Chapter 415: Chapter 415 Entering The Capital For A Reward (9)
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“According to his symptoms, he’s most likely been poisoned with a powder made from the extract of the sap leaves of a tropical tree called the poison arrow tree.
“Its effect is to paralyze the heart, coagulate blood, seal blood vessels, and finally suffocate a person to death. Its toxicity is even more potent than that of a five-paced viper.
“As long as it touches you briefly, it can kill you.”
Gu Chengrui had just finished speaking when the old man twitched violently and kicked his leg out.
The way the two died was similar, but one was fast, and the other was slower.
“It seems that the poison they were poisoned with came from the poison arrow tree, but in different forms.”
The Third Prince asked thoughtfully, “You mean this thing comes from the tropics? What do you mean by tropics?”
“The tropics are places that are very hot all year round. For example, the south of the Ming Dynasty is especially hot and humid.”
“South?” The Third Prince’s face turned solemn when he heard that. He looked at his general and said, “Continue the interrogation. If they don’t speak, let them have a taste of this poison from afar.”
After speaking, he brought Gu Chengrui and his wife back to his tent.
When the villagers heard this, they were shocked at first. However, when they saw that the outsiders were all dead, they immediately cried and told them what had happened during this period.
About three days ago, eight men with knives came to the village and killed all the strong laborers in the village.
They would then hold the children of each family hostage to control them. If anyone disobeyed, he would kill their entire family.
At this moment, the woman who had previously refused Gu Chengrui’s request to buy groceries kneeled and said, “Please let my child go. He’s the only child of our two families.”
“Missus, hadn’t the Third Prince had already given orders that only those who don’t cooperate will be killed?? We won’t kill those who cooperate.” The general went forward to help her up.
“Really?”
“Of course, the Third Prince’s words are always true.”
“I know the situation in the village. If you want to know anything else, just ask.” The woman immediately wiped her tears when she heard that.
The young general’s mouth twitched, and he thought inwardly, “She’s sure good at controlling her tears.” Thus, he asked directly, “Do you know who these outsiders are?
“Or did they reveal anything?”
“I just know about the old man, and he’s the butler of the Lu family in town.
The land in our village belongs to the Lu family.”
“Yes, on the surface, the Lu family appears to be benevolent, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
“When the son of the Lu family sees a girl he likes, he will force her to marry him.
“If a girl marries him, he won’t care about the girl anymore after the novelty wears off. If the girl is lucky, she can still live if she has given birth to a son or a daughter. She’ll die or become a servant if she’s unlucky.”
“A girl in our village was killed before. Her brothers went to reason with the Lu family, and in the end, the entire family was forced to death.”
“Forced to death?”
“That’s right. They didn’t rent the land to them anymore or let them go out to look for work. The problem is that local ruffians and hooligans are repeatedly making trouble for that family, so…”
“Do you know the ident.i.ties of the others?” The general nodded and asked.
“I’m not sure, but the butler is quite respectful to them.”
“Yes, Butler Lu seems to be afraid of them.”
The general listened for a long time, but there were only two valuable points. One was Butler Lu’s ident.i.ty, and the other was that Butler Lu feared those strong men.
After that, they asked the Third Prince for instructions. Ultimately, the Third Prince lets these villagers go after ordering them to keep this incident a secret.
The Third Prince and his group did not set off the next day. Instead, they sent soldiers to town to investigate the Lu, dressed as farmers..