Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 17 How was the poison administered?
"You said that Master Ma has retired and returned to his hometown, and the master has no capable assistant, so why not let Miss Rong come to help. Being a master is not bad either. As the saying goes, time brings success..." Mo Yun was interrupted by a cough before he finished speaking.

The two looked up and saw Yan Mingzhang turning around and staring at them, clearly having heard everything they had just said. Mo Yun rubbed the back of his head, feeling a little embarrassed, but still brazenly winked at Yan Mingzhang and asked enthusiastically, "Sir! What are your instructions?"

Changfeng held back his laughter, looked at Yan Mingzhang, and then at Rong Wanyin.

Yan Mingzhang felt uncomfortable being stared at by the two men. He couldn't help but kick one of them and said angrily, "Go where it's cooler!"

The two of them responded with a smile and quickly shut up.

Mo Yun opened the food box and served a bowl of Tremella soup to each of the four people.

The four of them sat around the table. Yan Mingzhang absentmindedly drank a sip of Tremella soup and then thought that there were some things he had not figured out yet.

Rong Wanyin took a sip and thought it wasn't sweet enough, so she scooped three spoonfuls of sugar in. After thinking about it, she also added three full spoonfuls of sugar to Yan Mingzhang's Tremella Soup.

Yan Mingzhang was contemplating how the murderer had poisoned him, and didn't notice Rong Wanyin had added sugar to his drink. He casually picked up the Tremella soup and began to drink it. Yan Mingzhang felt a greasy sweetness choke his throat, and suddenly he choked and started coughing. He glanced at the Tremella soup in disbelief, muttering to himself, "It wasn't that sweet just now!"

"Ah, is it a little too sweet? I just drank it and didn't think it was sweet enough, so I added some sugar and added it to yours too. Is it too much?" Rong Wanyin asked with a blink of her eyes.

"It's a little sweet indeed." Yan Mingzhang wiped the sweat from his forehead, thinking that it was not sweet at all, but he was too embarrassed to say it out loud. Suddenly, he seemed to realize something: "What did you say? Add it later? Add it later... add it later..."

Yan Mingzhang suddenly realized something, as if remembering something: "I might know how the murderer poisoned him! Quick, go find Master and Madam Wen!"

Everyone had just stood up and had not yet had time to look for Master Wen.

Then a servant came running in in a hurry: "Sir, it's bad, Master Wen and Madam Wen are missing!"

Yan Mingzhang and Rong Wanyin looked at each other and hurried over.

"What's going on?" Yan Mingzhang took a deep breath and asked in a deep voice.

"Your Excellency, after taking over the shift with the first shift, the three of us have been guarding the door and have never left. The two of them are still there. There were a few coughs in the room earlier, but then it was very quiet. I thought Master Wen had fallen asleep, so I didn't ask. Doctor Yan came to take Master Wen's pulse, and when he opened the door, he found that he was gone. Then we went to see Madam Wen, and she was gone too!" the servant replied.

Yan Mingzhang and Rong Wanyin exchanged a glance and said, "Oh no! Go find them! Master Wen and Madam Wen are in danger!"

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As the sky gradually darkened, Tinglanxuan in the sunset glow had a unique charm. Tinglanxuan was built along the lake, half on the shore and half above the water. It was a stilt house with five rooms on the first floor. Master Wen and Madam Wen lived in the two middle rooms, and the rest were vacant. Therefore, there was only one main entrance to the room, and there were three servants on duty at the door, working in three shifts. No one could enter the room and take Master Wen and Madam Wen away. There was a row of windows on the main entrance side of the two rooms, but there was only one large window on the wall facing the door. This large window faced the door, and when it was opened, the lake was below. However, Tinglanxuan was built on a high place, and the windows were a full ten feet above the lake, making it impossible for people to get down. "Has there been any abnormality?" Yan Mingzhang asked the servant standing at the door while checking his surroundings.

"I haven't noticed anything unusual. Since Master Wen entered the house, only Miss Wen has entered and left." A servant replied.

In the evening, the eldest daughter brought a food box. The younger ones followed the adults' instructions and checked the food. Only when there was no problem did they let her in. We watched Master Wen and Madam Wen drink their medicine, eat their porridge, and go to bed. At first, we could still hear coughing coming from the room. The eldest daughter asked Doctor Yan to come back later. After dinner, when Doctor Yan came, we found that he was gone! The quilt was lifted, and we searched the room inside and outside, but there was no one. Then we went to Madam Wen's room and found that she was gone too!

"Did you really not leave just now?" Yan Mingzhang asked the servant.

"Your Excellency, we have been guarding the door and have never left," the servant said solemnly. "The three of us have been here the entire time, and nothing unusual has happened... Your Excellency, this room only has one exit, and the window on this side has always been tightly closed. There is a window on the other side, but there is water below. Even with a boat, there's no way to quietly carry two people away. This room could even be considered a secret chamber."

Yan Mingzhang began to search the house carefully. The objects in the house were neatly arranged and there were no signs of fighting.

"There are no signs of a struggle in the room. There are only two possibilities: one is that Master Wen left on his own initiative, and the other is that Master and Madam Wen were taken away while unconscious."

Rong Wanyin also walked around the room but found nothing.

"Changfeng, you are good at light work. If it were you, could you take Master Wen and jump onto the boat?" Yan Mingzhang asked, stroking the window frame.

Changfeng stepped forward, looked out the window, and shook his head. "This window is too far from the water, a full ten feet high. Master Wen weighs at least 160 pounds. Let alone two people, even if I were alone, I wouldn't be able to avoid making a loud noise. None of these people heard any sound. Could it be that someone just disappeared into the secret room?"

"Master Yan, something bad has happened. The eldest lady is missing too! Just now, the young lady fed the master and the mistress and went into the house to rest. I was waiting outside the door, but when I brought in tea, the eldest lady disappeared!" Miss Wen's personal maid, Lupin, hurriedly ran to everyone.

Everyone arrived at Miss Wen's room, which was next to Master Wen's room and had an identical layout. Yan Mingzhang and Rong Wanyin searched the room carefully. The items were neatly arranged, with no signs of a struggle. Miss Wen had disappeared into another "secret room"! Three secret rooms in a row!

Rong Wanyin opened the big window and leaned out. This window was very far from the window of the next room.

Yan Mingzhang looked at her and asked, "Are you sure you can climb from here to the next window?"

Rong Wanyin looked around and shook her head. "So-called Qinggong is actually about leveraging force, but these two windows are quite far apart. I'm not sure how to do it myself, let alone bring someone along. Master Wen doesn't have any martial arts skills at all. Unless we use something, it will be very difficult to get from here to the next window, to the water, or to the roof."

Suddenly, Rong Wanyin discovered something and patted Yan Mingzhang lightly.

(End of this chapter)