My Wife is Unbeatable in the Whole World, Touch Me If You Dare!-Chapter 391 - 262: Li Nuo’s Discovery

Prime Minister of Guanglu.

The ministries of Guanglu Si, Taichang Si, Ministry of Rites, and Honglu Si had numerous officials lining up outside the hall of mourning to offer their condolences.

Although these four departments belong to different government offices, they often need to cooperate with each other during court sessions and various ceremonial affairs. Most officials from these departments were familiar with one another and came to offer their respects upon hearing of the Prime Minister of Guanglu's death.

Prime Minister Wu Zongguang, who became an Advanced Scholar in the eighteenth year of Zhisheng, had climbed from the Ninth Grade to the Secondary Fifth Rank in sixteen years—a pace that was not slow and promised a limitless future.

Had he lived another twenty years, he might have retired from a Standard Fourth Rank position.

Sadly, he died young—for not even forty, succumbing to illness—truly a cause for deep regret.

"Mrs. Wu, please accept my condolences!"

"Lord Wu, the subordinate is here to accompany you on your final journey."

"Heaven is blind; how could Lord Wu, so young, just..."

"Mrs. Wu, if you face any difficulties later, you can come to Guanglu Si. We promised Lord Wu to take good care of your family..."

…

Despite the pervading sorrow within Wu Mansion, the presence of many officials coming to mourn the Prime Minister of Guanglu brought some comfort to the Wu family.

The steward of Wu Mansion, having just seen off a group of visitors, welcomed several figures entering the mansion.

Leading them was a beautiful young woman exuding nobility, followed by several constables in uniform, seemingly out of place in this environment.

The chief mistress of Wu Mansion came out quickly, greeted them, and asked, "Have you come to pay respects to my deceased husband?"

Li Anning looked at her and said, "We are from the Ministry of Justice. We are deeply saddened by the news of Lord Wu's demise. In addition to paying our respects, we have some matters to discuss with Madame."

"The Ministry of Justice?"

The woman paused for a moment and asked, "What do you want to ask?"

Li Anning smiled kindly at her and said, "Madame need not worry; it's just a routine inquiry. Lord Wu was a court-appointed official of the Secondary Fifth Rank, and the court must thoroughly investigate his death. However, we can discuss this after we have paid our respects to Lord Wu..."

The group walked into the mourning hall, offered incense, and after paying their respects, Li Anning turned to the woman and asked, "Mrs. Wu, may I have a private word?"

The woman nodded and said, "Please, follow me."

As they left, two young servant girls kneeling on either side of the hall exchanged a glance, a deep worry hidden in their eyes.

At this moment, in another room of the mansion, Li Anning continued her questioning.

"Has Lord Wu always been in poor health?"

"The master's health was quite good until two years ago when it began to deteriorate daily. In recent months, he was so ill he couldn't leave his bed."

"What illness did Lord Wu suffer from?"

"Previously, an Imperial Physician diagnosed it as overexertion, which harmed his health. He prescribed some tonics, but they were ineffective..."

"Overexertion? To my knowledge, the duties at Guanglu Si should not be overly strenuous."

At this, the woman hesitated before speaking, "Three years ago, the master took two more concubines. The nights of exertion depleted his health. Two winters ago, he caught a severe cold and was seriously ill for a month. Though he recovered from the illness, his health steadily declined..."

Li Anning continued to inquire, "What did those concubines do before?"

The woman said, "They were beauties from a brothel. They were sisters, and later the master redeemed them and made them his concubines. Over these three years, they devotedly attended the master..."

A meaningful expression appeared on Li Anning's face.

Before taking the concubines, his health was quite good; a year after, it worsened day by day.

Although it took two years for him to pass away, which would hardly raise suspicion, she trusted her own instincts more.

She looked at the woman, asking, "Over these two years, did he consult any doctors?"

The woman nodded, "He did. The Imperial Physician prescribed a formula, which he has been taking for these two years."

"Was it effective?"

"It was somewhat effective initially, but its effectiveness decreased over time..."

"Bring that prescription here so I could have a look at it."

…

After returning home from Honglu Si, Li Nuo found Anning waiting for him in the courtyard.

Li Nuo asked, "How did your investigation go?"

Li Anning shook her head and said, "After he fell ill two years ago, his health went downhill irreversibly. I had people review the prescription from the Imperial Physician; there was nothing amiss, just a formula to replenish qi and nurture the body..."

Li Nuo thought for a moment, then asked, "Do you remember that medicine formula?"

Li Anning took out a piece of paper from her sleeve and said, "I copied it down."

Li Nuo took the paper, looked it over, and recognized it as a top-tier qi-nourishing formula. A fifth-rank official sick could have the Imperial Physician treat him for free; this formula's main effect was to support the kidneys and generally had no side effects; it shouldn't have worsened his condition.

The Law Code might pinpoint the criminal, but it didn't provide much real assistance to Li Nuo in solving the case.

