Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 298 Tampered Memory
"Besides, we haven't found out where the incense and ink stick came from. We can't say at this time that Prince Nanping is definitely the murderer." Ren Yuan continued.

"The truth is correct, but I'm afraid King Poyang won't agree with it." The Fifth Dimension said with a wry smile.

"Yes, they had a big fight over the position of commander. The emperor decided at the Double Ninth Festival banquet to let Prince Poyang take charge, and Prince Nanping left the table in anger." Chen Qingzhi nodded and said, "Why don't you let Prince Poyang blame him?"

"But we can't hide this from the King of Poyang." Diwu Wei said, "He will definitely get to the bottom of it."

"How about this," Chen Qingzhi thought, "Don't make it public. I'll report to the emperor first and ask the Prince of Nanping to go out and hide for a while. Then I'll go and tell the Prince of Poyang."

As he said this, he looked deeply at Diwu Wei and Ren Yuan and said, "Try to use this time difference to catch the real culprit. If it's not the Prince of Nanping, that would be the best. If it's him... we'll talk about it later."

"Yes." Diwu Wei and Ren Yuan responded in a deep voice.

~~
The three of them then acted separately, and Chen Qingzhi immediately went to the palace and reported the situation to the emperor.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan was furious and immediately called Xiao Wei to question him. Xiao Wei naturally denied it and said that he did not do it.

At present, Xiao Wei was only a suspect, and Xiao Yan could not do anything to him. From the bottom of his heart, he did not want to believe that his beloved brother would do such a thing of fratricide... Although he no longer had any confidence in his own family.

But the emperor still temporarily kept Xiao Wei in the palace and did not let him go out, in case Xiao Hui did something irrational...

"There are still two days left, the case must be solved!" Xiao Yan glared at Chen Qingzhi again.

~~
The words are divided into two parts.

Meanwhile, Ren Yuan and Diwu Wei returned to Poyang Palace. They first reported to the prince that the poison was a bit complicated and that Poison Grandma needed time to examine it. Then they hurried to the courtyard that the palace had specially vacated for them to investigate the case.

All the palace guards who had access to the prince's daily life were temporarily detained in the courtyard. Everyone had to be examined by Nangong and Zuan, and could only be released after being confirmed innocent.

After the Fifth Dimension came in, he asked the palace servants under trial to leave first, explained the situation to Nangong and the others, and then ordered:
"First, examine the palace maids who have access to incense and writing materials."

"Okay." Nangong responded and asked Feng Changshi, the palace's chief steward who had already passed the review, "Who has access to the prince's incense? Where did the ink sticks come from?"

"The incense is ambergris imported from overseas and added by palace maids who specialize in lighting incense. As for the ink sticks, they are made by the palace's own ink maker." Feng Changshi replied.

"Will flower petals be added to the incense?" asked the Fifth Dimension.

"How could that be? Wouldn't that mix the fragrance? What a waste of natural resources." Feng Changshi shook his head.

"There must be something wrong with the incense-lighting maid." The Fifth Dimension said, "Interrogate her first, and at the same time control the ink maker to prevent him from committing suicide."

"Yes." Ren Yuan responded and did it immediately.

After a while, a trembling palace maid was brought in.

"Don't be afraid, just tell the truth." Zu An, who was in charge of the interrogation, stared into the maid's eyes and said, "Did you add the red spider lily to the incense burner in the prince's bedroom?"

"Yes." The maid couldn't help but tell the truth.

"You!" Feng Changshi couldn't hold it anymore. This time he was also responsible.

"Quiet." Nangong glanced at him, and Feng Changshi was immediately speechless.

"Why are you doing this?" Zuan asked in a deep voice.

"Revenge. Ten years ago, the Fushan Weir burst and drowned my whole family." The palace maid gritted her teeth and said, "Xiao Hui was the supervisor at that time. I want to kill him to avenge my parents and my brothers and sisters!"

"How did you get into the palace? Where did the red spider lily come from?" Zu An asked, "Who is behind this?"

"After I fled to Beijing ten years ago, I sold myself to the palace, working while waiting for an opportunity." The maids answered in turn: "I bought the red spider lily with my own money, and I did all this on my own initiative. No one ordered me to do it."

"You're talking nonsense! Using red spider lily alone won't hurt King Poyang. It also requires the cooperation of the other two poisons. How is it possible that there's no one organizing behind the scenes?" Zuan slammed the table: "If no one is directing you from behind, how can you know about the 'Meteoric Tribulation'?!" "..." The palace maid was speechless.

Zuan's expression was also very bad, and he turned to his superiors and said, "She actually lied to me."

"Could it be that she has some great magical power?"

"How is that possible? She doesn't even have any magical powers." The Fifth Dimension shook his head decisively.

"Let me take a look." Nangong walked up to the maid, stretched out his right hand and placed it on her forehead, and said gently: "You are sleepy, put down your guard and sleep peacefully..."

"..."The maid was quickly hypnotized and her eyes lost focus.

"Now tell me, who ordered you to do this?" Nangong asked softly.

"No one ordered me to do that." The maid shook her head slowly.

"Where are your accomplices?" Nangong frowned slightly and asked in a calm tone.

"I have no accomplices." The maid still shook her head.

Nangong looked at the fifth dimension in surprise.

"Ask her where the red spider lily comes from." The Fifth Dimension said softly.

Nangong asked, and the maid replied, "I bought it."

"Who did you buy it from?"

"A peddler passing by."

"Isn't that bullshit!" Zuan couldn't help cursing, "Do you think that stuff is rouge and powder? You can buy it from a peddler's shoulder pole!"

"What's going on?" The fifth dimension was puzzled.

"..." Nangong raised his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet.

Then she lit some incense, sat cross-legged in meditation, and her spirit left her body, entering the palace maid's dream...

The fifth dimension is always ready, and once the situation gets bad, he will use the Yang God to pull her out.

Fortunately, Xiao Hui in the palace maid’s dream was not a demigod and could not do anything to Nangong. Apart from him, there were no other powerful characters.

When Nangong opened his eyes, everyone asked hurriedly, "How is it?"

"Her memory is completely consistent with what she said, but there are signs of tampering." Nangong said: "Normal memory is discontinuous fragments, but there are internal connections that can be strung together. However, her memory has many faults, which is obviously erased by human beings."

"Also, there are some memories that cannot be connected to the others. They must have been tampered with by someone."

"So, there's no point in asking her to paint the peddler's portrait?" Zuan asked.

"It should be, but the painting still needs to be drawn." Nangong ordered.

"I understand." So Zuan took the palace maid to the next room to teach her how to paint.

Nangong continued to interrogate the ink maker, and he also said that his family was killed by Xiao Hui, so he wanted to seek revenge on him. As for the Guixu wood, he also bought it from the peddler at the door...

Even the rhetoric was the same, and it was obvious that his memory had been tampered with.

(End of this chapter)