Tantai Mingzhu nodded, her eyes sore, swollen, and red. “Lord Yan, as I told you before, the heir has been sickly and weak for years, and he has little appetite. At first, I made him chicken soup, but he found it too greasy. I wanted to nourish his health, so I specifically went to the market to buy fresh partridges and even placed an order for the next half month. I also instructed the kitchen staff to buy some whenever they saw any for sale.
“Partridges are precious. Unlike chickens and ducks, which can be raised in captivity, they are all wild and can only be caught in the mountains. The heir has enjoyed fine food and clothing since childhood and is extremely sensitive to the freshness of ingredients. He dislikes meat that is no longer fresh. Partridges are also highly sought after by the households of officials during spring, so they are usually purchased by paying several hunters in advance. Once the hunters catch the partridges in the mountains, they deliver them to the residence.
“Whether they catch anything or not, the money is nonrefundable. I injured my hand and cannot lift heavy things or wield a knife, so after the partridges were delivered, the cook normally drew their blood and plucked them. I would then prepare them myself. Once the soup was finished, I would take it to the heir’s room.”
Yan Tongshu brought his men to the kitchen. The Minister of Justice and the Earl of Yuguo followed as well.
The Earl of Yuguo’s residence had four kitchens: one main kitchen and smaller kitchens reserved for individual courtyards.
The partridge soup had been prepared in the small kitchen shared by Ning Yuan and Tantai Mingzhu.
Tantai Mingzhu said, “Every night before the household servants retire, they clean up the kitchen waste. Therefore, the partridge feathers and innards have already been thrown away.”
Yan Tongshu asked, “Where were they thrown?”
Tantai Mingzhu summoned one of the kitchen servants. After the servant gave him an answer, Yan Tongshu immediately sent people to search the place.
Fenghe came over with a cook in her thirties. The cook, Zhou Ping, dropped nervously to her knees. “This servant greets Lord Yan.”
“Rise.” Yan Tongshu asked, “Were you the one who processed the partridge that day?”
Zhou Ping lowered her head and replied softly, “Yes, it was this servant. The hunter who delivered the partridge today was Wang Liang. At around the Hour of the Rooster, he came to the back-kitchen entrance as usual, knocked, and delivered the partridge. I placed it in the rear courtyard. Partridges are clever creatures, so I did not untie the cord around its legs. At the Hour of the Dog, Concubine Dantai came over to prepare the heir’s soup as usual. I carried the partridge to the well in the rear courtyard and began drawing its blood and plucking its feathers.”
Yan Tongshu’s gaze sharpened slightly. “Did you notice anything unusual about the partridge while you were processing it?”
Zhou Ping thought carefully. “It seemed somewhat listless, all limp and floppy. It had been caught alive and kept tied up, and nearly two hours had passed between its delivery and the time it was killed. Naturally, it would be listless. The partridges delivered before had been the same, so I simply carried it straight to the well.”
Yan Tongshu asked again, “Was there anything around the partridge? For instance, any vomited-up liquid on the ground?”
Zhou Ping racked her memory. “I don’t remember. There were other chickens and ducks in the place where the partridge was kept, so there was often filth around. Besides, Miss Fenghe was urging me on when I carried the partridge away. I was talking to her while carrying it and didn’t pay attention at all.”
In the later stages of aconite poisoning, the muscles became slack, leaving the victim collapsed on the ground and unable to move. It did indeed resemble a state of listlessness and limpness.
If the partridge had already been poisoned at that point, then Ning Yuan would also have been poisoned after drinking soup made from it.
The problem was that the cook had been hurried along and had not had time to pay attention. Her testimony was far too vague.
Yan Tongshu frowned and pressed further. “Did you leave at any point while cleaning the partridge?”
Zhou Ping shook her head. “Fenghe kept urging me on. How could I have had time to leave? After drawing the partridge’s blood, plucking it, and removing its innards, I sent it straight into the kitchen.”
Yan Tongshu turned to Fenghe. “Why were you in such a hurry?”
Fenghe’s expression remained calm. “Lord Yan, when this servant came with Concubine Dantai, we saw from a distance that the partridge looked limp and listless. The concubine said that those hunters were all rough men and might have injured the partridge while catching it. She told me to hurry the cook along so that the partridge would not die before it was killed. Otherwise, the heir would not drink the soup, and all her efforts would be wasted.”