To break this case, he needed concrete evidence.

Li Nuo thought for a moment and then said, "Never mind, I'll go with you tomorrow to have a look."

Night.

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Capital Prefecture.

The Governor of the Capital tapped the table lightly with his index finger and asked, "You're saying, after Li Nuo left, he first went to the Ministry of Justice, and then Princess Anning took people to the Wu Mansion?"

A man nodded and said, "Yes, Princess Anning also asked Mrs. Wu some questions, all about Wu Zongguang before his death. They seem to have started suspecting the cause of Wu Zongguang's death..."

The Governor of the Capital rubbed his brow and said somewhat irritably, "How could this happen..."

The thing he feared most had still happened.

Originally, this was to be a deed unseen by gods or ghosts.

They had spent more than five years implementing this plan.

The whole plan had been seamless, without any flaws.

Yet they had overlooked the official from Honglu Si, who had come to pay condolences on behalf of the Wu Family.

Who told him to go to the Honglu Si!

And how did he notice it?

However, at the moment, those were not the most important things; since a flaw had been exposed, it was time to initiate the second plan.

The man said unconcerned, "My lord, you need not worry. This time, the two of them acted cleanly. They won't be able to find out anything."

The Governor of the Capital took a deep breath and said, "I'm afraid that they won't find out anything..."

Li Nuo had obviously discovered something.

Allowing him to successfully find something would end this case sooner.

If he couldn't find out anything, he would keep investigating, and no one could guarantee what he might uncover.

He looked at the man and said, "Tell them to activate Plan B."

The man's expression changed, puzzled, he asked, "Why!"

Plan B meant for them to expose themselves intentionally.

And for conspiring against the imperial officers, the two could only face death.

The butterfly had died already; were the dragonfly and firefly also unable to be kept?

The Governor of the Capital looked at him and said word by word, "Their only purpose of living is to complete the plan. Your slight pity could lead us to losing everything..."

The man silently lowered his head and said, "Understood..."

...

The next morning, Li Nuo and Anning went out together headed to the Prime Minister of Guanglu.

However, before the two could enter the Wu Mansion, they saw the two women being escorted out of the Wu Mansion.

Li Nuo, seeing this, was taken aback and stepped forward to ask, "What happened?"

The steward of the Wu Mansion, angrily, said, "These two lowly concubines, right after the master passed away, they rolled up the family's wealth and tried to run away, but were caught red-handed by the night patrol guards. The servants even found some herbs in their room. Every time they prepared medicine for the master, they secretly took some of the herbs. According to the doctor, without those few herbs, the tonic becomes poison, no wonder the master's health was deteriorating. It was all their doing, and the master was so good to them, yet they dared to conspire against him. Come, let's go to the government office!"

Li Nuo and Anning exchanged glances; it seemed there was no need to go into the Wu Mansion.

The case was solved, but the suspects had fallen into the trap themselves, and it had nothing to do with them.

Anning regretfully said, "Ah, it's all my negligence. We should have searched their room directly yesterday!"

The cultivation was handed to her on a plate, and due to her carelessness, she lost it—she now regretted it immensely.

Cases involving fifth-rank officials were no ordinary murder cases; they could significantly increase cultivation.

Li Nuo smiled and said, "You better head back to the Ministry of Justice. Handling this case yourself can mitigate some losses."

Anning hurried back with them to the Ministry of Justice, while Li Nuo returned to Honglu Si and, after arriving at his government office, a hint of suspicion finally appeared on his face.

He looked at the two colored portraits in the Law Code.

If the arrest of these two women had nothing to do with him, why were their portraits in the Law Code?

What strengths did these two women have that could be acknowledged by the Law Code?

Were the demands for talents in concubines, taken by these wealthy and powerful people, so high?

However, these talented women often come with deadly risks.

Assistant Minister Zheng died by the hands of a concubine, and the Prime Minister of Guanglu Si, Wu Zongguang, also died at the hands of a concubine...

Wait a second... He seemed to have seen the name Wu Zongguang somewhere before.

After a brief recollection, Li Nuo quickly remembered some things.

He went to the Ministry of Personnel and borrowed the records of the Advanced Scholars from his Lord Father-in-law.

He found the list of Advanced Scholars from the year of Zhisheng eighteen and flipped directly to the end.

Gu Wenhan, Advanced Scholar of Zhisheng eighteen, ranked ninety-sixth in the Imperial Examination.

Wu Zongguang, Advanced Scholar of Zhisheng eighteen, ranked ninety-seventh.

Zheng Tianxing, Advanced Scholar of Zhisheng eighteen, ranked ninety-eighth.

Gu Wenhan, Wu Zongguang, Zheng Tianxing—three bottom-tier Advanced Scholars from the year Zhisheng eighteen had all died.

If Li Nuo's guess was correct, the Prime Minister of Guanglu Si, Wu Zongguang, might have previously served in the Eastern Palace.