Chapter 539: Chapter 526 Contraceptive Soup

“To accuse Hongyu of the crime without certainty, and yet leaving a witness who could potentially provide evidence or clues, moreover, the murderer could not be sure that Hongyu would be driven to madness, is highly risky and against common sense for the murderer,”

“By eliminating all the absurd possibilities, the only logical conclusion left is that Hongyu must be the murderer who had been pretending to be mad. Although it seems unreasonable, this is the only explanation.”

“Considering that the Ma family was poisoned during their evening meal, which was tainted in their food, according to usual practice, the master and the servants do not dine together. It would have been difficult for everyone to be poisoned at the same time, unless Hongyu was present, which would make sense.”

“Hongyu, who was serving the master, could instruct the servants to dine earlier, which would allow everyone to eat at approximately the same time.” Ding Gaochang nodded in agreement.

“Exactly,” Chu Jinnian slightly nodded his head, “That’s why this official speculated it to be the case and reminded Master Ding and Mr. Xu to give it a try.”

“However, since Hongyu pretends to be mad, even if she is found out, she might not admit it. The most important task is still to find the evidence that will leave her speechless. So now we need to go to Gentry Ma’s house.”

“Indeed, Master, you are right.” Ding Gaochang kept nodding, his admiration for Chu Jinnian’s deduction increased significantly.

After a quick clean up and breakfast, they headed towards Gentry Ma’s house.

At that time, government officials were always guarding Gentry Ma’s house. Seeing Chu Jinnian and the others arrive, they guided them, detailing the purpose of each room and the condition of the corpses when they were discovered.

Chu Jinnian inspected every corner carefully following the instructions.

“What is this place?” Chu Jinnian surveyed the room meticulously, inquiring after his inspection.

“This is where the servants live. Two beds are available. From the room’s arrangements and clothes, and what the tailor who made the clothes here earlier said, this is where Hongyu and another maid, Hongchou, lived.”

Ding Gaochang replied, “This bed near the window is Hongyu’s and that one over there is Hongchou’s.”

Chu Jinnian glanced over, “Hongyu’s bed is wide and the mattress thick and soft. Even the quilt she uses is newer and thicker than Hongchou’s.”

“The casket contained complete rouge and gouache, and even several pieces of jewelry. It seems that Hongyu indeed lived a good life in the Ma family.”

A good life that was almost exceeding the life of a maid.

Although the Ma family was wealthy, it was unlikely they were so generous to a maid.

Chu Jinnian frowned, he rummaged through the casket and found a single silver earring. He picked it up and said, “This is…”

“Sir, I have noticed this before. It should belong to Hongyu. Usually, earrings come in pairs. Perhaps she lost one somewhere and just kept this one.”

“I see.” Chu Jinnian nodded, putting the earring back into the casket.

After leaving Hongyu’s room, they moved to another room that served as Gentry Ma and Mrs. Jiang’s bedroom, along with Ma Liangcai’s study and bedroom, etc.

There was nothing abnormal in Mrs. Jiang’s room; it was well decorated. But there was a locked wooden box beside the bed.

Ding Gaochang unlocked the box, “I have examined it before, it contains some land deeds and contracts of the servants. Moreover, there is also a prescription.”

“A prescription?”

“Yes, a prescription.” Ding Gaochang pulled out a piece of paper from the box, handing it to Chu Jinnian, “This one. I asked someone, they said it’s a contraceptive soup prescription.”

Contraceptive soup?

That’s interesting.

Chu Jinnian placed the prescription back into the box, “Did the late Gentry Ma have any concubines or mistresses?”

“Based on my inquiries with people familiar with Gentry Ma, he did not. Gentry Ma and Mrs. Jiang had an extraordinary affectionate relationship, which was often admired by their servants.” Ding Gaochang replied.

“If there were no concubines or mistresses, why did Mrs Jiang have a contraceptive soup prescription? Who was it for? Surely it couldn’t be for her?”

Ding Gaochang was momentarily stunned.

Indeed, who was the soup for?

When he first found the prescription, he didn’t consider it significant. Contraceptive soup and similar prescriptions were common in households, thus he didn’t necessarily pay it much attention. But now that Chu Jinnian had brought it up, he realized that there could be a potential issue here.

Chu Jinnian walked out with his hands behind his back, “This Ma family mansion does not seem to be that tranquil.”

Having said that, he moved toward the study of Ma Liangcai.

Ding Gaochang and the others hurriedly followed.

Ma Liangcai’s study, connected to his bedroom, was tidy and elegant, with books neatly arranged on the shelves.

Chu Jinnian randomly picked up a few books from the shelf and flipped through them. He found a small dried, dark red stain on one of the pages.

“Is this… blood?” Ding Gaochang asked in surprise upon seeing this.

“No, it’s not blood.” Chu Jinnian examined it closely, sniffing it, “It seems like juice from Delphinium flowers. Perhaps it was smeared by one of the maids who cleaned the books.”

Returning the book, Chu Jinnian inspected other areas. In a wooden box with clothes, some were Ma Liangcai’s clothes, the small moon-white clothes were piled randomly. One of the clothes had a similar dark red spot to the one found on the book.

“This seems to be… juice from Delphinium flowers as well?” Ding Gaochang took a closer look and suggested.

“Mmm.” Chu Jinnian nodded, turning to Ding Gaochang with a smile.

“Master Ding, do you have a lead on this case?”

Ding Gaochang who was deep in thought was caught off guard by Chu Jinnian’s question, causing him to be momentarily dazed.

After a short while, he exclaimed, “Are you suggesting that…”

“Let’s give it a try to see if that’s the case.” Chu Jinnian handed over the silver earring that he had been holding onto, “This thing should be useful to Master Ding.”

Ding Gaochang was slightly taken aback as he accepted the earring, looking at Chu Jinnian in disbelief.

Does he mean for him to continue investigating the case?

Most officials who come on the Emperor’s orders tends to investigate the case themselves. Firstly, it fulfills the Emperor’s decree, and secondly, they can claim credit once the case is resolved.

However, Chu Jinnian is allowing him to continue investigating the case and providing these helpful tips, is he doing this to allow him to stand out, or…

Is he doing this to save him and Xu Zhengping?

After all, this case is very challenging due to a lack of clues, although it revealed their inability in investigating cases, if they can solve the case later, it would serve as a satisfactory resolution.

“I, thank you, Master Chu.”

Upon understanding this, Ding Gaochang and Xu Zhengping promptly expressed their gratitude with a bow.