"My lord, you did that on purpose?"
The moment the words left her lips, Tang Wan'er, realizing she had spoken out of turn, showed no signs of regret or anger at her slip-up. Instead, a flicker of relief crossed her eyes.
"My lord is indeed my lord. I judged you correctly."
?!!!
Hearing this, Chen Rao darted suspicious glances between Tang Wan'er and the county magistrate, inexplicably feeling a bit of shame for his deceased second brother.
"Ahem—"
Lin Qingge, hearing herself praised by the murderer for the first time in two lifetimes of solving cases, brought her fist to her mouth and coughed lightly, attempting to ease the awkward atmosphere.
At this moment, Chen Rao, finally snapping back from the shocking revelation that his second sister-in-law was involved with the magistrate, noticed another crucial point and questioned with wide eyes:
"Bitch, how did you know sand ginger powder was added to the wine?"
Tang Wan'er ignored Chen Rao and looked up at the tall figure seated under the plaque. "My lord, I have something I do not understand and would appreciate your guidance."
"Madam Chen, please speak freely."
"My lord, when did you become suspicious of me?"
"Well…"
Lin Qingge habitually raised her hand to stroke her chin, recalling:
"Fengtian Prefecture is not too far from Changzhou County, but there is still some distance. You and Chen Rao arrived at the Xiangtang Pavilion almost one after another."
"My lord, is there a problem with that? After the family division, my husband gave the adjacent residence to his younger uncle, so my uncle received the news at about the same time as me. Although my uncle and I took different carriages, the speed of our carriages was similar, so what's wrong with us arriving one after another?"
"Of course, there is something wrong! I also have a wife, and although my wife is naturally beautiful, spirited, and never dithers, she still needs some preparation before going out."
Everyone, caught off guard by this sudden display of affection: ...
The lonely Xiao Hei: ???
Lin Qingge, however, continued with a serious expression, "Moreover, for a woman like Madam Chen who pays so much attention to her appearance and attire, it would be impossible to go out without at least half an hour. Unless, Madam Chen, you were already ready and waiting at home for the yamen to deliver the news of the disaster."
"My lord, what if I just happened to be going out?"
"That is indeed a possibility, but according to the messenger's report, when they arrived at the Chen residence, Madam Chen was already dressed and seated in the hall, but there was no carriage waiting at the entrance. Madam Chen, you are the mistress of the Chen family. Knowing you were going out, they wouldn't make you wait for a driver, would they? Of course, Madam Chen, you could also say that you are always so elaborately dressed at home, and upon hearing the news of your husband's death, you were so overcome with grief that you left directly for Changzhou County."
To avoid dwelling on this topic, Lin Qingge preemptively provided an explanation for the other party and continued, "What truly made me suspect you was your attitude towards Liu Jinhua."
"My attitude towards Liu Jinhua?"
"Liu Jinhua was Chen Chong's outside mistress. Even if you didn't know her, when your own husband dies naked in bed, and the cause of death is 'sudden death from intercourse,' the identity of the woman in the room is obvious. Yet, as Chen Chong's nominal wife, your attitude was too indifferent, even dismissive."
Tang Wan'er scoffed after hearing this, "Replying to my lord, my husband has been womanizing outside for more than a day or two, and I am already accustomed to it."
"Even so, Madam Chen, your expression when you saw Liu Jinhua should have been one of sarcasm and contempt, not the deliberate dismissal you displayed. At the very least, you should have casually asked if she knew on whose belly your husband died."
Tang Wan'er, realizing her mistake, deepened the curve of her lips and sighed, "I never expected that my desire to distance myself from Liu Jinhua would expose me and arouse your suspicion, my lord."
"In addition to this, I also had someone investigate and found that after Madam Chen left the capital, you were rescued by the Liu family during your journey. However—the Liu family's rescue had a purpose. The Liu family saw that you were beautiful and wanted to keep you as their daughter-in-law. When you refused, they imprisoned you. Later, it was Liu Jinhua who released you late at night before your wedding. Because she let you, her future sister-in-law, go, Liu Jinhua angered the male members of the Liu family, beating her until she was on the verge of death. Because the incident was quite dramatic, the neighbors have a deep impression of it."
This was information Lin Qingge had asked Hua Jinrong to send people to Liu Jinhua's hometown to inquire about. Although it had only been her baseless speculation before, the speculation provided a direction for investigation. Fortunately, her intuition had always been accurate; Tang Wan'er and Liu Jinhua indeed knew each other long ago.
Tang Wan'er, who raised an eyebrow at Lin Qingge's ability to uncover their relationship, then calmly said, "My lord, even if Madam Liu and I are old acquaintances, it does not mean that Madam Liu and I would kill someone, and moreover, kill our shared husband."
"Incorrect. It is precisely because Chen Chong was your shared husband that you devised this method to kill him. As far as I know, Chen Chong had severe abusive tendencies. Although Chen Chong himself was unsightly, he relied on Chen Shu's backing to target beautiful women, seizing them by force, and the more beautiful they were, the more cruelly he treated them. In other words, Chen Chong most likely or frequently tormented Madam Chen, who was once known as one of the four great beauties of the capital."
As if Lin Qingge's words stirred up some unpleasant memories for Tang Wan'er, she instinctively hugged herself, her face ashen.
Meanwhile, Lin Qingge continued her deduction, "But from a certain point on, Chen Chong stopped tormenting you, which gave you a slight sense of relief. However, one day, you accidentally discovered that Chen Chong's new favorite was none other than Liu Jinhua, who had once saved you. So, you proactively approached Liu Jinhua. She was tormented to the point of unbearable pain by Chen Chong, and immediately you two hit it off. Then, you used the fact that Chen Rao often sent foreign incense to Chen Chong to murder him."
"My lord, as I said before, although sand ginger is incompatible with the musk in the incense, it can only be considered a contributing factor, not enough to cause death."
"This is precisely where Madam Chen is brilliant. Madam Chen, you are intentionally playing this word game in front of me to conceal the fact that Liu Jinhua added sand ginger powder to the wine every time before being intimate with Chen Chong! In other words, Chen Chong was constantly pushing his luck to the brink of death, and by chance, the god of fortune did not favor him that day, and he died of sudden illness."