Why am I, a cook, always involved in cases?

Lin Zhiruo lightly put the jar back to its original place, but cleverly hid a piece of seaweed in her sleeve, as if she was harboring a cunning little secret.

"Please don't blame me, I'm really rude."

As Lin Zhiruo spoke, she gracefully left the kitchen filled with the smell of stove fire, leaving behind a light figure.

But the thorn-like gaze behind him refused to go away for a long time.

"Why did you give up so easily?"

On the returning carriage, a young military officer asked Lin Zhiruo a question curiously, with curiosity that was hard to conceal in his tone.

Lin Zhiruo was slightly surprised. She didn't expect that the military officer would take the initiative to talk to her.

“I didn’t give up.”

Lin Zhiruo smiled, gently took out the seaweed covered with salt from her sleeve, and carefully wrapped it in a handkerchief.

Although her sleeves were stained by the salt, she knew that if she flapped her sleeves at this moment, it would probably cause displeasure to the military officer.

"This seaweed seems a little unusual."

Lin Zhiruo said softly,

"This seaweed shouldn't be harvested for some time. Even if it's salted, it won't last until this season. It's really out of season."

"So I suspect this seaweed isn't from nearby, but rather was brought from the south through trade. I wonder if we can find out where it came from?"

Lin Zhiruo's words revealed some wit and intelligence.

Upon hearing these words, the military attaché's eyes suddenly widened, as if he instantly understood the mission he was shouldering.

As for other matters, they were left to Lin Zhiruo to handle.

The next day, Lin Zhiruo asked Gao Zhongcheng to prepare a kitchen for her at the outer court official outpost, which also seemed to provide accommodation.

Lin Zhiruo was busy here, processing the seaweed that had been prepared the night before.

The so-called processing is nothing more than soaking it to remove the salt and then arranging it on a plate.

Although this task seemed simple, Lin Zhiruo did not want to do it in the kitchen of Quan Wushuang's building, so she chose this place on purpose.

At this moment, there were two plates of seaweed in front of Lin Zhiruo. They were the ones she had secretly brought back yesterday. After being soaked overnight, they had taken on a fresh emerald green color.

Around Lin Zhiruo were Gao Zhongcheng, the official who came to discuss the case with Gao Zhongcheng, the military officer who led her yesterday, and Quan Wushuang who suddenly appeared for some unknown reason.

Lin Zhiruo laughed inwardly. This guy loves to join in the fun so much. Be careful that Henghua will blame him for not knowing the rules again.

"After some investigation, it's just as you said."

The young military officer's voice was calm and indifferent.

"That seaweed does come from the south."

He continued,

"I asked the servant again, and he recalled that the official had never eaten this kind of seaweed in winter. I also asked other servants, and their answers were similar."

At this time, the official who came to discuss the case with Gao Zhongcheng shook his head.

"I've already asked the chef about this seaweed. He said it's just like any other seaweed and there's no way it could be poisonous."

Lin Zhiruo also agreed that this seaweed was indeed the same as the one we usually use.

However, one detail was overlooked.

“Even the same type of seaweed may not be non-toxic.”

Lin Zhiruo gently picked up a piece of seaweed with chopsticks, her tone carrying some deep meaning.

"Perhaps there's no custom of eating this seaweed in the south, but what if traders, inspired by a certain greedy official, thought it would be profitable and specifically asked the locals to make salted seaweed?"

"What...would be the problem?"

Quan Wushuang asked curiously.

Today, perhaps because there were other people around, he did not exude the inexplicable decadent aura he had been showing in recent days.

Leaving Gao Zhongcheng aside for now, the other two officials beside him seemed somewhat uneasy as they stared at the beautiful eunuch.

Lin Zhiruo happily fiddled with her chopsticks and said with a smile:

“There are ways in this world to make poisons non-toxic.”

There are many methods. For example, eels are poisonous, but they can be eaten safely as long as they are bled or heated.

As for the seaweed, Lin Zhiruo remembered that it should be pickled with lime to remove the poison.

There were two plates of seaweed in front of her, one had been pickled with lime, and the other had not been processed.

What she picked up with chopsticks at this moment was the seaweed pickled in lime.

Lin Zhiruo put it into her mouth without hesitation. Everyone around her panicked and asked her what she was doing.

"It's okay, it should be fine."

In fact, Lin Zhiruo had only heard of this method of detoxification and was not sure whether marinating it overnight could completely remove the poison.

But it’s also an important validation.

"What do you mean it should be fine?"

Quan Wushuang shouted anxiously.

Lin Zhiruo patted her chest and took out the emetic that had been prepared long ago from her bosom.

"Don't worry, I've prepared some emetics."

However, her words did not reassure everyone. Instead, Gao Zhongcheng hugged her tightly from behind, and Quan Wushuang forced an emetic into her mouth.

Thanks to the emetic, Lin Zhiruo vomited thoroughly in front of the four men.

What do they think of this unmarried girl?

It is worth mentioning that this emetic uses a disgusting smell to stimulate nausea, so it tastes extremely bad.

Lin Zhiruo secretly felt regretful in her heart. It was a rare opportunity to verify whether this detoxification method was effective, but it was wasted like this.

Lin Zhiruo wiped away the gastric juice, cheered herself up again, and said:

"Now the question is: who suggested to the traders to bring in this salted seaweed?"

Since it was specially ordered from a place where no one eats it, they must be aware that it is extremely dangerous.

"If the person falls into a coma, in a sense, it is their own fault."

However, what if it is not so?

If the orderer knew that this seaweed could turn into poison...

(This is just speculation, but...)

There was a food poisoning incident ten years ago. Perhaps someone drew inspiration from that incident and came up with this poisonous plan.

Lin Zhiruo couldn't determine the connection between the two things, but as far as this case was concerned, her guess should be correct.

Everyone present was no ordinary person, so Lin Zhiruo didn't need to say much and had no intention of delving into the matter.

She was of humble status and unwilling to wade into the deep pool of judging the crimes of others.

"I understand."

Gao Zhongcheng seemed to understand Lin Zhiruo's implication and nodded slowly.

Lin Zhiruo breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the seaweed in front of her again and put it into her mouth.

This time, she ate the dish of seaweed that had not been pickled with lime.

So, she was forced to vomit again by Quan Wushuang and others with ashen faces.

Everyone was shocked to find out that the culprit was actually the younger brother of the unconscious official.