The gambling god's wife in the Duke's Mansion is getting divorced again

Whoosh~ the sharp arrow is whistling!

It stuck close to Sang Wan's head and pierced into the wooden door.

She bit her tongue and didn't utter a single word.

There was no expected stabbing pain.

She was shocked and frightened, holding her breath and slowly opening her eyes.

"As long as he's not dead, his debt remains unpaid. Didn't you ask for your services? Now's your chance. See what kind of poison is on this arrow?"

Pei Jinzhi put down his bow as if nothing had happened.

Sang Wan slid along the door and sat down on the ground.

"Get up." Pei Jinzhi frowned.

"My legs are weak and I can't get up."

There was a hint of crying in his voice, and he was quite resentful.

Pei Jinzhi raised his lips and smiled, then walked slowly to her side and extended his hand to her:

"Where did that fearless spirit go?"

His hands were beautiful, with distinct knuckles and smooth lines. Each finger seemed to have been carefully sculpted. They were white and elegant, yet had an indescribable power.

Sang Wan's heart was trembling.

It was these hands that killed her father Sang Jun.

Pei Jinzhi raised his eyebrows, and seeing that she was dazed, he leaned over and took her hand.

"San Ben's death will not be in vain; if you are loyal, you will not die either."

These days are so... damn hard.

Sang Wan used the force to stand up tremblingly.

I felt uneasy and didn't dare to touch her for even a second longer.

Her smile was uglier than crying:

"My Lord, I will be loyal."

Pei Jinzhi pulled out the arrow from the door and handed it to her:

"Let's see what you can do."

Sang Wan took it carefully and sniffed it:

"This is a fatal blow."

Seeing that Pei Jinzhi didn't understand, she continued to explain:

"It's extracted from a poisonous tree that grows deep in the mountains. Wherever this tree grows, there's miasma year-round."

She thought for a moment and said, "Yes, this tree only grows in Shu."

Pei Jinzhi's eyes darkened.

"You are so good at poisons, why don't you know medicine?"

Sang Wan pursed her lips, looking somewhat lost:

"Doctor Cheng said I have average qualifications and can't study medicine."

"Medicine and poison are inseparable. You have such a talent for poisons, how can you be just mediocre?"

Pei Jinzhi seemed a little puzzled.

Sang Wan smiled and said perfunctorily:

"My Lord, I am lazy and don't want to learn."

Pei Jinzhi did not ask any further questions.

"Go down. I'll call you if I need anything."

Sang Wan lowered her head: "Yes."

Before leaving the door, Li Jiu glared at her fiercely again.

Sang Wan fled as fast as he could.

*

"Tsk, it's faster than a rabbit."

Li Jiu sneered, turned around and walked into the study and closed the door.

Pei Jinzhi put his hands behind his back and asked, "What do you think?"

"The assassin has nothing to do with her." Li Jiu was serious, "But she can't stay."

"Oh?" Pei Jinzhi twirled his fingertips.

"Since she knows poison, she knows how to poison. Keeping someone like this around is a serious threat. Not to mention..."

He leaned over to whisper in Pei Jinzhi's ear about the conversation he overheard today between Sang Wan and Madam Cheng.

"Master, do you want to kill him or not?" Li Jiu sharpened his knife.

Pei Jinzhi's lips curled up, and his thoughts came to light: "Sure enough, it is Tianxuan Sect."

Li Jiu: "Master, you guessed it a long time ago? Then Sang Wan..." He made a clicking gesture.

"No, the line is not long enough." He looked at Li Jiu meaningfully, "Cheng Buyu is just a pawn."

Li Jiumiao understood: "Master, are you planning to use the same trick against me and find out who's behind this?"

Pei Jinzhi nodded. "The Tianxuan Sect was able to kidnap the princess outside the capital ten years ago, and their power had long since infiltrated the palace. We've been tracking them for so many years, and we're always just one step away from them. With such well-informed information, the person behind this must be in a high position and should not be underestimated."

Li Jiu clapped his hands and came up with a good idea.

"Why don't we mention this girl and have her serve you medicine and food, so she'll think you trust her. Keeping her under your nose will make it easier to monitor her."

Li Jiu’s suggestion was very good and coincided with Pei Jinzhi’s.

"That's it."

Li Jiu was a little unwilling: "This damn girl got away with it."

Pei Jinzhi handed him the arrowhead on the table and said, "She is indeed useful."

Li Jiu sniffed, but couldn't smell anything. "Master, do you think she's just talking nonsense and trying to trick us again?"

"The Classic of Materia Medica says there's a tree in Shu that grows in a murky, dark place. If you cut open its trunk, a black sap oozes out. It's extremely poisonous, and you can see it in blood-stifling throats."

