Volume 4: Holy Capital Tribulation Chapter 263 Xuanmen Production
In the Neiweifu, in Xu Zun's office.
Xu Zun spread out the information on the table once again and looked over it carefully for the umpteenth time.
Before this , Xu Zun had almost read through all the information, but Huo Anu couldn't understand what Xu Zun wanted to find from it.
"Sir," Li Xing brought a man in from outside and reported to Xu Zun, "Here he is! This guy is the head chef of the North Yamen. He has already confessed. It was Yan Hai, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who arranged him to join the Left Yamen Imperial Guard."
As he spoke, the guards behind him pushed a fat man who was beaten to pieces and looked almost like a human being in front of Xu Zun.
“Sir… Sir, please spare my life!” The fat man quickly knelt down and kowtowed to Xu Zun. “I… we didn’t know such a big thing would happen. We just followed his instructions and added some seasoning to today’s meal…”
"You are just lying!" Xu Zun frowned. "Whose order is this? Didn't the Minister of Personnel Yan Hai die in an assassination attempt?"
"It's... it's Yan Hai's butler," the fat man said quickly, "Minister Yan died in an assassination attempt, but his butler still has some power. He said that as long as we follow his instructions, we can still get a promotion!"
The housekeeper again...
Unexpectedly, the people from Xuanmen also had spies around Yan Hai.
"You just said you guys, how many people are there in total?" Xu Zun asked.
"There are... about ten people!" the fat man replied, "They were all arranged by the housekeeper. I let them follow my command."
"Sir..." Li Xing whispered in Xu Zun's ear, "These are only the people from the North Yamen camp. If you count the side camps and the South Yamen, there are a total of 40 to 50 people.
"We have captured more than 20 people, and the rest are still wanted."
"Well," Xu Zun nodded, and asked the chef, "Tell me everything you know. If you want to live, tell the truth, otherwise..."
"Tell me, I'll tell you!" The fat man kowtowed and confessed quickly, "I was originally a cook at a small restaurant in Chongning, Qian'an, Songzhou.
"Later, as if I had hit the jackpot, the steward of Yan Hai, the Minister of Personnel, found me and showed me a way to make money.
“I never dreamed that I could get in touch with the officials of the Ministry of Personnel, so I invested a sum of money and bought a small official in Shengdu to work for me.
"Later, with the help of the housekeeper, I was assigned to the Northern Court's Imperial Guards, where I worked for a year...
"During this period," the fat man said, "the housekeeper often came to the North Court's kitchen to see me, and sometimes he brought General Chai from the Imperial Guard with him. He was very honored..."
General Chai of the Yulin Guard was the manager in charge of transporting supplies within the Imperial Army camp, including oil, salt, rice and vegetables from the kitchen.
"Sometimes, General Chai and the housekeeper would bring me some condiments and ask me to add them to the food in the barracks. They said that they were prescriptions personally prescribed by the Imperial Hospital and could strengthen the body..." said the fat man. "Of course I didn't dare to disobey their orders, so I did everything they said, but nothing ever happened!"
Seasoning...
Xu Zun asked hurriedly: "What kind of seasoning?"
"It's a pill like an elixir," the fat man replied, "dissolve it in warm water and then add it to the soup.
"How dare I disobey the general's orders? I did have some doubts in my heart, but I didn't dare to make random guesses. After all, my future is in his hands!"
"What happened next?" Xu Zun asked.
"Then, today," the fat man said, "it was probably around 9:00 p.m. when the housekeeper suddenly came!
“I don’t know where they came from, and they brought in a few large boxes filled with those white pills.
"He told me that there has been trouble in the Holy City in recent days, and the Imperial Guards have to step up patrols. The task is heavy, so we need to add these seasonings so that they can stay alert at all times and protect the Holy City..."
Tsk tsk…
The more Xu Zun listened, the more his brows furrowed.
"Although Minister Yan and General Chai are no longer here, I dare not disobey the housekeeper's orders," said the fat man. "So when the fire is turned on at 9 o'clock to cook, I will distribute the pills and ask the kitchen assistants to put them into the pots in the back kitchen...
"To be honest, when I saw the dosage suddenly increase, I was also worried, but... the housekeeper was always monitoring everything we did, so I didn't dare to ask...
"Later, we had dinner," the fat man said, "and then the internal guards came and arrested a few of us!
"Sir, I am truly innocent. I feel..." The fat man knelt down and begged for mercy. "Please interrogate those petty officials. As soon as they saw the inner guards calling their names, they ran away. I feel they should know more than me!"
"You said they brought a big box," Xu Zun asked, "Besides Yan Hai's housekeeper, who else was there?"
"Yes, yes!" the fat man said quickly, "It was those clerks. They brought them here with the housekeeper."
Carrying them over, Xu Zun thought that it seemed that the pills should have been transported to the military camp long ago, but now the time has come, they can be used directly on the spot.
"Those pills...are there any left?" Xu Zun asked.
"Yes," Li Xing quickly took out a handkerchief from his arms and opened it, revealing a white pill. "I found a few in the box, most of them have been broken."
Xu Zun took it in his hand and looked at it carefully. From the appearance, the pill was almost the same as the pill they had given Li Jinlou.
The pills are covered with a layer of wax, probably to prevent the ingredients in the pills from evaporating and affecting their efficacy.
Annie also came over to identify it, and after just a light sniff, she confirmed that it was a product of Xuanmen.
"Sir," Li Xing reported after the fat man was taken away, "What the fat man said is correct. The only people who really know about it are Yan Hai's housekeeper and those petty officials. There are indeed problems.
"It's a pity that the petty officials with problems were either not caught or committed suicide by taking poison. The rest were deceived, just like the chef."
Xu Zun brought the pill to his nose and sniffed it. Just as he was about to assign some tasks, his eyes suddenly froze!
"Sir," Li Xing guessed what Xu Zun meant and asked, "Should we first find the place where the poison is hidden? It should be...it should be in a room in the back kitchen of the North Courtyard, right? Sir..."
While Li Xing was calling softly, Hou Zhen and Zhao Yu suddenly entered the room dejectedly.
"Master Xu, you're back so soon?" Zhao Yu's first words when they met were exactly the same as Huo Anu and Ani's, "Did the Queen Mother ask you to investigate this case thoroughly?"
"Old Zhao," Xu Zun saw Zhao Yu still wearing the bloody clothes and asked hurriedly, "Are you okay with your injuries?"
"It's okay, it's just...ah..." he said angrily, "That Luo Jia is really stubborn and refuses to say anything.
"He lost his arm and was blind, but he just gave up!"
"Yes, sir," Hou Zhen agreed, "We dare not torture him too much, for fear that he will not be able to bear it. We can only heal him first, so..."
"Hou Zhen," Xu Zun said, "Hurry up and make arrangements. I need to go to Zuoge Ling Bisheng!"
"Oh?" Hou Zhen was puzzled. "You are going to Zuo Mansion? Okay, I will go and inform you right away..."
"Sir," Zhao Yu asked hurriedly when he saw Xu Zun holding the pills, "Do you have any new clues?"
"Yes," Xu Zun nodded, raised the pill and said, "I seem to have smelled this smell somewhere before..."