There did not seem to be anything illogical about it.
Yan Tongshu looked at Tantai Mingzhu. She lowered her eyes slightly. “I’m not sure how to explain it. Why don’t I demonstrate it for Lord Yan?”
Tantai Mingzhu had someone bring over a chicken to serve as a substitute for the partridge.
Fenghe rolled up her sleeves.
With practiced ease, Tantai Mingzhu slapped the chicken onto the chopping board. Because of her injured hand, she could not wield a heavy cleaver, so she used a specially made small kitchen knife instead. Following the chicken’s skeleton, she sliced away the meat cleanly, leaving the bones intact.
Zhou Ping took the bones and chopped them into several pieces with a heavy cleaver.
Tantai Mingzhu covered each slice of meat with ginger to remove the gamey smell. She also washed the bones and ginger slices, blanched them in boiling water, and drained them. Then she placed them in a pot with radix pseudostellariae, gorgon fruit, lotus seeds, poria, Chinese yam, and other ingredients, added water, and simmered everything slowly.
Once the broth had developed its rich base, she strained out and discarded the bone fragments. She then added the sliced chicken and poached it until cooked before putting in the candied dates.
In less than the time it took to finish a cup of tea, a bowl of rich, fragrant soup was ready.
Partridge meat was tender. Prepared this way, the meat retained the freshest flavor of the partridge, while the broth was rich and savory. It was the preferred method of true connoisseurs.
As the deep, mellow fragrance filled the air, the Minister of Justice swallowed discreetly.
He had long heard that the concubine taken by Prince Ning was an exceptional cook. He had assumed that people were merely flattering Prince Ning when they praised her culinary skills. He had not expected her to be genuinely talented. She had managed to make an ordinary bowl of chicken soup so delicious. If she had used even more tender and flavorful partridge, it would surely have been heavenly.
After pondering for a moment, Yan Tongshu asked Tantai Mingzhu, “During the process… did it ever leave your hands, or did anyone else handle it for you?”
Tantai Mingzhu shook her head. “I have loved cooking since I was young. Whenever I cook, I become especially focused and dislike being disturbed. Afterward, I carried it straight to the heir. Once he had consumed it, I handed the remaining soup and meat to Fenghe, and Fenghe poured them into the slop bucket.”
As she finished speaking, she looked toward the Earl of Yuguo. He nodded. “When Mingzhu was at our residence, she often cooked for my wife and me as well. She is indeed extremely focused when she works and dislikes being disturbed. Everyone in the household knows this about her.”
Yan Tongshu pointed out the contradiction. “You just said that the household servants clean out the waste once every night before retiring. Yet Fenghe poured the soup and meat away after the Hour of the Dog had already passed its midpoint. Why could it still be found in the slop bucket?”
“Well…” Zhou Ping took a step forward and spoke timidly. “Actually, we couldn’t bear to throw away the meat.”
Fearing punishment from her masters, she kept her head bowed and unconsciously rubbed the corner of her clothing between her fingers. “The masters eat only the finest things. When they cannot finish something and no longer want it, we servants cannot bear to throw it away. The slop bucket that held the partridge meat was actually a clean bucket we kept specifically for leftovers from the masters—meat, pastries, and the like.
“We wouldn’t carry the food away in front of the masters. Usually, the next day, once we were sure the masters would not ask about it again, we would take everything outside and divide it among ourselves, bringing it home for our families. To be honest with you, Lord Yan, there are more than a dozen people in my family, and we truly don’t have enough to eat.”
Yan Tongshu understood at once. No wonder the partridge meat found in the slop bucket was so clean.
But if that was the case, there were only two possibilities for when the poison had been administered: either Tantai Mingzhu had poisoned it while preparing the dish, or someone had poisoned the partridge beforehand.
Monkshood poisoning took effect very quickly. It usually began working within minutes, and within an hour would progress to the intermediate stage, causing numbness in the limbs and muscle tremors. If the poison had been administered beforehand, then considering the two hours between the hunter’s delivery of the partridge and its being killed, the bird should have been dead long ago. It was impossible for it to still be alive.
Wait—
“You said you servants eat whatever your masters leave behind?” Yan Tongshu asked abruptly.