Pei Jinzhi seemed to be thinking about something. He stood up, took out a thick book from the bookshelf, and turned to one of the pages.

Sure enough, the above records are consistent with what Sang Wan said.

"You really didn't lie to me."

Li Jiu scratched his head and remembered another thing.

"Master, the assassin's body has been placed in the cemetery. There are no markings on it, except for the shoe uppers. I asked the silk shop, and they said it was top-grade snow blue silk, a material only found in Shu. I heard they only make about a hundred bolts a year. Besides tribute, only prominent families and a few wealthy households can afford it."

"Sichuan... King Duan."

Pei Jinzhi narrowed his eyes and tapped the table with his fingers.

Shu was the fief of Prince Duan Xiao Rui.

Fine copper arrowheads and snow blue silk, they must be the death squad of the royal palace.

Prince Duan, the current emperor, and the late emperor are all half-brothers, and are forty-two years old.

Li Jiu was a smart man and understood immediately:

"Prince Duan is also ready to make a move."

Pei Jinzhi tapped his fingers lightly: "Grind the ink."

He scribbled a few lines on the rice paper and stuffed the envelope: "Express delivery, eight hundred miles, back to the capital."

"Yes!"

Li Jiu took it with both hands and walked to the door to hand it to the guard.

Another guard handed Li Jiu a tea tray.

Li Jiu placed it respectfully on the desk.

"The old lady sent me some ginseng soup to calm you down."

Pei Jinzhi nodded slightly, picked up the teacup and blew on it:

"Where did the news of leaving the house today leak out?"

Li Jiu responded coldly, "In the stable, the horse breeder Yang Biao was about to escape and was caught."

Pei Jinzhi raised his hand: "Bring it up."

Li Jiu clapped his hands, and the guard pushed a shivering servant into the study.

"Tell the truth! Otherwise, I'll chop off your head with one blow and feed your body to the wolves!"

The servant named Yang Biao was terrified. "Your Highness, I didn't know they were assassins. Someone stopped me on the street the other day and said he'd give me five taels of silver and told me to tell him if the prince went out."

"What does that person look like?"

"He, he, he...was wearing a straw hat, so I couldn't see clearly."

"Drag him out!" Pei Jinzhi slammed the teacup down.

"I, I, I said! He has an accent!" Yang Biao racked his brains to recall: "It sounds like the accent of Shu. Yes, it is the accent of Shu!"

Pei Jinzhi and Li Jiu looked at each other.

Yang Biao shrank his neck and begged for mercy: "My Lord, my mother is seriously ill and needs money, so I was bewitched for a while."

Li Jiu shouted, "Bullshit! Your mother died two years ago! The government even gave you ten taels of silver for burial expenses!"

Yang Biao was frightened to death. He didn't expect Li Jiu to have such a good memory.

"I acknowledge my guilt! My Lord, please forgive me this time!"

Pei Jinzhi said coldly: "Be beaten to death."

Li Jiu grabbed Yang Biao's hair and dragged him out.

The entire Zhaoyun Courtyard was filled with screams.

After an incense stick of time, the screams disappeared.

Li Jiu came in from outside again, sweating all over.

"I asked you to check Tianshengtang and Shi Luochuan yesterday. Is there anything unusual?"

"Cheng Buyu did have a junior fellow apprentice named Bai Shi. Both inherited their medical skills from their father, Cheng Yingqu, as the saying goes, 'The Sage of Medicine never leaves his descendants.' This Cheng Yingqu was truly remarkable. He was the imperial physician of the previous dynasty. After retiring, he returned to Fengshui Town to open a clinic and practice medicine. He passed away over twenty years ago. The Cheng family has been in Fengshui Town for over forty years. Cheng Buyu was born and raised here, and the neighbors have all confirmed this."

Li Jiu had his own secretly cultivated information network, and he collected this important information with almost no effort.

"What about Shi Luochuan?"

Pei Jinzhi stroked his brow with his fingers, thinking of the silver hairpin.

Li Jiu said, "The Shi family was a family of scholars, but they fell into decline. Shi Luochuan's parents died young, and he was a poor scholar. But last year he passed the imperial examination and received a first-class rank, and is now a scholar. To supplement his family income, he has been selling calligraphy and paintings at a stall in front of a medicine shop for years. He is broke, has simple interpersonal relationships, and is not suspicious at all."

"Shi Luochuan is not young anymore, is he married?"

Pei Jinzhi asked suddenly.

Li Jiu was puzzled. "I haven't heard of this. But I was hiding in the dark today and heard him ask for Sang Wan's hand in marriage."

Pei Jinzhi's eyes moved slightly: "Marry me?"

"I heard him say that he was happy with Sang Wan."