Chapter 177: Premeditation

Premeditation

Zhongli moved hurriedly, his furrowed brows revealing a hint of annoyance and anxiety. Yet, upon hearing this, Yin Fengzhan, who was seated, only gave him a glance; his perpetually gloomy face showed not even a trace of surprise.

"How did (they) die?"

"Last night everything was fine, but just now that woman suddenly started foaming at the mouth, and by the time the subordinates discovered it, she had already breathed her last."

Keeping an eye on Qiao Yuan'er was Zhongli's assignment. Now that the person was dead, Zhongli was of course wholly responsible. Thus his frustration grew. Hearing this, Nie Jinxuan, standing nearby, instantly furrowed her brows and said,

"Lan Ping, look after your Prince."

She whispered the instruction, and after the words fell, Nie Jinxuan walked out on her own. At that moment, the others in the room were startled by her departure and then hurried out as well.

…

After leaving the room, Nie Jinxuan headed straight for the temple's Chairfang. Upon reaching its doorway, the two monk guards bowed and opened the door. At that moment Master Leikong arrived; seeing Qiao Yuan'er lying on the floor inside, he was instantly startled, then pressed his palms together at his chest.

"Amitabha."

Monastics are always compassionate. Although Qiao Yuan'er had exploited him and Qing Tan Temple, wielding a knife to commit murder, the dead are dead, and Master Leikong still accorded the appropriate respect.

But at this moment, Nie Jinxuan ignored Master Leikong, stepped forward first, and placed her hand on Qiao Yuan'er's pulse and chest.

"The body temperature hasn't dropped yet; she must have died only recently. Moreover, it appears to be poison death."

Without turning her head, she briefly described the situation; after speaking, Nie Jinxuan lifted Qiao Yuan'er's curled body and laid it flat on the ground, and again said,

"You all go out first. Xiao Xiu, fetch a clean white cloth; Shui Yun, stay here to help."

"Understood."

Shui Yun and Xiao Xiu responded simultaneously, and Xiao Xiu then ran out.

Xiao Xiu moved swiftly and returned shortly thereafter. Meanwhile, the others had withdrawn outside, but one person remained standing inside the Chairfang, not leaving. That person was the Dragon Divine Doctor who had suddenly appeared yesterday and saved Yin Fengxiang.

"Young Master Long, is there a problem?"

Nie Jinxuan wondered why this person was still here. Upon hearing her, the Dragon Divine Doctor simply raised his hand to a ring on his chest and said,

"Then what are you going to do?"

"Perform an autopsy."

"Autopsy? You?!"

Obviously, the Dragon Divine Doctor found Nie Jinxuan's reply hard to believe; his usually proud face instantly raised skeptical eyebrows. Seeing this, Nie Jinxuan offered no explanation, turned and ordered Shui Yun to spread the white cloth on the floor, then placed Qiao Yuan'er's corpse upon it.

Nie Jinxuan ignored him. Yet, watching her serious expression, the Dragon Divine Doctor couldn't help to furrow his brows.

"Then I will stay."

"Fine."

At that moment, Nie Jinxuan had no time for further discussion. Without turning, she replied briefly, then put on the sheepskin gloves she carried and began stripping Qiao Yuan'er's clothing.

For a moment, the Chairfang fell silent; Nie Jinxuan moved swiftly, shedding Qiao Yuan'er's garments in a few swift motions, then began the examination earnestly. The Dragon Divine Doctor, standing behind her, watched quietly, a faint surprise flashing in his eyes before he turned his gaze toward Nie Jinxuan.

Time passed, and after about one hour, Nie Jinxuan let out a slight breath, then simply tidied Qiao Yuan'er's corpse and stood up.

At that moment, the door opened; Yin Fengzhan and Master Leikong entered, and without waiting for them to speak, Nie Jinxuan whispered,

"There's a palm imprint on the chest of the corpse, left while she was alive. So that palm strike must have been from Shui Yun yesterday. Apart from that, there are no other wounds, thus the cause is judged to be poisoning."