Zhou Ping nodded. “We only pick up what the masters don’t want. We weren’t deliberately stealing from the household.”
“That isn’t the point.” Yan Tongshu’s gaze sharpened. “What about the food Prince Ning left from dinner?”
Zhou Ping lowered her head even further. “The prince’s meals are all made with the finest ingredients. We servants wait until supper, when we’re sure no one will want them anymore, and then the kitchen staff divide them among ourselves.”
That confirmed that there had been no poison in the dinner.
To be cautious, Yan Tongshu decided to confirm it once more. “What was the partridge like when the hunter delivered it?”
Zhou Ping grew indignant at the memory. She held out her hand and said resentfully, “That partridge was lively and kicking. It struggled desperately and even pecked me, drawing blood. The hunter, Wang Liang, apologized and explained that he had caught two birds that day. When he sold the other one, he encountered a strange person who startled this one, which was why it was so fierce. I was angry, so I threw it hard into the chicken coop.”
So the partridge had not been poisoned when it arrived. It had been full of energy. After spending two hours in the courtyard, it had grown listless. Had someone poisoned it in the courtyard?
Was the culprit someone inside the Earl of Yuguo’s residence?
Yan Tongshu continued questioning them. “Aside from you, did any outsiders come to the rear courtyard of the kitchen today?”
Zhou Ping and the other two people from the small kitchen shook their heads in unison.
There had been no outsiders. Had someone from within the household administered the poison?
Yan Tongshu’s gaze swept over everyone. Their expressions were all innocent, and each of them acted as though they had played no part in the matter.
Yan Tongshu asked again, “Did Concubine Dantai come to the kitchen today?”
Zhou Ping replied, “She came before the partridge was prepared. Once the soup was finished, she carried it away.”
“And Fenghe?”
“She came by once in the middle of it all and asked whether the partridge had arrived. I told her it had and pointed it out to her from a distance. Then Miss Fenghe went back to report.”
At that moment, a constable came to give his report. “Lord Yan, we found the partridge’s internal organs and feathers. Magistrate Zhang has already sent people to catch the rats.”
Yan Tongshu nodded to show that he understood.
Now they could only wait for the results from the organs.
The cook had removed the internal organs and thrown them away. If the organs contained poison, then the poison had not been administered by Tantai Mingzhu while she was cooking; it had already been inside the partridge’s body.
If the organs contained no poison, then the partridge had still not been poisoned when it died. In that case, the poison could only have been added while the dish was being prepared.
A constable approached Yan Tongshu and lowered his voice. “Lord Yan, in the same place, we also found the medicinal dregs left over from the medicine Prince Ning took today. The coroner is testing them for any abnormalities.”
Yan Tongshu gave a slight nod and returned to the main hall with the others.
Zhang Jiu was already waiting there. Kneeling at his feet was a man slightly over five feet tall. He wore a pair of worn cloth shoes and a black-and-gray cross-collared short shirt. Several nails, needles, and lengths of thread hung from his waist.
Yan Tongshu walked over and circled around to face the man before recognizing him as the cobbler he had encountered while picking cherries.
After Yan Tongshu sat down, Zhang Jiu bowed and reported, “Lord Yan, this subordinate questioned the household servants and asked whether any of them had a limp. There are only two people with injured legs in the Earl of Yuguo’s residence. One returned to his hometown the day before yesterday to attend his grandfather’s funeral. The other is this man.”
Zhang Jiu pointed at the cobbler, who had drawn his neck in fear. “His name is Dantai Fu. He was a cobbler from Yunzhou and is Concubine Dantai’s second uncle. After Concubine Dantai’s father, Dantai Sandao, died, the authorities appointed him as her guardian and placed him in charge of the Dantai family’s properties. Dantai Fu was addicted to gambling. As soon as he took control of the family business, he drove his wife to her death and turned his son and daughter-in-law out of the house. Then, in just three years, he sold off the Dantai family’s taverns at a loss and accumulated enormous gambling debts.”
Zhang Jiu paused before continuing, “After we apprehended him, we searched his room and found a pair of embroidered shoes beneath his bed. They belonged to a maid from the neighboring residence. Their size matched the shoes found outside Prince Ning’s bedroom, and their soles were stained with mud and leaves from broadleaf bamboo.”
