I became the tyrant's only belief.

Chapter 154: The person can escape, but the house cannot

"However, if you just want to treat bruises and swellings, you can buy processed strychnine."

The shopkeeper's words made Dong Yi's eyes light up slightly. He looked at him and asked, "What's the difference between the two?"

The shopkeeper said, "Raw strychnine is highly toxic. After being processed, its toxicity is reduced, but its medicinal properties remain the same. Most of the medicine shops in the city only sell processed strychnine."

Dong Yi was puzzled: "Then why does Jimin Pharmacy sell raw strychnine?"

The shopkeeper replied, "My Lord, the boss collected those raw strychnine seeds for processing, and never intended to sell them. After all, just a little bit of raw strychnine seeds can kill a person. If someone eats it by mistake, no one can bear the responsibility."

Dong Yi nodded, that was indeed the truth.

The laws of this dynasty also have clear regulations, such as highly toxic medicinal materials such as strychnine, which cannot be sold to ordinary people without authorization.

"That day, this young man Chen came with Doctor Zheng from Renxin Clinic. They said that Renxin Clinic had run out of strychnine and wanted to buy some raw strychnine to treat this young man's injury." The shopkeeper said, "According to the law, as long as there is a doctor willing to guarantee it, it can be sold. It just so happened that we had some in our shop, so I sold some."

So when he heard that strychnine was put into the porridge provided by the Grand Tutor's Mansion, he was panicked for several days, worried that the medicine from his own shop had caused the trouble.

After all, he had just sold raw strychnine, and right after that several people died from the strychnine poisoning. How could it be such a coincidence?

He was worried the whole time and recalled the conversation between him and Chen Dong that day as well as Chen Dong's appearance over and over again. When the officials came to his door, he told them everything, for fear that his shop would be implicated.

Dong Yi looked at Chen Dong and asked, "Since processed strychnine has the same medicinal effect as raw strychnine, and processed strychnine is available in all pharmacies, why do you only buy raw strychnine?"

Chen Dong scratched his head. "This is a folk remedy I heard from a traveling doctor. It's to make strychnine. I injured my hand and can't do wood carving. Seeing that I have no income, I am anxious, so I want to try this folk remedy."

Seeing Dong Yi frown, he quickly added: "I recited the recipe to Doctor Zheng, and Doctor Zheng thought it was feasible, so I asked him to accompany me to the pharmacy to buy raw strychnine. After asking many stores, I finally found Jimin Pharmacy."

He smiled and shook his arm: "Thanks to this folk remedy, my injury is almost healed."

There seems to be nothing wrong with this statement.

Dong Yi was just about to send someone to the Renxin Clinic to ask Doctor Zheng for help when he suddenly heard a shout from outside. He raised his voice and asked, "What's the matter?"

The yamen runner guarding the door came in with a little girl in a red jacket and said, "Sir, this little girl is spying outside, and I am trying to get her out of here."

Dong Yi looked carefully and saw that the girl was no more than ten years old, with a slender figure. The red coat made her face look fair and rosy. Her big black eyes were clear and lively, and she looked like a lovely child.

Thinking of his daughter, he couldn't help but smile and asked in a softer voice, "What are you looking at outside?"

"I heard that a high-ranking official was coming, so I was curious." Chu Yuxin grabbed the corner of her clothes nervously, her face tense, "I'm not a bad person, don't catch me."

Dong Yi teased her: "How do you prove that you are not a bad person?"

Chu Yuxin pointed to the next door with her little hand: "My house is right next to the grocery store. People can run away but the house can't. I can't run away. I'm not a bad person."

Dong Yi laughed and said, "Little girl, the monk can escape but the temple cannot. Don't make the wrong statement next time."

Chu Yuxin nodded her head and asked, "Can I go home?"

Dong Yi nodded, and just as he asked the yamen runner to send Chu Yuxin out, he glanced at Chen Dong and called him back, "Wait."

Chu Yuxin's little body trembled, and when she turned around, her eyes were already tearful and she pursed her lips, as if she was about to cry at the next moment.

