consider taking office in the capital, Miss Chao? With your abilities, once you entered the Six Doors, you would surely rise rapidly."

This was no mere courtesy.

In all her years of public service, Han Sihe had never encountered anyone as perceptive as Chao Qingxiu.

Chao Qingxiu turned first to Xu Zhongzhi. "I merely happened to be there. You are too kind, Young Master Xu." She then looked at Han Sihe. "Thank you for your kind thought, Deputy Magistrate. If I ever make plans for my future, I will be sure to come to see you."

She was telling the truth, but Han Sihe took it for the kind of courteous refusal common among people of the martial world. She did not press the matter and only smiled. "I am not skilled in criminal matters. If it had not been for you, Miss Chao, this would probably have remained an unsolved case."

Xu Zhongzhi nodded as well.

He was more deeply struck by the realization than Han Sihe. It was only natural that Deputy Magistrate Han, who had come later, did not understand the circumstances. Yet Xu Zhongzhi himself was the head of this household and, in theory, the person who should have known its affairs best. Even so, he had failed to notice the slightest flaw.

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