“Spare me, my lords!” Dantai Fu did not recognize any of the distinguished officials and knew only to keep calling them “my lord.” “My lord, I’ve been framed! I only climbed through the window to steal something out of greed. I don’t know anything else!”
Tantai Mingzhu rose and knelt gracefully beside Dantai Fu. “Earl, Mingzhu is guilty. This man is my second uncle. He came to me for help after falling on hard times. Although I have many grievances against him, he is still my family, and I couldn’t bear to see him wandering the streets. That was why I let him stay in the residence for a few nights. I had intended to ask Prince Ning to help him open a cobbler’s shop in Bianjing. I hadn’t even found the opportunity to ask when—”
“Yes, my lords!” Dantai Fu frantically knocked his head against the floor. “I truly don’t know anything! I was only greedy for a moment and wanted to steal something. I don’t have the brains to kill anyone! Please, I beg you, spare me. Please! For Mingzhu’s sake, please let me go!”
“That’s enough. Stop banging your head.” The Earl of Yuguo waved impatiently, signaling for Dantai Fu to be quiet. He then gestured for Fenghe to help Tantai Mingzhu to her feet before turning to Dantai Fu. “Answer Lord Yan’s questions carefully.”
“Yes, yes.” Dantai Fu looked overcome with gratitude.
Yan Tongshu examined him. His gaze was murky, and bruises covered his face and body. “Have you been beaten?”
Dantai Fu shrank back like a quail. “Well… I owed a great deal of gambling debt in Yunzhou, so I came to the capital to seek refuge with Mingzhu. Mingzhu and Prince Ning gave me some money. I like my drink, and after I got drunk, I somehow ended up being dragged into a gambling den… Then I incurred even more debt, and when the gambling den came to collect, they… they did this to me.”
In other words, his gambling addiction had flared up. He had gone to the gambling den of his own accord, lost all the money Ning Yuan and Tantai Mingzhu had given him, and then piled up another mountain of debt.
A compulsive gambler was beyond saving.
Yan Tongshu shook his head. “Now tell me when you arrived in the capital, when you came to the Earl of Yuguo’s residence, and what you did after arriving.”
Dantai Fu’s eyes darted about. He could not understand why the youngest official, who appeared to hold the highest rank among the three, was asking him so many questions.
Supporting himself with one hand on the floor, he lifted his head and looked timidly and humbly at the three officials. “I sold the last of my family’s property half a month ago and came to Bianjing to escape my creditors. On my first day in Bianjing, the gamblers saw that I was an easy target and forcibly dragged me into their casino. In less than half a day, they cheated me out of all my money. I had no choice, so I came to the Earl of Yuguo’s residence and asked to see Prince Ning.”
“Yes, that’s what happened.” Tantai Mingzhu looked at her second uncle. Her eyes held resentment and hatred, along with a trace of pity. With an expression of exasperation, she said, “After my father died, my second uncle and I quarreled terribly because he wanted to marry me off to Prince Ning. He also embezzled the betrothal gifts Prince Ning gave me and didn’t provide me with any dowry, so I have always resented him.”
“Half a month ago, he came to the Earl of Yuguo’s residence at night, begging to see someone. The gatekeeper informed me, but I refused to see him. Later, he went to the heir. The heir took pity on him and gave him some money before sending Uncle Two away.”
Tantai Mingzhu pressed her lips together, her tone tinged with sorrow and helplessness. “Afterward, I quarreled with the heir. He tried to persuade me, saying that I was still angry and hadn’t seen Uncle Two or what he looked like. He’s lost weight, his leg was beaten lame, his hair is half gray, and he’s covered in wounds. He’s truly pitiful.
“If I had seen him myself, I certainly wouldn’t have been able to harden my heart against him. My mother was an orphan, my grandparents passed away before my father, and my father died unexpectedly. On the Tantai side, he’s the only relative I have left. The heir persuaded me a little, so I let it go.”
Dantai Fu nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes. Later, I came to ask for help several times, and the heir helped me every time. But perhaps my luck was simply too poor. I kept losing at the gambling house and never once managed to win my money back. The heir grew tired of it and drove me away the day before yesterday. I ended up wandering the streets until Mingzhu saw me. I begged her, and she brought me back. She warned me that the heir was furious and told me to stay quietly in the servants’ quarters while she pleaded with him again. She also told me that I had to quit gambling, open a shoe-nailing shop, and live an honest life.”
