I am the Holy Poisoner, the Empress advised me to calm down

The bald man was startled, looked at me carefully, and then his face changed drastically. The little brother who had been watching me hurried over.

"Boss, he is the one..." The younger brother whispered something in his ear.

The bald man's face turned pale in an instant, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"You...you are..."

"Looks like you remembered." I sneered, "Can we go now?"

"Okay, okay." The bald man nodded repeatedly, then turned to the old man's son and said, "Zhang Jun, forget about what happened before. You don't have to pay back the money you owe."

"Wait a minute," I stopped them. "I understand the principle of repaying debts. In three days, I'll return the principal to you, but I won't pay a cent of interest."

The bald man seemed relieved: "Okay, okay, I'll do as you say."

After saying this, he hurried away with his men.

The corridor suddenly became quiet, and the old man and his son looked at me with incredible eyes.

"Xiaojun, what is going on?" asked the old man.

Zhang Jun smiled bitterly: "Dad, I..."

"Let's go inside first." I interrupted him. "We can talk later if you have anything to say."

The old man opened the door and we walked in. The house was small, but very clean. There was an old-fashioned coffee table in the living room and a few paintings and calligraphy on the wall.

"Sir, thank you so much for what you did just now." The old man poured us some tea. "If it weren't for you, my father and I would have..."

"Grandpa, you're very kind." I took the teacup. "But I'm curious, how did your son end up owing so much money?"

Zhang Jun blushed and lowered his head, saying, "I...I lost in gambling."

"Gambling?" I frowned. "Three hundred thousand is not a small sum. What kind of gambling game could lead to such a huge loss?"

"I was just playing mahjong. My luck had been bad recently, and the more I lost, the more I wanted to make up for it. But..." Zhang Jun's voice gradually became smaller.

I observed his expression carefully and found that things might not be that simple.

"Do you gamble often?"

"Not often, just occasionally playing with friends." Zhang Jun raised his head, "But recently, I have been playing a little too much."

"With what friends?"

"They are all old friends. We have known each other for many years." Zhang Jun said, "They won't harm me."

I made a judgment in my mind that this was most likely a trap.

"Grandpa, you said there are some precious medicinal herbs at home?" I changed the subject.

The old man nodded and stood up: "Come with me."

He led us into a small room with several wooden cabinets filled with various medicinal herbs. I could tell at a glance that there were quite a few good things there.

"This is wild Ganoderma lucidum, this is a century-old Polygonum multiflorum..." The old man introduced them one by one like a treasure.

I carefully checked them and found that they were all top quality. Suddenly, I found a special wooden box in a corner.

"Master, what's in this box?"

The old man hesitated for a moment, then carefully opened the box. Inside lay a ginseng root, pale yellow in color, with intact roots and a faint fragrance.

"Is this thousand-year-old wild ginseng?" I was surprised.

"Yes, this was passed down to me by my father. He said he found it deep in the Changbai Mountains," the old man said carefully. "I've been reluctant to use it, wanting to leave it to future generations."

My heart moved. Could it be that those people came for this ginseng?

"Mr. Zhang, I think you may have been set up." I looked at Zhang Jun and said directly.

Zhang Jun was stunned: "What do you mean?"

"Three hundred thousand is no small sum. A typical mahjong game wouldn't have such high stakes," I reasoned. "And you just said those people were old friends. This makes me even more suspicious that this is an elaborate scam."

"Impossible." Zhang Jun shook his head. "We've known each other for over ten years. They wouldn't harm me. Besides, I'm no novice at the gambling table. I've seen all sorts of tricks. There's no way I'd be fooled."

"Have you ever mentioned your family situation to them?"

Zhang Jun thought for a moment and said, "Nothing special. He just mentioned during our chat that he had a collection of medicinal herbs at home..."

"What medicinal herbs?" I asked.

"It's... it's that ginseng." Zhang Jun's voice gradually became quieter. "I just casually mentioned that I had a thousand-year-old ginseng at home. They didn't believe me at the time."

The old man and I looked at each other and I already had the answer in my heart.

“Mr. Zhang, I suggest you take me to meet those friends.”

"Now?" Zhang Jun hesitated.

"Yes, now." I stood up. "If they're truly friends, then there's nothing to be afraid of. If it's a scam, the sooner we expose it, the better."

Zhang Jun looked at his father, and the old man nodded: "Xiaojun, since the gentleman said so, you should take him to see it."

The three of us went downstairs, and Zhang Jun led us to a nearby residential complex. On the way, I carefully observed the surrounding environment. This was the old part of the city, with low population mobility, making it a good place to set up a trap.

"Right here," Zhang Jun said, pointing to a residential building. "They often play cards in a room on the third floor."

We went upstairs and heard the sound of playing cards before we even reached the third floor. Zhang Jun knocked on the door and a male voice came from inside: "Who is it?"

"It's me, Zhang Jun."

The door opened and a middle-aged man in his forties came out. When he saw the three of us, a look of surprise flashed across his face.

"Zhang Jun, why did you bring so many people?"

"This is my friend," Zhang Jun introduced. "They want to see how we play cards."

The middle-aged man looked us over and forced a smile: "Come in, then."

The room was filled with smoke, and four people were sitting around a mahjong table. When they saw us come in, one of them stood up.

"Zhang Jun, how's your luck today?"

"Not bad." Zhang Jun sat down. "Come, let me introduce you. This is my friend..."

"No need for introductions, we're just here to take a look." I interrupted him and sat down aside.

The game began, and I carefully observed everyone's moves. In the first few rounds, Zhang Jun had good luck and won quite a bit. But I noticed that the three players seemed to be deliberately letting him win.

As time went on, Zhang Jun became more and more excited, and his bets became bigger and bigger. But I noticed something wrong: one of the players was doing something unusual when he was touching the cards.

"Wait a minute." I suddenly stood up. "Sir, could you please show me the cards in your hand?"

The man's expression changed: "What do you mean?"

"I suspect you're cheating," I said bluntly.

"What did you say?" Another man also stood up. "What evidence do you have?"

I didn't answer, but walked over to the man. He tried to dodge, but I grabbed his wrist.