"This... I didn’t expect the County Magistrate to work so efficiently."
He first took the government officials to look at the rented courtyard, then examined the footprints left in the corner of the wall. Luckily, there had been no wind or snow these days, and the scene hadn’t been disturbed.
"Has your family offended anyone recently?"
The family thought and thought, then unanimously shook their heads.
"Think harder, have you had conflicts with anyone?"
The family still unanimously shook their heads.
"Alright, we’ll first visit the neighbors and come back later," the government official said as he walked out.
"Then I’ll trouble you, Brother Official!" Xiaoxiao followed the government official to see him out, with Yang Ming following behind her.
"Xiaoxiao, how is Yang Ming treating you?"
"..." Just as they stepped out, the Brother Official threw out this question, leaving Xiaoxiao stunned. What was this situation? The tone of his voice sounded like that of an acquaintance.
"Such a big issue and you didn’t come to me? Don’t worry, I’ve got this covered!" he declared, then stepped out the front door.
While Xiaoxiao was still puzzled, she saw her makeshift husband staring at her, had he heard it too? Misunderstanding! She knew nothing about it!
Yang Ming indeed had heard it. It turned out his wife knew the leading government official, but why pretend not to know him? The government official had even called his wife by her name! He felt somewhat uneasy.
The government official visited many households. Everyone was surprised; their village had an incident that even brought the government official to their doors.
"On the night of the second day of the new year, did any strangers enter the village?"
"Officer Sir, that day was the day daughters-in-law return to their parental home. Many sons-in-law came to the village!"
"Who in this village do you think might have a feud with Yang Erzhu’s family, or even bear a grudge?"
"That would be Hehua’s family. Hehua wanted to marry Yang Ming, Yang Erzhu’s third son, but he refused!"
"Besides her family, anyone else?"
"Oh yes, there’s another, that day the entire village’s women workers making sauerkraut were arrested. If you’re talking about a feud, surely it must be the person who got them arrested."
"On the night of the second day, did you hear any disturbances?"
The government official visited many houses, and the results were similar, all pointing to those two having a grudge against the family.
Thus, he returned to Yang Ming’s home.
"Brother Official, did you find out anything?" Xiaoxiao immediately inquired, perhaps the person who poisoned them was seen by a neighbor that night!
"You all, even your neighbors can see who holds a grudge against you!" Xiaoxiao being naive was one thing, but how could the family she married into also be so oblivious about with whom they had enmity.
"..." The neighbors could see it too? Who in the world couldn’t stand their family’s prosperity? The whole family was puzzled.
"Who arrested the woman worker?"
"..." That lunatic? He got beaten up after arresting someone, could he really pull off something as major as poisoning? It didn’t seem likely, but suspecting him wasn’t unreasonable given the past feuds between Dongfeng Restaurant and Yuelai Restaurant.
"It was the Young Master of the County’s Dongfeng Restaurant, Li Fugui." She replied, though she was perplexed inside.
"Another person who holds a grudge against your family is Hehua, who wanted to marry your husband!"
"..." Huh? She hadn’t seen that coming. To think a rivalry over a man would escalate so much, but could Hehua really be that malicious?
"We’ll head back now. We need to check the pharmacy to further confirm who it really was!"
Yang Ming and Xiaoxiao saw the government official out, then returned to their room. A chill filled the air, "Who is that government official?"