Yan Tongshu stared at Dantai Fu.
Tantai Mingzhu managed the vast industries under the Earl of Yuguo’s residence and had even turned them from losses into profits, earning money by the day.
How could such a shrewd woman be foolish enough to become entangled in a matter involving someone like Dantai Fu?
Moreover, Fenghe had said at Xiangguo Temple that Tantai Mingzhu’s right hand—the hand she used for cooking—had been broken when a servant shoved her amid the chaos as she fled an arranged marriage.
Though it had been an accident, it was still the hand Tantai Mingzhu used to cook with.
Yan Tongshu shifted her gaze to Tantai Mingzhu. From what she could see, Tantai Mingzhu did not seem like someone with such boundless and indiscriminate generosity.
Yan Tongshu withdrew her gaze and asked Dantai Fu, “When you came to the Earl of Yuguo’s residence several times to ask the heir for money, did you see Concubine Dantai?”
Dantai Fu nodded. “Yes, I did. I saw her once. Mingzhu was furious and scolded me, saying that I deserved what I got. I begged her bitterly, and when she saw how pitiful I was, she gave me ten taels of silver and told me to leave. But…”
At this point, Dantai Fu’s voice took on a note of grievance. “…Ten taels was far too little. It didn’t last long. It wasn’t nearly enough to win back my losses.”
Tantai Mingzhu had given Dantai Fu money, and he still complained that it was too little. His greedy, ungrateful manner made even the Minister of Justice glance sideways at him. He cursed, “You worthless bastard.”
Dantai Fu lowered his head again.
He grumbled inwardly, It was only ten taels. It really wasn’t enough. Wasn’t he even allowed to say so?
Yan Tongshu was equally disgusted by Dantai Fu’s parasitic behavior, and her voice turned cold. “Continue. What happened afterward?”
Dantai Fu smacked his lips. “Although Mingzhu was in charge of affairs at the Earl of Yuguo’s residence, she couldn’t freely access the household’s funds, and she didn’t have much money on her. The last time the heir saw me, he was ill and feeling unwell, and his words were particularly harsh. I needed money, but I didn’t dare go to him, so I had no choice but to keep earning money by making nails for shoes.
“Something major seemed to have happened in the residence last night. I grabbed a servant and asked him about it. He said that the earl had ordered everyone to go to the main courtyard. I thought, if everyone has gone to the main courtyard, then there must be no one in the heir’s room. So I let greed get the better of me.”
Dantai Fu’s mouth had gone dry. He swallowed before continuing. “At the time, I thought that the heir and Mingzhu were husband and wife, so taking a few things from him couldn’t really be considered stealing. Even if the heir discovered me, he wouldn’t actually send me to the authorities to be beaten with rods.
“So I stole a servant girl’s shoes and went outside the courtyard. I put them on, tiptoed over, and crept into the heir’s room. When I heard no sound inside, I climbed in, took the embroidered shoes in my hand, and entered barefoot to steal something. The heir was lying on the bed. I was scared out of my wits. Wasn’t he supposed to have been summoned away? Why was he still there? So I ran off at once.”
Yan Tongshu asked, “Did you close the window?”
Dantai Fu’s eyes were cloudy. “I can’t remember. The moment I saw the heir on the bed, I was so frightened that my soul nearly left my body. I ran for my life—how could I remember whether I closed the window? Perhaps I shut it casually as I fled.”
Even Dantai Fu himself was uncertain.
Yan Tongshu’s gaze sharpened.
This was the problem.
The biggest problem.
Why had Ning Yuan, after being poisoned, been lying peacefully on the bed beneath the covers?
Hemlock poison took time to produce a reaction. Even if he had lain down during the early stages of poisoning, once it progressed to the middle and later stages, he would have been in agony, struggling and vomiting. There was no way he could have maintained such a peaceful, flat position beneath the covers.
Furthermore, there was vomit on the floor. This was Ning Yuan’s bedroom, so it should have been his. There were scratch marks on the round table, indicating that he had already begun suffering the effects of the poison before he ever reached the bed.
