bayedsolid Chapter 189 The number one suspect
Chapter 189 The number one suspect
Seeing this, both of them couldn't hide their shock.
"The handwriting on it doesn't seem to be from the same person."
Lin Lezhi took the jade pendant to a brighter place and shone it with a fire stick. After carefully comparing the inscriptions on it, he came to this conclusion. He then looked at Xiao Yihuo and asked, "After you took the jade pendant back, did you take it out to look at it again?"
"No." Xiao Yihuo shook his head, his eyes solemn as he said truthfully, "Since Xing Tianqi put this item in the wooden box, it must be very important. I was afraid that someone would target this item, so I discussed with Qingchuan before coming to the island and brought the item I found in the basement with me. But Qingchuan and I checked it before coming to the island, and there was nothing unusual."
Lin Lezhi pondered for a moment, with a solemn look between his brows, and then looked at Xiao Yihuo and asked, "Do you think someone will target this thing, but because of the flowers in the basement that were destroyed."
Hearing this, Xiao Yihuo's eyes darkened, and then he took a deep breath and said, "That's right."
"On the night we discovered the basement, there were only two of us present, and no one else was there. I left Zhouqing Town that night and disappeared without a trace. So you suspect that I destroyed those flowers?"
"..."
Xiao Yihuo did not respond. He looked at Lin Lezhi with eyes that seemed to be covered with a layer of fog like the surrounding environment. He couldn't see clearly but still tried hard to see clearly.
Lin Lezhi smiled and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't answer. Others won't think that I have nothing to do with this matter. I am indeed the biggest suspect."
There were only two people in the place, and suddenly there was no movement, and the atmosphere instantly became awkward.
Xiao Yihuo's eyes darkened. Just as he was about to say something, Lin Lezhi spoke up first, "Assuming it wasn't me, the person who was able to enter the secret room after we left must have known the mechanism and layout of the secret room very well, and his purpose was clear, which was to destroy those flowers."
Lin Lezhi looked at Xiao Yihuo and asked seriously, "Xiao Xu, I want to ask you a question. Can you answer me truthfully?"
"What's the matter?"
"The flower is related to life?"
Liu Yunhe and Qingchuan were very worried when the flowers were destroyed, and Qingchuan said in person that the flowers in the basement were closely related to Xiao Yihuo.
After asking the question, Lin Lezhi did not see much emotional fluctuation on Xiao Yihuo's face. Instead, there was a hint of desolation in his cold eyes.
"I don't know if those flowers will be of any use to me. I'm just trying to save my life. Maybe they will be of some use."
As he spoke, Xiao Yihuo's lips slightly raised, but there was no smile in his eyes. He said with a hint of self-mockery: "But it seems that someone doesn't want me to live."
"..."
Lin Lezhi didn't know how to comfort Xiao Yihuo after what he said.
Because what Xiao Yihuo said was true.
"What do you think of my mother?"
When Xiao Yihuo asked this question, his eyes looked at Lin Lezhi like a cold deep pool. It was impossible to figure out what Xiao Yihuo was thinking at the moment, as if he simply wanted to ask Lin Lezhi for an answer.
Lin Lezhi could probably guess why Xiao Yihuo asked him this.
Three months ago, because Xiao Yihuo stepped forward to resolve the refugee issue, rumors about Xiao Yihuo's life experience, which had rarely been mentioned, began to spread again in the world and became a topic of conversation among people after dinner.
He was born in an inauspicious way, was not favored by his father, and his mother died when he was five years old. He also became sickly. It can be said that he was destined to be unlucky. Anyone who gets close to him will suffer misfortune.
It was such a person who was avoided and looked down upon by everyone, but he was not afraid of risks and went deep into the enemy camp to rescue the refugees from danger, and became a hero in the hearts of the refugees.
However, in the end, all the credit was snatched away by Yang Hancai, who was promoted to a higher position, named a Hanlin scholar, and became the emperor's confidant. On the other hand, Xiao Yihuo, the unpopular prince who sat high in Shaotian City, never gave him a single word of praise.
Xiao Yihuo's identity was special, and once the news spread, it spread like wildfire.
Therefore, even if Lin Lezhi left Xiao Yihuo, he would inevitably hear about Xiao Yihuo's affairs.
Before hearing Guo Yong talking loudly in the inn, Lin Lezhi had heard it countless times.
When talking about Xiao Yihuo, we cannot avoid talking about Xiao Yihuo's biological mother. There are also many speculations in the world about the fact that Xiao Yihuo's mother died of illness in the palace.
The most widely circulated speculation is that Xiao Yihuo's mother did not die of illness, but violated the taboo in the palace and was secretly executed by order of the current emperor.