"Poisoning? But there were no issues the previous night; why now…"

Zhongli was perplexed. Generally, poisoning causes death shortly after ingestion. Yet yesterday's incident was already so long ago; how could it still…

At this time, not only Zhongli but everyone present furrowed their brows. Hearing this, Nie Jinxuan turned to glance at Qiao Yuan'er, then turned back and said,

"I don't know exactly what poison it is. Moreover, even if no one touched Qiao Yuan'er last night, we can't guarantee she wasn't already carrying the toxin. Besides ingestion, poison can be administered in other ways, so this still requires investigation."

"So does Third Miss mean that Qiao Yuan'er committed suicide?"

"Not at all. Moreover, I don't think Qiao Yuan'er is the type to kill herself."

Indeed, although we can't rule out that the poison was already on Qiao Yuan'er, Nie Jinxuan's intuition tells her Qiao Yuan'er wouldn't commit suicide.

"Besides, this reminds me of the Three‑Watch Powder that Qin Yuxia once took…"

The original Three‑Watch Powder, after ingestion, doesn't cause immediate reaction; the poisoned only feel severe abdominal cramps around the third watch of the night.

Nie Jinxuan frowned softly as she spoke, but before she could finish, a proud voice suddenly rang out,

"She was poisoned with 'One‑Day Gold.'"

The Dragon Divine Doctor said. Upon hearing this, everyone turned, and the Dragon Divine Doctor stepped two paces forward, came beside Nie Jinxuan, and cast a glance at Qiao Yuan'er lying on the ground.

"'One‑Day Gold' is refined from ten kinds of deadly toxins. It has a faint sour taste; shortly after ingestion it boosts the body's condition, even the gravely ill become instantly vigorous. Yet after twelve hours it causes sudden death, and the forehead bears a dark yellow mark. Hence it is called 'One‑Day Gold'!"

While Nie Jinxuan was conducting the autopsy, the Dragon Divine Doctor had been watching nearby, so at a glance he identified the poison she was dealing with.

"If we follow Young Master Long's words, Qiao Yuan'er must have taken the poison before twelve hours ago, that is, yesterday morning…"

Furrowing her brows, Nie Jinxuan muttered, and then suddenly looked up at Master Leikong.

"May I ask, Master Leikong, do you have any impression of Qiao Yuan'er? Or do you recall when Qiao Yuan'er arrived at Qing Tan Temple? And this morning, did anyone come into contact with her?"

"Um... of course I remember. Three days ago, while I was meditating in my room, my disciple Ming Hui suddenly came and said there was a little novice monk outside the temple gate. I was startled, went out with people, and saw this... uh, young lady collapsed at the gate, pale and emaciated, gravely ill. I immediately had someone bring her into the temple."

"Later I had someone give her water and fetched a doctor from the mountain, who said she was weak and needed gradual convalescence. Since she was already dressed in a tattered monk's garb, I didn't suspect anything else nor ask further, and I kept her here."

"After arriving at our temple, the girl never spoke a word. I felt pity for her, and given her poor health, I assigned her simple tasks. Yet, unexpectedly..."

At this point, Master Leikong sighed, then turned to his disciple Ming Yuan and asked,

"Ming Yuan, I tasked you with looking after her. Yesterday morning, did you notice any abnormality in the girl?"

"Um... Master, I didn't notice any difference from her usual self. Moreover, I didn't even realize she was a woman..."

Ming Yuan stopped mid‑sentence. Clearly, discovering Qiao Yuan'er was a woman made him uneasy. After all, Master Leikong had had Ming Yuan look after her for two days, and they shared a room. Realizing she was a woman now was rather embarrassing for Ming Yuan, who had been a monk since childhood.

Master Leikong understood Ming Yuan's thoughts and sighed again. At that moment, one of the two monk guards who had been at the gate stepped forward and whispered,

"Master, actually this morning I saw Junior Disciple Xian Zhi go out."

Xian Zhi is the dharma name Master Leikong gave Qiao Yuan'er after she arrived at Qing Tan Temple. Upon hearing this, Master Leikong was startled and immediately asked,

"Oh? Xian Neng, is that so? Then quickly tell me, what exactly happened then?"

"Yes, Master."

The monk named Xianneng responded respectfully, then lowered his head and said in a calm voice,

"Yesterday was the first of the month, and many people came to the temple to offer incense, so this disciple also went to the front to help. But when I was only halfway there, I suddenly recalled that Senior Brother Xianjue had previously asked me to bring the incense burner. So I turned back. But just then, I saw Junior Brother Xianzhi walking alone toward the side gate path. At the time, I didn't pay it much attention and only thought Junior Brother Xianzhi had business there, so I didn't catch up to ask. Therefore, I'm not clear about what happened afterward..."

