Chapter 5 Lamb Kidney and Goji Berry Soup_1

"Be careful, Qianzhi. There's something off about Chief Constable Situ." Peng Fulai was clearly attempting to change the subject. However, his comment made the two friends sober up.

"I know." Li Xuan narrowed his eyes, "This person indeed means no good."

Zhang Taishan frowned, "Where does he get the guts from? He even dares to arrest you without any evidence? They can't mess with the Earl Chengyi house just like that."

"He must be acting under someone's orders." A speculative look appeared in Peng Fulai's eyes, "Or maybe it's related to the major river case mentioned by Xiaowei Jiang?"

At that comment, Li Xuan's heart sank. Remembering that every generation of the Earl Chengyi family had held the post of tidu of the Jin Dynasty's Caojiang navy, in charge of training the naval forces and defending the river from Jingzhou to Zhenjiang. The current tidu happened to be Li Xuan's father.

If indeed there had been a serious incident on the Yangtze River, the Earl Chengyi's mansion would likely be implicated.

Although he felt uneasy and doubtful, Li Xuan forcibly suppressed these thoughts. He knew that the most urgent task was to extricate themselves from the current case.

While they were talking, Wei Shi had already signed the confession. Sighing, Peng Fulai walked towards Situ Zhong with an expression akin to that of a convicted prisoner.

Li Xuan was not in the mood for schadenfreude. He began to gather everyone's statements, reading them carefully one by one.

"The Cui Family disagrees with the autopsy." As Li Xuan was perusing the statements and mulling them over, Jiang Hanyun, with a serious expression, returned with some constables, "The storeroom managers at Lanyue House seemed clueless to my queries. Little Lei and I didn't find any clues in the storeroom either. We will have to look for other leads."

Li Xuan was not surprised. He had already glanced at the storeroom earlier. It was located in the left courtyard, a secluded place unlikely to be noticed late at night. Lanyue House's management of the storeroom was also chaotic, with many people having access to it.

Under these conditions, even with Hanyun's three-tailed spirit fox, it was unlikely that they would find any useful clues.

As for the reaction of Cui of Boling, it was very much within Li Xuan's expectations.

"The storeroom can be temporarily sealed. I just happen to have made a few new discoveries here."

Li Xuan continued to flip through the records, and only after reviewing all the confessions did he raise his head, scanning the crowd. Finally, his gaze fell on a man with an apron who reeked of grease, "Are you the head chef of this place?"

The man seemed taken aback, "I am the assistant chef. The head chef retired for the night at the start of Hai hour (9 p.m.)."

"So after Hai hour, you were in charge of the kitchen?" Li Xuan's face grew stern, "Tell me why, in Lanyue House, today most of the customers fell asleep and failed to wake up after the second quarter of Zi hour (11:30 p.m.)?"

The assistant chef was completely lost, totally not understanding the implications. Situ Zhong, on the other hand, reacted instantly, snatching all the statements from Li Xuan's hands and going through them one by one.

Jiang Hanyun also looked excited. Not bothering to look at the confessions, she directly asked Li Xuan for the answer, "Did this guy put something in the food?"

"There were over forty customers in total. They couldn't all possibly be here to sleep, could they?"

Li Xuan's face was cold as ice, "However, all the girls and the pimp in Lanyue House are fine which means the drug could only have been put in the foods specifically served to the guests."

"It's Lanyue House's mutton kidney and goji berry soup!" Peng Fulai, who had already taken the statement, suddenly realized, "No wonder I slept through the night. Turns out I was drugged. Lanyue House's mutton kidney and goji berry soup is famous; known to boost kidney function, vigor, and vitality. Most customers will have a bowl. But the girls here wouldn't have it."

He then glared at the brothel madam, "You guys owe me money!"

The brothel madam shivered, "Master Li, could there be some misunderstanding?"

"It can't be a misunderstanding." Li Xuan shook his head, his eyes cold as he looked at the assistant chef, "All seven floors of Lanyue House had guests affected, it can't be the fault of the ones delivering the soup. Tell me, how many people were in the kitchen at the time?"

"At that time, it was just me and my apprentices. But why would we drug the food? There is no reason...we..."

The assistant chef was both flustered and confused, but then he seemed to realize something, "Apart from us, Hanyan also entered the kitchen. At that time, I thought she seemed sneaky, very suspicious."

Li Xuan raised an eyebrow slightly, "Who is Hanyan?"

"She's Meng Xingyan's maid, Miss Meng's maid!" The assistant chef's voice grew louder, "She said she wanted a bowl of lotus seed soup for her lady to cool down, and she stayed in the kitchen for quite a while. I saw her pass by the pot where the mutton kidney and goji berry soup was being cooked--"

At this point, the young girl beside Meng Xingyan immediately blanched, protesting, "Don't slander people! I did go into the kitchen, but I stayed by the door the whole time."

Li Xuan took a careful look at the girl, noticing a flash of panic in her eyes. But beyond that, she seemed somewhat relieved.

Meng Xingyan's facial expression was also odd. There was furrowed in thought, with a touch of surprise in her gaze.

"Well done!" Jiang Hanyun slapped Li Xuan's shoulder before the assistant chef finished, more enthusiastic than ever, "Arrest all the kitchen staff and this Hanyan girl and keep them separate. I need a few men to help me search Miss Meng Xingyan's room. Li Xuan, you--"

Li Xuan immediately stood up, "I will look for the crime scene. Would Lord Xiaowei allow Constable Situ and the two constables over there to accompany me? I'm worried that the Chief Constable here will accuse me of fabricating evidence if I find something at the crime scene."

※※※※

Li Xuan said he needed to find the crime scene, but ended up going directly to the storeroom on the fifth floor of Lanyue House.

As soon as he opened the door, Situ Zhong mocked, "It seems Master Li knows his way around."

Li Xuan replied indifferently, "You have seen those testimonies too, Chief Constable Situ. I don't believe you didn't notice. Every room in Lanyue House facing the river was occupied, only this storeroom was vacant. If any place was most suitable for murder, it would be here."

As he surveyed the room, his eyebrows inevitably raised, "It really is here."

Situ Zhong's eyes flickered too, but he crossed his arms and adopted a stance of polite detachment.

Li Xuan ignored him, beginning to methodically survey the room from the exterior to the interior.