Dong Yi realized that he had frightened the little girl, so he said hurriedly, "I won't arrest you. I'll ask you another question."

Hearing that they would not arrest her, Chu Yuxin sniffed and held back her tears. She even bowed like she did in the play: "Excuse me, sir."

Dong Yi pointed at Chen Dong and said, "You two are neighbors. Are you familiar with each other?"

Chu Yuxin looked at Chen Dong, shook her head, and then nodded. Dong Yi confused her: "Do you know him well?"

Chu Yuxin said: "Brother Dong is my brother's friend, not my friend. I am not familiar with him."

Hearing this, Chen Dong looked at her with a smile on his face: "Since we are not familiar with each other, I won't ask your brother to bring you snacks next time."

Chu Yuxin's little face suddenly wrinkled into a ball. She wanted to eat the snacks, but she didn't want to make friends. Her elder sister said that the friends that her elder brother made were not very reliable.

Listening to the conversation between the two, Dong Yi sent someone to the grocery store next door to invite Chu Shangming, who was studying at home, over.

Chu Shangming walked into the woodcarving workshop confused. He saluted Dong Yi first, then looked up and saw Chu Yuxin and Chen Dong staring at each other. He couldn't help but wonder, "Xin'er, why are you here if you're not looking after the shop?"

Chu Yuxin pouted and didn't answer. She ran to his side, grabbed her eldest brother's clothes with her little hands, and said to Dong Yi: "Sir, my eldest brother is also a good man, please don't arrest him."

Dong Yi thought, does he have the words "arrest anyone he meets" written on his face? This little girl is actually quite protective of her big brother.

He cleared his throat and asked Chu Shangming: "Were you in the shop five days ago?"

Chu Shangming looked up at the sky and recalled that the academy was on holiday and the weather was cold, so he had been studying at home and helping to run the store. He was indeed there all the time, so he nodded.

Seeing this, Dong Yi continued to ask: "Have you seen any strangers entering or leaving the woodcarving workshop?"

Chu Shangming thought for a moment and asked, "What kind of stranger?"

Dong Yi ordered the bailiff to show him the suspect's portrait.

Chu Shangming looked at the pictures one by one and shook his head: "These people are not in the portraits."

Hearing this, Dong Yi looked at him and asked, "What does the person you saw look like?"

Chu Shangming turned around to look for pen and ink, but after looking around he couldn't find any, so he had to run back to the grocery store to get them.

He learned painting from a teacher at a private school in the village. He wasn't very good at painting, but he could still draw a simple portrait.

"It looks roughly like this." After Chu Shangming finished drawing, he pinched the two corners of the drawing paper and lifted it up to show everyone.

There are four faces on the drawing paper, three men and one woman. The drawings are crude, but the basic features are all there and can be recognized.

Dong Yi ordered the bailiff to put the portraits of the suspects drawn by the painters nearby for viewing together.

Chu Yuxin tilted her head and stared at her eldest brother's painting for a long time. Suddenly, she said "Oh" and pointed at the man's face on the far right of the drawing paper: "He came at night. I've seen him."

Dong Yi immediately looked at her: "What do you remember?"

"Hmm..." Chu Yuxin frowned as she recalled, "He was very tall, holding a long sword, and there was a big ruby ​​on the handle, it was very beautiful."

Dong Yi thought that without the gem, the little girl might have forgotten it long ago.

"He walks very fast and is very rude. He didn't even apologize when he bumped into me." Chu Yuxin rubbed her head with a pout, as if the place where she was bumped still hurt.

As she was rubbing her wrist, she suddenly remembered, “Oh, by the way, there is a scar on his wrist!”

"Really?" Dong Yi's eyes flashed, and he asked repeatedly, "Which hand? What kind of scar?"

"Left...right..." Chu Yuxin muttered as she stretched out her arms to gesture, which made everyone anxious. How could she still not tell the left from the right?

Seeing that his little sister was confused by herself, Chu Shangming reminded her, "The hand you eat with is your right hand."

Hearing this, Chu Yuxin immediately confirmed it and raised her right hand high: "This one!"