Since he could hear these groundless speculations, Xiao Yihuo himself must have heard them as well.
As a human being, it must be very painful to hear this.
"If you ask me, I think other people's words are not reliable and cannot be trusted. No one knows your mother better than you. I want to hear it from your own mouth."
Hear the words.
Xiao Yihuo's eyes were slightly startled, as if he had never expected Lin Lezhi to say such a thing, and the coldness in his eyes melted a little.
"My mother was a very gentle person. She hanged herself in Changle Palace on my fifth birthday. When she died..." Xiao Yihuo clenched his hands at his side, his breath a little unstable, "She was holding this handkerchief in her hand. It was what my mother promised to give me on my birthday."
"Everyone in the palace said that it was my mother who practiced witchcraft and caused the plague in the palace. She felt guilty and hanged herself in the palace. Witchcraft is a taboo in the royal family. My father was furious and ordered the execution of two palace maids in my mother's palace, as well as all the people who spread rumors in the palace. He announced to the public that my mother died of illness and her body was hidden in the imperial mausoleum."
"But my mother is definitely not someone who would give up her life easily, let alone someone who would murder others. Even when she was treated coldly by my father, she just shed tears silently and never complained. She burned incense and prayed for blessings in front of the Buddha every day."
Xiao Yihuo tried to control his emotions intentionally, wanting to speak calmly about this matter, but the anger and unwillingness in his heart could not be suppressed. When he said this, he could not hide his indignation, and his voice became much louder.
"I believe what you said, and I believe even more that a mother who loves her children will never give up her life easily, especially on the day promised to you."
Looking at Xiao Yihuo who was a little agitated, Lin Lezhi spoke to comfort him.
Xiao Yihuo calmed down his emotions, suppressed the depression in his heart and continued, "Yes, but I didn't understand at the time. I thought my mother hated me so much that she hated my appearance and caused a rift between him and my father. That's why she chose to die on my birthday and wanted to punish me in this way."
"It was not until my master told me that I had already been poisoned that I suddenly woke up."
"Those black lines on your body?"
"That's right." Xiao Yihuo looked at Lin Lezhi, his eyes as calm as ice as he said, "One day, my master came to teach me martial arts. Seeing that my steps were unsteady, he asked me with a smile if I had drunk any alcohol. After I said no, my master felt my pulse very seriously and said that I had been poisoned for a long time. Fortunately, I practiced the internal skills he taught me every day, which prevented the poison from spreading in my body."
"His steps are frivolous, as if he was drunk." Lin Lezhi murmured softly, and then he suddenly thought of something, and said with a look of shock: "Drunk in the floating life!"
Lin Lezhi's heart suddenly tightened. No wonder Xiao Yihuo was able to recognize that the aphrodisiac used in Yulong Village was Fu Sheng Zui after just one sniff when he was in the village.
"It was your mother who mixed Fu Sheng Zui into the incense she used when she worshipped Buddha."
Xiao Yihuo mentioned it just now.
"Yes, the person who poisoned was very smart. He only mixed a little bit of it into the incense. It accumulated over time and was difficult to detect. Mother worshipped Buddha every day, and I seldom disturbed her when she was worshipping Buddha, so she didn't inhale much poison."
"Is there any evidence left?"
Xiao Yihuo's eyes dimmed, and he shook his head and said, "After mother passed away, father was furious and didn't want to see anything of mother anymore. He ordered all of mother's belongings to be destroyed. Mother didn't leave anything behind except the handkerchief. Her body was buried in the imperial mausoleum, which is beyond my power. I... don't want to disturb mother's sleep."
Lin Lezhi patted Xiao Yihuo's shoulder and comforted him, "I understand, but as long as we don't give up, I believe that one day the truth will be revealed and your mother will be vindicated."
Unlike Lin Lezhi's determination, Xiao Yihuo looked a little uncertain, and said hesitantly: "...We?"
"Yes, we!" Lin Lezhi nodded seriously, then with a firm look in his eyes, he stretched out his hand to Xiao Yihuo and said with a smile: "Didn't we agree to go together?"
Xiao Yihuo looked at the hand that Lin Lezhi stretched out, but did not shake it. With uncertainty in his eyes, but also with some expectation, he said: "Do you... believe what I say?"
"You looked so miserable last night, why shouldn't I believe you?" After a moment's silence, Lin Lezhi narrowed his eyes slightly and said "Oh" in a long voice, then withdrew his hand and said in understanding: "That's right, I am your number one suspect now, you don't believe that I didn't..."
Before he could finish his words, Xiao Yihuo's large and powerful hand came up to hold his, and he raised his lips like a fox and said, "In this case, Mr. Lin, please try your best to clear yourself of suspicion."