Yan Tongshu ran through the case again in her mind before looking toward the Earl of Yuguo. “Earl of Yuguo, has Prince Ning had any recent conflicts with anyone?”
The Earl of Yuguo’s breathing clearly faltered. “My son has always been known for his virtue and has never made enemies. If anyone bears him a grudge, it is only because some people are malicious and narrow-minded.”
Yan Tongshu’s expression went blank.
At a time like this, with his son already dead, he was still concealing the truth.
Yan Tongshu took a deep breath and enunciated each word. “I’m asking whether there is or isn’t.”
The Earl of Yuguo’s right hand slowly tightened around the armrest of his chair.
“There is.” Tantai Mingzhu spoke softly. “The earl has difficulty saying it, so I will. At Xiangguo Temple, Madam Wang and the second Miss Wang committed a crime and were apprehended by you, Magistrate Yan. They were sentenced to prison. After they were imprisoned, Wang Quan’an often came to the Earl of Yuguo’s residence, and the two of them frequently quarreled.
“One day, I went to deliver soup to the heir and vaguely heard Wang Quan’an asking the heir and the earl to help free Madam Wang and the second Miss Wang. The heir explained that the law was clear and that he could do nothing, but Wang Quan’an refused to listen, and the two parted angrily. Later, when Madam Wang and the second Miss Wang met with misfortune, Wang Quan’an had to arrange their funerals and stopped coming for a while.
“About six days ago, Wang Quan’an suddenly came to the residence again, furious. I don’t know exactly what they said to each other. I only know that when Wang Quan’an left the heir’s study, his expression was awful, and his eyes looked as though he wanted to kill someone. When I entered the room, the heir’s expression was equally grim. He even flew into a rage at the servant who brought him tea. In all the time since I married into the Earl of Yuguo’s residence, that was the first time I had ever seen the heir lose his temper so badly.”
Wang Quan’an?
Yan Tongshu lowered her eyes in thought.
Wang Quan’an had dared to come to the Earl of Yuguo’s residence and demand that Ning Yuan save them. He had even done so repeatedly. Although Ning Yuan had been furious, he could only endure it.
Yan Tongshu understood. Wang Quan’an had a hold over Ning Yuan—something he could use to threaten him.
No wonder the Wang family had been so brazen back then, daring to have Wang Chuning impersonate the legitimate daughter and become engaged to Ning Yuan. Even after Wang Yuyan returned and Wang Chuning’s deception was exposed, Gao Shengmei and Wang Quan’an had still refused to abandon the arrangement.
It turned out they had leverage over Ning Yuan. They knew that even if the marriage was carried out with the wrong bride, the Earl of Yuguo’s residence could only suffer in silence and accept the loss, never daring to make the matter public.
But now that Gao Shengmei and Wang Chuning were dead, why had Wang Quan’an continued coming?
Could it be that, like her, he felt that Gao Shengmei, Wang Chuning, and Wang Yuyan had all died from accidental drownings that were simply too coincidental—and after turning the matter over in his mind, he had begun to suspect that the Earl of Yuguo’s residence was behind it?
He suspected that Ning Yuan had ordered someone to kill Gao Shengmei and Wang Chuning in order to make him give up, then disguised their deaths as accidental drownings.
And because Ning Yuan resented Wang Yuyan for causing the death of the child in Tantai Mingzhu’s womb, he had simply decided to finish the job and kill Wang Yuyan as well, thereby easing the hatred in his heart.
Yan Tongshu asked again, “Besides Wang Quan’an, was there anyone else?”
Tantai Mingzhu replied, “The heir was a broad-minded man. He was always courteous and respectful toward everyone and rarely bore personal grudges. If there was anyone else he didn’t get along with, it would have been in the course of official business. I’m only a woman of the inner chambers, so I wouldn’t know the details.”
Yan Tongshu nodded, then suddenly changed the subject. “What was stolen from the estate last night?”
Tantai Mingzhu calmly shook her head.
Before Earl of Yuguo could recover, Yan Tongshu had already asked the question. He shouted angrily, “Lord Yan, I’ve already told you—the items stolen from the estate have nothing to do with my son’s death.”
“Oh.” Yan Tongshu responded indifferently.
Just then, a constable came to report, “My lord, the examination results are in.”