Xianneng's answer was not of much value, but it did shed light on some matters. Then Nie Jinxuan had someone tidy Qiao Yuan'er's body, and the group all returned to the meditation room together.

Once back in the room and seated, Nie Jinxuan said directly in a low voice,

"It seems this matter was planned by the other party long ago. Moreover, from the looks of it, regardless of whether Qiao Yuan'er succeeded or not, the killer still had murderous intent!"

Saying so, Nie Jinxuan raised her eyes to look at Yin Fengzhan, but then her gaze shifted to a certain dark-faced man sitting nearby, leisurely drinking tea.

"By the way, Young Master Long, may I ask—is the 'One-Day Gold' you mentioned a relatively common poison?"

"Common? How could that be!"

He replied to Nie Jinxuan without even thinking, then Divine Physician Long set down his teacup and raised his eyes to look at Nie Jinxuan with an air of pride.

"I already told you, 'One-Day Gold' is made from a mixture of ten poisons, so do you think such a poison would be relatively common?"

"In that case, does Young Master Long know what kind of people would have this 'One-Day Gold' in their possession?"

"What kind of people? People of the Southern Border, of course!"

Divine Physician Long raised his eyebrows slightly, but upon hearing 'Southern Border,' Nie Jinxuan was momentarily stunned. She then turned her head and exchanged a knowing glance with Yin Fengzhan, before turning her gaze back to Divine Physician Long.

"People of the Southern Border?! So Young Master Long means to say that this 'One-Day Gold' is a poison unique to the Southern Border?"

"Exactly! Unique to the Southern Border! The Southern Border has a humid climate with many mountains and forests, where miasma lingers year-round, and a great number of rare treasures grow—though there are even more poisonous things. Just like that 'Three-Watch Powder' you mentioned before and so on, those are all things only found in the Southern Border."

Saying so, Divine Physician Long stood up on his own and casually stretched his back.

"Alright, you all discuss matters among yourselves. I'm going to sleep. Remember—don't come looking for me if there's nothing going on. And definitely don't come looking for me if there is!"

With those words, Divine Physician Long paid no mind to whatever the others in the room were saying and swaggered out, nodding off as he walked, looking as though he hadn't slept in days!

Capable people always have their quirks. And this Divine Physician Long was the foremost among them. So watching his casual manner, Nie Jinxuan couldn't help but find it a bit amusing, but then her expression turned serious, and she turned to look at Yin Fengzhan.

"It seems that Miss Qin being poisoned last time is also connected to this matter. And that previous incident was originally aimed at me. But what I'm wondering now is—who exactly is the killer hiding behind the scenes? Could it really be for that ledger?"

Nie Jinxuan vaguely felt that something was strange about this matter. But at this moment, Yin Fengzhan, who had been keeping his deep eyes lowered, pressed his thin lips slightly together.

"Not necessarily!"

Clearly, Yin Fengzhan shared the same thought as Nie Jinxuan. After saying this, Yin Fengzhan raised his eyes to glance at Nie Jinxuan, then called Zhongli in.

"Go investigate the physician that Master Kongkong found."

"Yes."

Qiao Yuan'er was a woman, but no matter how well Qiao Yuan'er disguised herself, Master Kongkong had called upon a physician. So as long as someone with even a little medical knowledge took the pulse, they would naturally know whether the patient was male or female! Yet that physician had said nothing at all—this was clearly problematic.

So Yin Fengzhan dispatched Zhongli to track down the physician that Master Kongkong had previously found. And Zhongli was efficient in his work—by noon, he had returned. But he brought back a piece of news that was both expected and yet deeply oppressive.

Just yesterday morning, that Physician Sun, on his way to a house call, had accidentally fallen into the moat and drowned.

The other party had clearly killed him to silence him. At this, Nie Jinxuan immediately frowned. Yin Fengzhan had originally intended to stay at Qingtan Temple, but in the afternoon, someone came from the manor saying that something had happened in the palace—Consort Zhang of Yongxin Palace had offended the Emperor and would soon be sent to the Cold Palace!

Posted at the first watch, more to follow~!